Harry Potter and the heir of Ravenclaw by islanzadi

Rating: NC17
Genres: Romance, Action & Adventure
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 6
Published: 05/11/2005
Last Updated: 03/03/2006
Status: In Progress

This is my very first fanfiction and written for my youngest sister Looby Loo! It's set
after HBP and starts with the hunt for the Horcruxes... This is my version of book seven but I do
not profess to be nearly as talented as JKR! Just having a little fun...**Islanzadi** Quotation
from 'Norbert's return': “You’re not stupid Hermione,” he said and kissed her lightly,
stroking his hands gently over her upturned face. “Now tell me.” “Ok…I’m…em…” she started and took
a deep breath, looked him in the eyes and said two words that made Harry’s world suddenly crash
down on him “I’m pregnant,” *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*




1. A strange beginning
----------------------

Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to read my little story, I hope you enjoy it. This
was written for my younger sister, who got me into the crazy world of fan fiction and who means the
world to me. That’s about all I have to say, happy reading and your reviews are appreciated J

**Islanzadi**

Harry’s birthday dawned mild and pleasant. The birds were singing merrily outside, the bees
buzzing contentedly amongst Aunt Petunia’s agapanthus’ and a cat was sprawled lazily on a garden
wall idly swishing his tail. Hardly the impending doom Harry had suspected on the day his
protection from Voldemort wore off.

Harry retreated from the window and reluctantly looked at his bedroom. He supposed that he ought
to clean as well as pack. Broken quills, torn parchment and empty sweet wrappers littered the room,
as much as he disliked the Dursley’s he couldn’t leave the room looking like this without his
conscience bothering him. He concentrated hard on his wand lying and the bed and thought *‘Accio
wand’,* pleased that *this* time it came straight to him rather than hitting an
unsuspecting Hedwig. He still had the mark on his finger for that little mistake.

He piled his clothes, books, trainers and other items into his trunk, and was dismayed to find
it wouldn’t close. After several minutes of sitting on it desperately trying to close the latch, he
had a wonderful thought!! Today he was seventeen, and legally allowed to do magic without fear of
being carted off to the ministry of magic. Harry opened the trunk and used a simple reduction charm
on his belongings, and watched in amusement as each of his items shrunk to the approximate size of
a two pence piece. He decided that he wouldn’t be telling Hermione about sitting on his trunk to
close it… or how long it took him to use magic. After surveying the room for a moment longer he
began to wonder what else he could use magic on with his new found freedom. He grinned to himself
and thought *‘locomotor trunk’* which sent his trunk flying down the stairs. Minutes later
Aunt Petunia’s screeches filled the house. Harry sent Hedwig in her cage to meet Aunt Petunia’s
screeches, then followed humming happily to himself.

Harry was greeted by Uncle Vernon’s rather fat face as he walked down the hallway into the
living room.

“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing flying your… your things through my house boy?”
He bellowed at the top of his lungs “I’m warning you…”

“What exactly are you trying to warn me? You know Uncle Vernon, I think you need to get out a
bit more and have a laugh…” Harry grinned mischievously. He concentrated on his fat, shaking uncle
and thought *‘rictusempra’*. To his delight Vernon fell to the floor and began laughing
uncontrollably. Harry found this so amusing that he was laughing himself… until Aunt Petunia
entered the room.

“What did you do? You nasty little boy!” She screeched at Harry.

“Me?” He said innocently “What do you mean Aunt Petunia?”

Apparently Dudley had heard all the commotion from the kitchen and had somehow managed to drag
himself away from the unguarded fridge.

“You know what I mean! You stop this right now or so help me…” said Aunt Petunia, her voice
trembling with anger.

“I just said to Uncle Vernon that the diet you two put Dudley on really seems to be working, and
the next thing I know he’s on the floor laughing like a loon!” Harry stated, trying hard to hide
his grin. Aunt Petunia’s face went puce at this comment; she stood up from her husband and glared
at Harry

“After all we’ve done for you, disgusting boy, this is how we are repaid? Using unnatural powers
in our house?” she said angrily, glaring at Harry “You stop this at once!”

Harry felt his anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach and shot back with - “After all you’ve
done for me? Are you kidding?”

“You can’t see all the good we’ve done for you because you’re a selfish ungrateful little boy -
just like your mother!” Petunia retorted

Harry felt like he was about to explode.

“You leave my mother out of this!” He roared “you’re just jealous because you were never as good
as her! She was everything you wanted to be and you hated that! You’ve always been so wrapped up in
your hatred for her that it’s affected everything you’ve ever done! Look who you married! Look how
you treat anyone that’s even remotely different. You hate me because I’m a part of her!! I can’t
help that you didn’t feel good enough Petunia” He was shaking badly from his outburst and waiting
for her to reply. To his surprise she simply stood there staring at him.

Harry suddenly noticed that Vernon was still laughing hysterically and rolling all over the
floor. Reluctantly Harry let go of the spell and surveyed the damage Vernon had done to the room.
Harry grabbed his wand and muttered *‘reparo’* to several broken items. Somehow he didn’t
think he had enough energy left in him to concentrate on a non-verbal spell.

He looked from the gasping Vernon to the petrified Dudley and decided that now was quite the
time to leave. With a few muttered words he sent the only items belonging to him in the world out
the front door. He turned around one last time and opened his mouth to say goodbye. It was then
that he noticed the tears streaming down Aunt Petunia’s face. He held her gaze for a few long
moments, and an emotion he couldn’t define crossed her eyes momentarily. Then it was gone. Harry
turned around from the only family he had and walked out the door.

He quickly realized that maybe he shouldn’t be walking down the street with a flying trunk and
an owl in a cage. He let both of them down with a bit of a thump, and sat on the curb trying to
think of what to do. He knew that the Knight bus was out of the question. Now that he had no
protection he had no intention of flaunting his whereabouts to everyone in the wizarding world. He
let Hedwig out of her cage

“Meet me at Ron’s house ok? I’ll be along as soon as I can” She nipped his hand a tad too hard,
still not over being hit with his wand and then being unceremoniously dropped on the floor. He held
out his arm and watched her fly away into the distance. He dragged his trunk to an alleyway about
200 meters from the house and hid himself at the very end. After checking that there wasn’t anybody
in sight he concentrated, after a moment he felt the familiar sensation of being pressed through a
rubber tube, then found himself outside of the burrow, his trunk still thankfully separate from his
body. He really would have to get his test done soon so that he wouldn’t be technically doing this
illegally. He thought of his friends waiting inside for him, and his mind lingered on Ginny
momentarily. How would she react to his turning up at the Burrow? He drew a deep breath and headed
for the house…

“HARRY!!!” shouted Mrs. Weasley “What on Earth are you doing here? Come in, come in! Look at
you! It hasn’t been that long since we saw you last and already you’ve grown so much!!” Harry
grinned at Mrs. Weasley and stepped into the house. Immediately he heard the sound of a thousand
elephants coming down the stairs… also known as Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

“Alright mate?” said Ron enthusiastically “Didn’t expect to see you ‘til the wedding”

“Harry!” Said Hermione moving forward to hug him tightly “It’s so good to see you!”

Harry smiled down at Hermione and noticed that Ginny was giving him a rather odd look. Mrs.
Weasley was beaming at him, so he couldn’t very well ask what was wrong.

“Uh, hello Ginny…” said Harry rather uncomfortably

“Hello Harry” she said, and smiled up at him. She moved forward and gave him a hug that was a
little too long for Harry’s comfort level. He was trying very hard to put Ginny out of his mind and
hugging him that tightly didn’t help.

“Well, shall we have a little bite to eat then?” said Mrs. Weasley

“Mum…you read my mind!” said Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron and wondered to herself where
on earth he could put all that food, a thought that she pondered quite frequently.

“Well Harry dear, why don’t you put your things upstairs and I’ll get lunch started. I’ll call
you when it’s ready” said Mrs. Weasley. She bustled off determinedly towards the kitchen.

Hermione had already taken charge of getting Harry’s trunk upstairs.

“Show off” mumbled Ron

“I heard that Ron” Hermione retorted “You know, if your practiced your magic a little more you
wouldn’t have broken so many things…”

Harry grinned to himself and listened to them bicker amongst themselves all the way to Ron’s
room. Some things never changed.

They all sat themselves on Ron’s bed and Harry told them the morning’s events. Ron was laughing
so hard Harry wondered for a moment whether or not he had a tickling charm cast on him. “Dudley’s
diet working!” He managed to get out between deep gasps.

“Honestly Harry!” scolded Hermione “Look at you! You look like a man, not a boy. Why act that
way? What was it going to prove?”

Harry felt a flash of annoyance. How dare she criticize him like he was a child? It quickly
ebbed away, however, as he realized that she was right. He didn’t regret leaving, but using magic
for the sake of it was particularly childish of him. He felt slightly humiliated all of a sudden
and wondered why Hermione’s opinion should matter. Ginny’s eyes narrowed dangerously towards
Hermione

“Some people don’t mind letting loose a little and having some fun” she sniped “maybe you should
try it sometime”

Harry looked at Ron, both of them puzzled by Ginny’s outburst. The room was filled with tension
and Harry found himself looking longingly out the window. Ginny waited for a moment longer then
asked

“So Harry, Hermione told me you weren’t going back to Hogwarts this year. What are you going to
do?”

Harry wasn’t prepared for this question. He told Dumbledore that he would only tell Ron and
Hermione of his plans to find the Horcruxes. He thought frantically for a moment or two then said
-

“I have no idea”. He reasoned that this was not a total lie, because he really had no idea what
he was planning on doing. Thankfully whatever Ginny had been going to say in reply was cut off by
Mrs. Weasley’s call of -

“Lunch is ready!!” Naturally Ron leapt off the bed and was down the stairs so fast that Harry
was surprised he didn’t apparate.

After lunch Ron, Hermione and Harry were sitting in the garden. It was a lovely afternoon, and
they spent most of it talking about the summer, quidditch, and the wedding plans. Harry was so
content. He hadn’t heard a single word about Voldemort, Horcruxes, or Dumbledore. He knew that his
friends didn’t want to mention it until they were sure he wanted to speak about it, and for this he
was so grateful that he was almost choked up. He felt so lucky to have good friends. It was a this
point that Mrs. Weasley shouted

“Ron dear! We need to go to and have the final fitting for your wedding robes! Hurry along,
you’ll be back before you know it!”

“If I have to have one more fitting I swear…” groaned Ron.

“Oh Ron” laughed Hermione “It can’t be that bad!”

“Can’t be that bad?” exclaimed Ron “The woman can hardly see Hermione. I’m like a bloody human
pincushion! I can’t wait for this wedding to be over with…”

“Ron!” shouted Mrs. Weasley again, sounding a little more flustered “You can meet us in Diagon
Alley in 2 minutes, do you hear me?”

“Yes Mum!” He shouted back. “Well, I’ll see you later I suppose” he said and with a crack he was
gone.

Harry and Hermione sat for a while not saying anything. The silence was comfortable for him, and
he watched the garden gnomes fighting with each other at the end of the garden. He glanced at
Hermione and noticed she was slowly ringing her hands together and chewing at her bottom lip
absently. He watched her for a moment smiling inwardly about the way she chewed on her lip.

“Is anything bothering you Hermione?” he asked.

“What? Me? Oh…no. I was, uh, just thinking about how to do this new charm I was reading about…”
she said nervously.

Harry looked at her for a moment longer, then turned back to the gnomes. He wondered what Ron
had done now to make Hermione this agitated.

“Harry?” she asked quietly “I don’t know if you want to talk about this now, but I was wondering
if you had any ideas on where we’re going to stay after the wedding?”

“We?” said Harry “So you and Ron are sure you want to help me?”

“Harry! Of course we’re sure!” said Hermione affectionately. She moved closer to where Harry was
sitting on the blanket and held his hand. “Surely you don’t think we would leave you to do it
alone? We need each other. We’ll be with you every step of the way”

Harry looked down to his hand covered with Hermione’s, and his heart lightened at what she had
said. He looked up at her and smiled. For a moment it seemed like she wanted to say more, but
thought the better of it and lifted her head to look at the clouds. Harry went back to looking at
the gnomes for a while and then began to wonder if Hermione planned on moving her hand. It wasn’t
that it didn’t feel nice as such, but he was very uncomfortable with how long his *best
friend* wanted to hold his hand, not to mention that Ron wouldn’t see it as innocent no matter
how much he and Hermione would try to explain. He thought of ways in which he could move his hand
discreetly… He began to scratch his leg with his free hand, then moved the hand under Hermione’s
and used that to scratch too. Hermione jumped a little, then moved a little bit away from Harry.
They sat in silence for a moment longer. Harry wasn’t sure what was going on, but assumed that she
must really be upset by Ron if she needed his comfort that badly. He felt awful all of a sudden and
went to say something to her, but was interrupted by the business like voice of Hermione.

“Ok Harry. So we’ve decided that Ron and I are going with you. But we need to decide where we’re
going to stay. What do you think about going back to Grimmauld place?”

Harry was surprised at her sudden change in attitude, but welcomed the conversation.

“I’ve been thinking about it Hermione” he started “But I’m not sure if I can handle being there
again. I can still picture Sirius walking around there all alone…Not to mention that the place is
pretty disgusting.”

“Oh Harry,” she said “I know this must be hard for you, but I can‘t think of anywhere else we
could go. If Dumbledore thought it was a safe enough place for the Order, then I think it’s safe
enough for us. If you really don’t feel comfortable then of course we’ll find somewhere else. ”

Harry thought for a moment before replying.

“What if Snape tells Voldemort where the Order used to meet… I don’t think it will be that safe
if those two and a bunch of Death Eaters can turn up at any moment,”

Hermione hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure of how to broach the subject. Eventually she
took a deep breath and said very quickly -

“Harry, you may not like what I’m going to say but I really think we have to consider the
possibility that maybe Dumbledore knew the predicament that Snape was in.” She looked at him
nervously and continued even quicker “Maybe Dumbledore knew it had to be this way if Snape were to
keep himself undercover safely. Snape’s position is one of the most valuable to the Order…”
Harry standing up quickly and looking at her with utmost horror in his eyes interrupted her.

“WHAT?” he shouted so loudly that the gnomes ran back into their gnome holes in fright “YOU
AREN’T SERIOUS?! HE KILLED DUMBLEDORE!! THERE ARE NO EXCUSES FOR MURDER. YOU WEREN’T THERE! YOU
WOULDN’T KNOW…HE DID IT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO NOT BECAUSE HE HAD TO!”

With that he turned around and stormed off into the house. Hermione was lying on the blanket,
watching the clouds, chewing nervously on her bottom lip, her mind in turmoil.

Harry lay on his bed fuming at what Hermione had said. How could she think that? After a few
moments of seething he forced himself to think of what Hermione’s point had been. It wasn’t often
she was wrong, but contemplating what she suggested was just too much for him to handle right now.
He wiped a stray tear from his eye and stood up. He walked to the window and saw her lying on the
blanket; he noticed how the sun hit her hair so that it shone golden amongst the brown. He really
should go and talk to her. The way he shouted at her was out of order, no matter what it was that
she had said. He went to make a move and noticed that his hand was tingling where Hermione had
touched him. He stopped abruptly and decided that it would be much safer to stay in his room.



2. The wonders of friendship
----------------------------

Hermione stood outside Harry’s room with bated breath. She had to go in and talk to him but the
butterflies in her stomach were making it very difficult to focus. For goodness sake, she scolded
herself; you’re acting like a silly schoolgirl. She moved forward and went to open the door,
surprised to find it locked. *‘Alohomora’* she thought to herself, and smiled as the door
unlocked. She pushed it open to find Harry lying on his bed. She suppressed a little shiver as she
noticed he had removed his shirt. He looked up at her and she found herself gazing into his green
eyes. ‘Get a grip’ she thought to herself and moved forward purposefully.

“Harry…” she began, sitting next to him “I’m sorry if I upset you outside”

“No, Hermione. Don’t apologise,” he replied, “I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that. It was
well out of order. It’s just… I still feel so angry with Snape. I hate him. I’ve been trying not to
think about Dumbledore’s death, and when you said those things I just snapped. I’m sorry”

They looked at each other for a moment, and then Hermione leaned forward and hugged him. It was
a soft and comforting hug and Harry felt all of his emotions rising to the surface. He swallowed
hard and tried to be strong, but thoughts of Dumbledore, Sirius and what he must face filled his
mind. Tears began to stream from his eyes, he tried to turn away from Hermione and pull himself
together, but she held on tighter to him. He felt his resolve melt and soon he was crying
uncontrollably. Naturally Hermione followed suit. Harry didn’t know how much time had passed but
eventually he looked up at Hermione and wiped her eyes. She smiled at him and wiped his eyes, which
struck him as funny for some reason and he started laughing. She looked at him bemused for a moment
before laughing with him.

“What must we look like, eh?” he said after his bout of laughter “If you mention one word of
this to Ron…”

The door swinging open to admit Ginny interrupted him. Hermione moved away from Harry suddenly,
which confused him greatly. Why was she acting like a cat on a hot tin roof? They were best friends
and she had been comforting him. He looked over at Hermione and noticed that she looked guilty and
wondered why.

“What’s going on here then?” said Ginny tightly

“Wh…what do you mean?” said Hermione, trying to recover her composure.

“You seemed very cosy just now, didn’t take you long to get over me, eh Harry? But I can
definitely see that it’s for my best interests…”

Harry looked from Ginny to Hermione and wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to say “Ginny grow
up, we’re just friends and I was upset” but for some reason his mouth wouldn’t open. What happened
to the Ginny he had been going out with? All he could see was an angry jealous child. Surely she
had never been jealous of Hermione before? It was at that moment that Ron walked in, and looked
from Harry, to Hermione and then to Ginny.

“Um…alright everyone?” he said a touch nervously

“Hello Ron” said Hermione “Harry and I were just talking about Dumbledore and Sirius when Ginny
decided to join us”

Ginny looked slightly abashed at this information. She came into the room and sat directly
between Hermione and Harry.

“Harry,” she said “You know you can come to me if you need to talk about these things”

Harry had no idea what to say to this. Surely if they had broken up then he wouldn’t be having a
heart to heart with her.

“Err, thanks Ginny,” mumbled Harry, unsure of what else to say.

Hermione sighed deeply then said -

“Harry, we need to discuss what we were talking about earlier”. Harry, thankful for a way out of
any more conversation with Ginny, agreed readily. Ron looked at Hermione and got the message… time
to usher Ginny out of the room.

“Harry!” she said angrily, her green eyes flashing “Tell him you want me to stay!”

Harry looked at her, a mixture of emotions racing through him. He thought she looked beautiful
when she was angry and was remembering the long kisses they had shared. He also remembered the
reason he had broke up with her was to protect her and letting her hear their plans wasn’t going to
achieve that. He also realised that even though he had only been apart from her for five weeks, he
had changed drastically. She seemed so young, and really quite childish with the way she was acting
towards Hermione. His feelings surprised him. He assumed that he had gotten over Cho so quickly
because she was, well, an annoying cry baby. Not to mention extremely jealous of Hermione. Now his
feelings were changing towards Ginny… Why were girls jealous of Hermione anyway? She was only
Hermione…The same bushy haired bookworm that she was since she was eleven!

“Ginny…you know that you can’t be here for some of the things we need to talk about. The reason
for this is the same reason I gave you at the end of last term” said Harry finally.

There was silence for a few seconds before Ginny sniffed angrily and stormed out of the
room.

“Why’s she been so huffy lately?” asked Ron. Hermione looked at Harry and quickly looked away
out of the window. Harry didn’t notice this and just shrugged at Ron.

“Anyway” said Ron, “So what is it we’ve got to talk about anyway? I’m guessing it’s got
something to do with snake face with the way you obviously wanted Ginny out of the room.”

Hermione sighed -

“His name is Voldemort, Ron, not snake face, and I didn’t want Ginny out of the room as such, I
just thought that us three needed privacy considering we need to discuss the imminent future”

Ron shrugged and put a chocolate frog in his mouth. Harry looked around to see where his stash
was and saw a large pile by Ron’s cloak on the floor. He reached for one and sat himself up more
comfortably on the bed, readying himself for a serious conversation. He silently wondered to
himself why Hermione seemed to use Voldemort’s name with ease all of a sudden, then thrust that
thought out of his mind as Ron looked like he was about to speak.

“Mmk” said Ron trying to clear his mouth from chocolate “What’s the plan? Are we going to
Grimmauld Place or what then?”

Hermione looked at Ron, then looked at Harry with a questioning look on her face.

“Well” said Harry “I think that we should stay somewhere else, at least at first until we can
make sure that Snape didn’t leak anything to Voldemort”

“Ok” said Hermione “So where do you think we should stay?”

Harry thought about this for a while. He had no idea of a place that would be safe enough for
them, but maybe someone else would.

“Well, I was thinking of Owling Lupin and seeing if he had any ideas on where we could stay”

“That sounds like a good idea Harry” said Hermione “I’ll go to Knockturn Alley this week
sometime. I heard they have a bookshop there that deals with the less pleasant areas of magic.
Maybe I’ll find something to do with Horcruxes, and maybe even some more advanced spells we can
learn. I doubt the spells we know are really going to defeat Voldemort…”

Harry was a little unsure about Hermione going to Knockturn Alley; he knew the kind of shifty
people that walked around that area.

“Well we’ll come with you” Ron said “That place is really dodgy Hermione, you get right weirdo’s
down there”

“Ron, I’ll be fine. It would be quicker if I went alone anyway, besides I’m sure that there are
other more resourceful things you can do with your time” Ron eyed his chess set hopefully but
stopped when he saw the look in Hermione’s eyes.

“Well, take the invisibility cloak anyway,” said Harry, still not happy with the idea “I’d
rather that Voldemort and his mates didn’t spot you when you’re walking around shopping…”

They talked for a while longer, discussing where they would go first and any ideas they had
about R.A.B. After talking about everything they could think of, they decided to go to bed. Harry
gratefully sank his head onto the pillow, but lied awake staring at the ceiling for a long time
after Ron’s snores filled the room. He rubbed his hand absently and thought of how strangely
Hermione had been acting. She seemed to almost be nervous around him. He tried to think of
something that could have happened between her and Ron to make her act that way, but couldn’t come
up with anything. He wondered if anything had happened between them yet and found that usual uneasy
feeling in the pit of his stomach. He thought of all the times they had shared together. She never
really seemed too interested in Ron until last year. Ron was always the jealous one… His mind was
too muddled to try and think about Ron and Hermione right now. Not to mention that the idea didn’t
make him that happy…what would happen to their friendship if those two started going out? He rolled
over restlessly and hit the pillow, half out of frustration and also to try and make it more
comfortable. He closed his eyes and tried to think about something else. He found himself examining
his feelings for Ginny too, and was surprised that he was strangely numb. He wondered if these past
five weeks had stopped his attraction for Ginny, or if it was something else ‘What’s wrong with
me?’ he thought to himself ‘Can’t even like a girl for more than a couple of months…’ He tried to
think of what he had liked about her. She was beautiful, she was funny and she could play
quidditch. That feeling of nervousness and excitement rolled into one when he thought of her wasn’t
there anymore. He had been worried that he would have difficulties trying to restrain his feelings
around her by coming back here. What was wrong with him? He spent the rest of the night tossing and
turning…

In the next room Hermione was also having a restless night, but unlike Harry she knew the
reason. Last year she had noticed how grown up Harry was becoming, and had started to notice things
about him that maybe best friends shouldn’t notice about each other. Like the way his hair was
mussed up so cutely in the mornings, how his eyes blazed the deepest green when he was angry. She
had thought that these were simply her observations, and indeed they had been at first. When she
told Harry that he had never been more fanciable she certainly didn’t mean that she fancied him!
She had been waiting for Ron to realise that fancying her usually meant that you had to do
something about it. Then she went on holiday with her parents to Italy, and the world that she knew
collapsed around her.

It had been a beautiful summers evening and she had been thinking about Ron, and questioning if
he would ever grow up. She had recently begun wondering if this was all worth it. One minute he
seemed interested in her, the next he’s snogging Lavender. She didn’t know if she could put up with
it anymore. Her mind had strayed to Harry and she found herself thinking about every detail of him.
She thought of what he had been through and what he had yet to go through. After what seemed like
an eternity of thoughts and feelings she realised that she found Harry quite attractive. Of course
she had brushed it off at the time, reasoning with herself that she was only feeling this way
because she was so very worried about him, and being a teenager it was likely for her to feel
momentary attraction for people she was close to. She had resolved not to think about it anymore.
However it seemed like once her mind had thought of Harry in those terms, it wouldn’t let it go.
She found herself walking through the streets of Rome with her mother and thinking about Harry.
‘Oh, Harry would look lovely in that jumper,’ she might think, or ‘I wonder what Harry’s doing
right this minute’. She started having dreams about him at night and they were so graphic she woke
up gasping and really quite embarrassed. What was wrong with her? She had thought it would go away,
but now seeing him just made it so much worse. She had tried ignoring these feelings. She had tried
thinking about everything she disliked about Harry. She even tried to think of her old fantasy…Her
running to Ron after a particularly gruelling quidditch match and there in the middle of the field
with the whole school watching he would kiss her. She knew she was in trouble when she felt sick at
the thought of Ron kissing her and replaced him with Harry. The thought of Harry kissing her made
her far more excited than she had ever felt when she thought of Ron.

After seeing him today she knew it, she felt it deep inside her and she had to try hard to
control herself around him and act normally. She wanted to be with him, to hold him and kiss him,
and so much more. She blushed in the dark thinking about it, and scolded herself inwardly.
Honestly, this was no way to be behaving over a boy who thought he was your best friend! Not to
mention he still had strong feelings for Ginny! ‘Please don’t let him love her’ she thought to
herself. As if that wasn’t bad enough Ron had started to notice that she seemed less interested in
getting him to act upon his feelings lately. She turned over and buried her head into the pillow,
trying to get him out of her head so that she could get a good night sleep. Her mind strayed to
Harry hugging her with no shirt on. She remembered the contours of his chest, the rippling of his
tight abdominal muscles…

“Can’t sleep, eh?” Ginny interrupted “I know what’s going on with you Hermione,” Hermione
concentrated on steadying her voice before she answered.

“What are you talking about Ginny?” she asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

“I’m not stupid. He’s not interested in you. He never has been, and never will be. Once this is
all over it’s me he’s coming back to. It was me he was kissing last year, not you. I suggest you
remember that. I don’t want to fight with you, we’ve been friends for a while now and I don’t think
a bloke should come between friends. But I’ve liked Harry for a very long time, and I won’t let you
get in the way of that” said Ginny angrily.

Hermione felt a tear slip down her cheek and felt wretched about her situation, she decided not
to answer Ginny for fear that her voice might betray her. She eventually fell asleep, but it was a
restless night.



3. A day of joy
---------------

The day of Bill of Fleur’s wedding had finally arrived. Naturally, the Burrow was completely
chaotic. Mrs. Weasley was running around, desperately trying to get her sons into their dress
robes, whilst they were busy fighting with each other and casting various jinxes in each other’s
direction. Harry watched, amused, as Ron decided to disapparate whenever a jinx came his way rather
than defend himself. All that had left Ron’s appearance looking rather odd. One of his eyebrows had
been left in the kitchen and his nose in the hallway.

“FOR GOODNESS SAKES RONALD!” bellowed Mrs. Weasley “YOU CANNOT GO TO A WEDDING LOOKING LIKE
THAT! GET OVER HERE IMMEDIATELY…”

“Mum!! It’s not all my fault you know, blame those two oafs over there!!” he said, indicating
towards Fred and George who were laughing hysterically at a nose less Ron.

“ALL THREE OF YOU STOP THIS AT ONCE!” shouted Mrs. Weasley with an air of finality in her voice.
All three shut up without further ado.

“Now,” she continued “ I need you to get into your dress robes and disapparate yourselves to the
gardens”

“Maybe you don’t want Ron doing that alone Mum,” said Fred sniggering “He might leave his head
behind this time…”

“Of course he talks out of his arse so much you’d probably not even notice,” said George. Ron’s
face went very red at this comment and he reached for his wand.

“If you three so much as think about touching your wands I’ll give you what for…” said Mrs.
Weasley. Ron’s journey for his wand stopped abruptly.

Eventually everyone was ready and it was time to leave. Harry was relieved that he had spent the
last two weeks practicing and finally passing his apparition test; he certainly did not want to
have to apparate with Ron. The Weasley family left first, since most of them were in the wedding
party and had to be there earlier than the rest of the guests. Harry was sitting in a comfy chair
in the living room, basking in the silence that he had been looking forward to since he woke up. He
was making mental notes to himself on what he had to do next. Lupin had told them of a cottage they
could stay in, located in a village close to Cambridge. Apparently Dumbledore had been quite fond
of spending a few weeks there during the school holidays, so it was a good safe haven. To avoid
attracting attention to themselves, they decided to travel as muggles. Hermione had gone into
London and bought her, Ron and Harry clothes. She had also bought the train tickets from London to
Cambridge, departing tomorrow morning at 8am. Luckily they didn’t have to worry about luggage
because Hermione had ordered removal men to drive everything they needed to the cottage. Harry
supposed that even dressed as muggles their luggage might attract enough attention to them to be
dangerous. He laughed to himself as he remembered Ron’s reaction to Hermione’s method of paying for
the clothes and tickets.

“You paid with a piece of plastic?” asked Ron, looking at it with amazement “You know, I knew
muggles were a bit strange but I thought that you at least knew how to use money…”

“Ron, it’s called a debit card. Rather than have to go into the bank and get a bag of money like
you do at Gringotts, we just use a card. It just comes out of your account, it’s really easy,”
explained Hermione.

“What kind of a name is ‘Barclays’ anyway?” asked Ron looking confused “I don’t know if I’m
going to be able to travel as a muggle…I don’t get anything that lot do.”

Hermione stood at the doorway in the living room watching Harry smile to himself. The sight of
him dressed up so nicely made her catch her breath and she had to wait a couple of seconds before
speaking.

“What are you smiling about Harry,” she asked, relieved to find her voice steady. Harry turned
around at the sound of her voice and was amazed. She wore a set of pale pink dress robes, which
complemented her figure perfectly. Her hair was curled and pinned in various places so that it
looked tousled. She had on some make up, but just enough to enhance her beauty. In short, she
looked gorgeous. Harry swallowed hard at the sight of her and turned his head away so that she
wouldn’t see the look in his eyes.

“Uh…” said Harry, feeling uncomfortable once again “I was thinking about Ron’s reaction to your
Barclay card, and how tomorrow is going to be harder work than I thought it would be.” Hermione
smiled at this then said -

“He still hasn’t told his mum and dad you know, but I don’t know how to get him to hurry up and
do it. He’s talking about leaving a letter for goodness sakes! Even I spoke to my parents face to
face; it’s the least they deserve. We’re supposed to be adults now. Do you think you could speak to
him? I don’t think it’s fair on Molly and Arthur to be left in the dark this way.” Harry thought
about Hermione’s words for a moment and realised that she was right, as usual. This was no time for
cowardice.

“Don’t worry about it Hermione” replied Harry “If Ron won’t do it himself, I’ll do it for him.”
Hermione smiled at this then went and sat on the floor next to Harry.

“I know we should be leaving soon,” she said “But I wanted to see how you’re doing. So much has
been going on the last couple of weeks that we haven’t had much of a chance to talk alone”

“I’m fine Hermione” he said “I feel awful saying this, but I just want to get going so we can
start working on this Horcrux thing. I’m glad that we’ve all been able to spend this kind of time
together though, who knows when we’ll be able to do it again?”

“So, how do you feel about leaving Ginny?” she asked, feeling nervous and waiting anxiously for
his response, however she did a very good job of acting like she was nonchalant. Harry sighed and
looked up at the ceiling. He waited to speak for about twenty seconds, but to Hermione it seemed
like a lifetime.

“I don’t know Hermione” he finally said sounding weary “Did you ever notice how young she is? I
mean she’s funny and beautiful, but she’s just so young.”

“But she’s only a year younger than us Harry,” said Hermione, and then wished she could smack
herself for actually saying that out loud. She felt ashamed of her thoughts; after all she really
did like Ginny.

“I know that, but she acts so young. She wouldn’t be able to handle what I’ve got to do.” Harry
stood up and rolled his shoulders, trying to release the knots that had formed over the last few
weeks. He felt stressed and tense. The sooner he could get on with his tasks the better.

“Well” Harry said quickly “I suppose we’d better go” Hermione looked at him for a moment longer,
smiled at him and said -

“I can handle what you’ve got to do Harry.” With a crack she was gone.

Harry stood there for a while longer staring at where she had been standing. What on Earth did
she mean by that? He seemed to think about this for quite a while then finally managed to come up
with a decent enough explanation. ‘She’s obviously just trying to say that her and Ron will be
there for me no matter what, that they can handle this because we’re such good mates.” Harry
thought to himself. ‘Weird way to say it though…’ After calming himself down with those thoughts he
too left for the gardens in which Bill and Fleur would be married.

*************************************************************************************



4. Goodbye to the Burrow
------------------------

The alarm rudely interrupted Ron and Harry’s sleep. Harry groaned and reached for his glasses,
and was lying there for about ten minutes facing an inner battle.

‘Just get out of bed, once you’re in the shower you’ll wake up and be just fine’ the sensible
part of him said.

‘You don’t need to get up right now, the bed’s so warm…another five minutes can’t hurt’ said the
rebellious part of him. The battle ceased quickly enough when Hermione came into the room.

“It’s time to get up you two!” she whispered, “You only have an hour before we have to get to
the bus stop” Harry got out of bed quickly and stumbled his way to the shower. He caught Hermione
smirking at him, it was only then he realised his sleepwear of boxers was not appropriate around
Hermione. He felt a bit embarrassed and stumbled faster to the shower.

“Five more minutes mum!” Ron grumbled, grabbing his pillow and putting it over his face.
Hermione realised that Ron might be a bit more difficult to get up. She tried to nudge and whisper
to Ron a few more times, but to no avail. Harry had finished showering and put on his muggle
clothes. He walked into the bedroom to find Hermione still trying to wake up Ron.

“Don’t worry” Harry whispered, “I know what to do” He concentrated on Ron and thought
*‘sonorous’*, then opened his mouth and shouted -

“GOOD MORNING ROONIL WAZLIB! WAKEY WAKEY RISE AND SHINE!”

Hermione rolled on the floor laughing as Ron literally leapt from his bed and flung himself
against the wall, looking like a rabbit in headlights.

“What did you do that for? You could have just shaken me you know! I think we’ve discussed this
before…” said Ron.

“We tried,” said Harry, trying to get the vision of Ron leaping out of bed out of his head “But
nothing we said or did would make you budge.” Hermione’s laughter was contagious and soon enough
all three of them were laughing hysterically. After finally calming down Hermione managed to say
-

“Now you have fifteen minutes to shower and get dressed before we have to get to the park. Chip
chop” and left the room to get dressed too, still with a smile on her face.

Harry was sitting downstairs with Arthur, Molly and Ginny. Molly had made everyone a cup of tea
after being unceremoniously woken up by Harry’s wake up call for Ron. The tension was audible in
the living room. Ron had finally spoken to his parents last night. Needless to say Molly was
distraught at the idea of Ron leaving to fight Voldemort. Harry knew he had to say something to
reassure her, but he had no idea where to begin, or if he would even be telling the truth. The
silence in the room stretched on with nobody saying a word to each other. Harry just sipped his tea
in silence. Finally Molly spoke -

“You will take care of him won’t you dear? I know that this is something you have to do, but I
couldn’t bare it if anything happened to my boy…” She began sobbing on Harry’s shoulder and he felt
awful.

“Ginny,” said Harry “Would you mind giving your parents and I a minute alone?” Ginny looked like
she might refuse to leave, then turned around and stormed off.

“Mrs. Weasley,” Harry continued, patting her shoulder in an attempt to be comforting “Ron and
Hermione are helping me with, uh, something I have to do before I fight Voldemort. Once we’ve done
what we need to do, we’ll tell the Order, but we can’t before then. Dumbledore made me promise, I
hope you can understand that. When I go to fight Voldemort, they won’t be with me. I make that
promise to you. There’s no way I’d put my friends in that kind of danger.” Mrs. Weasley looked up
at Harry and smiled a trembling smile. Arthur came over and put his hand on Harry’s shoulder,
blinking back unshed tears.

“You’re a good lad Harry,” said Mr. Weasley, “One of the Order members will let you know when
the next meeting is. We hope you three can be there”

“Harry, you stay safe do you hear me?” said Mrs. Weasley, hugging him fiercely “I couldn’t bare
it if anything happened to you either.”

“Everything will be fine Mrs. Weasley,” said Harry, wishing that he could believe that. As he
stepped into the hallway he was cornered by Ginny. This was what he had been dreading. He had
changed so much just having this burden on his shoulders, and Ginny was the same as she’d always
been. It was like they were from two different worlds.

“Were you planning on saying goodbye to me Harry?” asked Ginny, looking like she was about to
cry.

“Ginny…” Harry began slowly “Of course I was going to say goodbye to you. I‘ve just had so much
to do…” Ginny looked like she was steeling herself for what she was about to say. Harry
involuntarily held his breath.

“I need to know if after this is all over you still want to be with me. I need to know if you
want me to wait for you, if this is worth waiting for. Can you give me that Harry?” said Ginny, her
voice trembling and tears beginning to fall. Harry felt such pity towards her. How could he treat
her this way? She loved him! Maybe his feelings were changing because he had to distance himself
from her and concentrate on what he had to do. He just had no idea. God, he was a mess.

“Once this is all over I’ll come back. But I can’t promise you anything. We’ll see what happens
between us, but right now I need you to be there for me as a friend. If we’re meant to be together
Ginny then we will be together, and if we’re not then it’s better that we stay apart than be
together if we’re not right for each other. Lets just see what happens. Time will tell. Will that
do?” He leaned over to Ginny and kissed her on the cheek in a friendly chaste way. Ginny’s tears
were coming fast now, and she wiped them frantically.

“What do you feel about Hermione Harry?” she asked him suddenly. Harry was taken back by this
comment and found that he was speechless. What did he think about Hermione?

“What do you mean? What does she have to do with this?” he asked, searching her face for an
answer. He felt his hand tingling again and tried to get the guilty feeling out of his mind. ‘What
on earth do I have to feel guilty about?’ he thought to himself, but the unease continued.

“Nothing, Harry. Nothing at all” she said and then walked away to join her parents. Hermione was
crouched on the stairs, listening. She felt awkward about sitting there, but she thought it would
have been even more awkward had she interrupted them. She felt a tiny bud of hope in her chest as
she listened to Harry’s words. Maybe there was something she could do to get him after all. She
realised how much he had grown over the summer, and wondered how much else had changed about him
that she would have to rediscover.

*************************************************************************************



5. A new home
-------------

Harry, Hermione and Ron had disapparated to the park and walked in the pouring rain to the bus
stop. Eventually the number 93 picked them and a number of other disgruntled passengers up. Harry
and Ron walked to the end of the bus while Hermione paid their fare.

“Harry!” Ron chortled, elbowing him in the ribs slightly “My dad told me about those things
muggles use…aren’t they for changing the channels on a vellytision?” Harry looked over at a young
man lounging on one of the bus seats with an object in his hand.

“Actually Ron,” said Harry, hiding his grin “That would be a telly box for the TELEVISION. The
bloke over there is holding a mobile phone”

“Wow,” said Ron, not noticing Harry’s grin but staring at the young man in awe. Naturally the
man was rather frightened and edged closer to the window in a vain attempt to get away from the
staring Ron. “What’s a mobile phone when it’s at home them?”

“It’s like a telephone, but one you can carry around with you so you never miss a call”
explained Harry.

“Brilliant!” said Ron excitedly. The rest of the bus ride was much the same; only Hermione did
most of the explaining for which Harry was grateful.

The train ride to Cambridge from London was only an hour and fifteen minutes long. Harry and
Hermione had tried to teach Ron several muggle games on the way, but Ron couldn’t get the hang of
it. Even ‘Eye Spy’ was disastrous because Ron kept guessing wizarding words, one of which he
shouted very loudly in his excitement to win. Naturally the rest of the passengers simply thought
he was mental. After a severe scolding from Hermione, Ron decided it might be best to just shut up
for the rest of the trip. Harry had a lot on his mind, and was disturbed to find that Hermione
occupied a lot of it. She had been acting funny throughout this trip, and kept casting him long and
penetrating looks. He reasoned that it was probably because she was worried about him, in which
case he wished she’d stop. He wasn’t a child, as she had pointed out to him so very recently. He
also wasn’t accustomed to seeing Hermione in muggle clothes. Whilst Ron thought they were odd and
kept pulling at them and taking the Mickey out of her, Harry thought that she looked amazing. He
didn’t realise what a figure she had underneath those school robes before. He quickly squashed that
thought in his head, and realised it was unbelievably indecent to be thinking this way of Hermione.
It must be because of all the stress, he thought to himself.

After another bus ride from Cambridge train station, they finally reached the small village of
Hadstock. They walked up a long and winding road. After looking carefully through the trees they
finally spotted a tiny cottage. It was light yellow with a thatched roof. Yellow, pink and white
roses climbed up the walls, and a white picket fence surrounded it. Hermione smiled girlishly at it
and walked forward with renewed vigour. Harry and Ron looked at each other, seeming to think the
same thing ‘Blokes don’t live in girly cottages’. They looked around and found that there were only
a few cottages in this part of the village. The trees that surrounded it provided plenty of cover,
all in all a good place to practice magic discreetly.

“That place looks really titchy,” said Ron to Harry “Where are we all supposed to sleep, let
alone work?” Harry nodded in agreement, and the thought of Ron and Hermione sharing a room came
into his head. He felt sickened and tried to get the images out of his mind. Since when had Ron and
Hermione bothered him before? Sure he was worried about how their friendship would change, but he
had certainly never thought of anything like this before. He felt like screaming at the top of his
lungs in frustration! What was wrong with him? Was he going completely insane?

Harry walked into the cottage and was amazed. The inside was huge and luxurious. The living room
had a large fireplace, three gigantic comfy leather couches, and a couple of armchairs thrown in
for good measure. The dining room had a very large table with twelve plush chairs surrounding it.
The kitchen had everything you could possibly imagine, and was already stocked with food. Harry
assumed Lupin must have taken care of this detail. They explored the downstairs a little longer.
There was a massive study, lined from floor to ceiling with books. Harry noticed that all of their
school items and books had been placed in various areas of the room, as well as the new books
Hermione had bought from Knockturn Alley. They then made their way up the winding staircase, and
found three big bedrooms. Harry’s had a four-poster bed, a study desk and fat cushions on the
floor. He grinned as he saw all the things had been put away, and Hedwig sat in the corner on a
perch hooting happily at him. After taking a look at all three bathrooms he made his way
downstairs. Ron had pulled out his wizard’s chess and Hermione had put together a healthy snack for
her, and a not so healthy one for them. They spent the night laughing and playing chess. They
talked about their fondest memories at Hogwarts, they talked about Hagrid’s obsession with crazed
beasts, but mostly they talked about all the funny things that had happened with each other, as
best friends do.

“You’re face when you saw those spiders Ron!” said Harry laughing heartily. Ron looked a little
pale as he thought about the huge spiders that had once tried to attack them.

“Oh yeah? Well what about YOUR face when you first had to use floo powder, eh?” said Ron,
finding this most amusing.

“What’s this about then Harry?” Hermione asked in a teasing voice “Something you forgot to
mention to me?” Harry looked slightly abashed at this, and then jumped to defend himself.

“In all fairness,” he said “I had no idea I was even a wizard until I was eleven, so the idea of
a using a wand was mental, let alone anything else. Then this bloody family tells me to step into a
fireplace and throw down some powder. As if that thought isn’t insane enough, I then have to have
green fire…FIRE, on me. But it’s ok because it will get me to wherever I ask! You call muggles
nutters Ron…” Hermione found this particularly amusing, and Harry had to throw a cushion at her so
that the laughter would finally stop.

Eventually Ron decided that he was tired after all the food he had eaten. He stood up, yawned
rather dramatically and lumbered up to bed. Harry was lying on one of the couches, and felt
completely relaxed. Hermione was on the other one and was talking about some kind of spell that she
had been reading about in… Well, some book that she had mentioned, but he just happened to notice
the way the firelight made her skin look glowing, and now that name seemed to have vanished from
his mind. He noticed that the room was suddenly quiet and he realised that she had just asked him a
question

“Uh, sorry I didn’t quite catch that one Hermione,” said Harry looking a little sheepish.
Hermione rolled her eyes and repeated her question

“So what do you want to start with tomorrow? I have a ton of books we can look through…”

“Well…” said Harry; suddenly worried that she might think his idea stupid “I was thinking maybe
we could research the four founders of Hogwarts first. Maybe we can find an item of Ravenclaw or
Gryffindor’s. I think we should start with Ravenclaw first because we don’t know of any objects
from there. Well, uh, it’s a start…what do you think?” Harry asked, feeling nervous.

“I think that’s a great idea,” said Hermione beaming at him. “Why would you think it wasn’t?”
Harry looked at her and opened his mouth to speak. He then realised that he had no idea why he
thought she might think it was a stupid idea, so he closed it again. The result was a goldfish
looking expression, which made Hermione laugh.

“Oh Harry, maybe we ought to go to bed. It’s been a long day, we can both probably think more
clearly once we’ve had some sleep,” She got up from the couch and stretched dramatically much like
Ron. Harry realised that she was making fun of Ron, but at that moment all he could think about was
how she looked. Her skin was golden, and her lips pink and pouty. When she stretched, her vest top
came up slightly to reveal her stomach and her breasts thrust out a little. Harry’s breath caught
in his throat. He wondered what it would be like to kiss her, and the thought made him catch his
breath quickly. She turned around as if sensing his eyes on her and their eyes locked. The tension
hung in the air and their eye contact continued for a long moment. Hermione finally looked
away.

“You’re tired Harry,” she said, her voice husky “I’ll see you in the morning” She gave him a
slight smile and walked up the stairs. Harry was left feeling confused and extremely embarrassed.
What was he doing looking at Hermione like that? What must she think of him? ‘What if she tells Ron
I looked at her like that? What kind of a friend am I?’ He thought worriedly to himself until he
could bare it no more. He walked to the study and searched for a book. He finally found what he was
looking for. *‘The duellers guide to jinxes and hexes’ by Aurora Belling.* He went up to his
bedroom and resolved to act as if he had not looked at Hermione that way. He also thought it might
be best if they weren’t left alone. He cast a silencing charm around the room and began reading and
practicing various spells from the book. Once he mastered the spell with his wand, he tried doing
it non-verbally. He thought about what Snape had said to him on the night of Dumbledore’s
death.

*“Blocked again and again until you learn to keep you mouth shut and your mind closed,
Potter!”*

Well he was certainly progressing in his non-verbal spells. Now he just had to practice closing
his mind, and maybe, just maybe, he would have a chance of defeating Voldemort. He worked long into
the night, determined to prove Snape wrong and to force the image of Hermione from his mind. Maybe
he could try and forget what a terrible friend he was.

Hermione was lying in her bed with a small smile on her face. She had caught Harry looking at
her, *actually looking* at her! She felt butterflies in her stomach and had to try and stifle
a giggle. She turned over and buried her head under the pillow. ‘This is a very immature way to be
acting Hermione’ she thought to herself ‘don’t get ahead of yourself. You can’t expect him not to
look when you dress like that.’ She closed her eyes to go to sleep but allowed the bud of hope in
her chest to open a little more. She still had a slight smile on her face as she fell asleep.

*************************************************************************************



6. An unexpected discovery
--------------------------

The next morning Harry was in a foul mood. He had hardly slept at all, and his conscience was
grating at him. After breakfast, he decided that it would be best if he sat alone in the study. He
didn’t want to be around Hermione and Ron at the moment. He walked into the study and closed the
door. He thought *‘colloportus’* and heard the door seal itself. He looked through some of the
books on the bookshelf, and as he passed a certain area he felt the hairs on the back of his neck
rise. He moved back to that spot and felt that the room was cooler. He peered at the books and
noticed they were all faded and looked ancient. They were all black, and had a general feeling of
evil about them. He picked one up and decided to take a look. He sat down on one of the comfy
armchairs and looked at the front cover. He took out his wand and muttered *‘specialis
revelio’*.

A deafening scream filled the room and the windows shook. Harry leapt up from the chair in
shock, putting in hands on his ears in a desperate attempt to block out the blood-curdling scream.
For the lack of anything better to do, Harry cast a silencing charm. He was surprised when it
worked. He grabbed another book and held it open. The book appeared to shiver in his hands and he
could sense the presence in the room had gone. He grabbed some string from the drawer and bound the
book up tightly. He thought *‘incendio’* and the book caught fire. The red blaze filled the
room and abruptly went out, leaving a pile of ashes in its place. Breathing hard, Harry sat back
down on the chair. Couldn’t he even read a book anymore without something trying to attack him? He
removed the silencing charm from the room and could suddenly hear Ron and Hermione pounding on the
door, shouting in concern for him.

“I’m fine, I’ll be out later on…” he called out a little gruffly, and then proceeded to pick up
the book again. ‘Well,’ he thought to himself ‘At least whatever was in this book is gone, so no
harm in reading it…’ He opened the book to find a lot of worn pages and blood spatters everywhere.
He shivered and flipped through some more pages. He gave a gasp as he saw the word ‘Horcrux’ and
stopped to read the section. He scanned the section about the evils of the Horcrux, and found a
section on destruction. He held his breath as he read the section with eager anticipation

*‘To create a Horcrux requires an evil nature; to destroy one requires courage and the ability
to resist against the temptation the evil will produce once released. In order to destroy a Horcrux
you must first release the evil within it. To do this the witch or wizard must use the
incantation:*

*‘Liberatio pravus fascino’*

*For this to work you must activate the Horcrux, and then give a part of yourself to it. Only
by giving the Horcrux magic will the incantation work. Once you have released the evil from the
object, you will then have to destroy it. The beauty of the Horcrux is that one must weaken oneself
to separate the evil from the object, and then the weakened person must try to battle the evil
accordingly. The results are usually the Witch or Wizard dying and the evil returning to the
object’*

Harry read the page over and over. He had to talk to Hermione. He had hoped that it would be
simple, removing a spell from an object. All he’d had to do with the Diary was stab it for goodness
sakes! Now here was this book telling him he had to face evil. Though he supposed that murdering
someone was evil, and the soul of the murderer was evil. ‘I guess it makes sense’ He thought to
himself as he walked out of the study to find Hermione.

After searching for ten minutes, Harry finally found Ron and Hermione in the garden. Hermione
was sitting on a lounge chair, watching Crookshanks randomly thrust his paw into the pond, trying
to get a fish. Ron was at the very end of the garden, polishing his broom.

‘Hermione,” said Harry excitedly “I found this in one of the books in the study” He passed her
the book and was surprised when she didn’t take it, but looked up at him with her eyebrow raised.
She looked angry. After a couple of seconds where she seemed to be calming herself down she said
-

“We heard a scream from the study and came to find you. We were worried. You didn’t even have
the nerve to act thankful that we came to see if you were ok. You basically told us to bugger
off.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been in a bad mood and I wanted to be alone” he said, looking at the floor not
knowing how to explain himself.

“Apology accepted. But I would like to know why you’ve been so funny with me today. Every time I
look at you, you look away as if I have the lurgy or something,” said Hermione. She searched his
face for an answer, but he simply looked at her stonily.

“I just…miss Ginny. I’ve been feeling a bit depressed about it, I didn’t mean to take it out on
you,” Harry figured that this was the most believable excuse he could come up with. He felt quite
pleased with himself, surely there was no way she could think he had been staring at her last night
when he missed Ginny so terribly. He felt ashamed at being so dishonest with his best friend, but
really, which would be better? ‘Sorry I’ve been acting funny, but I’ve recently begun noticing how
gorgeous you are, and I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. It’s been taking all my self-control
to not grab and kiss you senseless’ after which she would look at him disgustedly and run to Ron.
Of course then their friendship would be in ruins. Or he could run with the Ginny story. He
preferred the latter. Ron came walking up the pathway to where he and Hermione were talking. He
eyed Harry resentfully.

“Decided to come and speak to us then?” asked Ron with a touch of bitterness in his voice.

“Listen mate, I’m sorry about earlier. I’ve just had a lot on my mind. I shouldn’t have taken it
out on you though. It won’t happen again,” said Harry. Ron was a little surprised by the readiness
in which Harry apologised. Usually it took Harry a while to see if he’d been acting badly, so this
was a record. Ron grinned happily at Harry

“’S alright mate, no problem. You want to come and polish your broom with me? Mum picked up this
great new wax last week, it works a treat!” Hermione looked at Ron and Harry as they began to move
away. Hermione interrupted the beginning of their broom talk with-

“What did you want to show me Harry?” Harry looked confused for a moment before Hermione
reminded him.

“The reason you were in the study? The book?” she said, exasperated.

“Oh my God! I can’t believe I forgot! Ron the brooms have to wait. Wait ‘til you read what I
found out about Horcruxes.”

After reading the passage on Horcruxes, they sat at the dining room table and ate dinner. Ron
was eating with his usual gusto; Harry was eating hungrily in between reading sections of a book
that Hermione had given him. Hermione was reading a book on the four founders of Hogwarts and was,
predictably, eating nothing. Eventually Harry looked towards Hermione and said -

“So…how do you think we’re supposed to activate a Horcrux?” Ron looked interestedly over at
Hermione, waiting to hear what she’d say…but obviously not abandoning his food for speech.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit now you mention it.” said Hermione, “The diary
had to be written in and read. So that’s how it was activated. Marvolo’s ring had to be worn by
Dumbledore, so it was activated that way. Which means that we have to drink from Hufflepuff’s cup…”
Harry interrupted with-

“I hope we get to choose the liquid in this one, I really don’t want to be drinking anything
Voldemort made” Hermione looked at Harry, wondering where to start with what she had to say next.
She knew he was noble, and wouldn’t want anything to happen to his friends, but Hermione couldn’t
see any other way.

“Well actually I think it would be wise if you weren’t the one to activate the cup Harry,” she
said. Harry looked like he was about to continue, but she held up her hand to stop him

“Just listen to what I have to say first, ok?” she asked. Upon receiving his nod she
continued.

“If you have to weaken yourself before you destroy the Horcrux, maybe you shouldn’t be the one
weakening yourself all the time. You’re going to have to be the one to actually destroy it. You’re
far better at this kind of magic that either Ron or I. I think that I should wear Slytherin’s
locket to activate it. I think that Ron should drink from Hufflepuff’s cup…” Ron looked slightly
green at this prospect, but seemed to gather his nerve quickly, before he spoke.

“What about Nagini then? How are we supposed to ‘activate’ a great ruddy snake?”

“Well…Harry’s a parcelmouth. I think he has to activate Nagini that way. I haven’t thought of
what he has to say to her yet though…” Harry looked from Hermione to Ron. He felt moved by the
things they would do for him. ‘I don’t deserve this,’ he thought to himself.

“Well, what about the other Horcrux? We don’t even know what it is yet, let alone how to
activate it” said Ron. Hermione looked like she was about to say something, but Harry cut her off
with

“I’ll activate it. Don’t look at me like that Hermione. You’re lucky that I’m willing let either
you or Ron go near those things, let alone activate one. I’ll do two of them, it’s only right,”
Hermione knew there was no point in arguing further. They sat there in silence for a moment, the
magnitude of the situation clear to them. Eventually Ron broke the silence.

“Well, there’s no point in getting worried about it now, eh? We have no idea where the locket
is. We don’t know where the cup is, and we don’t even know what one of them might be yet. As for
Nagini, I don’t think you should try and have your nice little chat with her yet mate, you might
end up attracting Snake-face himself,” Ron had a large grin on his face as if this meant that they
had plenty of time to do nothing, reached for more potatoes and began eating once again. Hermione
sighed as she put down the book she was reading on the four founders. She looked agitated.

“I’ve looked through this book so many times and I can’t find an item of Ravenclaw’s anywhere!”
she said in frustration “There are picture’s of Rowena in the book, but I can’t see anything of
importance in them, other than her wand. I doubt Voldemort would want to use her wand anyway. Who
knows what kind of disaster there could have been trying to use magic against magic?” Ron had
finally finished eating and sat back with a content and dopey look on his face. Hermione waved her
wand and the dishes disappeared, the sound of them washing themselves emanated from the
kitchen.

Harry moved his chair next to Hermione so that he could take a look though the book. He noticed
that she had a light feminine scent to her; it reminded him of flowers and that wonderful smell
just after it rained. He mentally shook himself and tried to concentrate on the book. Below him was
a black and white coloured photograph. There were the four founders, Godric, Helga and Rowena were
all smiling and waving at him. Salazar had a look of pure boredom on his face. It looked like they
were dressed for a ball. He read the caption below the picture and found he was correct. He sighed
and went to turn the page when something familiar caught his eye. Hermione heard him gasp and
looked at him, excitement beginning to bubble within her.

“What is it Harry?” she asked hurriedly. Ron also seemed to be waiting on the edge of his seat
for Harry’s reply. Harry looked up at them and said slowly -

“I’ve seen this somewhere before, but I can’t think where…” Hermione went to say something but
Ron made a shaking motion with his head. He knew when Harry just needed some silence to figure
things out. Hermione watched, transfixed. ‘Does he have any idea how sexy he is?’ She wondered to
herself. She immediately blushed at this comment and earned herself a curious look from Ron. She
concentrated on the table and eventually Ron looked away from her, smirking slightly. ‘Oh great’
she thought to herself ‘Now he thinks I’m daydreaming about him, just what I need…’ She was brought
out of her reverie by Harry suddenly standing up, his face flushed with excitement

“Of course!!” he exclaimed “The room of requirement! Of course it’s at Hogwarts! The cave,
Hogwarts…where else?” Hermione looked perplexed, whilst Ron was just utterly dumbfounded.

“Harry,” asked Hermione, “What are you talking about?”

“Look! Look at Rowena! She’s dressed up for the ball and she’s wearing a tiara. I remember
seeing that tiara in the room of requirement when I was hiding my potions book last term! It makes
complete sense that Voldemort would want to hide something at Hogwarts. It was a home to him, a
place where he went from an ordinary muggle to the wizard he is today!” Hermione stared at Harry,
impressed.

“Bugger,” said Ron, “I was hoping we’d have a few weeks before this stage. At least it’s not the
cup I suppose. Uh, just need a little time to prepare for that,” he added, realising that Hermione
was looking at him with a disapproving air. “Hey Harry, you’re gonna look well fit in that tiara
mate!” Harry began to laugh at that thought, and was truly glad that Ron was there. No matter what
happened, he would never let anything hurt Ron. Not even him.

“Just one thing though,” Ron continued after their laughter had subsided “If we go to
Hogwarts…then we’re not going to be very well hidden. So what’s the point in still hiding?” Harry
was going to respond but Hermione got there before him.

“We just need to be careful when we’re alone, not to mention we can’t have anyone questionable
knowing where our hideout is. We’ll be fine at school, but outside we need to be very careful…”

*************************************************************************************



7. The first kiss
-----------------

Hermione slept fitfully that night. She couldn’t get what Harry had said out of her head. ‘I
just…miss Ginny’ She groaned loudly. After lying there for a couple of hours she finally decided
that there was no way she would be able to sleep. She pulled on a pair of shorts that didn’t quite
match her vest top, and made her way downstairs. She poured herself a glass of cold milk, thought
*‘relashio’* and put her wand into the milk. She knew that she could have just as easily used
the microwave, but she got a little thrill doing it the magic way. She supposed that twenty years
from now she might not be quite this excited. She went into the living room and sat down on the
couch. She had so much on her mind. She had owled McGonagall as soon as night fell, so that Hedwig
wouldn’t attract too much attention. Hopefully she replied soon, because they wanted to go to
Hogwarts tomorrow and didn’t like the idea of just turning up. They planned on staying there for a
week. This would provide them with enough time to study the Horcrux and find out the best way of
destroying the evil within. She also assumed that Harry wanted to stay for a week so that he could
spend some time with Ginny. Bitterness swept through her. She had thought he had been looking at
her differently. She hoped that something other than friendship might blossom between them. When
Harry had said those four words earlier, she felt her world crashing down on her. ‘WHY?’ she
shouted in her head ‘WHY DO I HAVE TO LOVE HIM?’ She dropped her milk on the floor suddenly. Love?
When did that happen? She was filled with a misery beyond comprehension. She loved Harry. Harry
liked Ginny and Ron liked Hermione. She knew Ron didn’t love her. Ron had just always wanted to be
with Hermione and after such a long time of wanting her he’d forgotten what it was that made him
like her in the first place. She was sure that once he realised this, her life would be a lot
easier. There are several people you can be with, but how many you love is few and far between. She
gave a sob at her wretched situation and cried into one of the cushions on the couch.

Harry had been practicing different spells, jinxes and hexes in the study. He had found a book
called *‘Advanced defence for duellers’*. It had proved to be a brilliant book so far. He just
hoped that Voldemort wasn’t as big a reader as he was becoming. He removed the imperturbable charm
from the room, unsealed the door and extinguished the lights. He decided to have a glass of water
before going to bed and headed towards the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks as her saw Hermione
lying on the couch in a tiny pair of shorts crying. He felt warm at the sight of her, and yet it
hurt terribly to see her cry that way. ‘Leave now and go upstairs. If she needs to cry then let
her. Don’t go anywhere near her…’ He thought to himself as he was involuntarily walking towards
her. He realised that he wanted her with a sudden desperateness that it felt like a sickness. She
didn’t seem to notice his presence as he knelt in front of the couch. He moved a shaking hand
towards her, and then pulled it back quickly. His breathing quickened as he fought to gain control
of himself. ‘Leave now!’ a voice in his head shouted ‘you’re asking for trouble!’ He quelled the
voice and reasoned that if he were upset she would come to him. That was what friends were for; he
wasn’t about to let his strange feelings get in the way of being a good friend to her. It was the
least she deserved.

“Hermione,” whispered Harry, “What’s wrong?” Hermione leapt up at the sound of his voice and
practically flung herself to the end of the couch. ‘Great’ Harry thought ‘you have a way with women
Harry. You talk to them…they run’

“Uh…I just dropped my milk on the floor’ said Hermione, her voice thick with emotion. Hermione
could have died. ‘Why is it?’ she thought to herself ‘that whenever you figure out you like someone
you turn into a total idiot? Apparently figuring out you love someone magnifies that ten fold’ She
tried to get up off the couch but Harry grabbed her arm. She felt her skin shiver at his touch and
she pulled away quickly.

“Hermione…” Harry began, but stopped quickly when her eyes met his. They stared at each other,
his heart pounding and her hardly daring to breathe. ‘What am I doing?’ he thought, as he moved
towards her. She looked confused as he moved his head until it was an inch away from her face. They
continued to look at each other, the tension crackling around the room. Harry looked at her perfect
pink lips as they parted slightly. He closed his eyes, trying to fight what he was feeling and walk
away. If he walked away then he could still apologise and pretend to be fine. He moved closer and
could hear her shaky breath. He suddenly felt her mouth on his and his resolve disappeared. He
heard her moan as he forced open her mouth with his tongue. He ground his mouth against her and let
out a deep groan as he felt her tongue sweep across his mouth to meet his. She tasted so sweet; he
ran his hands through her hair, amazed by the softness of it. She wound her arms around his neck
and kissed him fiercely. He grabbed her and pulled her against him. He could feel her soft curves
press into him and he kissed her deeper. She raked her fingers up his back and kissed him fiercely.
He pushed her onto the couch and pinned her beneath him, trailing searing kisses from her mouth to
her collarbone. She groaned and pushed herself against him, calling out his name…

Hearing his name coming from her was like having a bucket of cold water thrown on him. A voice
in his head suddenly shouted ‘STOP!’ He pulled away quickly, gasping for breath. His mouth was
tingling from her kiss. He stood up, trembling and tried to catch his breath. He watched her
sitting on the couch, eyeing him with apprehension. Her lips looked swollen from their kiss, and he
wanted to do it again, so very badly. He closed his eyes to concentrate and tried to think of what
to say. He put a trembling hand to his mouth and realised there was a trickle of blood from where
she had kissed him so passionately.

“Oh God,” he groaned. He tried to think of what to say to her but found that he couldn’t think
let alone try to talk.

“Harry,” Hermione began throatily, but was quickly interrupted by Harry.

“Let’s talk about this tomorrow…” he said and quickly walked away. He couldn’t stand the sound
of her voice after they had just kissed that way. He’d felt himself start to lose control and had
to get away. ‘What is she doing to me?’ he thought wretchedly as he flung himself onto his bed for
another restless night.

Hermione sat there, shocked. She couldn’t believe she had just kissed him. He had been so close
to her, she could see the passion in his eyes… She put her fingers to her mouth. She could still
feel the hard press of his lips, and shivered involuntarily. She hoped that he could now see the
chemistry between them, that maybe he wanted to be more than her friend. She felt a flash of guilt
for Ron and Ginny, then quickly banished it from her mind. She felt too happy about being with
Harry just now to let her guilt ruin it. Unfortunately that didn’t work. She sat on the couch for
another hour thinking about her predicament. A hooting noise disturbed her reverie and she looked
up to find Hedwig, with her reply from Professor McGonagall. She opened the letter hurriedly,
anxious to have something else to think about.

*Dear Harry, Hermione and Ron,*

*I am so pleased to hear from you. I confess I had been rather hoping that you three might
return to your studies, maybe you can be persuaded during your stay? I would be honoured to have
you stay at Hogwarts for a week; I am having rooms put aside for you as we speak (I assume you do
not wish to be in your old common room?) I will await your arrival by the front gates at 5pm
tomorrow. Upon arriving I will need to see Miss. Grangers patronus to assure your identity. If
there are any problems, then please send Mr. Potters patronus and we shall act accordingly. Until
tomorrow evening then.*

*Yours sincerely*

*Mrs. McGonagall*

*Headmistress of Hogwart’s school of witchcraft and wizardry.*

Hermione thanked Hedwig and went upstairs. She packed up most of her things so that she wouldn’t
have to do it tomorrow. She would probably be too busy helping Harry and Ron to pack anyway. She
finally lied down on her bed and allowed her mind to think of Harry kissing her. She fell into a
contented sleep, and dreamt wonderful dreams.

*************************************************************************************



8. A trip to Hogwarts
---------------------

It was four am and Harry was standing in the shower wishing he could sleep. ‘That’s what guilt
does.’ he thought to himself bitterly. He felt the hot water run over him and felt mildly relaxed.
Last night when he had been unable to sleep he had tried closing off his mind several times. It
worked relatively well in blocking out thoughts of Hermione. He stood in the shower and imagined
putting brick walls around his brain, layer upon layer so nothing could get through. He felt
pleased with himself as the walls started to go up easier than they had during the night. ‘Not
brilliant,’ he thought ‘but with practice it’ll get better.’ He thought about Snape’s snide
comments toward him during his occulumency lessons. He was going to make him sorry the next time
they crossed paths. He began to wonder how he could practice legilimens. He needed to work with
someone. Hermione would be the smart option because she had also been practicing occulumency. The
thought of having to spend more time alone with Hermione scared him to death. He didn’t know if he
could control himself. ‘Maybe I’m possessed?’ he thought to himself. He needed to gain control of
this situation before things got out of hand.

After showering Harry made his way downstairs and found the note from Professor McGonagall. He
felt nauseous at the thought of returning to Hogwarts. So much had changed. He sat there for a
while thinking about school, and realised that an hour had gone by. He got up and packed everything
he would need for his return to the school, and then retreated to the study to practice some new
spells.

After a few hours he heard a bang on the door. He headed towards it, praying it wasn’t Hermione.
He knew he couldn’t face her yet after the way he had acted last night. He opened the door and saw
Ron standing in his Pyjamas. He felt a stab of guilt and dreaded what Ron had come to say ‘Oh God,’
he thought to himself ‘he knows!’

“Alright,” said Ron cheerfully “Uh, is it ok if I come in?” Harry wondered why he had such an
odd look on his face, but then realised that he was standing and staring at him as if preparing for
a fight. He sighed in relief and moved aside to let him in. He closed the door and quickly put a
seal on it. They sat down the cushions on the floor, in contented silence. Eventually Ron decided
to break it.

“So,” he said, “What have you been working on in here?”

“I’ve been studying some spells that might help us to get rid of the evil in the Horcruxes,” he
replied “Plus some other ones I found.”

“Like what?” said Ron excitedly.

“Well,” said Harry, “there’s this spell that can make you disappear. Not permanently mind you,
just for a bit so that you can change positions or something. I remembered Dumbledore using it at
the Ministry one time and looked it up”

“Wicked!” said Ron, “Show me!”

Harry stood in front of Ron and concentrated. He thought of the word *‘defluo’* and
disappeared before Ron’s eyes. Ron stood up with an amazed look on his face.

“Wow Harry!” he exclaimed, “You have to teach me that one! Do you have any idea what I could do
to Fred and George? This will be fan-bloody-tastic…Harry?” Harry had snuck up right behind Ron and
let the spell go.

“Sure Ron, anything you want” he said quietly in Ron’s ear, grinning.

“ARGHH!!!” shouted Ron “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Harry burst out laughing at the look on
Ron’s face, and it was a good five minutes before they could continue a normal conversation.

“So,” said Ron after finally containing himself “Care to share any other new spells?”

“Well, most of them I’ve been studying are to help destroy the Horcrux. So I’ve got this one
that destroys the evil called *‘deletum’* and one that purifies the object or area afterwards
called *‘defaeco’*. I really hope they work though; there isn’t really anything you can
practice on. I tried some evil books in here, but they’re pretty wussy.” Harry explained

“Yeah,” agreed Ron, “I really hope they work too…or we’re buggered! What we need to do is learn
some really good jinxes to get old Snake-face.”

“Yeah I know. I have this one called *‘Suffoco’*. It’s supposed to choke people. You can
control it though, not like the unforgivable curses,” said Harry.

“What, you mean you could choke a little bit to piss someone off, and if they piss you off you
can kill ‘em?” asked Ron.

“Basically,” said Harry with a grin. “When we get to Hogwarts we should practice some more. I
bet the restricted section has a bunch of cool spells in it.” Ron readily agreed to this
proposition, as long as they could find some more prank jinxes.

“Hey Ron, would you help me practice legilimens? “ asked Harry. Ron looked slightly nervous at
this prospect.

“It’s ok, I’m really crap at it. You can just think of something, NOT FOOD, and I’ll try to see
what it is you’re thinking about.” said Harry.

“Well…ok.” agreed Ron “But because I’m being your guinea pig for the morning, you get to make
lunch. I hate cooking…”

They spent the rest of the morning in silence except for Harry occasionally calling out “Turning
Fred’s hair pink” or “Percy covered in painful boils” By the time Harry had to leave the study to
make lunch; he was pleased with his progress. Ron was simply amazed by it.

“I can’t believe you got everyone of them Harry!” he said excitedly “That’ll show Snape!” He sat
down at the dining room table as Harry made his way into the kitchen. He heard a voice in the
dining room that made his stomach flip over.

“Got every one of what Ron?” asked Hermione. Harry was suddenly seething inside. How could she
act so nicely to him after last night? Did she still have feelings for Ron after kissing him like
that? He thought of her kissing Ron the way she had kissed him last night. His anger was bubbling
up quickly and he knew he had to escape. He could hear Ron explaining the morning’s events to
Hermione, which he tried to block out. He tried to calm himself down and listen to reason. ‘You’re
acting nice to Ron too,” he thought ‘you stabbed him in the back just as much as she did.’ He made
lunch quickly and set it on the table. He mumbled something about needing to read some more and
took his sandwich to the garden.

He was thankful for the fresh air outside. He sat at the bottom on the garden and ate his
sandwich whilst looking at the butterflies fly around the garden. He started to feel at peace and
closed his eyes. He wasn’t lying out there too long before he felt someone sit next to him. He
tensed up as he realised who it was.

“Hermione,” he said, without opening his eyes.

“Hello Harry,” she said “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about last night. I don’t want you
thinking I’m some sort of…tart. Ron and I aren’t going out. He wants to, but I don’t. I’ve tried to
tell him but…there never seems to be a good enough time when I know he won‘t start shouting.” her
voice trailed off, and she shrugged not knowing what to say next.

“I won’t do anything to hurt Ron. I took advantage of you last night and…” Harry began to
explain but Hermione’s interrupted, her voice cold and angry.

“Don’t you try and pull that on me Potter,” she said “Do you think if I hadn’t wanted you to
kiss me last night that I would have let you? What do you take me for? Do you think I’m an absolute
idiot?!”

“You…wanted to kiss me?” asked Harry, momentarily forgetting himself. “You know something
Hermione. I don’t know what’s going on between you and me. But what I do know is that Ron is my
best mate. Nothing is going to wreck that, not even you. We need to go back to normal and pretend
this didn’t happen. For his sake”

“Harry… I love Ron too. He’s my best friend as well as yours. I’m sorry that this has upset you
so much. If it’s what you want then we’ll forget it ever happened,” she said stonily. She stood up
and walked back into the house without a backwards glance. Harry felt something within him shatter
at the sight of her so despondent. He sat there for a while longer thinking about her. The Hermione
he and Ron had rescued from the troll in their first year. The Hermione who had been petrified by
the basilisk in their second year. He replayed the hug they had shared back then and wondered at
its innocence. The Hermione who had been so worried about him in their third year and had rescued
Buckbeak and Sirius with him. The Hermione in their fourth year who had stopped Rita Skeeter from
spreading lies about Harry. The Hermione in their fifth year, who came to the ministry to fight
with him even though she believed he was mistaken. Hermione last year, how she had fought the death
eaters and knew that he wouldn’t be returning to Hogwart’s almost as if she had read his mind. He
replayed her words in his head ‘do you think if I hadn’t wanted you to kiss me last night that I
would have let you?’ and allowed a small smile to cross his face… She had wanted to kiss him, she
liked him the way he liked her. He was a little nervous at this prospect, but it was comforting to
know that she felt the same way. His smile grew wider and wider as he stared up at the clouds and
marvelled at their beauty.

*************************************************************************************

The air was still and silent outside the gates of Hogwarts. Ron, Hermione and Harry were all
crouched uncomfortably underneath the invisibility cloak waiting for the approach of Professor
McGonagall.

“Can we get out of this bloody thing now?” moaned Ron “It’s not that fun when there’s three of
us cramped in here.” Harry knew that Hermione would say that it was too dangerous to be out here in
the open, but Harry couldn’t stand being this close to her anymore. He could smell the light scent
of her hair; it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“I’m with you mate,” Harry agreed “Way too hot in here.” Without waiting for Hermione’s response
he whipped the cloak off of them. Ron looked up at the sky at stretched comically. Hermione looked
at Harry with narrowed eyes.

“Honestly Harry,” she scolded, “You shouldn’t have done that, who knows who could have been
watching the gates!” Harry sighed and stretched a little.

“I wonder what’s taking so long,” complained Ron “It’s getting a bit chilly out here.” Hermione
rolled her eyes.

“Ron, Professor McGonagall is getting older, not to mention everything she’s been though the
past few years. I’m sure you can wait a few more minutes.” A growl filled the air and Harry began
to laugh.

“Should have thought you’d be thinking with your stomach Ron,” Harry laughed. Ron started
laughing too, but then stopped looking confused.

“Uh, that actually wasn’t me Harry,” said Ron, then looked at Hermione and started laughing.
“Honestly Hermione! That kind of stuff isn’t lady like!” Harry and Ron both began laughing
hysterically until a fierce growl cut through their laughter… They all stopped quickly, Ron with a
look of comic terror splashed across his face. Harry looked around quickly and noticed that it was
unnaturally silent all of a sudden. The usual buzz from the surrounding forest had stopped, even
the wind seemed to have stilled in fear. He spotted a pair of red eyes from a bush 200m away from
the gate. He was about to say something when a deafening roar filled the air and the red eyes began
speeding towards him…

*************************************************************************************



9. The first attack of many
---------------------------

“RUN!!” Harry shouted to Ron and Hermione. All three began running as fast as they could towards
the school gates. Fear clutched at Harry’s chest. What was that thing and why was it waiting
outside the school gates? He suddenly remembered that he had to send a patronus to warn Professor
McGonagall. He tried to think of something happy, but it was extremely hard considering the
circumstances. He saw Hermione running ahead of him and thought of their kiss… He took a breath and
shouted *“Expecto patronum!”* His silver stag bounded out of his wand and across the school
grounds. Heavy thuds were approaching quickly and he could feel a hot breath on the back on his
neck. Without thinking he suddenly ducked and rolled to the side, bringing his wand up to face
whatever it was that was chasing him. A hot rancid breath was suddenly in his face and he found
himself being flung to the side like a rag doll, his wand leaving his hand… A piercing pain ripped
at his side and he yelled in agony. He heard Hermione and Ron shouting his name and knew they would
come for him. ‘No,’ he thought ‘I won’t let her get hurt.’ He looked past the beast on top him and
saw his wand lying on the ground and inch away, he concentrated on summoning it to him but his
thoughts were interrupted.

“Harry Potter,” the beasts’ guttural voice said “It’s a shame I can’t hurt you…but your friends…
Oh yes, your friends will hurt and bleed…and change.” Fenrir Greyback shoved himself off of Harry
and ran towards Ron and Hermione. Rage ripped through Harry as he finally grabbed his wand. He
stood up shakily and could hear Ron and Hermione’s frantic shouts of *‘stupefy’* and
*‘impedimenta’*, all of which missed Greyback as they were desperately trying to run away from
the bloodthirsty creature. He saw Ron grab Hermione’s arm began frantically running towards the
trees. Harry followed jumping over rocks and uprooted tree roots along his way, his chest ready to
explode and his side burning in agony.

He ran into a small clearing surrounded by trees and was surprised to find it silent and
deserted. He tried to quiet his breathing as he scanned the area, desperately looking for Ron or
Hermione. His foot squelched beneath him. He looked down, horrified to see a rabbit torn to shreds
and barely recognisable under his foot. The metallic smell of blood filled his senses and made his
stomach clench. He walked quietly through the clearing, listening intently. He saw a dark spot
ahead of him and ran towards it. ‘A cave,’ he thought to himself ‘Why on Earth would they think to
hide in a bloody cave?’ He entered the cave and was in absolute darkness. He couldn’t even see his
hand in front of his face. He smelt a rancid smell of sweat mingled with stale blood. He knew
Greyback was near, but where? He couldn’t risk lighting his wand. He moved to the side until he
felt a solid, smooth wall. He began inching along it, hoping with everything he had that Ron and
Hermione were ok. His hand suddenly felt something beneath his hand that felt familiar. He ran his
hand over it and smiled to himself in the darkness. How was her hair always so soft? He felt her
hand frantically reach for him and she drew him close to her. They stood along the wall of the
cave…waiting. The familiar metallic scent alerted Harry that Greyback was approaching. A large
boulder was in the middle of the cave and he knew that this was their last chance. Without saying a
word he pushed himself quickly between Ron and Hermione and grabbed the sleeves of their shirts. He
pulled them quickly to the boulder and made them hide behind it.

Just then the red eyes spotted him and a roar echoed through the tunnel. Greyback’s rasping
voice followed after and a chill went up Harry’s spine.

“I’m going to have to hurt you now Potter,” he said “I won’t kill you…but it will be very
amusing when the world learns that the chosen one is a werewolf! Your Mum and Dad would have been
so proud…” He laughed gratingly and began to rush towards him. Harry felt anger burning through his
veins. He waited until Greyback was almost upon him before quickly ducking under him and leading
him away from the boulder. A flash of triumph went through his mind and he began to run quickly
through the cave. He was just thinking of an attack move once he got into the clearing when his
foot tripped on a rock in the dark. For a wonderful moment he thought that he could regain his
balance and continue…

He slammed into the ground hard and felt the breath forced out of his body. He tried to get up
but found that his head was spinning and his chest tight and burning. He went to roll over but
suddenly felt a crushing pain descend upon him, and razor sharp claws piercing his skin. Droplets
of rotten saliva landed on the back of his neck. There was no more time... he had to do something.
‘Got to find my wand’ he thought frantically and began running his hands along the floor of the
cave in desperation.

“NO!” screamed Hermione, coming out from behind the boulder, Ron following defiantly behind her.
Greyback leapt off Harry and charged menacingly towards Hermione. Harry still couldn‘t find his
wand. He heard Greyback screech in pain as Hermione and Ron began firing hexes in the direction of
the red eyes. He concentrated hard on where he thought Greyback was, praying that he could save
them in time and not hurt his friends. He thought *‘petrificus totalus’* and managed to stop
Greyback just before he struck Ron. He knew it wouldn’t last long and quickly cast a binding charm.
Hermione and Ron decided to cast one also…just to be on the safe side.

“Lumos,” said Hermione, and a wonderful light broke through the cave. Harry spotted his wand and
reached towards it. He was lying on the floor breathing heavily as Hermione and Ron ran towards
him.

“Nice to see we’re still popular then,” said Ron.

“Harry!” exclaimed Hermione worriedly “Are you hurt? Let me see…”

“Why did you hide in a cave?” groaned Harry, “What if it had been a really short one? Where
would you have hidden?” Ron looked rather sheepish and pretended that the wall of the cave was
extremely interesting.

“Well it was nothing to do with me,” said Hermione “I was being dragged along by prince charming
here and didn’t have much of a choice in the matter,” Ron decided to defend himself, and a
bickering match ensued. Harry grinned in spite of himself and leant against Ron and Hermione’s
shoulders as they walked back to the school gates. He looked up and saw Professor McGonagall, a
huge figure that could only be Hagrid and various others hurrying towards them. Harry breathed a
sigh of relief. It was only then that he noticed Hermione was clinging on to him. He tried to move
but it just made her hold tighter. Resigned, he closed his eyes. He supposed that regardless of
what had happened between them, she would always worry about him like this. He grinned to himself,
feeling relieved that she wasn’t hurt.

“I hate to say I told you so,” Hermione began.

“Yeah yeah,” Harry and Ron replied in unison. Hermione grinned a little and pulled Ron next to
her. She wrapped an arm around Ron and hugged them both tightly to her. Harry wondered if he could
ignore the attraction between them forever. He wondered what would happen to the three of them if
his and Hermione’s friendship didn’t survive. What if she gave up on him and just went out with Ron
instead? How could he bare it? Harry quickly put these thoughts out of his mind and grinned at Ron
and Hermione. They were his friends. He would try hard for their sakes…and for the sake of
everything that was relying on them. There the trio sat waiting for the teachers to arrive,
breathing heavily and undoubtedly looking forward to their first hospital visit of the week.

*************************************************************************************



10. An important conversation
-----------------------------

A/N- Thanks to all of you that have been reading and reviewing J I got a few reviews that
wondered about Harry being turned into a werewolf. That was just a threat that Greyback made, if
you read the chapter closer you’ll see that Harry was never bitten. Also, the heir of Ravenclaw is
*not* Hermione. This is because she is in Gryffindor and her parents are muggles, so no real tie to
Rowena Ravenclaw. Any other questions just ask, I hope this answered a few of them! Anyway…On with
the story!!

**Islanzadi** J

-x-

Harry’s wounds were quickly mended and before they knew it Professor McGonagall was leading them
to the Great Hall for the evening meal. Harry stomach was in knots, it was obvious that they
weren’t at school this year and undoubtedly everyone would be asking him why they were back. He
thought of having to see Ginny for a week and he was filled with dread. But what was worrying him
the most, which surprised him greatly, was that Ron and Hermione would pick up where they left off
now that they were back at school. He tried to tell himself that this was simply ridiculous, but
the worrying wouldn’t stop. ‘How can this kind of stuff be bothering me when I’m going to face
Voldemort soon?’ His thoughts stopped abruptly as he entered the great hall and made his way to the
Gryffindor table. He felt everyone’s eyes on him, and looked up to see Ginny staring intently at
him. They all sat down and Ron began to smile at everyone before helping himself to the shepherd’s
pie.

“Harry,” whispered Hermione “Look who isn’t at the Slytherin table.” Harry looked over and
noticed that as well as Malfoy being missing, Crabbe and Goyle were too.

“Gone to join their mate I’ll bet,” he said bitterly. Harry tried to eat some dinner but found
that he had no appetite. He waited for Ron to finally finish dinner before they made their way to
their rooms. Outside the Great Hall Neville and Luna approached them.

“Hello Harry,” said Neville “Come back to school then?”

“Not exactly,” replied Harry, “Why don’t you come to our rooms and we can talk there”

“That’s a good idea,” said Luna “People are being rather nosy right now, especially that girl
right there!” Luna pointed towards a girl desperately trying to listen in to their conversation. It
looked suspiciously like Ginny but she was gone so quickly that they couldn’t quite tell. Ron burst
out laughing at Luna’s frankness.

“You sure made that girl run of pretty quick!” he said still chortling to himself as they walked
to their rooms. Luna smiled vaguely in Ron’s direction whilst absentmindedly touching her bottle
cap necklace. After a lot of walking they finally reached a huge portrait of a witch tied to a
stake.

“Hello there!” she called merrily “You must be our guests! Hurry up dears I have a lot to be
getting on with. What’s the password?”

“Gobbledegook!” said Ron enthusiastically.

“Ah yes!” replied the witch “One of my favourites. Well come on in, come on in…” The portrait
swung open to admit them into quite a cosy set up. There was a small living room with couches,
chairs and a fireplace. They followed a hallway to a study area, their bedrooms and a bathroom.
They made their way back into the living room and before long it was looking thoroughly lived
in.

“So what’s been going on here then? Who’s the new DADA teacher?” asked Ron interestedly. Neville
rolled his eyes, but it was Luna who answered.

“This rather curious woman, she seems perfectly lovely but she says some very strange things
sometimes…She seems to live it her own world. It looks rather fun though. Her name’s Miss.
Periwinkle.” Ron started laughing at the obvious similarities between Luna and Miss. Periwinkle,
but quickly stopped at Neville’s frantic hand movements behind Luna’s back.

“Miss Periwinkle?” Harry asked, “Hardly sounds professional”

“Yeah what does she teach you to do? Hear an unforgivable and quickly retaliate…with cute fluffy
bunnies coming out the end of your wand!” said Ron laughing.

“Actually Ronald,” said Luna in a surprisingly stern voice “If you didn’t judge people before
you know them then your opinion might actually be valuable.” The room was silent and Harry was
staring open mouthed at Luna. Everyone looked at each other for a few moments before Ron finally
mumbled an apology to Luna. Luna appeared satisfied after this and their conversation turned to a
more agreeable subject.

“You’ll never guess who’s going out with Lavender Brown?” Neville asked them. When no one could
guess correctly and they were all getting mildly irritated he finally answered “Colin Creevey!”
This announcement was met with disbelief, then yells of disgust.

“That is well wrong!” said Ron, “What does she see in him?”

“Maybe she likes having her picture taken” Hermione retorted, which earned a laugh from
Harry.

“What does it matter anyway Ronald?” asked Luna “Do you still like her?” Ron looked from Luna to
Hermione, then to the wall very quickly. Hermione suddenly found her hands very interesting. Harry
watched Hermione, looking for a clue as to how she felt about Ron now she was back in school.
Neville was simply confused. Luna kept looking at Ron until he finally answered.

“No Luna, I don’t like Lavender. It’s just, you know, Colin Creevey!! I thought she was sinking
low with me… but Colin!” He made a look of disgust.

“Oh Ron,” Luna smiled. Ron smiled too, he much preferred Ron to Ronald. “She didn’t sink low
with you. Actually I personally think you sunk low with her.” Ron puffed up his chest and looked
very pleased by this comment. Harry looked from Hermione to Neville, not quite sure what to make of
it.

“I’m quite hungry,” said Ron quickly, feeling uncomfortable, “I think I’m gonna go to the
kitchen. Anyone want anything?” Everyone smiled at this expected announcement.

“No thanks Ron,” said Hermione “But come back soon, we should really go and see Hagrid tonight”
Ron nodded in agreement as Neville and Luna stood up to leave.

“I’m rather hungry too” said Luna, “Besides, I’ve heard that the kitchens used to be a resting
place for travelling gnomes. I’m quite curious to see if there’s any evidence of that…” Ron looked
quickly back at Harry and Hermione, who were both trying to cover their laughter with various
cushions. Ron, Luna and Neville left their rooms, leaving Harry and Hermione alone…

They looked nervously at each other, both thinking the same thing ‘Just act normally’.

“I can’t believe that Greyback escaped,” said Hermione “That must mean that someone was out
there to help him.”

“I was thinking the same thing, probably another werewolf. Why would they wait outside the
school though? The chance of a pupil ever going out of the gates is small…” Harry replied.

“We’ll figure it out. At least the teachers know now though, they can keep an eye out. Not to
mention warn Lupin to stay away from the school…” Harry nodded in agreement then they lapsed into
silence again.

“So…” Harry finally said “Do you want to come to the room of requirement with me? I was just
going to see if the Horcrux is still in the same place…I don’t want to do anything yet.” Harry half
wished that Hermione would say no, just he wouldn’t have to feel like he was on edge all
afternoon.

“Sure,” agreed Hermione, hoping that by having something to do they might actually have a decent
conversation. They walked towards the door, both trying to keep a reasonable distance from each
other.

After locating the Horcrux Harry and Hermione decided to go their own separate ways for a while.
Hermione headed for the library, and Harry decided to take a walk on the grounds. He was walking
down the hallway when he saw Luna walking towards him.

“Hello Harry,” she said in her dreamy voice “Where are you going?”

“Just for a walk, do you want to come?” he said, surprising himself at the question. Luna beamed
at him and linked her arm through his. They walked to the grounds in silence. Harry was looking
around and remembering happier times. He spotted the tree that he, Hermione and Ron often sat under
and smiled to himself. It seemed so long ago; everything was such a mess now. Harry was brought out
of his reverie by Luna’s voice.

“You have to kill Voldemort this year Harry,” she said in an oddly conversational tone. Harry
looked at her surprised at the use of Voldemort’s name and grinned.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, “I hope you’re not making fun of me…”

“No!” said Harry quickly “No I would never, it’s just that everyone always avoids these kind of
subjects and when they do want to talk about it, it’s quite annoying. I don’t mind talking to you
about it though. Hermione and Ron too of course.” Luna smiled vaguely and seemed to be lost in
thought for a while.

“We need to go to the ministry,” said Luna suddenly. It almost sounded like she was talking to
herself so Harry was unsure how to respond.

“Uh…what?” asked Harry.

“The ministry. Before you fight Voldemort you and I need to go to the room with the voices and
the veil, remember?” she asked, seemingly urgent.

“Why?” asked Harry, sounding slightly alarmed.

“It will answer the questions you‘ve had for a long time. It will give you the strength and
power to defeat him.” she said in a matter of fact tone, much like the way one would say that snow
is cold. “I have to go with you Harry, we’re the only ones connected to it. You see?” Harry stared
at her dumbfounded. ‘Has she finally gone stark raving mad?’ he thought to himself.

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to believe me now. But once we’ve been there you’ll see.” said
Luna.

They walked for a while longer and Harry found himself telling her of the place they were
staying in and their general mission, though not, of course, anything about the Horcruxes. He found
himself asking her to come and stay with them, and to his surprise he actually wanted her there. He
found her reassuring, some of the things she said were extremely odd but she also had a refreshing
perspective. Luna seemed excited about the idea, though not entirely sure what her father would
think. They fell into a companionable silence once again and Harry felt a little weight lift off of
him. ‘It’s the way it’s supposed to be’ he thought to himself, and knew it to be true within his
heart. Harry was surprised when Luna stopped suddenly, she looked nervous and kept twisting her
necklace. Finally she spoke-

“Does Ron know that you and Hermione love each other?”

Harry’s mouth practically hit the floor at this frank statement and Luna began to laugh so hard
that she was eventually on the floor. Harry stood there for a while looking around to see if any
other students could see Luna rolling around on the floor. Eventually Luna stood up and stopped
laughing.

“Your face! I’m sorry Harry that must have been quite unexpected. People think I don’t notice
anything, but I notice more than most people,” she said. Harry had managed to close his mouth but
he was still reeling from her revelation. ‘How could she know?’ ‘What if she tells Ron?’ and ‘What
the bloody hell do you mean love?’ were thoughts that kept spinning around and around in his
mind.

“Don’t worry Harry,” Luna continued, “I won’t tell Ron, but I think you should soon. It’s not
very fair on him.”

“We haven’t even done anything. Well, we kissed once but we decided that it was best for Ron if
we just stopped. I can’t upset Ron, I won’t.” Harry replied and felt relieved that he could finally
talk about this with someone.

“Ron will be angry, but he’ll get over it. It might take a few weeks, or maybe even a few years.
But you two are friends, and in the end neither or you will give that up for anything.” said Luna
distractedly. Harry was shocked by everything that Luna was saying, but at the same time he felt a
little hope. Could it be possible for him to have Hermione and Ron? A thought suddenly struck Harry
and he knew at once he was right. He began to grin and Luna looked at him as if he were the one
going mad.

“You like Ron,” said Harry, his grin getting wider and wider. Luna flushed furiously and began
twisting her bottle cap necklace faster and faster.

“Please don’t say anything Harry,” she said pleadingly. Harry felt a little pity for her; he
supposed that people would make fun of Luna mercilessly.

“Luna, we’re friends. I won’t say anything, you can trust Me.” said Harry, and earned a bright
smile and a hug from Luna.

“I’m glad we’re friends Harry,” said Luna dreamily. Harry laughed a little and replied-

“Me too Loony,” which earned him a flick on the forehead. He laughed even harder at the odd
gesture as they walked back into the school, oblivious to the other students gossiping about them
and a possible love affair.

*************************************************************************************

After visiting Hagrid and seeing more creatures that made them question Hagrid’s sanity, they
were finally sitting in their quarters. Ron had asked Dobby to bring up dinner for them, and Dobby
was only too willing to oblige. They ate in silence and finally, full and content, lounged on the
couches.

“So…” said Harry unsure of how exactly to begin “Luna’s coming to stay with us in the cottage…”
Ron stared at Harry, his ears going slightly pink while Hermione looked furious.

“You do realise,” she said to him icily “That the whole school thinks you two are going
out?”

“Well obviously if I’m talking to a girl I’m going out with her,” said Harry sarcastically.
Hermione lowered her eyes a little and began to fidget.

“So why’s Loony coming with us then?” asked Ron. Harry thought about how he had felt when he had
invited Luna and realised that maybe Ron and Hermione wouldn’t understand him. Either that or
they’d think he’d gone completely mad.

“Well… remember that archway in the ministry we found? The one with the voices?” said Harry
“Well she seems to think that me and her need to go there. So it’s easier if she stays with us
while we try to figure out how to get in there safely.” Harry decided that this was true; he had
just discreetly left out the parts that made him look like an idiot.

“So,” said Ron “What’s next on the agenda? After this Horcrux you two go to the ministry. Then
we go to Godric’s hollow…then what? Any chance of us taking a trip to that new sweet shop in Diagon
alley? I heard they have the greatest stuff! Even a gobstopper that can last for ten years! Cool
eh?”

“Well…I don’t really want to go to Godric’s hollow right now. I thought I did at the end of last
term, but the time just doesn’t feel right. I don’t know how to explain it…” Ron was looking
completely confused, but Hermione met his eyes and smiled at him. Harry felt warmth fill his chest
as he smiled back.

“Whenever you’re ready to go we’ll be there Harry,” she said. Harry decided that this was enough
for him for one night. He stood up, said his good nights and found his bed, which he had been
looking forward to all day. He was just getting himself comfortable when he realised that he had
left Ron and Hermione alone, he contemplated going back out there but couldn’t find a good enough
excuse. He had yet another restless night…

Hermione sat on the couch idly flipping through a book, her mind reading a sentence before
flitting back to Harry. She tried to concentrate but couldn’t. She finally put the book down and
closed her eyes. ‘I wonder if Harry’s talked to Ginny since he’s been back?’ she thought to
herself, and found herself getting angry at the thought. She hoped that the only reason he didn’t
want to be with her was because of Ron, and he wasn’t just trying to get rid of her by using a
pathetic excuse. She was just thinking back to their last conversation…analysing it as usual, when
she felt herself being pressed into the couch. Her eyes flew open just as she felt a pair of warm
and wet lips pressing themselves on her. She tried to move but was pinned beneath him. She lay
their shocked for a moment thinking ‘Ron? What is he trying to do? This is disgusting!’ Her
paralysis finally broke when she felt his tongue try to get into her mouth, without great
precision. She pushed him off quickly and clambered off the couch. She tried to resist the urge to
wipe her mouth off because she knew it would hurt his feelings. They stood their staring at each
other, Ron with a slightly hurt expression on his face.

“Wasn’t it any good?” he asked, and Hermione felt guilty.

“Oh Ron it’s not that, it’s just…” Hermione started but was interrupted by Ron’s angry
voice.

“I mean, that’s what you wanted wasn’t it? You’ve been bugging me about this for ages Hermione.
You attack me with birds and try to get me jealous…” he said, his voice getting steadily louder and
louder “Now what?! I actually decide to do what you want me to do and kiss you…BUT YOU DON’T WANT
THAT EITHER! WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

Hermione stood their completely shocked. Ron was red in the face and looking deathly
embarrassed. She felt awful. He was right, she had been asking him to do this for a long time, but
her feelings had changed. How did she really expect him to act when she didn’t tell him
anything?

“I’m sorry Ron,” said Hermione, tears beginning to form in her eyes “You weren’t bad, it’s just
that, well…”

“Well what Hermione? You fancy someone else now? Who is it this time? Krum come back into your
life now, eh?” he said, all his usual good humour lost and replaced with fury. He could see in her
face that he was right, and he felt humiliated.

“N-no.” Hermione stammered “You know Viktor and I are just friends Ron,”

“Who is it then?” he asked. Hermione looked down at the floor and felt her hot tears streaming
down her face.

“Ron…” she said “I’m sorry, I should have told you that I didn’t feel that way anymore. I just
didn’t want to hurt you. I thought that it would just go away but…”

“Who is it?” he asked again, hating himself because he felt bad about Hermione crying. Hermione
still said nothing and Ron finally gave up.

“You know what Hermione. I’ll find out who he is eventually, we’re ‘friends’ remember? You
should have told me before I made a complete idiot of myself! I can’t believe that you would keep
me in the dark about something like this. I can’t believe that you’d let me go on thinking
something might happen with us, when you know it’s not going to. I’m going to bed…” said Ron
angrily, and then stormed off to his room, leaving both Hermione and his chocolate frogs.

*************************************************************************************



11. The tiara
-------------

Harry awoke the next morning and got ready ‘today’s the day’ he thought to himself. He left his
bedroom to find Ron sitting on the couch staring at the wall. He looked upset and Harry immediately
knew something had happened between him and Hermione. His thoughts seemed to crash in on him and he
could hardly breathe. ‘Oh God, does he know?’ was his primary thought, and he sat down gingerly
next to him. He didn’t know how long they sat in silence for before Ron finally spoke.

“She wants someone else Harry,” he said miserably. “I tried to kiss her last night. I though
that’s what she wanted but she just leapt away from me like I was diseased…” Harry felt a mixture
of anger, triumph, relief and guilt. He didn’t know what to say. If he tried to comfort him then he
would feel like he was backstabbing him. If he tried to say everything would be ok, he would be
lying. He certainly didn’t want to tell him to give it another go. He also felt like punching him
for kissing Hermione, which made him feel awful. In the end he settled with the best thing he could
dome up with.

“I’m sorry mate,” he said, and wished that Ron knew how truly sorry he was. Ron nodded
numbly.

“I don’t want to lose her over this,” Ron continued “We’re mates you know? I want us to always
be mates, but I just feel so angry right now.” Harry nodded dumbly and joined Ron in staring at the
wall.

“I’ve liked her for so long Harry,” he said “I want to still be friends with her, but I don’t
know if I can just turn my feelings off. I just…she made me look like a total prat last night. Why
couldn’t she have just told me?”

“Maybe she didn’t think you two could be friends if she told you that. Your friendship means a
lot to her Ron. Maybe she didn’t want to risk that…” said Harry, hoping that there was some way
their friendship could be salvaged.

“We’ll always be friends. I just don’t know how I can forgive her. If I ever find out who that
other bloke is…he’ll be sorry. God Harry…” groaned Ron “I don’t know if I can handle seeing her
with someone else right now.”

“Don’t worry about that Ron.” said Harry. Ron looked up and smiled at Harry, and he felt a stab
of guilt pierce his chest. “Just see how it goes. See if you two can try to be friends. It’ll be
worth it, after all we were all friends before this all happened. We can still be friends.” Ron
nodded his head in agreement and stood up.

“I’m gonna go to breakfast, doubt I can eat though. I said I’d meet Luna down there…apparently
she made me something. Totally mad that one,” he said, and he made his way to the door. ‘It’s
really bad if he’s not willing to eat because of Hermione’ Harry thought, and felt like the worst
friend on earth. At the same time his feelings wouldn’t go away. Maybe in a couple of months they
would, the way they had with Ginny and Cho he thought hopefully. A little voice in the back of his
mind said to him ‘but will it this time?’ he pushed it quickly to the back of his mind of made his
way to the Great Hall, wondering if there was any point in trying to eat when he was this
nervous.

The trio walked down the hallway on the seventh floor towards the room of requirement. The
tension was audible. Ron and Hermione had hardly said a word to each other. ‘At least they’re not
tearing each other’s throats out,’ Harry thought. They finally came upon the area they were looking
for, marked by the tapestry of the dancing troll. They all began to pace up and down, thinking the
same thing.

‘I need somewhere to hide something…’

After a few paces back and forth, a door appeared. They all looked at each other and steeled
themselves to go inside. They walked inside and Ron gasped.

“This place is huge! Look at all the junk everywhere! Look at this! Who do you reckon got
whacked with this then, eh?” said Ron excitedly, indicating towards the blood stained axe Harry had
seen last year. Hermione smiled at Ron’s eagerness and Ron abruptly stopped.

“Well, uh, back to work then.” he said stiffly ‘Where is this thing?” They walked towards one of
the many alleyways and began making their way towards the Horcrux. Harry could feel a ball of
nerves in the pit of his stomach. They walked for some time before finding the old blistered
cupboard, with the ugly bust on top. Ron looked from Harry to Hermione, seemingly speechless.

“Well,” said Harry “It’s now or never I suppose.” He reached up and took the bust down from the
cupboard. He looked at Hermione and Ron and then tried to steady his breathing. He reached his hand
towards the tiara…and noticed that the lights seemed to flicker a little. After they steadied Harry
began moving his hand forward again. He felt something akin to pin and needles begin to travel from
the base of his spine to his shoulder blades. His hand was four inches away, and Ron thought he
heard something peculiar moving around the room. A look a fright passed across his face, but
Hermione and Harry seemed not to notice. Harry’s hand was three inches away…two inches away. The
lights began to flicker wildly once more and cast hideous shapes upon the wall. One inch…his
fingers brushed against it…

THUD

They stopped and looked around wildly, the room seemed to be much dimmer and the floor was
groaning beneath them.

“I, uh, think we should get out of here,” said Ron nervously. Harry shook his head in vigorous
agreement. He looked around quickly and then grabbed the tiara with one quick swoop. He hadn’t even
stood up before a sickly cracking sound began to come towards them. Ron and Hermione were frozen to
the spot, not wanting to see what was making the noise but unable to look away.

“RUN!” shouted Harry. That seemed to be enough for Ron and Hermione and they spun around quickly
and began to follow Harry’s lead. Harry shoved the tiara hurriedly into his robes and ran faster.
He determined that the cracking sound was coming from the floor…something was breaking through the
floorboards. It sounded like the wood was being tortured, screaming until the point of release. A
deafening bang filled the room and Harry knew at once that whatever had been trying to get up from
under them had done so successfully.

They took a left by a shelf of old sherry bottles and began running wildly down the alley.

“WHAT DO WE DO NOW HARRY?” shouted Ron in panic.

“WE NEED TO FIND THE EXIT! THE DOOR FACES NORTH, SO WE CAN USE OUR WANDS TO HELP!” Harry shouted
back.

“SHUT UP!” Hermione shouted. They both shut up quickly, which would have made Mrs Weasley
proud.

“I don’t think shouting out where we are is really going to help us at the moment.” she said
crossly. They jogged further up the alley when they heard a strange whooshing sound…and turned in
time to see the lights at the far end of the room powering down… They watched with fear and the
lights went out alley after alley.

“This is definitely not a good sign,” squeaked Ron, clutching onto Hermione.

“We have to run as far as we can while the lights at this end hold out, I have a feeling we’re
in some serious trouble after that…” said Harry quickly. So they continued to run through the
alleys. Before taking turns one of them would murmur *‘point me’* so that they were going in
the right direction. Finally Harry could see the door in the distance and felt relief spread
through him…then the lights went out.

*‘Lumos*,’ muttered Hermione. Harry turned around to thank her and stopped suddenly as he
saw their pale and scared faces. Harry could feel something cold tickling his neck. Without
thinking he spun around and thought *‘stupefy!’* A large crash echoed around the room and
whatever had been about to attack them fell into the piles of junk surrounding them. All three of
them ran quickly to the end of the alley. Harry could hear nothing but the beating of his heart in
his ears. Ron stopped a quickly grabbed the bloody axe with a grim smile, then continued following.
As they rounded the corner they stopped as they looked on in horror…

The floor was cracking right in front of them, and deathly white hands began to grab the
splintered wood. The crack was getting wider and wider with every second that passed, and arms
began to reach out. Harry and Ron leapt over the crack quickly. Hermione held her breath and jumped
over the crack too… but no sooner had she become airborne when she felt something grip at her foot.
She screamed in fear as she looked down and saw the things in the crack moving excitedly in her
direction. Harry spun around quickly and slid along the floor. His legs were hanging over the crack
and he could feel a painful pull at them. He grabbed Hermione roughly by the legs and threw her
over his shoulder. She landed with a thud on the other side and looked up, horrified to see Harry
half submerged in the crack. She rushed over and grabbed his hand quickly, trying to heave with all
of her might.

“Ron!” she shouted desperately “Help me!” Ron turned around and his eyes widened at the sight
before him. He rushed over to Hermione’s side and grabbed Harry’s arms. Together they pulled and
pulled, trying hard to ignore the yells of pain that were coming from Harry from being pulled to
both directions very violently. With a huge yell Ron yanked as hard as he could, and Harry was
free.

Harry quickly thrust his wand into the crack. He could feel something grab at his arm and try to
pull him in. Breathing quickly he thought *‘incendio’* and the white hands and arms began to
turn a sickly orange colour…the fire spread quickly and as Harry looked back he could see a trail
of fire around the room. He stood up frantically and gestured for them to continue running. He
could see the door… it was only a couple of metres away! Ron was shouting something but Harry could
only think of getting to the door. A metre away and a dull thus pierced Harry’s consciousness. He
looked around and saw that Ron had swung his axe into a grotesque creature towering over him. Harry
looked up with a look amazement and terror. The creatures’ face looked like it had been smashed to
pieces and stuck back together in an odd way. Its mouth looked like a bloody gash and as it opened
its mouth he thought he could hear people screaming within it. Harry ran towards Ron and shoved him
out of the way. He grabbed Hermione by the hand and yanked open the door. He thrust Hermione
through and Ron followed shortly after. Harry was about to jump out when he felt an icy cold vice
grip his leg. He looked down and saw the creatures’ hand on his ankle. The hand seemed like it was
pulsating, almost like worms crawling under the skin. Harry let out a soundless scream as he rose
his wand *‘Impedimenta!’* he thought wildly. The beasts’ hand released from Harry’s leg and
Harry kicked the disgusting face as hard as he could. It went flying towards the crack in the floor
and with an unearthly scream, was consumed by the fire.

They ran back to their rooms, hoping that no one would see them looking such a state. They flung
themselves through the door and Hermione quickly sealed it. Harry sat heavily on the couch and
closed his eyes, trying to get the image of the burning creature out of his mind.

“What the bloody hell was that thing?” asked Ron. Hermione and Harry both shrugged their
shoulders. Ron muttered to himself for a while, Harry could only here the odd words like ‘axe’,
‘take that’ and ‘bloody hell’. He pretty much got the picture though. Harry looked over at Hermione
and tried to see of she was hurt anywhere. Her hair was a bit dishevelled, but other than that she
looked ok. Harry felt completely relieved. He closed his eyes and pondered the thoughts that had
been flying wildly through his mind whilst they were running for their lives. He felt guilty. He
had been worried about Ron of course, but he had kept close to Hermione at all costs. Everything he
had done back there, he had done with her in his mind. He thought back to Luna’s words the night
before but quickly pushed them out of this mind. He wasn’t ready to think about that yet.
Hermione’s voice interrupted his thoughts and he looked up at her and felt a wild urge to just grab
her hand and run off with her. He tried to get a grip on himself and was suddenly aware of Hermione
looking at him with a slight smiled on her face.

“What?” Harry asked her.

“I asked if you felt up to destroying the Horcrux now. I don’t feel comfortable having that
thing with us…” Harry nodded his head in agreement and sat up on the couch. He retrieved the tiara
from his robes, and they all just stared at it for a while. Harry thought he could feel the magic
within the tiara, and then wondered if he was going mad.

“Can anyone else feel that?” Ron asked timidly. They both nodded their heads and Harry felt
mildly relieved.

“It’s almost like there’s magic in here,” said Harry “But I thought only people were really
magical…” He looked towards Hermione hoping she would know something about it.

“Well you know that there are magical things out there Harry! How can you think it’s only
people?” she asked him incredulously.

“That’s not the kind of magic that this is though,” said Harry, “I can feel the magic in here.
I’ve never felt that before…” To Harry’s surprise Ron was the one who explained it.

“I was always told that there is magic in everything around us,” he said, “Great witches and
wizards used to be able to put their magic into objects. So if ever they were weakened in some way
they could use the power in the object. But magic Harry, magic is all around us. The most powerful
witches and wizards in history have been able to use the magic from the smallest ant to the largest
tree. But not just anyone can use this kind of power. You have to get the permission from whatever
it is that has the magic you want, and that isn’t easy. It’s not well practiced for those reasons.
I remember Fred and George tried it when we were little and they set their hair on fire…”

Hermione stared at Ron open mouthed, Harry was just amazed by the whole concept and was staring
at the floor trying to imagine the great and powerful witches and wizards that he had never heard
of. Ron got sick of Hermione’s open-mouthed stare and finally retorted with -

“Don’t worry, I didn’t read a book or anything. My granddad used to tell us all kinds of stuff
when we were little…” He blushed a little when Hermione eyed him slightly suspiciously. Harry moved
the tiara to the top of his head and could feel his scalp prickling slightly. He tried to make his
mind blank and think of nothing but the tiara. He didn’t know how long he sat there for, but
eventually when the tiara was the only thing that filled his mind he uttered the words

*‘Liberatio pravus fascino’*

Harry felt his energy being drained from his body bit by bit. First his leg felt like he had a
jelly legs jinx cast on him. Then his arms started to feel quite numb and his head was getting
dizzy. He slumped back into the couch, his energy depleted. He could feel a slight burning
sensation from the tiara…but not uncomfortable enough to be painful. Harry’s vision swan before his
eyes, and just when he thought he was about to pass out the tiara fell from his head and slammed
onto the floor. Harry’s vision cleared, and he saw a green patch of mould growing on the wall
opposite him. He wondered if maybe he was going mad, then Hermione stood up and raised her wand.
‘No!’ Harry wanted to shout ‘Please don’t try and destroy it, I don’t want you to get hurt!’ but
when he opened his mouth a groan was all that came out. Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated
on the murky green patch. A cold chill filled the air, and then a bright white light flashed from
the end of Hermione’s wand and collided with the green. They watched, transfixed, as the green
turned to a light green, then a dull white. Then finally, it disappeared. Ron sighed deeply and
began to shake his head. She turned to the tiara and used the spell Harry had shown her, and purged
it of all evil.

“I don’t get it,” he said looking confused “I was expecting some huge fight to the death! Look
what happened to Dumbledore! It was harder getting the bloody thing than it was destroying it. Do
you think we did it right?”

“Yes Ron,” said Hermione patiently “Of course we did it right. I had a feeling this might
happen. I think it was easier for Harry to destroy the soul because Harry was the one that was
meant to do it. When Voldemort tried to kill Harry as a baby he ‘marked him as his equal.’ Not only
did he give Harry some of his powers but also he gave him access to the very thing that will
destroy him. Harry is the chosen one. I’m not usually into this prophecy nonsense but in this case
I’ll make an exception. Harry can destroy the Horcruxes because he was meant to do it.” She looked
at Harry meaningfully and he could see tears beginning to form “You will kill Voldemort Harry,
because you are meant to do it. He gave you the power when he gave you that scar, and his mistake
will be his downfall.” With that she rushed over to Harry and buried her face in his chest and
cried. Ron looked at Harry and rolled his eyes. He gave him a look as if to say ‘Why do girls
always get so emotional?’ Harry stroked Hermione’s hair, trying to comfort her but look nonchalant
at the same time. After a while her cries subsided to hiccups, and eventually she was silent. Ron
was feeling slightly uncomfortable at Hermione’s emotions and decided that it was about time to get
some lunch.

“I’m going to the kitchens,” he announced loudly “What do you two want?” They both shrugged
their shoulders and Ron mumbled something about having to get a bit of everything, and then left
the room.

The second the door shut Hermione looked up at Harry with watery eyes.

“I was so scared Harry. I’m so glad you’re ok…” Harry wrapped an arm around Hermione and tried
to be comforting…but he was just so tired. He tried to tighten his arm around her but his arms
wouldn’t move. He felt his eyes closing out of exhaustion but didn’t want Hermione to be
worried.

“I know,” he mumbled “I was scared of losing you. It’s ok now though…s’ok…” and with that he
fell into a deep sleep which he most definitely needed. Hermione looked at his sleeping face a
smiled, feeling lighter than she had done if the last couple of days. She decided to take a walk
while Harry was sleeping, so she quietly crept around to get her cloak, and then slipped through
the door.

She walked to the lake and was thinking of the times that they had all spent sitting by it when
they had been at school. She smiled to herself as she remembered Harry rescuing both Ron and
Gabrielle Delacour during the second task of the Triwizard tournament. Just like Harry, always the
hero... She heard someone approaching her from behind, and turned around clutching her wand. She
wasn't sure whether to put it away or hold it tighter as Ginny stalked towards her.

"Hermione! I was hoping to catch you," she said smiling. Hermione lowered her wand and
returned Ginny's smile. "Why haven't any of you come to see me? We're supposed to
be friends you know, but you've all been hiding away since you got here!"

"Sorry Ginny. We meant to, we've just had so much to do since we got here that we
haven't found the time,” said Hermione apologetically.

"But not too busy to see Neville and Luna?" said Ginny, and crossed her arms
defensively. Hermione rolled her eyes. She really didn't come for a walk to have an argument
with Ginny.

"Neville and Luna stopped by on the night we arrived, but we haven't been going out of
our way to meet up with them. Like I said, we've been quite busy." said Hermione, sounding
final on the matter.

"He's not been too busy to see Luna though, has he?" said Ginny, her eyes
narrowing "Everyone says they're going out now. I don't believe it mind you. You would
be walking around here with red puffy eyes if he'd decided to go out with her."

"Ginny, I really don't want to discuss this with you," said Hermione, trying to
keep the anger out of her voice "If you want to know why Harry hasn't come to see you then
I suggest you go and ask him, not come and make snide remarks to me. We're friends at the
moment, nothing more so you needn't worry about it."

"At the moment?" said Ginny and started to laugh, "So you actually think Harry
might be attracted to you? Come on Hermione, you're his best friend, nothing more. You'd
better start getting over him."

"Ginny," said Hermione warningly "You and I have always been friends, and if you
want to keep it that way then you'll stop this nonsense. I'm sorry if you're hurt about
you and Harry breaking up, but there's no need to take it out on me." Ginny raised her
wand threateningly and pointed it towards Hermione. Naturally, Hermione did the same. They stood
there for a few moments staring at each other...

"Ginny," said Hermione angrily "I doubt Harry will find you hexing his best
friend very attractive. There's no need for this, put your wand down. We're supposed to be
friends, remember?" Ginny stared at Hermione for a while longer, and then lowered her wand
quickly.

“He’ll come back to me once this is all over. I know he will. I think that you’d better start
thinking that way too. It’ll hurt you less in the long run.” she said furiously and stormed off.
Hermione was left standing there rather shocked at Ginny’s actions. She had a horrible feeling that
things between them were only going to get worse. The happy feeling she had earlier was replaced,
once again, with melancholy. She sat on the grass and stared at the lake for a long time, trying to
forget everything that was happening around her.

*************************************************************************************



12. Plus one makes five...
--------------------------

The next day they decided that they ought to head back to the cottage. They said their goodbyes
to Hagrid and then went to see professor McGonagall. Harry felt sick to his stomach when entering
the headmistress’s office. It still didn’t seem right that someone else should be in here. This was
Dumbledore’s office, not McGonagall’s. He tried to reason with himself but found himself angry upon
seeing the office changed. He kept his mouth shut and tried to look out of the window.

“I trust everything went as you had hoped?” McGonagall inquired. They nodded their heads in
response. She raised an eyebrow and continued “I suppose you’re adamant on your decision to not
tell me what it is you’re doing? I also gather that you came here to say goodbye, so you shall not
be continuing your studies?” Again all three could think of nothing to do but nod their heads.

“Very well then. I wish to speak to you alone Harry…” Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, and with
another nod of his head they left the room.

“Please sit down,” she invited. Harry decided that it would probably be the polite thing to do,
though he still felt uncomfortable at the idea of being in Dumbledore‘s office. It was a reminder
of Dumbledore’s death all over again, and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. She poured them
both a cup of tea and offered him some ginger biscuits.

“There will be a meeting at on Monday at 7pm. Your three are of age now, and I assumed you would
wish to be involved. Am I correct?” Harry nodded his head and McGonagall smiled. “If you think that
anyone else is worthy enough to join the Order, then I shall leave that in your hands…but be wise
in your choices Harry.”

“You know about Luna coming to stay with us, don’t you?” asked Harry.

“Yes Harry, I can’t say that I’m pleased about her abandoning her studies on something I know
absolutely nothing about. But I trust your judgment.” Harry was smiling at her kind words when a
voice spoke.

“As you should Minerva, I trusted Harry with my life and the world is unknowingly trusting their
lives with him also. He knows who he needs to fight with him, even if he cannot find a rational
explanation for it.”

Harry’s hands gripped the chair he was sitting on and he stared in horror at the voice coming
from the portrait of Dumbledore. He felt tears begin to prick at the back of his eyes and he tried
to blink furiously to get them away.

“Harry, there is no need to be upset.” said Dumbledore softly. Harry was amazed that his eyes
could twinkle that way in a painting “I am not upset. This portrait really is quite comfortable,
and the conversation is rather interesting.” Harry stood up quickly and nodded to professor
McGonagall. She seemed to understand his sadness and let him leave with a simple -

“Until Monday then Harry,”

Harry walked very quickly out of the office and tried to get control of himself. He emerged from
the gargoyle and walked straight into Susan Bones.

“Goodness Harry!” she exclaimed and began to smile at him “We thought that you three might not
come back this year but here you all are! I haven’t seen any of you in lessons though…” Harry was
caught off guard by this question and responded in an off-handed manner.

“No, we’re just here to get rid of something then we’re off again…” said Harry, before realising
what he had said.

“Well that sounds intriguing!” she said grinning “What are you all doing if you’re not at
school? Having some great fun I bet!” Harry tried to smile but Dumbledore’s voice kept resonating
through his mind. He looked at Susan and she could see his eyes shining from the unshed tears.

“Harry?” asked Susan putting a hand on his shoulders “What on earth is wrong? Did I say
something to upset you?”

“No no,” said Harry hurriedly “It’s just, I saw Dumbledore’s portrait and… It’s just weird to
hear his voice when he’s gone.” Susan made a sympathetic noise and urged him to walk down the
hallways with her. Harry’s thoughts were flying frantically around in his mind. ‘What am I doing
talking to Susan Bones about this? I don’t know her very well and I’m talking to her like she’s Ron
or Hermione!’ But try as he might to stop himself from talking to her, the words kept spilling from
his mouth and they walked around the castle for hours before Harry realised how much time had
passed.

Harry rushed back to their rooms and found a very worried Hermione, a hungry Ron and a
predictable Luna.

“Where have you been?” asked Hermione, her anxiety written all over her face. Harry was relieved
that she was facing away from Ron.

“Well, I was actually taking a walk…” he began, but was interrupted by a very angry
Hermione.

“A walk!” she said, her voice raising dangerously “A walk! We’ve all been sitting here worried
to death and you’ve been on a walk?”

“Correction,” said Ron “Hermione’s been worried to death. I kept trying to go grab some dinner
but she said we all had to stay together.”

“It’s perfectly true,” said Luna serenely. Hermione turned around and glared at both of them.
They sat back down on the couches swiftly.

“Ron, why don’t we get Dobby to bring us up some food before we all leave? Hermione, I’m sorry
but I was upset after my meeting with McGonagall and I didn’t realise how much time had passed. Now
we really ought to eat and leave as soon as possible. I’ll be back in a few minutes, I have to
speak to Neville.” and with that, Harry left the room.

“Well,” said Luna, “He certainly seems to be able to sum everything up quite nicely doesn’t he?”
Hermione smiled weakly.

Ron, Hermione, Harry and Luna sat on the floor eating. Dobby had brought them up so much food
that even Ron was having difficulty eating it all. There was a knock on the door and everyone but
Harry looked surprised.

“Come in!” he called. The door opened to admit Susan Bones complete with luggage. Hermione’s
mouth dropped and she looked at Harry disbelievingly.

“Oh yeah…” said Harry, smiling sheepishly. “Susan is coming to stay with us too.” Hermione
looked from Harry to Susan a few times before finally speaking.

“When were you planning on telling us this?” said Hermione shrilly “Do you really think this is
a good idea Harry?”

“Where’s everyone going to stay Harry? There’s only three bedrooms in that place mate,” asked
Ron in a confused tone.

“This sounds like it’s going to be an awful lot of fun!” said Luna dreamily.

Harry smiled at Luna and stood up.

“Susan, there’s a pile of bags in the bedroom at the end of hallway in the far bedroom. Go and
put you bag in there, it’ll find its way to where we’re staying. Luna, would you mind helping her?”
asked Harry. Luna smiled and accompanied Susan, happily showing off her radish earrings.

“Listen I can’t explain everything to you right now,” Harry said quickly to Hermione and Ron
“But just trust me. Something Dumbledore said in the office made sense to me, I don’t know why
these people have to be involved…I just know that they do.” Hermione’s eyes softened and Harry
smiled at her.

“Dumbledore! Bloody hell…” said Ron, shaking his head with wide eyes. Hermione laughed a little
and Ron looked away, his animosity towards her returned. Harry wondered how they were all going to
live together if Ron kept acting this way towards Hermione. Then the thought of him and Hermione
kissing strayed into his mind, and he realised that the fighting could be a lot worse. Susan and
Luna emerged from the bedroom and Harry noticed that Susan was now sporting a radish necklace. They
got their things together and finally began their long trip back to Cambridge, all the more amusing
to Harry now that Luna and Susan had to travel as muggles.

They walked into the cottage and began trying to figure out who was going to sleep where. Harry
briefly entertained the thought of sharing a room with Hermione, but that quickly flew out of the
window.

“Whoa!” shouted Ron from upstairs, his voice probably reaching the end of the village. He came
thumping down the stairs and had a happy look on his face. “I won’t have to give up my bed after
all! There’s five bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs now! Wicked, eh?”

“Always the gentleman I see,” said Susan with a smirk on her face. “Well I’m quite tired, I
think I’ll go and put my stuff away.” Susan headed up the stairs followed by Luna and Ron. Harry
stood in the hallway waiting for Hermione to follow them. He began to feel nervous as she just
stood there in the hallway with him, and waited in silence as one by one the doors closed shut
upstairs. Harry’s heart felt like it was in his mouth as the lights in the hallway went out.

He couldn’t see anything, but he felt something soft pressing against him. He took in a shaky
breath and lowered his head towards her. His cheek brushed against her hair and he felt her move so
that her cheek rested upon his. She moved her arms around his waist and pushed herself against him.
He felt his arms automatically slide around her before he could control himself. He felt her warm
lips press against his neck and he groaned and held onto her tighter.

“Do you want me Harry?” she asked him huskily. He sighed deeply and felt himself giving in. He
couldn’t fight her when she was acting this way, he couldn’t tell himself he didn’t care when he
could feel what she did to him. He lifted her head slowly and ran his thumb over her cheeks,
leisurely tracing circles. He moved to her mouth and slowly explored her lips with the pads of his
thumbs.

“Of course I want you,” he replied and lowered his mouth slowly onto hers. It was a slow and
gentle kiss, innocent and yet full of promise. They stroked each other’s faces and hair, gently
exploring this new territory. ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this with Hermione’ Harry thought ‘My best
friend, how did we get here?’ Hermione let out a little giggle as Harry nibbled on her ear, but it
stopped quickly as he did it a little harder. He heard her gasp and felt familiar warmth begin to
spread through him. She put her mouth on his a little harder and their kiss this time was deep. She
was breathing deeply as his hands travelled over her hips and down the sides of her thighs. She
gripped onto him harder and pushed her hands thorough his hair. He spun her around so that her back
was against the wall and lifted her up a little. She (very daringly for Hermione) put her hands
around his bum and pulled him closer to her. They kissed for a while longer, until Harry thought he
would go insane if they went any further, and insane if they didn’t.

A light suddenly flipped on and Harry’s first thought was ‘Ron!’ They leapt apart quickly and
Harry flung himself backwards so that he was resting on the wall opposite Hermione. They looked at
each other in horror as the footsteps on the stairs became louder….

*************************************************************************************



13. A serious conversation
--------------------------

A hum filled the air and Harry strained to listen to who it could be. After a few seconds of
terror, Harry recognised the tune to be ‘Weasley is our King’. He hung his head in relief as Luna
entered the hallway.

“You know,” she said “you two are awfully lucky that I happen to have very good hearing. You are
also lucky that I came down here to get Ron his pumpkin juice rather than let him get it himself.”
She smiled serenely at them as if this they were discussing the weather. Hermione mumbled an
apology and rushed away from them. Harry sighed and wished that the floor would open up and swallow
him. Then he remembered the room of requirement and quickly changed his mind.

“Love can be quite confusing sometimes, can’t it?” said Luna conversationally.

“I’m not in love Luna,” said Harry beginning to feel irritated. “We’re just, well… I don’t know
what we are right now! But nothing to do with love. Why is this happening now? Why couldn’t I have
just carried on liking Ginny? She’s my best friend! Why is my life always such a mess?”

“You know my mother once told me that love is a branch of magic in itself.” said Luna
sympathetically “You can’t control who you fall in love with and when it happens. What I do know is
that it doesn’t happen very often. You can’t punish yourself for the way you’re feeling Harry. You
just feel funny about it all because you’ve been best friends for such a long time. Daddy always
said that being friends with someone before you love them is the closest kind of love you can get.
He and mother were best friends for a long time before they got married.” Harry was grateful that
her speech had finally ended; it made him feel very uncomfortable that Luna was talking about him
and Hermione this way. He angrily found himself wondering why he had offered someone that is
clearly insane to come and stay with him. He nodded his head curtly towards Luna, and made his way
to the back garden. Luna just smiled to herself as she made her way to the kitchen and the pumpkin
juice.

Harry sat down outside and ignored the slight chill of the night. ‘Why can’t I control myself?’
he thought ‘I’ve heard Mr. Weasley joking about ‘young boys’ but this is ridiculous.’ His mind
wandered to Hermione again and he found that he was angry with her too. He told her they couldn’t
do anything, and yet she threw herself at him anyway! He knew he was being unreasonable, but being
angry helped him not think about Hermione and what they had just done…again.

“Harry,” said Hermione quietly from behind him. She saw him stiffen and slowly moved to sit down
next to him. “I want to talk to you…about us.”

“We shouldn’t have done that Hermione. That could have just as easily been Ron! Can you imagine
what he’d do if he found out about…this” said Harry.

“What exactly is ‘this’ Harry?” asked Hermione quietly. Harry looked at her for a moment and
found that he was nervous. What was he supposed to say?

“Well, uh, I don’t know…” said Harry, and was very glad that it was dark out so that Hermione
couldn’t see the redness creeping into his face.

“I had a chat with Ginny while we were at Hogwarts. She seems pretty sure that you’re going to
go back to her. I don’t want to be someone you’re with because you’re trying to get over someone
else. I also don’t want to be kissed one minute and ignored the next.” said Hermione, and waited
anxiously for his reply.

“I don’t want to be with Ginny. I’m not kissing you because I’m heartbroken,” said Harry. He
stood up and began pacing back and forth, trying to think of how to tell her how he was feeling
without sounding like a total prat. “I wasn’t with Cho for very long, and me and Ginny only lasted
a couple of months. Look at what’s happened between them and me. Our friendship is ruined. What
happens when we break up? You’re my best friend, I don’t want to wreck that.” He looked at her
intently, hoping that she would understand.

“Why are you planning on us breaking up before we’ve even started anything Harry?” she said,
“You can’t just assume that we won’t last because your relationships didn’t last with those
two.”

“But can we risk trying it? Think of everything we’re risking. Our friendship. The friendship we
have with Ron. Everything could be ruined!” said Harry, his voice rising.

“Do you want to ignore what’s between us Harry?” asked Hermione, and tried to blink back the
tears that were threatening to fall. “Can you ignore it? I don’t know if I can. I know I should be
more worried about Ron, but when I’m with you I can’t think of him or anyone else.” Harry had the
urge to go over and kiss her senseless, but he knew that would be the wrong thing to do. Instead he
breathed deeply and looked at the stars and tried to think about what it was he really wanted, and
what price he would have to pay to get it.

“Will you give me some time Hermione? I can’t do something like this to Ron without thinking it
through properly. I just need some more time…” Hermione nodded and felt her hot tears splash on her
cheeks. Harry sat down next to her and put his arms around her shoulders. They sat like that for a
long time, watching the stars and saying nothing…neither wanting the moment to end.

*************************************************************************************

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna and Susan entered Grimmauld place at a quarter to seven. No one else
seemed to be there yet so they managed to get the best seats around the kitchen table. Harry looked
around and thought of Sirius making breakfast in here…He got up from the table to go for a walk
around. Ron and Hermione stood up with him as if sensing his frame of mind. He smiled gratefully at
them as they made there way towards the hallway.

“Guess Luna and I have to stay here then?” asked Susan worriedly.

“Don’t worry Sue,” said Ron, “we’ll be back in a jiffy. Just got to take a look around…” He
smiled comically at them both before they exited the kitchen.

As Harry walked through the rooms at Grimmauld place he could almost picture Sirius walking
around there all by himself. He felt the loss of his Godfather deeply. Hermione seemed to sense his
mood and she touched his arm briefly. He smiled at her and they carried on walking from room to
room. As if sensing his mood Ron decided to speak-

“Hey, remember Sirius putting Santa hats and beards on these elves heads?” he chuckled. Harry
smiled at Ron and allowed himself to remember Sirius during the happier times.

“I remember the Christmas carols he sang a couple of years ago, and how many decorations he put
up to make us all feel better when Arthur was in the hospital.” said Hermione, and smiled wistfully
as she looked around the place.

“Yeah,” said Harry smiling “He really got into the Christmas spirit…” They walked around for a
while longer, going from room to room when until they were almost at the kitchen again. Hermione
looked at the cupboard that had been Kreacher’s den and hurried towards it. Ron let out a loud
groan and Harry inwardly agreed.

“Why are you looking in there Hermione?” he asked with a look of disgust on his face “You don’t
know what filthy things he could have left in there!” Hermione bent down and opened the cupboard
door.

“Look!” she said excitedly pointing into the cupboard. “He took the blanket I made him!”

“Yeah, probably burnt it…” said Ron, which earned him a smack on the arm from Hermione.

“Look at all the stuff in here, I thought Sirius managed to throw most of this stuff out.” said
Harry as he gingerly lifted the rags to see the items Kreacher had saved from the bin. “Look,
there’s that ring that belonged to Sirius’ dad! He must have gone digging through the dustbins
outside to get it back!”

“That’s disgusting.” said Ron and made a move to leave. Hermione followed Ron down the hallway.
It took them both a couple of minutes to realise that Harry wasn’t moving.

“Harry?” said Ron “Are you, uh, coming or what?” Harry didn’t say anything, and seemed almost
frozen to the spot. They made there way back to him, wondering what was wrong with their friend. As
they peered over Harry and into the cupboard they saw that he was holding a very heavy locket. The
one that they had been unable to open during their cleaning session, what seemed to be a very long
time ago. Hermione gasped and knelt next to Harry.

“Regulus” she whispered and Harry nodded slightly. Ron looked from the locket, to Harry and then
to Hermione.

“Uh…what are you two doing? It looks like you’re possessed by Kreacher or something,” said Ron
worriedly. Harry stood up with the locket and turned around to show it to Ron. Ron’s eyes grew wide
as he saw where Harry had wiped at the metal. An ornate S was inscribed into the locket.

“Slytherin’s locket!” said Ron in awe “What the bloody hell is it doing here? And why was
Kreacher sleeping with a bit of Snake faces soul!”

“Ssh!” whispered Hermione “Don’t’ you see? RAB is Regulus Black! He must have found out about
this when he became a death eater!”

“I bet that’s why he wanted to back out!” Harry whispered to them “Somehow he found out that
Voldemort was going to make Horcruxes! He tried to quit being a death eater. He must have found
this Horcrux before he was killed and hidden it here!”

There was suddenly a huge commotion in the kitchen, and Harry shoved the locket deep into his
pocket. Hermione quickly shut the cupboard door, and they all tried to gather their thoughts. It
looked like the members of the Order were here, and by the sounds of it there were a lot more
people than last time…

*************************************************************************************



14. An enemy or an ally?
------------------------

Harry, Hermione and Ron walked into the kitchen to see an array of people. Harry smiled happily
at all the old faces, and hugged a good deal of them. He introduced himself to some of the newer
ones (though he really needn’t have bothered). Ron looked surprised to see Neville as a member of
the Order, but Harry just smiled happily at him. Chairs were conjured and eventually everyone was
sitting in the room, though with all the people in there Harry could hardly move his arms without
elbowing someone.

“Right then!” said Lupin loudly trying to get everyone’s attention. “First things first! There
was an attack on a muggle village a few hours ago, as most of you know. Four people were killed,
many severely injured and most of the houses burned down. The muggle police are dealing with the
situation now, but I need a few volunteers to come with me after the meeting. We have a tip as to
the whereabouts of a couple of the death eaters responsible.”

“I’ll come,” said Harry at once, which was quickly followed by calls from Neville, Mr Weasley,
and Mad eye. Ron tried to volunteer after that but Lupin said that five people were more than
enough. Ron looked slightly relived, but not more than Mrs Weasley who seemed to have a vice like
grip on the arm of her chair.

“That’s settles then…Next on the agenda. We’re having a problem with this dementor situation. It
seems like they’re breeding rapidly, at the moment they’re in various woods around the country but
it won’t be long before they start moving into the villages and attacking both muggles and wizards.
We need to come up with a plan of attack. I think we need to track them to the various woods
they’re hiding in, and destroy them before they even attack a village. Minerva, Tonks, Mad eye and
myself are still devising a strategy for this. Once we have found the central breeding area, we
will contact you all with the time and place for the attack. Brush up on your patronus’ and bring
plenty chocolate.” said Lupin decisively. He shuffled his papers and was about to begin the next
topic for discussion when there was a thud in the hallway and the door was opened. Standing in the
doorway was none other than Severus Snape.

For Harry the room seemed to go quiet and black as he leapt out of his chair and lunged towards
Snape. He let the bricks form quickly around his mind and cast a shield charm on him without saying
a word. Snape’s eyes widened in momentary surprise, but before he could do anything Harry was on
him, his arm digging in to his throat and pinning him against the wall. He looked into the cold
eyes of the teacher he had hated for so long and felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
This man had killed Dumbledore; this man had sold his parents out to Voldemort. This man had made
his life a living hell since his first day at Hogwart’s. He could hear the voices of everyone from
the Order suddenly floating towards him. He glanced to the side and could see them all standing and
pointing their wands at Snape. He looked back and Snape and wondered why he had come here, when he
certainly knew he was going to be killed.

“Potter,” he said in a choked voice “Dumbledore trusted me. I’ll tell you why if it will mean
this ridiculous charade of you killing me will end” Harry pushed his arm further into Snape’s
throat and got the grim satisfaction of seeing him cough in pain.

“Charade Snape?” said Harry darkly “You’re mistaken. I’m going to make you pay for what you did
to Dumbledore, and my parents…”

“You really think you can kill me Potter?” said Snape with a derisive laugh. “Let us talk alone,
and then we can duel if you think it’s necessary.” Harry stood with his arm pinned to Snape’s neck
for a minute or so, before he finally made his decision.

“Fine,” he said tersely, wanting to hear Snape’s pathetic story before making him pay for his
crimes. There were shouts of outrage and warnings from the members of the Order, but Harry could
only stare at Snape.

“EVERYONE LEAVE!” he shouted “If I need your help, you’ll know pretty quickly.” With enormous
effort the members of the Order filed out of the room, leaving an eerie silence in their wake.
Harry sealed the door, put an Imperturbable charm on the room and cast a binding charm on Snape. He
had the satisfaction of seeing Snape looking momentarily shocked at his progress in non-verbal
spells and allowed himself a harsh smile. He stepped away from Snape and summoned a chair. He sat
opposite him, pointing his wand threateningly at his chest. A moment passed in silence as the pair
just watched each other, each trying to read his enemy’s mind and neither succeeding. Finally Harry
spoke-

“Decided not to bring Voldemort with you tonight then? Pity, he could have had his pick of who
to torture, though I think I’d have been his favourite.” said Harry unpleasantly. Snape curled his
lip at Harry and looked like he wanted nothing more than to have his wand and make him very sorry
for the angry marks on his neck.

“I cannot tell the Dark Lord where the headquarters for the Order are, even if I had the desire
to. Surely you know that? If he would have known where the meetings were held you would all have
been tortured and killed by now.” said Snape malevolently. Harry eyebrow’s raised slightly at this
comment and he remembered Hermione’s comment about Grimmauld place being the safest place for them
to hide. Why was she always right about everything?

“But Dumbledore is dead, he was the secret keeper so now you’re free to tell anyone you want
about Grimmauld place” said Harry.

“The secret keeper was changed before Dumbledore died. He appointed another knowing what was to
become of him.” said Snape patronisingly.

“I don’t have all day Snape. I’d much rather kill you now so I can go home and have a nice cup
of tea. Tell me why Dumbledore was stupid enough to trust you so we can get this over with” said
Harry, his green eyes boring into Snape.

“Do not call the headmaster stupid boy!” said Snape scathingly “When you cannot even manage to
concoct a simple potion correctly.”

“Why are you defending him when you murdered him?” replied Harry, feeling his sick anger start
to bubble within him. “You told Voldemort where my parents were going to be the night they were
murdered. Dumbledore was a very trusting man; in this case he made an error of judgement. You’re a
filthy snake and you always have been.”

“I DID NOT tell him where your parents would be! I simply told him of the prophecy. How was I to
know that he would start hunting for a little boy to murder? How was I to know he would murder your
parents? You see everything in black and white Potter, which is your problem. There is never one
soul person to blame in any situation.” replied Snape angrily

“If you hadn’t interfered they would still be alive. If you hadn’t been one of his evil
followers I would still have my parents. Can you deny that?” said Harry angrily, standing up from
his chair and pacing around the room. It was taking all of his self control not to pull out his
wand and make Snape pay for what he was feeling right now.

“I have never denied that charge,” said Snape, his voice sounding suddenly hollow. “It does not
mean that I am proud of it. I have paid for that mistake everyday since.”

“Oh! I see!” said Harry sarcastically “You’ve paid! You decided to join Dumbledore instead, and
be a coward until Voldemort returned. Then you fed him information, oh…then you killed the
Headmaster! Wait…where’s the bit where you lose your parents? Where’s the bit where you have people
trying to kill you all the time? Yeah Snape, I can see you’ve paid dearly…”

“DO NOT CALL ME A COWARD!!!” shouted Snape savagely “Do you have any idea what it takes to face
the Dark Lord, to hide things from him that would surely have you tortured to death? To have to
murder against your will in case you’re found out? To live each day wondering when he is going to
find out, and when you are going to pay?” There was silence in the room as they both took in what
Snape was saying. Harry felt the tiniest shred of pity towards him…it didn’t last long.

“Get on with it Snape. What did you tell Dumbledore that made him trust you?” asked Harry and
looked intently at him. Snape seemed to be fighting with himself, and when he spoke it was in a
very low and quiet voice that Harry hadn’t heard him use before.

“If I tell you this, I ask that you keep it a secret. It’s not the kind of information that I
would normally divulge to…some like you,” said Snape.

“I won’t make any promises Snape, your life is on the line here so hurry it up will you?” said
Harry. Snape took a deep breath and uttered the words so quietly that at first Harry had thought
he’d misheard them. As understanding finally filled him his green eyes widened with a mixture of
disgust and surprise. He sat back down on the chair heavily and stared at Snape, unsure of what to
think of the man now in front of him.

*************************************************************************************

They sat there in silence for a long time before either of them spoke. Snape humiliated at
having to tell the boy he hated most his most inner feelings. Harry felt so much pity for Snape,
but his anger still flowed deep. There was no excuse for killing Dumbledore.

“How did you meet her?” Harry finally asked, wanting to hear the story so he could understand
fully.

“During our first potions class.” said Snape; a slight smile on his face that he didn’t even
know was there. “It’s true what professor Slughorn was saying last year. She was truly gifted at
potions. We were the best in our year, and I daresay the school.”

“But you hated her.” said Harry still quite confused “You called her a Mudblood. You can’t love
someone and call them names like that”

“I was an arrogant teenager Potter,” said Snape coldly “I’m sure you know all about that.” Harry
ignored this comment and began pacing the room again, trying to get his head around what Snape was
trying to explain to him.

“Did anyone else know?” Harry finally asked.

“Do you really think I would admit to being in love with someone like Lily Evans? Someone that
is so unlike me. We were from two different worlds Potter. Can you imagine what I would have had to
deal with if anyone had ever found out? Can you imagine the look of pity your mother would have
given me every time I walked passed her in the corridors?” said Snape, sounding strangely
miserable.

“So is that why you hated my dad then?” asked Harry, “because he got my mum and you didn’t? Is
that why you hate me? Because I remind you of my dad?”

“I disliked your father because he was an arrogant show off. Just like you.” said Snape, the
anger at the mention of Harry’s father clear in his voice. Harry finally understood why Snape acted
the way he did. He didn’t feel relieved, he didn’t suddenly like him, but he felt better that he
finally understood why this man had hated him so much when he was only eleven years old. Harry was
a reminder to Snape of everything he had lost, of the woman he had loved and the great person he
had sacrificed by serving Voldemort.

“At least I’m not a murderer.” said Harry, and was relieved to find more anger towards Snape. He
had been feeling quite uncomfortable with these new feelings of pity.

“Dumbledore knew what might happen. He knew I had made an unbreakable vow to save Draco. He knew
that either he or I would have to die. He chose himself to die, another thing I have to live with
everyday. He felt that my cause was greater than his life. He begged me to kill him, do you know
why Potter?” said Snape, throwing an angry look at Harry. Harry was too shocked by what Snape was
saying to do anything but shake his head.

“For you. All of this hard work is all for you. So that you can defeat the Dark Lord and rid the
world of evil at last. I hope you do it, otherwise a lot of lives will have been wasted for
nothing.”

Harry sat back on the chair and stared at the floor for a long time. Was it possible that what
Snape was saying was true? That Dumbledore knew he would have to die either way? Is that why he
made sure that Harry knew of the Horcruxes? Is that why he made him see his true fate with the
prophecy? He remembered Dumbledore’s last words ‘Severus please…’ Was it possible that he was
begging Snape to end his life?

“You looked so evil when you killed him. You looked like you hated him,” said Harry numbly.

“I hated myself. I had to murder the only person that had put his faith and trust into me. The
only person that would stand by me no matter what. Wouldn’t you hate yourself?” Harry nodded dumbly
and they sat there for a long time, saying nothing, each lost in his own thoughts. Eventually Harry
removed the binding charm from Snape and unsealed the doors. Snape stood up stiffly and regained
his usual air of hostility. Members of the Order came flooding in, wands still raised and pointing
at Snape. Harry stood up and observed him, before finally reaching his decision.

“He’s fine everyone. Don’t attack him, he’s…on our side.” Everyone stood shocked at Harry’s
comment, but eventually there were cries of outrage and accusations flying across the room. Harry
and Snape stared at each other before Harry finally stood on the chair so that he could see
everyone.

“STOP!” He shouted “DUMBLEDORE TRUSTED SNAPE…AND I DO TOO. STOP THIS FIGHTING AND LETS GET ON
WITH THE MEETING.” Everyone fell silent, but professor McGonagall stepped forward, eyeing Harry
with doubt.

“Harry,” she asked, “Why have you made this decision? Tell us so that we can at least
understand. No one trusts Severus now, you must see that.” Harry looked at Snape before replying,
and Snape was obviously nervous.

“You trusted Dumbledore’s opinion. Now trust mine. I’m sure Snape will tell you everything that
happened on the night of Dumbledore’s death. As for the rest, take my word for it. He’s on our
side,” said Harry with finality in his voice. Lupin nodded his head curtly and led Snape out of the
room, followed closely by McGonagall, Mr. Weasley and Mad Eye.

“Where are they taking him?” asked Neville anxiously “You said he was alright to stay, they’re
not going to do anything to him, are they Harry?”

“No,” said Harry “They’re going to make sure that there’s *no* way he can tell Voldemort
the location of the Order meetings. I don’t think he could anyway, but best to be on the safe side
in case he found a way of leaking information,”

“I heard Mad Eye whispering to Kingsley that they were going to make him make the unbreakable
vow.” said Ron quietly.

“He’ll do it,” said Harry firmly “He wants to help us, he wants revenge too…”

The rest of the meeting was very quiet, with Snape explaining his version of Dumbledore’s death.
Most of the Order still didn’t trust Snape, but they also knew that he was extremely valuable to
them. When the meeting had finished, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Susan went back to the cottage. Harry
caught Hermione’s eye before leaving and gave a small thumbs up. She smiled at him , trembling so
slightly that Harry was sure he was the only one who noticed it.

“Be careful Harry,” she said quietly, trying not to betray her emotions in front of so many
people. Lupin, Mad Eye, Mr Weasley, Neville and Harry readied themselves to find the death eaters,
and Harry wondered what could possibly make this evening more remarkable.

*************************************************************************************

The five men walked down a cobble-stoned street in silence. They were all alert, looking at the
people walking down the street, trying to see if there could be any possible danger other than the
one they were walking into. Lupin nodded to a dark alley with a single street lamp at the end of
it. They slowly walked down it, their wands at the ready.

“Where are we going?” asked Harry.

“A little bed and breakfast owned by a witch around the corner. Apparently she overheard two men
talking about a plan to destroy another muggle village. They’ve been staying there for the last
week and there have been some strange goings on.” Lupin explained quietly. They fell silent again
and all that could be heard were their footsteps echoing on the cobblestones. Harry found himself
thinking of Hermione’s anxious words to him when he left Grimmauld place. A smile came to his face,
and even though he knew he was going to fight a couple of death eaters, he had a hard time removing
it. ‘I am losing it,’ he thought to himself, but the smile remained.

They reached the end of the alley and rounded the corner. There in front of them was a small
cream coloured brick building, with an old black sign swinging lazily in the wind that read ‘The
Rat and Parrot’

“Looks like a place that would be owned by pirates, not a witch.” said Neville, to which Harry
laughed.

“Ssh!” said Mad Eye, “You’re attracting too much attention to us! Lupin we should circle the
B&B before we go in. Make sure the areas safe…”

“The area is never going to be safe if there are death eaters around,” said Arthur quietly.
Lupin nodded his head in agreement with Mr. Weasley, and they walked towards ‘The Rat and Parrot’.
They entered the building to find the reception area deserted, save for one old man sitting on a
bench asleep. Harry stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out where he had seen him before.
He recognised the cane that was resting in his lap, it had an absurd duck head at the top. Harry
finally looked away, not exactly comfortable but trying to tell himself that there were loads of
old people who had canes. He was just nervous and reading into things too much. They looked around
and Mad Eye motioned for them to follow him towards a very narrow flight of stairs. They had to
ascend it in single file. Mad Eye at the front, Arthur second. Harry was third, then Neville and
finally Lupin bringing up the rear. They walked up flight after flight in silence, Mad Eye making
sure the coast was clear before signalling them to move on to the next flight of stairs. The moved
in quick silence, until Mad Eye signalled that they had the correct floor. The walked silently up
the corridor, passing old and dusty looking black doors on either side of them. Harry noticed that
the carpets were stained with a strange black looking substance. The numbers on the doors were
crooked and the corridor smelt heavily of cigar smoke. They all pulled their wands out and they
reached the door at the very end of the corridor on the right hand side. The lights flickered
slightly as Mad Eye pointed his wand at the door and uttered *‘Alohomora’* the door swung open
slightly and Mad Eye signalled for everyone to get ready. He raised his hand and held three fingers
up…then two…then one…with one quick movement he pushed himself in the door, the rest of them
quickly following.

“There’s no one here!” said Arthur “How could they have known we were coming?” Mad Eye made a
few comments about circling the B&B as well as his famous ‘constant vigilance’ but no one was
paying too much attention. They stood in a line staring around at the cramped room with the tiny
bathroom attached to it and wondered who had tipped off the death eaters. Just as Harry was
wondering what they would do next the door was blown off of it’s hinges and sent flying into the
room. A cloud of smoke obscured his view, but he knew that the death eaters were now in the room.
They also had them cornered.

“AHHHHHHH!!!!!!” screamed Lupin and fell to the floor in agony. The smoke cleared slightly and
they all looked up to see that a death eater had his wand pointed directly at Lupin, and was
obviously casting the cruciatus curse. Harry saw the old man that had been sleeping in the
reception area downstairs behind the death eaters. He let out a cackle of laughter as he pointed
his wand towards them. Lupin stopped screaming for a moment, and Harry lunged to the side and
jumped across the bed. He cast a shield charm around himself and knew that several hexes had just
bounced off of him. Arthur and Mad Eye scattered in different directions and both death eaters
started firing off curses. Neville had stayed rooted to the spot and was looking at Lupin in
horror. He was utterly silent as he raised his wand and pointed it at one of the death eaters now
firing at Harry.

*“STUPEFY!”* he yelled and the death eater was hit with a bolt of red light. The old man
that had been watching backed out of the room and Neville ran after him, firing hexes and jinxes as
he went. His eyes were as cold as stone, and there was anger in his face that Harry had never seen
before. He ran after Neville and the old man, thundering down staircases until he reached the
entrance of the B&B. He ran outside and was greeted with total silence. There wasn’t a single
person walking the streets. He heard a noise to the left of him, he quickly turned and raised his
wand but not before he found himself being flung to the side and hitting a pile of metal dustbins.
He tried to get up but was thrown face first into the metal once again. He could feel a cold pain
spread throughout his face, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. He heard footsteps coming
towards him and waited…When he thought the old man was a couple of feet away he thought of a
tripping jink, and heard him fall face first into the cobble-stones. He stood up quickly and tried
to stupefy him, but his wand flew out of his hand. He turned around to see another death eater
holding his wand. Before he could think of anything he was knocked to the floor. He felt a stinging
sensation move from his chest, and become more intense as it moved up to his neck and then spread
through his shoulders. The stinging turned to a light burning, which quickly intensified. Harry
felt like he was on fire, but he could see that he wasn’t. What kind of a spell was that?

“Do you like that Potter?” said the cold voice, moving closer to him. “They didn’t teach you
this at Hogwarts did they? It burns you from the inside, leaving your skin perfectly in tact. All
the torture, none of the mess. If the Dark Lord wasn’t so keen to keep you to himself I would
demonstrate this further. As it is…”

“As it is you’re out numbered two to one,” said a cold voice from behind. Harry looked around
quickly to see Neville standing there with cold fury and determination written across his face.
Harry smiled grimly and pointed his wand at the death eater too. To his surprise the man simply
started laughing, which made Harry smile in a very grim way.

“Do you think I’m frightened of two seventeen year olds?” he said coldly

“Not right now,” said Neville coldly “But you should be…” He raised his wand and aimed it at the
death eater. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor writhing in agony. Harry quickly cast a
shield charm on the death eater and stupefied him.

“Neville!” he said, his disgust obvious “You didn’t need to use the cruciatus curse on him.
Remember, we’re better than them. We don’t need to inflict the kind of pain and evil that they
do.”

“Don’t worry Harry,” he said calmly “That wasn’t the curse I used. Looks like it though eh? It’s
a modified version I’ve been practicing for a while. You don’t need hate to fuel it, and it doesn’t
cause physical pain the way the cruciatus curse does. It fills them with good feelings, feelings of
love and joy. They hate that, it hurts them more than any of the evil curses they could come up
with.”

“You might have to teach me that Neville,” said Harry impressed. Neville grinned at Harry
happily and together they bound the two men and made their way back to the room in the B&B.

Inside the room the third death eater was taken care of pretty quickly. He tried to run when he
realised that he was now alone and was facing two healthy wizards and one that was hurt but
severely pissed off. Everyone fired at once when he tried to escape the room, and he looked like
one mass of flesh with different bumps, colours and boils on him once they were done. Mad eye
silenced both the death eaters while Arthur made sure they couldn’t move. Lupin contacted Azkaban
to inform them that they had two more prisoners on the way. Neville and Harry entered a moment
later, an old man and a death eater floating behind them looking ten times worse than what they
did.

“Who’s the old man?” Arthur asked Lupin.

“I have no idea,” replied Lupin “But I think that the ministry as well as the Order will be very
interested in a snitch.”

The death eaters, whose names were Dolohov and Jugson and Travers were taken to Azkaban. Arthur
and Mad Eye left to inform the other members of the Order of the evening’s events. Lupin and Harry
escorted Neville back to school. Once they had said their goodbyes to Neville, Lupin and Harry
walked around for a while. At first they were catching up, then they talked about Harry’s dad. The
subject of Tonks came up once or twice but Lupin laughed off most of Harry’s rather cheeky
questions. As Harry had suspected Lupin eventually brought up Voldemort, and how Harry was
preparing for the final battle. Harry told him of the time he had spent studying different spells,
and his progress of occulumency and his attempts at legilimens.

“The Order and I have been thinking about ways to prepare you. We think it would be wise if you
spent a couple of hours a few days a week with each of us. That way you can learn different methods
of fighting and a variety of spells. What do you think?” asked Lupin. Harry felt unbelievably
relieved to have help from fully trained witches and wizards, and his face showed it. Lupin laughed
and put an arm on his shoulder.

“You’ll do fine Harry. Now we’d better get you back, I have some death eaters to interrogate.
When we’ve decided who will teach you first we’ll owl you with the place and time. Try to keep this
discreet Harry. You never know who could accidentally let something slip…” said Lupin. They said
their fond goodbyes to each other and went their separate ways.

*************************************************************************************



15. The country road
--------------------

Harry arrived back at the cottage at 11pm. His face had several large bruises on it, and his
clothes were torn and muddy. He tried to let himself in quietly, hoping not to disturb anyone that
was sleeping. Every step he took seemed to make his body scream in pain. He walked through the dark
hallway and made his way quietly to the living room. He sighed deeply and flopped onto the couch
gratefully.

“OW!” shouted Ron, leaping up from underneath Harry and sending him flying across the coffee
table. The lights immediately went on and Luna’s laughter filled the air. Ron looked quite
startled.

“You could have turned the light on mate, what is it with you and waking me up in weird ways,
I’m starting to think you have a problem…” he continued. Harry grinned and threw a cushion at him.
He stood up and looked around to see everyone’s blankets piled on couches and chairs.

“Having a sleepover?” asked Harry grinning.

“Actually, Hermione wanted to wait up for you, then Ron did too. So we all decided to sleep down
here so that we’d all be able to make sure you got home ok,” said Susan.

“Although it doesn’t look as if you’re alright at all Harry.” said Luna, “In fact, you look
quite awful.” Harry laughed at Luna and sat heavily down on the chair with her, shoving her
playfully aside. Hermione stood up from the couch she was sitting on and walked away. Harry was
wondering what he had done wrong when she came back carrying a large and very old brown book. It
landed with a thud on the table and she began to read it anxiously. They all looked at her
strangely. For someone who had been so intent upon seeing Harry return home safely, she certainly
wasn’t acting that way. She raised her wand, pointed it at Harry and muttered a few things under
her breath. To Harry’s surprise and relief the aches and pains that he had come home with vanished
instantly. He glass on the coffee table showed his reflection clearly, and he was happy to see that
his bruises and scrapes had also gone. Actually, he felt much better now than he had before he left
the meeting!

“Thanks Hermione.” said Harry smiling at her. She smiled back quietly and resumed her position
on the couch.

“Right!” said Ron, “This calls for some butterbeer!” They all sat and talked late into the
night, Harry telling them the tale with the two death eaters and how Neville had been quite
extraordinary. Eventually Luna and Susan went to bed, which was what Ron and Hermione had been
hoping for. They wanted to know what Snape had told Harry. Harry contemplated not telling them at
first, but decided that he couldn’t keep something like this from his best friends. He made them
pledge their secrecy, and spent the next ten minutes telling them everything that had happened in
the kitchen at Grimmauld place.

“That’s disgusting!” said Ron, outraged “Your poor Mum Harry having a grease ball like that
wanting her.”

“Ron!” said Hermione crossly “Don’t be so unsympathetic! So that’s the reason Dumbledore trusted
him then Harry? He loved your mum so much that there was no way he would have ever thought of
betraying her to Voldemort?”

“It seems so,” said Harry. They were all silent other than the odd word from Ron, usually
consisting of ‘weird!’ or ‘wrong!’

“I sort of have pity for Snape now though. Not that I like him or anything, I hate him for the
way he’s treated me…all because he’s a jealous tosser.” said Harry. The word tosser earned a small
smack on the arm from Hermione, but Ron raised his butterbeer and drank to it.

“Tell me you still have the Horcrux Harry,” said Ron suddenly. Harry looked surprised. He had
completely forgotten about the locket he had put deep in his robes. It was obvious how tired he was
when he forgot something like that. He dug into his robes, hoping that he hadn’t lost it during the
fight. His hand found the solid lump of cold metal, and he pulled it out and held it up to the
light.

“So it‘s Hermione’s turn to activate it right?” asked Ron. Harry looked at Hermione in horror
until he remembered he had agreed to let her and Ron activate one Horcrux each.

“I’m the one that’s supposed to do that, remember? I’m the chosen one for this wonderful task…”
said Harry.

“You’re too tired after everything that’s happened tonight. Besides, with you and Ron here
nothing too terrible can happen to me.” said Hermione, and reached for the locket.

“NO!” shouted Harry. Ron spat out a little butterbeer and looked at Harry with a very odd look
on his face, something a lot like suspicion.

“Lets deal with it tomorrow Hermione. It can wait, we all need to get some rest.” Harry
continued. They sat in silence for a while longer, Hermione not looking nearly as upset as she
should be at Harry’s outburst. They talked for a while longer until Ron fell asleep on the
couch.

Harry stood up and motioned Hermione to follow him. They walked quietly down the hallway, put on
warm jackets, and left the cottage as quietly as they could. They walked up the dark country road
in silence. He was trying to resist the urge to grab and kiss her. He tried thinking of other
things, but his mind kept flitting back to her. He thought of her in danger when Greyback attacked
them. He thought of how she had been in danger in the room of requirement. The idea of her even
trying to put on that locket made him want to be sick. He couldn’t stand the thought of her well
being in jeopardy. He watched her walking out of the corner of his eye; he loved the way she held
her head up high. He watched her eyes shining in the moonlight; he loved how the moon struck her
skin and made her look like a beautiful mythical creature. He loved the way she spoke; he loved how
her mind worked. He loved how she always did what was right, he loved that she was loyal no matter
what it cost her. He loved that she always said what was on her mind even if it made everyone
around her angry. He loved…

“Harry,” said Hermione, interrupting the dangerous path his mind had been taking. “Do you have
any idea how worried I was about you tonight?” He stopped and looked into her face and saw that
tears were falling once again. This didn’t seem to bother him as much as it had with Cho. In fact,
all he felt when he saw Hermione cry was the urge to make it better, to stop her pain. These
thoughts confused and scared him quite a lot.

“What was even worse, was trying to act like I was worried about you the way the rest of them
were. I can’t do this Harry! I can’t pretend I don’t feel this way about you anymore, I feel like
I’m going crazy! Do you feel even the tiniest bit of what I feel like? I feel like you’re attracted
to me, but I’m the one who has the feelings. I just don’t know if I can handle this anymore…I feel
like you‘re playing seesaw with my head. One minute you want me and the next you don’t. I can’t
give you the time you want Harry. I’m going crazy waiting to see if you want me or not. I’m not
going to wait around, hoping that you want to be with me when you could very well decide you don’t
want me. I won’t wait around for you any longer and I won’t put myself through this kind of
torture. I deserve more than that so make your decision now. Do you want me to be your girlfriend
or do you want me to be your friend? ” said Hermione, her tears falling quickly. She waited with
her heart in her throat, hoping this was the push Harry needed. In truth she would wait for Harry
as long as he wanted, but she didn’t want to put herself through that kind of torment. Harry stared
hard at her and she felt like he was looking into her soul. She hoped he wanted her, she hoped that
he would love her…she hoped.

*************************

*I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you

I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That’s why I need you to hear

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is You [x4]

I'm not a perfect person
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you

I've found a reason to show
A side of me you didn't know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is you*

*Hoobastank - The Reason
*

***************************

Harry’s mind was reeling, he had to make up his mind now, for better or worse. He looked into
her eyes desperately trying to find the answer he needed. He saw longing, lust and maybe even a
little love for him flash across her eyes like her were reading a book. He knew he could get lost
in those eyes forever, and he knew that there really wasn’t a decision to be made. When had there
been? He seemed to have been captivated by her, and it was only getting worse. He loved Ron dearly,
but he knew he couldn’t give this up. It broke his heart and made him feel deliriously happy all at
once.

“Hermione…” said Harry, “If you need a decision now then so be it. I want you to be with me. I
don’t know how it happened but I know that it feels right. I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you, but you have
me now. I don’t want anyone else, just you Hermione, just you…Don’t think I haven’t been feeling
what you have. You’re in all of this because of me. You could have been killed easily the last
couple of day, and why? Because you want to help me. Whenever I think of what could happen to you
because of me I feel so guilty. What would I do without you? You are the only thing I have now
that’s worth fighting for. I know I have Ron and his family, some friends at school…But you…you’re
what’s driving me right now. I need and want you more than you could know.”

Hermione stared at Harry shocked. These were the kind of words that she had wanted to hear from
him since her summer in Italy, was she dreaming? Did he really feel that deeply about her? Harry
was equally as surprised by what he had said. He didn’t know where that had come from, and he was
feeling a little anxious at what that might mean for the two of them. But he also couldn’t lie to
himself. He didn’t know where these feelings had come from, or if they had always been there and he
just didn’t know it. What he did know is that what he had just told her felt true and right. His
whole life was a complete mess right now, but he was glad that he had kissed Hermione. He was glad
she wanted him, because he wanted her just as much. He didn’t really care if next month she decided
she didn’t want to be with him, because at this moment in time it felt right to want to be with
her. He suddenly laughed at how light his heart felt, lighter than it had in weeks.

“What are you laughing at Harry?” said Hermione in a small tearful voice.

“Us,” said Harry, “How did we get here? You’ve seen me agonise over Cho and Ginny. I’ve seen you
with Krum and being lovesick over Ron. We were the last two people that should have romantic
feelings for each other. Hermione Granger, my best friend…what have you done to me?”

Hermione laughed with him and they sat down on the grass next the road. He looked down at her
seriously and stroked her hair with tenderness. She smiled shyly up at him and their eyes
locked.

“I’m done fighting this Hermione, let’s just see where it takes us. I can’t push you out of my
mind anymore, I’m starting to think it’s impossible…” Harry said quietly/

He felt butterflies in the pit of his stomach. For better or worse, he was going to kiss her. A
part of himself wanted to stop himself and do the right thing. He wanted to tell Ron first so it
wouldn’t be behind his friends back. But even as all these thoughts whirled around his mind he was
still leaning in closer. The truth of the matter was that he wanted Hermione so much that he was
willing to put his friendship on the line for it. He had lost control of his emotions when Sirius
had died…but nothing like this. They sat on the grass in the moonlight kissing until Hermione
wasn’t sure if she was even one person anymore. She had never been so happy and so alive. Her whole
body felt like it had little electric pulses going off in every area. She was amazed that he could
do this to her just by kissing her. She got up on her knees and pushed him down onto the grass,
straddling him.

“Bloody hell Hermione, warn me when you’re going to be violent with me will you?” he said
playfully.

“Shut up and kiss me,” she said, pushing herself onto him. He let out a groan and kissed her
hard. She moved her hands under his shirt, feeling his chest like she had longed to do for so long.
Harry was trying to keep control of himself and was having great difficulty. Hermione noticed this
and decided to show him a more daring side of her. She thought back to all the dreams she had had
about Harry and found a little bit of courage. She rolled off Harry and moved to his side. He
carried on kissing her intently, and was stunned when she moved his hand under her shirt to her
breast. At first he just left it there, he even stopped kissing her as he looked into her eyes with
a questioning look.

“You’re not the only one that can lose control you know…” whispered Hermione and put her hand on
top of his and showed him how to touch her. Hermione was feeling dizzy by the time Harry had
stopped his explorations and started kissing her deeply again. They moaned into each other’s mouths
trying to control themselves. But can passion that strong between two people ever be controlled?
Harry moved his hands to the back of her waist and started stroking softly, then his hands slowly
moved to her thighs. Hermione’s breathing was ragged now. She was praying that he would touch her,
and raised her hips whenever his hands brushed her thighs. He stopped kissing her and looked deep
into her eyes as he slowly stroked her inner thigh, inching upwards slowly…

“If you want me to stop, tell me,” he whispered. She said nothing and stared into his eyes as if
mesmerised. The sensible Hermione had vanished, and left only the Hermione that wanted Harry with
every fibre of her being. He slowly unzipped her trousers, and slid them down to her thighs.
Hermione felt heat like she had never known before, and when she finally felt his fingers brush
against her she felt like she was going to explode. He slipped his fingers inside her underwear and
slid them to where she was wet. She gripped him harder and buried her head into his shoulder.

“No,” he whispered, “I want to see you.” She looked deep into his eyes as he slowly began to
touch her again. She let out moan after moan and Harry felt like he was going to lose control just
watching her. She began to shiver uncontrollably against him and she bit on her lip hard. Her
breathing was getting faster and faster, the heat building in her to an indescribable climax.
Eventually she let out a cry that echoed along the road, and she fell weakly against him. Harry
kissed her tenderly and was secretly amazed that he had managed to do that to her. After she gained
a little strength she returned the favour, and Harry had never felt anything like it. They lay
there for a long time stroking each other tenderly in the moonlight. Hermione was wondering how
they had gone from trying to ignore each other the day before, to where they were now.

“Your wild teenage hormones Harry,” said Hermione smiling at him. Harry smiled at her but knew
it was more than hormones and more than just attraction. He felt panicked all of a sudden. Where
had all this come from? Was it right, or was he just a stupid mistaken teenager?

“You know that we need to tell Ron as soon as possible don’t you Harry?” asked Hermione. Harry
nodded his head, but changed the subject quickly. He didn’t want his guilt ruining a moment like
this.

Later on they walked down the road hand in hand, stopping sometimes to kiss, sometimes to play
fight and tickle, and sometimes just to look into each others eyes. They stopped outside the
cottage and Harry kissed her deeply. The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon, and the birds
had suddenly become quite active.

“I can’t believe we just did that.” Hermione whispered, “Anyone could have driven by and seen
us.”

“There aren’t many people in this area.” Harry whispered back “Besides, it was your fault…you
drove me to it.”

“I most certainly did not,” Hermione whispered in a mock offensive tone “I am a well behaved
woman I shall have you know. You led me astray…” Harry laughed quietly and kissed her again.

“You didn’t seem to mind though,” he whispered kissing her slowly.

“You have you charms Mr. Potter. I couldn’t resist them, if I didn’t know any better I would
have thought you’d have slipped me a lust potion…” she whispered running her hands over his
back.

“We should go inside. Come on. Hopefully no one is awake. ” said Harry quietly.

“No one in there has ever been awake at dawn Harry.” said Hermione “At least not of their own
free will” She followed Harry into the cottage and they waited in the hallway to make sure the
coast was clear.

“We should try and get some sleep,” she said and kissed Harry on the cheek. He smiled at her and
kissed her quickly before they made there way upstairs and into their bedrooms. On the couch Ron
stirred suddenly and looked around. ‘Where’d everyone go?’ he thought, and an uneasy feeling crept
into the pit of his stomach. He grabbed his blanket and went upstairs quietly. He stopped outside
Harry’s door and listened. He didn’t know why he felt suspicious all of a sudden, or what he felt
suspicious about. After a moment he opened it slowly and saw Harry lying alone on his bed. ‘I am a
stupid git’ he thought, and made his way to his bedroom. Harry let out a sigh of relief as he heard
Ron leave the room. He would have to tell him soon, he couldn’t keep secrets from his best friend.
He only hoped their friendship would survive.

*************************************************************************************



16. Aunt Petunia
----------------

The next morning they all sat around the kitchen table when the doorbell rang. They stopped
buttering their toast and pouring their orange juice and looked anxiously at each other. Harry
grabbed his wand and headed to the front door with a quick signal for the rest of them to stay
behind. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

He almost started laughing as a postman stood before him. His bike was by the road and he had on
his pouch for carrying letters.

“I’ve a letter for a Harry Potter,” he said cheerfully “Is that you then lad?” Harry nodded his
head mutely and accepted the letter. The postman chatted a little about the weather before
retreating with a happy wave. Harry carried the note back into the kitchen and opened it quickly.
It read -

*Dear Harry,*

*I could not owl you because the owls are being watched and intercepted during the day. I hope
you didn’t get too much of a scare having a muggle postman suddenly at your door.*

*I need you, Ron and Hermione to meet me in Cambridge today at 2pm. A bus (number 113) can
pick you up outside the village. It’s a bit of a walk but you must travel as muggles. There is a
coffee shop at the end of the square called ‘Starbucks’. I’ll meet you outside. Be
discreet.*

*Yours sincerely,*

*Remus Lupin*

*Ps- the fare on the bus is five pounds and twenty-five pence for each of you.*

Harry passed the note to Ron and Hermione, and both seemed suddenly worried. Luna and Susan were
upset that they couldn’t go, but said they’d find a way to entertain themselves. Harry decided that
they should probably destroy the Horcrux before going, and so all three of them made their way to
the study and sealed the doors.

Harry pulled the locket out from the place he had hidden it and they all looked at it curiously.
He tried to feel the magic in it but couldn’t feel a thing. Shrugging he put the locket on, at
which point Ron started to laugh. Harry grinned at his friend, and ignored the guilty feeling he
had. The locket felt heavy on his chest and the metal was oddly cold. He got himself comfortable
and took a deep breath. Hermione was trying to stay calm and not let her feelings of worry show,
but wasn’t doing that good of a job. Ron gave her an odd and calculating look before looking once
again at Harry. He slowly uttered the words -

*‘Liberatio pravus fascino’*

And readied himself for the sickly draining of his powers…he waited…and waited…Finally he opened
one eye to look around him and found Ron looking confused and Hermione looking relieved.

“Regulus must have actually destroyed the Horcrux!” she said happily and hugged Harry fiercely.
Harry smiled at her and Ron and took the locket off.

“Do you reckon that’s how he died?” asked Ron?

“No, he was killed by death eaters remember?” said Harry “He got cold feet about Voldemort’s
gang when they started murdering innocent people.”

“Funny that,” said Ron.

Harry put the locket upstairs in his bedside table next to the tiara and was mentally going
through what he had left. ‘The ring is gone, the book is gone, the tiara is gone, the locket is
gone…that leaves the cup, Nagini and Voldemort himself’ He repeated these things like a mantra as
he got ready for his journey to Cambridge.

At 12.30pm they decided to leave the cottage and walk to the bus stop outside the village. Ron
was complaining about the long walk, and by the end of it Harry didn’t blame him one bit.

“Do you think we could move to Grimmauld place?” said Ron breathing hard “It’s a quicker walk
from that house to a coffee shop, and we know it’s safe now since Snape can’t tell Snake face where
it is.”

“No,” said Harry who’s breathing wasn’t at all laboured “I don’t feel comfortable staying in the
same place that Sirius hated. Too many bad memories.” Ron nodded his head in agreement and said no
more until they reached the bus stop.

“When’s the next one?” he asked Harry. Harry was rather irritated at this question because he
was sitting on the wall away from the bus times. Hermione was the one reading them.

“I don’t know,” said Harry a bit tersely “Why don’t you ask Hermione?” Ron went a little red at
this then mumbled the same question to Hermione.

“The next one is at 1.30,” she said, ignoring Ron’s unease. Ron sat there is silence for a while
looking around him in amazement and nudging Harry from time to time. Eventually he asked -

“What time is it anyway?”

“No idea!” said Hermione and laughed a little. Ron gave a half grin back and they sat in silence
again until the bus came.

After a boring trip on the bus for Harry, but an exciting one for Ron, they managed to locate
the Starbuck’s that Lupin had written of. They waited outside for a while and didn’t recognise
Lupin when he arrived at 2pm exactly according to a clock on the side of a shop. He was wearing a
pair of faded blue jeans, a long green sleeved t-shirt and had a blue rucksack thrown over his
shoulder. He looked almost young and seemed it with every step he took. They said their hellos and
battled through the sea of people inside to find a place to sit. Lupin went to get them coffee’s,
and returned about fifteen minutes later looking thoroughly harassed. After they all had their
coffees in front of them and had gone over the basic pleasantries one must to be polite, Ron
finally asked the question they all wanted to know.

“So what did you want anyway?” he said, and they laughed at Ron’s sudden bluntness. Rather than
answer them straight away Lupin dug around inside his rucksack and pulled out a rolled newspaper.
He unrolled it and placed it on front of them and watched Harry carefully with obvious worry.

Harry stared at the headline of the paper, reeling with shock. He kept reading it over and over,
not believing his eyes. The newspaper article was as follows:

**TWO MUGGLES KILLED AND HOUSE BURNS TO GROUND**

**Two muggles were killed in the early hours of the morning. It is rumoured that a group of
death eaters stormed the house in Little Whinging, Surrey, was burned to the ground shortly after.
One of the residents escaped unharmed and is now under the protection of Aurors. After much
investigation the daily prophet can bring you the exclusive news that this was the home of Harry
Potter.**

**His Aunt Petunia is the sister of the late Lily Potter, who was murdered by You-know-who when
Harry was a baby. The ministry has tried to locate Harry Potter but has been unable to do so. The
two muggles killed were his Uncle and Cousin, Vernon and Dudley Dursley. Our experts say that they
were first tortured with the cruciatus curse before finally being killed by the Avada Kedavra
curse. It is assumed that the death eaters tortured them for information as to the whereabouts of
Harry Potter, but our sources cannot say whether or not they were successful. For more details on
this story see page 5.**

A picture of 4 privet drive accompanied the article, and was blackened and charred. He felt
Hermione’s hand on his shoulder and was grateful that she was with him. He didn’t speak for a long
time, but sat there thinking about who else had to die for him. He had never liked Vernon, Dudley
and Aunt Petunia, but he certainly never wished anything like this to happen. He thought of the
tickling charm he had cast of Vernon just before he left on his birthday and was overcome with
guilt and disgust. The last time he had seen his only real family he had used magic on them, the
one thing they feared the most. He felt hot tears begin to burn at his eyes, and he closed them
quickly so no one could see how weak he really was.

“Harry,” said Lupin quietly “your Aunt Petunia is staying with Tonks and I. She…well she wants
to see you…” Harry nodded his head. He had expected her to want to see him. He knew this was going
to be a very bitter reunion, but he felt he deserved it.

“Lets go,” he said simply, trying not to let his voice crack. Everyone was quiet as they left
Starbucks and made their way to Lupin’s house.


************************************************************************************************************************

As they entered the hallway Lupin quietly told Harry which bedroom she was staying in. He went
to go up the stairs and stopped. What was he going to say to her? How could he possibly comfort a
woman who had always hated him? How was he supposed to make things better when her husband and
child had just died?

“Do you want us to come with you Harry?” asked Hermione. Ron looked at Harry and smiled to let
him know that he was there for him, even though the idea of going into that room probably made him
uncomfortable. Harry shook his head and gave them both a slight smile that was gone very quickly.
He headed up the stairs with his heart hammering in his chest.

He knocked on the door and waited for a reply. When he’d waited for a minute he decided to go in
anyway. He opened the door and could see Aunt Petunia lying on the bed with her back to him in an
awful black dress. She was crying silently and Harry had the urge to leave. Instead he walked into
the room and quietly closed the door. She turned around and looked at him, her eyes full of
hatred.

“YOU!” she screeched. She jumped of the bed and began to lunge towards him. He knew he could
stop her, he knew that he could have made her stay still in one area, but he let her advance
towards him and let her slap him hard across the face. He felt it was the least he deserved. “IT’S
YOUR FAULT THEY MURDERED VERNON! IT’S YOUR FAULT THEY MURDERED MY DUDDERS…” With that she crumpled
to the floor and began to cry and shake uncontrollably. Harry got down on his knees and went to put
his arms around her, but she leapt away from him, disgust written all over her face.

“GET AWAY FROM ME MURDERER!” she shouted and scrambled to the corner of the room, rocking
backwards and forwards. Harry was silent for a while until it looked like most of her crying, for
now, was over with.

“Petunia,” he said softly “You’re right. If I hadn’t been living at your house for all those
years then they would never have killed Vernon and Dudley. But I can’t change that. My mum and dad
died and left me with you. I can’t change that either. Voldemort killed my parents, and then he
tried to kill me. He still wants me dead and won’t stop until I am.”

“WELL LET HIM KILL YOU THEN!” She screeched and grabbed a vase off of the bedside table and
threw it at him “IT WILL SAVE ANYONE ELSE DYING FOR YOU!” Harry felt like he had been punched in
the heart with that comment. He moved to the bed and sat on it heavily. The tears that he had been
fighting for so long now began streaming down his face.

“Don’t you see?” said Harry desperately “I’m the only one who can stop him. If he kills me this
will never end. Everyone will live the rest of their lives in fear because of him. There’s no
telling how many innocent people will die. I’m sorry that they died…”

“SORRY?” shouted Aunt Petunia “YOU’RE NOT SORRY THEY DIED! DON’T LIE TO ME YOU NASTY LITTLE
BOY!”

“I didn’t say that I liked them,” said Harry, now with anger in his voice “But I am sorry that
they are dead. The only person I want to see dead is Voldemort. Now I’m sorry that they died, and
if I could have prevented it then I would have. I can’t control what some mad wizard does, I can’t
control who he decides to kill and when. But I can control what I do, and I’m going to kill him.
For my parents, for my Godfather, for Dumbledore, for Vernon and Dudley, for every single person
that has suffered in this world because of him. I’ll make him pay.” He stood up to leave but Aunt
Petunia moved quickly and stood in front of the door. Her eyes were blood shot from crying and her
face was pale and tired.

“You’ll kill him Harry?” she asked quietly “You’ll kill him for Vernon…Dudley…and my Lily?”
Harry nodded his head and found fresh tears at the mention of her speaking of his mother like that.
Petunia began to cry freshly and they finally hugged, for the first time in seventeen years.

Harry was sitting in Lupin’s kitchen sometime after with a hot cup of tea in his hands and blood
shot eyes.

“How did they find them?” Harry asked Lupin. Lupin looked solemnly into his own cup of tea
before answering.

“It’s hardly been a secret where you’ve been staying over the summer’s Harry. But last year we
tried to make it that way, we knew things were getting very dangerous for you. Do you remember that
house on the end of Magnolia Crescent? There was an old man who lived there…”

“The old man who was with the death eaters,” Harry said numbly. Lupin nodded gravely and sipped
at his tea. “So he found out which house I stayed at during the summers and called the death eaters
to raid it? Why did he wait so long?”

“We think he only just started working for Voldemort’s side,” Lupin said. Harry nodded again and
fell into a thoughtful and depressing silence. Hermione watched Harry and felt her heart breaking.
Was he ever going to get a break from all this death and destruction? Harry decided that he wanted
to leave shortly after that, and they readied themselves to take a portkey back to Cambridge. As
they were gathering their coats together Hermione nudged Harry quickly. Harry looked up as she
indicated towards the door. There was Aunt Petunia, standing with her arms folded protectively
around herself. They looked at each other for a long time before she finally crossed the room and
stood in front of Harry.

“I…I wanted to leave here and stay with some of Vernon’s relatives, but I doubt that would be
safe. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay here for, but…I wouldn’t mind if you came to see
me now and again.” she said quietly, almost as if she were deathly embarrassed to be saying
this.

“You’re welcome as long as you want to be here Petunia,” Lupin said and smiled at her. She gave
him a small smile in return then looked back at Harry. To Hermione and Ron’s surprise he moved
forward and put his arms around his aunt again. She quickly kissed the top of his head then walked
out of the room. She paused once to say -

“Stay safe Harry, and kill him for all of us won’t you?” then she was gone.

*************************************************************************************

Harry was lying in his bed unable to sleep when he heard the door open quietly. He smiled as he
saw Hermione’s silhouette coming towards him in the dark. She pushed the covers aside and crawled
into bed with him. She moved over and put her arms around him, holding him tight.

“You were very brave today Harry,” she whispered “I’m so proud of you for going to see Petunia.
I’m even more proud that you hugged her like that and made her feel better. After the way she’s
treated you the last seventeen years she didn’t deserve it. But you made her feel better anyway.
That’s what makes you such a great and noble person Harry Potter. You have this wonderful ability
to see the good in people no matter how they’ve treated you. That’s why you were my best friend,
and that’s why I want to be with you now…” Harry pulled her tighter and moved his head so that he
could kiss her gently.

“Thank you,” he said softly “for making me feel like I’m something to be proud of and something
worthwhile.”

They spent the night holding and comforting each other. Harry told her how he had felt when he
learnt that the Dursley’s had died. How he had felt that it was his fault. Hermione explained how
he could not possibly be at fault, and even though he had been saying these things to himself all
night his heart felt lighter at hearing her say it. They fell into a contented sleep, and when
Harry awoke the next morning he felt refreshed and had a new sense of determination. He had to find
those Horcruxes, he had to destroy Voldemort and he had to train harder than he had ever done in
his life.

*************************************************************************************



17. An interesting development...
---------------------------------

A/N- Just wanted to write a little note to say thanks for everyone that has been reading along
and reviewing, I really appreciate it J Sorry if the font size is weird on any of your computers,
for some reason when I try to change the format from MS word to HTML it messes up along the way.
The last chapter really messed up…and I don’t know too much about computers! So the only thing I
can advise is to just change the font size while I try and figure out what the bloody hell I am
doing! Anyway, here’s an interesting chapter for you…enjoy!

**Islanzadi** J

The next couple of weeks passed in a blur for Hermione. All five of them spent most of their
time studying and practicing as many different spells as they could find. Harry left for a couple
of hours everyday to study with different members of the Order, and came back looking tired and
dejected. By an unspoken agreement Harry and Hermione had decided to act like they were friends in
front of the others. In the early hours of the morning they would meet in the garden with Harry’s
invisibility cloak and spend hours talking and kissing. They had not lost control since the evening
spent on the side of the country road. Not because they didn’t want to, but because they understood
that it was not wise to jump into things like that so quickly. Well…Hermione knew it wasn’t wise
and reminded Harry breathlessly on a regular basis. She didn’t regret losing control with Harry
that night, but she did want their relationship to be in the open before anything else like that
happened. She wanted things like that to be special, and it couldn’t be as special as they wanted
if they were keeping their relationship a secret. She didn’t feel like they had anything to be
ashamed of, but she would feel ashamed of anything she did with Harry if Ron had no idea about
them. They found out things about each other that no one else in the world knew, and Hermione knew
that she was falling for Harry harder than she had ever thought possible. They knew that what they
were doing was unfair to Ron. They knew that they would have to tell him sooner or later, but every
time Harry would mention Hermione’s name Ron would interrupt with -

“I’m not interested in anything to do with Hermione,” and walk away quickly. Harry knew that he
was trying hard to be nice to Hermione and act like they were best friends again. Everyone could
feel the tension, and Luna was quite fond of pointing it out. Every time Ron tried to make a joke
about Hermione it came out bitter and nasty. Harry was having a hard time controlling his
anger.

So the weeks passed, with Harry and Hermione’s secret meetings at night and meaningful looks
during the day. Harry knew that he had never felt this way about another girl before, but he was
scared of admitting just how much she meant to him. What kind of danger would that put her in? He
woke up every morning and wondered if today was the day she was going to see what he really was and
run off with Ron after all. Every time he thought about her he felt at peace and unusually
contented. Every time he saw her walking towards him he felt an odd twisting sensation in his
stomach. Every time she kissed him in the early hours of the morning he lost himself in her
entirely, and wasn’t too sure if he ever wanted to come back to reality and go back to his bed
alone.

It was a Friday evening, and after a gruelling week of hard work everyone was sitting in the
living room playing games of chess and exploding snap. Ron left the game to go into the kitchen and
came out with a large bottle of firewhisky. He put it on the table along with five glasses and
poured them all a liberal amount.

“Oh how lovely,” said Luna vaguely. She reached for the glass and swallowed the whisky in one.
Then she pondered how to attack Ron’s Knight, oblivious to everyone staring at her. Harry grinned
at Ron and raised his glass…they swallowed it together and tried to look as cool about it as Luna
had…they didn’t succeed. Ron stood up and coughed loudly. Harry made a very unattractive face,
which made Hermione and Susan laugh.

“If you two think it’s that funny you try and do it without making a face,” Ron said with his
eyebrows raised. Susan grabbed the glass and swallowed it quickly, making a slight gagging noise.
Hermione looked at all of them and shook her head. She stood up, reached for the glass and
swallowed it as deftly as Luna. Harry grinned at her, but Ron simply poured everyone another glass.
The evening was spent with the five of them getting louder and louder. Soon the games were
abandoned as each of them began telling stories, which were a lot funnier than usual. Eventually it
moved onto drunken guessing games and Harry wondered why Hermione was still getting everything
right when she was totally drunk.

“All right! If you don’t guess this one you all have to take a shot!” Ron said drunkenly and
wobbled as he tried to stay standing. “Who was the wonderful but obviously gay author of the book
‘magical me’” Harry started laughing as Ron did a very good impression of Lockhart’s swaggering
walk.

“Gilderoy Lockhart!” Susan said “But I really don’t think he was gay…”

“Right!” said Ron pouring four shots “Sue got it right so everyone else take a shot!” They all
knew that this was a ridiculous rule that meant four people had to take a shot every time a
question was asked. No one really seemed to mind too much however, courtesy of the firewhisky.
Susan tried to stand up, but ended up leaning on the couch trying not to fall off.

“Ok ok…” she said with a definite slur to her words “who shagged in the astronomy tower last
year and was caught by Filch?” Hermione, Harry and Ron all looked at each other confused but Luna
put her hand up quickly.

“Cho Chang and Michael Corner!” said Luna, and then toppled onto the floor. “Ooof…Tumbled over…”
Everyone roared with laughter as Luna tried to get up but couldn’t seem to find her balance.
Eventually she gave up and just sat on the floor, her eyes seemed to be wider with the drink. She
grabbed her wand and tied her hair up with it.

“That looks cute,” said Susan surprised. “Lemme try it…” All the girls eventually put their hair
up with their wands, though it took quite a while and the effect wasn’t quite as cute as they all
thought. Ron rolled his eyes and wondered why girls were always worried about their looks. He
thought he had said that in his head, but they all began to answer him. It turned out he had said
it very loudly indeed.

“Girls like to look nice Ron,” said Susan, attempting to point her finger at him but in actual
fact it was pointing around most of the room. “We like to take care of ourselves you know.”

“Not to mention that men won’t look at you in the slightest if you look like you haven’t washed
in a week and never met a pair of tweezers before,” said Hermione briskly, and looked at Harry.
Harry smiled fondly at her.

“You don’t have to worry about that Hermione,” said Harry, before noticing Ron looking at him
oddly “None of you have to worry about that. You’re all very pretty and men would like you if you’d
never even met a hairbrush.” He added quickly, and thought it was a pretty good cover up. The three
girls thought this unbelievably sweet in their drunken state and attempted to hug him. Ron
mentioned very loudly that they were in the middle of a game, which Harry was grateful for. Drunken
hugs from three girls were quite painful.

“Right, ‘s my turn…” said Luna loudly “Who is the heir of Slytherin?” Everyone except Susan put
his or her hands up and she merrily reached for more firewhisky.

“Voldemort,” said Harry loudly, echoed by Hermione whilst Ron said “Ssssnake Face”. Susan
shuddered at the name but no one seemed to notice.

“You know…” slurred Luna dreamily “My father told me that my mother and I are direct descendants
of Rowena Ravenclaw.” Everyone giggled at this idea but Hermione looked quite thoughtful. She
summoned a book from her bag called *‘Useful charms for every occasion’* by Francis Bubbowter.
She read through it not quite as quickly as normal and kept blinking her eyes in an attempt to
focus.

“Only Hermione reads when she’s drunk,” said Ron, in a joking way. Everyone sensed that Ron
wasn’t really joking and the room when a little quiet. Hermione uttered a few words under her
breath and stood up from the couch. She removed the wands from her hair and began to gather her
things.

“What did you just do?” asked Harry.

“Sobering charm,” said Hermione quickly “I’ve got to look up a few things before I go to bed,
and I doubt I’d be able to do it with that much firewhisky in me. Night everyone.” With that she
made her way to the study and sealed the door.

“Nice to see she can just let go and party, eh Harry?” said Ron, filling his glass once
again.

“Leave her alone Ron,” said Harry with a warning tone in his voice.

“Leave her alone Ron,” mimicked Ron in a squeaky slurred voice “She’s not your girlfriend mate,
no need to get pissed off.” Susan stood up from where she was sitting and wobbled dangerously.

“I’m going to bed.” she said and attempted to walk out of the room. She held onto the doorframe
and leant against the walls before Harry decided to help her. Together they laughed hysterically
all the way upstairs, each trying to balance the other without much success.

Luna was still sitting on the floor and Ron was still drinking. She got up onto her knees and
grabbed the bottle from Ron taking a large swig. Ron looked at her and started laughing.

“Never thought you’d be the type to handle firewhisky well Loony,” he said, and took a swig
himself. He half moved and half fell off the couch and sat on the floor with her.

“You’re being quite nasty to Hermione you know,” said Luna.

“You told me before,” said Ron “I’m not being nasty to her, she just can’t take a joke. Neither
can you lot”

“It’s not a very funny joke when it’s mean about someone.” said Luna and stared at the floor.
“People think it’s funny when they say nasty things about me, but I don’t find it funny at all.”
Ron stared at the floor for a while before he finally spoke.

“I’m sorry for anything nasty I said about you.” he said quietly “I didn’t mean to hurt your
feelings. I don’t mean to be nasty towards Hermione either but I don’t know how to act. I can’t
believe she doesn’t want to be with me after all this time. It’s hard trying to be her friend again
when I’m angry at her.”

“You’ll get over it eventually Ron.” said Luna “She was your friend before all this and she will
be after” Ron remembered Harry’s words that closely resembled what Luna had just said. He saw a new
kind of wise ness in Luna that he hadn’t seen before and was quite surprised. He looked at Luna and
gave her a very big (and very drunk) smile. He put his arm around her and dragged her closer to
him.

“Loony, Loony, Loony,” he said and loudly kissed her cheek “No wonder you’re in Ravenclaw. Me,
I’m just dumb, but you’re very smart. No wonder Harry wanted to have you with us. I’m glad, we need
more brains around here to make up for me!”

“Ronald,” said Luna “You are much smarter than you think. Now stop this self-pity nonsense and
play me at chess. I’ll beat you this time for sure…” she turned to get the chess set but had
problems trying to remember where they had put it.

“You’re really nice to me Loony,” said Ron drunkenly. He reached turned her head towards him and
put his mouth on hers. Luna was in shock at first. What on earth was Ronald playing at? ‘He would
never look twice at someone like me!’ she thought. Then she decided that this was what she had
wanted for a while, and at least she could avoid some embarrassment by pretending that she was
drunk too. So she opened her mouth and let him kiss her until they were both breathing heavily. He
finally broke away and looked curiously into her eyes.

“Was that ok?” he asked. Luna smiled and nodded her head vigorously. Ron smiled back and kissed
her again. Eventually he pulled away and began shaking his head. Luna’s heart dropped to her
stomach when she remembered that her daydream had not involved kissing Ron so drunk that he had no
idea what he was really doing.

“We’re both very drunk,” she said very calmly “Don’t feel bad. But I do think we ought to go to
bed.” Ron nodded his head in agreement and eventually they managed to get up the stairs, eventually
they managed to find their rooms (after going into Harry and Susan’s rooms several times). Luna lay
in bed and thought about Ron’s kiss. She knew it only happened because he was drunk, and she knew
it would never happen again. But she decided that it was the closest someone like her would ever
get to living out her daydreams, and that was enough. Ron lay on his bed and thought about
undressing, but after a couple of feeble attempts that landed him on the floor he decided not to.
He passed out on the floor and didn’t dream at all. Hermione worked long into the night without a
break, amazed and a little frightened at what she was learning.

*************************************************************************************

It was 8 in the morning and Hermione had finally finished reading and making notes. She showered
and then made breakfast for everyone. After that she went into everyone’s room and cast sobering
and anti hangover charm’s. She then woke everyone up and told them to meet her downstairs. After a
lot of grumbling and moaning they all made their way down to the kitchen table, where they abruptly
stopped moaning when they saw breakfast in front of them. They all ate hungrily then went to
shower. Hermione waited impatiently for them in the living room and by 10am they were all finally
sitting down and waiting to hear her out.

“Well,” she said briskly “I’m glad you’re all finally ready to hear me out.”

“Relax Hermione,” said Ron “It’s not like we have to go anywhere right? What’s so important that
we couldn’t have a lie in on a Saturday morning?” Hermione stared at Ron with an eyebrow raised
until he mumbled an apology of sorts, though the words ‘just want to sleep in’ could be heard by
everyone and Luna giggled rather girlishly.

“Last night Luna mentioned something that caught my interest. She said that she had been told
she was a direct descendent of Rowena Ravenclaw. I know we all thought it was pretty funny because
we were drunk…” said Hermione but Luna interrupted her.

“I didn’t think it was funny,” she said. Hermione tried to back track but it was already a ‘foot
in mouth’ moment.

“Uh, anyway,” she continued quickly “I decided to check up on it. Not that I didn’t believe you
Luna but I was kind of wondering why Harry felt that he had to have you with us. Susan too for that
matter. No offence Susan but we have never been, erm, close friends so it was kind of strange when
Harry suddenly asked you to come and stay with us.”

“No offence taken,” said Susan brightly “People do hang out in different circles after all. I’ve
been wondering why I agreed to come and stay with you all too. Not that it hasn’t been fun getting
to know you all of course, but it was weird when I found myself saying that I’d leave Hogwarts to
come and stay here!”

“I think it’s lovely that we’re all friends,” said Luna quietly “It’s nice to have friends and
not be made fun of all the time.” Everyone was quiet for a moment, unsure of what to say.

“Yes well,” said Hermione “I looked into your family background too Susan. What I learnt
explains quite a lot” Harry noticed Hermione’s face beginning to flush with excitement at what she
had managed to find out, and wondered why he had never thought it cute before.

“I started with the history of the four founders of Hogwart’s and traced their family blood
lines to the present age, it took me all night because of all the different books I had to look
through and…” said Hermione excitedly and Ron decided to hurry her up before she started talking
about books.

“Can we get to the point?” he said, “I’m just not interested in the different kind of books you
had to look through…”

“Fine,” said Hermione tersely “Luna is the heir of Ravenclaw. Susan is the heir of Hufflepuff
and Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin.”

“Bloody hell,” Ron said staring at Luna and Susan “We knew that Snake face was the heir of
Slytherin, but you two are heir’s too? Bloody hell…all we need now is the heir of Gryffindor and
it’ll be like history repeating itself!” Hermione turned around and stared at Harry, and pretty
soon they all were. Harry burst out laughing.

“You’ve got it wrong Hermione,” he said after his laughter had subsided “There’s no way I can be
the heir of Gryffindor.”

“It’s true Harry,” she said “I looked at Godric’s whole family line and I found your great great
great Grandfather there. I looked in another book and found the histories of the whole Potter
family leading directly to Godric Gryffindor’s bloodline. Did you ever stop to think why your
parents lived in a place called ‘Godric’s hollow’? Not to mention what happened during our second
year at school.”

“What do you mean?” asked Harry rather tensely

“You used Godric Gryffindor’s sword to kill the Basilisk.” Hermione said simply.

“Yeah I did, but Dumbledore said that any true Gryffindor could use the sword.” Harry reminded
her.

“According to this book I read last night only the true heir’s of houses can use the items that
belonged to the founder’s. You Harry, you could use that sword because you are the heir of
Gryffindor. I bet Luna can use the tiara because she is the heir of Ravenclaw and I bet Susan will
be able to use the magic in Hufflepuff’s cup somehow because she is the heir of Hufflepuff.”

“Bloody hell,” said Ron again and stared at all three of them in awe.

“So,” asked Susan “Do you think that’s why we’re all here? Like history repeating itself or
something?”

“Yes,” said Hermione “The three founder’s of Hogwart’s had a feud with Salazar Slytherin because
of his, uh, principals. It was their combined power that stopped him from acting like a total mad
man and taking over the school. Now you three have to stop the heir of Slytherin from being a mad
man and trying to take over the whole world. You three have to stop the murders and torture, you
three are going to right the wrong that he has done.”

“Bloody hell,” said Ron again, but a lot quieter this time. They all sat there in silence for a
while thinking about what Hermione had said.

“I always thought it was strange that my mother, my grandmother, my great grandmother and so on
were all in Hufflepuff. I knew that I was a true Hufflepuff but I never thought it would be
anything as exciting as this!” said Susan, with a flush of excitement on her face.

“So you believe me now that you have proof in a book Hermione?” asked Luna. Hermione went rather
red in the face and went and sat next to Luna.

“I’m sorry Luna,” she said quietly. “We just believe in very different things so sometimes it’s
hard for me to believe in things like that so, erm, easily. But I’ll try a lot harder. I’m sorry if
I hurt your feelings.”

“It’s ok,” said Luna, her wide eyes brimming with tears.

“Friends?” asked Hermione. For an answer Luna threw her arms around Hermione and hugged her a
little longer than what Hermione was used to. From that moment onwards they were very good friends,
though sometimes Hermione had to bite her tongue when Luna would read her articles in the
‘Quibbler’.

Harry’s mind was in turmoil. He was trying to think of every possible argument against him being
the heir of Gryffindor, but the only one he could really come up with was that he didn’t feel he
was important enough. ‘When has Hermione ever been wrong about something like this?’ he thought to
himself, and didn’t like the answer. He felt like he had too many good things attached to his name.
All he thought of himself was a blundering seventeen year old that would be dead if it hadn’t been
for the help from the people he cared about every step of the way. How could he have not known this
before? How could he have not had a sign? How was he supposed to believe all this? He found himself
wondering why he couldn’t just be a regular teenage boy. But no, he was Harry Potter, the boy who
lived. He was Harry Potter, the chosen one. Now he was Harry Potter, the heir of Gryffindor…It felt
like so much pressure. If he failed to kill Voldemort he wouldn’t have people saying ‘Oh well he
was just a lad.’ No, people would be outraged that the chosen one could not do it; they would be
ashamed that the heir of the brave Godric Gryffindor couldn’t save the world. What if he couldn’t
do it?

“I’m not sure about this,” said Harry quietly. He stood up to leave so that he could think alone
when he felt a heavy weight at his side under his jumper. He pulled it up and stared in shock.
There on his side was Godric Gryffindor’s sword.

*************************************************************************************



18. Hufflepuff's cup
--------------------

The next day Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the study talking about the remaining
Horcruxes. It had taken a while for them to find some time to themselves so that they could discuss
this because Luna and Susan were always around. Due to Hermione’s revelation the previous day Harry
had arranged for them to train with member’s of the order as well as him. He reasoned that if all
three of them had to be there to defeat Voldemort together then they had to be trained as much as
he did, if not more. So Luna and Susan were taking lessons with Professor McGonagall this
afternoon, leaving Harry, Hermione and Ron blessedly alone. They spent a while playing wizards
chess, eating junk food and laughing as friends do. Harry thought that it almost felt normal, if he
hadn’t been feeling terribly guilty and if Ron hadn’t kept looking awkward whenever Hermione tried
to joke around with him. Eventually they decided to get back to work and went over the Horcruxes
they had to destroy and their possible locations.

“So do you think he could have hidden another one at Hogwarts then?” asked Ron whilst
absentmindedly looking for a bishop he had dropped on the floor somewhere.

“I doubt it,” said Hermione “Doesn’t seem to interesting to have three Horcruxes in one
place.”

“Yeah,” agreed Harry “Doesn’t sound like Voldemort at all. He likes to be a bit dramatic…”

“So where else then?” asked Ron finally retrieving the bishop “He hid two at Hogwarts, one in
that cave, one in the place where his grandfather lived…”

“Where else is important enough to Voldemort to want to hide something so special?” asked
Hermione. They all sat in silence for a while thinking before Harry finally spoke.

“What about the Orphanage he grew up in?” asked Harry

“Well it doesn’t hold great memories for him though does it? He was abandoned there by his
mother and had the lonely life of an orphan until Dumbledore came and offered him a place at
Hogwarts.” said Hermione.

“But it’s also the place that he discovered he had magic. It gave him great pleasure to bully
and torment all of the children there. That’s the place it all started for him,” said Harry,
wondering if he sounded like an idiot or not.

“Bet he wouldn’t expect anyone to look there either,” said Ron “Who would really know enough
about Voldemort to go back to the orphanage he stayed in as a kid for a part of his soul?” Hermione
was still looking thoughtful and Harry was beginning to wonder if she was asking herself what she
was doing with a bloke that wasn’t nearly as smart as her. Finally she spoke-

“I think you may be right Harry. We should find out where this Orphanage is and take a look at
it the next time Luna and Susan have another lesson.” Harry grinned and felt a little lighter. He
didn’t know why he was so worried about what Hermione thought of him. Probably because he was used
to everything he loved being taken away from him and was expecting her to join them. He suddenly
realised what he had thought and felt himself panicking again. He excused himself to get a glass of
water and sat in the kitchen for quite a long time.

*************************************************************************************

A few days later the trio were walking along a street in London on their way to the Orphanage.
Harry was leading the way, but the landmarks he had remembered whilst in Dumbledore’s Pensieve last
year had all gone. After quite a while Hermione and Ron were getting rather impatient.

“Maybe it’s round here,” said Harry hopefully. Ron rolled his eyes and followed Harry. He had
heard him say this quite a few times this afternoon so he didn’t have his hopes up. They passed a
Marks and Spencer’s and rounded the corner. They walked through a car park and stopped at the end,
Harry looking around anxiously while Ron looked at all the cars.

“Harry,” said Hermione “Do you think we could ask directions? I’m sure that there can’t be many
orphanages in this area of town.” Harry nodded and turned around…then stopped abruptly with a smile
on his face. Opposite them he could see large metal gates, but unlike when Voldemort lived there
they were almost entirely hidden by surrounding trees and bushes.

“Guess we won’t need directions after all,” said Harry happily and led the way to the steel
gates.

They went through the gates and entered the courtyard. This had a little more greenery also, but
it still looked rather barren. The square building, Harry noticed, hadn’t changed at all. The high
railings still surrounded it and made it look more like a prison. Harry walked up the few steps
leading to the front door, Hermione and Ron following closely behind. Harry knocked on the door,
and a series of loud bangs and crashes could be heard from inside. A harassed looking woman opened
the door. She had strikingly black hair and unbelievably dark eyes. Her skin was pale to the point
of sickliness, she would have been quite pretty of not for her nose that was a little too large for
her face, and her chin that was a bit too pointy. Harry smiled at her and asked if they could come
in for a moment.

“Why? You got friends in ‘ere or somefing?” she said suspiciously.

“No,” said Harry “We’re here to see a Mrs. Cole actually. We were hoping that she wouldn’t mind
having a quick chat with us.” The woman’s eyes lowered and she looked at the floor. She took a
while to speak, and when she did she sounded very quiet and a little frightened.

“She’s dead,” she said “They found her hanging from the rafters. Police tried to say she killed
herself, but I don’t believe ‘em.”

“Do you think she was murdered?” asked Hermione. The woman suddenly looked up and acted as if
she had just noticed they were all standing there.

“It don’t matter. Either way she ain’t here so you lot ‘ad better clear off.” she said sounding
a little angry. She went to shut the door but Hermione pushed her hand against it and then shoved
her foot between the door and the frame.

“Please,” said Hermione “You don’t have to talk to us, but we just wanted to see our friends old
room. We think he might have hidden something in there that we need.”

“No one’s hidden anything anywhere. We may not ‘ave the best looking place but it’s clean. I’d
never miss something hidden in any room…” she said rather defensively.

“I don’t imagine that you would,” said Hermione quickly “But we just want to take a look for
ourselves. It won’t take a moment.” The woman stared at them for a moment longer before reluctantly
opening the door. They quickly stepped inside before she could change her mind. Inside Harry
noticed that there hadn’t been too much improvement. The floor was still tiled in black and white,
though the walls now had a new kind of paint on them that made it look a little nicer.

“What room are you looking for then?” the woman asked.

“I don’t know the number exactly,” said Harry “but I know the way to go, he gave me directions
you see.” She nodded her head in agreement and followed Harry up the stairs, which now had a cheap
green carpet on them rather than the stone that Harry remembered. Behind them Harry could hear
Hermione talking to her.

“I’m Hermione,” she said “It’s nice to meet you. And your name is?”

“Emma,” she replied and smiled shyly at Hermione.

“I’m awfully sorry to hear about the death of Mrs. Cole, it must have been quite a shock for
you,” said Hermione, hoping to hear more about the suspicious death. Harry had just reached the
door to the room that Dumbledore had entered all those years ago. The conversation behind him
suddenly stopped and Harry looked around. Emma was staring at him as if he’d just grown a second
head.

“Y-you’re friends wiv ‘im?” she asked sounding very frightened now. Harry shook his head but she
didn’t seem to be paying much attention.

“No one goes in that room anymore,” she said, her eyes looking wild “not since ‘e left. Kids
don’t like it in there, even the ones that don’t know nothin’ about ‘im. They used to wake up
screamin’ so we just don’t use it anymore. ‘orrid room, gives you the chills just walking by it.”
Harry noticed that this part of the hallway did seem a lot colder than everywhere else they had
walked, but decided to keep quiet.

“When you say ‘he’ do you mean Tom Riddle?” asked Ron in a whisper, looking like Voldemort might
leap out at them any moment. Emma nodded her head and looked anxiously around her, as if she were
feeling that way also.

“I think ‘e’s the one that killed Mrs. Cole. He came back ’ere you see, when ‘e was a lot older.
She told ’im to get out coz ‘e didn’t belong ‘ere no more. She started talkin’ about these kids an’
this rabbit. Then she was quiet and went upstairs wiv ‘im. Shortly after ‘e left. The next mornin’
we found ‘er hangin’ from the rafters…” she broke off and began sobbing. Hermione felt sick to her
stomach and Ron was still looking around expecting an attack.

“We’re not friends of Tom’s,” said Harry “I can’t tell you why we’re here, but just trust me
when I say you’re safe with us. But now we have to go into Tom’s old room, and I doubt you want to
follow us.” Emma smiled at Harry and went to walk down the stairs. Just before Harry opened to door
she called out -

“Be careful!”

Harry opened the door with a loud creak, a cold draft swept in his face and he stepped inside
the room quickly. After Ron and Hermione were inside he closed the door quickly. The room was
unbelievably cold in comparison with the rest of the orphanage and they all drew their coats around
them to ward of the chill. There was an unpleasant and musty odour to the room, that seemed to
become more pungent the longer they were in there. Harry looked around the room and saw that it was
in the early stages of decay. The wallpaper was peeling and there were black spots all over from
the damp. The wardrobe looked like it was about to fall apart and was covered in a thick layer of
dust. The metal frame on the bed looked like it was rusting, and there was a simple bare mattress
on top. Harry looked at the floor and saw that there were only patches of carpet left, showing old
rickety floorboards beneath. Harry was surprised that they hadn’t fallen through the floor the
moment they stepped in the room.

He headed over to the wardrobe and opened the door. There was nothing inside but more dust and
quite a few spiders. Ron gave a rather feminine screech at this and moved away quite quickly.
Hermione went to the bed and gingerly lifted up the old mattress. There was nothing concealed under
there, and they could see straight through the gaps in the metal frame to the wooden floorboards.
Nothing under there either. They all looked at each other wondering what to do next. There was
nowhere else to look… Harry felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, he was sure he had been right
about this.

They walked through the room listening to the creaks under their feet. He examined the walls to
see if there might be a hiding place there, but could see nothing. He turned around to tell them
that maybe they should go when he saw Ron doing something peculiar. He was walking around in a
circle and making the floorboards creak in agony, then he stepped into the centre of the circle and
there was silence. He did this a few times, seemingly oblivious to Harry and Hermione’s worried
glances. Finally he looked up and spoke -

“I think there’s something in the floor…”

Harry moved quickly to where Ron had been standing and stepped on the floor. It felt much firmer
here than in the rest of the room. He suddenly stamped hard on the wood it cracked. He did this
over and over, until finally he could see it had split. He knelt down and grasped the splintered
wood, tugging with all his might until it broke away in his hands. A ragged hold was left and he
thrust his hands inside it withdrew an old black box. Hermione and Ron knelt beside him as he
slowly opened the box. Inside were simple items, a whistle, an old children’s book, a little silver
hair comb, a fine looking fountain pen and an old wooden recorder.

“No cup from Hufflepuff then,” said Ron sadly “What would he want with this junk anyway?” Harry
quickly told Ron of the box of simple items that Voldemort had taken from other children when he
was younger.

“Obviously Dumbledore didn’t break that habit then, eh?” said Ron. “Wonder if the recorder still
works, I can play twinkle twinkle little star you know.” He reached towards the recorder, Hermione
and Harry quickly shoved their hands in the box to stop him in case it was cursed…and they all had
their hands either on the recorder or each other. Harry felt the familiar tugging behind his navel
and his mind filled with dread. The recorder was a portkey, and it was undoubtedly taking them to a
trap that Voldemort had set…

*************************************************************************************



19. Hepzibah Smith
------------------

A/N- thanks again to everyone for reading along and reviewing. I really do appreciate all the
reviews, it helps to know whether you like it or not…Then I know whether to continue the story the
way it is…Or change it! I had a couple of reviews asking if Voldemort was going to be in this
chapter, remember that we’re still looking for the Horcruxes and Voldemort likes to set little
traps so that they are well protected. This is one of those traps. There’s still quite a few
chapters until Voldemort J Until then, happy reading!

**Islanzadi**

*************************************************************************************

Can you remember what it’s like to be young and in love? You’re first love, the one who you fall
for so deeply you feel that they are ingrained into your very soul. You wake up at night and have
been dreaming about them, you wake up in the morning and they are the first person you think about,
and when you go to bed they are in your mind when you fall asleep. You can’t concentrate during the
day because some tiny thing that happens inevitably reminds you of them, and then getting them out
of your mind after that is virtually impossible.

Can you remember the passion? Not the passion that mature people feel but the young and raw kind
you only experiences a couple of precious times. It’s almost foolish because all caution is thrown
to the wind. A tiny peck on the cheek can ignite a whole host of feelings, and controlling them is
hopeless. Can you remember kissing the first person you wanted, really wanted with every fibre of
your being? If not let me remind you, it starts with a simple kiss, and you feel such heat, passion
and obsession for this one person that the whole world around you fades away. Inevitably you enter
the world again, only to find that hours and hours have passed, and all you did was kiss. Can you
remember making love with them for the first time? The feeling of never wanting it to end, and how
that one thing filled most of your time as if the other person were a drug. If you didn’t have more
of them you would surely die, and the thought of not being able to have them is enough to drive you
to the point of insanity. Some people say it’s all in the hormones that young people have and they
have difficulty in controlling them. I think it’s because love is so new and so exciting that it
cannot possibly wait to be explored. It’s because you haven’t yet been hurt by love and so you can
give up to it, sacrifice everything that you are for those few precious moments with this person
who has become your whole world.

Can you imagine feeling all of this, wanting someone so much you can hardly take a breath when
you think of them, and not be able to have them? Can you imagine feeling so happy when you share
those precious kisses, then having an enormous guilt crashing down upon you? The fevered inner
torments of the young in love, trying to do what’s right but unable to stop themselves from the
most perfect temptation of all.

What if you were too scared to give yourself to these feelings? What if you tried to hold back
on those burning thoughts that plagued you day and night? Why would you do that? Fear. Being afraid
to lose who you are by giving yourself to them entirely, the fear that now you’ll be emotionally
vulnerable. You have to wear your heart on your sleeve. What if the other person decides to break
it in two? What if you feel that love is too much of a risk after everything you have already been
through? What if you couldn’t handle heartbreak but knew it would happen either way?

This is Harry and Hermione. Hermione deeply in love with Harry and so far gone that she would
give up her friendship with Ron just to be with Harry for a few happy hours. Harry scared to admit
his feelings because of what it might mean for all three of them, for what it might mean to him and
the risk it will put Hermione in. Living day in day out with the threat of death over their
shoulders, and these smouldering feelings getting stronger and stronger. How long will it take for
Harry to understand and admit his feelings? How long will he wait until he realises that the
biggest risk of all is losing the one you love?

Can you remember?

*************************************************************************************

They were standing in pitch black. Harry tried to put his hand in front of his face but couldn’t
see a thing. He could feel Hermione and Ron standing close by, but couldn’t even see an outline of
their figures in the darkness. It seemed unnaturally quiet, almost as if everything around them
were dead. He heard Hermione trying to quietly light her wand but nothing was happening.

A sudden scream filled the air and they moved closer together. The darkness seemed to be
receding, turning to a very dark grey to lighter shades of the same colour very slowly. There was a
thick fog surrounding them and the air was heavy and humid, making breathing difficult and
unpleasant. They clutched onto each other and moved forward very slowly, not wanting to crash into
an unseen enemy. Harry’s hair was standing up on the back of his neck, he could feel something
moving out there in the fog, but what it was he didn’t know. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to find
out. He felt a strange breeze above his head and he looked up anxiously.

The fog was so thick that they couldn’t see what was above them, but Harry had the ominous
feeling that whatever it was not there to help them. They began walking forward again and they
could hear squelching under their feet. They looked down, but again couldn’t see anything below
their shins due to a thick mist covering the floor. As they walked on they could hear a groaning
sound from beneath them, which quickly turned from groans to shrieks and then to agonised screams.
They were breathing quickly now and stumbled forward, not knowing where they were going or what
they were going to find when they got there.

The screeches and screams grew louder and louder the quicker and harder they walked, the
squelching noises becoming more prominent. He could hear Hermione start to sob and put his arm
quickly to her waist and decided to leave it there. He doubted Ron would notice too much and he
couldn’t stand to hear her like that and do nothing to help her.

They trudged on for a while longer, until Ron suddenly began shouting in fright, but no
decipherable words seemed to be coming out of his mouth. Harry whirled around to see what he was
shouting at and saw Ron staring at the ground with a terrified look on his face, and then screaming
as if it would be his last. Harry looked down and immediately vomited. The mist had cleared
momentarily and he could finally see what had been squelching so loudly beneath his feet. There
beneath him were faces of the dead, screaming in an endless agony. It didn’t help that they were
standing on them. Harry looked at the face Ron was screaming at and saw that it was Mrs. Weasley.
Her face was pale and her gums had rotted away. She had deep bags under her eyes and her face
looked like it had blood splashed all over it.

“It’s not real Ron!” shouted Harry, desperately trying to stop Ron’s endless screaming. “It’s a
trick! Voldemort likes to play with people’s heads! RON!!” Ron stopped screaming but Harry could
see that tears were streaming down his face. Harry moved quickly to him and grabbed him by the
shoulder, urging him to keep walking.

“Voldemort is scared of death. He’s going to use it on us a lot. Just try to remember that it’s
not real…“ said Harry quietly. Hermione’s face looked pale and almost haunted. He knew he shouldn’t
have let her come along. He put his arm back around her waist and pulled her along while grabbing
onto the fabric of Ron’s shirt.

It seemed like hours later, Harry’s legs were stiff from walking so far. He had almost gotten
used to the continuous screams and wails, but his nerves felt ragged. Hermione and Ron had been
silent for a long time, and Harry was seriously considering using the recorder to go back to the
orphanage. He could come back here some other time, they shouldn’t be here. He looked anxiously to
the side and could see Hermione visibly trembling as her feet tortured the things beneath her.
‘Right,’ he thought ‘that’s it, we’re getting out of here, I can’t believe I even let them come
with me in the first place…’ His thoughts were interrupted -

“Look,” said Hermione, her voice sounding hollow and distant “There’s a house up there,” Harry
was about to tell her she was hallucinating but then he saw the glimmer of lights ahead and, as the
fog whirled around them and cleared momentarily, he saw an old looking house in the distance. With
renewed vigour the three of them traipsed faster, and eventually found themselves at the house,
very breathless and very nervous.

Harry ascended the steps first, his wand drawn. There was an awful smell of death and decay, and
he had to breath through his mouth to stop the constant waves of nausea that gripped him. He
grasped the door handle and turned it clockwise. The door swung open to admit them, though the
darkness inside made Harry think twice about going in. He walked through the door and heard Ron
vomit behind him, obviously not breathing through his mouth. They all walked into the hallway very
cautiously and suddenly the door swung shut…

A pretty woman came into the hallway with red hair and startling green eyes. Harry tried to tell
himself that it wasn’t real, she wasn’t real…she was dead. But he still found himself moving
towards her. She was wearing a small white apron and she smiled beautifully at Harry. She opened
her arms to him and Harry’s heart was beating faster and faster. His mother, how long had he wanted
to be with his mother?

“Harry, no!” said Hermione “It’s not real! Please, get away from her! It’s a trap!” A staircase
seemed to materialise in front of them and a man that looked just like Harry began to walk towards
them with a broad grin on his face.

“Son!” he said happily, though the voice sounded hollow and sickly sweet. “Glad you stopped by,
I was just thinking of getting the broom out for a fly around. Fancy joining me?”

“Oh that sounds wonderful,” said the red headed woman “Why don’t you two fly around for a bit
while I make some biscuits? Chocolate chip…your favourite Harry…” Harry smiled dopily at his
parents and began to move forward again. The red headed woman opened her arms and he moved slowly
towards her as if in a dream…

“Chocolate chip biscuits are most certainly not his favourite!” said Hermione loudly “Harry
please! Don’t go near them!”

Her voice cut through Harry like a knife and he suddenly realised where he was. In a strange
house, looking for a Horcrux. His parents were dead, and this was a sick joke. He stepped back and
looked disgusted. The thing that looked like his mother looked upset at Harry’s retreat, and then
slowly began to blur and fade away. The room in front of them wavered and changed. It looked like
they were in a small cosy kitchen, and in front of them was a ‘Harry’ kneeling behind a little girl
with his arms around her shoulders. The little girl had black hair and brown eyes, and she was
smiling happily at something and waving with one hand while clutching a teddy bear in the other.
She looked just like him, except her eyes. Her eyes looked just like Hermione’s… He turned around
quickly and saw tears in Hermione’s eyes. The second Harry hadn’t said anything yet; he was just
looking at Hermione with utter adoration.

“Mummy!” said the little girl in the background and held her arms out to Hermione. “I’m glad
your home! Daddy and I made you a special dinner and I picked you some pretty flowers from the
garden…” Her voice sounded eerily high pitched and seemed to echo around the room.

“IT’S NOT REAL!” screamed Hermione, holding her hands over her ears “GO AWAY!” The scene before
him seemed to melt before his eyes leaving only darkness. Hermione was breathing heavily, and Harry
was having a hard time trying to get that image out of his mind. Is that what his little girl would
look like? He’d never thought about getting married and having children before. Is that what
Hermione wanted to do with him? He felt warm at the thought but couldn’t stop a thread of fear
making its way through him. What if he didn’t make it through this? Then where would she be? They
stood in the dark for a few moments, only their breathing breaking the silence.

“Wow,” said Ron “This place is really trying to mess with our heads, showing what Harry wants
and my worst fears…I’m beginning to think Snake face might be insane…” Harry felt a lump in his
throat and tried to quickly swallow it. The darkness around them was beginning to fade, so he
forced what Ron had just said from his mind and readied himself for whatever was next.

The room suddenly changed from pitch black to one full of colours. There were trinkets all over
the place and Harry recognised the room he was standing in front of immediately. They were in
Hepzibah’s house, and she was sitting in her chair happily eating some cake. They all looked at
each other curiously and Harry walked over to her.

“Uh, hello,” said Harry nervously “We’ve, um, come to see that cup you have. If you don’t mind
showing it to us that is…” Hepzibah simpered at Harry and retrieved a box from under her chair.
There was the cup, gleaming brightly.

“Wait,” said Hepzibah quickly “You didn’t bring me any flowers. You don’t get to see my special
treasure unless I get my flowers.” Harry looked at Hermione and Ron and shrugged slightly. He
looked at his wand and thought *‘orchideous’*. A bouquet of bright flowers shot from the end
of Harry’s wand and Hepzibah clapped her hands delightfully. She offered Harry the box and he
quickly took the cup.

The moment the cup was in his hands the room started to lose its colour once again. The smell of
death and decay hit him and he had to fight the urge to vomit. He looked up at Hepzibah and was
horrified at what he saw. Her ginger wig had gone and a bald wrinkled head had replaced it. Her
eyes had become suddenly hollow and sunken in. Her flesh seemed to pale before him and became more
translucent. She lunged at Harry with an evil moan and had her hands wrapped tightly around his
neck, squeezing harder and harder until Harry could see white spots dancing in his vision. Hermione
rushed over to him and pulled the Inferi’s hands off of his neck and she was thrown to the side and
crashed violently into a cabinet. Harry rushed over to her while Ron pointed his wand at the Inferi
and shouted *‘Incendio’*. Bright flames engulfed the Inferi, and they ran towards the door.
When they got to the door however, it wouldn’t open. Harry tugged and tugged, Hermione tried
various spells and Ron tried kicking it. Nothing seemed to work. They could hear a lot of movement
behind them and saw Inferi coming down the stairs, from the back of the house, out of the room
Hepzibah was burning in and out of the various closets in the hallway. Harry saw his parents and
the little girl walking towards him and he raised his wand, knowing they weren’t real but feeling
sick at the thought of having to do something like this. His wand trembled in his hand as the
little girl smiled brightly up at him. He took a deep breath and readied himself to destroy the
child and his parents, but Hermione stepped in front of him. Her eyes were blazing pools of anger
and she thrust her wand angrily towards them. The little girl’s hair seemed to fall away from her,
and her face began to sink into itself. The red headed Inferi that looked like Harry’s mother began
to change also, her skin wrinkling as if someone had pressed the ‘fast forward’ button on a remote
control. Her skin started to sag and her teeth began to darken. The trio found new strength in the
changed appearance of the Inferi, it didn’t seem like the murdering of the innocent when they
looked like they had just risen from the dead.

They all shouted *‘Incendio’* over and over, and burning bodies suddenly filled the house.
Harry tugged on the door again, but still nothing. Now the house was burning and thick black smoke
filled the air. ‘We’re going to die in here if we don’t get out soon,’ Harry thought and
frantically tried to find the wooden recorder. He suddenly felt Hermione slump against him and Ron
was coughing violently. He was still desperately trying to find it when he felt the odd shaped lump
within his robes. He put an arm around Hermione’s waist and one around Ron, and then seized the
wooden instrument.

A moment later they were back in the room that had once belonged to Voldemort. Ron was coughing
hard, but Harry was looking at Hermione. She was lying very still on the floor, her face slightly
blackened from the smoke. “Oh please don’t let her be gone, please don’t let her be gone,’ he
thought desperately to himself, repeating it over and over in his head. He could feel hot tears
down his face and slowly blew a breath into her mouth, listening anxiously for her breathing. He
did this over and over until he was shaking badly and thought he’d lost her. He began to cry and
cry and held her head in his arms. She had gone into this because of him, and it felt like a knife
had just pierced his heart. He looked at her smoke blackened face and slowly began to stroke it,
wiping the black marks tenderly from her face. ‘Hermione wouldn’t want to have a dirty face’ he
thought, then buried his head into her shoulder and held her as tightly as he could.

She suddenly coughed lightly and he stopped and stared at her, not sure if he was dreaming or
not. When she smiled up at him he let out a shaky sigh of relief and put his head back into her
shoulder, so very thankful that she wasn’t gone. What would he have done if he’d lost her? How
could he have carried on without her? He couldn’t, there was just no way…He was nothing without
Hermione.

“You’re not coming with us again,” said Harry shakily, wiping the tears the seemed to keep
streaming from his eyes. Hermione gave a small laugh and closed her eyes, enjoying having Harry so
close to her.

“It’ll take more than that to stop me going with you,” she said quietly, and a small smile
played across her face.

They didn’t notice Ron looking at them with narrowed eyes, or the deep suspicion written across
his face.

*************************************************************************************



20. The Dark Mark
-----------------

A/N - Well here’s the bit you’ve all been hoping for/dreading! Thanks to everyone for reading
along, and special thanks to you reviewers! Hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry about the end (Don’t
hate me!) Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

Ps- Rock my socks and review, wont you?

They sat in a compartment by themselves on the train from London to Cambridge. Harry was sitting
on the chair next to the window, Hermione on the one next to him resting her head on Harry’s
shoulder. Harry had cleaned Hermione up for the train ride home, but her tiredness was still etched
on her face. Ron sat opposite Harry, and was having an inner battle. Why was Hermione leaning on
Harry like that? Why had Harry been so upset over almost losing Hermione? Why was he always
sticking up for Hermione when Ron was being, well, a little unpleasant? He was sure than in the
house his worst fear wouldn’t be Hermione getting together with Harry…The logical part of him was
telling him that he was being completely idiotic. Of course Harry would be worried about almost
losing Hermione, they were best friends! Ron had almost cried too when it looked like she wasn’t
going to breathe. ‘Harry always sticks up for Hermione because I’ve been a wanker to her lately,’
he thought. Hermione was resting on Harry’s shoulder for the same reason. ‘Why would she want
comfort from me when I’ve been punishing her for not wanting to be with me?’ he thought again. But
his unease continued, and as much as he tried to tell himself that he was simply suspicious and
jealous, his mind wouldn’t let it go. He thought he was going to go crazy and just wanted to get
back to that stupid cottage and sit on his stupid bed and forget all of this for the rest of the
stupid night.

“Why did we have to take this stupid train home? It takes forever to get anywhere the way these
muggles travel,” said Ron, betraying some of his inner anger.

“Ron,” said Hermione quietly “You know why. Someone in the ministry could detect us apparating,
we can’t take the risk of anyone knowing where we are.”

“There must be hundreds of witches and wizards around here though, they cant track us that
quickly just once,” said Ron, sounding impatient now.

“If owls that travel during the day are being attacked, then you can be sure that everything
else is being watched too. We just have to be very careful Ron, we can’t take any risks.” said
Hermione again; sounding like her patience was wearing out as well as her energy.

“If we’d have stayed at Grimmauld place this wouldn’t have been a problem. They can’t detect
apparition there,” said Ron again, crossing his arms in frustration. Harry looked at him for a
while wondering what was wrong with him. ‘Maybe seeing his mum like that really messed him up,’
thought Harry.

“You’re right Ron, Grimmauld place would have been safer. If you want to move there then just
say the word and we will. It was kind of selfish of me to stay away because I don’t want reminders
of Sirius,” said Harry stiffly, he hated having to admit that he’d only thought of himself in front
of Hermione. What if she thought less of him? He glanced to the side and saw that she was beaming
at him and he gave a small smile back. Ron watched this exchange and felt like punching Harry in
the face. Why did Hermione think he was a great hero? Then he felt a bit guilty, Harry was being
nice and saying they could move to Grimmauld place and here was Ron wanting to punch him. Why was
he acting so crazy? Was he going to act like this with every bloke Hermione smiled at? What about
when she went out with someone else? He smiled stiffly back at Harry and decided he would try to
control his jealousy, it really was quite pathetic.

The rest of the way home was spent in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts and all
looking forward to getting some much needed rest. They let themselves into the cottage quietly
hoping to sneak upstairs and get some sleep. A split second later Luna and Susan were in the
hallway.

“Where have you been?” asked Susan looking very worried.

“Just taking care of some business,” said Harry quietly.

“What kind of business?” asked Luna

“We’ll tell you soon,” said Harry firmly “But now is not the time.” He made a move to the stairs
but Luna stopped him.

“We made dinner, don’t you want any?” she asked. Harry had every intention of saying ‘No’, but
he felt guilty. Instead he nodded his head and the three of them sat down at the table to eat. To
Harry’s surprise the meal was wonderful. Roast chicken, Yorkshire puddings and three kinds of
vegetables were served. For desert there was jam roly-poly and custard. Ron looked like he was in
heaven, and all three of them ate ravenously. After that Ron sat and played wizards chess with
Luna, while Susan read a muggle book from the study. Harry and Hermione played exploding snap. By
11 o clock they were all content and had been having a lot of fun.

“You know what,” said Ron happily “When we came home today we were all just about ready to go to
bed. After a good meal and a game of chess though, I feel up for just about anything!”

“I’m glad that Luna and I could make you three so happy. Now, what would make me happy is
knowing what you three were up to today.” said Susan, her arms folded as she stared at all three of
them. Ron and Hermione simply turned to stare at Harry with a look of ‘your decision not ours,’
upon their faces. Harry stared back at them, trying to figure out what to do.

“We’re in this together Harry,” said Luna dreamily “We three are going to have to destroy
Voldemort, that’s the reason it felt so right for us to all be here. It’s our destiny, and I think
that Susan and I have a right to know the whole story. We shouldn’t have secrets Harry, we need to
trust each other implicitly because every single one if us has the others’ lives in their
hands.”

“Well, when she puts it like that Harry how can you refuse? I have to say Loony you’re a smart
cookie, and I am very impressed,” said Ron with a big smile. Luna blushed slightly and continued to
stare at Harry, her eyes wide with anticipation. Harry knew that the only reason Dumbledore told
him to tell on Ron and Hermione was because he trusted them with his life and knew they would never
betray him. Did he trust Luna and Susan the same way? He knew the answer before he even asked
himself that question, after all if it hadn’t felt right why would they be here?

“We were finding a Horcrux,” said Harry quietly and pulled Hufflepuff’s cup out of his pocket.
Susan looked confused at the word ‘Horcrux’, Luna looked confused too but it was for an entirely
different reason.

“How did you fit that in your pocket?” she said. Harry and Susan both laughed and they moved
next to Luna and hugged her affectionately. Harry sat on the couch with them on either side of him
and quietly told them the story of the Horcruxes and everything he knew about Voldemort. Hermione
watched him telling the story and felt her heart swell at the sight of him. She was also amazed at
the closeness Luna, Susan and Harry had developed. She knew the founder’s had been close too, but
it was strange how quickly their relationship had grown so close so quickly. ‘It was meant to be,’
she thought to herself and smiled. Maybe they had a chance against Voldemort after all. No, no
maybes about it, they were going to win…

*************************************************************************************

It was two am and Harry made his way quietly out of his room and closed the door. He saw
Hermione at the end of the hallway making her way slowly towards him. He grabbed her hand and led
her down the stairs, through the hallway and out of the back door. He unrolled the invisibility
cloak and draped it over them. Hermione moved forward, heading to the spot at the back of the
garden they always went to. They were not even halfway there when Harry grabbed her wrist and spun
her around to face him. He scanned her face quickly before lowering his head to her and kissing her
very deeply. It was a few minutes before he stopped and Hermione felt like her whole world was
spinning. He stared into her eyes again and she smiled.

“Goodness Harry,” she started, but was interrupted by Harry grabbing her and kissing her once
again. She could feel him trembling slightly and he wrapped his arms around her and held her
tightly to him. He kissed her feverishly along her neck and collarbone, then back up to her lips.
Hermione began to feel those familiar electric pulses firing throughout her, and pulled away to
catch her breath and regain her composure. He buried his face into her neck and continued to hold
her tightly. Hermione held him equally as forcefully. She loved being in his arms like this, she
felt so protected and wanted. She breathed heavily and inhaled his scent. She started to feel warm
simply smelling him and attempted to think of things she found boring, like Quidditch.

“I thought you’d gone Hermione,” Harry finally whispered, his breath gently caressing her skin.
“I couldn’t bare to lose you, what would I do if I didn’t have you?” Hermione smiled at his words
and felt those familiar butterflies in her stomach. She wondered if he knew how much she loved him.
‘I should tell him,’ she thought to herself ‘right now, I should just blurt out I LOVE YOU!’ But
she stopped those insane urges quickly. What if he didn’t feel the same way? What if he wasn’t
ready for that yet, after all they had moved very quickly with their ‘relationship’. Truthfully,
she just knew that the time wasn’t right. But when would the time be right? Would there ever be a
perfect time to say those words when everything in their lives was such a mess?

“I’m not going anywhere Harry,” whispered Hermione “I’d never leave you. Besides, who would make
sure you studied if I wasn’t around?” Harry grinned and nibbled playfully on her neck, which was a
surprise for Hermione and she shrieked playfully. Harry put his fingers on her lips and stared deep
into her eyes.

“I need you for more than studying, more than making sure I eat right and more than making sure
I’m healthy and in one piece. I need you because of how you make me feel. You make me feel like I’m
worth something more than just ‘the boy who’s supposed to save the world’. You make me feel like
you want me because I’m me. Just Harry.” said Harry and kissed her gently on the lips.

“Well ‘Just Harry’ let me show you how much I want you,’ said Hermione with a devilish grin and
led him quickly to the back of the garden.

Ron awoke suddenly and looked around his dark room. What was that noise that had woken him up?
He stood up and moved stealthily to the bedroom door. He was about to open it when he remembered
that if death eaters were in the house, he might need his wand. He backtracked quickly and found it
on his bedside table. He went back to the door again and opened it quietly, listening intently for
any strange noises…nothing. He stepped into the hallway and walked quietly to the stairs and paused
again. Again he heard nothing. ‘Maybe I’m finally losing it,’ he thought. He decided that he may as
well check out the rest of the house just to be on the safe side, or he would just lie awake for
hours on end imagining that the general creaks and groans of the house were death eaters…or
werewolves…or vampires. He shuddered at the thought and made his way downstairs, leaping around
corners with his wand aiming at thin air. After a thorough check of the house, he decided to go
upstairs and get some more sleep. He quickly checked the front door was locked and headed up the
stairs. He was almost to the top when he remembered that he hadn’t checked the backdoor. He stood
on the stairs for a moment wondering if it would be safe or not, then sighed and walked back down
the stairs.

He pulled on the back door, expecting it to be locked and was surprised when it opened. He shut
it quickly and jumped back into the kitchen, then whirled around to see if anyone was behind him.
No one. He sighed deeply and turned back to the door again. Why was it opened? What stupid bloody
idiot had forgotten to lock the door? He was about to lock it himself when he saw a flash of white
at the end of the garden. He gripped his wand tighter and nervously licked his lips. Should he wake
Harry? Should he wake everyone in the house? Should he call the Order? He decided to wait for a bit
and make sure it wasn’t his imagination. He didn’t want to look like a total prat in front of
everyone if it was just a cat. He was watching intently and thought that he had finally gone insane
when there it was, clear as day. A foot…a shin…then gone! He knew right then that it was Harry
under the invisibility cloak. But what was Harry doing in the garden in the middle of the night
hiding under his invisibility cloak. He laughed to himself in the darkness of the kitchen. Turns
out Harry was the insane one. He still felt a deep unease in the pit of his stomach and waited in
the kitchen, in the dark.

“Hermione,” Harry groaned, “I think we should go in. We’ve been kissing for so long I can’t feel
my lips anymore. Besides, you’re driving me mad…”

“In a good way though?” said Hermione playfully, kissing his neck and running her hands down his
back.

“Almost too good actually,” said Harry grinning. He kissed her deeply again and felt her moaning
against him. Time to go now before he lost control. He didn’t need to have that discussion again.
Besides, he wanted it to be special between them too, and Hermione had as little self-control as he
did. So it was best, while one of them was thinking clearly, to go back into the house. He kissed
her a few more times and pulled her up. She pouted adorably and he kissed her all the way into the
kitchen. He quietly opened the back door, and pulled Hermione inside. He whipped off the
invisibility cloak and Hermione grabbed him and kissed him passionately. Harry’s mind was spinning
when she finally pulled away.

“You are evil Hermione,” he said with a dramatic groan. She giggled and gave him a quick peck on
the cheek.

“Lets go to bed then. I will see you in the morning Mr. Potter,” said Hermione playfully.

“Would you like me to escort you to your chambers madam?” said Harry acting equally as
goofy.

“If you can be trusted, then of course,” she said smiling. She linked her arm through his and
they turned to leave the kitchen. They were almost through the door when a hard voice called out
from the dark.

“Not planning on saying goodnight to your best mate then, eh?” said Ron, a fierce anger
emanating from him. Harry and Hermione stopped dead in their tracks. ‘Not this way’ thought Harry
‘I didn’t want him to find out this way! Why didn’t I sit him down and make him listen? Oh no…’ The
light suddenly turned on above them and Harry turned around to face Ron. He looked angrier than
Harry had ever seen him. His face was red, his eyes looked like they were made of steel and he was
visibly shaking from rage. Harry opened his mouth to speak but Ron advanced on him quickly. Harry
knew that he could stop it; he knew that he could easily overpower him, but he just stood there.
Ron slammed his fist into Harry’s jaw, then again into Harry’s eye, and then into Harry’s
stomach.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” He shouted at the top of his voice, still
punching Harry as hard as he could. Hermione screamed as Harry fell to the floor, with blood
gushing from his nose.

“Harry!” she cried “Get up! Ron! Stop this now! You’re hurting him…”

“GOOD!” Yelled Ron “I WANT HIM TO HURT! I WANT HIM TO HURT AS MUCH AS I AM RIGHT NOW! HOW COULD
YOU HARRY? HOW COULD YOU?” Instead of continuing to punch him as Harry had expected, Ron fell to
the floor in silence. He curled up and rocked backwards and forwards. He was like that for a couple
of minutes, with Harry and Hermione watching in horror. When he finally stood up he looked broken
and defeated. He had tears streaming down his face and he was shaking from sadness now, rather than
fury.

“Why Harry? Why would you do that to me? I would never do anything to hurt you. You were with
her all along, you pretended to comfort me and be my friend. I trusted you and you stabbed me in
the back. I thought you were my best friend. Guess I was really wrong about that. You’re just a
fucking wanker that always has to have everything. The famous Harry Potter! He even gets the girl
while his best friend gets ditched…”

“Ron, please…” Harry started but Ron just stared at him, the fury beginning to find its way back
into his eyes.

“Don’t talk to me Harry…ever again.” said Ron angrily. With a crack he was gone. Hermione burst
out crying and ran to Harry. She buried her head into his shoulders and sobbed. Harry was staring
at the spot where Ron had disappeared. What had they done? How could he have done that to his best
friend? He noticed Susan and Luna in the doorway; both of them had tears in their eyes.

“You have to go to him,” said Luna sounding anxious.

“Now,” said Susan firmly. Harry nodded his head and kissed Hermione quickly on the lips.

“I’ll be back soon,” he said stonily. He knew where Ron would go, but he doubted he would speak
to him.

He appeared at the Burrow a moment later and looked around desperately. He saw Ron a few feet
from the front garden, staring up at the sky. There are no words to describe how wretched Harry
felt as he rushed towards Ron, desperately hoping that he hadn’t lost his best friend for good. As
he reached Ron he looked to see what he was looking at as if he were hypnotised, and almost passed
out in horror. There, flying over the Burrow, was the Dark Mark…

*************************************************************************************



21. The Escape
--------------

Harry’s eyes widened in fear as he rushed to where Ron was standing. There were loud smashing
sounds coming from inside the Burrow and the shadow of a large person passed by one of the windows
upstairs. The death eaters were still inside, maybe there was still a chance to save Ron’s parents.
He pulled out his wand and looked around quickly before nudging Ron to follow him.

“Get the fuck away from me Harry,” Ron whispered angrily “I don’t want your help.”

“We can talk about this later Ron,” said Harry quietly “Right now we have to help your parents.”
Ron walked ahead without saying anything and Harry followed quickly. Mr Weasley’s shouts could be
heard from inside the house, and Harry saw Ron’s fists start to shake in anger and he gripped his
wand tightly. Harry stepped in front of Ron and opened the door quietly. It was dark inside but the
house echoed with smashing and screams. He could see flashing colours from different spells coming
from the hallway upstairs. He eased his way in through the door quietly and had to restrain Ron
from rushing upstairs to his parents.

“We have to do this quietly,” whispered Harry angrily “Surprise is the best weapon we have right
now.” Ron stared furiously at Harry and their eyes locked for a long moment. He finally looked
away, though it looked like he would like nothing more than to punch Harry in the face…again. Harry
walked very quietly up the stairs, his heart pounding in his chest. He stopped every now and then
on the long journey up, listening to the sounds in the hallway above them. He wanted to make sure
that they had the advantage rather than walk into a crowd of armed death eaters. Ron had to be
restrained several times.

“Why don’t you just get out of here and let me take care of my family,” he hissed to Harry at
one point “You don’t always have to be the hero you know” Harry rolled his eyes in anger and
frustration and carried on creeping slowly up the stairs. He could hear Mrs Weasley weeping and she
shouted out *‘petrificus totalus’* in a very shaky voice. They finally reached the landing and
it was deserted. He could hear horrible sounds of pain coming from Mr and Mrs Weasley’s bedroom and
he slowly began inching his way towards it. Suddenly a death eater came rushing out of the room.
Harry knew he had to silence him quickly before it was all over. He thought *‘silencio’* and
aimed his wand at the death eater…not fast enough.

“POTTER!” shouted the death eater in a familiar screeching voice. The bangs and crashes from Mr
and Mrs Weasley’s bedroom stopped momentarily and suddenly the doorway was filled with half a dozen
black robed and masked people, all with their wands pointing at Harry. Ron suddenly came rushing
past Harry and threw himself into the hallway, desperately pointing his wand towards the group of
murderers though Harry knew he wouldn’t stand a chance.

“MUM! DAD!” he shouted urgently.

“RON!” shouted Mr. Weasley, his voice filled with fear “Get out of here! They came here hoping
to-” His voice was suddenly cut off and Mrs Weasley let out a petrified scream. The laughter of the
black robed people echoed through the hallway, and Harry felt sick to his stomach with a sudden
rage. He dived towards Ron and shoved him into one of the bedrooms opposite him. He opened his mind
and could sense the death eater closest to him readying a curse in his mind, his wand pointing
threateningly at him. He thought *‘protego’* and made it to the bedroom unharmed, not seeing
the great white light that had momentarily surrounded him.

Ron and Harry turned around to face the door, now having an advantage because their attackers
were all in front of them. Harry gripped his wand and pointed it at the door, a grim smile on his
face. He was ready for payback. He felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and hoped that Mr.
Weasley was ok. He looked at Ron quickly and saw pure fury written on his friends face. He suddenly
noticed a weight at his side and saw Godric’s sword hanging there. As he held his wand he felt a
peculiar tingling sensation rise though his waist, through his arm and into his hand. It wasn’t
uncomfortable; it felt like there was a strange energy in his arm and hand. He frowned and wondered
what was going on, but was interrupted when a death eater rushed through the door. Ron fired and
hex which bounced off of him. Harry quickly thought *‘finite incantatem’*, and the shield
charm was removed. Harry raised his wand and pointed it at the death eater.

*“STUPEFY!”* he shouted, and a red light leapt out of his wand and hit the death eater. To
Harry’s surprise the spell hit the death eater with such force that he smashed through the wall of
the bedroom and landed in the hallway. Clouds of dust and debris filled the area where the death
eater had exited. All that was left was a huge gaping hole. ‘Oh no,’ he thought ‘I’ve ruined the
Weasley’s house’ then pushed that ridiculous thought out of this mind. Another death eater filled
the space where the last had exited, and Harry raised his wand again. He thought
*‘Expelliarmus’* and the wand flew out of his opponent’s hand with an extraordinary force and
lodged itself into the wall behind Harry. The death eater turned and tried to run, but Harry cast
another *‘stupefy’* and gave a grim smile at the large crash that followed. More of the
Weasley’s house was undoubtedly ruined. He wondered what else this sword could do…

Mrs. Weasley’s screams of pain suddenly filled Harry’s ears and seemed to echo throughout the
house. He felt a grating sensation down his spine as her screams seemed to reach every part of him.
His anger bubbled in the pit of his stomach and he knew they were using the cruciatus curse on her.
Ron shouted in a pure rage and bolted out of the door, screaming like a mad man.

“NO!” shouted Harry “RON! THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT!” He heard a loud thud, then a small and pitiful
yelp. Harry rushed into the hallway after Ron and saw him lying on the floor, a death eater
laughing manically and pointing his wand at Harry.

There was a huge racket from downstairs and the windows in the Weasley’s bedroom smashed in. The
Order had arrived and Harry let a malicious smile creep onto his face. He raised his wand while the
death eater was distracted and shouted *‘Suffoco!’* The death eater stopped suddenly and Harry
concentrated on squeezing his neck muscles tighter and tighter. He could hear a wheezing sound
coming from the robed figure but he kept on going…until the figure started shaking and gasping
desperately for breath. Then Harry let him fall to the floor and bound him quickly. He didn’t hear
someone coming up from behind him until it was too late. That awful and torturous feeling filled
his body, like his whole body was burning and on fire. He heard himself screaming at the top of his
voice and hoped that someone would come to help him. He tried to put the walls up in his mind and
found it was a very difficult task. He held on, trying to not think about the pain, whilst his body
lay writhing on the floor, his yells echoing throughout the house. Suddenly he felt a strange shift
in his mind, the walls started to go up ever so slowly and the pain receded somewhat. He wasn’t
screaming anymore, though his body still writhed in agony on the floor. He had to do something, he
had to think…think…think…For the lack of anything better to do he thought ‘Protego,’ and a bright
and dazzling force field covered his body. There was no more pain and his body felt like his own
again, though he was undoubtedly very weak and shaky. He moved his head to the side and saw the
death eater trying to break through his shield. Harry held on to the thought of his shield with all
his might, and gave a satisfied smile when the death eater lowered his wand and hastily rushed
away. Harry stood up very shakily, leaning against the wall and breathing deeply.

Suddenly the death eaters were running, out numbered and unprepared. Harry was about to attempt
to join the Order and try to capture as many as possible…but suddenly remembered Ron on the floor
and felt his already laboured breath catch in his throat. He knelt down and fumbled to try and find
a pulse on his best friend. He felt tears prick the back of his eyes when he did and hugged him
quickly, knowing that this may be the last time he was ever close with Ron again after what he had
done. He ran to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and was relieved to see them both alive. They looked
dishevelled, scared and had quite a bit of blood on them. He fell to his knees and allowed himself
to be embraced by them. They were the closest things he had to parents, how could he bare it if
anything happened to them? He felt the familiar guilt pierce his chest and felt like he had the
weight of the world on his shoulders. There was a noise at the doorway and they all looked up to
see Lupin standing there.

“Harry!” he said breathlessly “How did you get here?”

“Ron disapparated here and I followed.” said Harry numbly. Mrs. Weasley seemed to shake at the
mention of her son and she stood up quickly to find him. Lupin looked horrified and Harry began to
feel fear in his chest.

“We have to get back to the cottage…NOW!” said Lupin, sounding scared.

“Why?” said Harry standing up quickly.

“They’ll know where you are now Harry. The cottage has wards that can’t detect when spells are
cast, but they can detect apparition from the ministry. They’ll know where you are now, and so will
Voldemort,” said Lupin hurriedly.

“Oh no,” said Harry “Luna…Susan…” said Harry, but his mind was filled with Hermione’s face and a
terror gripped his chest like he had never known before. He disapparated without another word, with
Lupin following quickly.

*************************************************************************************

He entered the cottage and found the three girls sitting on the couch painting their nails; the
living room was strewn with magazines, ice cream and make up.

“Hurry,” he said quickly “Get all of your things down here now. We have to leave…” Hermione’s
face dropped and but she summoned her luggage quickly and quietly. Harry got all of his things
ready, including the Horcruxes, his books and the animals. It took less than a minute before Lupin
disapparated with all of their belongings. Harry held onto Hermione and Luna. Luna grabbed Susan’s
hand and Harry readied them to disapparate. There was a large crash at the door and Susan looked up
in fear…a flash of green light spread through the cottage and they could hear the harsh sounds of
glass breaking violently. A split second later they were standing outside number twelve Grimmauld
place and Harry felt relief wash though him. He looked at the three girls standing in front of him
(all with freshly painted nails, newly plucked eyebrows and perfect make up) and sighed in relief.
None of them appeared hurt. He led them quickly into the house where they congregated in the
kitchen.

“What happened Harry,” asked Luna worriedly “Where’s Ron?” Before Harry could answer Lupin
appeared at the door, looking very weary.

“I just stopped by and talked to Mad Eye quickly. Ron’s just been transferred to St. Mungo’s.
He’s got a dozen Aurors with him, so the second he can be moved he’ll be brought back here. Molly
and Arthur are coming to stay here too Harry, it’s not safe at the Burrow…” Harry nodded mutely,
glad that his friend was ok and wondering what it was going to be like now that Ron HAD to stay
with them. He sighed and leaned against the counter. Hermione moved closer to him and put a hand on
his shoulder. He looked up and gave her a small smile, then put his arm around her shoulders.
Despite everything that had happened he felt happy that he was finally able to do this in front of
people. He wondered what kind of a person this made him.

“This is where the Order meets. I never got the name of the place though…you were too busy
yelling at Snape. Where are we? Are we staying here now?” asked Susan, looking around the place
with a look of worry on her face.

“Yeah. This is Grimmauld place. My Godfather left his house to me when…Well anyway, it’s really
safe so it’s a good idea if we just stay put. We’ll have to clean the place though, it looks
disgusting in here…” said Harry, looking around and wondering if there was anyway to brighten the
place up. But even that wouldn’t erase his memories of Sirius locked up here. He looked at the
floor and tried to block those images from his mind, now was not the time for weakness.

“Well I must say,” said Luna vaguely “It has the perfect name. It certainly is a grim old
place…” Harry smiled at Luna; somehow she always knew how to break the tension, even if it was
saying something very odd.

“What happened Harry?” said Hermione quietly. Harry tightened his arm around her and began
telling her everything that had happened, he was going to keep it brief but ended up telling them
every detail. He felt a lot better afterwards but Hermione seemed to be nervous, almost to the
point of frantic.

“I’m sorry Harry,” she said quickly and tears began to fall rapidly down her face. “I want to
listen to you but…if they went after the Dursley’s, then Ron parents…mine are next. They could be
there right now! I have to go, I have to go now…”

“What about my dad? Do they know I’m with you? They could be at his house right now!” said Luna
worriedly. Susan’s face went pale and she wordlessly opened and closed her mouth.

“Don’t worry. I’ll send members of the Order to both of your houses and place your parents
somewhere safe. I’ll take Hermione to her parents house now and we’ll move them too,” said Lupin,
ignoring Harry’s angry protests “You need to stay where you are and keep safe. We’ll hide her
parents somewhere safe and I’ll bring her back later. Don’t let your heart get in the way of common
sense.” Harry stood there staring at Lupin. Did everyone think he was in love with Hermione? It was
really starting to irritate him. He couldn’t be angry at what Lupin had said though, for he had not
said it out of anger but only because he cared for Harry. He nodded mutely and Hermione gave him a
quick hug. He kissed her on the lips quickly and watched them both disappear. He hoped her parents
were ok, and began to pray that nothing would happen to Hermione.

Harry sat himself at the kitchen table; Susan and Luna wordlessly followed and pulled up chairs
next to him.

“Ron’s going to be ok isn’t he?” asked Luna, nervously fiddling with the fabric of her
robes.

“He’ll be fine, you heard what Lupin said…” said Harry quietly. Luna nodded mutely and stared at
the details of the table as if fixated. Susan moved closer to her and put an arm around her
shoulder.

“He will be fine Luna,” she said “Don’t worry about your dad either, they’ll put them all
somewhere safe and then we can go and visit them.” Luna nodded her head again and rested her head
on her friends shoulder. They sat there in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.
Eventually Luna broke the silence.

“He’ll get over it Harry. He was bound to be angry when he found out, though I do think you
should have just been honest with him from the start.”

“You saw how he reacted Luna. Can you imagine if I’d just sat him down and told him calmly that
I wanted to be with Hermione?” Said Harry irritably.

“You mean that you love Hermione,” said Susan matter of factly.

“Susan…” began Harry but was interrupted by Luna.

“Ok ok,” she said “Let’s not get into that now. Harry’s not quite ready for that yet. What I
think we should do is talk about our situation. It will help us take our minds off things. I hate
sitting around with nothing to do but worry. What happened this evening with the sword was quite
interesting Harry. I bet that it would work the same for Susan and I if we used the tiara and the
cup. If our magic intensifies when we use them then we need to start learning how to wield that
kind of power. I think we should get the items and begin practicing with them.” Harry stared at
Luna for a moment. He really wanted to just stay here and wait for Hermione to get back, but he
knew it could be a while and he would get sick of waiting around and doing nothing. There was so
much that still needed to be done…

“Let me go and remove the evil in that cup first, then we can figure this all out,” said Harry
quietly and he stood up to leave the kitchen.

“I think we should go to Hogwarts to do this,” said Susan quickly before Harry could leave “I
think we need to find out more about the four founders before we start experimenting in this kind
of stuff. I don’t know about you two but I need to make sure Hermione is right before I start
meddling in powerful magic.” Harry nodded in head and left the kitchen to move all their baggage
upstairs into their rooms and retrieve the cup. He only hoped he’d have enough strength to go to
Hogwarts afterwards.

Luna and Susan sat in the kitchen, quietly discussing the evening’s events.

“So…” said Susan, trying to be casual but not being successful “How do you really think Ron’s
going to act when he gets back? He looked so angry. Poor Harry and Hermione.”

“Ron will be just fine,” said Luna tersely “He’s taken this too far anyway. He knows that
Hermione doesn’t want to be with him but he still tried to punish her anyway. He needs to grow up.
Besides, he doesn’t want Hermione; he just wanted something that Harry didn’t have. He loves Harry,
but he’s always been in his shadow. I guess that manifested itself into a crush on Hermione.”

“How do you feel Luna?” asked Susan worriedly “It can’t be easy watching the man you love
fighting because of some other woman.”

“Especially since it’s so obvious she loves Harry! I mean, honestly how could he have missed it
all? They’re always staring at each other and blushing when they catch the other one looking at
them. You know I really thought he was warming up to me Susan, always asking me to play chess with
him and asking if I would make him a necklace. I’m so fed up, do you think he’ll ever want me?”

“Of course he will. He’s just too stupid to know it right now. You’re the best thing that could
ever happen to him. I admire the way you’ve stuck by him, I would have stopped bothering with him a
long time ago. Of course, I’ve never been in love before so I guess I shouldn’t say that…” said
Susan, smiling at her friend.

“When do you think Harry will admit he loves Hermione?” asked Luna quietly. Susan smiled and
shook her head in exasperation.

“I don’t know, but it’s so obvious he does. I’m getting rather annoyed actually…I know he’s a
bit scared because then she’ll be his one weakness and… ” replied Susan, but looked up to see a
very weary Harry leaning on the doorframe. They both stood up quickly and went over to him, he had
a slight sweat on his forehead and he looked as weak as a kitten. He was gasping a little and
looked like he was fighting the urge to fall onto the floor. Susan pulled out her wand and made a
swirling motion, and Harry’s gasping stopped. He stood up and smiled, stretching his legs and
rolling his shoulders.

“Wow,” he said, “What was that? I feel like I’ve just had a good nights sleep and a really large
cup of coffee.”

“A little spell I learnt while we were taking our exams. It just refreshes you if you’ve been up
all night studying, and it has a healing property in there too. Not if you’ve been seriously
injured of course, but anything minor can be taken care of,” she said briskly.

“I think we should all get together and go over some spells. Neville has a great one that we
should all learn, I think if we used the heirs objects to intensify it we could cause Voldemort
some real pain…” said Harry happily.

“Sounds like a good idea.” said Luna “But the clock is ticking and if we hurry up we can make it
to the great hall in time for breakfast!” Harry’s stomach rumbled at the thought and he nodded his
head in vigorous agreement.

“Lets go then,” he said “But one more thing before we go…Stop talking about me loving Hermione
will you? I swear if I hear it one more time I’ll go insane…”

“Sure Harry,” said Susan grinning

“Anything you say Harry,” said Luna dreamily, a slight smile playing upon her face. Harry shook
his head and forced images of Hermione out of his mind. He hoped she was ok, he hoped her parents
were ok, he hoped she’d come back today…

*************************************************************************************



22. The sorting hat
-------------------

A/N- thanks to everyone once again for reading along and reviewing! This is the entrance of two
characters I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for… Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

After a strained breakfast in the Great Hall, in which they were the topic of many of the
students’ conversations, they made their way to McGonagall’s office.

“What are we doing here?” asked Luna as they stood by the gargoyles. Harry gave a slight smile
and then said -

“You’ll see,”

They walked into the office to find professor McGonagall sitting at her desk shuffling through a
mountain of paperwork. She looked up, surprised to see them standing there.

“How on earth did you get in?” she asked, “You don’t even know the new password! What are you
doing here? Lupin told me he had expressed a wish for the three of you to stay at the house!”

“Well we had some things to do,” said Harry quietly “We need to have a talk with him…”

“Him?” she asked looking towards the portrait of Dumbledore “I don’t think he’s going to be able
to tell you anything particularly useful Potter,”

“Not Dumbledore,” said Luna serenely, suddenly understanding why Harry had wanted to come to the
office. “The sorting hat…”

McGonagall looked at them as if they had gone mad, then with a sigh stood up and retrieved the
sorting hat from its resting place throughout the year. She gingerly handed it to Harry. Harry held
it for a moment whilst looking at Susan and Luna.

“Are you debating whether or not you want me to leave my own office?” asked professor McGonagall
rather curtly. Susan blushed a little and looked at the floor.

“Yeah,” said Harry “But if Hermione’s right then you and the rest of the Order need to know
anyway, so I suppose it’s ok if you stay.”

“Well,” she said sarcastically “I’m glad that you have seen fit to let me stay…” and then she
moved and sat behind her desk. Harry put the hat on his head and waited to hear the voice. A slit
appeared in the hat and it spoke in a dignified voice.

“Harry Potter,” it said, “So much has changed since the last time we met. I have a feeling I
know what this is about. But do give me the pleasure of being correct in my assumptions…”

“I want to know,” said Harry in a rushed voice “If I’m Godric Gryffindor’s heir.” He ignored the
intake of breath from the area McGonagall was sitting in and concentrated in the hats answer.

“Hmmm,” replied the sorting hat “You were always very hard to read Harry. Not surprising of
course. But oh how your mind has grown! There’s not as much confusion as there was when I first
sorted you. Yes, yes. You are a true Gryffindor.”

“But am I…” started Harry, but the hat interrupted him.

“The heir?” it replied, “Well what do you think?”

“Well I don’t know,” said Harry, starting to feel irritated “That’s the reason I’m asking
you…”

“You already know the answer,” it replied “There’s no point in asking a question when you
already know the answer…”

“If that’s the case,” said Harry, his voice a bit clipped “Then there was no point in you
wanting to know the reason I was here of you already knew the answer…”

The hat’s slit for a mouth grew wider as it let out a laugh.

“Good, good…” it said, still laughing to itself “Very well, put me on the desk and let me tell a
story that happened a long time ago…” Harry pulled the hat off of his head and placed it on the
desk. All three of them sat down and waited anxiously for the sorting hat to begin.

For Many years the founders lived

In a wondrous harmony

When the horrors of Salazar’s evil deeds

Was clear for all to see

“Not in song please,” said Harry rather curtly “No offence but it’s harder to follow along when
you’re rhyming everything…”

“Very well,” said the hat, sounding rather put out “But it’s a very creative song and you really
are missing out,” Luna and Susan smirked slightly at Harry, then fixed their eyes once again upon
the old hat in front of them, waiting for some kind of answer. The hat let out a slight sigh of
disappointment before it’s slit opened wide to start the tale.

“Throughout the ages there has always been a battle of sorts. The good have always battled the
evil in the world in an attempt to eradicate it. When I was very young, after Salazar Slytherin had
left the school, the other three founders seemed to be quite content. They did their job, I did
mine, and all seemed to be harmonious. News was then received that Salazar had been dabbling more
into the dark arts than anyone thought possible. Stories of the murders he had committed and the
blood he had shed spread throughout the land. The three founders knew that it was they that had to
stop him. They had to be the ones to reason with him, to try and stop his madness. So the three
tried to persuade him, but it was futile. Salazar seemed consumed with his evil magic and refused
to listen to his old friends. The three then knew that they had to kill Salazar, or risk letting
him become even more out of control…and become more terrible than what he already had become. A
fierce battle ensued, which resulted in the deaths of all four of them. Quite a sad tale.” said the
sorting hat, its voice sounding melancholy “Godric was the one that finally slew Salazar. Do you
know what Godric means?”

The three of them shook their heads quietly.

“It means ‘He who rules with God’ He had the power within him to defeat the evil within Salazar,
though we can only speculate as to how he achieved it. Salazar was barely human towards the end;
it’s no wonder all three founders died trying to defeat him. Now…you can obviously see a familiar
pattern here. This is a story that has been spun throughout the ages, but the outcome in not set in
stone. The dark wizard you have to face before you now has defeated the heirs of the founders once
before, but it does not mean that it will be that way again…”

“My dad…” said Harry “He was the heir of Gryffindor, and Voldemort killed him. So now I’m taking
his place. The other two must have been killed too, that’s why all three of us are here now, the
same age and everything. Weird.”

“Precisely,” replied the hat “Eventually the three will defeat the dark wizard. If it’s not you
three, then it shall be the next. When he has been vanquished then he shall be reborn, and the tale
shall start over. The tale that is spun throughout the ages. You see, true evil can never really be
defeated. But on the other hand, truly brave and good people can never ever be completely removed
from this earth either. There will always be a place for you, in this life or the next. Has this
answered your questions?”

“Ummm,” said Harry “Pretty much.”

“It’s quite depressing,” said Susan suddenly “That if we don’t do it, the next lot will. Even if
we do manage to kill him, it’ll just happen all over again. It seems kind of pointless to do
anything…”

“It’s not pointless to stop the killing of the innocent for as long as you can.” said Luna
quietly “After we’ve killed him we can have a happy life. Evil will always exist, but so will good.
You never really get rid of evil anyway, the second you get rid of someone that’s evil; another
comes along to take its place. It’s a never ending circle, we just have to make the most of what we
have and try to protect those that might get hurt in the process.”

“Spoken like a true Ravenclaw Miss. Lovegood,” said the hat happily. “By the way, happy birthday
for January 22nd. I doubt I’ll be seeing you for a while…” Luna looked surprised at the
hat and stared at it incredulously.

“How do you know my birthday?’ she asked

“It’s the same birthday as Rowena Ravenclaw,” said the hat simply. “Now if you don’t mind I’m
rather exhausted from all this talking. I would appreciate it if you’d put me back to my resting
spot. I’m working on a very taxing song for next year and I need all the rest I can get.” Harry
lifted the hat up and placed it back where it belonged. The office was quiet for a moment longer,
each of them wondering what they had to do now. Finally professor McGonagall broke the silence.

“Well,” she said, “This certainly is an interesting development. I suggest we have a meeting to
see what this might mean. Send your patronus to Lupin’s house Harry, we have to call a
meeting.”

“What?’ asked Harry “Send my patronus? How am I supposed to do that?’

“Just picture Lupin’s house firmly in your mind. Got it? Concentrate hard on your happy thought
and conjure your patronus. Now, I want you to hold the patronus in front of you for a moment while
you think of both Lupin’s house and your happy thought. Now…send the patronus. We’ll know in a
minute if it’s worked. Tonks will reply with her patronus.” Instructed McGonagall.

“That’s how the order calls their meetings?” asked Harry

“Yes,” replied McGonagall “You can’t copy someone else’s patronus exactly. You three need to
know this now that you’re in the Order, we didn’t have time to discuss it last time due to Severus’
unexpected visit.”

They waited for a moment longer before a silver patronus flew threw McGonagall’s window.

“Right,” she said briskly “Time to go…” and then made her way towards the fireplace. She handed
them all some floo powder, and one by one they made their way back to Grimmauld place.

*************************************************************************************

They entered Grimmauld place to find the members of the Order crowded in the kitchen. Harry
walked into the mass of people behind Luna, Susan and McGonagall. He spotted Lupin standing in the
far corner and quickly made his way towards him, completely oblivious to those unfortunate people
who happened to be in his path.

“Where’s Hermione?” he asked anxiously

“She’s fine Harry. We moved her parents to a safe location and she decided to stay for the
evening, though her parents want her there for a couple of days,” said Lupin quietly. Harry nodded
and looked to the floor. Hermione wasn’t going to be here tonight? What if she didn’t come back
tomorrow? He didn’t like the thought of her not being with him, and how safe exactly is the place
where her parents are hidden? As if reading Harry’s thoughts Lupin quietly said-

“It’s a very safe place for her Harry. She’ll be just fine there. Her parents were worried about
her and she thought it was only fair if she spent some time with them. Who knows when she will
again? If it’s any consolation, she looked just as depressed as you do right now.” Harry looked up
quickly at those words and tried hard to suppress a sudden grin on his face. Lupin, however, could
do no such thing and eventually they were both grinning ear to ear. Naturally this earned them
several odd looks from the members of the Order that were waiting for the meeting to get started.
There was a sudden bustle in the hallway, and Harry could see quite a few people entering the
room…all with very red hair. Luna made her way over to Mrs. Weasley with an apprehensive look on
her face.

“How’s Ron? Why isn’t he here? Is he going to be ok?” she asked. Mrs. Weasley put a hand on her
shoulder and smiled affectionately at her.

“He’s going to be just fine. The healers wanted to keep him overnight just to be on the safe
side but he’ll be joining us tomorrow,” said Mrs. Weasley, her relief apparent in her voice. She
looked towards Harry and came walking towards him, slowly at first but then ended in a rush as she
pulled him into her arms.

“Oh Harry,” she said, “I’m so sorry you had to see that. I know you’ve seen worse, but I didn’t
want you to have to see Arthur and I like that. I hope you don’t mind if the family stays with you
for a while?”

“You can live here forever for all I care,” said Harry, returning her hug with equal force “My
home is your home. You’re the closest thing I have to a mum, I’d do anything to help you.” Mrs.
Weasley sobbed into Harry’s shoulder for a while before they finally released. He looked up to see
Mr. Weasley standing next to them, who also gave him a hug, though it was a lot quicker than Mrs.
Weasley’s.

“Second time you’ve saved my life Harry,” he said solemnly “Anything I can ever do to repay you,
just say the word. I doubt anything I could ever do would be enough but I’ll try” Harry smiled at
them both, his heart warming at how two parents with so many children could find it in their hearts
to give love to someone that was of no relation to them. Lupin stepped forward and gestured for
them to take a seat. Harry had just sat down when Mrs. Weasley’s voice rang out sharply, disturbing
the calm and quiet atmosphere of the room.

“Ginny! I told you when we arrived that you’re not allowed into the meetings! I told you that
you were to stay in your bedroom until we were finished! How dare you disobey me? Get up to your
room right now before I come out there and make you!” Harry’s stomach seemed to fall at the mention
of Ginny’s name and he inwardly groaned. He should have expected her to come and be with her family
if Ron was in the hospital. He should have prepared for it. But he didn’t, and now he had to face
Ginny again. He hoped that Hermione would stay away until she was gone, unless Ginny decided that
she wasn’t going to act as bitchy as she had been during their stay at the Burrow.

“But mum!” said Ginny, her eyes blazing and her hands on her hips “Everyone else is down here!
Even Fred and George! It’s not fair that I’m the only one being left out, I have a right to know
what’s going on too!”

“We’ll tell you what you need to know,” said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes flashing with warning “But
now, do what I tell you and go to your bedroom!” Ginny stared for a moment longer, then stomped out
of the room, startling the portrait of Sirius’ mother and making her scream loudly. Harry stood up
quickly and walked towards the portrait. He felt a familiar weight at the side of his hip and
seized the Gryffindor sword. He pulled it out of the sheath and held it up high, then swung it down
with a huge force. He had sliced the painting clean off of the wall. The portrait started screaming
with renewed vigour, but Mad Eye was already heaving the painting onto his shoulders and left the
house to destroy it. Harry sighed with relief; he had always hated the bloody picture. So had
Sirius, he felt quite pleased that he had managed to do something that would have made his
Godfather very happy. He went back into the kitchen where McGonagall proceeded to tell the rest of
the Order what had happened with the sorting hat. Just as she was telling them about Harry’s father
there was a knock on the kitchen door. Lupin walked quickly over to it and removed the necessary
charms and wards. He opened the door to admit Snape, his black cloak billowing around him and his
face paler than usual. McGonagall stepped over to Harry and whispered urgently into his ear -

“Do you want Snape to know these details Harry? We can easily inform the members at another
time. I’m not sure if he can be trusted with this kind of information…” Harry stared at Snape for a
long time. He had raised the walls in his mind and was trying to search for Snape’s. At first he
found walls so thick that they almost matched his own. He pushed a little harder and saw Snape’s
eyes widen with surprise and shock. He pushed harder still and felt a wall wobble slightly but
still stay standing. He imagined running his hands along the wall, desperately trying to find a
crack in which he could begin to break the wall down. An endless amount of time seemed to have
passed when he finally found what he was looking for. He pushed with his mind, again and again. He
saw Snape flinch and suddenly fall against the wall. He pushed again and finally felt it give way.
He saw image upon image of Snape with Voldemort. He saw him saying that he had no idea as to the
whereabouts of Harry’s location. He saw him receiving the valued information that he had passed on
to the Order. He saw him being tortured by Voldemort over and over. He let go of Snape quickly,
allowing him to raise his walls once again. He walked over to him and talked so quietly into his
ear that no one else in the room could hear him.

“When was the last time he did that?”

“Half an hour ago,” replied Snape, his voice dripping with loathing “Why didn’t you look at my
other memories Potter? Surely you couldn’t have willingly let such an opportunity go?”

“I just wanted to see Voldemort. I wanted to see what you had to go through with him for myself.
I believe you about the rest, I don’t need to see those memories” said Harry quietly. Snape looked
at Harry with complete hatred upon his face. Harry stepped away and addressed McGonagall.

“He’s fine, tell him what you would tell everyone else.” McGonagall looked a little uneasy as
she sat on her chair. Lupin walked over to him and quietly whispered into Harry’s ear -

“You really do have your mother’s eyes”

*************************************************************************************

He stood at the end of a street in London wondering where Snape had gone. He needed to speak to
him urgently. The breakout from Azkaban was scheduled for tomorrow, and he was extremely scared to
meet his father again. His father would blame him, and he dreaded not only the words but also the
beatings that would come. Not that he would ever tell that to Snape. He had already provided Snape
with enough ammunition after his failure to kill Dumbledore, he didn’t need to willingly hand him
more. He felt the dark mark on his arm burn and he knew that he had to return. He felt a cold pit
of dread form in his stomach. He hoped he wasn’t going to be tortured again. He needed a way to
make himself more powerful, to do something that would stop the torture. But what? What could he
do? He couldn’t hand him Potter. That stupid git Potter, he would get what was coming to him soon
enough. Famous Harry Potter, enough to make you want to throw up just looking at him. What about
the stinking Mudblood? Maybe he could hand her to the Dark Lord, which would draw Potter in quite
well. Stupid fucker always loves to play the hero, how could he resist coming to her rescue? His
eyes gleamed in the moonlight as these images played through his mind. Yes, that might work quite
well. But how to get to them? No one knew where they were staying. Maybe he could figure out where
they would go next and grab that filthy excuse for a human then? The mark burned fiercer than
before and he reluctantly turned to go. Crabbe and Goyle were staring at him with an expression of
pure stupidity on their faces.

“What the fuck are you two staring at?” he asked malevolently.

“Nothing,” said Crabbe “Just trying to figure out where Snape went to. One minute he was there,
the next…”

“I didn’t think that the Dark Lord had any plans for him this evening,” said Goyle absently.

“Yes, it is rather odd. We’ll just have to keep a closer eye on Snape; maybe he won’t be in the
Dark Lord’s favours for too much longer. At least not if I have anything to do with it.” said
Malfoy, sounding like he had spat the word Snape from his mouth as if it were something dirty.

“We have to go now,” said Crabbe quickly, rubbing his arm with fear “We’re already going to be
tortured as it is, lets not make it worse for ourselves by being later still,” Malfoy turned away
quickly, trying to not let the fear show in his eyes. The Dark Lord had been most displeased when
he learned of his failures with Dumbledore. His mother had been tortured mercilessly in front of
him and then viciously killed. He tried to suppress the shudder that began to run through his body
and felt hot tears prick at the back of his eyes. There was nothing he could have done; he was in a
full body bind. But he had been made to watch, he raised his haunted eyes to the sky and prepared
himself to go back to his master. He hoped he would make it through this, but what kind of a world
would he be living in then? Would he always have to live in fear of being tortured? No…when he was
in charge he would make sure that everyone else feared him. He would make everyone pay. If his
father didn’t kill him first…

*************************************************************************************



23. The Dementors
-----------------

A/N- Hi everyone, thanks again for reading along and to all of you reviewers! This is the last
chapter without Hermione in it, so no yelling at me! There’s a bit of a mushy one next for you…and
in a couple of chapters time it’s going to start getting mushier still! Also, my computer hates me
and decided to get rid of a lot of my story **Sobs a little and stamps foot in frustration** My
younger sister warned me about this and every time I thought about saving it onto a floppy disk
something else caught my attention…I had to re-write a lot of it, so the updates might fall back to
once a week L sorry! If it’s any consolation I’m sending Bill Gates evil thoughts about Microsoft
with my mind…Thanks again to everyone, Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

-x-

The kitchen in Grimmauld place was eerily silent as Lupin told them of the evenings events while
they had been fighting the death eaters at the Burrow.

“Several towns in the north east of England were attacked by dementors today. It’s all over the
muggle news. Over fifty people had their souls sucked out of them, and were left in their homes, or
in the middle of streets before the muggle police and ambulances arrived.”

“What towns were attacked Remus?” asked McGonagall, sounding horrified.

“Odstone, Moira and Norris Hill were the first ones attacked. They finished with the larger town
of Swadlincote. There are several ministry workers out there already, as well as dozens of Aurors.
I think we had better join them, we need to track these things down before more innocent people
meet that kind of fate.”

“But,” said Mrs. Weasley “The entire area is surrounded by the National Forest. It’s huge, they
could be anywhere!”

“Judging from the map they appear to be moving northwest,” said Lupin quietly “the only thing we
can do is move north west with them. They’ll find us Molly, don’t worry about that. We just have to
make sure we’re prepared.”

Everyone nodded quietly as the meeting was wrapped up. The agreed to meet in the town of
Swadlincote and all move on from there. The designated meeting point was to be a small pub on the
edge of the town; they would have to bring their brooms to get to the forest. The sounds of many
wizards and witches disapparating filled the house with noisy cracks, until Harry, Susan and Luna
were all left alone.

“We should bring plenty chocolate,” said Luna vaguely.

“Dementors,” said Harry “If there’s one thing I really hate it’s bloody dementors.”

“Oh well, we best get it over with. We’re really going to need sleep after this, it feels like
I’ve been up forever!” said Susan

“We could use this as an opportunity to test out those items though,” said Luna, then summoned
the tiara and placed it on top of her head.

“I don’t want to fight a bunch of dementors with this huge sword at my side,” said Harry, who
had become more than irritated with it catching on his legs. Luna pointed her wand at it and shrunk
it to the size of a small dagger.

“I’m the one supposed to save the world and I didn’t think of that. You’re right Susan, I could
really use some sleep about now…” said Harry with a slight grin

“Well, I’m not carrying this cup around with me,” said Susan and she shrunk the cup also. But
she didn’t put it in her pocket like Harry had done previously, but instead threaded the two
handles through the gold chain that was around her neck.

“There!” she said “That shouldn’t get in the way too much. Now lets quickly get some chocolate,
pick me up potion and our brooms, then we best go.” The three of them headed upstairs, with Harry
leading the way to their belongings. The entered a small room where Luna began pulling several
items out of her bag and throwing them in her haste to find the chocolate. Harry started to laugh
as she pulled out the strange lion hat she had worn to one of his quidditch matches and threw it
quickly across the room. It landed with a thud on the floor and began roaring loudly, making Susan
suddenly jump. Luna finally found the potion and chocolate, which she then distributed among the
three of them. Harry shoved his share deep into his robes, and turned around to go…only to bump
directly in Ginny Weasley.

“Harry,” she said, her voice sounding friendly but her eyes looking suspicious “Where are you
three off to? Am I missing something important? Where’s Hermione?”

“Hermione is staying with her parents tonight,” said Harry quickly “And you really shouldn’t
know what we’re doing. It’s safer that way…

“I’ve dealt with hardships before Harry,” said Ginny, sounding a little angry “I want to know
where you’re going. I’m worried about you.”

“Well don’t worry about me Ginny. I’ll be fine, but thanks very much. I’ll see you in the
morning.” said Harry, and then began to walk out of the door. Ginny quickly moved to stand in front
of Harry, her eyes blazing as she looked at him. He felt more than awkward and stared at the
floor.

“Be careful Harry,” she said quietly, and before he could stop her she had pushed her mouth onto
his and was trying to kiss him passionately. All Harry felt was a strange wet mess moving around on
his lips before he pushed her quickly away.

“No Ginny,” he said, sounding angry but not feeling as guilty as he normally would have. Ginny
looked from Harry’s eyes to the raised eyebrows of Luna and Susan. She shrugged indifferently and
stalked out of the room. ‘Look what they’ve done to him,’ she thought angrily ‘look what
*she’s* done to him. Trying to take him away from me. Poor Harry, he must feel so awful
wanting me but feeling guilty because of his best friend. I’ll just have to put that right. How
dare that bitch try and take away Harry when he loves me! The nerve! Oh she’ll get what’s coming to
her, I’m done with being nice…” Harry, Luna and Susan heard the angry stomps Ginny was making
towards her bedroom, which ended with a loud slam of the door. Harry sighed and looked at Luna and
Susan, surprised that they were trying not to laugh hysterically. He raised his eyebrows and gave
them a questioning look.

“Your face!” said Susan, letting her laughter escape “You looked like you were going to throw up
in her mouth! It was hilarious!”

“It looked a little slobbery,” said Luna dreamily “I would have thought Hermione would have
perfected your skills for you Harry…” Harry gave her a playful nudge in the ribs and allowed a grin
to appear on his face. He wiped his mouth and resisted the urge to clean it thoroughly. Eventually
they stopped laughing and readied themselves to disapparate…a little later than they had previously
anticipated.

*************************************************************************************

They approached the old looking pub in the town of Swadlincote, and were met by a very
disgruntled Mad Eye.

“Where were you?” he growled, “We were about to come back for you. When we say meet in ten
minutes, we mean meet in ten minutes.”

“Sorry,” said Susan a little too brightly “We had a slight situation we had to deal with. Harry
*cleaned* it up very well though.” Luna began to laugh, her eyes bulging a little. Mad Eye
looked from one girl to the other, then stormed off to the crowd waiting witches and wizards. Harry
nudged them both quickly and gave them a look that said ‘oh, you will pay…’ before following Mad
Eye.

“Right!” said Lupin loudly “everyone one your brooms. Mad Eye and I will be in front. Harry,
Susan and Luna, you’re right behind us. Everyone else…you know you’re positions. Right then? Ok, up
we go!” Lupin and Mad Eye shot up into the air, followed closely by Harry, Luna and Susan. Harry
felt fantastic being on his broom again. He felt the air rushing past his face and swirling through
his hair. The coldness of the evening seemed refreshing to him and he had the wild urge to go
higher and do a loop in the air. He repressed that wild thought, but decided that he would
definitely be doing it later. He hadn’t been on a broom in ages and he felt at home. Luna looked
sideways at him and grinned. She loved that look of joy in his eyes when he way in the air, he
seemed to free. He didn’t have a care in the world. She just hoped he wouldn’t do some wild trick
when they were supposed to be fighting dementors soon. She glanced over and Susan to find her
looking at Harry that way too. They shared a knowing grin before concentrating on Lupin and Mad Eye
once again.

They had been flying for at least half an hour and the novelty was beginning to wear off. His
fingers seemed to be frozen to his broom and his face felt uncomfortably tingly due to the cold
wind. He looked to the side and saw that Luna looked more uncomfortable than him. He looked to the
other side and saw Susan visibly shaking on her broom. A sudden dark shape moved in his peripheral
vision, and he jerked his head quickly to the side to see what it was. A black shape of a dementor
was gliding through the air only 100m away from then. Harry raised his wand, but the silvery shape
of an owl had already reached the sickening creature, driving it away with a shriek. Mad Eye made a
motion with his arms that Harry understood to be ‘Attack below you’ He felt a strange cold
sensation all over his body and distantly heard that awful screaming in his head. He looked down,
knowing what he would find but not wanting to believe it. Beneath the flying witches and wizards
were hundreds and hundreds of dementors. Harry heard a very uncharacteristic ‘Holy shit’ come out
of Luna’s mouth…very loudly. He pointed his wand beneath him and sent his patronus into the cloud
of black billowing creatures.

The black sky was lit up with at least thirty different silver shaped animals, all rushing
towards the dementors below. The screams of the creatures filled the air as they rushed away…only
to be replaced with new ones. All around him were shouts of *‘Expecto patronum’*, over and
over again. But the mass of dementors seemed to stay put, new ones taking the old ones place.
‘There’s too many,’ thought Harry with a horrified thought ‘We can’t do this with so many of them!’
He felt the cold sensation rising in him once again, the distant screams slowly becoming nearer. He
hastily put up the walls in his mind, and the screaming stopped. He was about to let off another
patronus when he saw the shape of someone falling into the mass of dementors. Then another…then
another. ‘Why are they falling?’ he thought ‘they’re too far away to make people pass out…’ He
slowly lifted his head to look above him, and was horrified to see just as many dementors circling
above them as below them. ‘Fuuuuuck!!’ was the only thought that Harry seemed to have before
leaning his broom into a steep dive to try and save the poor people before they were subjected to
the dementors. Luna and Susan noticed Harry’s sudden descent and followed quickly.

The air was rushing past Harry so fast that there were tears running quickly from his eyes. His
vision was blurred, but he refused to wipe his eyes and possibly lose sight of the person falling
directly beneath him. A dementor flew straight into his face, and Harry raised his wand quickly and
thought ‘Expecto patronum’. The stag seemed to explode the dementor in front of Harry, but he
didn’t notice. He dove faster and faster before he was finally right behind the falling person. He
reached his hand out to try and grab the persons leg ‘You can do this,’ he thought ‘it’s just like
the snitch. A little heavier, but just like the snitch…a little further…reach…’ His hand clamped
itself around the person’s leg and he pulled hard. His arm was aching terribly by having such a
large weight on it, but he gritted his teeth. A dementor flew right by him, but the silvery shape
of a very strange animal crashed into it, sending it screaming into the night. He heaved on more
time and finally shoved the person onto the end of his broom.

“Thank you Potter,” said McGonagall tightly “I probably shouldn’t have on this particular
adventure. Not as young as I used to be…” Harry patted her arm quickly before scanning his eyes for
any other Order members that were falling. He could suddenly see the ground beneath him and slowed
the broom up slightly. He skimmed the floor lightly and then grabbed McGonagall before rolling off
of it.

Harry, Susan, Luna and McGonagall stood in a kind of shock as they saw all the black creatures
flying above their heads. They heard a thud behind them and saw Lupin stand up quickly with a look
of pain on his face. Harry scanned the clearing while Luna and Susan fired their patronus’ into the
crowd of dementors. There was a group of Order members at the edge of the clearing hurrying towards
them, and several still falling from the sky and rushing to the ground on brooms. There was a heavy
thud right next to him and someone hit the ground hard. Harry knelt down next to him to help him
up…and froze. The body seemed to be limp, and as he turned it around he saw the eyes of a soulless
person staring back at him.

“Emmeline,” whispered Lupin, staring at her empty shell. “Quick, we need to get everyone
together. We need to use all of our patronus’ to try and fight these things off,’ They rushed to
the other Order members, and Harry’s mind was filled with Emmeline’s face as he readied himself.
The stood in a circle, and the dementors started to crash down upon them in a frenzy. The clearing
was filled with silvery animals and screeches, but they seemed to be getting closer and closer. One
of them leapt right in front of Susan and began to lower its head towards her menacingly. Harry let
his stag fly, and it backed off. Susan was shaking visibly and stared at the black shapes in
horror.

“Quick,” said Luna pulling at Harry’s robes “Us three need to get together. We need to combine
our strength…” She pulled him towards Susan and ducked as a dementor flew at them, which was then
hit by Lupin’s Patronus. The three of them backed out of the circle quietly and made their way to a
tree twenty yards away.

“Remember who we are,” said Luna with a trembling voice “remember why we are here. Remember who
we love and why we are fighting. We are fighting for peace; we are fighting for the innocent. We
are fighting for love.” She raised her wand towards the mass of dementors flocking the Order
members. Susan nodded to Luna and them both she and Harry raised their wands too. They linked their
free hands together and closed their eyes. Harry could feel the coldness creeping towards him
again, they were coming closer. It was now or never.

“One…Two…Three…” said Luna quietly. Then all three of them shouted at the top of their
lungs-

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!”

Harry opened his eyes to see Susan’s horse, Luna’s strange creature and Harry’s stag bound out
of their wands. They rushed together about ten yards away and seemed to mingle together. A wild and
warm wind suddenly rushed past Harry’s face, sending their robes flying about them. The animals
grew into one white entity and then grew bigger and bigger. The mass of light suddenly left the
ground and rushed towards the army of dementors. The wind and light was so intense that Harry
instinctively closed his eyes. The sounds of hundreds of screams filled the night, they seemed to
reverberate off Harry’s spine and he put his hands over his ears to block them out. Then, after
what seemed like endless hours of screeching, all was silent.

The light began to fade away and the wind started to die down. Harry opened his eyes to see what
had happened and was amazed. The bodies of the dementors were lying everywhere, just as lifeless as
if they had given the kiss on themselves. The members of the Order were staring at Harry, Susan and
Luna all standing very still as if they had just seen a ghost. Harry moved towards them, followed
closely by his companions. They reached the broken circle, and stood in silence. McGonagall
eventually broke it.

“Well,” she said very quietly “If anyone was in doubt of what we told them this evening then
this will surely be proof enough.”

“We thought if we combined our patronus’ it would be strong enough to get rid of them all,” said
Susan with equal quietness.

“I’ve never seen patronus’ change from their animal form before,” said Lupin with a look of awe
on his face.

“What do you mean?” asked Harry “They joined together to make one big light. That doesn’t seem
that strange to me.”

“After that,” whispered Shacklebolt “They changed. They changed into the three founders
themselves. They looked just like that painting in the dungeons. I would never have dreamed it
could be possible.”

“Yes, well Potter does like to surprise everyone,” said Mad Eye gruffly, kicking the body of a
dementor roughly.

“We should clear up this mess,” said Mr. Weasley “Then get everyone back home. I suspect we
could all use a stiff drink after this” Rather than give him the expected reproachful look, Mrs.
Weasley just nodded her head in agreement.

*************************************************************************************



24. The date and the confrontation
----------------------------------

A/N- Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! This is quite a long chapter, just because
it’s a date and I couldn’t just stop the chapter in the middle of a date! So sorry for anyone that
doesn’t like long chapters! This is the start of the mushiness, Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

Harry awoke the next morning with several thoughts going through his mind. The first was that
hopefully Hermione would come back today. The second was that unfortunately Ron would come back
today. The third was that Ginny was still in the house, and the fourth was that he was unbelievably
hungry. He shoved the blankets off of him and sat up groggily. The smell of bacon and eggs hung in
the air, and he remembered Mrs. Weasley’s fantastic cooking. He shoved on some clothes and quickly
made his way down stairs, deciding to take care of his hygiene after he had eaten.

He walked into the kitchen to find the whole Weasley family sitting at the table. The whole
family because they had apparently brought Ron home from St. Mungo’s when Harry had been sleeping.
Harry stopped dead in his tracks as Ron lifted his head to stare at Harry.

“Come in Harry!” said Mrs Weasley brightly, noticing that Harry was lurking by the door “Have
some breakfast! I daresay you need it after last night!”

“Yeah,” said Ron darkly “I’ll bet he does.” He shoved a piece on sausage into his mouth rather
violently and stared at the table. Harry inched his way into the kitchen and sat at the far end of
the table. Ginny was smirking at him over the top of a magazine called ‘Which Witch is
fashionable?’ which seemed to have a witch on the front cover with rather see through robes on.
Harry averted his eyes quickly and Ginny grinned. Mrs. Weasley served Harry some eggs, bacon,
sausage and toast. Harry ate hungrily and had three servings. He hardly noticed the evil looks Ron
was throwing him as he simply sat and stared at Harry. After Harry’s third serving, Luna and Susan
walked in.

“Good morning,” said Luna brightly “Goodness, I’m quite hungry! Last night seemed to take away
all my energy, if I would have used my brain I would have eaten before I fell asleep.”

“Oh,” said Ron rather snippily “Harry kept you up late did he? He’s got quite a habit of that.
You want to watch yourself Luna.” He then stood up from the table and walked angrily out of the
kitchen. Part of Harry wanted to follow him, to try and explain. The other part said ‘Fuck him, I
don’t have to deal with his childishness right now. Just let me have some time to myself first.’ As
if reading his mind Luna said gently -

“I’ll talk to him first Harry. He’s still too angry with you right now, your bruise is only just
going away,” Harry smiled gratefully at Luna and began to relax as Mrs. Weasley poured him a cup of
tea.

“What’s going on?’ asked Ginny suddenly “Why did Ron hit you Harry?” Harry looked from Ginny to
Luna and Susan. They were suddenly very interested in the Daily prophet that had been delivered
moments ago by Hedwig. Harry rolled his eyes and made a mental note to get them back later.

“We had a fight,” said Harry simply

“About what?’ said Ginny, her face getting a little pink with frustration. Harry sighed, he knew
she would fine out eventually so he might as well get it out of the way. Besides, it would be
killing several birds with one stone, Ron’s parents were in the room too.

“Hermione,” he said quickly. Ron’s parents looked at Harry with a slight grins on their
faces.

“What about Hermione?” asked Ginny, gritting her teeth.

“Erm, he wants Hermione. She doesn’t want him, but uh, well…” said Harry, feeling awkward in
front of Ron’s parents.

“Hermione wants to be with Harry,” said Susan in a loud and clear voice “Harry wants to be with
Hermione, and Ron doesn’t seem to like the idea at all. So they got into a fight…Anything I’m
leaving out Harry?”

“Erm, no. That’s about it really.” finished Harry rather lamely. Ginny stood up so quickly that
she knocked over the cup of tea her mum had just poured for her. She glared angrily at them all
before leaving the kitchen and walking very loudly up the stairs to her bedroom. Harry had been
expecting Mrs. Weasley to jump to the defence of her son and daughter. He had expected the silent
treatment at best, and outright shouting at worst. To his great surprise she sat down at the table
with her cup of tea and looked at her husband fondly.

“I remember when they were young. Ron couldn’t have been older than six at the time. He had this
teddy bear that was given to him my his grandmother, though he didn’t like it very much. Ginny on
the other hand, loved that raggedy old bear. She would sneak into Ron’s room at night and take it
from whatever corner Ron had thrown it into. Then she would sneak it into bed with her, until Ron
would notice it missing and demand that she return it. Ron didn’t want that bear Harry, but he
certainly didn’t want his little sister to have it. Eventually though, he felt guilty. He knew he
was keeping that bear away from Ginny out of spite, so eventually he just gave it to her. Of course
Ginny was simply thrilled at first, but after that first week the novelty wore off and she
discarded that bear just as easily as Ron had done before her.” said Mrs. Weasley, staring at the
table with a slight smile on her face.

“Ron didn’t want that bear Harry, but he didn’t want anyone else to have it either. Ginny wanted
that bear desperately because everyone else was so fond of it. It was her grandmothers and she knew
that everyone loved it. But look, when she got it she became bored. She loved the idea of having
the bear that was Ron’s, the bear that everyone wanted because they loved their grandmother so
much,” she looked up at Harry once again and gave him a smile “I know my children very well Harry,
and I also know you very well. You don’t make up feelings to hurt someone. If you and Hermione want
to be together then just do it. Life is too short to miss out on the things that mean the most to
you. Now, if you will excuse me I had better go and have a word with Ginny.”

Harry watched as Mrs. Weasley exited the kitchen, leaving Luna, Susan, Mr. Weasley and himself.
He looked at Luna who seemed to have a dopily affectionate expression on her face…he picked up at
napkin and threw it at her. She seemed startled at first, then a grin broke out on her face. Mr
Weasley began laughing at her bug eyed expression, then collected the Daily Prophet from the
table.

“Well,” he said “Off to work I suppose. See you later!”

They were discussing the previous nights events when there was a crack in the hallway. All three
of them looked around to see who had arrived, and Harry’s heart leapt at the sight of Hermione
walking into the kitchen. She smiled rather shyly at Harry and sat down on the chair next to
him.

“How were your parents when you found them?” asked Susan in a muffled voice, her mouth half full
of toast.

“A bit surprised to see me, and a little worried that Lupin and I were virtually screaming in
their faces to hurry up and get out of the house. They thought we were over reacting of course.
The, uh, the house was burned to the ground later that night.” said Hermione, her voice ending in a
whisper “it’s all gone…” Harry leant over and put his arms around her shoulders. She leaned into
him gratefully and rested her head on him. He kissed the top of her head gently and sighed. Poor
Hermione, she shouldn’t have to suffer like this all because of him. Luna rolled her eyes towards
the door and Susan stood up quietly, both of them leaving the kitchen rather quickly.

“What happened Harry? Lupin met me but said he had a lot of things to do and that you’d fill me
in. How’s Ron? Where is he?” said Hermione anxiously

“Ron’s fine, well…he’s healthy anyway. He’s upstairs actually, and so is Ginny…: said Harry
quietly. Hermione moved off of him to look him in the eyes, her face showing anger and slight
suspicion. Harry moved his hand to her face and began to slowly stroke her cheek.

“I missed you,” he said quietly “It was weird not having you in the same place as me. I’m sorry
about your house, you don’t deserve something like that to happen to you.”

“Harry,” she answered with equal quietness “Don’t worry about the house. It’s just pictures and
memories. At least no one was hurt. I, uh, I missed you too Harry. A lot…” He stared into her eyes
and leaned closer to her, he’d been waiting to kiss her since Ron had found out. He Didn’t realise
how desperately until now. He put his hands around the back of her head and pulled her towards him,
kissing her thoroughly and showing her just how much she was missed. She broke away suddenly, her
face very pink and her breathing laboured.

“You know what,” said Harry “How about we go out. I can fill you in on everything that’s
happened and we can spend some time alone. We can do whatever you want, but we have to go to muggle
London.”

“You mean like a date?” asked Hermione, sounding a little timid.

“Yeah,” said Harry “Why not? We’ve, erm, been seeing each other for a quite a few weeks now. It
would be fun, and just the two of us. No one to interrupt our conversations. I can tell you
everything that’s happened without worrying in Ron’s going to come in and start throwing punches
again…”

“We can actually kiss in the open!” said Hermione excitedly “We can walk through the park like
two normal people in l…well, erm, two normal people without having everyone staring.”

“Exactly,” said Harry quietly, leaning forward to press his lips tenderly against hers. “Why
don’t you go and get dressed in your muggle clothes. I’ll make myself clean and presentable and
we’ll meet back here in half an hour?”

“Sounds fantastic…” said Hermione girlishly. She practically skipped up the stairs and into her
room, thankful to find it deserted. She dreaded meeting Ginny again, but if she so much as tried to
raise her wand at her she would be very sorry.

Hermione opened her trunk and began searching manically through her clothes for something to
wear. She pulled out her favourite pair of jeans and smiled to herself. They were her favourite
jeans because they fit her tightly around her bum and flared by her feet. Now to find a nice top.
She rummaged through her trunk once more and pulled out a black v necked sleeveless shirt that had
a pretty little feminine black trim at the bottom. She pulled it on quickly and adjusted her
breasts quickly. She grinned slyly to herself and she looked at her cleavage…that would give Harry
a little something to think about. She finally pulled out her long black coat, her black scarf and
her boots. With a wave of her wand her boots became shinier and any wrinkles she had looked like
they fell away from her clothes. Ok…hair and make up. Oh God, hair and make up. Almost as if they
had read her thoughts Luna and Susan entered the room.

“Thank goodness,” said Hermione a little breathlessly “You have to help me. What can I do to my
face and hair in ten minutes that will make me look beautiful?”

“Hermione,” said Luna reproachfully “You’re always beautiful. BUT if you would like help
enhancing what you already have then we can help.” Hermione smiled affectionately at Luna as the
two girls bustled around the room. Susan took charge of the hair while Luna began applying various
things to Hermione’s face. After only fifteen minutes they had finished, and Hermione stepped back
to see their work and she smiled despite herself. Her hair seemed smoother than usual and was
pulled back lightly with some black and silver ornamental clips. Loose tendrils hung about her face
which seemed to frame it perfectly. Luna had made here eyes rather smoky looking and her blush made
her look truly scandalous. Unfortunately she had put bright orange lipstick on her, but Hermione
said thank you anyway and wiped it off the moment she had made her way downstairs laughing to
herself all the way.

She saw Harry standing in the hallway pacing backwards and forwards. She stopped for a moment to
look at him and to get her feelings under control. ‘I am going on a DATE with Harry!’ was a thought
that seemed to spiral around and around in her mind. She knew she was acting like a silly school
girl but she didn’t care. She had never felt this way before, so what if she wanted to get a little
girly and excited? She took a deep breath and tried to calm the random giggles that seemed to want
to burst from within her. She walked down the steps a little louder than before, so as to announce
her presence.

“You’re late!” he said sounding unbelievably surprised “You’re never late! What too you so-”
Hermione was pleased to see that he seemed to be a little lost for words when he looked at her. She
grinned as walked over to where he stood.

“Sorry,” she said sounding rather flirtatious “But surely you can wait five minutes for me…”

“I would wait a lifetime for you,” he said, then flushed at the comment. He cleared his throat
before saying -

“You, erm, you look really nice,”

“So do you,” she said quietly and allowed herself a longer look at him than was proper. He was
wearing the jeans she had bought him from muggle London, a thick black roll neck jumper, a long
black coat that looked almost the same as hers (though, thankfully, more masculine) and a thick
black scarf.

“Well, we almost match,” said Harry grinning “and these jeans you bought me are far too tight
around my bum. I didn’t know they made them like this!”

“They look fine Harry,” said Hermione briskly

“You bought them too small…” said Harry with a grin, enjoying having her in the wrong for
once.

“No I didn’t,” said Hermione slyly “I bought the tighter pair because I wanted to see your bum
properly. Shall we go?” Harry looked a little shocked at Hermione’s bluntness, but after a quick
recovery he escorted her through the door.

Once they exited the house they began slowly walking down the pavement. Harry grabbed Hermione’s
hand quickly and looked at her. He was walking down the street holding Hermione’s hand, he grinned
boyishly and held her soft hand tighter in his. This was going to be a great day, just him and
Hermione in muggle London.

*************************************************************************************

Ron watched as Harry and Hermione walked hand in hand down the street. He watched them swinging
their hands in motion to their steps. He watched them laughing together, and he watched them bump
each other playfully on the shoulder…over and over. He turned around quickly and threw himself
heavily onto his bed so he could spend some more time staring at the ceiling. His mum had visited
him earlier and told him a mad story about a bear. He should have used a charm on the door so she
couldn’t get in. ‘I mean what was she on about anyway? I gave Ginny the stupid bear because she
kept whining about it. Why is she ok with Harry and Hermione anyway? Doesn’t she care about her
son’s feelings?’ He grabbed a small ball and threw it at the ceiling very hard. Naturally the ball
wasn’t impressed with this rough treatment and threw itself back at him.

He had just managed to restrain the insane ball when Luna glided into the room. She pointed her
wand quickly at the ball and sent it hiding under the bed. Ron glowered at Luna and sat down on the
bed. Luna glanced around the room for a bit, then shrugged and sat on the floor.

“Why don’t you sit on that chair over there?” asked Ron grumpily

“I’m just fine on the floor,” said Luna serenely

“Well it’s not very comfortable on the floor. I feel bad being comfortable when you’re, erm, on
the floor…” said Ron edgily

“I’m just fine on the floor,” repeated Luna, giving Ron a rather curious look.

“Fine,” said Ron, and he got up from the bed and joined her on the floor with a thud. They sat
in silence for quite a while. Ron wondering why she had bothered coming into the room if she didn’t
plan on saying anything, and Luna wondering how long she could get Ron to sit on the floor.

“How long did you know?” asked Ron irritably

“Since your first stay at Hogwarts,” said Luna quietly

“Why didn’t you tell me if they were too wimpy to do it themselves?” he said, his voice getting
louder once again.

“They were trying to fight it for you Ronald,” she said calmly “Besides, you’re not stupid. You
knew what was happening.” Ron stood up in indignation.

“I did not! I didn’t think they were shagging behind my back!” he said, his voice almost to the
point of shouting.

“Do not shout at me Ronald!” said Luna, her voice echoing around the room. “I am trying to talk
to you. I am trying to be your friend, don’t speak to me like that!” Ron looked at the floor as a
red colour tinged his face. He mumbled an apology and sat back down.

“They were not shagging Ron,” continued Luna “They had feelings for each other. That’s what you
knew about. That’s what you’ve known for quite some time. You just didn’t want to admit it to
yourself.”

“I hate them,” said Ron angrily

“No you don’t,” said Luna serenely

“How could he do that to me?” he asked bitterly

“He didn’t do anything to hurt you. They couldn’t control what happened between them. He should
have told you when he realised that he wanted to be with her, when he decided to act upon his
feelings rather than hide them for you. That’s what he did wrong, everything else is just human
nature.” said Luna quietly

“I loved her. He knew that and he still went after her. He betrayed me. You betrayed me by
keeping it a secret…” he said, his face getting redder as his anger began to reach boiling point
once again. This time, it was Luna who stood up out of anger. He face became slightly flushed and
she stared down at him, her eyes cold with anger.

“I did not betray you! How dare you say such a thing! I have been by your side from the moment
we met, don’t you dare try and make me out to be the bad person in all of this! You loved her did
you Ronald? You have no idea what love is!”

“YES I DO!” shouted Ron, standing up to meet her angrily

“NO YOU DON’T! YOU NEVER LOVED HERMIONE! YOU JUST DIDN’T WANT HARRY TO HAVE HER BECAUSE THEN
WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE? I’LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU’D HAVE RON, TWO FRIENDS WHO LOVE YOU DEARLY WHICH IS A
DAMN SIGHT MORE THAN YOU DESERVE!” shouted Luna

“HOW DO YOU KNOW I DIDN’T LOVE HER? YOU’RE NOT IN MY HEAD, YOU DON’T KNOW HOW I THINK AND FEEL!”
shouted Ron in reply

“I KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE IN LOVE RONALD! I WOULD NEVER TREAT YOU THIS WAY. I WOULD NEVER MAKE
YOU SUFFER THE WAY YOU PUNISHED HERMIONE FOR NOT WANTING TO BE WITH YOU! TRUE LOVE IS WANTING THE
PERSON YOU LOVE TO BE HAPPY NO MATTER WHAT. IF YOU HAD LOVED HERMIONE THE WAY YOU SAY YOU DID YOU
WOULD HAVE LET HER GO AND BE HAPPY. IF YOU HAD LOVED HER YOU WOULDN’T HAVE INSULTED HER ALL THE
TIME BUT RESPECTED HER THE WAY YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO. AND FINALLY RONALD, IF YOU LOVED HERMIONE THE
WAY I LOVE YOU THEN YOU WOULDN’T BE TALKING ABOUT LOVING HER IN THE PAST TENSE! LOVE DOESN’T JUST
FADE AWAY BECAUSE YOU’RE ANGRY AT SOMEONE!” shouted Luna so loudly that the glass appeared to
shake. Ron looked like he had been struck dumb and he stared open mouthed at Luna. Luna gave him
one last glare before she stormed towards the door. When she reached the door she pulled out her
wand and pointed it towards the bed. She then slammed the door shut loudly and stomped off to find
Susan, trying to keep back the tears that were threatening to flow.

Ron stared at the door after Luna had gone, his mind filling with questions. He was suddenly
struck hard on the head by the ball that had retreated under the bed, and his thoughts blurred
together while he tried to fight with it once more.

*************************************************************************************

The Christmas lights in London had been put up and the different colours sparkled and bounced
off the glass of the shop windows. There was a slight snowfall that made the air look almost
glittery. The soft flakes landed in Hermione’s hair and collected on her eyelashes. Harry found it
hard not to keep staring at her perfect face in this perfect moment. He pulled her roughly aside on
the pavement and, oblivious to the hundreds of muggles walking past them eagerly doing their
Christmas shopping, kissed her thoroughly.

“That was lovely,” said Hermione breathlessly afterwards, staring into his green eyes as if
mesmerised “If not a little random.”

“I couldn’t help myself,” said Harry grinning. Hermione grinned dopily at him, but was quickly
shoved aside by an angry elderly Christmas shopper. They stared at each other for a moment in shock
that a little old woman had so much force in her, before dissolving into laughter.

“Come on Harry,” said Hermione briskly “We’ve got a lot to see…”

Harry’s first trip to London had been with Hagrid just before he started his first year at
Hogwarts. Though he had seen Big Ben and the houses of parliament on the television he had never
actually seen it in person. He was practically a tourist and Hermione was more than happy to show
him the sights. They went to Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and Harrods. Harry was amazed
at the prices of the things sold in Harrods, and shortly became rather obsessed with a miniature
car on sale for eighty thousand pounds. Hermione had to literally drag him away to the café on the
floor above so that she could rest her feet and have a cup of tea. Whilst ordering the tea Harry
decided to take a trip to the lavatory, where he was shocked to learn that he had to pay a pound to
get it. He came back rather frustrated because he didn’t actually have any money on him. Hermione
laughed as he stood rather awkwardly waiting for a pound coin. She would have teased him a little
longer, but she wasn’t entirely sure how much of his desperation was a playful act and how much was
serious. After he had returned, looking a little happier, he began jokingly complaining with
Hermione about the toilet situation.

“What if I was here alone and didn’t have a pound on me?” he asked rather loudly “would they
just tell me to bugger off and that I had to go on the floor? I don’t think it‘s very proper in
this kind of establishment to let your customers go to the toilet on the floor!” Hermione was
laughing loudly at Harry pretending to be really worried about the bathroom situation, which of
course he wasn’t. He just loved the way Hermione’s eyes lit up when she laughed hard and he was
enjoying it immensely. There was a slight cough next to them, which reminded Harry an awful lot of
that foul Umbridge woman, and a stiff looking woman with harsh black glasses on looked down at
them.

“Yes?” asked Hermione

“Well,” said the woman rather obnoxiously “I would appreciate it if you would keep the noise
down a little. I understand that you two are quite young and not used to being in an establishment
like this, but we do like things to be calm he at Harrods.”

“So you’re saying that my laughter is awfully loud and rather detestable and you would like me
to be quiet?” asked Hermione, her voice dripping in false politeness.

“Well dear,” said the woman sniffing slightly “I wouldn’t say that I find you’re laughter
detestable but the other customers like a tranquil atmosphere. Which you are not contributing
to.”

“Oh!” said Hermione with a large smile on her face “Well, when you put it like that how could I
possibly be offended? Let’s go Harry!”

She pulled Harry out of the café and towards an escalator, the café attendant still watching
them with narrowed eyes. She headed for the escalator that was coming up towards them and Harry
thought for a minute that she was so angry she didn’t know what she was doing. He was about to say
something when he noticed a smirk on her face. She grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the
escalator that was travelling towards them…and started walking down it. She looked around quickly
to see the woman looking furious and started to laugh.

“Oh my goodness Harry!” she called loudly enough for the woman to hear “I’m so uncivilised that
I don’t know how to use this bloody thing! We should never have come here!” Harry started to laugh
at Hermione’s damsel in distress act and followed her quickly down the escalator, passing irritable
customers and some amused children. They reached the bottom of the escalator and started laughing
hysterically. Harry couldn’t remember when the last time he and Hermione just let their hair down.
Well actually, he couldn’t remember any time where Hermione had just let her hair down. He grinned
at her, and was glad she was having fun. He felt a firm grip around the arm and turned around the
see one of the Harrods guards. They were promptly escorted out of the building, Hermione laughing
all the way.

They walked past a toyshop in Regent’s street and Hermione stopped to look at a teddy bear in
the window, with a cape, pointed hat and a wand. She smiled a secret smile to Harry and they
continued walking. They found themselves in Hyde Park half an hour later, with steaming hot
chocolates. Harry noticed that there were couples everywhere, some walking, come jogging and some
sitting on benches. Hermione led him to one of the benches and they sat in companionable silence
for a while, until she started laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” asked Harry with a smile

“That woman’s face!” said Hermione, and started giggling again. “I don’t know what on earth got
into me! It must be your influence, I’m normally such a well behaved young lady!”

“I had nothing to do with it. I was just complaining about paying to use the loo and you get us
chucked out!” said Harry laughing.

“What have you done to me Harry?” asked Hermione, her voice becoming quiet again “It feels nice
though. Today we weren’t two people with the possibility of death hanging over our shoulders; we
were just two normal young people in London having fun. I think that’s what we needed Harry,”

“Yeah,” said Harry quietly “I think that’s just what we needed. Can I ask you something
Hermione?”

“Yes,” she said quietly

“When did you realise that you wanted to be with me?” he asked, and searched her face anxiously.
She moved closer to him and kissed him softly, then cuddled into him as he put him arm around her.
She softly told him on her trip to Italy and how she had spent her time being tortured by his face
and her dreams. Harry laughed a little and kissed the top of her head.

“Aren’t you nervous?” asked Harry finally “I might not make it through this Hermione. I might
not come back to you; do you really want to put so much faith in me? What if I break your
heart?”

“Harry,” she said quietly “I’m not worried about that. I’m just enjoying this, what we have and
what we are right now. Who knows what will happen tomorrow or the next day, but today I’m glad that
you and I can be together like this. Today I’m glad that you and I are out alone…. Just being…”

“Just being?” asked Harry softly

“Yes Harry,” she said looking into his eyes “Let’s just be. I know it’s hard not to worry about
the future; it’s hard not to think about what may happen. But why waste the precious days we have
on worry and fear? Just be Harry…just be,” Harry smiled at her and brought his mouth to meet hers
softly. A couple walked past them holding hands and gave each other that look. The one you get when
you see someone as much in love as you are and you can’t help but fell deliriously happy.

“It’s in the air tonight,” whispered the woman the man she was clinging on to.

“What is?” he asked affectionately “Love?”

“Yes love,” she said whimsically “Love and magic…”

“Magic?” he asked grinning

“Yes,” she whispered “there’s magic in the air tonight, isn’t it wonderful?”

*************************************************************************************



25. The Ministry of Magic
-------------------------

A/N- hello everyone! Thanks for reading along and reviewing! Here’s the next chapter for you
all, hope you like the scene between Ginny and Hermione! Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

*************************************************************************************

“Oh no,” groaned Luna into Susan’s shoulder “I can’t believe I just told him…How stupid of
me!”

“It’s not your fault,” said Susan, her arm around Luna trying to comfort her “He made you angry
and you snapped that’s all…”

“He’s going to think I’m the craziest witch he ever met…” said Luna quietly

“Well, to be fair he probably already thought that,” said Susan jokingly

“Even more so now!” said Luna loudly, burying her face deep into Susan’s shoulder. Her face had
been beet red when she had come to Susan and it hadn’t died down at all. Susan was beginning to
wonder whether or not she should use a charm on it when Ron came walking into their room. They both
looked up quickly…Luna looked at the door longingly as if trying to figure out a way to escape.

“Erm, can I talk to you Luna?” said Ron quietly

“Of course you can,” said Susan quickly “I’ll just be, erm…gone…” With that she made a beeline
for the door and closed it quite loudly.

Ron walked slowly over to Luna and sat down next to her. He opened his mouth to start talking
but stopped when he saw Luna was just staring at the floor, her face so red it was almost a match
for Ron’s hair. He opened his mouth again and willed the words to come out of his mouth.

“So, erm…hmmm,” said Ron “Did you mean what you said back there?”

“Which bit?” asked Luna, her voice sounding muffled as she buried her face in her arms.

“The, erm, you know…loving me bit,” said Ron, looking at the wall fixedly.

“Yes,” said Luna so quietly that Ron wasn’t sure whether she had actually said a word or just
sighed.

“Um, I don’t love you Luna,” said Ron slowly. He saw Luna nod her head in her hands and watched
her back tremble slightly. “But, uh, I do like you. I like you a lot more than most other girls.
You were right about Hermione, I don’t love her. I’m just a prat I guess. Not saying that I forgive
them or that I’m ok with them or anything else because I’m still REALLY angry and I just…”

“Yes Ronald,” said Luna in her muffled voice “I think everyone knows how angry you are, we don’t
need to go through this again.”

“Well, erm, yeah,” said Ron his face starting to get pink and moving into deeper shades of red
the more he talked “So I thought that you would have been really grossed out when you kissed me
when you were drunk. I was wrong, and it, erm, you know. Felt nice.” Luna looked up at him quickly,
her eyes wide and her face still very pink.

“You remember? But Ron you were really very drunk!” said Luna happily. Ron nodded and went
redder still, then moved his gaze back to the wall.

“So, erm, I’m not saying I love you or anything like that because I don’t lie. But I do like you
Luna, you’re really great. So…maybe we could spend some time together? See if anything happens, not
that I’m saying it will or anything. But, you know…erm…we could give it a go. See what
happens,”

“That sounds lovely Ronald,” said Luna dreamily “I would be honoured to be the person you want
to spend some time with.” Ron smiled at her and Luna beamed back at him.

“So,” he said with a grin “How about a game of chess? It’s nice to play with someone that’s a
challenge!” Luna bobbed her head up and down in agreement and Ron rushed off to his bedroom to grab
his chess set.

*************************************************************************************

Hermione lay in bed that night thinking about Harry. He had been so wonderful today; she hadn’t
felt that free and full of life in quite a long time. Correction, she wasn’t sure if she had ever
felt that free before. He was the perfect gentleman…of course she knew that he was trying to keep
his hands off of her because he lost his control quite quickly. She blushed in the dark and thought
about the way he made her feel every time his hands grazed her skin, and felt a familiar tingling
sensation within her. She tried to banish those thoughts from her mind. She wanted Harry very
badly, but she also wanted him to love her before they took that step. She knew she was crazily in
love with Harry Potter; the feelings seemed to deepen every time she saw him and she had to stop
herself from shouting it out to every person that would listen to her. She wondered if Harry felt
that same, and if he didn’t when would he? She rolled onto her side and thought about the way he
had held her hands, the way he had softly kissed her in almost every shop they went into and every
street corner they stopped at. She sighed into the darkness and let a smile creep on her face. She
suddenly found herself being grateful that Ginny was staying in another room, she couldn’t stand
the thought of this today’s happiness being ruined by her. Now that Fred, George and Sirius weren’t
in the house there was a lot more room. Of course, poor Luna and Susan had to share with Ginny
because Ron and Harry had to sleep in separate rooms, but Ginny wouldn’t hex them if they were
smiling the way she was right now. She fell asleep with Harry’s face in her mind and she had a
wonderful and peaceful sleep.

*************************************************************************************

Harry woke up the next morning with the peculiar feeling that someone was watching him. His eyes
were still closed as he heard a creak in the floorboards by his bed. He shot up out of bed quickly
and had his wand in his hand so fast that the girl standing in front of him hardly had time to
blink.

“What are you doing?” asked Harry in a higher voice than usual

“I came to get you,” said Luna dreamily

“For what? Breakfast? Couldn’t you have just knocked on the door?” asked Harry a little
irritated.

“No not for breakfast Harry,” she said quietly “Today is the day…”

“Huh?” asked Harry, rubbing his eyes to try an wake himself up. He had had a rather restless
night. Unlike Hermione he was still wrestling with his feelings, and every time he had closed his
eyes he could see her face smiling as the snowflakes landed gently on her. He shook his head ‘There
I am at it again, I’m going insane…she’s driving me insane’ he thought. Luna smirked up at him as
if she could read his mind and he flushed a light pink colour.

“Today we go to the veil…” said Luna quietly “I’d like to have breakfast before Ron and Ginny
get up if you don’t mind. We don’t need extra distractions today.”

“Ok,” said Harry slowly. Did he really want to do this? What if Luna was being totally mad and
it was a place you went to die, not after your die? How were they supposed to get in there when
they weren’t dead? What if they couldn’t get in there? Then what?! “I, erm, I need to exchange some
of my wizard money for muggle money. Then I need to go out, it won’t take me more than half an hour
or so…”

“Well,” said Luna vaguely “I’ll get Pig to take some of your money to Gringotts to be exchanged
while you get washed and dressed. Then we’ll have breakfast, you can then nip off and do whatever
it is you need to do and then we’ll get moving!” Harry looked at Luna for a moment, wondering when
she had started to become as organised as Hermione, then grinned.

“Ok,” he said, and rushed off to shower. He hoped Luna wasn’t getting them in to anything
dangerous. He was also wondering how she managed to get the three of them into the Ministry of
Magic without alerting death eater spies.

After a very busy morning, Harry tiptoed quietly into Hermione’s room. She was sleeping soundly
with a small smile on her face and was a tangled mess in the blankets. He smiled down at her and
moved the cause of his busy morning onto the side of her pillow. He hoped she liked it, it had
taken him a little longer than usual to get in London today and he had been feeling rather
irritated when he came back. He felt those feelings leave him as he watched her sleep. She looked
so peaceful and beautiful. She shifted suddenly and turned over, flinging one of her bare legs out
over the blankets. He swallowed hard as he looked at her, a wave of desire hitting him like a punch
in the face. ‘Time to go’ he thought quickly, and left the room as quietly as he had come in.

He went down stairs quickly to see Luna and Mr. Weasley waiting by the front door for him. He
pulled on his coat quickly and got ready to leave with the rest of them.

“Where’s Susan?” asked Harry quietly

“Not today Harry,” said Luna just as quietly “This is just for you and I. We’ll tell her
everything she needs to know, but we’re the only ones who have lost someone Harry. It can’t be any
other way.” Harry nodded his head in a faked understanding while wrapping his scarf tightly around
his neck.

“Ready then?” said Mr Weasley cheerfully. They both nodded their heads and left the house,
anxious to see what awaited them.

*************************************************************************************

Hermione woke up feeling happy and refreshed. She jumped out of bed and rushed towards the door,
hoping to be clean and looking presentable by the time Harry woke up. Just as she was at the door
she remembered her clothes and laughed silently to herself. ‘He’s diminishing my brain into
nothing’ she thought as she turned around…and stopped dead. There on the pillow next to hers was
the teddy bear she had seen in Regent’s street yesterday. She felt tears filling her eyes as she
walked over a picked it up, examining its perfect little wand and pointed hat. She rushed grabbed
her pink bathrobe and wrapped it tightly around her. She pulled up her hair and tried to make her
face look presentable. Then she grabbed the bear and rushed out of the room to find Harry.

She went into his bedroom to find him and didn’t see him in there. She rushed down the hallway
and bumped directly into Ginny.

“Hey!” said Ginny angrily, throwing Hermione to the side “Watch where you’re going!” Hermione
was shocked by the force of Ginny’s push and stared angrily at her.

“It was an accident,” she said icily “Now if you’d kindly get out of my way…” She tried to get
past Ginny but she moved to the side to stop her from going anywhere.

“Looking for your boyfriend?” asked Ginny in a taunting voice

“Shut up Ginny,” said Hermione angrily, pushing herself past Ginny forcefully and starting to
make her way to the stairs. She felt a horrible sensation spread through her and her legs froze and
seemed to bind themselves together. She hit the floor very hard and was unable to move. ‘That
little bitch!’ thought Hermione incredulously ‘she’s put me in a bloody body bind! I left my wand
in the bedroom…oh shit…’ Ginny smirked at Hermione’s still form on the ground and laughed to
herself and she watched her eyes widen at Ginny when she realised what she had done. Hermione
stared up at the hateful girl trying to think of a way out of this, she would show that cow who was
better at magic. There was a reason she was the best student in the school after all. She
concentrated on her wand in her room and thought *‘Accio wand’*. She waited…and waited…finally
when she had almost given up her wand came flying towards her. One problem, how was she going to
use it in the full body bind? ‘Hmm,’ she thought ‘didn’t think that far ahead…’ Ginny started
laughing as she grabbed Hermione’s wand from the air.

“Fat lot of good this is going to do you,” she said, her brown eyes glittering in anger.

“What the fucking hell are you doing Ginny?” came a voice from behind her. Hermione looked up to
find Ron standing directly behind Ginny, looking furious. Her grabbed his wand from his pocket and
waved it at Hermione. Her legs felt free again and she slowly got to her feet and said -

*“Expelliarmus,”*

Ginny narrowed her eyes towards Hermione’s wand.

“Ginny,” said Ron angrily “Don’t be a stupid cow. Get into your room or go downstairs…leave
Hermione alone,”

“I’m fine Ron,” said Hermione angrily “This has been coming for a long time.”

“Yes it has,” said Ginny with gritted teeth “Ever since you stole Harry from me.”

“Stole him from you?” asked Hermione with a derisive laugh “He was never yours to steal. He
broke up with you Ginny.”

“Only because he was worried about me being a target for Voldemort,” said Ginny

“That’s right,” said Hermione “But now he’s decided that he doesn’t want to be with you. It does
happen you know, people do change their minds on who they want to be with,”

“You’ve been after him since you first met him. You just want to be famous…” said Ginny

“Yes Ginny,” said Hermione sarcastically “I want to be famous. Why don’t you ask yourself why
you want to be with Harry…”

“I love Harry!” she said, her face getting red with anger.

“No you don’t!” said Hermione angrily “You fell in love with the legend of Harry Potter before
you even knew him! You love that he saves people, you love that he’s famous! You don’t love Harry
for him! You only started to really get to know Harry last year when you were going out for a few
months! What did you say to him last year? Oh yeah ‘I knew you wouldn’t be happy unless you were
hunting Voldemort. Maybe that’s why I like you so much’ you love the hero, not the man
himself…”

“Were you listening into mine and Harry’s conversation? How long have you been planning on
trying to get him?” said Ginny, her wand jabbing towards Hermione.

“No,” she said, “Harry told me. I wasn’t planning on doing anything with Harry other than being
friends. But you can’t help it when you fall in love Ginny, you don’t have control over it and I
WILL NOT apologise for that!” She was breathing heavily and saw Ginny’s brown eyes darting back and
forth, trying to figure out what to do next. Hermione was ready. No sooner had she shouted -

*“Furnunculus!”* Hermione had shouted-

*“Protego!”*

Hermione then pointed her wand at Ginny, and without saying anything, made Ginny’s legs shake
like jelly. Her eyes narrowed towards Hermione and she grabbed her wand and threw a few stinging
hexes her way before she could retaliate. Hermione sent a tripping jinx her way, then, upon seeing
Ginny start to stand up in a rage shouted -

*“Stupefy!”*

“Hermione!” said Ron angrily “You can’t stupefy my sister! I‘ll stand by while you hex each
other but not the really serious spells…” He went over to her quickly from his hiding place in an
alcove by the stairs, and pointed his wand at her.

*“Ennervate!”* he said quickly, and watched as Ginny got to her feet with angry tears in
her eyes.

“Think you’re hard Hermione?” said Ginny tauntingly “Think you can scare me into backing off?
Not likely. You’re still that obnoxious buck toothed cow you were when I first met you!” she
pointed her wand at Hermione and shouted -

*“Densaugeo!”*

Hermione was utterly humiliated as her front teeth began to grow and grow! How dare she?! She
threw her wand to the side and leapt at Ginny, throwing her into an open room next to them where
Susan was sitting reading a book. Ginny rolled on top of Hermione and pinned her hands to the
floor, then slapped her hard and fast across the face. Hermione seemed to growl with anger as she
used her legs the fling Ginny off of her before getting to her feet. She grabbed Ginny by the hair
and brought her head forward so that her nose collided quite nicely with Hermione’s knee. The nose
began bleeding immediately and Ginny threw a punch in Hermione’s direction, which landed on her
arm. Hermione pushed her up against the wall and punched her very hard in the face. Ginny raised
her feet and kicked Hermione out of the way then threw a punch at her face, instantly blackening
Hermione’s eye. *‘Accio wand!*’ thought Hermione, and the wand soared easily into her hand.
She pointed it at Ginny, and with a grim smile, cast a Bat Bogey hex that even Ginny couldn’t beat.
Ginny grabbed her wand and stopped the bogeys from attacking her and then shouted -

*“Tarantallegra!”*

Hermione’s legs began to dance uncontrollably, and she aimed her wand angrily at Ginny, sending
of a few stinging hexes and the all time favourite slug curse. Ron pointed his wand towards
Hermione and stopped her legs from doing their dance. He looked down on his sister with a look of
disgust. She was covered in boils, red welts and was vomiting slugs. She looked up angrily and
kicked Hermione’s ankle very hard. Hermione raised he wand and shouted -

*“Stupefy!”* and then lowered her wand, breathing hard “You don’t mind now do you Ron?
Only, it really is much more peaceful with your sister out of it…” Ron looked at her and slowly
nodded his head. He’d never seen Hermione kick someone’s arse before, especially Ginny who could
give all of the boys a run for their money.

“Good,” said Hermione briskly “I’m going to get washed and get rid of these ridiculous teeth.
See you later.”

Ron and Susan stood gaping at where Hermione had left, and then staring at the mess in the room,
and then the mess that was Ginny Weasley.

*************************************************************************************

Mr. Weasley stepped inside the old red telephone box and dialled 62442. The cool female voice
asked their name and business, to which Mr Weasley replied -

“Mr Weasley, misuse of muggle artifacts office, with two visitors.” They waited with bated
breath, hoping that their names would not be asked. Two small badges that said ‘visitor’ popped out
of the return coin slot. Harry sighed in relief and attached the badge to the front of his
robes.

“The only problem with a visitors badge Harry,” said Mr Weasley quietly “ is that everyone
follows you around to make sure you don‘t go into the more restricted areas. I’ll show you a more
secret way to get around, but if you see anyone then hide. And for goodness sakes don’t mention my
name, I’ll be sacked before you can say leaky cauldron. ”

They walked into the splendid hall and Mr Weasley quickly took them to the side of the hall to
what appeared to be an old bookcase. He tapped his wand on four books at the bottom, two in the
middle and one at the top with a picture of a goblin on the spine of the book. He then said a
strange word that sounded guttural and harsh. The books shuffled themselves to the side to make an
opening just big enough for Harry to get through…if he turned his body to the side and sucked his
breath in.

“ If you want to get out then you have to say the word ‘exit’ in Goblin language. These used to
be their tunnels -” said Mr Weasley but was interrupted by Luna.

“I know the word Mr Weasley, and you‘d better hurry before someone spots you showing us
this,”

“Yes, absolutely. See you later then,” said Mr Weasley quickly, and Harry could see his smiling
face as the books began to put themselves back on the shelves correctly. Harry turned around to see
that they were in a very small hallway, so small that they would have to walk in single file and
crouch down a bit. They walked down the sloping hallway for at least ten minutes before they came
across a small lift.

“What if we get caught Luna?” said Harry

“Don’t worry Harry,” she said dreamily “I brought along your cloak!” Harry sighed with relief as
she pulled his cloak out of her bag and threw it gently to Harry. He threw it over his shoulders
and opened it, motioning for Luna to get under too, while wondering why she didn’t mention the
cloak in the first place. They clambered into the lift and looked at all the buttons. He pushed one
of the down buttons and the lift gave a lurch and brought them to the floor quickly and bumpily.
Luna looked like she might vomit. He stepped into the hallway and walked through a very familiar
door that led them to the circular room.

“Which room is it in again?” asked Harry quietly

“No idea,” whispered Luna “Lets just try them like we did last time…” Harry sighed; this might
be a long day…

After looking through only four doors they finally managed to find the one with the veil inside.
Harry’s heart gave a lurch as he saw the veil moving faintly even though there was no wind to blow
it. They walked slowly down the stone steps and moved to stand just in front of the veil. The
whispers that seemed to fill the room grew more insistent as they stood outside, staring at the
fluttering black veil. Luna ran her hand lightly across it and smiled happily. She looked at Harry
and he could see tears shimmering in her eyes.

“Are you ready?” she whispered

“Not really,” he said suddenly remembering Hermione’s warnings on how dangerous this room
was.

“We’ll be fine Harry, we’ve been invited here,” she said to him, holding out her hand “Do you
trust me?” Harry looked at her for a moment before replying -

“Yes,” and taking hold of her hand. She grinned and held his hand tightly…then walked through
the black veil, pulling Harry behind her.

*************************************************************************************



26. Behind the Veil
-------------------

A/N- hey everyone thanks for reading along and for reviewing! This was a hard chapter for me to
write so don’t be too hard on me. If anything confuses you in this chapter, be assured that your
questions will be answered towards the end of the story, if you can’t wait until then you can leave
me a review and I will try to answer them as best as I can without giving the story away! If you
have ever read any of William Blake’s poems then you will recognise the symbolisms, if not then you
should read ‘The lamb’ and ‘ The Tyger’. The symbolisms from ‘The Tyger’ will be used towards the
end of the story, they’re great poems from a fantastic poet and I really recommend that you read
them. ANYWAY, on with the story! Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

Harry felt the veil trail lightly across his face, and it was replaced by a warm sensation that
spread from his face right down to his toes. He felt like he was falling and there was nothing he
could do to stop it, there was a blinding white light all around him and he closed his eyes
tightly, hoping that he’d stop falling soon.

He landed with a heavy thud, which he had been expecting to hurt. But as he slowly flexed his
legs and arms he realised that they actually felt better than what they had done before. He rolled
his back a little as he sat up and smiled when he wasn’t greeted with the uncomfortable ache that
seemed to have been plaguing him ever since he had gone to stay at the Burrow. He felt completely
at peace and smiled at how light his heart felt. He looked around and saw that he was standing in
the middle of a large green field. The sky was a wonderful light blue colour and seemed to stretch
as far as the eye could see. There were small white objects moving in the distance and he moved
towards them, curious to see what they were. ‘Lambs’ thought Harry ‘lambs in a field in the middle
of nowhere. This certainly wasn’t was I was expecting’

“Actually,” said a calm voice from behind him “you’re making this Harry. You cannot see the true
beyond until you have faced death itself. Until then you will see what you want to see. So, even
though you‘re conscious mind did not know it this is in fact what you were expecting,” Harry
whirled around and stood face to face with Professor Dumbledore, his long white beard seemed
luminous and his eyes twinkled brighter than Harry had ever seen.

“Dumbledore!” said Harry, trying to keep the tears from his eyes but unable to do so. His old
headmaster opened his arms and Harry moved into them, feeling safe and…at home. They stood like
that for quite a while, with Dumbledore stroking the top of Harry’s head and muttering
reassurances.

“Wait,” said Harry quickly “Where’s Luna?”

“Miss Lovegood has her own journey to make in the beyond Harry. You shall see her once
everything is taken care of here,” Harry nodded his head and looked around at the scenery again. It
seemed so peaceful here; he could sit on a blanket and look at the sky all day. He looked at the
floor where a patchwork blanket appeared and stared at Dumbledore in amazement.

“Ok,” he said a little unsteadily “I thought of the blanket, but I wasn’t thinking of lambs and
meadows.”

“Maybe not that exactly,” said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling “But you imagined a place where
everything is innocent. Meadows, open skies and children are all symbols of innocence Harry. You
also thought of something holy, some kind of higher power. What else could represent that but the
Lamb? The Lamb of God, some say…” Harry nodded and watched as a group of young children began
walking towards them on the horizon.

“Are they here?” he said quietly, his voice cracking with an emotion he knew he couldn’t
control. He watched Dumbledore’s serene face smiling down upon him as he nodded his head. Fresh
tears began to make their way down Harry’s face. He was finally going to see them; he was finally
going to see his parents.

“Sirius too Harry,” said Dumbledore quietly “he’s been anxiously awaiting your arrival.” Harry
couldn’t seem to form any words, there was a large lump in his throat and he didn’t trust himself
not to cry. He simply nodded his head and began looking around again. The children in the distance
were getting closer and Harry watched them laugh and dance around each other. Dumbledore coughed
lightly and Harry looked up quickly.

“We have much to talk about today Harry, and your time here is very limited indeed. You are
going to learn a truth today that you will not like…but it is imperative that you heed what we say.
Do you understand?” Harry nodded his head quickly, feeling a ball of unease begin to unwind in his
stomach. Dumbledore pointed towards the children and Harry turned around…only to crumple to his
knees. They were not children walking towards him anymore, his mother and father walked towards him
hand in hand. Sirius was right behind them, with a bounce in his step that Harry had never seen
before. With a strength Harry was surprised at, he pushed himself to his feet and began sprinting
towards his parents. He hoped this wasn’t a dream, he hoped they wouldn’t disappear. He hoped this
wasn’t some kind of sick joke; it seemed to good to be true. His mother let go of his fathers’ hand
and began running towards him; he could see tears streaming down her face. His vision began to blur
and he let out a wretched sob that he would never have thought himself capable of. She finally
reached him and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly to her. She fell to her knees and
dragged Harry down with her. Her hands stroked his face, his hair and lightly touched the scar on
his forehead.

“My beautiful boy,” she whispered, kissing his forehead lightly “how I have missed you so…”
Harry wrapped his arms around his mother and cried. He cried for all the time they hadn’t spent
together, he cried for the way she was cruelly taken from the earth. He cried for all the times
they could have shared, and he cried because he thought that this would be the last time he would
see her. The person he had wanted so much as a young boy, the person he had dreamt about so often
was finally in front of him. He stifled his crying and moved his face in front of his mothers,
wiping away her tears softly.

“I’ve missed you mum,” he whispered.

He felt someone sit down next to them and saw a person watching him that looked so much like
himself.

“Harry,” he said, his voice sounding choked “Look at the man you have become,”

He grabbed him and pulled him into a much rougher hug than his mother had, but Harry didn’t
mind. His father cried too, and soon enough all three of them were holding each other and crying.
Tears of sadness as well as tears of joy. Eventually Harry’s mother helped him to his feet and he
linked his arm through hers. She softly smoothed his hair and began to laugh at its stubbornness.
Harry looked at his father and laughed as his father stepped over and ruffled it up even more. He
gave his mum an affectionate kiss on the cheek and smiled, just the simple gesture of smoothing his
hair tenderly and it felt like she had filled a hole within him. He turned around to see Sirius
standing there. Goodness, he’d almost forgot about Sirius…

“Harry!” he said, and started to laugh wildly. Harry grinned and launched himself at his
Godfather, rolling around on the grass laughing as if they had just seen each other the day before
and had always had such a carefree relationship. After some time had passed he stopped laughing and
sat up, looking up at the four people surrounding him who he loved most dearly in the world. All he
needed to complete it would be to have Hermione and Ron here. Then it would be perfect…then it
would be heaven.

The five of them sat on the blanket that Harry had imagined to the meadow and talked. Harry’s
parents knew everything that Harry had done; it gave him such a warm and comforting feeling knowing
that they watched over him. That they cared about him so much that they would use their time in the
beyond to watch over him rather than move on. He had never felt so loved and special. Eventually
Dumbledore sighed as he looked up to the sky.

“The time has come to discuss the true meaning of your journey here Harry,” he said softly “Your
time is running out…”

“Luna wanted me to come here,” said Harry quietly “she said I would know what I needed to do
once I had been here.”

“She’s a wise girl,” said Sirius, and he looked fixedly at the floor. Harry looked at all four
of them, and the ball in his stomach began to unwind once more.

“Yeah,” said Harry quietly “people judge her because she seems odd, but there’s more to Luna
that just her oddities and quirks…you just have to look for it.”

“You have your mothers eyes Harry,” said Dumbledore softly. Harry looked at his mother and
smiled. She truly had the most beautiful eyes. His father looked at her affectionately as she
flushed a light pink shade.

“Yeah,” said Harry quietly “I can see that now,”

“But do you see Harry? Do you really see?” asked Dumbledore, sounding anxious now.

“Erm…” began Harry, but was interrupted with Dumbledore’s soft voice.

“You have the ability to see the good in people no matter what Harry. Sometimes you have let
your pride or anger get in the way, but that is the folly of age. You always do what is right, you
see people for what they are…nothing more or nothing less Harry. You showed the same kind of wisdom
with Severus Snape as your mother did when she was in school. You have her eyes Harry, and don’t
ever forget that.” Harry nodded in understanding, he had an awful feeling of what they were about
to tell him and he really didn’t want to have to face it. He took a deep breath and finally said in
a quiet voice -

“Tell me,”

And so in Harry’s meadow in the beyond, four people told Harry the reason that he was there.
What he had to do to defeat Voldemort and the reasoning behind it. They had to watch as he came to
terms with his love for Hermione which he had been trying to ignore for so long, then cry, as he
had never cried before. They held him as he cried and tried to soothe his pain, knowing that this
would be the hardest thing Harry would ever have to do in his life…

*************************************************************************************

Harry tumbled out of the veil and landed with a painful thud on the floor. He got up shakily to
see Luna sitting there, her face streaked from tears. He moved to her quickly and she threw her
arms around him.

“I’m so sorry Harry,” she said sobbing “My mother told me, there’s a way out…I know there
is!”

“Lets not think about that now,” said Harry his voice muffled from being pressed into her
shoulder “I have to tell Hermione something. We need to go back now…”

“Are you going to tell her…” began Luna was interrupted by Harry

“No…not that,” he said quietly “But I do know now that I love her. I was stupid to think what I
was feeling wasn’t love. Stupid and scared Luna. But now I know, I love her so much and I have to
tell her.”

“I know Harry,” said Luna quietly “You were being rather stupid…” Harry laughed a little and
began to wipe his face, trying to make himself look like he hadn’t cried more in the last few hours
than he had in his entire life.

“What are you going to do Harry?” she asked him worriedly.

“What can I do?” he asked, “Hermione was right. Last night she said that we should ‘just be’ and
not worry about what was in store for us. I can see what she meant now. Life throws too much shit
at you; it’s pointless hiding from it. You may as well let it hit you in the face and have fun at
the same time” Luna began to laugh as they made there way out of the Ministry of Magic and out into
the London street.

“It’s dark outside!” said Luna “Time must be different behind the veil! I hope we’re still on
the same bloody day!”

“We are,” said Harry quickly pointing to a paper shop with the headlines and the date advertised
in large letters. He was walking so fast that Luna was rushing next to him in an attempt to keep
up. He had never felt so sure of anything in his life and he felt wonderfully alive. He loved
Hermione Granger with every ounce of breath in his body, and he was going to let her know whether
she felt the same way or not. Of course, he knew deep down that she felt that way and had just been
waiting for him. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let his fear blind him to his
feelings? Well…there was going to be no more fear, there was going to be no more worry and no more
guilt. Life was too short. He and Luna reached a small darkened alley and stepped inside quickly.
Harry grabbed her by the arm and grinned at her.

“Harry Potter’s words of wisdom!” she said smiling. “Don’t worry about shit on your face!” Harry
grinned at her and began rehearsing what he was going to say to Hermione in his head. She laughed
at his excitement and started singing a muggle song about love in the air, and with a crack they
disapparated to Grimmauld place.

*************************************************************************************



27. Young love
--------------

A/N- Hello again everyone! Sorry it’s taken me a while to update… bloody Christmas and people
needing presents lol. I’ll probably only be able to update once more before Christmas because it’s
so busy, sorry L Anyway thanks again to everyone for reading along and reviewing, I really
appreciate it! Also I know you’re all probably thinking that this story is heading for a tragic
ending, but bare with me and read the whole thing and I promise you won’t be angry with me once
it’s finished! And on that note, on with the story! Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

Harry stepped into the hallway at Grimmauld Place and felt his heart thumping in his chest. The
house was very quiet because everyone had gone to bed. He moved as quickly and quietly up the
stairs as he could and waited outside Hermione’s door with bated breath. Should he go in? He didn’t
want to wake her… He sighed and moved away heading towards his room. Luna stepped up behind him and
gave him a hug before moving into her own room, with a slightly dreamy expression on her face.
Harry opened the door to his room quietly and was greeted with complete darkness. He closed the
door and pulled out his wand then moved to the bedside table and located the candle. He lit a small
fire with his wand and gently lit the candle, watching the flickering shadow move across the wall.
He turned to the side and saw Hermione sitting in his bed in her pyjamas watching him.

His breath caught in his throat as he looked at her. There were so many things he wanted to say
to her and he didn’t know where to start. He couldn’t open his mouth; he just stood staring at
her…taking in her beauty. How could he have been so blind?

“Where have you been?” she whispered. Her voice seemed to echo through his mind and he still
said nothing. He watched the way she chewed on her bottom lip nervously and watched her exquisite
brown eyes staring at him expectantly. He felt a wave of desire crash through him as she nervously
licked her lips. He crouched on the bed and moved a trembling hand to her face, slowly stroking her
soft skin. He moved his hand to her hair, brushing it softly with his hands. His fingers trailed
along her lips and then moved to caress her neck. A sigh of longing escaped her lips and she closed
her eyes as he began to stroke her collarbone, slowly moving his hands lower.

“I went to the veil with Luna,” he whispered, his breath heating the side of her face and making
it tingle with anticipation. Her eyes opened and she turned around to stare at him.

“What happened?” she whispered back, a note of anxiety in her voice.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” he whispered “What matters is what a fool I’ve been,”

“Harry-” she began, but he put his fingers to her lips once more, silencing her with soft
stroking motions.

“I have been Hermione,” he said slowly, staring into her eyes. He could get lost in those eyes
forever. “I can’t even begin to tell you what your friendship has meant to me over the years. I
can’t find the right words to tell you how I feel about you. Everything about you is so perfect,
your smile, your intelligence, your wit and your courage. You make me laugh, and you make me want
to be a better person. You make me crazy because I want you so much, I can’t seem to get you out of
my mind and I didn’t know why. Well I do now Hermione. I’m not afraid anymore…I love you.” He
cupped her face in his hands and began to softly kiss her cheeks and her mouth. He could see tears
slowly falling and he gently kissed those too.

“I love you so much Hermione,” he whispered again, slowly pressing his lips to hers. She kissed
him back slowly, her hands trembling slightly as she ran them through his hair, deepening the kiss.
He felt a hot pressure grip him and he lowered her back onto the bed slowly. He raised his head to
look into her eyes, and smiled. She slowly stroked his hair and his face, looking into his green
eyes. She could have sworn that he was staring into her very soul.

“Show me how much you love me Harry,” she whispered softly

“Are you sure?” he asked quietly.

“I love you Harry,” she said simply “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

They started kissing each other slowly, exploring each other’s mouths. Harry trailed soft kisses
down her collarbone and pushed aside her pyjama shirt to kiss the top of her chest, then nibble
lightly at the exposed skin. Hermione groaned as she felt his light stubble brush against her skin,
causing a fire to be lit deep inside of her. He moved his fingers to the buttons on her shirt and
slowly began to unbutton them, moving the fabric aside to take in the sight of her. He saw her face
get a bit red at Harry’s open gaze and began to move her hands to cover herself.

“Don’t,” he whispered gently “You’re beautiful…” He moved his hand to her breast slowly and
began to stroke it softly, his hands trembling more and his breath leaving him in quick and nervous
gasps. She gasped and raised her back up to meet him as he increased the pressure of his touch. He
slowly lowered his mouth to one of her perfect pink nipples and began to roll it with his tongue
and then tenderly sucked on it. He grazed his stubble along her nipple to catch the other one with
his mouth and Hermione let out a soft moan. He sucked a little harder this time, enjoying the feel
of her pressing herself urgently against him and digging her nails insistently into his back. He
sat up and brought her with him, sitting her on top of him. She kissed him hard and began tugging
urgently at his shirt, her whole body shaking in a nervous anticipation. He pulled it over his head
and groaned as she started to move her hands all over his chest, slowly lowering them to his
trousers. He moved his position so that he was kneeling before her, and she looked directly into
his eyes and she slowly unzipped his trousers and moved her hand to cup him. He hissed at the
sudden touch and had to concentrate on his breathing as she slowly explored this new territory with
her hands, and then watched his reaction timidly as she slipped him into her mouth.

After a minute Harry could stand it no more and gently pulled her head away to kiss her
passionately. He slipped his hands to her pyjama bottoms and slowly slipped them off. She moved off
of the bed to stand on the floor and slowly pushed her underwear down, watching him watching her.
He stood up to meet her and they stood in silence looking at each other’s bodies in the
candlelight. She was so beautiful that he could hardly catch his breath, and he thanked whoever
created man that he could share this moment with her. Harry moved towards her and began to kiss her
once again, he slowly moved his hand to where she was wet and began stroking her softly watching
her reactions in wonder. He then slowly began slipping his finger in and out of her, breathing
deeply at the new experience and hoping he was doing it correctly. She gripped onto him and bit
into his shoulder as he started rubbing her harder, and he smiled at her reaction. She fell back
onto the bed and he glided his hands all over her, wanting to feel every inch of her skin against
his hands. He trailed kisses from her breasts of her stomach, slowly inching his way lower. He
looked up at her to make sure it was ok, but saw that her eyes were closed tightly and her chest
was rising and falling rapidly. He slowly moved his head to between her legs, grazing his stubble
against her tender flesh. She gasped in pleasure and shock. She let her hands rest on top of his
head grabbed hands full of his hair as he continued to tentatively lick her, then started to suck
on the little nub of flesh. She pressed his head into her and felt the fire within her starting to
build at the increased pleasure. Harry followed the movements her hands made on the top of his head
to set the pace and she began to moan louder and louder. She moved her hand to the side and grabbed
his wand to quickly cast a charm around the room…then let the wand fall to the floor as Harry
brought her to a climax that made her entire body explode and shake in the aftermath. She was
breathing heavily and her body was slick with sweat. Harry looked at her with desire clearly shown
in the depth of his eyes. She brought his head up to meet her mouth and kisses him hard, tasting
herself on his tongue. She ran her hands down his chest that was also slicked with sweat. She
kissed him tenderly everywhere that she had been fantasising about for so long, unable to believe
that this was truly happening. She lay down on the bed shakily and opened her arms towards him,
beckoning him to her. He lowered himself down, quivering at the realisation that the time had
finally come. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was, but relaxed slightly when he saw the same
feelings mirrored in Hermione’s eyes.

He positioned himself on top of her and stared into her eyes, unsure of what to do next. She
smiled gently up at him and ran her hands down his back, then snaked them between their two bodies
to guide him to her entrance.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered, trying to hold himself at her entrance and having a
hard time doing so when he could feel her moistness slowly dripping onto him.

“Don’t worry Harry,” she whispered back “I want to be as close to you as I can be. I love you…”
With that she pushed against the base of him and urged him to continue. He slowly kissed her lips
and pushed himself into her bit by bit, trying to be as gentle as he could. She gasped in pain and
closed her eyes tightly. A few tears of pain slowly leaked out of her eyes and she buried her head
into his shoulder. Harry looked down at her concerned, should he stop? Hermione moved her hands to
his bum and grabbed it, swiftly pushing him up the rest of the way into her. He heard her cry of
pain and he felt her buck against him slightly, his head was telling him to stop because it was
hurting her, but his body urged him on. He moved inside of her, his pace quickening. He heard her
gasp as he thrust deeply into her and looked down to see Hermione’s face screwed up in a pained
tension. He put his hands to her eyes and covered them for her. He felt a tightness building within
him and began to breath heavily, pushing himself inside of her faster and faster, he let out a
shaking sigh as the pressure began to climb to an indescribable point. Finally he let out a long
moan and collapsed wearily against her, spilling himself deep inside of her. After a few moments of
laboured breathing he raised himself onto his elbows to look at her, worrying if he had really hurt
her. She seemed to read his thoughts.

“Yes it hurt,” she whispered “But it’s supposed to the first time. Thank you,”

“For what?” asked Harry

“For covering my eyes like that,” she whispered, stroking his back softly “It was the most
gentle thing you could have done Harry.”

“I wasn’t expecting it to hurt you that much,” he said quietly “I thought you’d start enjoying
it after a bit…”

“Harry it was wonderful because it was done with love,” said Hermione softly, kissing his lips
softly.

“Yeah it was. I love you so much Hermione.” said Harry quietly, rolling off of her and moving to
her side. She snuggled into him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as he
dared to without breaking any bones.

“Besides,” she said mischievously “It’s not like we’re only going to do it one time Harry. It’ll
be better now that the first time is over with.” He nodded his head and pulled her tightly to him.
They fell asleep in each other’s arms and dreamt of nothing, both more content than they had ever
been.

*************************************************************************************

Regardless of the pain and nervousness the first time brings to young lovers, the feeling of
being that close to someone you truly love is addicting and lights a fire of longing that warms
your very soul. Their bodies found each other in the middle of the night and early in the morning.
Hermione cried with the intense love she felt and Harry thought he would die from feeling so loved
and loving so unselfishly in return. They lay wrapped in each others arms early in the morning,
watching the sun slowly rise and cast her bright rays into Harry’s bedroom. He softly stroked her
hair and face, while she simply looked into his eyes, wondering why she thought that living had
been so wonderful before she had found Harry’s love.

“You know I suddenly understand all those cheesy lines they write for weddings,” murmured Harry,
softly kissing the tip of her nose

“They’re not cheesy Harry,” said Hermione with a joking look in her eyes

“No they’re not,” said Harry seriously “I have found the one whom my soul loves…” He moved his
head and kissed her softly. She smiled up at him and softly stroked his hair, then ran her finger
across his jaw line.

“Me too,” she whispered, then smiled mischievously before adding “I could hold that cheesy
romantic line against you. Imagine what the boys would say if they knew you would ever say
something like that!”

“You wouldn’t dare…” said Harry jokingly, running his hands to her waist where he began to
squeeze playfully, earning him a girlish screech.

“No I wouldn’t,” she said more seriously “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard
of…”

“You’re just saying that so I won’t tickle you,” said Harry playfully, moving his hands to her
waist again.

“No I’m not. It was a lovely thing to say…please move your hands,” she said pleadingly

“Well…no!” he said, and tickled her mercilessly until she found something to do to him that
would keep him quiet for a while. It was quite a while before either of them got up…

*************************************************************************************

After showering Hermione walked down to the kitchen. She felt so happy she could yell at the top
of her lungs. Harry loved her! He actually loved her! She couldn’t believe what had happened, she
felt as if she was walking on air and had to try hard to stop a stupid grin coming to her face. She
entered the kitchen and saw all everyone sitting at the table about the begin breakfast. She raised
her eyes and looked at Harry across the table. His hair was still damp and she could smell his soap
from here. She began to feel warm again and tried to force those images out of her mind. Mrs
Weasley offered her a cup of tea and she accepted it gratefully. She could see Harry staring at her
and she felt her face start to heat up. Why was he looking at her like that? Was he trying to make
her insane? She had only just had sex with Harry and she was surprised at how much she wanted to do
it again. It was a good thing she loved Harry, because if it had been any other guy then she would
have hexed him into the next century for causing her that amount of pain last night. But this
morning had been a pleasant surprise and she was looking forward to, erm, experimenting more…

“Morning Hermione,” said Luna with a large smile on her face “How are you?” Hermione smiled back
at Luna, a very big smile that showed all of her teeth and made her eyes light up.

“Wonderful!” she said happily “How are you?”

“Never better,” said Luna with a gleam in her eyes. Hermione giggled a little then began to help
herself to the sausages and eggs in front of her. Who would have thought she could have such an
appetite?

Ron stared angrily at the exchange between Luna and Hermione and ate his breakfast quickly. He
didn’t look at any of them as he walked out of the room and stomped loudly up the stairs before
shutting his door with a bang…this was starting to become a regular thing at Grimmauld Place so
they didn’t react with too much shock. Mrs Weasley rolled her eyes and removed her apron
swiftly.

“Well,” she said quickly “Remus and I have some business to attend to this morning so I hope
you’ll be ok if I go out for a while,”

“We’ll be fine mum,” said Ginny darkly, eyeing Hermione’s happiness with obvious distaste.

“Ok, I’ll be back soon. Be good, and for goodness sakes don’t go into the drawing room!
Something else has decided to live in there and we don’t know what it is yet.” They all nodded
their heads in agreement, and fifteen minutes later they were practically pushing her into Lupin’s
arms so that she would leave.

*************************************************************************************

Harry walked slowly up the stairs towards Ron’s room. He knew he had to talk to him, but he
didn’t feel the kind of desperation he had before. Ron was his best friend, and he didn’t want to
lose him. But he loved Hermione, and if it came down to it then he would choose her over him.
Whether or not that made him a bad friend he didn’t know, but he didn’t want to be punished for
something that made him feel so wonderful. He knocked on the door and waited for Ron’s surly call
of -

“Come in,”

He opened the door quietly and let himself in, closing the door afterwards. Ron looked at him
angrily then moved his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Harry summoned a chair from the end of the
room and sat next to Ron’s bed.

“What do you want?” asked Ron angrily

“I want to explain Ron,” said Harry quietly, not taking his eyes off of Ron.

“I think I already know everything Harry,” he said waspishly

“No you don’t” said Harry sadly

“Get on with it,” said Ron snapping, “I don’t have all day to listen to your pathetic
excuses,”

“I should have told you when I knew I wanted to be with Hermione. I should have told you that we
had started seeing each other, and for that I apologise.” said Harry quietly.

“But you’re not saying sorry for stealing Hermione from me?” said Ron angrily

“She was never yours to steal,” said Harry simply “You weren’t together. She wanted me and I
wanted her. I’m sorry that you’re feelings got hurt.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you’re really sorry,” said Ron sarcastically.

“Don’t be a wanker Ron,” said Harry sighing “You know I wouldn’t say I was sorry if I didn’t
mean it. You also know that if you didn’t mean anything to me then I wouldn’t be here trying to
work this out. You’re my best mate Ron; I don’t want us to not be friends. Life isn’t the same
without you by my side…”

“Like you need someone like me Harry,” said Ron sadly “You’re the famous Harry Potter, here to
save us all. What do you need with a great gangling git like me?”

“Ron you’ve helped me with everything I’ve ever had to do. I don’t even want to think of how my
life would have been if I hadn’t met you. If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it to
yourself,” said Harry urgently. Ron eyed him with a mixture of anger and suspicion, and then
reluctantly nodded his head.

“Luna and I went to the ministry yesterday,” he said quietly “we went back to the room with the
veil…” Ron’s raised his eyebrows in surprise and leaned closer to Harry, momentarily forgetting his
anger.

“What was there?” asked Ron in a voice of awe

“I saw my parents, and Sirius…and Dumbledore.” said Harry quietly

“Wow,” said Ron “What did they say?” Harry told them briefly of their reunion and then, with his
heart breaking, what Dumbledore had said afterwards. Ron got up off of his bed and started pacing
up and down the room, with tears visible in his eyes.

“You have to tell Hermione,” said Ron eventually

“No,” said Harry firmly

“Harry, she’s got a right to know…” said Ron, the tears now coming fast down his face.

“I love her Ron. She doesn’t need to know this. Lets just make the next few months pleasant for
her, ok?” said Harry again, but a little gentler this time, trying not to let his voice become
choked. His poor Hermione, his poor beautiful Hermione. Ron nodded his head and sat back down on
his bed heavily.

“Ron,” said Harry quickly “I know we’re blokes and we don’t normally say stuff like this. But
you’re like a brother to me. I honestly don’t know how I would have made it without you and I don’t
think I could if I had to be without you now. I fell in love with Hermione, it wasn’t anything I
could control and I would never do anything to hurt you if I could have helped it. You can’t
control love Ron, I know that now.”

“You are my brother Harry,” said Ron quietly, wiping tears from his face “I’m not saying that I
can suddenly forget everything that happened and that we’ll be back to normal because we probably
won’t for a while. But you’re my best mate. Nothing is ever going to change that Harry,”

“Love you too Ron,” said Harry grinning, which earned him a pillow in the face. Ron laughed
slightly and then sat down on the bed, looking at the floor.

“I wish you’d never gone behind that bloody veil…nothing like some bad news to make friends
stronger eh? ”

“It’s the way it has to be…and my heart is broken over it. But one thing I learnt today is that
love goes on Ron, it never ever dies.” said Harry simply. Ron looked up at Harry and moved towards
him. He threw his arms around him and held him tightly…

*************************************************************************************



28. Getting to know Luna
------------------------

A/N- Well here’s the last update before Christmas! Some of you may consider this chapter to be a
filler, but I really needed it because it sets the scene for the next four or five chapters and you
really do need to find out more about Luna otherwise the penultimate paragraph will look really
strange! Thanks again to everyone for reading along and reviewing! Thanks to my younger sister
Loobs (Happy Christmas!) and to Mulder who has kindly read all of my random emails about this story
and helped me get all of my jumbled thoughts in order! Happy Christmas to all of you!! Happy
reading J

**Islanzadi** J

Harry and Ron walked slowly down the stairs, making their way to the living room. The
conversation was rather shy and stilted, both of them happier to be on speaking terms than they
would like to admit. Ron was holding his chess set and his deck of exploding snap, looking forward
to playing with Harry again. They reached the living room to find Hermione, Susan and Luna all in
the corner talking in very hushed tones. Hermione stopped still at the sight of Ron and Harry
together. He stopped and stared at her, then turned to see that Harry’s face had gone very red.
Obviously the girls had been talking about Harry, and Ron wasn’t stupid enough to not understand
what was going on. He felt a stab of jealousy and anger grip him, then forced it to the back of his
mind. He kept repeating the same thing over and over in his head ‘You’re only jealous because you
want to be in love. It has nothing to do with Harry or Hermione. Just don’t think about it, just
don’t think about it…’ He felt the anger slowly start to ebb away and he gave them all a strained
grin and sat down. Harry moved out of the living room to get them all some butterbeer while
Hermione and Susan sat down on one of the couches. He sat on the floor and tapped the pack of cards
with his wand to start them shuffling. Luna walked over to his and crouched down to where he was
sitting.

“That was wonderful Ronald,” she said affectionately “It will get easier with time. I’m so proud
of you for talking to Harry,”

“How couldn’t I after what he told me happened yesterday?” said Ron, staring at the floor. Luna
lowered herself the rest of the way onto the floor and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Things like that make you realise what’s important and what isn’t,” she said serenely “you
three have always had a friendship I have rather envied you know. Nothing that can happen will
destroy that so long as you love each other and want to remain friends. Love is the key Ronald, to
this whole sticky and unpleasant mess. Love is the key.” He looked up and smiled at her shakily,
then put his arm around her to hold her close to him, grateful that she still wanted to be with him
after he had behaved like such a …well, tosser to put it mildly. He heard a sniff that wasn’t Luna
and looked up to see Hermione watching him with watery eyes. He gave her a half smile, which
resulted in her launching herself at him and wrapping her arms so tightly around him that he could
barely breath.

“Oh Ron!” she said, burying her face into his shoulder “I do love you so very much. I’m sorry I
couldn’t be in love with you…”

“Erm,” he said quietly “you can’t help who you want to be with I, suppose. I love you too
Hermione. Not in the shagging way either. I love you and Harry, I just want to get on with what we
need to do and then…live our lives,” Ron looked at the floor at these words and swallowed a large
lump in his throat.

“What’s wrong Ron?” asked Hermione, noticing the sudden nervousness in his voice. She knew Ron
and Harry like the back of her hand…he was hiding something from her. She debated trying to get it
out of him, but decided that now wouldn’t be the time. She was just glad to have her best friend
back. Besides, he would tell her eventually, whether he really wanted to or not. He couldn’t keep
secrets from her…she hoped.

“Nothing,” said Ron quietly “just do me a favour will you… no mushy stuff in front of me? I’m
not quite ready for that yet. Give me some time…” Hermione smiled and held Ron tightly to her once
again; scolding herself inwardly at the emotional wreck she had been the last few weeks.

*************************************************************************************

All five of them spent the rest of the afternoon eating snacks, drinking butterbeer and playing
various games. Ron was winning, which he rubbed in everyone’s faces …about every ten minutes.
Eventually Mrs Weasley came home, who was then followed by Mr Weasley about half an hour later.
Fred and George showed up just before Mrs Weasley had finished dinner and proceeded to tell them of
the various pranks they had been playing on innocent people. Just as Mrs. Weasley’s call of -

“Tea time!” echoed throughout the house, Harry noticed a silvery spider dash across the room and
into the kitchen. He looked at the others and noticed that they were looking just as curious as he
was, except from Ron who looked rather revolted. Harry stood up and held Hermione’s hand to help
her to her feet. He knew that she didn’t need it, but he felt the need to do it anyway. She went a
bit pink in the face at his touch and mumbled something Harry couldn’t quite make out. He grinned
at her and steered her in the direction of the kitchen.

No sooner had they stepped foot into the kitchen when the sound of many witches and wizards
arriving filled the house.

“Who called a meeting?” asked Harry worriedly

“Severus,” said Mrs Weasley

“Would have known his patronus would be something disgusting like a spider,” mumbled Ron, which
earned him a reproving look from his mother. They waited for the Order members to cram themselves
into the kitchen, and for Snape to make his way to the front of the crowd. He coughed in a rough
and expectant sort of way and finally a hush fell across the group.

“I called this meeting for quite a few reasons,” he started in a silky tone that was direct and
clipped “The first is that the criminals that broke out of Azkaban have joined the Dark Lord. As we
speak the ones that were not death eaters are being made so. The second is that Rubeus and Maxime
only managed to turn a third of the known giant population to our side, the rest of them are also
joining his side. Another thing you ought to know is that the he has managed gain control over
several different beasts for the final battle. Unfortunately for you he has gained control over
some dragons, which I’m sure Charles will be able to tell you about in more detail than I am able
to,” This news was met with utter outrage and fear.

“Dragons!” exclaimed McGonagall, sitting herself on a chair that someone else managed to conjure
for her just in time “How on earth would he be able to control those kind of beasts! They don’t
obey anyone! Really Severus, you cannot be serious!”

“I am more than serious Minerva,” said Snape, his eyes glittering. “It seems he wants quite a
showdown, to prove once and for all that he is the most powerful wizard that has ever existed,”

“This is ridiculous!” said Mrs Weasley in a faint voice “So we’re going to have to go through
all of those creatures to get to him. That doesn’t sound like he’s the most powerful wizard to
me,”

“Certainly not,” said Kingsley “Sounds like the cowards way out. Hope for everyone to die so
that he can face a seventeen-year-old boy by himself?! Complete coward, that’s what he is!”

“He is not a coward,” said Snape with a hint of fear in his voice that Harry was sure no one
else seemed to detect “He wants to make sure you are all obliterated is the cruellest ways
imaginable.”

“What about the Goblins?” asked Lupin quietly “have they made their decision yet?”

“They are still fighting amongst themselves,” said Snape scathingly “I imagine they too will be
divided. The Dark Lord has plans to make them see his way… When I can divulge that information to
you I shall.”

There was a crack in the hallway and the door opened to admit Neville, his face flushed from
hurrying to the meeting.

“Now that everyone is here,” said Snape staring at Neville with his cold dark eyes. Harry looked
at Neville, and was surprised to see him meeting Snape’s gaze without a hint of fear in his eyes.
“I can tell you the main reason for the meeting,”

“Yeah,” said Fred “I was kind of hoping you’d get to that…”

“You talking about dragons and giants was really starting to bore us,” continued George. Mrs
Weasley gave them her famous look, but was unable to repress a grin at her two comical sons.

“Quite,” said Snape angrily “What I am going to tell you is a secret that has only been
entrusted to the Dark Lord’s death eaters. I put my life in your hands as I tell you this so I ask
you to be discreet with this information,” He looked around the room with superiority written
across his face because he thought he had knowledge that they did not.

“If you kill the Dark Lord now, he will not die…” whispered Snape rather dramatically “He will
come back and we shall start this battle over and over again. He has done something that you would
not imagine…”

“Yeah we know,” said Ron loudly. Snape looked up at him quickly and curled his lip.

“Oh you know do you?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm

“Yeah actually,” said Ron, then looked at Harry with desperation. He really wanted to put Snape
in his place. Harry gave him a nod and Ron grinned from ear to ear. “You’re talking about the
Horcruxes right?” Snape’s eyes narrowed and there was a collective gasp around the room.

“How many have you managed to destroy?” asked Snape, his cold gaze resting on Harry.

“Only one left,” said Harry quietly.

“I see, ” said Snape.

“Come to my house tomorrow at four, it seems we have more to discuss that I thought. The Dark
Lord hasn’t been able to feel the destruction of the Horcruxes. That is an advantage to us…”
continued Snape, but was interrupted by Harry’s quiet voice that seemed to have a commanding
quality to it.

“Don’t call him the Dark Lord, or Voldemort or even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. These are all
names that have been made by him. They make us fear him or worship him, and he deserves no such
thing. His name is Tom Riddle, regardless of what he says or tries to make others believe. He is
just a wizard whose mother died, he’s just a wizard who went further into the Dark Arts than any of
us could imagine. He is just a wizard called Tom. Just Tom…” Snape seemed to gain a little colour
in his cheeks before he said sharply -

“Until tomorrow Potter. Spinners End, I’m sure you’ll be able to find the way…” then with a
crack he was gone. The room was silent for a moment until Lupin said very calmly -

“Just Tom…that’s very true Harry. I think it’s about time everyone started thinking that way,
maybe a call to the *Daily Prophet* is in order?”

“Do you think that’s wise?” asked McGonagall “can you imagine the recourse if such a statement
is published?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” said Mrs Weasley firmly “it’s time that everyone faces their fears.
We need all the help we can get and the more witches and wizards on our side the better chance
we’ll stand when we have to fight him,”

“That’s right dear,” said Mr Weasley affectionately “there’s a time to flee and there’s a time
to stand up and fight. It’s time that everyone stands up and fights against this evil…they have
lived in fear for too long.” Harry smiled at the strength of the group and felt a new hope fill
him. Together they could do it, united they wouldn’t fall and Tom Riddle would meet his demise. He
looked over to Hermione and saw that she had her mouth slightly open and had an anxious look on her
face. He smiled tenderly at her and remembered all the times he had seen her look like that in
class. He supposed she was quite out of her element because she wasn’t able to put up her hand and
he almost laughed at the thought of it.

“Did you have something to say Hermione?” asked Harry rather loudly to get the attention of the
rest of the room, which had become rather noisy with the angry discussion of dragons and
giants.

“Yes,” said Hermione, her eyes twinkling slightly at Harry and a pink flush slowly creeping to
her face “I think that we need to get help from everywhere. There are wizards and witches all over
the world, and we have quite a good relationship with Durmstrang and Beauxbatons after the
Triwizard tournament. Surely we can get some of them to join us…I doubt that all of the Order is
going to be able to fight all of the death eaters, dragons, giants and goodness knows what else
Voldemort has up his sleeve…”

“I’m not sure that pupils should be fighting Miss Granger, but I shall contact both of the
schools and see if there are trustworthy candidates to join our cause,” said McGonagall

“We’re young,” said Neville, a touch of nervousness creeping into his voice “and we can fight.
There are probably loads of others that want to fight and can do it. We shouldn’t make them do
anything, but the option should be open to anyone that wants to help that are of age.”

“I agree,” said Harry. Everyone trained his or her eyes on him, and Hermione smiled to herself.
She wondered if Harry noticed that he had fallen into a leadership role. No one would disagree with
him, and though they wouldn’t come right out and say it they trusted his judgement and would
willingly place their lives in his hands. She remembered what Harry had told her when he had been
looking for a Horcrux with Dumbledore. He had told her that Dumbledore had said that he wasn’t
worried because he was with Harry…it seemed that everyone had begun to feel that way. Remarkable
for a seventeen-year-old boy. ‘He’s not a boy anymore,’ she thought quietly ‘he’s a man. I don’t
know when it happened…he’s grown up so much…’ She was lost in thought for a while and was oblivious
to the grin that Harry was giving her. The meeting wrapped up quickly after that. Lupin and Mad Eye
were going to visit Charlie so that they could figure out a way out of the dragon problem.
McGonagall was going to contact international witches and wizards for help, and Mrs Weasley was
contacting the *Daily Prophet*. Neville went back to his grandmothers to pack, deciding to
stay with everyone at Grimmauld place for Christmas so that he could help the Order. Harry, Ron,
Luna, Susan and Hermione made their way back to the living room after eating and made themselves
comfortable in front of the fire to discuss the visit to Spinners end.

“We’re coming with you,” said Ron firmly “I still don’t trust that greasy git…”

“I think it’s a good idea if you all come anyway,” said Harry “I think he wants to talk about
Nagini, maybe he can find a way for us to get to her when Tom isn’t around. We need to get rid of
her quickly, I have a feeling I’m going to have to face him soon…”

They went silent after that, each lost in their own thoughts. Hermione felt like her world was
crashing down upon her. Of course she knew that Harry had to face Voldemort, she knew that he would
have to kill him or be killed. But suddenly the possibility of him dying hit her harder than it had
before and she had to close her eyes tightly to stop sudden tears. Before she had fallen in love
with Harry she had been worried to death because she might lose her best friend. Now she knew that
she would lose the only thing that made her feel truly complete, the man she loved. She swallowed a
lump in her throat knowing that Ron and Harry didn’t need to see her weakness. Weakness wasn’t
going to help the situation, and she didn’t want them worrying about her unnecessarily. Luna’s
voice broke the silence-

“Well Christmas will be here shortly and we should really do some shopping. I know we can’t go
to Diagon Alley but we can go to muggle London. It might be rather fun…”

“You want to go shopping? Now?” asked Ron incredulously

“Why not?” asked Susan “what else do we have to do today other than sit here and worry?” So they
waited for Neville to arrive and the owls to return from Gringotts with their newly exchanged money
and set off for London. Hermione had to force Luna into some of her muggle clothes, but she
insisted on wearing this bright yellow floaty shirt with a sunflower on it. Hermione’s aunt had
bought it for her, and it had been shoved into the bottom of her trunk ever since. Harry quietly
tried to point out that it was winter but Luna wouldn’t hear a word about it. So the six of them
walked to the nearest underground and caught the tube to Regent’s street so that they could show
Ron the toyshop. They walked along the pavement, Neville and Ron pointing at almost everything
around them and laughing at the madness of the muggles. It was then that Ron heard a strange
tinkling noise and looked around to see what it was. Upon finding nothing he carried on chatting to
Neville, this time the subject of some mad old lady’s hat. Ron was just about to say something
rather funny when he heard the strange tinkling noise again. He decided that he was obviously going
crazy and tried to ignore it. After about six more times and plenty of strange looks for other
Christmas shoppers as he repeatedly scanned the crowd and the floor he decided to stop and search
properly. It was too much of a coincidence that the tinkling noise was following them. As he
abruptly came to a halt in the middle of the packed London street he felt a thump in his back where
Harry had walked into him, and another thump where Susan had walked into Harry.

“What are you stopping for?” asked Harry, dusting his clothes off.

“You know that’s the worst thing you can do in London during the shopping season, it’s almost
like dominoes...Once one goes down everyone else does,” said Hermione lightly

“I just want to know what that bloody noise is,” said Ron irritably “I thought I heard it when
we first got here but then thought I was imagining it. But now I know I’m not…”

“What noise?” asked Susan, finally getting to her feet and participating in the conversation

“That weird tinkling noise, it’s following us!” said Ron, looking around again as if expecting
an attack.

“Oh Ronald,” piped up Luna. Ron didn’t have to look far to spot her in that bright yellow top.
“That was just me! It’s not anything bad don’t worry. Let’s get moving everyone it’s much colder
when you stand still…” Everyone said mumbled words of agreement and continued to walk. Ron was
still rather curious and fell in step with Luna, looking at her suspiciously.

“What was making that noise?” Ron asked after a while. Luna smiled dreamily and reached into her
pocket. She pulled out a twenty pence piece and flipped it into the air. Ron watched as it spun
brightly then landed on the pavement with a high-pitched tinkle.

“What’re you throwing money on the floor for?” asked Ron, his eyes now so large they could give
Luna’s a run for their money.

“Why shouldn’t I?” asked Luna, as if this was the strangest question in the world.

“Well…because it’s money Luna!” said Ron, looking at her as if she had just sprouted another
head. She laughed merrily and moved very close to him so that she could whisper in his ear.

“Do you remember how happy you were as a child when you found money on the floor? That one coin
could enable you to buy something you really wanted, or maybe just a little treat. I would get so
excited when I would find them and I saved them all in a large jar and bought a gift for my
father,”

“So you chuck coins around so that kids can find them?” asked Ron

“Precisely! I hope that whoever finds a coin is as happy to get them as I was,” said Luna,
grabbing another coin and flipping it high into the air. This time when the coin hit the floor and
made the tinkling sound Ron smiled and wished that one day he could think as unselfishly as the
girl walking next to him.

They soon came to the window with the teddy bears displayed in a Christmas scene. Hermione
quickly caught Harry’s hand and kissed it lightly.

“What was that for?” he said quietly

“For getting me that bear. It was a lovely thing to do…I would never buy something like that for
myself,” replied Hermione. Harry squeezed her hand and held it tighter when she tried to move it
back to her side.

“What are you doing?” he asked

“We shouldn’t hold hands in front of Ron!” she hissed, “he’s not ready for that yet,”

“I don’t care! I’m holding your hand. He already knows I love you so why bother trying to tiptoe
around it?” said Harry in a very matter of fact tone

“You told him you love me?” asked Hermione, her eyes shining with happiness.

“Of course I did,” replied Harry stopping outside the long window “I love you, and my best
friend ought to know that. I’m not ashamed Hermione of the way I feel about you and I’m not scared
either,”

“Oh Harry,” she said sweetly and bounced onto the tips of her toes so that she could kiss him
quickly. He grinned and kissed her softly on the lips, before urging her forward to their group of
friends waiting for them by the door to the shop…Ron was deliberately feigning interest in the
crowd of shoppers but didn’t look too angry. Hermione’s brows knitted together in thought. Surely
Ron wouldn’t be able to understand her and Harry’s relationship that quickly? Surely he would still
be furious with them? What did Harry say to him that made Ron change his opinion so quickly? The
seed of suspicion that had been planted when Ron acted so strangely with Hermione earlier grew a
little more. She had to find out what was going on with her friends…

They walked around the shop amicably, buying trinkets here and there for people in the Order and
family members. It was at this point that Ron was slammed into a display of toy cars by a rather
flustered woman, who acted as though she didn’t noticed the tall red head and speedily on her way.
The cars were knocked everywhere and Hermione had to use her wand discreetly so that people
wouldn’t fall over.

“Bloody hell!” said Ron angrily “that’s the second time today I’ve been whacked into…”

“Well to be fair Ron,” said Hermione smiling “the first one was your fault…” Ron glared
playfully at Hermione then began to gather up the toy cars with the help of everyone else. After
they had finished they made their way to a teashop so that they could relax and discuss where they
wanted to go to next. It was over this hot cup of tea that Luna interrupted the conversation they
were having about Trafalgar Square with a sigh. Ron looked up and was alarmed to see that she had
tears in her eyes. He nudged Harry quickly who then looked equally as alarmed. Hermione rolled her
eyes at the pair and put a comforting hand on Luna’s shoulder.

“Are you ok?” she asked, mentally kicking herself because she absolutely hated it when people
asked her that when it was pretty bloody obvious that she wasn’t. Luna laughed as if reading
Hermione’s thoughts then wiped her nose with the tissue that Ron practically threw at her.

“I just keep thinking about that poor woman who knocked Ron over,” she said unhappily. Ron
stared at her dumbfounded.

“That poor woman who sent me flying and didn’t say sorry? That’s the one right? Yeah I can see
why you’d feel sorry for her…” said Ron sarcastically

“She was just so sad,” said Luna, tears starting to fall “I could feel it. Couldn’t any of you?
She was hurting so much. And there was so much bitterness…how could someone stand living being that
unhappy?” Everyone was silent after she had finished speaking, Harry was studying the table looking
deep in thought. Everyone looked perplexed except Hermione, who seemed to be torn between complete
disbelief and trying to be a friend. Eventually she broke the silence-

“So…you’re saying that you could tell what that lady in Hamleys was thinking?” asked Hermione,
desperately trying to keep the scepticism out of her voice.

“Not thinking exactly,” said Luna quietly “But I could read her, I could tell what made her
happy and what made her sad…I could see things that have happened to her to make her the way she
is,”

“Yeah but that’s magic,” said Ron “That’s sort of what we do…you know, the whole witch and
wizard thing.”

“No this is different, I’m different…” said Luna, staring into her teacup. At those words Harry
stood up and went to her, pulling her into a rough hug.

“How long have you been able to do this?” he asked quietly

“Ever since mother died it’s been more obvious. But I’ve always been different Harry, I‘ve
always been able to see what others cannot.” she whispered. Harry nodded in understanding.

“Let’s talk about this later when we can make sure there aren’t extra ears around that shouldn’t
be hearing this. Cheer up for now though. You can’t solve everyone’s problems,”

“I still feel awful,” said Luna quietly. It was at this point that Ron said something that
surprised all of them.

“Well…once we’re done with our shopping how about you and me try to find her? That way you won’t
feel bad and you can, erm…stop crying?” Harry and Hermione laughed a little as Luna flung herself
at a very red faced Ron, startling a lot of the other customers. After paying for their tea they
left to explore Piccadilly Circus, one of Hermione’s favourite areas of London where they had a
very hard time convincing her that she shouldn’t spend half of her money on an exquisite beaded
purse and a very rare book. After a while Harry dragged her away with the promise that he would
feed the pigeons in Trafalgar Square with her if only she stepped away from the book… After they
had finished shopping and feeding the pigeons they decided to head back to Grimmauld Place. Luna
and Ron handed their bags to the rest of the group and set off on a mission to find the grumpy
woman from Hamleys. It was very late before they got home and Ron still couldn’t sleep after the
evening’s events. He quietly knocked on Harry’s door and let himself in.

Harry and Neville were sharing a room, much to Harry’s disappointment. He hoped that Neville
would fall asleep so that he could sneak into Hermione’s room…but he apparently had a lot to talk
about. They had discussed different spells that they had both been practicing and everything that
had been happening in each other’s personal lives since the last time they had spoken. When Ron let
himself into his room part of him was glad, it had been so long since he had been able to be with
them and sharing a room was almost like old times. Another part wanted to groan loudly and beat
them both with pillows so that they would go into Ron’s room.

“How was it?” asked Neville “Did you find her?”

“Yeah,” said Ron, not looking nearly as tired as Harry had been expecting “It took ages though
and she wouldn’t listen to a word that Luna had to say. Right rude cow that one,”

“Poor Luna,” said Harry “she just wanted to help. Funny how she always seemed so weird and
now…”

“It’s like she’s always been a few steps ahead of us,” finished Ron sounding awed and a little
frightened. “When that woman wouldn’t hear her out we followed her home. She pulled out this
coloured card from her bag and wrote a message to the woman on it and left in on her doorstep. She
didn’t sign it or anything, and when I asked her why she said who it was from wasn’t important. It
was what had to be learnt from it that was…”

“She’s always been really strange,” said Neville looking rather confused “it’s like she’s from a
different planet or something. I don’t get her…”

“You will,” said Harry quietly.

They talked long into the night and eventually all three of them fell asleep. Hermione crept
quietly into the room in the early hours of the morning and made sure they were all covered with
blankets. She kissed Harry softly on the forehead before making her way back to her bedroom with a
smile on her face. No matter how much of a man he acted during the day, he looked like an angel
when he slept. She lay on her bed and snuggled deeper into her blankets, contemplating when she
would be able to confront Harry and what exactly he told Ron. She knew it had something to do with
that bloody veil, and she still couldn’t believe that Harry had actually gone through it! If she
would have known that Luna was serious when she wanted to go back there she would have tied Harry
up in her room and refused to let him out until he promised he would have nothing to do with such
ridiculous ideas. But she couldn’t deny that it was curious…they managed to get through and *get
back* unharmed. But something happened to make Harry suddenly realise his feelings, something
happened to make Ron accept her and Harry’s relationship. Something happened behind that veil, and
she was determined to find out what it was…

*************************************************************************************



29. Gringotts
-------------

A/N- Thanks again to everyone for reading along and reviewing! I realise that the scene with the
Goblins is entirely in English, but I didn’t really fancy typing out the entire thing in
Gobbledegook and then translating it! That’s about all I have so say, for those of you who
celebrate Christmas I hope you had a lovely one! Anyway enough of the babbling and on with the
story. Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

The sound of hundreds of hurried footsteps echoed noisily on a stone pathway leading into a vast
chamber. Small shadows could be seen desperately hurrying across the cold stone walls lit only with
fiery torches. There was mayhem as the goblins gathered into the room as quickly as they could,
waiting for a meeting that would change their lives forever and put them in the history books for
rebelling against the wizards once again. The goblin Elder and his Second sat on ornate chairs at
the front of the gathering on a stone platform the was raised a few metres into the air. This was
partly so they could see the crowd better and partly to show their status in the goblin society.
Ten goblins moved to the huge doors at the entrance of the chamber and divided their force to heave
them closed. Once that was completed they joined the back of the crowd, eagerly anticipating the
decision of the Elder and the heads of the clans. A silence fell across the room and the Elder and
his Second stood up to address the assembly.

“The time has come,” said the Elder commandingly “to make a choice. The Lord of the Dark wishes
us to join him in his fight. We must make this decision swiftly. Tell me, oh Twelve, what are your
thoughts?” Twelve Goblins were seated on the side of the room and all of them wore a large golden
ring. Each ring had a different symbol on it to signify the clan they were in charge of. The first
stood up, Ragnok, and walked to the front of the room to address the Elder and the mass of goblins
waiting with bated breath.

“We have been oppressed for centuries!” he said loudly and angrily to the room “we have been
forced to work for wizards so that they control us! Our clan says no more! We shall not lie down
and do their bidding! The Lord of the Dark offers us freedom to do as we will! He shall break the
cycle of suppression and we shall be free! We are joining the Lord of the Dark!” He turned to face
the Elder and bowed his head then returned quickly to the bench. A smaller Goblin stood up and
scurried to the front, trying to not listen to the angry cheering coming from Ragnok’s clan.

“Elfriar,” said the Elder gravely “what has your clan to say?”

“We believe that we ought not to be oppressed, we believe that we ought to have the right to
freedom. But we also do not wish to disgrace our ancestors, and by joining HIM we shall be doing
just that. There is no excuse for senseless bloodshed and pain. There is violence enough in our
bloodline without trying to add to it. I say make peace; I say fight the Lord of the Dark if we
have to. I say that we save ourselves and the innocent, then we can earn our freedom.” There were
cheers of agreement from one corner of the room, loud and angry cries from the middle and a strange
quietness from the front. A goblin statue by the heavy doors glowed a brilliant blue, which
prompted an anxious movement in the crowd. Gringotts had invaders and the goblins time had run out.
The Elder moved slowly down the stone steps and stood in front of the crowd. He spoke quietly and
urgently -

“Tradition says that we must listen to all of your responses. But I fear our time has run out.
The Lord of the Dark is upon us and we are to be divided. Do as you will! But I shall not cower to
anyone, evil or good! I shall not shame my ancestors by becoming a tool in a war of pitiful humans!
Whatever path you must take, remember the face of your ancestors and never forget where you came
from. Those who wish to fight with me come to me and stand true! Those who have no opinion leave
now for you are in grave peril. Those who are against me…I suggest you join your Lord and fight
me.” The hall was suddenly filled with scuffling sounds and angry cries. The Elder watched his
Second look at him with probing eyes before joining Ragnok and the other clans who wished to
support the Dark Lord. Elfriar joined the Elder and watched as a quarter of the hall rushed out of
the doors, wanting to avoid any confrontation.

“They shall die out there,” said the sudden voice of Griphook. Elfriar turned around to stare at
the Goblin he had not expected to join their side.

“Why do you say that?” asked Elfriar

“They’re everywhere out there. He has powers they do not dream of, they shall not escape.” said
Griphook grimly. The sound of screaming filled the chamber and Elfriar winced inwardly. Time to
fight or go down trying. For the face of his ancestors he drew his weapon and stood facing the
enemy with honour.

*************************************************************************************

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Susan, Luna and Neville walked through the old and claustrophobic streets
lined with brick houses trying to find Spinner’s End.

“They all look the same,” moaned Ron

“Nonsense,” said Hermione “we just took a wrong turn at the last street. Look it’s all laid out
in perfectly logical rows. Just follow me, there are only two streets we haven’t been down yet so
we’ll be there soon.” Ron nodded and looked around, having a strange feeling that someone was
watching him. He looked to the side and saw that Luna was looking at him, but that wasn’t what was
giving him the sudden chills.

“We should walk a little faster,” said Luna dreamily “I have a feeling that we wont be alone
with professor Snape for long. We need all the time we can get…” Hermione rolled her eyes and
walked a little faster, smirking at Harry as she passed him. He grinned at her playful racing and
walked a little faster himself, making Hermione’s eyes narrow as she tried to keep up.

“What do you mean?” asked Neville worriedly

“Not to worry now,” said Luna brightly “just keep walking” They followed Hermione through a
narrow alleyway that led into another row of dejected looking buildings. She stopped and chewed
absently on her bottom lip, seeming to count with her eyes. She nodded her head right and grabbed
Harry’s hand, quickly pulling him in the direction she decided they should go in. After only a
couple more minutes of walking they finally found a little street with an old looking sign that
read ‘Spinner’s End’. Hermione smiled triumphantly. Harry gave her a little smile and squeezed her
hand before taking a quick look around. Something didn’t feel quite right about the place…He waited
for a moment longer before heading up the street and finally stopped outside the house on the very
end.

“I hate him,” said Ron when he reached Harry “he could have let us Floo. He could have taken
down the wards he put up around this place so we could apparate…but no! We had to apparate a few
miles away and walk all this way to hear what this greasy git has to say!” The front door was
opened suddenly and Ron stared up at Snape not quite knowing what to say.

“Surely even someone as unintelligent as you should know I have wards around my home to let me
know when someone approaches. Either that or you were insulting me so that I would hear? I suggest
you stop complaining about having to exercise and step inside. Unless you would rather stay on the
doorstep and not hear what I have to say. In which case, you will meet your end very quickly…not
that it would be too much of a tragedy to the wizarding world.” Ron glared at him and waited for
Harry and Hermione to step over the threshold before joining them. They walked into the tiny
sitting room and Harry grinned as Hermione tried to discreetly look at the books lining the wall.
He caught Snape looking at the two of them with pure loathing but Harry simply smiled. It was sad
that losing someone he loved had made him so bitter, but Harry wasn’t going to pretend his feelings
didn’t exist anymore. He felt wonderfully exhilarated by these incredibly new feelings and he
wasn’t going to let Snape or anyone else get in his way. A small voice in the back of his head
began warning him. *He wasn’t being totally honest with Hermione*, *he was putting her in
danger. Regardless of his change of heart towards Ginny he had broken up with her for a very valid
reason, only to put Hermione in the same kind of danger*. He thrust these thoughts away and
continued to look around the room, pointedly ignoring Snape’s angry glare and making sure the walls
around his mind were firmly in place.

Once they were all congregated they stood there rather awkwardly.

“I would offer you a drink but because of your company I had to send away my servant for the
evening. So why don’t we just forget the pleasantries and get on with the task at hand…” said Snape
icily

“Sounds wonderful,” snapped Ron “wouldn’t want to drink anything from your house elves anyway,
probably die standing here…”

“House elves? Oh no,” said Snape in a mocking voice “no my servant is Wormtail…” Harry started
at this then moved to sit on the sofa. He hadn’t forgotten about Wormtail as such, but it brought
home the kind of people Snape associated with and he was suddenly anxious sitting there, though he
couldn’t place his finger on why.

“What did you want to talk to us about Snape?” asked Harry

“Nagini is the last Horcrux that you have to destroy, am I correct?” asked Snape, his dark eyes
glittering and boring into Harry’s head. Harry nodded his head and continued to hold Snape’s gaze.
It was nice to see that no matter what secrets he had told Harry to gain his trust, he still hated
him.

“There is not usually a time that Nagini is away from the Dark Lord for long. If she is
attacked, she reaches out with her mind to summon him. The Dark Lord is rather fond of
Nagini…Before this evening I would have advised against trying to kill her for fear that you would
have to face him also. But tonight you have an opportunity. The Dark Lord is going to Gringotts…”
Said Snape silkily, but was interrupted by Susan.

“Gringotts?” she asked, “so the goblins have joined him?”

“If you would not have interrupted me then you would know the answer by now. The Elder and the
clans have been trying to make a decision for quite some time. The Dark Lord is impatient and has
decided to…persuade them to his way of thinking. Nagini shall be there, but she seeks the treasure
that is rumoured to lie in the deepest of the underground tunnels. I imagine he shall be too busy
with the goblins to rescue her if you were to strike quick enough.” continued Snape

“You imagine?” asked Harry quietly

“Well there are no guarantees of anything Potter,” replied Snape, his voice edging towards anger
“but I would say you have more of a chance killing her this evening than any other time.”

“What kind of treasure is she after? What does he want with it?” questioned Harry

“Nothing of great consequence,” answered Snape impatiently “the Dark Lord likes to collect
things that belong to others. The treasure is the goblins secret pride and he must have it.”

“Why should we trust you?” asked Ron suspiciously “this could just be some trap…”

“I don’t care if you believe me or not,” said Snape, his voice now trembling with anger he was
trying to control “do it now or do it later, either way your chances of surviving are slim.” Ron
looked outraged and went to stand up but Harry spoke loudly and calmly over him.

“We’ll go tonight, but I thought you were going to tell the Order of any developments with the
goblins? Surely they ought to know,”

“Indeed,” replied Snape “and I will inform them after you have already made it into Gringotts.
They can provide quite a handy diversion while you kill Nagini.” Harry didn’t like the idea of not
telling the Order right away, but he knew that if he arrived with all of them it would be virtually
impossible to avoid Riddle and get to the snake.

“When is he planning on going there?” asked Neville, his voice strong and proud.

“He’s already there,” answered Snape. “If you go to the river bank you can apparate from there
rather than walk for a few miles. It might speed things up a bit…”

“Nice of you to tell us now,” said Ron sulkily. They all moved towards the door but Luna stepped
in front of them and held out a hand to stop them.

“Just one more thing before we go,” she said vaguely. Snape raised his eyebrows and looked at
her as if she were vermin. “You might want to stop the boy outside from running away. He’s been
watching for a while and I imagine he has plenty to tell Riddle already.” Snape curled his lip and
laughed low and sarcastically in his throat.

“I have wards that tell me when someone is approaching, whilst your imagination is undoubtedly
fascinating we do not have time for it.”

“He’s not approaching,” said Luna serenely with a smile on her face “he’s just watching and
waiting. He’s about to leave though…I think we’re being a little too obvious standing like this.”
Everyone looked at her for a moment then Ron and Harry lunged towards the front door. A figure was
running down the pathway, his platinum hair glowing in the moonlight. Ron pulled out his wand at
the same time as Harry and pointed it at Malfoy.

“STUPEFY!” he shouted, and the red light hit Malfoy squarely between the shoulders and pitched
him to the floor. Harry grinned at Ron, impressed with his quick actions. Snape came rushing past
them and ran to where Malfoy had landed. He picked him up roughly and carried him back to the
house. Harry and Ron checked to see if anyone was watching, but there was no one. The strange
feeling that had plagued them earlier had now gone.

They gathered once again in Snape’s sitting room, Hermione and Neville staring at Luna with
shocked expressions.

“How did you…” began Neville but was cut off by Hermione’s frantic voice

“What are we going to do with him? We can’t let him go because he’ll tell Riddle everything he
saw and you’re life will be in danger! But they’re bound to notice he’s gone missing. What is he
told someone he was coming to see you? Then what? Could we pass him off as a traitor do you think?
Oh my goodness, there are charms to protect against being seen you know, if only we would have used
one we wouldn’t be in this situation!” Harry moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her
shoulder comfortingly.

“Calm down,” he whispered into her ear “we can figure all of this out later. Don’t panic
yourself over it now, we have more important things to do…” Hermione nodded quickly and rested her
head by his neck, breathing in his scent and breathing out in a slow and relaxed pace. He put a
finger under her chin and lifted her head to meet his. He kissed her softly and quickly, enough to
let her know that he loved her. She smiled happily up at him, almost forgetting where she was and
the fact that there was a stupefied Malfoy on the couch.

“Well as irritating and revolting as this is, there are more productive things to be doing. I
shall take Draco to Grimmauld place. We’ll have to keep him there until we can figure out what to
do. I would suggest modifying his memory but the Dark Lord can break such things. You should go to
Gringotts. I’ll have the Order follow you in half an hour. Now get out of my house…” said Snape
angrily. Ron glared at Snape once more before turning around and exiting. Hermione grabbed Harry’s
hand once again and pulled him out of the door smiling. She wondered at the ease of Harry managing
to calm her. If only she had been like this with him during her O.W.L.S, she wouldn’t have been
nearly so stressed out. The group rushed forward, following the sound of the nearby river. They
stood on the bank and disapparated to Gringotts, wondering what they would find when they got
there.

*************************************************************************************

They approached the door of Gringotts and were surprised to find it wide open, as was the one
inside. They walked through the deserted main room and could smell smoke and something putrid that
made Harry want to gag. They heard a banging noise coming from the left and saw four goblins and a
death eater emerge from a door that he could have sworn wasn’t there before. He raised his wand,
but was surprised when the goblins turned around quickly and leapt viciously onto the death eater.
A blood-curdling scream filled the room and the death eater twitched a little but then was still.
Harry watched transfixed as the goblins jumped up and dragged the body of the death eater back
through the door.

“Might be handy to have them on our side,” said Ron quietly. Harry nodded and watched as another
goblin entered the main room and stopped in front of them.

“You fight against the Lord of the Dark,” he said bowing to them, then looked at Harry “and you
are Harry Potter. What is it you desire within these walls?”

“Erm, we’re here to find and kill a big Snake. What’s your name?” said Harry, taken aback by the
goblins quick and polite voice.

“I am called Elfriar, and the snake you seek is trying to steal the finest treasures from our
deepest tunnels. If you shall follow me I will take you there. But beware, death is everywhere
tonight.” said Elfriar gravely. Harry grabbed Hermione’s hand and led her towards the back of the
room and down the passage. The smell of smoke was strong and Hermione began coughing violently. A
cart came speeding up to them and stopped abruptly so that they could all climb in. It was a tight
fit with all if them in one cart and as soon as Elfriar stepped in it began its quick and bumpy
journey to the bowels of Gringotts. Harry put his arm around Hermione and kissed her passionately
as the cold air rushed past his face. He pulled away and whispered quickly into her ear -

“Be careful and stay behind me,”

“I can take care of myself,” she said defiantly, though her eyes were smiling. “Besides, I’m not
in any danger Harry. I am with you…”

*************************************************************************************



30. Nagini
----------

A/N- Hello again and Happy New Year to all of you! Thanks for reading along and for all of your
wonderful reviews. I wanted to say Thank you to *Mulder* who made sure this chapter wasn’t total
rubbish before I posted it, and who has made sense of my muddled thoughts when I thought I was
going crazy. Enough babbling, on with the story! Please let me know what you think of this chapter,
it was a strange one for me to write. Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

The cart careened on the small railway tracks faster and faster. Harry could barely see through
his tears from the speed and the smoke that billowed around them. As they descended it got colder
and colder, until their breath could be seen escaping in a heavy white haze. In the time that he
could see he was terrified. On the floors they sped by were goblins fighting death eaters and each
other. The air seemed to smell slightly metallic from the blood shed and there were cries of pain
so terrible that Harry winced and shuddered every time he heard them. Hermione clutched onto
Harry’s robes and when she turned to face him as the cart started to slow he could read the fear in
her warm eyes. The cart slowed further and Harry could finally look at his surroundings properly.
They were in a very dark room and the floor was made up of sand and small rocks. There was a
glowing light in the distance and a strange whispering sound. The cart came to a stop and Elfriar
leapt out unfazed. Everyone else climbed out slowly and stood for a few seconds to stop their weak
knees from giving way and to calm their stomachs. Harry held onto Hermione, feeling her tremble at
his touch. She finally stepped back and gripped her wand with a determined look on her face.

“Glad we ate quite a while ago,” said Ron weakly. Harry nodded and Luna smiled vaguely, though
her brow was furrowed with worry. The small group walked towards the light, whilst scanning their
surrounding area. The continued in silence until the light got closer and closer, then Hermione
gasped as she saw what was guarding the light.

“A Sphinx,” she whispered. Harry’s shoulders slumped slightly as he remembered the last time he
had encountered a sphinx in the maze.

“What’s wrong with that?” asked Susan worriedly.

“Ancient Egyptian custom,” replied Hermione “supposedly the Sphinx asked you a riddle to gain
entrance to the tombs of the Pharaohs. If you couldn’t answer the riddle then you were killed
immediately.”

“Well…” said Ron anxiously “we’ve had to face worse things than this right? It’s the only way to
get to Nagini. Besides Hermione and Luna are really clever…”

“It’s up to everyone,” said Harry quickly “I have to go on either way, but if anyone wants to
back out now is the time. I won’t hold it against you at all…”

“No,” said Neville firmly. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement. Harry started walking
towards the Sphinx and Hermione hurried after him, squeezing his hand once again as they approached
it. The whispering sound seemed to get louder and louder the closer they got to the Sphinx, and a
strange breeze disturbed the sand beneath their feet. They waited in silence as Elfriar stroked the
Sphinx’s head with one long pointed finger. The whispering increased and the breeze turned to a
wind…then suddenly all was silent. A soft musical voice filled the room and spoke gently -

*You have awoken me from my deep sleep,*

*Now the answer to the riddle you must speak,*

*But beware the price that must be paid*

*Is your life, your souls…are you afraid?*

“No,” said Hermione loudly and stood with defiance. The whispers grew louder again and the sand
began to spiral like a whirlwind…reaching higher and higher into the air where it stopped and began
to form into words that read -

*What animal begins on four feet, and then walks on two feet, then finally walks on three
feet?*

Hermione grinned and whispered to Harry-

“Of course it would be this one! This was the riddle posed to Oedipus by the Sphinx in the
tales.” Harry just nodded, putting all of his faith in Hermione’s intelligence and memorised texts.
Hermione stepped forward to the Sphinx and said loudly -

“The answer is Man.”

The whispers died down and the sand fell to the floor. They waited in silence and for one
horrible moment Harry thought it was the wrong answer. Then the Sphinx moved to the side and
Hermione scurried through, the rest of them following very quickly behind her. They entered a
narrow tunnel made of dirt and sand. They stopped for a moment to congratulate Hermione and to
gather their wits.

“There are more riddles ahead,” said Elfriar softly “we must be on our guard.” They all nodded
in silence and Harry moved forward to lead the group through the tunnel. They walked through the
twisting tunnel that seemed to get narrower the more they progressed, in a wary silence. Harry was
getting used to the soft sand under his feet when he suddenly felt a hard object. He stopped
suddenly and looked down. There was a small stone tablet buried beneath the sand. He got to his
knees and began to brush it away, revealing engraved words of the next riddle.

*I have many feathers to help me fly*

*I have a body and a head*

*But I am not alive*

*It is your strength which determines*

*How far I go*

*You can hold me in your hand*

*But I am never thrown*

“What?” began Harry, but was interrupted with Luna’s frantic cry of-

“Arrows!” At least a hundred whooshing sounds filled the tunnel and Harry was thrown forward
onto the ground by Hermione’s body. He rolled her off of him quickly and saw her pointing her wand
in the air as arrows came hurtling towards them.

*“CONSTO!”* she shouted and the arrows stopped in midair. Harry was breathing deeply and
looked around to see if everyone was ok. Ron was sitting on the floor with an arrow hovering two
inches away from his face. His face was very pale and he was sweating profusely. Luna stood up from
Ron’s side and pointed her wand at the arrows and murmured-

*“Lapsus,”* The arrows then fell to the floor, the clattering noise bringing everyone back
to reality.

“Erm,” said Neville quietly “how many more of these do you think we still have to do?”

“Only one way to find out,” said Harry quietly whilst helping Hermione to her feet. He inspected
her face for bruises or cuts and was happy to find none.

“I’m fine,” she whispered, smiling slightly at him.

“Just checking,” he said, giving her a small smile in return. He turned around and walked
forward once more, this time holding her hand and keeping her as close to him as possible.

They continued to walk through the winding tunnel until Ron let out a yell and Susan screeched
loudly while clinging onto Neville for dear life. Harry looked around quickly to see them all
staring at the ceiling looking horrified. He looked up to see hundreds of insects crawling above
him. Hermione shuddered in revulsion. They were like no insects he had ever seen. The spiders
looked mutated and had more than eight legs, with silvery sinewy bodies. There were ones that
looked like centipedes but they were ten times bigger and had large antenna that hung down, trying
to reach to the tempting people beneath. The crawling and wriggling above him seemed to continue
down Harry’s spine, and he raised his wand to dispose of them.

“Don’t,” whispered Ron, his face paler than before and his voice sounding hoarse. He swallowed
hard and looked up at the ceiling again. “They’re spelling out the next riddle.” Harry watched with
a feeling of revulsion as the bugs crawled and wormed their way into words.

*The loftiest cedars I can eat*

*Yet neither paunch nor mouth have I*

*I storm whenever you give me meat*

*Whenever you give me drink I die*

“Fire,” whispered Harry. They all looked at each other in horror as they came to terms with the
tunnel being engulfed in flames, and them being stuck inside. A roaring sound filled their ears and
Harry could feel heat on the back of his neck. The roaring got louder and louder and as he looked
up ahead he could see a wall of fire heading straight for them. He didn’t need to turn around to
know the same thing was behind him.

“ICE!!” cried Neville loudly. Harry turned around quickly and thought ‘*glacialis*’. He
heard everyone else shouting the same thing, including Elfriar. The roar stopped suddenly and the
entire tunnel was transformed into ice. The all stood still for a moment and breathed deeply, not
quite believing the mad things that Goblins would do to protect their treasure.

“At least it got rid of those bugs,” mumbled Ron. Harry gave a half laugh half cough and turned
to walk on…only to fall flat on his face. Despite everyone’s high stress levels, they all managed
to laugh heartily at Harry’s expense. Harry crawled to his knees and slid himself along…right into
Ron. Ron fell back with a crash, which made Harry laugh heartily in return.

“Now now boys,” said Susan in a voice that sounded suspiciously like McGonagall. “There’s a time
and a place for that kind of behaviour.” Harry pulled Ron to his feet, still grinning, and they
attempted to walk along the ice. The tunnel wasn’t cooperating, as it began slope downwards…causing
them to fall over continuously. Finally when the tunnel was so steep they were practically falling
down it they decided to simplify things. Well, Luna decided to simplify things and the rest
followed. She sat down on the ice and pushed herself forward, sliding very fast down the tunnel.
They could hear her laughing hysterically and decided to follow suit. Harry sat on the floor set to
Hermione and wrapped his arms around her.

“This is completely insane,” she said worriedly “if you give me a minute I can think of a spell
to undo this.”

“It wouldn’t be nearly as fun though,” said Harry with a grin, then pushed them both forwards
and sent them sliding quickly after Luna. Hermione screeched while Harry let out a loud-

“WOOHOO!”

“I think we might be alerting our presence with all this noise!” said Hermione loudly. Harry
grinned and held her tighter to him, which only made them go faster. The last noise that could be
heard before the rest of the group joined them was Hermione’s laughter echoing through the
tunnel.

The tunnel came to an abrupt end and threw them into a very dark and musty smelling room. They
could see the end of Luna’s wand lit and began to head towards it, only to be knocked to the floor
roughly with the arrival of Ron. They were still trying to sort out the muddle when Susan, Neville
and Elfriar landed on top of them, and they were once again laughing at their predicament. A loud
hissing noise filled the room and put an abrupt end to their laughter. They all leapt up and lit
their wands, and Harry could see a large tail slithering amongst piles of shields and valuable
stones. He opened his mind and was filled with images of death. Animals having the life squeezed
mercilessly out of them, unsuspecting children being bitten and devoured. He ignored those images
with great difficulty and focused on the sly voice that filled his mind.

“Foolish boy,” it hissed, “you have come to kill me. I who have served the most powerful wizard
of all time. Do you think I would be frightened of something like you? Come and find me…I’ll even
open my mouth so you can just walk in. It might make things easier…don’t you think?”

Harry formed his thoughts in his mind and sent them towards Nagini, hoping that it would
work.

“I’ll kill you,” he hissed in return “you should be afraid of me if your master is going through
all this effort just to kill a seventeen-year-old-boy. Come and get me…I’m not afraid of you.”

A sudden image of Hermione floated through his mind, and he tried to put up his walls quickly.
But it was too late and he felt the snake’s pleasure hit his mind.

“You are not afraid of me,” it hissed “but you are afraid of losing her…”

Since no one else in the group could hear this conversation they had no idea what had just
transpired. So it came as a great shock when the large snake leapt forward and coiled itself around
Hermione’s body before they could even raise their wands. Harry went rushing forward but the snake
lashed out at him, narrowly missing his shoulder. Harry ducked quickly and rolled to the side, then
stood up again to face the snake. It hissed menacingly at him and tightened the coil around
Hermione. Harry could hear her strangled cough and felt panic start to take hold. What she said to
him in the cart kept playing over and over in his mind ‘I’m not in any danger Harry. I am with
you.’ He let out a scream of rage and moved purposefully towards the snake, only to stop when he
heard Hermione’s anguished cry. He didn’t know what to do. If he attacked the snake it would kill
Hermione, but if he didn’t it probably would anyway. How could he have been so stupid to try and
communicate with it like that? He couldn’t block his mind properly yet; something like this was
bound to happen. He was so angry with himself, not only for trying something like that when he
wasn’t sure if he was ready, but also for putting Hermione in danger because of his rash decision.
He felt Luna, Susan, Ron, Neville and Elfriar all moved slowly next to him. They pointed their
wands at Nagini, but the snake only strangled Hermione a little more. Harry felt like his heart was
breaking in two every time he heard her yell in pain and was fighting to stop angry tears from
coming forward. As his rage and sorrow built in him, he felt the now familiar weight at his side
and grabbed the sword quickly. He lunged forward and heard Hermione let out a deafening scream and
shoved his sword through the snake’s throat. He heard the screeching sound of pain in his head as
the snake thrashed around wildly. Harry leapt forward again and stabbed it once more…then with a
shout of anger he thrust it forward a third time, though more clumsily, and the snake fell to the
floor. A puff of green smoke left the snake and dissolved into the air. Harry rushed over to where
Hermione was and picked her up…only to fall down screaming and clutching his scar.

“H-he’s coming!” he managed to get out

“Oh shit,” said Ron sounding petrified.

“He knows she’s dead,” continued Harry “knows it was me. Quick…we have to get out. Get Hermione
out…”

“Harry, we can’t leave you! We won’t leave you!” cried Susan

“Elfriar!” said Harry desperately “get Hermione out now! Neville and Ron go with her, make sure
she stays safe!” Ron gathered Hermione up in his arms and followed Elfriar towards the back of the
darkened room, with Neville following swiftly behind him. Luna and Susan helped Harry to his
feet.

“The Order must be here by now,” said Harry urgently “we’ll send out patronus’ to them!” They
each concentrated hard and soon their silvery animals were bounding out of the room. Harry felt a
prickle on the back of his neck and shouted-

“SHIELD! QUICKLY!”

All three of them quickly conjured a shield charm that glowed so brightly it was as if they were
in a bright white ball. A green light bounced off of the ball…and the black swishing robes and red
eyes came walking swiftly towards them. Harry felt his head hurt beyond anything he could have
imagined, and he closed his eyes tightly against the pain. He concentrated hard on the walls around
his mind and felt the pain slowly ebb away. He opened his eyes and looked around…to find them
completely surrounded. Voldemort stood with some death eaters and a large number of Goblins. The
death eaters were sending curses towards them but they were bouncing off of them.

“Keep concentrating on the shield charm!” cried Susan “with all three of us we can keep it up
until the Order gets here!” Different coloured lights kept bouncing off of them, and Harry could
see the menacing crowd start to get restless and begin to throw themselves at the shield. Harry
felt something hard trying to probe his mind and concentrated on his walls again. But when he
concentrated on his walls the shield charm started to get weaker. He wasn’t strong enough with his
mind to be able to do two things at once. He saw Susan suddenly crumble to her feet and knew that
the shield had worn off. Voldemort held up his hand and started to walk towards Harry with his wand
pointing straight at his chest.

A large crashing noise filled the room as members of the Order began flying into the room
through the icy tunnel. Mad Eye landed on two Goblins and stunned them both before turning his wand
on the rest of them. Voldemort ignored all of this and continued to walk towards Harry…a ghost of a
smile splashed on his snake like face. Harry felt himself getting weaker from trying to hold his
mind together and felt Luna holding him up whilst firing hexes at the Goblins trying to grab at her
feet. He suddenly saw a face that he recognised coming directly towards him…Lupin. He felt his
heart crash to the pit of his stomach as he realised what he was about to do.

“No!” he shouted, “Stay away!” Voldemort whipped around suddenly and raised his wand at Lupin.
Harry could hear Tonks yelling in the background -

“Remus! Please don’t be foolish! I love you Remus…please!!!”

“Nothing else to be done! Harry’s life is worth more than my own. Besides, I promised James I
would take care pf him. I love you…” replied Lupin very quickly, ducking behind a few fighting
Goblins before he was finally standing right in front Voldemort. There was nothing Harry could do.
A jet of green light hit him in the chest and he fell to the floor, his sightless eyes staring at
the ceiling. Tonks’ screaming hit the back of Harry’s spine and he shuddered violently. He quickly
pointed his wand at Susan and said-

*“Enervate*,” Then he pulled her up quickly. Voldemort turned around quickly and
shouted

*“Crucio!”* but not before Harry had said-

*“Defluo!”* and disappeared. Voldemort looked around quickly…but Harry was gone. He
screamed in rage and pointed his wand towards whatever was in his path and used the cruciatus curse
on them instead. The goblins surrounding him howled in pain. Harry reappeared and shouted-

*“Petrificus totalus!”* but it was deflected easily. Voldemort turned towards him again and
laughed forebodingly. He saw a flash of pink in his peripheral vision and saw Tonks leap towards
Voldemort with tears streaming down her face.

*“CRUCIO!”* she shouted, and Voldemort fell to his knees momentarily. He got up less than
ten seconds later, laughing manically.

“Did you think that you would have the power to hurt me? You pitiful creature…” he raised his
wand and pointed it at Tonks. To Harry’s surprise Tonks simply stood there with her eyes closed,
tears falling freely down her face. A horrible thought crashed down upon Harry so hard that he
could barely breath. ‘She wants to die so she can be with Lupin. She wants to die so she doesn’t
have to live without him. Is this what love does to people?’

“Tonks! Please don’t do this! He wouldn’t have wanted you to give up your life!” pleaded Harry
desperately. To his surprise Tonks looked up and smiled.

“Wotcher Harry…” she started but was cut off by Voldemort lifting her up into the air and
slamming her down onto Lupin.

“Now…you die like him…*AVADA KEDAVRA*!” the green light hit Tonks quickly, and she fell
into Lupin almost gratefully. Harry felt hot tears cascade down his face. Was this what he was
condemning Hermione to? Would she die if anything happened to him? Would this whole battle be for
nothing? He felt Luna’s hand find his and he looked up to find her watching him.

“No,” she whispered, “love is so beautiful and magical that you want to die if you lose it. But
not everyone does Harry. Some people live on, grateful that something that wonderful touched them,
even for the briefest period. Love is power Harry. Love is power he doesn’t understand. Lets show
him Harry…show him…” He felt his other hand being held and saw Susan’s tear stained face. He
thought of his love for his parents, his love for Dumbledore and Sirius, his love for Lupin, Tonks
and his friends. But mostly he thought of Hermione, and how she had awakened something in him he
didn’t know existed. He sent all of this towards Voldemort; he opened his mind and sought out his.
He used every bit of strength that he had and forced it into him. A howling shriek filled the air
and Harry passed out…the blackness welcoming him and soothing his mind.

*************************************************************************************

Harry woke up in his bed in Grimmauld place. He sat up quickly and saw his friends sitting on
the floor silently and Hermione on the end of his bed. Hermione launched herself at him and hugged
him tightly, then began raining hot kisses on his face as if she couldn’t believe he was hers.

“Calm down Hermione,” said Ron jokingly “plenty of time for that stuff when we leave…” Hermione
blushed a very deep red and hugged Harry harder while burrowing her face into his shoulder.

“What happened?” asked Harry

“No one really knows,” said Susan quietly “one minute everyone was fighting and the next he was
gone.”

“Everything’s a complete mess now Harry,” said Luna worriedly “Gringotts is completely closed
down. The ministry can’t handle the uproar from the magical population. The Order is in touch with
the Goblins that joined us…but it’s no way near the amount that joined his side.”

“Why did Voldemort run? Was it what we did at the end? I remember thinking about everyone I
loved. I remember trying to make him see that…” said Harry quietly

“Yeah,” said Neville quietly “that’s what made him leave. But he’s really angry now, and
everyone’s paying for it. Especially the muggles…”

“What do you mean?” asked Harry worriedly

“There have been fires and murders all over London. The ministry is having a really hard time
modifying people’s memories. Especially when they see their family members being attacked by
goblins and werewolves. It’s awful…” said Susan, her voice sounding strained and teary. Harry
nodded quietly and lay his head back down on the pillow. He had killed Nagini, now he just had to
kill Voldemort and it would all be over. A selfish part of him didn’t want to do that yet, it cried
out in resentment and anger. But he knew what had to be done, even if his heart didn’t want to go
along with it.

“Wait a minute,” said Harry quickly, feeling a guilty kind of hope start to grow within him “how
come Nagini just died like that? I didn’t have to use a spell or anything to get rid of the
Horcrux. Was she a Horcrux at all?”

“Yes she was,” replied Hermione quietly “I had a feeling this would happen. Ever since we
started this I’ve been wondering how you destroyed the diary without a spell when you had to use a
spell for the rest. At first I was worried in case we had to go back and release the Horcrux from
the diary…but then that would have contradicted what Dumbledore told you so obviously that wasn’t
right. Then I remembered that you used the sword to kill the basilisk. You had Godric Gryffindor’s
sword with you when you destroyed the diary. You didn’t need a spell Harry, you had enough power
and you didn’t even have to think about it. The same thing happened with Nagini…you just had to use
the sword or at least have it with you.” Harry felt hope die within him and then cursed himself for
his weakness. He stared at the ceiling for a while thinking about his predicament. He didn’t notice
the silent looks from his friends as everyone except Hermione left the room.

“Harry,” she whispered “what’s wrong with you? I know something is burdening you and I’m so
worried.”

“I’m fine,” lied Harry

“You’re lying,” said Hermione briskly “what happened behind that veil? What do you have to
do?”

“I can’t tell you that Hermione,” said Harry sadly “but I can tell you that Dumbledore was
right. Love is the power that Voldemort fears most because he doesn’t understand it. When I drove
him away earlier it was you that I was thinking about. You were my strength because I love you so
much.” Hermione reached forward and pressed her lips onto his, softly at first then with a frantic
kind of urgency. He matched her need and pulled her roughly to him. He pulled off her clothes
quickly, feeling a desire for her so fierce he felt as if he were on fire. He rolled her over and
positioned himself on top of her, desperate to be as close to her as he could. He smelt her hair
and tasted her warm skin as she kissed him feverishly. This wasn’t like the last few times they had
been together, this was pure lust and need that was threatening to drive them both over the edge.
Harry gripped her hips and pushed himself inside of her, and they rocked together quickly and
pushed each other over the brink, showing the fierce passion they had kept buried since their first
kiss that now seemed like a lifetime ago. As he heard her cries of pleasure he felt himself losing
control, and shuddered fiercely at the strength of his orgasm. Afterwards they lay entwined in each
other arms and kissed tenderly.

“I love you so much,” said Harry quietly

“I love you too Harry,” she replied, and then rested her weary head on his shoulder. He watched
as her eyes slowly closed and he could feel her steady breath brush against his skin. He fell into
a deep sleep due to his weariness and his mind was open and vulnerable. A voice invaded his dreams,
a voice that was all too familiar to him.

*‘You know where I am…come and find me where it all started Potter. Then we’ll see who’s the
strongest. Then we’ll see who lives and who dies…’*

*************************************************************************************



31. St Mungo's and a Secret
---------------------------

A/N- Hello again everyone! These things are more of a habit to write rather than to say anything
of importance. The only thing I really wanted to say was a *Thank you* to my beta Mulder who still
has not blocked my emails! Enough of my babbling and on with the chapter. Let me know what you
think of this one, I’m quite nervous about posting it. Happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

The next couple of weeks flew by with a flurry of activity for the inhabitants of Grimmauld
place, and before they knew it Christmas Eve had arrived. Unfortunately this wasn’t the joyous
occasion it usually was. Shortly after the battle in Gringotts they had received an owl from Bill
and Fleur who were in Egypt. All of the goblins were divided, and the banks had closed down all
around the world. The *Daily Prophet* had printed an article entitled **‘Tom Riddle…Just a
bully that never grew up?**’ and it had both positive and negative effects. The positive was that
quite a large portion of the wizarding population had decided to stand up and fight, which the
Order welcomed gratefully after certain protective measures were taken. The negative was of course
the reaction from Voldemort, and the innocent lives all over the country that were taken due to his
fury. Hermione was in her element, working with professor McGonagall to organise witches and
wizards that had arrived from schools all over Europe to help them. The foreign students were
staying at Hogwarts, where the school had been temporarily closed. The students that had gone home
for Christmas were dismayed when they received Hogwarts letters telling them not to return until
further notice.

Life for Harry had been rather hard the last few weeks. After Lupin and Tonks’ quiet funeral he
had decided to start training with Snape at Grimmauld place almost everyday. The battle at
Gringotts had showed him that while his powers had certainly increased, they were still not strong
enough to compete with Voldemort and actually last more than fifteen minutes in battle. The lessons
with Snape left him aggravated and emotionally drained. The death of Lupin and Tonks had hit him
harder than he was willing to show, and he was worrying more about the future with every passing
day. But despite all of that he knew what had to be done and pushed himself into his training, and
desperately tried to ignore news of innocent people suffering all over the country. Members of the
Order were out almost every evening trying to stop or clean up the mess of death eater attacks.
Harry and the rest of his small group accompanied them almost every evening, but no matter how hard
they worked they couldn’t seem to stop every evil thing that happened around them, nor get peoples
dying screams out of their minds. So when Christmas Eve arrived, Harry wasn’t particularly in the
mood to celebrate it and neither was anyone else. Of course Harry did think it was nice to have
everyone staying at Grimmauld Place…well everyone except Charlie who was still in Romania working
with Mad Eye and Hagrid. Hermione was delighted when Mrs Weasley brought her parents to stay with
them for Christmas, and even Neville was rather excited at the prospect of his grandmother
visiting. The house was more than full, and Harry was dismayed to learn he had to share a room with
Ron, Neville and the twins. Hermione was sharing a room with Susan, Luna and Ginny and the parents
got the other rooms. Their other ‘guest’ was staying in a room that had once been the home of
Buckbeak…and they had yet to figure out what to do with him. Snape said the Voldemort was very
suspicious as to the disappearance of his young death eater, and Snape had only just been strong
enough to not divulge his whereabouts.

Hermione was sitting on the floor late that evening reading a book. Well…trying to read a book.
She had so much on her mind that it was completely pointless trying to concentrate on anything. She
had spent a while trying to figure out if there was any way she could visit Harry, and had come up
with nothing. There wasn’t even anywhere they could go. All of the rooms were taken up and people
were even sleeping on the couches in the living room. She was very happy that her parents were
here, and that everyone else had decided to come for Christmas…but how on earth were they going to
fit everyone into that kitchen for a meal? She sighed again and put the book down to look and Luna
and Susan. She had no idea where Ginny was, nor did she particularly care. They had barely spoken
two civil words to each other, though Hermione had admitted to Harry that she missed her friend
despite the recent events. Love could do strange things to you, and obsession was ten times
worse.

“Why don’t you stop huffing and sighing over there and just join us?” asked Susan with a small
smile on her face.

“What are you doing?” asked Hermione suspiciously

“Making Christmas cards,” replied Susan

“For who?” asked Hermione, putting her book down and crawling quickly over to where they were
seated on the floor.

“Anyone,” said Luna

“What?” asked Hermione, looking at them disbelievingly. Susan laughed at her face and tapped her
wand onto a card so that it sang ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ in a loud voice.

“My mother and I used to do this every year,” said Luna quietly “we would make Christmas cards
and send them to anyone we wanted. Even people we didn’t know. You don’t have to know someone to
wish them a Merry Christmas.” Hermione frowned a little and then moved forward to sit between the
two girls.

“I thought it was weird at first too,” said Susan quietly “but ‘tis the season to spread
goodwill and all that. Goodness knows everyone could use a little bit of extra cheer these days.”
Hermione smiled and picked up a card, then pointed her wand at it so that it played ‘Little
Donkey’. The three girls worked for quite a while, singing random Christmas songs that Susan had
decided to change to make them funnier. Hermione found herself laughing despite herself, and was
surprised to find that she was having fun. Not that she didn’t like doing things for people she
didn’t know, on the contrary. She just sometimes found it very hard to do what Luna thought was a
good idea.

*************************************************************************************

Ginny Weasley walked slowly up an old staircase, wondering what the bloody hell she was doing.
She had almost turned around a couple of times but had chastised herself until she had continued.
Honestly, she wasn’t a wimp…but she couldn’t help but be a little nervous. She hesitated outside
the worn looking door and took a deep breath as she pushed it open. There in the room, sitting on a
small single bed was Draco Malfoy. He looked up at her with his steel eyes and tried to come
towards the door…only to be flung back onto the bed. Ginny gave a half smile, if she wanted she
could stand here and tease him all day and there was nothing he could do about it. But that wasn’t
why she was here…but why was she here? What on earth was she doing coming up to this room so she
could talk to scum like Draco Malfoy? She wasn’t entirely sure yet, but she had this nagging
thought in the back of her mind ever since she had heard he was being held here and it was time to
satiate it. She stepped over the threshold into the room, suddenly feeling a little more scared now
that she was face to face with him. He was a death eater…he had probably murdered people and she
had come looking for him? What was she thinking?! She almost turned and walked out, almost…

“What the fuck do you want Weasel?” said Malfoy, his steel eyes gazing at her malevolently. She
stopped the path she had been going to take and turned to face him, her head held high in
defiance.

“Just wanted to see if you were quite comfortable up here,” she replied sarcastically and moved
to sit on a chair in the corner of the room.

“Get out before I make you sorry you were here…” he said, his face starting to flush with
anger.

“Oh I’m really scared now. You can’t do magic in here…or had you not noticed that yet?” she
replied, smiling smugly. She really was enjoying having the upper hand over Malfoy, it had rarely
happened during school.

“There are other ways to hurt you Weasel,” he said threateningly “why don’t you just run off and
join Potty? I’m sure he’s waiting for you with open arms down there…sickening.” Ginny’s face went
very red before she shot back with-

“Harry and I aren’t together Malfoy. Not that it’s any of your business. Besides…I’m rather
enjoying myself up here.”

“What a shame, another one bites the dust. You should know by now that Potter’s head is so huge
-” replied Draco, but stopped suddenly to grasp his arm and let out a long breath that was a way of
controlling the pain. Ginny was silent for a moment before she said quietly-

“A little pain is a small price to pay for what you’ve done to other people,”

“Fuck off!” replied Malfoy, suddenly lunging towards her as if to strike. He was thrown back
onto the bed where he punched the pillow repeatedly. Ginny watched him for a while longer, then
slowly turned around and walked out of the room and made her way down to the kitchen, avoiding the
room she had to sleep in for as long as possible.

*************************************************************************************

Harry was jostled awake the next morning, and as his vision began to focus he saw three patches
of vivid red hair. He groaned and swung himself out of bed, and then a small smile lit his face at
a package on his pillow that had Hermione’s neat handwriting on it. He opened it and saw a small
silver picture frame with the words *‘My friend, my lover, my life’* engraved upon it. The
picture was of Harry and Hermione, tightly hugging one another with large smiles on their faces.
They had taken this photo in a photo booth when they had their date in London. It was a spur of the
moment decision and Harry hadn’t seen the photos until now. Suddenly the beaded purse and the rare
book he had got her didn’t seem enough, though her screeches from the next room said different.
They finished unwrapping their presents and put on their jumpers from Mrs Weasley. They made their
way down the stairs and into the kitchen, looking forward to a good old English breakfast. They sat
themselves at the table and joined in with Fred and George’s loud singing. Soon enough fat sausages
and eggs were placed in front of him and he sighed in contentment. He hoped that today would be
more relaxing than the previous couple of weeks…though he doubted Voldemort would stop his killing
sprees because it was Christmas day. In fact, he would probably increase them. He saw Hermione
looking at her breakfast and laughing at something Susan murmured to her, but then a strange look
passed across her face and she left the kitchen quickly. Harry was about to get up and follow her,
but a look from Susan stopped him. He supposed Hermione didn’t need him trailing her all the time,
especially if she just really needed to go to the loo. She didn’t appear again throughout
breakfast, and by the time he found her she was sitting on the couch reading a book.

“Are you ok?” he asked in a concerned voice

“Fine,” she said distractedly “just have a lot on my mind. I suggest you take a leaf out of my
book and grab the bathroom while you can. We’re all going to Hogwarts for Christmas dinner and if
you wait for everyone else you’ll have to shower in freezing cold water…”

“Erm…Ok,” said Harry and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before taking her advice and
rushing to the bathroom. He narrowly beat Ron…

After everyone was ready they finally gathered around the fireplace and one by one travelled to
Hogwarts. Harry hated using Floo powder, but since you couldn’t apparate inside Hogwarts they had
decided to use Floo instead. Neville had suggested disapparating to the entrance of Hogwarts…but
Harry, Ron and Hermione didn’t feel too comfortable with the idea of being unprotected. Especially
if there were werewolves around. They tumbled out of the fireplace in McGonagall’s office one by
one and filed out into the corridor, brushing themselves off along the way. Hermione decided that
she wanted to show her parents around, and Neville and his grandmother decided to join her. Harry,
Ron, the twins and Ginny all headed for the Quidditch pitch whilst Susan and Luna decided to go to
the library. The school was full of witches and wizards from all over Europe, and Hermione noticed
more students from Beauxbatons than from Durmstrang. For a moment she thought she saw someone that
looked suspiciously like Viktor Krum, but she quickly averted her gaze. She didn’t have the time to
deal with anything like that when she had so much on her mind as it was.

After Hermione had given her parents the guided tour she showed them to the Great Hall (where Mr
Weasley was anxiously awaiting them) and decided to find the library. She had missed it a lot, and
it would be nice to take a stroll down memory lane and get lost in a book. It seemed like she had
been gone from Hogwarts for so long. She walked into the library and saw Luna and Susan sitting at
a table with a large book open before them. As she got closer she saw that on the left side of the
page was a picture that she recognised all too well.

“Why do you need to read a book about the veil?” asked Hermione quietly.

“It’s always good to read about the unknown, wouldn’t you say so?” questioned Luna dreamily

“What’s so important about the veil?” asked Hermione, trying to sound casual.

“This book says that the veil is the centre of everything. It was discovered by our kind
centuries ago, and they actually built the ministry around it so that they could study it. They
still don’t know that much about it though…” said Susan quietly

“But it’s the beyond right?” asked Hermione, sitting herself down “Sirius fell through it and he
died. So if you go through it you die…you cross into the beyond. But then how did you and Harry get
back?”

“There’s more to the veil than meets the eye,” replied Luna, pushing her wand behind her ear and
turning one of the large pages. “I knew that we could get back because we were invited. So that
means that you don’t necessarily die once you go through the veil. But I’m not sure how one would
come back if they weren’t invited…or even if they could.”

“What does it matter anyway?” asked Hermione irritably “Surely we should be worried about
defeating Voldemort rather than what’s behind the veil. Unless something that happened to you and
Harry behind the veil is important to Voldemort’s defeat. Am I right?”

“I can’t answer those questions,” said Luna vaguely

“You can’t or you won’t?” demanded Hermione

“We all have secrets to keep Hermione,” said Susan “you know about that just as much as we
do.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Hermione, her voice shaking a little.

“She means that you are keeping a secret from Harry and he is keeping one from you. I can’t
answer any questions you have about the veil Hermione. That’s because Harry trusts me and he thinks
it’s in your best interests if you don’t know. You think it will be best for Harry if you keep your
secret from him too, and we won’t tell him either,” said Luna, her voice sounding a little
weary.

“How do you know these things?” said Hermione as she put her head on her arms and tried to stop
her sudden tears. How could she have ever been so stupid?

“Hermione you’re a wonderful person and I’ve come to think of you as a friend,” said Susan
slowly “You really do want to help people and you have a brave heart. But sometimes you don’t have
faith in what you can’t see. Sometimes you rely too much on logic and not enough on your heart. You
don’t want to believe in anything that you consider to be impossible, and rather than have an open
mind you close up and refuse to acknowledge what is *staring you in the face*.” Hermione felt
like she had been slapped in the face…but it was also so close to home that she also felt
ashamed.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly

“Don’t be sorry,” continued Susan “just have more faith in your heart and don’t always listen to
your head.” They sat in silence for a while longer and eventually began to read through the book
again, and Hermione felt like she finally had some female friends who she could trust almost as
much as Harry and Ron.

*************************************************************************************

After a large Christmas dinner the group decided to abandon the twins, Ginny and their parents
and take a walk around the grounds. Neville had to go to St. Mungo’s to visit his parents, and he
had asked if they would join him. Harry was rather startled at this at first, but readily agreed.
Christmas was a hard time for Neville; if ever he needed his friends around him it was now. He
joined hands with Hermione and they walked to the lake in a leisurely fashion. He kept sneaking
sideways glances at her, wondering why she was acting so detached. He was just about to ask her
when he heard the sound of hooves approaching. They turned around to see Firenze approaching, with
a number of Centaurs behind him. Harry reached into his robes to grab his wand, sure that if
Firenze was with other Centaurs then they were in trouble.

“Harry Potter,” said Firenze in his deep and calming voice “We meet at last. We do not have much
time to converse with you for we are needed in the forest.” Harry eyed the other Centaurs that had
stopped about ten metres away from where they were standing.

“I thought you were exiled,” he said quietly

“They have seen that we must join you or perish. The forest has been invaded and we are being
forced out. HE tried to make us join his side and we refused. Many of our group paid for that with
their lives. I am here to pledge our allegiance with you Harry Potter. I hope for your sake that
the stars are wrong. Now I must go, we shall meet again at the end. Until then, good luck.” replied
Firenze in an equally quiet voice. Then he galloped away as quickly as he arrived. They stood there
for quite a while after they had gone, each lost in their own thoughts. Ron looked towards the
forest with worry. He had been in that forest too many times already and he was hoping that Harry
wasn’t going to suggest that they help the Centaurs. Not that he didn’t want to…more because he
thought it was almost certainly suicidal with all the unknown creatures in there. For Harry it
seemed like his fate was closing in upon him and he had to fight a sudden feeling of
claustrophobia. He grabbed Hermione’s hand and led her back towards the castle…he really didn’t
feel like walking anymore.

*************************************************************************************

They walked quietly through the halls of St Mungo’s and eventually came to a stop outside the
room that Neville’s parents stayed in. Neville’s grandmother ushered them in and closed the door
firmly behind her. Luna approached Mrs Longbottom and held out a paper card that was decorated with
snowmen and Christmas trees. To their surprise she opened it and when a loud voice shouted out ‘We
all want some Figgie pudding’ a small smile came to her face. Harry looked to the side and saw that
Hermione had a large smile on her face and she gave Mrs Longbottom a friendly hug. The woman pulled
away gently and pushed a sweet wrapper into her hand. Hermione went to thank her but her words died
in her throat as she saw a pleading look in Mrs Longbottom’s eyes. She frowned and thanked her
quietly. Mrs Longbottom then backed away and began to hand them out to everyone…but leaving the
neatest one for Neville. Hermione smiled at this scene and looked at the wrapper fondly before
sitting down on a plastic chair by the window. Susan went to join her and gave her hand a
comforting squeeze.

“Are you ok?” she asked quietly

“Yes…I think so…just have a lot on my mind.” replied Hermione

“You need to do something to occupy it then,” said Susan smiling as she smoothed out the
Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum wrapper. Hermione nodded and started to smooth out her own wrapper
carefully. She looked up to see Mrs Longbottom looking at her with a shaky smile on her face. She
tried to smile back but suddenly felt uneasy. The smile she was receiving didn’t seem even remotely
genuine. In fact it seemed almost beseeching. She looked at Neville’s mother for a moment
longer…then raised the wrapper she had been given into the air so that she could see it. Alice
Longbottom nodded frantically and her eyes seemed to widen though her smile never wavered. It
seemed like she wanted to say something but because she was a prisoner in her own mind, she was
unable to do so. Hermione’s own smile seemed to vanish suddenly and was replaced by something that
would have been clear to Harry and Ron but wasn’t that clear to Susan yet. She bent her head and
studied the wrapper for a few more minutes, biting on her bottom lip in concentration.

“Get me a quill and some parchment,” she said distractedly, still tracing the wrapper with her
finger. Susan went to Mrs Longbottom’s bedside table and picked up the requested items, then
returned them to Hermione. She put the parchment on her knee and wrote out the words:

*Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum*

Then, underneath that she wrote several different words that she scratched out and re wrote
several times. Almost ten minutes later she finally had a complete sentence written on the
parchment, which read:

*Gold Bribe Below St. Mungo’s*

Susan inhaled sharply and looked at Hermione in amazement. Hermione stood up quickly and walked
over to Mrs Longbottom.

“Alice,” she whispered, and then held up the wrapper. Neville’s mother nodded enthusiastically,
but to the outsider it simply looked like the dear woman was excited to give her visitors some
sweets. She felt momentary doubt…after all it was rather far fetched and Mrs Longbottom really was
out of her mind. But is she? She wondered and remembered what Susan had told her earlier that day
*‘...have more faith in your heart and don’t always listen to your head’* She nodded to Mrs
Longbottom and turned to leave the ward, with Susan and the rest of the confused crowd following
closely behind her.

“Where do you think we should go?” asked Susan

“Well…under St Mungo’s I suppose. Lets take the lift down to the lowest level and see where that
takes us.” said Hermione quickly. Harry and the rest of them caught up to her quickly, wondering
what on earth was going on. When Hermione quickly told them in a breathless voice, Neville stopped
in his tracks.

“You’re kidding right?” he asked, his face flushed with embarrassment “she’s nuts. It’s not her
fault she’s that way but it doesn’t make the truth any less. I think you might be going nuts
yourself Hermione.”

“How long has she been giving you those?” asked Hermione

“Ever since I can remember,” replied Neville rather stiffly

“And you don’t think that there’s a possibility that there’s more to it? How many other kinds of
sweets does she eat Neville? How many of those wrappers has she given you?” asked Hermione, her own
face flushed with excitement.

“Well…she’s only ever given me Drooble’s wrappers. But you can’t be serious Hermione! She
doesn’t know her right from her left, like she’s going to be able to figure out something like
that!” said Neville, sounding very embarrassed.

“There’s only one way to find out.” said Hermione, and then started to walk towards the lift.
Everyone except Neville got into it. He stood in the hallway looking at them uncertainly. The doors
started to close and with a final sigh he moved quickly towards them and pushed his way into the
small space just before the doors closed.

“Can’t believe the things you get me into,” he mumbled.

The lift carried them down to the basement of St Mungo’s and when the doors opened they quickly
stepped out into a long grey corridor. It looked like the floor, ceilings and walls were made of
old unfinished cement. There was hardly any light and their shadows were barely visible on the
walls. They moved together to form a tight circle and got their wands out. They then started
walking quickly and quietly up the narrow grey corridor, hoping to stay unnoticed. They walked for
a couple of minutes and then came across another dimly lit grey corridor that crossed the one they
were on.

“Should we go left, right, or straight ahead?” asked Ron quietly. He looked around, but the
corridors all looked the same. There was no way that they couldn’t get lost in this place.

“No idea,” said Hermione “maybe we should split up and whoever finds something sends their
patronus to the others.”

“I don’t like the idea of splitting up,” said Susan quietly “whenever you read books where the
characters split up they always get lost…or hurt…or killed.”

“We’ll be fine,” said Neville firmly “it’s a load of rubbish anyway. We’re only doing this to
satisfy Hermione’s curiosity.” Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and grabbed Harry’s hand to pull
him forward. Harry went all too willingly.

“We’ll go forward, you lot can divide up and go the other ways.” she said, then turned around
and strode forward.

“Well…” said Ron “probably not a good idea to piss Hermione off mate. She’s not usually wrong
about this stuff either. I’m going left I think, come on Luna. You can be my good luck and save me
if a mean Healer comes my way…” Luna giggled and followed Ron, her face flushing a deep red
colour.

“Come on,” said Susan rolling her eyes as she started to walk down the corridor that led to the
right.

Harry and Hermione walked forward through the long grey tunnel. It started to get smaller the
further they walked and the ceiling was only a couple of inches above Harry’s head. It was a good
thing Ron didn’t come this way, thought Harry, he’d be hunched over like an old man and complaining
for everyone to hear. He chuckled to himself and continued walking…only to stop at sudden voices
that sounded far too close for Harry’s comfort. He looked at Hermione’s panicked face and pulled
her back the way they had come. The voices were getting closer.

“Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. Just give them to him and he’ll leave us alone.” a
cold female voice said.

“I want out,” said a nervous male voice “I can’t do this anymore…it’s just not right.”

“Not right?” the cold voice exclaimed, “it’s taken you all these years to discover it’s not
right? Sometimes it’s not about what’s right and wrong. This is about your life. If you don’t give
him what he wants you will die,”

“We’ve done enough throughout the years. We’ve ruined enough lives…why do we need to give them
to him now? It’s not like they can do anything. They’re worse than dead,” said the timid mans
voice. Harry looked at Hermione with worry…they were almost upon them. Suddenly he felt his arm
being pulled to the right and saw that Hermione was pulling him towards a very small door in the
side of the corridor. He could have sworn it wasn’t there before. She opened it and pulled him
inside, then closed the door quietly. The voices went past them less than a minute later, and then
they were plunged into blessed silence. Hermione turned around and lit her wand. They were in a
very small and narrow hallway that was made of marble. They followed it in silence for about five
minutes, when they heard footsteps coming from their left hand side. They stopped and pushed
themselves against the wall, waiting with bated breath.

“Don’t like this,” said a voice Harry recognised all too well “should send our patronus to Harry
now…” Harry stepped out to see the faces of Ron, Susan, Luna and Neville all looking at him in
shock.

“Harry!” cried Susan “you scared the shit out of me!”

“Not literally I hope?” asked Luna dreamily.

“Did you find a door too?” asked Harry

“Yeah,” said Ron, looking around with unease “we saw one in the side of a wall and Loony here
thought it would be a good idea to investigate… we bumped into Susan and Neville here a few minutes
ago.”

“I think it’s a little too convenient that we all found a door that led us all to the same
hallway. Feels like a trap to me…” said Susan worriedly. Harry agreed but Hermione didn’t seem too
sure.

“Well it could be like the magic that the room of requirement in Hogwarts uses I suppose. If you
really want to find the gold a door appears…“ said Ron slowly.

“Do you really think that the people taking the bribes, the people behind this whole thing,
would be that stupid?” asked Susan.

“Well it’s not like too many people would be looking for a pile of gold underneath a hospital,”
said Hermione “I don’t think something like this would cross many sane people’s minds. But I also
agree with Susan, they must have some kind of protection around this place which means that not
only is our time here going to have to be short…but we’ll also have to be on our guard.”

They continued to walk forward down the small tunnel, expecting the trap to be sprung at any
moment. After a while they saw a small wooden door ahead and walked cautiously towards it. Hermione
pointed her wand at it and it opened with a loud creak that caused them all to leap backwards
unexpectedly and Susan to roll her eyes and mutter-

“Just like in the bloody books,”

The sight before them made them breathe in deeply. The small wooden door led to a dusty room
that was filled to the ceiling with gold galleons. Ron gasped in amazement and walked forwards as
if mesmerised. Hermione walked quickly through the piles of gold to a small desk in the corner of
the room. Filing cabinets and old cobwebs surrounded it. She looked around and opened the drawer to
one of the cabinets, which seemed to have endless files in it. She dug through it frantically for
what seemed like quite a while but was actually only about twenty seconds. She pulled out a cream
coloured file that looked like it had been through the mill a few times. Written on the front were
the words:

*Frank and Alice Longbottom*

She put it on the desk and opened it, swiftly scanning the contents. After a few minutes she
shoved the file into her robes and rushed towards the door.

“We have to get out now,” she said quickly.

“What is it?” asked Harry worriedly

“The death eaters have been paying St Mungo’s to keep patients sick. Some of them can be cured,
like Neville’s parents,” she said quickly

“But why?” asked Harry “why would they waste their time trying to keep patients sick?”

“I don’t know!” said Hermione anxiously “All I know is that Neville’s parents can get better,
they just haven’t been able to!”

“But why would the death eaters go to those lengths? Why wouldn’t they just kill the patients
they wanted out of their way?” asked Ron

“Obviously only a few people in St Mungo’s are involved in this. Why attract all that attention
when slipping them a little gold is all it will take? Besides, they didn’t have the guts to act
openly before now. Now that Riddle is here to support them they’re not giving gold anymore. You
heard those people talking earlier on Harry. They want the Longbottom’s or people will die. I
imagine that the Longbottom‘s are only the first to go. Goodness knows what they want with the
other people.”

“We have to get my mum and dad out of here,” said Neville worriedly. There was a loud crash
behind them and a pale witch with greasy brown hair and a very long face came in the door on the
other end of the room and stopped at the sight of them. She had her wand out and was pointing it at
them menacingly, but Neville had already ducked behind a large pile of gold to get out of her
vision. She looked around frantically for him, but didn’t get too far. A jet of red light hit her
in the chest as Neville shouted-

*“Stupefy!”* The woman fell to the floor with a loud thud. Hermione quickly put her in a
full body bind, and then the group ran out of the room and into the small marble corridor as fast
as they could. As Harry and the rest of the group neared the intersection where they had met not
too long ago they heard the hurried footsteps of people approaching. Two wizards were running
towards them, one from the left and one from the right. They ran forward as Harry cast a shield
charm on them, and Harry could feel the spells rebounding off of it. Luna and Ron then whirled
around and sent a few hexes at the wizards. One of them fell down; the other continued to run after
them. One against six wasn’t really too much of a problem, and Hermione shouted-

*“Petrificus totalus,”* and the remaining wizard was no longer a problem. They ran quickly
out of the marble tunnel and through the winding grey corridors. Once they reached the lift
Hermione breathlessly pushed the button to take them to the floor where Neville’s parents were and
Luna quickly pulled off her shoe and mumbled-

*“Portus,”*

“That’s illegal,” said Hermione with a grin. The lift dinged and came to a stop. They darted out
through the doors and ran into the ward where Neville’s grandmother was peacefully sipping a cup of
tea and chatting to Neville’s parents. Naturally seeing her grandson and his friends’ tear across
the ward ruined the peaceful mood, but she had little time to dwell on it. Neville grasped her arm
and held on to his mothers’ hand. Harry rushed over and grabbed onto Neville’s dad. Luna put her
shoe onto the bed and they all leant in and put their hands on it, Neville’s parents needing the
guidance from Neville and Harry. There was a familiar tugging in Harry’s navel and he found himself
standing outside of Grimmauld place. He breathed deeply and looked around him. Neville’s
grandmother looked absolutely livid, so she was the first to be ushered into the house.

After they got into the house Hermione decided to contact the Weasley’s and her parents to let
them know where they were. Susan was making everyone a cup of tea and Luna was making sure that
everyone was comfortable, especially Neville who was extremely shaken up. Ron had sent his patronus
to other Order members so that they were informed about what had happened and could act
accordingly. The witches and wizards involved in the bribe would have to be taken care of, and
there was undoubtedly a good use for all that money now that the banks had closed down and no one
had access to their own funds. Harry sat down at the kitchen table to think and noticed a letter
addressed to him. He opened it with a smile on his face, knowing who it was from already. It was a
letter from Hagrid asking them to come to Romania the next day. Ron came into the kitchen and
looked over Harry’s shoulder.

“But tomorrow’s Boxing Day! Christmas day was already busy enough; you’d think we would be able
to relax on Boxing Day. But oh no! We have to go to Romania…” Harry laughed and gratefully accepted
a cup of tea from Susan. After today he really needed a cup of tea…

*************************************************************************************



32. Norbert's return
--------------------

A/N- Hello everyone! Sorry I’ve taken so long to update but I have had the worst week imaginable
and didn’t have the time. But I do now! Thanks to everyone for reading along and reviewing. I
especially want to thank anyone that has been reading for a while and is just starting to review.
Writing this story is a thankless job and it takes so much time and effort…I really do appreciate
the comments you leave because it shows that it’s not all for nothing and that people do actually
want to read more. I also want to thank Mulder again! Without her I would probably be in the loony
bin by now. Oh and one last point to make (then I’ll shut up I promise!) a lot of these words are
spelt differently because I was raised in the UK and I can’t get the hang of American spellings. So
sorry! I would change my ways but it’s too much hassle! Thanks again, hope you enjoy the
chapter!

**Islanzadi** J

It was six in the morning on Boxing Day, and Ginny Weasley once again found herself walking up
the old staircase. She moved quietly, wincing every time the stair creaked. She wasn’t entirely
sure what was making her come up here, all she really knew was that she didn’t want to be with the
rest of them when they were getting ready to go on another great adventure. She huffed quietly to
herself and continued up the stairs until she finally reached the door once more. She hesitated for
a split second…then pushed herself in, holding her chin high. Malfoy was lying on the bed, and sat
up very quickly when she entered.

“Not you again,” he said scathingly, and then flopped back down on the bed. He was getting a bit
sick of her visits. She had come to see him twice again yesterday, and not only did she not give
him any valuable information but she was disgustingly nice to him.

“I brought you some breakfast,” she murmured, putting it gently on the bedside table.

“I don’t want anything your Mother made,” he said with a look of distaste splashed across his
face.

“Fair enough,” she said nonchalantly and picked up the plate and headed to the door. He
contemplated just letting her go and standing his ground…but he had refused to eat yesterday and
now he was paying the price. He hated himself when he quickly said-

“Wait a minute Weasel. Give me that food…”

He wanted to vomit when she smiled happily and put the plate in front of him again. He couldn’t
wait until he was out of here and had the upper hand. He felt completely humiliated at his
situation and everyone was going to pay. Especially her, coming in here and acting like a saint
just to make herself feel better. He ate the breakfast quickly, turning his back to her so that she
wouldn’t see how hungry he was. He may be in an awful situation but he still had his pride.

“Are you finished?” asked Ginny when he finally turned around

“No actually,” replied Malfoy “I planned on eating the imaginary food next. I imagine it tastes
a lot better than the last meal.”

“You’re such a tosser,” she said, and then grabbed the plate with a roll of her eyes. She was
about to walk towards the door and leave when he decided to have a little fun with her. After all
it had been dreadfully dull holed up in such a nasty room.

“Why aren’t you downstairs with the wonderful Potter and his pitiful followers? I can hear the
racket from up here, taking a little trip somewhere?” said Malfoy, his eyes glittering. She turned
around and smirked.

“I’m not down there because I’m up here you idiot. As for what they’re doing it’s really none of
your business,” she said casually.

“So Potter decided to shag someone else, and you thought you’d come up here and try to make
friends with me? As if I would actually want to associate with something like you!” said Malfoy
nastily.

“Why? Does it bother you if someone is nice to you Malfoy? I thought it would. I expect you
haven’t had many people be nice to you. Look at your parents, they are as dark as can be. How can
parents that support Voldemort possibly love their child? I think that even they were horrid to you
so that’s all you’ve learnt.” replied Ginny so casually it was as if she were commenting on the
weather.

“What complete shit you talk Weasel. I just don’t want you thinking that you’re important enough
to speak to me. I may not be in an advantageous situation, but I won’t stoop so low as to converse
with you,” snapped Malfoy, his face beginning to flush in anger.

“I heard that children are what their parents made them. If you parents criticise you, you learn
to be critical. If they insult and degrade you then you treat others the same way. You think you’re
better than everyone Malfoy, but you’re just pathetic. You’re a stupid bully because your parents
bullied you. You’ll never know what love is; you’ll never know what it’s like to have a true
friend. You’ll miss out on everything life has to offer because you’re a stuck up nasty little
snob. Look where it’s gotten you, following a wizard that murders for pleasure. He would kill you
just as easily as a muggle. You know that right?” said Ginny, but was interrupted with Malfoy
shouting-

“SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU NASTY BITCH!” Ginny continued as if she hadn’t heard him.

“You’re a weak fool Malfoy. You try and act like such a hard nut, but you’re just a bloody wimp
deep down. You couldn’t kill Dumbledore, you were too scared. But rather than admit that and face
up to it like a man, you ran back to your fellow death eaters. I expect you’ve had plenty of
practice killing now though, eh? Heard enough innocent people screaming yet, or do you miss it when
you’re locked away in this room?’

“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” shouted Malfoy, furiously getting off the bed to attack her, only to
be thrown back down again by the unseen protective shield in the room. It was at that moment that
Susan walked into the room with a plate of food for Malfoy. Needless to say she was surprised at
the scene before her.

“What are you doing in here Ginny?” she asked in a shocked voice

“I brought him breakfast. I was just having a little chat with him before I left,” she said
defiantly, though her face flushed slightly.

“Your Mum sent me up here with his food. You’re not allowed anywhere near here. You know that,”
said Susan angrily.

“Shut up Susan,” snapped Ginny

“I heard what you were saying to him too. You have no right to judge anyone on his or her
behaviour until you sort your own out. You have been nothing but a childish little brat since I’ve
been here. I know it’s hard to let go of your young crushes; it’s even harder to let go of
obsessions. But there’s a time to grow up Ginny. I suggest you do it before you lose the respect
and love of the people that care about you. Apologise to Hermione, it’s not her fault that she fell
in love with Harry nor that he returned her feelings. She misses you and still wants to be your
friend, which is a damn sight more than you deserve after attacking her like that. I’m going to go
downstairs and pretend to your parents that I didn’t see you in here, and for God’s sake grow up
and don’t let me catch you up here again,” Susan said in a tone that was verging on furiousness.
She then turned around and stormed out of the room as quickly as she had entered. Ginny stared at
the door, her face extremely red.

“You attacked the Mudblood?!” said Malfoy, rubbing his hands together with glee.

“I’m not proud of it, and don’t call her that,” snapped Ginny

“As much as I hate Boner she did raise a good point. If you’ve been a total bitch you have no
right to tell me what I need to fix. Look in the mirror and work on yourself.” said Malfoy, a large
smile appearing on his face. She was looking very red in the face and angry, this was getting quite
fun now that he was back in control.

“At least I can admit when I’m wrong. I’m not proud of my actions and I can see my faults quite
clearly,” retorted Ginny, her eyes blazing with anger.

“If that’s the case then why haven’t you run to the little Mudblood and begged her forgiveness?
You’re too proud to beg that’s why. You’re not a great pure blood, but you’re still better than a
Mudblood by any means and you shouldn’t ever grovel to something like that,” said Malfoy
smirking.

“You’re a piece of work you know that? You’re nothing but what your parents and other dark
wizards have made you. You can be sure that I will do the right thing Malfoy, because I value
things other than my own skin. But you? I pity you more than anyone I think I’ve ever met. If you
live you’re going to be unbelievably lonely. You can’t be truly powerful because you can’t bully
everyone into following you. You can’t bully someone to love you either. The worst thing is…you
won’t listen to a word I’m saying. You’ll never change; the best I can hope for is that on your
dying day you’ll feel some kind of regret for the life you’ve lived. On that day Malfoy, you’ll
think of my face and how I tried to be nice to you for once in your life. You’ll think of my face
and wonder what would have happened if you had listened to me. You’ll think of my face and wish
that you had someone that loved you to think about. Instead you’re going to be stuck thinking of
me…and that gives me great pleasure.” finished Ginny, her face red and her breathing laboured. She
turned around to storm out of the room and caught Malfoy’s quick response of-

“I wouldn’t be thinking of something like you on my dying day,” but it sounded sad and lame,
even to him.

*************************************************************************************

Hermione and the rest of the group were having a cup of tea and waiting for Harry’s arrival
before they set off to Romania. She looked at the clock and nibbled on her lip anxiously. Their
portkey was set to take them to Charlie’s house in ten minutes and there was still no sign of
Harry. After the death of Lupin and Tonks, his Aunt Petunia was perfectly fine staying in the house
temporarily, but early this morning she had apparently changed her mind. Harry had left to try and
talk some sense into her; after all it was still very unsafe for her to be returning to the muggle
world when Voldemort was still at large. She had hoped that things would be taken care of rather
quickly, but evidently Petunia was proving to be quite a problem.

The minutes ticked by and the rest of the group was shuffling around and looking at the clock
repeatedly. Finally the front door swung open and a very harassed looking Harry entered, dragging
an irate Aunt Petunia behind him. Hermione rolled her eyes in frustration as the woman screeched
-

“This place is absolutely disgusting! I refuse to stay here, let go of my arm this minute!”
Harry just closed the front door and ignored his aunt as he walked quickly into the living room to
join the rest of the group. Petunia looked like she might explode at Harry’s nonchalance but was
whisked away by Mrs Weasley before anything could be said. He looked at the clock and quickly
dropped a kiss on Hermione’s cheek, then grabbed his rucksack and swung it swiftly onto his
shoulders.

“So it went quite well then,” chortled Ron, before putting on his own rucksack. They all stepped
together quickly and grabbed a hold of the Portkey, an old newspaper, and in less than a minute
they were being pulled away from Grimmauld place. Hermione thought that travelling by Portkey was
quite a risky business for the stomach for any witch or wizard, but she had a much harder time
holding onto her breakfast than usual. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think of nothing but
the blessed feeling of her feet on solid ground.

*************************************************************************************

Harry opened his eyes when he felt himself finally standing still, and looked at his
surroundings in amazement. In front of them was a stone house, made of large grey slabs that seemed
unbelievably drab looking in comparison to the crisp clean white snow beneath their feet. As he
looked up he could see huge mountains not too far away, they seemed to loom ominously over the
house that now seemed incredibly small. He turned around slowly to see that they were almost
surrounded by mountains, though the ones behind them were quite a bit away. He carried on staring
at the mountains in the distance, almost forgetting that he was with other people. Suddenly a loud
roar brought him out of his reverie and he turned around very quickly, trying not to fall over his
feet in his haste and shock. The last time he had heard a roar like that it had been in the
Triwizard tournament, and he had sort of hoped it would be the last time he would ever get that
close to a dragon ever again.

“Shit!” shouted Susan, not succeeding in not falling over. Luna started to laugh hysterically at
Susan’s sudden visit to the snow and pretty soon they were all trying to calm her down, the roar of
the dragon almost forgotten. Almost.

“Alrigh’ there ‘Arry!” came a loud booming voice. Harry turned around to see the large figure of
Hagrid walking effortlessly towards him through all the snow. Harry let out a laugh and began to
make his way quickly through the snow (well…as quickly as one could who isn’t use to snow that’s as
deep as your knees). The moment he reached Hagrid he was pulled into a bone-crushing hug, and was
only momentarily allowed to breathe when Hagrid opened his arms quickly for Ron and Hermione too.
Then he hugged them all to the point of unconsciousness.

“I think you might be suffocating them,” said Susan in a joking voice, though sounding slightly
breathless from the trek through the snow.

“Just make sure you don’t squeeze Hermione too hard,” said Luna vaguely “we don’t want her-”

“UM! We don’t want her fragile bones broken. Girls can be much more delicate than blokes you
know,” interrupted Susan briskly whilst giving Luna a reproving look. Luna smiled dreamily and
turned to walk towards two men making their way towards them. One of them had very vivid red hair.
Hermione pulled away from Hagrid with a rather red face, then she turned around quickly and began
to walk after Luna, her stride a little swifter than usual. Harry and Ron looked at each other, and
then shrugged their shoulders in confusion.

“I don’t think it matters how old you get,” said Ron in a mock wise voice “women are always
confusing. My poor dad still doesn’t get my mum half the time. If he hasn’t had any luck in at
least twenty odd years then I doubt we ever will.”

“Well we don’ need ter talk about them! Come an’ look behin’ ‘ere! It’s amazin’!” said Hagrid
excitedly, then turned around and walked around the side of the stone house. Harry looked at Ron
worriedly; he had an idea what this was leading to.

“Why don’t you go ahead,” said Ron casually “I have to go and have a chat with my brother. Long
time no see and all that.”

“How convenient,” said Harry with a grin, and then turned around to follow Hagrid, though at a
much slower pace. The stone house looked quite big from the front, but it was much longer than it
was wide. After at least five minutes of walking Harry finally saw a large metal fence that was at
least a hundred feet high. When the house was finally behind him he gasped when he realised that
the metal fence surrounded a huge paddock. It started by the back of Charlie’s house, but seemed to
go right into the mountains. Harry strained his neck to try and see as far back as he could. He was
pretty sure that there were enclosures for dragons back there, but how many he couldn’t guess. He
wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to. There seemed to be large stone caves dotted around the huge
area, where Harry was confident that the dragons lived. There was another deafening roar and Harry
watched in amazement as Hagrid came walking out of one of the caves towards the edge if the giant
paddock. He had a thick and heavy silver chain in his hand, and he was leading a huge dragon into
the middle of the enclosure. The dragon looked enormous and Harry didn’t realise he was holding his
breath until his chest felt uncomfortably warm and tight.

“Oh. My. Goodness.” said the voice of an amazed Hermione somewhere behind him. He turned around
and nodded, not too sure of what to say.

“How can he be in the same area as that thing and not be dead? It hasn’t got a muzzle on or
anything. Do you think they’ve drugged it?” she continued, inching closer to the metal fence and
gripping her wand tightly.

“I doubt your wand is going to be able to do much against a fully grown Norwegian Ridgeback,”
said another voice in a matter of fact tone. Harry turned to look and saw that Charlie, and finally
Ron, had decided to join them. Luna, Susan and Neville were following close behind. Neville was
looking a little paler than usual.

“You don’t mean…” said Harry, his voice filled with awe.

“Yeah I do. That’s your old pal Norbert,” replied Charlie with a grin.

“So do you think that’s why Hagrid can handle him like that?” asked Harry “because he was there
when he hatched?”

“Exactly,” said Charlie, his voice sounding business like now “dragon’s aren’t loyal creatures.
It’s very hard to control them. The only real way to control a dragon is by brute force, but you
really don’t want to do that because they’re very intelligent creatures. One slip up and you’re
dead. They even seek revenge. That’s the only thing we have against the few dragon’s Voldemort has
nicked. They want to kill him and all the death eaters as much as us and the second they get the
chance they will,”

“Well I should certainly hope we don’t try and control dragon’s like that!” said Susan angrily
“they’re still animals and shouldn’t be treated so brutally!”

“Except they will kill you with a single breath, whereas a fluffy little rabbit won’t do that,”
said Ron in a joking voice, but stopped quickly at Susan’s glowering.

“So that’s why we’re here?” asked Hermione with narrowed eyes. “We were all there for Norbert’s
hatching. Do you think that he might let us, erm, live if we go near him?”

“Well I wasn’t there for that!” said Neville quickly “nor were Susan and Luna. So that means we
can just watch right?”

“Yes,” responded Charlie lightly “and you can even help clean out his cave while these three try
to work with Norbert. Dragons can be quite messy you know.” Ron, Harry, and Hermione started
laughing at Neville’s face and then started to follow Charlie down to the paddock.

“Wait!” cried Susan, and then rushed towards Hermione. “I need to talk to Hermione quickly.”

“I’ll be fine,” replied Hermione shortly

“But-” began Susan again, only to be cut off by Hermione.

“Absolutely fine. Drop it.” she said, then turned around and walked quickly to the metal gates
where Charlie was waiting. The boys exchanged another confused look and then continued to follow
after Hermione.

The metal gates swung open with a creak and Charlie let them in, and then closed the doors
firmly behind them. Ron noticed he was keeping himself well out of the enclosure and couldn’t help
but feel a little anxious. They looked at each other warily as they slowly began to walk towards
Hagrid and Norbert. Hagrid had a huge beaming smile on his face, which was actually quite unnerving
considering the kind of Care of Magical Creatures classes they had had to endure. Harry noticed
that the chain seemed to be pulled quite taut, and Hagrid’s knuckles seemed quite white underneath
all his hair. He swallowed quickly and carried on walking gradually towards it.

“If I’d have known this is what we would have been doing, I might have decided not to see little
Norbert hatching all those years ago,” chortled Ron nervously as he reached for his wand in his
robe. Norbert let out a screech of rage and twisted his black head in an attempt to get away.
Hermione jumped a little and gripped onto her wand tighter. Harry quickly pulled out his own wand,
though he wasn’t too confident in their ability to take down a dragon. Not to mention it might make
Charlie and Hagrid a little upset. Norbert bucked against Hagrid once again, and his tail thrashed
angrily. There was a loud thud as it smacked onto the ground. Harry only just noticed that it
wasn’t at all snowy in the paddock. Then he remembered the fire. Goodness knows how many dragons
breathed fire onto the ground everyday; it wasn’t a very reassuring thought. As if Hermione had
been thinking the same thing she suddenly said-

“What if it tries to breath fire on us? What should spell should we use? I was thinking of
glacialis, I don’t want to hurt the poor thing.”

“Hurt it? I’m pretty sure that we’ll be the ones getting hurt Hermione,” replied Ron. Harry
would have laughed if he hadn’t thought he was going to be burned beyond recognition at any
moment.

“All three of us can do it at once. That should be enough. I hope.” said Harry quickly, noticing
that Hagrid was now losing his grip on the ground and Norbert was starting to move towards them.
Hagrid shouted something to them, but at that moment Norbert let out another roar. Harry could
definitely see smoke escaping his nostrils in small wisps. Maybe it would be a good idea if they
went back and tried again later. He was about to voice his opinion to Ron and Hermione when Hagrid
was knocked to his feet and the chain smashed to the ground. The large black dragon was rushing
towards them. The ground seemed to vibrate with its footfalls, his wings arched high up into the
air and they buffeted with the speed of the wind. Its tail was thrashing wildly and it suddenly
opened its jaws. Harry raised his wand just as he saw a bright orange glow start to escape
Norbert’s mouth. He shouted-

*“GLACIALIS!”* and was relieved to hear Ron and Hermione doing the same thing. The orange
flame changed into ice for less than five seconds, then the ice suddenly exploded into the air. The
sound of ice chips hitting the metal fence echoed around the enclosure. Norbert stood directly in
front of them, and if it was possible for a dragon to look shocked then he almost had that
expression. Harry, Ron and Hermione held eye contact with Norbert, and all of them were expecting
another attack. To their surprise Norbert simply stared at them. Something in the back of Harry’s
head was telling him not to blink, not to look away. He knew that if you broke eye contact with a
dog it thought it was the master rather than it’s owner. But he also remembered his few trips to
the zoo with the Dursleys and you were definitely not supposed to do that with certain apes. Dudley
had made quite a few of them angry on one particular trip, Harry still thought back on that day
rather fondly. If you held eye contact with an ape then it seemed like you were trying to challenge
them. He only hoped that Norbert didn’t think they were trying to challenge him…he doubted very
much that they would survive an attack being this close to him. Harry continued to stare into
Norbert’s bright yellow eyes, hoping that the others were doing the same. Finally, after what
seemed like an eternity, Norbert looked away. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and watched as
Norbert lowered himself to the ground. His wings, which had previously been held out in an angry
stance, folded in on themselves. He sniffed deeply and let out a plume of smoke, then fixed his
yellow eyes upon them again. This time the gaze didn’t seem to be challenging, it almost seemed
inviting. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, and was relieved to see that they too seemed to be
breathing heavily. There was a limit to how courageous a Gryffindor could be, and frankly if you
weren’t a little scared of a dragon you were downright foolish. He turned away and slowly started
to walk towards Norbert with his hand out stretched. He shuffled forward little by little until he
was finally by Norbert’s neck. He was all too aware of what a vulnerable position he was in. He
slowly lowered his hand to Norbert’s neck and instinctively held his breath as it made contact. The
black scales were beautiful from a distance but up close they were magnificent. They were shiny and
seemed to have a slight dark purple sheen to them. The scales felt as hard as diamonds and were
incredibly rough. Harry could imagine that if you weren’t gentle you could easily cut yourself on
them. He slowly stroked in a downward motion, still holding his breath. Norbert let out another
plume of smoke, but his eyes half closed and he lowered his head. Harry let out his breath and
slowly continued to run his hands down the neck of the dragon. Ron and Hermione slowly walked over
to Norbert’s other side and they too began stroking him. Harry raised his head and met their
eyes.

“Guess it was a good thing we were there when he hatched,” he said quietly whilst smiling. They
smiled in return and then the smiles turned into outright laughter as the dragon opened his mouth
to yawn loudly, letting out several plumes of smoke as if in agreement. They trio and Hagrid spent
the rest of the morning stroking Norbert and talking to him. Neville, Susan and Luna sat and
watched them, amazed that humans were bonding with a dragon. After a while they were led away by
Charlie’s co worker, a heavily built man with a moustache named John, to clean out the dragon’s
cave. Charlie went inside to have a cup of tea and to think. He had known for a while that dragons
showed loyalty only to those that were present at their hatching. Now the Order had three dragons
that did not need to be controlled by brute force. He only hoped it would be enough.

*************************************************************************************

The group sat around a large round wooden table that evening, and were very glad to be finally
eating their dinner. Harry ate with great gusto and was a match even for Ron. The only person that
wasn’t hungry was Hermione. She only managed a few bread rolls and some soup. Harry, Ron and
Hermione had spent the afternoon and early evening with Norbert. They had managed to walk beside
him, put a chain around his neck (though he didn’t like it) and actually sit on him for short
periods of time. Tomorrow their plan was to continue with the constant contact and hopefully if
everything progressed well then they would he would allow them to fly on him. Neville, Susan and
Luna looked extremely dishevelled. They had not only cleaned out Norbert’s cave, but several of the
others while the dragons had been out hunting in the mountains. Out of spite Susan had refused to
have a wash before dinner. She argued that if Charlie and John were mean enough to make them clean
up ‘dragon’s crap’, then they could deal with the consequences. Neville attempted to point out that
this might be the reason she had never had a boyfriend, but was elbowed sharply in the ribs before
he even managed to finish his sentence. Susan could be funny; Susan could be caring and even quite
logical. But if you crossed her then she would make sure you lived to regret it. She found it
extremely amusing that the main hallway into Charlie’s house stank like the caves, and the only
reason she didn’t go into Charlie’s and John’s room to waft the smell about a bit was because Luna
stopped her and made her feel rather guilty. Although the men were acting put out by Susan’s
behaviour they actually did find it rather amusing. It was nice to have a bit of feistiness in the
house, even if it was a bit disruptive.

The meal was eaten in silence due to everyone’s hunger. After about ten minutes the food was
cleared off of almost every plate, and John got up to make them all tea. Luna offered to help but
the rest of them made sure she didn’t leave the table. The tea she made was absolutely awful. Harry
blanched at the thought of what she had to have put in it to make it so awful…after all it was only
a tea bad, sugar and milk. How badly could you mess that up?

“Interestin’ day, eh?” commented Hagrid whilst leaning back on his chair and rubbing his very
full looking stomach.

“Yeah that‘s one way of putting it,” said Ron, leaning back in his chair too, looking extremely
happy and content.

“So…now that we’ve got the pleasantries out of the way how about a nice chat?” asked Susan with
a grin.

“With you?” asked Charlie, with a look of fake consideration written upon his face “nah, I think
we’ve had enough of your voice for one day.” Everyone except Susan laughed; she simply folded her
arms and raised her eyebrows in fake annoyance.

“Well I think a conversation would be lovely,” said Hermione, receiving a grin from Susan “I
would like to know where we are, how many dragons you keep here, and where my bed is. I’m
exhausted.” Charlie grinned and waited to answer until John had brought the tea in. When they were
all comfortable (and after John had made Charlie run to the larder to grab some biscuits to go with
the tea) they finally started.

“Right then Mione,” said Charlie but was quickly interrupted-

“Don’t call me that. My name is Hermione, that sounds ridiculous!” she said scornfully

“Wha’ ‘bout ‘ermy? Thas wha’ Grawp calls yeh!” said Hagrid with a big smile.

“No,” she said shortly

“I think Mione is cute,” said Harry in a teasing voice

“I prefer Hermy myself,” commented Ron with a grin.

“You have no idea how close I am to hexing all of you. Now where are we Charlie? Or should I
call you Cha-Cha?” retorted Hermione

“Ooh, Touché! But Cha-Cha is a little feminine for such a figure of manhood like myself,”
replied Charlie but was met with hysterical laughter “All right all right! I get the point; don’t
split your ribs or anything. To answer your first question we’re near the town of Baia Mare. The
mountains you see surrounding us are called the Carpathian Mountains and we’re actually in the
middle of the-”

“Transylvanian plateau,” interrupted Hermione “so how many vampires do you get around here then?
Dracula’s castle isn’t too far away from here is it? Isn’t it a bit nerve wracking living here? I
heard that the Romanian vampires were awfully traditional and blood thirsty, not like the civilised
ones in Britain. Well…as civilised as a vampire can be I suppose.”

“Well there used to be a lot of vampires walking the streets of Baia Mare at night, more in
Oradea. But that was when I first started working out here. The numbers started dwindling a while
ago and I haven’t seen any in the last three years,” replied Charlie, though it was a bit muffled
because he was trying to eat a biscuit at the same time.

“It’s a bit convenient that they’ve suddenly stopped putting in an appearance now that Riddle is
back is power,” said Neville quietly “do you think they might be joining him?”

“That’s what we’ve been thinking too. But so far we haven’t found any evidence to support that
theory, so the best we can do is be prepared. Mad Eye took a few of my men into Transylvania to
look around and see if they can find out any information. I haven’t heard back from them for a
while, but I know that Moody was planning on gathering defensive weapons just in case. There are
only a few local towns where you can get weapons that actually work.” said Charlie, suddenly
sounding very tired.

“I want to know what happened to Norbert’s fire,” said Luna dreamily “It froze very quickly, but
then it exploded. What do you think caused it?”

“Maybe sheer will power?” asked Neville “maybe because it’s those three and they work really
well together.”

“No,” said Susan “it’s more than that. It was almost as if the wands made it happen.” They all
sat and ate their biscuits quietly for a moment, thinking about what it could be. Hermione suddenly
put her teacup down a little harder than anticipated. She mended it quickly while she started
talking in a rush-

“Harry…your wand core is a Phoenix feather. Ron, what’s yours?”

“Erm, unicorn tail hair. Why?” asked Ron looking perplexed

“Mine is dragon heartstring. They are the three most popular cores that Ollivander specialised
in. Obviously when they are used together at the same time and they are concentrating on the same
thing the magical power is increased.” said Hermione, her face looking pleased.

“That’s why Ollivander went missing. Riddle wanted to know what happened to our wands back in
the graveyard, but he also wanted to know its weaknesses. I wonder what he’s told them…” said Harry
seriously.

“I’m tired,” said Hermione suddenly, and she looked like she might suddenly fall asleep right
there.

“All right,” said Charlie “I’ll show you to your rooms. Boys in one, girls in another. The other
blokes that work with the dragons take up all the other rooms. They’re out dealing with a rogue
horntail but I expect they’ll be back tomorrow.” He led them all up a long stone staircase and into
a wide hallway. They walked for about a minute until they came across one door that was engraved
with a large tree. He opened the door and led Harry, Ron and Neville into a large room with three
comfy and inviting looking beds. Their bags had already been brought up, so Charlie bid them
goodnight and turned to show the girls their rooms. The door opposite to the boys led to the girls’
bedroom. The set up was the same, but the colour scheme different. Hermione flopped happily onto
her bed and felt herself drifting off almost at once. Charlie quickly pointed out the bathroom to
Susan, and then rushed to the door before she could retaliate.

“Aren’t you going to get ready for bed Hermione?” asked Luna sleepily

“No. Fine. Sleeping.” replied Hermione shortly.

“Ok,” said Luna “so do you think that’s why you, Harry and Ron have always been so powerful
together? Because your wands have different cores that work well when their magic is combined?”

“What?” asked Hermione, sitting up sleepily “no that’s not it at all. You make it sound so
disgustingly textbook! We have always been great together because we care about each other.”

“Well-” began Luna, but was interrupted by Hermione’s angry voice.

“No! I don’t believe this! Harry, Ron and I are friends. The best of friends. It’s that bond
that has made us so strong. It’s the love we have for one another that makes us a formidable team.
Love, friendship, trust…they are all things that we have built up over the years. I know that you
and Harry and Susan have this wonderful ‘heirs of the founders’ thing going on, but it doesn’t
compare to what Harry, Ron and I share! You three have a power because you were born into it, us
three have a power because we made it ourselves by the feelings we have for each other!” It looked
like she wanted to say more, but suddenly her eyes welled up with tears and she stormed out of the
room. Susan emerged from the bathroom and sighed deeply.

“Did you have to say something like that to her when she’s so hormonal?” she asked while rolling
her eyes.

“She needed to remember that, it’s going to be important. If I had told her that nicely she
would have just put it down to me being crazy old Luna. She had to figure it out for herself,” said
Luna vaguely. Luna smiled gently and sat down next to Luna on her bed.

“She’ll understand you eventually Luna. She’ll open up to you soon enough. You two are very
different people, and the things that you both refuse to see block the things you have in common.
You too Luna. You sometimes throw all logic to the wind in favour of the unproven and possibly
dangerous alternative. You could both learn a lot from each other, and be very good friends. We all
could. But a real a deep friendship takes time. That’s something we all have to wait for,” said
Susan softly. Luna nodded and leaned into Susan for a comforting hug. They heard another door
shutting loudly and knew from the hurried footsteps that it was Harry rushing after whoever had
left in a hurry.

*************************************************************************************

Harry could see deep footprints in the snow and he followed them for about fifteen minutes until
he came across a small wooden bench surrounded by snow-covered trees. The trees were sparse in this
area, but growing steadily thicker the closer they got to the mountains. It was on this bench where
he saw Hermione sitting, but not crying like he had expected. She was staring at the floor in deep
concentration and barely looked up when he sat down. He put his arms around her and pulled her
close to him. He’d been longing to do that all day. They sat in silence holding each other for some
time before either of them spoke. It was Harry who broke the silence.

“I thought you were tired,” he said softly

“I am. I’m so very tired,” she sighed and buried her head into his chest. He smiled and kissed
the top of her head.

“So why are you sitting out here, in the freezing cold late at night? Doesn’t seem like a good
place to sleep to me,” he said jokingly.

“I just lost my temper with Luna. I had to get out, my head’s hurting so much with all this
thinking,” replied Hermione weakly.

“You’re sore from thinking too much? Surely not?” joked Harry

“There’s too much to think about Harry,” she said sadly “and I’m just too tired to do it.”

“What’s wrong Hermione?” he asked anxiously “you’ve been acting really strange lately.”

“I could say the same for you. You know we’ve never had secrets from each other Harry. Not
serious ones anyway. Our friendship has always been based on trust and love. But it hasn’t been
that way lately and I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. We love each other Harry. We have more
with each other than we ever have before but I feel so distant from you now and it hurts me.” she
said, her voice trembling from unshed tears.

“This is new for us and it’s not the best of times for us to start a relationship,” began Harry
but was interrupted by Hermione’s shrill voice-

“I don’t care how new it is Harry! I don’t care that we started this relationship in the middle
of all this! If we can’t trust each other whom can we trust? If we can’t be totally honest with
each other then our love is damaged. Don’t you see that Harry? It’s practically over before it’s
begun! I don’t want to spoil our relationship by us keeping secrets. I won’t let us ruin what we
have by doing something so stupid.” Harry was silent for a moment before he finally spoke.

“You know I’m only keeping secrets from you because I don’t want to see you hurt. I want to
protect you Hermione. I love you, surely you can’t blame me for that?” he asked softly.

“No,” she said sighing, “no I can’t. But you always think that you know best Harry. You try to
protect and save people without thinking what they might want. If I wanted to be safe all the time
I wouldn’t have become your friend in the first place. If I couldn’t handle everything you had to
do then I wouldn’t have allowed myself to get involved with you. I certainly wouldn’t have let
myself fall in love with you. But I can handle those things Harry, and I want to. I have never
wanted you to go through anything alone and that’s truer now than it ever was. So you need to trust
that I can take care of myself. You need to trust that I can be emotionally strong enough for all
of this, because if I wasn’t I would have left a long time ago,” He stared at the snow covered
ground for quite a while, lost in thought. Finally he spoke, and his voice sounded slightly husky
from emotion.

“I’ve never really thanked you and Ron for being there for me through everything,”

“You never had to. We knew, Harry. We don’t always need words to show how we feel, sometimes
expressions are enough for friends like us,” she replied softly

“You’re right Hermione,” he said sadly “we shouldn’t have secrets. I love you and I want you to
be a part of everything. I’m sorry I haven’t spoken to you about this sooner,”

“It’s ok,” she whispered, and then kissed him softly on the lips before pulling away “lets just
never do it again. Deal?”

“Deal,” he whispered. “You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine…”

“Typical that I have to go first,” she said with a slight grin “where’s that Gryffindor
courage?”

“I’m hoping I’ll be able to master it from your shining example,” he replied with a soft grin of
his own.

“Ok,” she whispered, her voice trembling a lot now. “The thing is Harry is I have had an awful
lot on my mind lately. This relationship of ours seemed to develop very quickly and we haven’t had
that much time to get used to it. One minute we’re friends, the next minute we want each other. The
next minute I fall in love with you, and then you tell me you feel the same way. It sounds
wonderful but it is awfully scary at times. Our whole relationship has changed so quickly! What if
it changes back just as quickly? I-”

“Do you really think we could go back to normal?” whispered Harry interrupting her “do you
really think that I would ever willingly let you go now that I know what it is to be in love? Could
you?”

“No, of course not. I love you so very much Harry and I honestly think I would die if I lost
you,” she replied in a very soft tone, not noticing Harry wincing at her words. “I’m just so
worried Harry. I’m supposed to be the smartest witch of my age! I’m supposed to have a sparkling
future and career in front of me! But ever since I started this relationship with you I feel like I
have lost control. I’ve lost control of my mind, by body…my feelings, everything! It scares me
Harry. What I’m afraid of most of all is that because we are so young this wont work! We’ve been
through so much and I feel so old. You’re much wiser than your years…but we’re still only seventeen
and-”

“You’re babbling Hermione,” said Harry quietly, and then he lifted his hands to gently cup her
face “You are the smartest witch of our age. I would be dead ten times over if it wasn’t for you.
As for losing control, how do you think I feel? I lost control over these feelings too. I, actually
we, went behind our best friends backs rather than be mature and talk to him about it. Love does
funny things to you Hermione; it even makes you fiercely possessive over it. But I’ve never felt
more free or more alive. Part of me knows I shouldn’t have started this relationship with you. I
broke up with Ginny because I didn’t want her used against me. The same goes for you too…but I just
couldn’t help myself. I’ve never been as happy as I am right now, and you’re who I have to thank
for that. Some might call me selfish for putting you in danger, but after everything I’ve been
through I think I deserve a little happiness. You may feel like you’ve lost control Hermione, but I
can see in your eyes that you feel the same way. We have never been freer and more alive than we
are now. You just need to let go, just don’t think about every little thing that we might be doing
wrong and think of how right it feels.” said Harry passionately, grabbing her face more firmly and
staring into her eyes, willing her to understand and believe what he was saying.

“You’re right,” she whispered

“Of course,” he said with a grin “now tell me what this is all about Hermione. What this is
really all about. You wouldn’t have been worrying like this without something to start it all…”

“You promise you won’t pass out on me? I think you’re a bit too heavy for me to pick up…” she
said softly, and then she started the nibble nervously on her bottom lip.

“I’m generally not the fainting type,” he said quietly “unless you have a dementor around here
somewhere…”

“You wont shout, or run off?” she asked nervously

“For goodness sakes Hermione!” said Harry irritably “do you really think I’d do anything like
that? I love you. Now stop asking these stupid questions and tell me what’s wrong. You can tell me
anything, you’ve always been able to tell me anything and now is no different.”

“You’re right,” she said, stammering a little “I’m just so scared, so stupid and scared
and…and…stupid…”

“You’re not stupid Hermione,” he said and kissed her lightly, stroking his hands gently over her
upturned face. “Now tell me.”

“Ok…I’m…em…” she started and took a deep breath, looked him in the eyes and said two words that
made Harry’s world suddenly crash down on him “I’m pregnant,”

*************************************************************************************



33. A Secret Revealed
---------------------

*A/N- Hello again everyone! I wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful reviews; I really
enjoy reading what you all have to say. Thanks to all of you readers that have just started
reviewing, I really do appreciate your comments. Also ****huge**** thanks to Mulder, who managed
to get this chapter back to me in one day when I was running really behind schedule! I also wanted
to write a little note to ‘**hmm…’** who has graced me with a couple of reviews. You need to go
away and get a life. Whilst you may have bullied another author into leaving this Website you won’t
bully me. I think you’re unbelievably pathetic and if you write me any more reviews I’ll simply
delete them. If you want to think those things about me then go ahead. Go and bother someone that
cares would you? Anyway, on with the story! Here’s to you Pottergirl, for the lovely email telling
me to get my arse in gear and hurry up with a chapter! **Oh and for those of you with a problem
with the font…let me know if it’s any better this time around!** Happy reading!*

***Islanzadi** J*

Hermione stared anxiously at Harry’s face waiting for an answer, but with the way things were
looking she was going to have to wait a while. Harry’s face was extremely pale and he was staring
at the snow-covered floor in utter silence. She nervously chewed on her bottom lip and held her
breath for his response. After what seemed like a lifetime, he spoke in a very hoarse voice-

“Shit,”

“Not exactly the response I was looking for,” she said slowly, the faint glimmerings of anger
slowly starting to form in her mind. She heard Harry sigh deeply then watched as he put his head
between his hands. The faint glimmerings intensified suddenly and before she knew it she was
standing up and glaring down at him.

“Well this is wonderful Harry,” she said icily “after ten whole minutes all I’ve managed to get
out of you is the word shit, which is not the highest ranking word in my vocabulary. When you’ve
had time to think this through, feel free to come and talk to me like an adult.” With that she
turned around furiously and began to stomp angrily through the snow. The rational part of her was
saying ‘This is a shock to him, how many seventeen year olds react well when they find out they’re
going to be a father? Not to mention that you yelled the word ‘Fuuuuuck!’ when you found out so
you’re hardly in the position to judge him. You’ve had a few weeks to get used to the idea, he’s
had ten minutes!’ But regardless of all her rational thinking she still felt furious. Whilst she
hated to admit it, she had sort of gotten used to the idea and she had hoped he would have reacted
positively. She was infuriated simply because she was so hurt, and the feeling of being that
vulnerable to anyone made her suddenly scared. ‘Congratulations Hermione, you’re a hormonal
nutcase’ she thought angrily. Before she could think anything more she felt a firm grasp on her arm
and found herself being swung about abruptly. She came face to face with Harry, and was disturbed
to find tears running down his face. Disturbed was a mild word, and her heart caught in her chest.
All the anger she had been feeling melted away. Now she was just afraid.

“Hermione,” he said throatily “please come and sit down with me,” she nodded her head quietly
then quickly said-

“Maybe we should go inside and talk. It’s awfully cold out here.”

“Not inside,” he said slowly “I want this to be private.” he looked around for a moment, then
held her hand and led her towards the large metal fence. They found the gate and quietly made their
way inside, and then followed a small stone pathway to a large cave. They entered the cave and
walked in the darkness until a pair of yellow eyes stood out amongst the darkness. There was a
flash of orange and suddenly a fire was before them. Hermione looked in amusement at the fire, it
seemed that Norbert had somehow acquired a wooden fence and had decided to keep it in his cave. She
felt a little bad for the poor owner that had probably watched in horror as a large black dragon
took off with his fence. Norbert shifted his huge weight around and slowly walked up through the
cave. Harry took off his coat and lay it on the floor in front of the fire and motioned for
Hermione to sit down. She felt slightly nauseous at the thought of the conversation that she knew
they had to have. She just wanted to hold him close and make him kiss her until it all went away.
But it would be foolish, and she knew that the longer they put off talking the harder it would
become for Harry. She looked over at him and could see him trembling slightly as he looked at the
floor, the walls, the fire…everything but her.

“So…” she said quietly whilst tracing her hand on the cold stone floor. “I want you to know that
I didn’t mean for this to happen. I can’t believe that I would be so stupid! I can’t believe that I
would forget something so simple as a contraceptive charm. It seems like ever since you and I
happened I sort of got lost up in all these feelings. I haven’t really been thinking about the real
world at all. I, erm, just wanted you to know that.”

“I know Hermione,” he said softly whilst staring into the fire “I know…” Hermione waited
anxiously for him to say more, but it seemed that was all he planned on saying. She knew that she
should keep silent and wait for him to talk, she knew that she should wait patiently. But she was
so nervous that she thought if she didn’t say something she might cry. She hated it when she was
weak.

“I’m scared too Harry,” she finally said, breaking the agonising silence “I’m not ready for
this! What seventeen year old is ready to be a parent? None I say, not one of them. What will my
parents think? Teenage pregnancies are much more accepted in the wizarding world than in the muggle
one. What are my relatives going to say? They’re going to think I’m some sort of tart! Not to
mention my career. It’s going to be so hard raising a child and continuing with my education. But
at least we have each other Harry. At least we love each other, and surely as long as we have that
we can cope with this. Surely we can make this work? I’m not saying it’s not going to be hard, or
that we’ll be perfectly happy all the time. But we’ll make it work. This baby might not have two
older successful parents, but it will still have parents who love it and-”

“Stop,” whispered Harry, interrupting her. She stopped quickly and stared at him, knowing that
something was wrong but still wanting to talk over it. She knew she was only talking so much
because she didn’t want to hear what he had to say. She *knew* what he was going to say. She
sort of thought that she had known all along, but she was so blinded by her feelings that she chose
not to see. She didn’t want to know what he had to tell her because it would change everything. She
had ignored all the obvious signs and chose to pretend everything was ok. Her life would never be
the same again. She absently put her hand on her stomach and rubbed it slowly, staring into the
fire as she concentrated on keeping her mouth shut. She knew he had to talk; he had to end their
dream world now. It *had* been like living a fantasy with Harry these last few months. But
there was a time to get back to reality and she knew that this was the time. She squeezed her eyes
shut and felt hot tears trying to force their ways out through her eyelids.

“The spell is *demorior*,” he said sadly. “Dumbledore told me when we went through the
veil.” Hermione felt like she wanted to scream until her voice stopped working. She could be wrong.
She had to be wrong… ‘For once in my life, let me be wrong!’ she pleaded, but to whom she didn’t
know.

“*D-demorior*,” she stuttered, trying to stop herself from crying but found herself shaking
uncontrollably instead “that’s old Latin. It means…”

“To die for love of,” interrupted Harry softly, his tears flowing freely now.

“I don’t understand!” said Hermione, her voice louder and angrier than she meant it to be. “Why
can’t you just kill him with a curse? Why does it have to be that? It makes no sense to me Harry!”
But she hated to admit that it made perfect sense, and it was something she had been worried about
ever since he had told her about the prophecy, and ever since she had found out that he was the
heir of Gryffindor.

“It’s what Godric used when he killed Salazar. He loved Salazar like a brother before their
friendship ended. But to kill Salazar and start the cycle over, he had to forgive Salazar and then
show him love. Just like Voldemort Hermione. The key to this whole thing is love. That’s what
Voldemort doesn’t understand. It’s the *power he knows not*. A simple curse won’t kill him.
He’s too deep into the dark magic and he’ll be expecting it. He’s got years of experience on me; he
can deflect something like an Avada Kedavra. But there’s one thing he can’t defend himself against
because it repulsed him too much to learn about it. Love Hermione. Just love…” replied Harry, his
voice sounding weary.

“But to sacrifice yourself Harry?! Why? Surely you can just show him love? Surely you can just
show him what love is all about and…and…” she stuttered hopelessly. He turned to face her then and
smiled sorrowfully at her.

“I love you Hermione. I love Ron and all my friends. I love my life despite what I’ve been
through, maybe because of what I’ve been through. I would lay down my life for all of you, so that
you can carry on living. I was supposed to die when I was a baby. I’ve been living on borrowed
time, now it’s time to end this once and for all. When I say those words Hermione, he’ll finally
see how much I love everyone. How much I love you. That I would be willing to die for you is
something he cannot even begin to comprehend, and he won’t have time to. *‘Neither can live while
the other survives,’* well neither of us will survive this Hermione. It’s not that I was upset
about you being pregnant Hermione. It was a shock to know that you’re pregnant with my child…and
I’ll never know it. I guess Trelawny didn’t see this part coming,” he said quietly, and then he
felt Hermione’s arms flinging themselves around him and pulling him close.

“Oh Harry,” she sobbed desperately “please Harry don’t leave me. There has to be another way.
There just has to be! Dumbledore must have another solution, he can’t make you do this!”

“Hermione,” said Harry gently, lifting her face to meet his “he’s not making me do anything.
There’s a cycle of evil that has to be broken…It’s like a wheel that keeps on turning and it’s my
turn to end the cycle so it can start again. This is the way it’s been done throughout the
centuries. Good verses evil, hate verses love. I will willingly give my life so that everyone can
live peacefully. I will willingly give my life so that everyone can be happy. But you’re what made
me certain I had to do this. You deserve a life Hermione…and so does our baby. I’m doing this
because I can love Hermione…and because it’s my destiny.” he finished simply, and then kissed her
softly on her lips. She broke down crying then, and cried so loudly that Harry thought he would die
if he had to listen to it for a moment longer. But he held her, and he rocked her until she was
eventually lying silent against him. She hiccupped and shuddered every now and then from the force
of her tears. They sat there together until the fire died. Eventually she slept and he watched her
until the sun rose on the horizon. Then he slept too.

*************************************************************************************

Lunch that day was very miserable. Everyone noticed Hermione’s depressed mood, and after
attempting to eat half a sandwich she eventually gave up and went upstairs to sleep. Harry wanted
to follow her, but he knew she needed some time alone. She needed to think and get hear head on
straight. He knew she would be bounce back in a few days, even if it was just to try and research
another way for him to destroy Voldemort. He also knew that it wouldn’t work. Dumbledore loved
Harry, so did his parents and Sirius. They would try to spare his life, and it had broken their
hearts as much as his to tell him this. They too had hoped that there would be another way. But if
it kept Hermione busy until the end, if it kept her from breaking down then he would let her
research it. She needed a little hope…everyone needed a little hope. He still couldn’t get his mind
around the idea of being a father, nor the fact that he would never get to meet it. One thing he
had always looked forward to was having a family, and now it was all being ripped away from him
before he had even had the chance to experience it. He sighed heavily and pushed his plate away. He
needed some fresh air. He got up and walked out of the room without a word, leaving a very silent
room behind him.

“I take it he finally told her then,” said Ron sadly

“You guess right,” said Susan quietly

“She told him she’s pregnant too,” sighed Luna “no wonder he’s so depressed.”

“WHAT?” shouted Ron, his jaw practically hitting the floor, while Neville seemed to be choking
on his tea.

“Oh yeah,” said Susan distractedly “Hermione’s pregnant.”

“Well thanks for keeping me up to date,” said Ron sarcastically.

“I still don’t understand what’s going on,” said Neville in a confused voice. “They were fine
yesterday. I mean I know that them being a mum and dad so young is going to be hard, but if anyone
can do it they can.”

“Oh Neville,” said Susan sadly “there’s always more to our lives than meets the eye I’m afraid.
Do you want to tell him Luna? Or shall I?”

“I’d rather you did Suze,” replied Luna vaguely “I’ve got a few things I need to think about. I
think a walk would do me the world of good right now,” then she stood up and walked quickly through
the kitchen door. Ron sat there for a moment, seemingly having a battle in his head, which gave his
face some very odd characteristics. Then he too stood up and walked out of the kitchen door. Susan
took a large gulp of her tea and started from the very beginning…

*************************************************************************************

Harry walked without really knowing where he was going. He stared at the snow under his shoes
and tried to think of anything except Hermione, their baby and his impending death. But his mind
was whirling with stupid thoughts. What would it be, a boy or a girl? What would they name it? If
this didn’t have to happen, if he didn’t have to die…would they have been happy? Could they have
made this work being so young? The thing that was upsetting him the most was that he knew the
answer to both these questions was yes. They could have because they loved each other, and a love
like theirs never dies. He had felt so angry that he would have to leave Hermione and just when he
thought he was coping he had to deal with another blow to his heart. All he wanted was to be happy;
all he had wanted was a normal life. But he couldn’t have that because of Voldemort, and that
enraged him. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He knew there was no point in getting
angry; nothing was going to change what had to happen.

He looked up and found himself outside of Norbert’s cave. He wasn’t surprised that his feet had
carried him here. He wanted to spend time with Hermione and put off what he had to do. But he knew
that was wrong and the sooner Voldemort was dead the sooner the world could get on with their lives
and live in peace. He waited outside the cave for a moment before finally stepping inside and
walking the large tunnel. It was lighter in here now because there were several little fires all
around. No doubt Norbert had been out to find more wood. He had almost reached the ashes from the
wooden fence when he heard a movement to his left. He turned and saw Norbert’s bright piercing eyes
staring at him. They stared at each other for a moment before Norbert finally bent his head and
sank slowly to the floor. A small curl of smoke escaped from his nose and Harry gave a half smile.
He walked over to Norbert and slowly started to stroke his scales again. He found himself talking
to the dragon, though he wasn’t sure why. But he did know that it felt relaxing to be talking about
nothing in particular, just concentrating on keeping his voice gently. Harry wasn’t sure how long
he had stood there talking, but it felt like only a few minutes had gone when Norbert suddenly
stood up and stretched out his wings. Then he stretched his neck forward and opened his mouth into
a wide yawn. Harry couldn’t help but feel a little nervous at the rows of white sharp pointy teeth.
Norbert then turned to stare at Harry once more, only this time he didn’t blink. Harry wasn’t sure
what this was supposed to mean. Either it was friendly, or he had better start running. He was just
about to play it safe and back off when he saw Norbert dip his side towards him. He couldn’t
possibly mean… Harry turned to look at Norbert as he slowly edged towards his side. Norbert dipped
down a little lower and blew out a puff of smoke from his nose. Harry got the message…Norbert was
getting a little impatient. He carefully clambered onto the dragon’s back, deftly avoiding the few
sharp spikes that adorned his body. Norbert started to walk forwards and Harry gripped onto the
back of his neck. He felt like he was going to fall off at any moment, and the scales were abrasive
even through his jeans. But he didn’t get off, he knew that this was part of the trust he had to
build and if he got off of Norbert now he might never get back on. As they exited the cave Harry
was amazed to see that the sun was setting in the sky. He must have spent hours talking to
Norbert…no wonder the dragon got bored and decided to let him fly on him. Norbert started to pick
up the pace until they were trotting quickly out of the cave. Then he started to run, and Harry
felt his whole body shake from the reverberations. Suddenly Norbert’s wings flipped up and he was
running faster and faster. Harry gripped tightly into the dragon’s neck and closed his eyes. Though
he didn’t really see how having his eyes closed would help if he fell. He could hear the wings
beating past his ears, and then suddenly the familiar rush of air in his face. He opened his eyes
to see them thirty metres up in the air, and they were rising. Harry’s legs felt a bit sore from
Norbert’s scales, but all thoughts of that nature went out of his head when he saw his
surroundings. He had a full view of the mountains, and the river running through it. The sunset was
a brilliant yellow mixed with deep pinks and purples. It was once of the most beautiful things he
had ever seen. He whooped loudly and Norbert dived quickly, making Harry quickly clasp onto him.
Then he swivelled in the air and rose quickly up again, this time almost vertically. When they had
settled in the air again, Harry took a chance and let out a loud-

“WOOHOO!!”

Norbert dived again, and this time spun in the air so that Harry was clinging on for dear life
until the dragon righted itself. Harry grinned to himself as Norbert came out of the spin. It
looked like Norbert knew to have fun…Harry started to laugh as he saw a small house a few hundred
metres ahead of them. It looked like it had a wooden fence surrounding it. Well, part of a wooden
fence anyway.

*************************************************************************************

Hermione was lying upstairs when she heard a familiar voice growling from somewhere downstairs.
After a few moments she recognised it to be Mad Eye Moody’s. She almost got up to see what was
going on. She almost wanted to know if he had found out anything about the vampires. But then she
sunk back onto her bed again and blinked her swollen eyes. She couldn’t be bothered right now. She
sighed and rolled over, bringing a thick blanket with her. She couldn’t believe this was happening
to her. She couldn’t believe this was happening to Harry. If anyone deserved a break in this life
it was him, so why was he always punished? It seemed like she had asked herself these questions
over and over, but she had still not found an answer. Then she laughed cynically to herself.
Hermione’s Granger can’t find an answer to a question. No library is going to help here. Doesn’t
matter what grades you get when it comes to real life. She tried to stifle a sob as she buried
herself in the blanket. She never wanted to come out again; she just wanted to stay in this room
until she stopped hurting. She knew it was irrational, but she couldn’t help it. Her heart was
breaking. There was a timid knock at the door, which she ignored. The knock got louder and louder,
but still she ignored it. She didn’t want to see anyone right now, even Harry. Maybe even
especially Harry. The door opened and Hermione groaned as a familiar voice filled the room.

“Hermione,” called Luna dreamily “I’m coming in…”

“Yes well I gathered that,” said Hermione grumpily

“I wanted to talk to you,” she said, sitting herself down on Hermione’s bed.

“About what?” asked Hermione angrily “How I’m feeling? The answer is awful. How upset I am? The
answer is a lot. What I’m going to do? The answer is I don’t know. Have I summed it up for
you?”

“Yes well sulking in your bed isn’t going to help matters. Nor is being angry at me,” replied
Luna vaguely “I know you’re upset and I know you feel like your whole world is coming to an end.
That’s not what I wanted to talk about Hermione. I wanted to let you know that there is hope yet.
There’s always hope.”

“Forgive me if I’m not in the hopeful mood right now,” replied Hermione sadly “can I ask you a
question Luna?”

“Anything,” said Luna

“If you knew about this, why didn’t you tell me? If you knew what Dumbledore said, why didn’t
you tell me?” asked Hermione. She had thought she had cried herself out, and was surprised at the
new tears streaming down her face.

“It was Harry’s secret to tell,” said Luna simply “just like it was your secret to tell Harry.
But there are no more secrets now. I imagine that there won’t be any secrets between you ever
again. This can only make you stronger,”

“How can it make me stronger? I feel so scared and lonely right now. I feel like I’ve lost him
already,” said Hermione starting to sob.

“You need to make the best of the time you have left. Do the things you want to do with each
other now. Act like tomorrow could be your last day Hermione, because you’ll only regret it if you
look back and remember that you were crying when you could have been savouring every moment with
him,” said Luna quietly.

“You’re right,” sniffed Hermione, and pulled Luna in for a hug. After a while they broke apart
and Hermione asked-

“What did you see behind the veil Luna? You weren’t with Harry…but you knew.”

“I met my mother,” said Luna, her eyes shining and her face bright with joy.

“What did she tell you?” asked Hermione softly.

“That there’s always a way, that there is always hope even when it seems like all hope is lost.
To trust in my heart and not to let anyone dissuade me even if there isn’t a shred of proof. She
told me to believe in myself Hermione, and listen to my heart because it will never steer you wrong
even when your head is telling you to do something else,” chuckled Luna fondly.

“I’m scared Luna. I can pretend that I’m not, but I’m absolutely terrified,” whispered
Hermione.

“This was meant to be Hermione. Your baby was meant to be; sometimes things happen that
shouldn’t but it turns out for the greater good. You bare that in mind. Now wash your face, brush
your hair and get downstairs before Harry gets back from his ride with Norbert,” replied Luna
briskly.

“Norbert?!” cried Hermione “he’s riding a dragon? Why do I have to be ready before he gets back
anyway?”

“Always questions with you. Yes he’s riding Norbert, and from the looks of it he won’t be eating
for a while. As for being ready…we’re all going out when he gets back,” said Luna casually.

“Where?” asked Hermione suspiciously.

“We’re going with Mad Eye to Bucharest so we can meet with a vampire. He should be able to give
us some information on the whereabouts of the Transylvanian vampires. We need to know exactly what
we’re up against in the final battle, and how many. Besides there’s so many beautiful places to
see. Peles Castle in wonderful, and a lovely place to get married I hear. Not to mention the
infamous Bran castle. But the place we’re going to is called Vlad the Impaler’s house.” replied
Luna absentmindedly.

“Wait a minute. Vlad the Impaler? That’s Dracula’s house! You have got to be kidding! You are
all completely insane! This was Mad Eyes idea wasn‘t it?!” exclaimed Hermione.

“Sort of. But that‘s not the point,” said Luna “We’re meeting a vampire, not Dracula. It’s hard
to see him these days after all the media attention his castle and house has received. But where
else do you think vampires live in Romania? In a pub in the city centre? We have to get into their
area if we want to talk to one of them,”

“Well, at least I’ll have plenty of stories for the baby when it’s older,” said Hermione
grudgingly.

“That’s the spirit. Now get a move on with that face and hair. Ooh, and don’t forget an over
night bag,” added Luna hastily.

“But we’re just meeting one vampire,” said Hermione warily.

“Yes I do know the plan,” replied Luna “but we may as well stay the night. Like I said, it’s
supposed to be a wonderful city.” With that she walked out of the door and left Hermione to get
ready. Hermione watched the door closed a breathed a heavy sigh. As strange as it sounded in her
mind, Luna was right. There was no point moping around; her sitting in her room and crying would
accomplish nothing. But she did feel better and was glad to have spent the afternoon getting a lot
of miserable feelings out of her system. Her face look determined as she walked briskly to the
bathroom. She would find a way out of this no matter what Harry had been told. There had to be
another way, she *knew* there just had to be.

Waiting outside the door were Ron, Susan and Neville.

“You can be quite pushy Luna, had anyone ever told you that?” teased Susan.

“Yes well, might as well have some fun. Lord knows we need some with the pressure we’re under.”
replied Luna with a beaming smile.

“Too right!” said Ron “What’s muggle beer like anyway? Any good?”

“Maybe we should be concentrating on the vampire meeting rather than the beer,” said Neville,
which earned him a shocked look from Ron. Shouts from Charlie, Mad Eye, John and a few other men
came from downstairs. The watched in amusement as Harry walked gingerly up the stairs to pack his
bags for the meeting with a vampire. He was really starting to worry if he would ever have a normal
day again.



34. Vlad The Impaler
--------------------

A/N- Hello again everyone! Well this was a tricky chapter and I deleted it several times because
I just hated it so much, but here’s hoping it’s ok now! The scene with Luna dancing was inspired by
a little one shot I read from an author called *‘Elf and Troll’*…so give it a read if you want
because I think it’s rather lovely. Thanks again to *Mulder* for her never ending patience
with my ramblings, and to all of you reading along and reviewing. I try to answer all of your
reviews, but if for some reason I haven’t answered then I apologise profusely, please don’t take it
personally. It’s nice reading all of them and getting to know all of you…it makes me feel like I’m
writing for people that I know now rather in the beginning when it seemed like I was surrounded by
strangers. Anyway, bloody hell I do go on don’t I?! On with the story and happy reading!

**Islanzadi** J

Two large black cars pulled up outside the Irina Villa and the drivers moved expertly through
the dark to move the groups’ entire luggage from the cars into their lodgings. The reason Mad Eye,
Charlie and John had picked this particular villa was because it was incredibly spacious and one of
the few places they could stay where they wouldn’t have other tourists or hosts around. The villa
cost a mere 165 euros a day, which was relatively cheap in comparison to what they were getting in
return. The villa was in a very quiet part of town, and a single country road ran past it. It was a
short 1.5km from Bran castle, and was a luxurious three floors in height. There were eight double
bedrooms spaced out on every floor, all with their own personal bathrooms. There was a large
kitchen and dining area on the ground floor, and the first floor had a large living area and a
spacious day bar. The idea of a day bar thrilled Ron, though Charlie quickly put a damper on Ron’s
ideas of experimenting with different muggle alcohols. The group made their way into the villa
after the drivers had been adequately tipped and set to work unpacking their bags in their
respective rooms. Hagrid had stayed behind to continue working with the dragons along with the rest
of Charlie’s men. This meant that only two people had to share a room, and Harry and Hermione were
only too glad to volunteer. Harry grabbed Hermione’s hand and lead her up to the third floor to a
large bedroom at the very back of the villa. He threw his bag on the bed and watched in amusement
as Hermione set hers gently upon the floor and started to begin the work of putting her clothes
away. He watched her for a few silent moments, and then with a mischievous grin, pulled her from
the floor and quickly onto the bed.

“Harry!” she admonished, her face reddening slightly “at least shut the door before you start
molesting me!”

“I hate to break it to you Hermione,” grinned Harry “but I’m quite sure that they all know what
we’ve been up to. Unless you can make a baby by yourself of course…” He watched as her face got
even redder, then moved his lips to hers gently. This was what he had been waiting for. He felt her
resolve slip away and deepened the kiss. He heard her moan slightly as he pushed his hands through
her hair. He had really missed spending quality time with just her, he almost felt like he had been
starved. Hermione grabbed her wand and pointed it at the door so that it closed with a quiet thud.
Harry smiled beneath her kisses that were starting to become fevered. Just when they were both
starting to relax and enjoy it a voice filled the room that sounded so loud they looked up in alarm
to see if the door was open. It wasn’t, which meant that Mad Eyes voice had either suddenly become
unnaturally thunderous or he was using sonorous to get their attention. Harry groaned and flopped
his head onto the pillow dramatically.

“I think he wants us all downstairs,” said Hermione quietly.

“Do you think if we ignored it they would leave us alone?” asked Harry.

“I doubt it. Come on, we can carry this on later.” she said with a grin.

“Is that a promise?” he asked mischievously.

“That’s a promise,” she said, and then put a light kiss on his lips. He groaned loudly as she
then pulled him up from the bed, and together they made their way downstairs. Though at a much
slower pace than was necessary. By the time they reached the dining room everyone else was already
sitting down and the table was covered in food.

“Took you long enough,” grinned Charlie.

“We had a hard time hearing what Mad Eye was trying to say,” replied Harry lightly.

“He only said ‘dinner’ about ten times. I can see why it would have been difficult…” said Susan,
earning a laugh from the rest of the table. Harry and Hermione sat down at the table, and then
waited for Mad Eye to point his wand at the serving dishes in front of them to remove the lids. A
strange smell filled the air and Harry wasn’t quite sure what kind of food he was looking at.

“Oh, traditional Romanian food!” said Hermione sounding excited. “I’ve always wanted to try
it,”

“What’s that stuff?” asked Ron, pointing to some triangular shaped food items.

“It’s called Coltzunash lu smintina,” said Charlie casually.

“What is that?” asked Ron.

“Just triangular dumplings filled with cottage cheese. There’s some cream and sugar on the side
to go with it.” replied Charlie. Harry looked into another dish, and after finding out that Sarmale
was basically meatballs wrapped in cabbage leaves, piled some onto his plate. Even though the food
was different than he was accustomed to, he still ate so much that by the end of the meal he felt
like he was about to fall asleep very quickly. After everyone else had finished their meal coffee
was then passed around, much to Harry’s relief and it was so strong he felt like the very fumes
were enough to bring him out of his stupor.

“So,” said Charlie looking intently at Mad Eye “Are you planning on telling us exactly what you
found out or are we going to have to wait until a nasty surprise?”

“I suppose it would be best if I just told you. Best to know what you’re up against,” conceded
Mad Eye slowly. “But first lets talk about the facts as the muggles and other clueless people know
them, and then move on to the *actual* history.”

“I am quite curious as to why we’re going to Dracula‘s house to meet a regular vampire. Not to
mention that Dracula has proven to be completely mythical. He was inspired by a man named Vlad the
Impaler and his house is now known as Dracula’s house but Vlad was anything but a vampire. I don’t
understand why we have to meet at Vlad’s house, surely there are more inconspicuous places to meet
than a tourist hot spot.” said Hermione with a frown.

“Ah how little people know!” exclaimed Mad Eye rather brusquely “Count Dracula is also known as
Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler, according to modern history anyway. So a little bit of background
is needed I think. There was a man called Vlad Dracul who had two sons. One was Vlad Tepes and the
other was Radu. Vlad Dracul was a member of the Order of The Dragon. The Dragon’s main goal was to
protect the Christian faith by fighting off advancing Turks from the Ottoman Empire. The Turks,
being Islamic, really angered the Order of the Dragon. When Vlad the Impaler was quite young, he
and his brother Radu were kidnapped during a battle against the Turks. The Sultan Murad imprisoned
the two brothers and their stay was said to be indescribably grisly. No one knows what they saw and
what they had to endure, but it is said that Vlad the Impaler became quite sadistic. The Sultan
wanted to use the brothers to his advantage so they could take the throne of Wallachia and place it
under the rule of the Turks. The boys father, Vlad Dracul, tried to bargain for the release of his
sons. A man named John Hunadi, also known as the White Knight, saw this as treachery. The Knight
ordered assassins to murder Vlad Dracul,”

“Well that was a little uncalled for,” said Ron quietly.

“Shut up,” said Mad Eye, his magical eye making Ron suddenly squirm uncomfortably in his seat.
“Anyway, time passed and the Sultan used unspeakable methods to break the boys. Eventually Radu
cracked and decided to serve the Sultan. Vlad the Impaler was much harder to break, but eventually
he too was broken. Or so the Sultan thought. When he was placed on the throne of Wallachia he
decided he did not want to be a puppet and fled. He stayed with some friends, and there he met the
White Knight who had murdered his father. Rather than take revenge he joined the Knight to oust the
Turks. When Vlad had fled Wallachia Radu had assumed the throne. A fierce battle ensued and the
Turks as well as Radu fled from the throne. Vlad the Impaler sat on the throne, now completely free
from interference from the Turks.”

“Why was he called Vlad the Impaler?” asked Ron, not quite sure if he wanted to know the
answer…or whether he should even be interrupting again.

“Vlad liked to impale his victims. It is said that he would send troops into his own territories
and murder hundreds of people. He even gathered people and pushed them over high ledges onto spikes
and impaled them that way. Once he had a meeting with two Turks, but when they entered the room
they had not removed their turbans. Vlad required the removal of all hats before conversing with
anyone. The Turks tried to explain that it was their religion but Vlad refused to listen. He said
that if they liked their hats so much they could keep them on permanently. He had his soldiers nail
them to their heads.” responded Luna, and then she shivered at the very thought.

“That explains it,” said Ron, looking rather green.

“Vlad married and had a son, then there was a second battle against the Turks. He decided to
flee again, but his wife didn’t think it would be possible. She committed suicide. As they were
fleeing Wallachia a servant dropped his son and he was left behind. When Vlad reached another
village he was arrested, but not for too long. He caught the eye of Ilona, King Mathias’ sister,
and she used her influence to have him released. They married and she bore him another son. When
King Mathias was convinced that Vlad was an ally, he was released and then returned to Wallachia
once again. There his lost son was returned to him. He died in battle sometime later just over the
age of fifty.” concluded Mad Eye, then raised his flask to his lips and drank deeply.

“Ok,” started Susan with a look of confusion on her face “So what has that got to do with the
vampires we’re looking for? Or this house we’re going to? Or, em, this mythical Dracula?”

“Vlad the Impaler was a brutal and cruel man. He truly was an abomination to society. Yet he did
live a life of purpose,” said Mad Eye slowly.

“But history tells us that was his life. The name Dracula was inspired by the family name and
that’s it. End of story.” said Hermione, sounding impatient now. Harry grinned at her irritation,
he knew that she hated to be wrong and she hated it even more when someone tried to tell her that
what she had learned from a book might be wrong.

“That is the story as far as the muggles see it, other than the perceptive ones. (Bram Stoker
was one of these perceptive individuals) Vlad the Impaler was a murderer of vampires, hence the
name. He favoured impaling his victims because the only way you can truly kill a vampire is with a
stake through the heart. It is said that he was helped by the Order of the Dragon to locate and
eliminate the vampires. The Order of the Dragons front was to uphold Christianity, but there were
other important things that they did and the White Knight was the head of the group. Now Vlad
didn’t kill vampires for the good of his territory, he did it simply because he liked to kill and
the group provided a daily supply of victims. In history it is told that the White Knight killed
Vlad’s father. But that is not the case. When Vlad Dracul petitioned for the release of his sons he
did so only because he did not want them tainted by the Sultan, he wanted them to join him the way
they were supposed to. The White Knight learned Dracul’s secret, that he was a vampire, and tried
to kill him. Dracul escaped and has wandered the Earth under the name Dracula ever since,” Finished
Mad Eye with a sigh.

“So the Sultan was actually trying to help Dracula’s sons?” asked Susan

“Not at all. That man just wanted to take over Dracul’s territory. But he did teach them about
sadism and was extremely brutal. This may have played a part in Vlad’s own brutality, that as well
as the ultimate betrayal by his father.” Said Mad Eye, now sounding frustrated that so many
questions were being asked.

“So I was sort of right then,” said Hermione with a smile “Vlad the Impaler wasn’t Dracula.
Books aren’t completely wrong, and we aren’t going to Dracula’s house at all…we’re going to
Vlad’s,” Said Hermione with a bright smile, her faith in education restored slightly.

“Luna said earlier that we were meeting a vampire so we can try to see what they’re up to. So
who are we meeting?” asked Susan curiously.

“Just a vampire that lives in the bowels of Vlad the Impaler’s house. He finds it quite amusing
to live in a place that was owned by a person that killed so many of his kind. Quite a strange one,
you’ll need to watch your backs around him,” replied Mad Eye.

“And your necks,” mumbled Ron.

“But there’s another reason we’re here isn’t there?” asked Charlie, a light of understanding in
his eyes. “What else have got planned for us?”

“This vampire will lead us to the Order of the Dragon,” said Mad Eye simply.

“Why are they called that anyway?” asked Neville.

“Well it’s rather obvious isn’t it? Look at the symbolism. The fang of the dragon is like a
stake. The stake is the only thing that kills a vampire,” said Hermione knowingly.

“What about sunlight?” asked Neville and laughed as he saw Hermione‘s eyes narrow at him. “Looks
like love has addled your brains,”

“Actually that is a common misconception,” she replied with a smug grin that Harry had grown to
adore. “Vampires have evolved throughout the centuries.”

“Well you’re right on both counts,” said Mad Eye “but that’s not the only reason they are called
the Order of the Dragon. The other reason is because they revere the creatures and used to use them
in their remote attacks against colonies of vampires in the mountains.”

“Use them?” asked Ron startled “you mean fly them? Do you think they still can?”

“Well,” said Mad Eye standing up “Only one way to find out. Now when we get the Impaler’s house
I want you to all stay behind me. Let me do the talking and don’t trust that vampire for one
minute. Be on your guard, constant vigilance!”

*************************************************************************************

Vlad Tepes house was located in the village of Sighisoara. Many parts of the city were
incredibly beautiful and quaint. Harry found himself wanting to be back there rather than where he
was now. They had walked through a large courtyard that was alive with music and people dancing and
drinking. Flaming torches lit the square and the whole group was captivated by the energy that the
people dancing had, as well as the shadows the seemed to dance over every stone building in their
sight. From the courtyard they had walked down a cobbled street that seemed to wind through the
city. The cobble stones seemed to decay the further down the street they walked, and soon they were
dodging holes and upturned stones. The street was now just over a yard wide and the houses seemed
to get shabbier. Ron seemed to thinking along the same lines.

“Look at these houses! They’re titchy and look like they’ve sort of been smashed together. This
Vlad that ruled on a throne was supposed to live in this place? Treat their royalty well don’t
they?”

“He didn’t live here,” said Mad Eye gruffly “he was born here. Don’t forget that back in the
1400’s it wouldn’t have looked quite the way it does now. Now be quiet, we’re getting close to the
house now.” They walked on for a few more metres then came to a stop outside an old wooden door.
The windows were as small as dinner plates and so dirty that Harry couldn’t see anything through
them. Mad Eye pulled his wand out and waved it at the door so that it opened. He went in quickly
and immediately moved to look behind the door. There was no one waiting there. The room was very
clean in comparison to the street outside. There were plaques in several different languages
describing certain aspects of the house and one of the walls had a portrait of Vlad and his history
written upon it. Mad Eye motioned them to a small archway that led them to another room. Mad Eye
walked over to the corner of the room and waved his wand. After a few seconds a small hatch
appeared in the floor, and he pulled it open with a big heave. The creaking noise it made echoed
around the room and made them all jump a little. Mad eye jumped down the trap door first, and then
the rest them followed.

Harry wasn’t sure if he had ever been in a creepier place. The trapdoor led to a tunnel
underneath which seemed to be lit by red bulbs. But where the bulbs were Harry had no idea. He
couldn’t see any sign of lighting anywhere, only cold stone surrounded him. They followed Mad Eye
through the tunnel, all with their wands at the ready. After a few minutes of travel they came to a
large cavernous room and the view inside made Harry’s skin crawl. There was a man sitting at a
table, though at a second glance you could tell that he wasn’t sitting. He had been propped there
and his head lolled to one side. Upon getting closer to the man Harry could see a bite mark in his
neck and a dark streak marks underneath it. Harry knew that the marks were only dark because of the
red lighting; in normal light he knew the marks would be the dark red colour of blood. There was a
clattering noise behind them and Harry saw a pale corpse like figure emerging from a coffin.

“I thought they had evolved,” whispered Neville accusingly to Hermione.

“This one is obviously very old. Good in some ways…but very bad in many others,” replied
Hermione in a whisper of her own.

“What do you mean, bad in many others?” asked Ron as the vampire glided slowly towards them.

“A lot of modern vampires don’t feel the need to attack humans that much. They have other
sources for their food, but obviously this one is quite traditional, not to mention that
traditional vampires have powers of their own and the strong ones we definitely have to worry
about…” whispered Hermione, stopping her conversation abruptly as the vampire began to speak.

“Ah, you have met my dear friend I see. I invited him over for a bite to eat but he doesn’t seem
quite as stimulating as I had hoped. I am told that you came here for information,” The voice
sounded raspy and cold, it sent a chill up Harry’s spine.

“That’s right,” said Mad Eye.

“What do I get in return?” inquired the vampire, his black soulless eyes staring greedily at the
group.

“Our gratitude,” said Charlie sarcastically. The vampire laughed softly, though it sounded more
mocking that humoured.

“I’m afraid that gratitude is not exactly what I had in mind,” he said chillingly, and then
looked eagerly at the younger members of the party. His eyes stopped at Hermione’s face and he half
smiled at her. “If you want information you’ll have to give me something in return. She’ll do quite
nicely, I need something lively.” Harry raised his wand and pointed it directly at the vampires’
chest. Without uttering a word the vampire was thrown back to the floor and his arms and legs were
bound together by invisible cords.

“I don’t think that bargain’s going to work for us. Here’s the alternative,” said Harry coldly
“you tell us what we want to know and you live. You don’t tell us and you die…”

“Wizards!” hissed the vampire, looking utterly shocked. Hermione repressed a grim smile;
obviously his informant had not informed him that his visitors would be able to defend themselves.
She guessed this vampire must be quite weak to be afraid of a small group of them.

“Tell us where the Order of the Dragon is. Where do they meet and how often?” asked Mad Eye
briskly.

“They meet in the Poienari fortress, but I do not know when. Only the members know when there is
to be a meeting,” the vampire said in a scathing voice.

“Right,” said Charlie “and another thing we want to know is… where are all the vampires? Have
they decided to fight against us or are they just hiding?” The vampire looked like he might resist
their questioning, but a sudden unseen pressure to his neck convinced him otherwise.

“The weak traitors do not want to be ruled by the elder vampires and seek a power of their own,”
he said with a sneer “they are fools. We have never been under command before and the promise of
power is a falsehood. They will learn the hard way.”

“How many?” asked Mad Eye.

“I don’t know. Vampires are not accustomed to revealing their whereabouts even to each other. I
don’t know who has joined and who has gone into hiding.” the vampire replied.

“Are all of these vampires of a younger generation? Can they be harmed by sunlight?” asked
Hermione anxiously.

“They are young fools, and sunlight will not harm them. Now I have told you everything I know.
Leave me be.”

“Fine,” said Charlie “Put him in his coffin with a locking charm on it. We need to get out of
here safely.” The vampires’ eyes widened as he was lifted into the air and shut inside his coffin.
Harry pointed his wand at the poor man at the table and levitated him in front of him.

“What are you doing?” asked Mad Eye incredulously “we can’t walk around the streets with a dead
man!”

“He doesn’t intend to keep him with us,” said Luna serenely “but it would be awfully callous to
leave the poor man here. Imagine what his family is probably thinking right now. They have a right
to know he has moved on,” Mad Eye looked like he wanted to argue but gave in at all the adamant
stares he was receiving. He turned around and led the way out of Vlad’s house and away from the
vampire’s lair.

“Why were you worried about vampires powers? Surely they just sort of bite you and stuff…” asked
Ron looking curiously at Hermione.

“Vampires have the power to paralyse their pray by the sound of their voice. It’s nothing that
you can protect yourself against because each voice is different and they all use it in a various
ways. Dracula was always written to be extremely powerful, and he can bewitch your mind and his
victims practically beg him to bite them,” explained Hermione quickly.

“Exactly why we have to be vigilant at all times,” stated Mad Eye roughly.

*************************************************************************************

The Poienari fortress lay in ruins in the Arges valley. This was the place that Vlad had ruled
from, now only a shell of what it had once been. It looked decayed and brown looking, and the
stairs on one wall of the castle looked like the wind would blow them off at any moment. They
walked through the ruined entrance and into a very cold open space surrounded by a few remaining
walls. They all stared in silence for a moment, not quite sure what to do. There was nothing but
bare floor, old stones and a few mice. They looked at each other and shrugged silently as Mad Eye
broke away from them and began mumbling about finding something. The group slowly drifted apart and
began to explore the ruins of the castle. Hermione walked from the first open space into what she
assumed used to be an archway leading to another room. She hopped over the rocks on the floor and
was rather disappointed to see another ruined room like the one before. She explored the
surrounding area for a while and then sighed in frustration. Just a bunch of bloody rocks. She
really knew she should turn around and go back to the others, but she suddenly felt extremely
tired. She knew that pregnant women in the first trimester often got extremely tired, but actually
feeling it was a lot different than reading about it. She could say in all honesty that she could
easily curl up in a ball and go to sleep on the floor. She yawned and sat on the floor with her
back resting against one of the walls. She wouldn’t go to sleep, but she needed to sit down. Her
energy was extremely low all of a sudden. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the wall opposite her,
trying to imagine what it would have looked like back in the 1400’s. She felt herself dozing off
and had to keep her eyes focused on the wall in front. She blinked rapidly trying to concentrate.
It was then that she saw something rather odd. At first she thought it was a figment of her
sleep-deprived imagination, then when she looked again it was gone. She felt her eyes drooping
closed again and her vision losing its focus. It was when she blinked rapidly again and looked at
the wall that she knew she wasn’t imagining things. It was almost like a magic eye trick where your
eyes had to be unfocused for you to see the picture properly. She unfocused her eyes again and
there in front of her was the face of a dragon. She bolted upright and moved quickly to go back to
the other room. At first she wanted to tell them what she had seen, but she stopped quickly and
scanned the other wall. As she unfocused her eyes she saw the word ‘sunrise’ within the stones. She
knew it had to be a message of some sort, and she suddenly felt very wide-awake. She rushed from
room to room, looking at any walls that still survived. Some had no hidden message, but a lot of
them did. After she was sure, she found the rest of the group who had congregated in the remains of
the upper floor (which looked extremely unstable in Hermione’s opinion) and seemed to be wondering
whether or not they had missed something. Hermione reached them triumphant, her eyes shining.

“There’s a message on the walls,” she said quickly, her faced flushed with excitement “There was
a picture of a dragons head on one wall and on the others there were words which were, sunrise,
month, day and last. At sunrise on the last day of the month is when the Order of the Dragon meets
within these walls. Well, sort of walls…”

“So it’s the 29th of January right now…which means we have to be here not tomorrow
but the next day at dawn! Good, that would be awful to have to wait a whole month,” said Susan with
a grin. “So I say, lets come back here then. I don’t know about you lot but I don’t get to travel
that much and I’d really like to explore some sights while I still can.” Everyone except Mad Eye,
John and Hermione seemed to approve of this idea. Mad Eye because he had a lot of work to do and
had spent, in his opinion, far too much time in Romania already. John because he needed to go to
the market to pick up some things for the dragons, and Hermione because she was about to fall
asleep on her feet. Harry said that he wanted to stay with Hermione, but she insisted that he go
out without her.

“Honestly Harry,” she said, “you haven’t travelled before and I think it would be good for you
to get out and see the sights. Better than just watching me sleep anyway,”

“Hey, I love watching you sleep,” said Harry quietly into her ear.

“Well I love when you see new things and tonight that’s precisely what you’re going to do. Sorry
for putting off that promise I made to you earlier, I didn’t think I could ever feel this tired.”
replied Hermione just as quietly.

“Hermione I don’t need to be having sex with you to be happy. I love just being with you. You
need your rest and besides…” said Harry with a mischievous grin “we can make up for it in the
morning.” Hermione laughed lightly and then kissed him softly. She then disapparated back to the
villa with a crack. They had decided that since there wasn’t too much magical activity in Romania
that apparition was probably safe. Harry, Ron, Neville, Susan, Luna and Charlie then disapparated
back to the square and were happy to find that the festivities had only increased. There were fires
lit around the square and large steaming mugs of an unidentifiable beverage were being passed
around. Luna walked forward into a large crowd of extremely merry people dancing and followed suit
quickly. Harry watched in amusement as a large burly looking man led Luna around the dancing
circle. Her laugh seemed to echo around the square as her dancing became more frenzied. Harry
willing took a steaming mug and brought it to his lips. As he took a sip he immediately felt a fire
coarse though him. It was no wonder that everyone managed to fend off the cold of winter when they
drank such strong alcoholic drinks. The merriment continued for quite a few hours and even though
Harry wasn’t much of a dancer he and Ron weren’t all that upset at being pulled into the laughing
crowd, though admittedly the alcohol might have played a part in that.

Harry sat at a small wooden table feeling quire tired, he watched as Ron managed to wrestle Luna
from the crowd and they started to organise themselves to depart for the villa. Ron started
laughing and pointed towards the edge of the square where Charlie was half dragging, half carrying
Susan towards them.

“Blurry good time! Blurry good dancing!” guffawed Susan as she approached the group.

“Pissed as a fart this one,” murmured Charlie, though his eyes were shining with laughter. Harry
stood up and started to lead the group out of the square, only to feel a pull on his arm tugging
him back in the opposite direction. He looked around quickly to see Luna beaming at him, and then
she quickly linked her arm through his, her owl like eyes studying him carefully.

“So Harry,” she said lightly “what are your plans?”

“Eh?” asked Harry more than a little perplexed. “do you mean this evening or in general? I think
my general plan is pretty obvious. How much of that stuff did you drink Luna?” At this Luna broke
into hysterical laughter and the group had to stop while she composed herself. After a minute of
deep breathing she finally spoke again, though her voice seemed to tremble with laughter just
begging to be released.

“I mean in Romania. What are your plans while we’re here? I only ask because I know something
that would be perfect for you to do, though I suspect it’s something you’ve been thinking about for
a few days now.”

“Well I plan on finding this order of the dragon, then going back and spending some more time
with Norbert so that he’ll work with me when we face Voldemort. I thought you knew these plans
though Luna. Unless you’ve been ignoring everything that’s been going on the last few weeks,” said
Harry jokingly.

“You know Romania is a beautiful country, there are so many wonderful sights to see. I was
telling Hermione that Peles castle is so beautiful, not to mention a lovely place to get married,”
said Luna, her large round eyes studying Harry intently.

“Are you kidding?” asked Harry a little louder than anticipated. “Are you trying to say I should
Marry Hermione?” The rest of the group following behind him came to an abrupt stop, listening
intently to their conversation. Harry and Luna turned around to face them all, and Harry looked
deep in thought and more than a little confused.

“Luna are you kidding?” slurred Susan “No offence Harry, but he’s got a terrible fate awaiting
him and I don’t think that getting married help the situation,”

“Why not?” asked Neville with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

“Harry,” said Luna, turning to look Harry in the eyes. “What have you always wanted in life? Not
to be the hero, but to have a normal life. You’ve always wanted a family; you’ve always wanted
someone to love and that someone to love you in return. If this thing with Voldemort had never
happened what things would you look forward to in your life?”

“Um…I’d look forward to travelling the world, getting a career that I love. Then I’d want to
find myself someone I want to be with forever and settle down to have a family. But this is
pointless Luna, I can’t do those things. I have a limited time here and I’ve been living on
borrowed time.”

“Not true Harry! You just have to make the most of the time you have left. You need to try and
get everything accomplished that you would have wanted if this weren’t happening. You can easily
travel to a few more countries in Europe, and you’ve started your family already. What are you
waiting for? Of all people Harry, I though that you would recognise the importance of living in the
moment,” said Luna softly “You need to embrace each day you’re given Harry and live it to the
fullest,” Harry looked deep in thought and Luna turned around and began to walk forwards. The Luna
did something that they had not been expecting. She opened her mouth and began to sing in a voice
that seemed full of secrets and dreams. The group watched her mesmerised, not necessarily because
she had a fantastic voice (though it was quite lovely) but because she seemed to be some mythical
creature that was connected to things they could only begin to imagine. It was at that point that
Harry knew that Luna was right about more things than just this evening.

“*I hope you never lose your sense of wonder. You get your fill to eat but always keep that
hunger. May you never take one single breath for granted. God forbid love ever leave you
empty-handed. I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean. Whenever one door
closes, I hope one more opens. Promise me you’ll give faith a fighting chance, and when you get the
choice to sit it out or dance. I hope you dance, I hope you dance*,” sang Luna, spinning around
as if hearing the voice from somewhere other than her own mind. Harry understood Luna completely,
and rather than wait a moment longer he disapparated to the Villa. He really needed to talk to
Hermione. The crowd of Romanians and other tourists had stopped their dancing to watch Luna singing
and twirling, and Ron was taken aback when she stepped in front of his face and gently put hands
upon it. Her eyes seemed to search his very soul and he wasn’t sure what she was looking for.

“*I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance. Never settle for the path of least
resistance, Living life means taking chances, but they’re worth taking. Loving might be a mistake,
but it’s worth making. Don’t let some hell bent heart leave you bitter. When you come close to
selling out, reconsider. Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance. And when you get
the choice to sit out or dance. I hope you dance, I hope you dance*,” Luna sang gently, then
spun away from him and danced up the alleyway leading out of the square, leaving behind a large
group of people that felt that they had been touched by something they could not quite define. The
rest of the group followed Luna through the alleyway, none of them quite sure what to say. Susan
was the first one to address her-

“Never heard that song before,” she said “lovely though…”

“Of course you haven’t heard of it before. It’s just an idea in someone’s mind right now,” said
Luna dreamily, still twirling and humming absently to herself.

“An idea in someone’s head? What are you talking about?” asked Ron.

“Meaning that someone out there somewhere in the world is thinking about a song like this. The
words are there, the tune is there. But they haven’t quite grasped it in their minds yet. It’s so
close to them, but it’s still so far away,” replied Luna vaguely.

“You’re something else Luna,” said Neville quietly.

“Thank you Neville! I’ve never been a something else before! You know you’re in someone’s mind
right now. We all are, but mostly its just Harry,” said Luna softly.

“Well if course Harry’s on someone’s mind,” laughed Susan brashly “Hermione loves him, he’s
always on her mind.”

“No not like that at all,” said Luna, though her voice had lowered to almost a whisper and her
eyes seemed to see something far away. Her hands reached out and started to trace an unseen shape
before them “She’s sitting on a train and she’s thinking about Harry. His green eyes…his scar.
Mostly she sees his scar, it’s with her when she starts to fall asleep and when she’s almost awake
in the mornings. She doesn’t know what it means yet though…”

“Well this is all a bit too weird for me. Time to go I think…” said Ron laughing awkwardly, then
he started to walk ahead of the group at a faster than necessary pace. The rest of the group
disapparated to the Villa. Luna hurried after Ron and when she finally got a hold of him, spun him
around to face her.

“You’re quite hurtful sometimes Ronald,”

“Sorry, it was just a bit strange. You’re a bit peculiar sometimes and I-uh- well…” stammered
Ron.

“You’re a bit intimidated? I’m sorry if you feel that way, but you need to just tell people how
you feel. Sometimes the way you say things is quite hurtful, and sometimes it’s just a bit
childish,” replied Luna gently.

“I am not childish! I’m just having a laugh, it’s what I do! It’s easier than…” started Ron,
then turned around with a deep red flush on his face.

“Easier than what Ronald? Easier than dealing with what’s in front of you?” asked Luna.

“It’s just the way I deal with stuff,” shrugged Ron “I laugh and I make a joke. It’s not good to
be so serious all the time. If you don’t laugh you either get sad or angry. I try not to be like
that all the time…”

“I see,” said Luna softly “but I think that sometimes you need to be serious. Sometimes you need
to say what you’re thinking in a nice way rather than being unkind Ronald,” Ron looked like he
might protest her for a moment but then he hung his head and nodded it…well, a half nod anyway. She
took his head in her hands and softly stroked it, her wide blue eyes shimmering with tears.

“You are a wonderful person. You’re so funny, and you *are* kind. You have been so brave
Ronald, and let me tell you something. You are a person that people want to know, and their lives
would be better knowing you. Your family is very lucky; Harry and Hermione are very lucky. Harry
treasures your friendship, without you and Hermione he would be a shell of the person he is now.
But you were his first friend, you were the first person he met that actually wanted to be his
friend, and you are a wonderful friend. We’re all glad to have you with us; it wouldn’t be the same
without you. Don’t let insecurities cloud your vision Ronald, see how important you are. I am such
a lucky witch to know you, we are all lucky to know you…” said Luna, breathing heavily and looking
into his eyes earnestly. He finally met eyes and smiled softly.

“Thanks,” he said gently “I needed to hear that,” he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say
something else, then closed it and moved closer to her instead. He could feel his heart racing in
his chest as he pulled her closer to him to bridge the distance between them. It was as if the
world around them had gone silent when his lips touched hers. At that moment there was nothing in
the world but him and Luna, and it was at that moment that he finally felt complete. That he
finally understood what Luna had been talking about, and he smiled into their kiss. Luna pulled
away with a small smile of her own and rested her forehead against his.

“What are you smiling at?” she whispered playfully.

“Can I still call you Loony?” he whispered in return. She pulled back quickly then flicked him
on the forehead with a laugh filled with joy. Then she turned around and started spin, and as Ron
watched her spinning and the soft snow start to fall he knew that she was special, and loony was
far from the truth.

*************************************************************************************

Harry walked into the darkened bedroom and lit his wand. He propped it on the bedside table and
softly lowered himself to the edge of the bed. He watched her chest move up and down in the
peaceful rhythm of sleep and he felt his heart swell at the sight of her. Who would have known he
could be so fortunate? He knew that some people would laugh if they ever heard this thought, but he
knew better. Regardless of what had to happen to him he knew that he had the love of Hermione. She
was carrying his child and for that he was thankful. Defeating Voldemort meant the end of his life
and he had come to terms with that, it was what he was meant to do. But his life since he had
received his letter from Hogwarts had been something from a dream. He had loved and been loved in
return by more people than Voldemort. That filled his heart with hope and joy.

“Hermione,” he whispered, slowly stroking her bare arm. She moaned a little and her eyes started
to flutter slightly. He whispered her name again and this time her eyes opened. The look in her
eyes when she saw him brought a lump to his throat. This was what life was about…love.

“Harry,” she said sleepily “I missed you,”

“I missed you too,” he replied softly “I need to ask you something.”

“What?” she asked, sitting up and trying to hide a look of alarm.

“Nothing bad. At least I don’t think it is…” said Harry “I was talking with Luna tonight and she
asked me what I have always wanted. To cut a long story short, I said basically a wife and a
family. Well we have a baby on the way, and I love you with all my heart. I want you to be my wife
Hermione, even though we might not have too much time together. I want us to be together in the
best way we can possibly be. So what do you think? Will you marry me?”

“Oh Harry!” she exclaimed, then threw herself into his arms and covered his face with
kisses.

“Shall I take that as a yes?” asked Harry laughing.

“Of course! I would love to marry you Harry. But it might not have to be for a short period of
time. Don’t give up hope yet Harry. Never give up hope,” said Hermione softly, and then pulled him
down to kiss her. They made love gently until the sun started to raise her head. Both were eager to
please the other and they laid their souls bare to the others exploration. Harry could still hardly
believe the turn of events from the previous year, but he was happier than he could ever have
imagined being. He had Hermione and there was his child growing inside of her, which was all the
power he needed against Voldemort.

*************************************************************************************



35. A winter wedding
--------------------

*A/N- Hello again to you all! You know when I first decided to write this for my younger
sister, I didn’t think it would be popular at all. I’m simply amazed at the number of reviews
people have left for me, especially since it’s my first fan fiction. I really appreciate every
single review I receive, and I love sitting down with my cup of tea in the evenings and reading the
things you all have to say. So thanks very much, you guys are absolutely wonderful! Another shout
out to Mulder, who may as well chuck on a pair of fairy wings and grab a wand of her own…she has
been that helpful to me. Authors boring note over, on with the story. Happy reading and let me know
what you think!*

***Islanzadi** J*

She had woken up abruptly at three in the morning and wasn’t quite sure why. A strange feeling
plagued her but she couldn’t quite define what it was, she sighed into the darkness of her bedroom
trying to get her sleep-ridden mind in order. Her first idea was to check that her daughter,
Jessica, was sleeping soundly in the next room. After creeping into the bedroom and placing the
blankets properly on the small sleeping figure, she crept downstairs to retrieve a pen and a piece
of paper, and then she sat down on the couch. She tried to concentrate on what she wanted to write
about, who she wanted to write about. But for some unfathomable reason the ideas that had gripped
her so tightly when she was on the train had left her. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there for,
but whatever feeling had woken her up had now left her. She sighed, knowing that trying to go back
to bed would be futile and instead padded into the kitchen to put the kettle on. As she stared out
of the window listening to the steady whine of the heating water, rain started to fall. She rolled
her eyes and the words ‘pathetic fallacy’ flitted through her mind. The rain started to land on the
window with a sudden speed that shocked her slightly, and then out of nowhere a large crash seemed
to shake the kitchen and the sky was lit up with a bright white lightning bolt. She was mesmerised
for a moment, then a smile of excitement spread across her face. She rushed out of the kitchen and
back into the living room where her pen and paper were waiting anxiously for her to share her
secrets with them. She picked up the pen and started her frenzied writing. The words ‘Lily Potter’,
‘James Potter’, ‘Hermione Granger’, ‘Ron Weasley’ and ‘Dumbledore’ were written around the page,
and in the middle she finally wrote the name that had been on her mind on the train, she finally
knew what it was. Harry Potter, then next to the name she scrawled a large lightning bolt. She sat
on the couch for a while after that, feeling as if she was somehow connected to something she
couldn’t see and wondering where on earth this was all going to take her. She was oblivious to the
sound of the teakettle screeching in the distance, and to the fact that the rain had stopped. There
had only been one lightning bolt.

*************************************************************************************

Harry woke abruptly and felt a sensation of being watched. He grabbed his wand and looked around
warily, but there was nothing dangerous he could see. He glanced at the clock and groaned, it was
five am and absolutely pointless to try going back to sleep. He lay there for a while just
thinking, mostly about Ron and Hermione, though his parents and Dumbledore flitted through his mind
too. He wondered what everyone in Grimmauld place had been up to and if any other disasters had
plagued Britain while they had been away. He briefly entertained the thought of contacting Mrs
Weasley to ask her, but then remembered that it was three in the morning over there. Probably not a
good idea. The feeling of being watched was still there and he wondered for one horrible moment if
it was Voldemort. But he knew at once that wasn’t right, though how he knew that he couldn’t have
put into words. He lay there for a little while thinking about nothing and everything, only to be
pulled out of his reverie by the sound of a knock on the door. He looked at the clock in confusion
and was surprised to see it was now six o clock. The sun rose at 7.06 am in the winter so they had
little over an hour to get ready, have breakfast and leave for the fortress. The feeling of being
watched had left him now, but what was bothering Harry was that now he felt strangely comforted. He
shook his head in confusion and headed for the shower trying to put the incident out of his mind.
He had more important things to worry about right now.

*************************************************************************************

The sun was rising over the Poienari fortress and as Hermione lifted her head to welcome the
warm rays, she heard a heavy beating sound, and once the blinding light had shifted from her eyes
she could see what the loud noise was. Directly in front of them was a man dressed in white,
perched atop a ruby red dragon. The dragon was beating its wings leisurely and hovering right next
to where they were standing. A noise behind her caught her attention from the dragon, and when she
turned around she saw eight other people walking slowly towards them. They were dressed in blue
clothes that looked very fine even from a distance. Hermione fought back a derisive snort and
wondered why they would dress like that in the middle of winter. But as the group of strangers
moved towards them Hermione could see that they were in fact a lot warmer looking that they were.
As if sensing Hermione’s train of thought Susan quickly whispered-

“We should probably invest in something like that. I feel like an Eskimo in all these clothes…if
they don’t try to kill us we should definitely think about asking them…”

The beating sound behind them slowly subsided and the group turned around to see the dragon
perched almost casually next to the fortress. Harry had no idea how on earth that kind of control
could be maintained. If he had brought Norbert up here he would probably put Harry down then fly
off to try and find more unsuspecting people that had wooden fences. There was a brief flurry of
conversation in a foreign language as the man in white approached them, and then all of the new
faces were upon them.

“Why have you come to our sacred fortress? What is it that you want?” asked the man in white. He
was quite tall and he had very broad shoulders. Harry would have guessed him to be about thirty
years old, though the dark moustache on his face made him look older than he probably was. His eyes
were a very dark brown and commanded your attention and respect. Harry noticed that two of his
fingers were missing from his right hand and the mangled tortured stubs added to his intimidating
presence.

“We are here to request information, and if you would give it, your aid,” replied Charlie in a
strong voice.

“You are magicians. Surely you do not need our aid?” inquired the man in a harsh voice, though
Harry thought he saw his brown eyes dancing slightly with humour.

“We are not magicians,” said Mad Eye, his voice tinged with irritation “we are wizards and as
you probably know the wizarding world is on the verge of a huge battle against Voldemort-”

“We know all of this,” interrupted the man in white. “Tell us what your story and we shall
discuss if we think you are worthy recipients of our knowledge and help.” The group looked at each
other, wondering who should be the one to do the talking. Mad Eye was about to open his mouth
again, but Hermione elbowed Harry sharply in ribs. Harry rubbed his side slightly and began to tell
the group of strangers their tale. The man in white listened as Harry spoke of the events unfurling
in Britain and of their plans for the final battle. After Harry had finished telling them of their
meeting with the vampire, the man in white was silent for a few long minutes. Then he motioned
silently for the rest of his group to follow him so that they could discuss how they should
proceed.

“So…” said Neville, nervously eyeing the dragon behind them. “think that’s a tame one?”

“It’s fine,” said Susan, waving an impatient hand “I hope they can help us. That woman with the
long silver hair kept looking at us as if she was expecting us to try and bite them at any
moment,”

“Well,” said Ron “considering they hunt vampires that usually do try and bite them all the time,
that’s not too much of a surprise is it?” Susan rolled her eyes.

“They have remarkable control over that dragon,” said Hermione softly “that’s one of the main
reasons we’re here isn’t it? To learn their methods of control so that when we need to use Norbert
we can do so without any unfortunate repercussions.”

“If by unfortunate repercussions, you mean being killed or thrown off the dragon in midair…then
you’d be right,” grinned Charlie. Hermione was about to reply to his smart arse comment, but the
group suddenly fell quiet. The Order of the Dragon was approaching them now, and the woman with the
silver hair looked like she would like nothing more than to throw them into the air herself.

“You have our help,” said the man in white, holding out his hand for Harry to shake “I am
Alexandru, *defender of Mankind*.” Harry shook his hand and wondered if he had given himself
the last part of his name “I am also known as the White Knight, head of the Order of the Dragon,”
He then shook hands with the rest of the group and then introduced the other members. Harry
realised that the part of Alexandru’s name that he had wondered about earlier was simply what his
name meant. There was a tall man with long blonde hair called Horatiu, which meant *‘time
keeper’* in the Romanian language. Then there was Bodgan who looked like he was twenty years old
in the face, though his dark brown curly hair was streaked with grey, his name meant *‘gift from
god’*. The other two men were Anghel, which meant *‘messenger’* and Sorin…who looked like a
cross between Ron and Bill Weasley. Sorin’s name in the Romanian language meant *‘red hair’*
which earned a chuckle from some people, though Luna found it quite hysterical and the poor girl
had to be pulled to her feet by a very red faced Ron. The grouchy silver haired woman was named
Romena the *‘wise guardian’*, and she looked older than anyone Harry had ever met, though her
eyes burned with inner youth. Helena was a slim lady who looked about twenty years old too. She had
long brown hair that reached to her waist and very delicate features, her name meant *light*.
The last two women were Viviana, *full of life* and Celestina the *heavenly*. Viviana
looked like she was about to burst because she wanted to talk so much and Harry knew immediately
that her name was well fitted. Alexandru explained that there were more members of the Order of the
Dragon, but Harry had a hard enough time remembering the names of the people in front of him let
alone ones he hadn’t met yet. He changed the subject quickly by asking about the control Alexandru
had over the dragon, and in reply he pulled out a long necklace with a dragon fang hanging on it.
After closer inspection Harry noticed that the fang had been carved slightly and watched as
Alexandru put it to his lips and blew. No sound came out, but Harry could tell from the reaction of
the dragon that it was paying attention. He blew on the whistle again and the dragon crawled closer
to them.

“We use these to summon the dragons when we need them, but it is a two way process. You have to
give something to the dragon so that you can use the whistle. For this we partake in a ceremony
that brings your chosen dragon and you together,” explained Alexandru

“Well…what do you have to do?” asked Ron, not entirely sure he wanted to know.

“We do not speak of it. You, your dragon and an elder of the Order of the Dragon participate in
this ceremony. To speak of the details leaves you weak and vulnerable to your enemies. After we
create the bond with the dragon our minds are wiped clean. Only the Elders know of the rituals,”
replied Alexandru.

“So if the Order of the Dragon perishes, the secrets of the dragons die too,” said Hermione
softly.

“That’s correct,” said Alexandru smiling at Hermione.

“But I can’t take part in a ceremony like that because I’m not a member of the Order. So how
will I control Norbert when I need him?” asked Harry anxiously, visions of Norbert getting pissed
of with him and throwing him into the air were flashing through his mind.

“Time will tell,” said Helena softly. The rest of the group nodded wisely, but Harry had
absolutely no idea what they were talking about. He looked around and was relieved to see that
Susan, Ron, Charlie and Neville also seemed to be clueless. He would ask Hermione later…

“The vampires that wish to fight against you and join Voldemort are the younger vampires of this
society. They are ignorant and feel that they can gain power; it is our job to stop them before
they leave for England. Last night we received information that they will be meeting in Bran castle
before they depart, but we do not yet know the date of departure. We have members of the Dragon out
trying to find information. We can only hope that we find them in time, though it will be dangerous
to face that many vampires. Your help and sorcery shall be helpful indeed,” said Alexandru
strongly.

“It’s not sorcery mate,” said Ron conversationally “it’s m--”

“So you’ll contact us when you have that information?” asked Harry whilst giving Ron a warning
look.

“Yes, where are residing?” asked Alexandru.

“We’re staying at the Irina villa,” said Hermione anxiously “but how will you contact us? We
don’t have any telephones and I doubt you have owls.”

“We have our own means of communication,” chuckled Viviana. Then the group left so quickly that
Harry briefly wondered if it had been a dream.

“Do you think this is a good idea?” asked Hermione “I mean, do you think we should trust them?
We’ve only just met them and we really don’t know too much about them…”

“Don’t think I haven’t done my homework,” said Mad Eye gruffly “Do you think I’d get us into
trouble like that?”

“N-no,” stammered Hermione “It’s just that we were trying to find out information about the
vampires and now we’re going to fight them all. I just hope that we can trust them when it comes
down to it,”

“We can,” said Charlie “besides, it’s better that we fight them here before they leave for
England to join Voldemort than have another bunch of violent creatures in the final showdown. The
less of those we have the better, don’t you think?” Hermione nodded, though she still chewed her
bottom lip in deep thought.

Mad Eye disapparated, leaving the rest of the group behind with excited smiles on their faces.
All except for the clueless Hermione.

“You hungry?” murmured Harry into Hermione’s ear. She jumped at the sudden intrusion but then
smiled widely at Harry.

“Now that I’m not vomiting every two minutes I could eat constantly. Where shall we go?” she
asked breathlessly.

“A pregnant woman’s love for food is an amazing thing,” said Charlie with a smile.

“I have no idea where we’ll go yet,” said Harry quietly “But you trust me right?”

“Of course I do,” said Hermione simply “But why? Are you planning on having me eat something
disgusting like horse? Because I won’t do it, I’m telling you right now…” Harry laughed loudly,
then whispered into her ear-

“Close your eyes and don’t open them until I tell you to,”

“Erm…ok,” she whispered nervously. Harry then disapparated, followed by the other men. Luna
quickly pointed her wand at Hermione, and the dress that she had tried on the previous day appeared
on her petite frame. Susan pulled out a small bag, which had the words *‘glitteringly
gorgeous’* embroidered upon it. She pulled out a handful of glittering silver power and blew it
off of her hand and onto Hermione’s unsuspecting face.

“What are you doing to me? Harry? Can I open my eyes now?” asked Hermione, her voice dripping
with suspicion. Susan laughed silently to herself then quickly aimed a spell at Hermione’s hair.
Luna laughed hysterically as her hair literally stood on end and began to smooth itself out, but
the finished job was wonderful. The girls stood back to admire their work. Hermione stood in a
breathtaking princess cut dress. It was beautifully detailed, with glittering beadwork along the
bodice and around the trim of the dress. Over the top of the dress was a white hooded cloak, with
matching beadwork. Hermione’s hands began to move to touch her stomach, so naturally Susan and Luna
began to fumble with their wands to stop her. Luna froze her hands an inch before she touched her
dress, but Hermione already had a knowing smile on her face.

“Erm,” said Susan quickly “pretend you have no idea what’s going on,” Hermione didn’t say
anything, instead she squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could and tried to breath
deeply.

“You’re not scared or angry are you?” asked Susan uncertainly.

“No,” whispered Hermione “I’ve never been happier,”

“Why are you keeping your eyes closed?” asked Susan again.

“Harry told me to,” said Hermione simply. Then she smiled so radiantly that both Luna and Susan
had tears in their eyes.

*************************************************************************************

Harry stood outside of Peles castle with a ball of excitement in the pit of his stomach. He was
surrounded by the epitome of renaissance architecture, there were tall towers built in marble,
stone and wood surrounding him. Large statues adorned the entranceways, and as Harry looked around
he could see small balconies joining one tower to another. It was like something from a fairytale,
though lately it seemed as if his life was like something from a fairytale…or a horror film,
depending on whether you wanted to focus on Hermione or Voldemort. Ron clapped his hand on his
shoulder and startled Harry out of his thoughts.

“This way,” he said “you want to get all set up before she arrives,”

“Yeah,” said Harry quietly “I sort of wish this could be perfect for her though. You know, have
her dad here to give her away. Have everyone here to see us get married, know what I mean?”

“She loves you Harry,” said Ron seriously “Hermione doesn’t need all of that stuff. She has you
here, that’s all that matters. It’s about you two anyway, not everyone else.”

“You’re right,” sighed Harry “cheers,”

“No worries,” said Ron with a grin “Now hurry up and follow the rest of them before she gets
here.” Harry nodded then dashed off after Neville and Charlie. Ron stood pacing for a while and
couldn’t help a rueful smile. Who would have ever thought things would end up this way? He heard a
crack in the distance and about five minutes later Susan, Luna and Hermione came into his vision.
Susan and Luna wore light periwinkle silk gowns, and Hermione was the vision of an angel in white.
He found his eyes watering slightly and brushed them *very* quickly. He couldn’t believe his
best friends were getting married, but if anyone deserved to be happy it was them. He had never
been able to say out loud how much he loved the both of them, nor was he ever likely to, it was one
of those things that didn’t need to be said out loud. The bond between the three of them was never
questioned, it was just something that *was* and they put their entire faith into their
friendship without questioning it. It was amazing how much had happened since that first day on the
train, and how much still had to happen. He watched as Hermione walked towards him and vowed that
he would keep her safe and do anything in his power to stop her pain when Harry died. He brushed
off those thoughts quickly and let his eyes linger on Luna…then he shifted them away again though
he had a sheepish grin on his face.

“Hi Ron,” said Hermione when she was finally standing in front of him.

“Alright?” asked Ron.

“Never better,” grinned Hermione. Ron grinned in return and offered his arm to Hermione. She
smiled a smile that lit up her face and eyes. She had never looked so beautiful as she did right
now. Ron waited as Luna and Susan walked in front of them and he followed behind them with
Hermione.

“Nervous?” asked Ron jokingly.

“Not at all,” said Hermione serenely “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. Ron…do you
think you could stop staring at Luna’s arse and listen to me?”

“Sorry…” said a very shamefaced Ron. Then they looked at each other and laughed, one thing was
always certain…wherever Hermione and Ron were there would definitely be bickering.

Harry waited in a magnificent room, surrounded by statues, paintings and amazing historical
artifacts. He knew Hermione would love it and he fixed his eyes on the door and tried to contain
his anticipation. When the door finally opened he felt his heart leap into his throat. Luna and
Susan emerged carrying bouquets of white lilies. Harry smiled fondly at the flower, knowing it was
something Hermione had thought of. He could scarcely believe that they had ever been friends. How
could he have not seen her? How could he have been so blind to have missed what was right in front
of him? He smiled as she entered the room, feeling his heart swell at the sight of her. He couldn’t
believe how breathtaking she looked. He wished he had known how he felt about her sooner, how much
time could they have spent together? How many months, years? But at least he had her now; at least
he knew what it was like to be truly in love. For that he would be eternally grateful no matter
what happened.

The minister stood in front of Harry and Hermione and began his opening speech. Harry had
absolutely no idea what he was talking about; his eyes were trained solely upon Hermione. He didn’t
know how long they just stood and stared at each other for, but the minister gave a discreet little
cough to start them on their vows. Hermione flushed a light pink colour and Harry thought it was
the most adorable thing he had ever seen. He cleared his throat to speak the words that truly came
from his heart.

*“Hermione, with free and unconstrained soul*

*I give you all I am and all I am to become*

*Take this ring, and with it my promise of faith, patience and love,*

*For the rest of my life,”*

*“Today, Harry”* spoke Hermione in an emotionally charged voice *“I join my life to
yours,*

*Not merely as your wife*

*But as your friend, your lover and your confidant,*

*Let me be the shoulder you lean on,*

*The rock on which you rest,*

*The companion of your life,*

*With you I will walk my path from this day forward.”*

*“What have I to give you Hermione?*

*The promise to take you as my only love from this day forward,*

*To stand by your side, and listen when you speak,*

*To comfort you when you cry,*

*And to join your laughter with my own,*

*Take this ring, and be my wife,”*

*“As freely, Harry, as God has given me life,*

*I join my life with yours,*

*Wherever you go, I will go,*

*Whatever you face, I will face,*

*For good or ill, in happiness or sadness,*

*Come riches or poverty,*

*I take you as my husband, and will give myself to no other,”*

Luna, Ron, Susan, Neville and Charlie watched as they placed rings on each other’s fingers, and
then pronounced them man and wife. Hermione glowed with happiness and Harry kissed her so soundly
that the minister gave another little cough to get them to break it up. Everyone laughed loudly at
this, though Ron and Luna laughed the loudest. Harry held Hermione’s hand whilst leading her out of
the castle and stopping to put his hand firmly around her waist.

“Ready for the wedding night Mrs. Potter?” he asked mischievously.

“Of course Mr Potter, though if you want to be technical it’s wedding afternoon. The question
is, can you handle it?” she laughed wickedly.

“We’ll see…” he grinned, and then with a crack they were gone.

“Well we should definitely all go out to celebrate their wedding,” said Ron slowly, avoiding
Luna’s eye contact in case she thought drinking in the middle of the afternoon unwise. To his
surprise she didn’t react too much to his suggestion, which he took as a good sign.

“I agree,” laughed Charlie.

“There’s a pub up the road,” offered Neville with a smile.

“Men,” grumbled Susan. Suffice to say the merriments continued well into the night for both
parties.

*************************************************************************************

Susan awoke the next morning and could feel her skull trying to split itself open. She grabbed a
pillow and put it over her head, willing the pain to go away. How much did she drink last night? An
image of her dancing with Luna on a table in the pub flashed through her mind and she squeezed her
eyes in an effort to will the image away. She knew she ought to get up and find Luna. She probably
already had a potion brewing and her head was practically screaming for it. She went to move her
leg but found that it was trapped under something. Intriguing. She began to wiggle it a bit and
realised that it was a person she was trapped under. Hmm, no point in going out to find Luna.
Apparently she had decided to crash in Susan’s bed last night. Maybe she could persuade her to help
make a potion with her at the very least…Luna would definitely need it too, no doubt about it. She
reluctantly opened her eyes to the brightness of the day and realised that she didn’t recognise the
room she was in. This was not a good sign... She turned over to try and prod Luna awake and then
stopped as her eyes caught the sight of bright red hair.

“Eh?” she mumbled to herself as her hung over brain tried to piece together what she was seeing,
the second it managed to, she yelped and leapt up from the bed. After grabbing her wand off of the
bedside table and quickly summoning her clothes, she made a run for the door. The second she was
out of the room she pulled on her clothes and then ran down the stairs. She had barely got down the
first staircase when she whacked head first into Luna. This certainly wasn’t going to help her
hangover. Not surprisingly, Luna seemed to find this quite funny.

“Ah! There you are!” said Luna, still giggling a few minutes later “I thought you might like
some potion. We were rather drunk last night I’m afraid.”

“Um, yeah I think we were,” mumbled Susan, taking the potion gratefully. After she had swallowed
the disgusting concoction and her brain had stopped trying to break free from her skull she could
finally think clearly. Maybe it was a good idea if she didn’t mention what had happened…she didn’t
want to seem irresponsible after all. Not to mention that he probably didn’t like her like that, I
mean for some blokes shag was just that…a shag. She mentally shook herself for being such a stupid
cow.

“So, how was your drunken shag with Charlie? Everything you had imagined?” asked Luna vaguely.
Susan tripped suddenly on the stairs due to Luna’s frankness, which sent Luna into another bout of
crazed hysterics.

“Very funny,” mumbled Susan, as she scrambled to her feet again. “Who else knows?”

“The question you should be asking, is who else doesn’t know? Other than the happy couple of
course…” laughed Luna dreamily.

“How embarrassing,” said Susan.

“What’s embarrassing?” came the voice of Charlie from the top of the stairs. Susan’s face went
past the red stage and ascended to the valley of purple.

“I, erm, just fell down the stairs.” said Susan quickly, and then wanted to hit herself for
saying that out loud. Charlie laughed and walked past them, then stopped to quickly whisper-

“I hope you’re not still drunk,” Susan looked up and the look in his eyes made her knees
tremble. She had never been so grateful for having a wall behind her before. Charlie laughed softly
and carried on walking down the stairs. Susan allowed herself to be led to her room by Luna, where
she promptly screeched when she saw what she looked like in the mirror. This was going to be a bad
day…

*************************************************************************************

Harry rolled over and smiled as he saw Hermione sleeping soundly next to him, her face covered
by her hair. Harry moved her hair away from her face and kissed her softly on the lips, then the
cheeks and then slowly started to trail them down her neck. Hermione sighed softly and her eyelids
fluttered open.

“Mmmm,” she said sleepily “how is my husband this morning?”

“I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve called me your husband already,” chuckled Harry “but
I’m very well. Did you sleep ok?”

“Wonderfully,” she mumbled, then snuggled into Harry and raised her neck to invite more of his
kisses. Harry was only too happy to oblige…but at that moment something quite unexpected happened.
A strange crackling sensation filled the room, almost as if it were filling with electricity. Harry
sat up and grabbed his wand quickly, but before he even had time to react there were bright red
sparks dashing from all areas of their room. Harry watched in amazement as the red sparks glittered
brightly and began to move to the centre of the room. Once in the centre of the room they began to
merge together, first changing from an indistinguishable blob to a face. A minute later the blob
had developed a great gaping mouth filled with fangs and little horns. It was a bright red dragon,
made out of something similar to fireworks.

“Not too discreet,” said Hermione quietly. The dragon’s mouth opened wide and spirals of blue
and yellow sparks came out, drifting whimsically into the air to spell out a message. Harry read
the message intently:

*Bran Castle at half twelve*

“Every girls dream honeymoon. Battling with bloodthirsty vicious vampires…” joked Hermione, as
the dragon’s mouth began to close and the sparks lost their glow, eventually disappearing
altogether.

“Well,” said Harry quietly, with a mischievous glint in his eye “it could be worse, we could be
on some boring holiday learning about facts from some tour guide…”

“I’ll have you know that I rather like tours! They give you all the important information you
need, as well as some entertaining tidbits that…what are you laughing at? Harry? Oh shut up!” she
scolded lightly, throwing her pillow firmly onto his face, and then making a mad dash for the
bathroom before he could retaliate. However, sports weren’t quite Hermione’s forte and so she lost
quite badly. Not that she minded.

*************************************************************************************

The group met up in the courtyard of Bran Castle. It was filled with tourists, so much so that
they were having a hard time staying together. A very tanned middle-aged man barged into Susan in
his haste to join his partner, who was waving to him excitedly. His American accent flitted across
the mumbles of the crowd.

“I’m super excited you could meet me here! Isn’t it great?”

“Super excited?” muttered Susan, looking at the rest of the group “Do you think he is, perhaps,
a super tosser?”

“Susan!” reprimanded Hermione lightly “Let’s forget about him. I don’t understand why they asked
us to meet here. I mean…look at this place! It’s too crowded, why on Earth would vampires want to
meet here? There must be something we’re missing…”

“That American bloke is looking at us really oddly. Do you think he’s a bit touched in the
head?” asked Ron, looking anxiously at the tanned man.

“He’s waving at us to follow him. Who the bloody hell is he?” asked Harry curiously. Luna’s
looked of confusion suddenly gave away to a bright smile.

“Look carefully at his eyes! It’s Alexandru! I wonder how he managed to do that without magic.
They really are quite fascinating…”

“That’s incredible. What’s even more incredible is the discreet way of getting our attention,”
muttered Susan.

“Now now Sue! What’s got your knickers in a twist this morning?” asked Charlie with a grin.

“Nothing,” said Susan, immediately going red again. “Lets just go figure out what this
*super* bloke has to say…”

As they approached the man, Harry noticed that there were several other people simply hanging
around the courtyard. He figured that they too must be disguised like Alexandru. The castle
surrounded the small courtyard they were standing in, and directly in front of Harry was an archway
leading into the castle. He looked up at the dark wooden balcony above the archway and saw two more
people staring intently at him. He looked at the others, and was surprised that no one else had
pegged these strangers as being part of the Order of the Dragon. Even though he was about to face
an unknown number of vampires, he couldn’t help but feel surrounded by history. He had never really
though about anything like that before, but the castle just seemed to scream it’s age at you and
the design begged you to listen to its secrets. As they neared the archway, the two men followed
another group of tourists. Hermione mimicked pointing to some of the cream stonework on the castle
wall, and after a few seconds of pretending to look at it, they moved on after the two men.

They passed through a large chamber with an ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and a
large decorative table in the middle of the room. Then they walked through another room, filled
with carvings and wonderful artwork on the walls. They gave the pieces enough of a look so they
didn’t look suspicious before moving on. Harry finally saw the back of the ‘American’ man’s head.
He was heading out of the room with the other man; only now two women followed them. They appeared
to be chatting animatedly. Harry signalled everyone else to follow him, and he moved to the back of
the room to another archway. There were so many tourists around that Harry held onto Hermione’s
hand to keep her with him, and then Hermione and the rest of the group made a chain. Mad Eye
excluded of course. Harry manoeuvred them through the crowds and led them into a small stone
hallway, lit only by flaming torches.

“Why are these dodgy areas always lit with fire?” asked Harry.

“It would hardly look alluring if they had light bulbs hanging from the ceiling would it?” joked
Hermione quietly. Harry’s chuckle caught in his throat as he saw a large group of tourists in the
middle of the stone archway, and directly behind them were seven strangers, the American man and
his partner. Harry and the rest of the group walked casually past the first group of tourists until
they were level with Alexandru and his group. Alexandru’s shape shifted slightly, then settled
again as he turned around and casually leant against the stone wall behind him. He was making a
joke in an overly brash voice that Harry was sure American’s didn’t use. At least not from what
Harry had seen on the telly anyway. Alexandru suddenly started talking about the flaming torch, and
before Harry knew what had happened he was falling into a pit of darkness.

*************************************************************************************

Hermione lit her wand as she was falling, and managed prepare herself for the drop to the floor.
She heard the tell tale thuds of everyone else landing on the floor and wondered how far away the
vampires were and if they were already in trouble. She would at least like to have the upper hand
for once. She saw the rest of her group light their wands, and with their accumulated light she
could see the room. It was a simple room in the shape of on oval; there were no torches, no
decorations and nothing else filling it. At the end of the room was a small hallway, with stone
steps leading into a corridor above it. Mad Eye, Alexandru, Charlie, John and Harry took the lead.
Hermione stayed directly behind Harry with Ron, Luna and Susan. The walked up the stone stairway
quietly, and the corridor they reached was so narrow it could only fit three people walking side by
side. There were no torches up here either, and the darkness was so absolute that the wands light
seemed to only go a foot in front of them.

“There are enchantments upon this castle,” whispered Mad Eye gruffly “The light from the wands
isn’t strong enough.”

“Dracula has powers to rival your basic spells. But if you can resist his basic enchantments,
your more potent spells will hurt him. But only sunlight or a stake will kill Dracula, not even
your powerful curses,” said Alexandru quietly.

“Will he be here?” asked Susan worriedly.

“Dracula? Of course not. It has been my life’s work to destroy him and I know that he is a prize
too big to simply be handed to me. No he is not here, it is simply the lesser vampires that are
here today,”

“The weak always try to stick with the strong,” said Harry, referring to the Vampires and
Voldemort but thinking about Peter Pettigrew and his father. Alexandru looked like he might say
something back, but whatever it was on the tip of his tongue was cut off by a fierce hissing sound.
Harry raised his wand in the direction of the hiss and heard Mad Eye shout-

*“Luminarium!”*

The hallway was lit momentarily, and in those few seconds Harry could see vampires hanging on
the walls, dangling from the ceiling and rushing at them from the front of the corridor. Then the
light faded and he hard Hermione desperately shout-

“Remember they are immune to sunlight!” He heard a few mumbled curses, and then the next thing
he knew the corridor was filled with different coloured sparks, all in the shape of dragons. The
dragons lunged at the vampires, and Alexandru, Helena and Bodgan leapt forward with wooden stakes
and began driving them through the hearts of the vampires. The hissing noises filled the corridor,
but now were punctuated with the angered and pained screams of their enemies. Anghel, Sorin and
Viviana handed out stakes, and Harry buried his wand into the pocket of his robes. He heard a
hissing noise directly behind him, and he turned around quickly to bury the stake into the
vampires’ chest. Unfortunately he hadn’t done this sort of thing before, and it missed and hit the
vampire in the arm. Harry felt himself being flung backwards into the wall, where a pair of arms
gripped his waist. He could hear the hissing noise in his ears, far too close for comfort. He
thought-

“Protego!” and the vampires were flung forcefully away from him. He smiled grimly…magic to get
them away, a wooden stake to kill them. He heard a screech from Hermione and turned around, his
heart suddenly in his throat. Was she in trouble? Where was she? He looked worriedly around, and
then his eyes spotted her surrounded by six vampires. He moved forward to help her and had barely
gotten to step number two when he realised that she wasn’t screeching in fear. She was making a
rather funny noise as she rammed a stake into the vampires’ heart, with much better precision than
Harry had. He watched as she shielded herself, froze the vampires and then took care of them
quickly.

The hallway was filled with the sounds of spells being shouted, the colours of the dragons and
the screaming of the vampires. Harry immersed himself in the job at hand, over and over again. But
it seemed like no matter how many they seemed to get rid of, there were just as many waiting to
attack them. He was starting to feel extremely tired, and he could tell the rest of them were too.
The rest of the group and the Order of the Dragon were in a circle, and Harry was in the middle
with Ron, fighting off the vampires that seemed to be dropping from the ceiling. How long had they
been doing this for? It seemed like and endless amount of time, and it looked as If they had hardly
made a dent in the population of vampires meeting here today. Hermione ducked out of the circle and
joined Harry and Ron in the centre, she cast a quick spell on them and Harry immediately felt
better. His limbs no longer felt like lead and he felt energised again, though not as much as he
would like. He opened his mouth to thank her, but at that moment a vampire fell from the ceiling
and lunged at her quickly. Harry couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe; he simply leapt towards
Hermione with Ron following shortly after him.

What happened next, no one expected. Harry and Ron had reached for their wands to get the
vampire off of Hermione, when a sudden white light filled the room. It wasn’t the bright white
light that surrounded them when Harry, Luna and Susan had combined their patronuses, but rather a
soft creamy light that felt pleasantly warm to the skin. It spread through the stone corridor and
the vampires fell like dominoes. The Order of the Dragon and everyone else went into action
immediately, driving stakes through the vampires’ hearts at an alarmingly efficient pace. Harry had
the pleasure of destroying the vampire that had been on top of Hermione, and this time he did not
miss. He was momentarily shaken at the things he had done these last few months, the horrors he had
seen and the things he had been forced to kill. Then he looked at Hermione’s grateful and rather
embarrassed face and felt all of that melt away. He would kill a hundred times over to keep her and
his child safe, and if that made him an awful person then so be it. Ron, Harry and Hermione shared
a hug, and then broke quickly apart when they noticed they were surrounded by complete silence.
Harry stood up and helped Hermione to her feet, and the wound his arm around her waist in a
protective manner.

“You are more than worthy for our help Harry. Your name means *‘army power’*, meaning you
are a powerful leader. But you are more powerful than even your name suggests, and more so because
you have the love of your friends behind you. Never doubt the power of love and friendship for you
have seen its power today,” Said Alexandru in a calm and serious voice.

What? Love had done that? How on Earth could he, Ron and Hermione have caused all that? Without
using a spell or anything?

“Sometimes the heart acts when the mind can’t possibly understand a way out of the situation.
You always know the solution to a problem, whether you realise it or not. Every single person has a
power inside of them, it just takes belief to utilize it correctly,” said Romena, her old harsh
face unusually calm and pleasant. It was almost more of a shock seeing her look like that than it
had been to see the vampires materializing out of stone walls. He made a mental note to always be
very careful in enchanted castles from now on.

“Almost everyone has that kind of power,” said Ron tiredly “except muggles and squibs. They have
no power at all…”

“We do not possess magic like you, and yet we use the power, do we not?” asked Alexandru.

“It’s true Ron,” said Luna excitedly “everyone has some kind of power. Even muggles! Every time
they have a dream that then *happens* in real life…magic! Every time they *think* about
the phone ringing and then it does…magic! When they think about someone and then they just so
happen to see that person the same day, it’s magic! Every small thing they attribute to a
coincidence is always much more than that, but they never want to see it. It’s too strange to think
of something that small being something that magnificent, but it is! You have to believe in things
before you can use them. Magic is all around us all the time, it just depends on how you use
it,”

“The girl is wise beyond her years,” said Romena quietly.

“Well at least we got rid of some of them. Maybe enough to make a difference in the end, what do
you reckon Harry?” asked Ron hopefully.

“We’ll see Ron,” said Harry tiredly.

“You must get some rest now. Tomorrow we shall take Harry and teach him how to use his dragon,
then you must prepare to lead your followers into battle,” said Alexandru decisively.

“Um, I don’t really think-” began Harry uncertainly, but was cut off when Alexandru simply bowed
and walked away.

“We shall contact you tomorrow,” chuckled Viviana lightly, then she hurried up the rest of the
departing group.

“Looks like you made some friends Harry,” said Mad Eye gruffly, the he too turned around and
started to walk in the direction the Order of the Dragon was walking in, followed by Charlie, John
and Neville. Hermione leant into Harry and whispered-

“Think we could get back to that honeymoon now?”

“I think that could be arranged…” replied Harry with a cheeky grin.

“Oi you lot,” said Ron, looking suddenly nervous “How the bloody hell do we get out of
here?”

*************************************************************************************

*A/N- Just in case any of you were wondering, I expect there to be another four or five
chapters and then the story will be at an end L If everything goes to plan…which it hardly ever
does…*