You know, just when I think I'm burnt out, you guys come through for me with colors.
Thank you for all the wonderful reviews last chapter, they meant more to me than you guys know. As a token of my appreciation, I actually got this week's chapter out on Friday, instead of Saturday in the early AM. With that said, let us continue!
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Chapter 12: Green, Red, and Silver
"It's getting late, you all should come in for dinner!" yelled Molly from the door.
"One more game?" asked Ron, coming to a halt in the air.
"You heard me Ronald Weasley," replied Molly. "And get washed up. I don't want to have to smell your stink during dinner."
"Thanks Mum," muttered Ron as his mother went back into the house.
"So that's it then?" asked Hermione, flying circles around Harry.
"You're enjoying yourself," smiled Harry, watching her intently.
"It's more fun than I thought," she replied, stopping in front of him. "And it turns out I'm not half bad at playing keeper."
"You're a bloody menace," growled Ron. "Almost as good as me."
"Being a keeper is all mental, Ronald," smiled Luna from her broom. "And I think Hermione has the advantage there."
"Thank you, Luna," grinned Hermione.
"I'm the better flyer," pointed out Ron.
"Which is why she didn't wipe the pitch with you," smirked Harry. "Let's not get into a debate about this right now, I'm in the mood for some of your mum's famous cooking."
"Hear hear," cheered Ron as the four of them flew to the ground.
"Hey, by the way," asked Hermione as they landed. "Who won?" Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged.
"Guess we were having too much fun to pay attention," smiled Harry. "It's certainly been long enough since I could say that."
"Right you are mate," laughed Ron, clapping Harry on the shoulder as they walked off ahead. "Now let's go get cleaned up, I reckon we smell a sight worse than a pair of Blast-Ended Skrewts."
"For the record, it was a draw," smiled Luna softly from beside Hermione as the boys walked in the house.
"I know," smiled Hermione looking after them. "I just wanted to see if they did."
"They've certainly grown up," sighed Luna as they entered the Burrow.
"Yes they have," nodded Hermione.
"Look at you two!" exclaimed Molly who was busily skinning potatoes by the sink. "You're nearly as bad as the boys! Go wash up, the both of you."
"Yes Mrs. Weasley," chorused Hermione and Luna, sharing a lighthearted smile with the matriarch of the Weasley clan.
"She's right though, we are quite dirty," noted Luna as they climbed the stairs. "Perhaps I'll go see if Ronald wants to share a quick shower with me."
Hermione froze and slowly turned around to look at the blond.
"No, perhaps you're right," sighed Luna. "Ronald's brain might implode."
"Are you two..." trailed Hermione
"Having sex?" asked Luna bluntly. Hermione blushed but nodded slightly. "Unfortunately, no."
"Oh," was all she could reply.
"I'll be patient," smiled Luna as they resumed ascending the stairs. "It'll be all the better."
"I can believe that," muttered Hermione with a smile.
=====
Dinner turned out to be a grand affair, as Molly had made the effort to bring all of the Weasley family together for the holidays. They were nearly done with the meal when the Bill stood from his chair.
"Everyone!" he called out among the chatter of the dinner table. "Could you lend me your ears for a moment?"
Fred and George wasted no time in pulling some fake plastic ears out of their pockets and tossing them at their older brother.
"Always the literalists," said Bill rolling his eyes as the table let out a collective groan.
"Just prepared," grinned Fred.
"As I was saying," continued Bill, smiling down at his wife. "Fleur and I have some news."
"I'll bet you she's pregnant," whispered Hermione to Harry.
"Do tell," called out George. "We're all dying to know about your marital life, after all."
"Would you like me to remind you that I'm your big brother?" asked Bill in a humorously threatening tone of voice.
"We flinch not," smiled Fred, leaning back in his chair. "We have Harry on our side, after all."
"Ohh, no," said Harry shaking his head. "I'm not getting dragged into this."
"Aw, but it'll be fun," coerced George. Harry shook his head again. "Fine. Spoilsport."
"Now then," said Bill, exasperated. "Fleur and I are going to be parents."
The room was instantly drowned out by Molly's scream as she rushed over to crush her older son in a vise-grip hug, while the people in the room who could breathe applauded.
"Told you," grinned Hermione.
"I never said I didn't agree with you," smiled Harry as people crowded around Fleur to give her congratulations.
"Oh lord, I'm going to be an aunt," groaned Ginny, getting up reluctantly.
"What's wrong with that?" asked Luna from beside Ron.
"It just makes me feel old," smirked Ginny. "Like I'll end up alone with cats or something like that."
"I hardly think that Neville would let something like that happen," smiled Hermione, to which Ginny blushed. "Speaking of which, where is he anyway?"
"Home for the holidays," sighed the red head. "He's going to try and come over on Christmas Day, but his gran wanted him home the rest of the time."
"Don't worry Gin, I'm sure you two will see plenty of each other when you're back in school," smiled Harry.
"I hope so," she muttered.
The five teens congratulated Bill and Fleur in turn, and before long they found themselves in the back yard, awaiting word from Molly for dessert.
"It's a nice night," commented Hermione, looking up at the sky.
"Sure is," laughed Ron. "I'd say there's even enough light for a night game...anyone?"
"I think I'll pass," chuckled Harry, looking up at the full moon. "I wonder how Lupin's doing."
"I'm sure he's doing alright," smiled Hermione. "Besides, he has Tonks to look after -"
The sounds of yelling inside the house were suddenly heard, and the five teens rushed inside to find Kingsley Shacklebolt hunched over the table, badly beaten.
"What's happened?" asked Harry quickly. "Did they attack Hogwarts?"
"No..." breathed the auror heavily. "They attacked everything else."
=====
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny all sat waiting in the living room anxiously. So far there had been reports of over fifty attacks, and more were happening by the hour.
"I wonder what time it is," commented Ron absently. "It's starting to get light out."
"About five," replied Hermione, leaning on Harry's shoulder.
"You guys don't need to stay up, you know," said Harry. "You can go to bed if you want."
"Well we don't want," countered Ginny with a yawn. "There's too much going on."
The sound of weary footsteps caused Harry's head to turn, and he saw a very worn out Tonks shuffling her feet towards him.
"Oh, Merlin," groaned Harry. "Don't tell me they called you in during the full moon?"
"Right in one," she sighed, stopping a few feet from him. "This is an updated list of casualties. McGonagal said you had the right to know."
"Casualties?" asked Luna.
"Dead, wounded, or missing," replied Tonks. "It's sorted into those three sections."
"Thanks," nodded Harry, taking the parchment from her outstretched hand.
"If you lot need anything, let me know," smiled Tonks as she shuffled out of the room.
Harry gazed down at the list of parchment with a frown. He quickly scanned the names under the heading 'dead', and let out a small sigh of relief when he didn't recognise any of the names.
"I don't recognise anyone who's been killed," he said to the four anxious teens in the room.
"I suppose that's good," said Ron slowly.
"A few people that are probably parents of some students got injured...." he continued, proceeding down the list to the missing section. "I don't see anyone missing that I..."
"Harry?" asked Hermione. "What...who is it?"
Harry was unable to speak as he stared hard at the two names on the parchment in his hand.
Dennis Granger
Marilyn Granger
"Harry, if you aren't going to tell me then at least let me see it," said Hermione, making a motion to take the list from him.
Harry briefly considered running from the room so Hermione wouldn't see the names of her parents, but he knew it would only make things worse. Taking a breath to steady himself, he handed the parchment to her and took her hand in his.
"Harry, honestly, what is going...oh my god..."
"What's wrong?" asked Ron, rising to his feet.
"They're...they're gone...my parents..."
"WHAT?!" bellowed Ron and Ginny at the same time. He ran forward and grabbed the list from her, quickly scanning it. The blood drained from his face when he reached their names.
"What...what have I done?" whispered Hermione to herself.
"It's not your fault," said Harry softly.
"I should've been there..." she whispered. "I left early...I couldn't protect them..."
And without another word she sprinted off up the stairs.
"Go after her," said Ginny. "Hurry."
Harry nodded and quickly ran up the stairs after her, heading straight for the only place she would've gone.
He emerged onto the roof to Hermione's sobs, and he sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him.
"We'll get them back," said Harry after a moment.
"How can you say that?" asked Hermione. "For all we know they're dead already." Harry considered this for a moment.
"If they were dead, I think Voldemort would've flaunted that in front of us," he replied.
"I suppose," sniffled Hermione.
"We'll get them back," repeated Harry. "I promise."
=====
Under strict orders from McGonagal herself, the students were required to stay at the Burrow for the remainder of the holiday. The Order was mobilizing resources and personnel and were already searching for those who were missing. Harry had wanted to start looking for Hermione's parents right away, but as she had pointed out, that was almost certainly what Voldemort wanted.
Before anyone knew it, Christmas Day had come, and everyone was seated for another one of Molly's grand Weasley feasts, with the addition of a few members of the Order. The talk had started with the attacks, and hadn't ceased since.
"How's Kingsley doing?" asked Ron, pushing the food on his plate around with his fork.
"Better," said Tonks. "He was one of the few aurors left in London when the attacks started, so it fell to him to defend the high profile targets. He got roughed up pretty good but managed to suppress all of his attackers before reporting coming to us."
"Speaking of attackers, how many of them did we get?" asked Harry.
"Seven alive, two killed themselves before they could be brought in," sighed Tonks. "Terrible ratio considering our losses."
"How bad did it turn out to be?" asked Ginny from beside Neville. The boy had managed to make it over for Christmas just like he had promised, and Ginny seemed to be much better off because of it.
"The final count looks to be close to a hundred dead, thirty or so wounded and another twenty missing," sighed Lupin, the scratches on his face from the full moon clearly evident. "Some of the deaths were brutal though...the death eaters used more than just the Avada Kedavra. I find it almost ironic that You-Know-Who would have his followers leave bloodied corpses under the dark mark with a note that said 'happy hols'. Christmas colors, indeed."
"Let's not talk about that during dinner," interjected Molly.
"My apologies," said Lupin. "Got a bit carried away."
"Don't blame you," grunted Moody, reclining in his chair. "Worst attack in the history of the wizarding world. Never seen anything like it before."
"What's the Ministry doing about it?" asked Bill.
"Oh you won't believe this," laughed Tonks dryly. "Because they didn't have the manpower present to respond promptly, they're claiming the high casualty numbers are because people were inadequately armed to defend themselves."
"What?" asked Harry incredulously.
"That's right," sighed Lupin. "Not only that, Scrimgeour is blaming Ardeth Farston, his successor as head of the auror division, for the lack of people in the areas attacked, when in fact it was Scrimgeour himself that ordered them to Hogwarts."
"Le travesty!" exclaimed Fleur. "How can a man not take responsibility for 'eez own actions?"
"He's just like Fudge," grimaced Harry. "A bit more tactful, but he's just the same."
"He's calling it the Night of Atrocity," frowned Tonks. "It's like he's making it into some sort of public holiday just to hide the awful job the Ministry did in preventing or controlling it."
"What does McGonagal have to say about all of this?" asked Harry suddenly. It had occurred to him that he had neither seen, nor heard the headmistress in person since before the attacks, and wondered what was happening.
"She's hiding her emotions well," said Lupin. "I think she's very angry with herself for misinterpreting your dream...but she's doing her best to quell the problems this has caused for the school."
"What problems?" asked Luna from beside Ron.
"Namely, safe transportation back to the school for the students whose parents were injured or killed," replied Lupin. "The ones she can convince to come back, anyway."
"Ruddy imbeciles, all of them," grunted Moody. "Hogwarts is the safest place around, everyone knows that."
"I don't think everyone does know that, or they'd be there, Alastor," said Arthur sadly.
"I think it's high time we stop talking about such depressing subjects," smiled Molly. "And what say we all open presents while I get dessert ready?"
"Wonderful!" exclaimed Fleur. "I 'ave presents for everyone! Come, come let us go to ze sitting room."
"Are you alright?" whispered Harry to Hermione as the assembled people rose from their seats and began heading towards the twinkling fairy lights from the tree. "You've hardly touched your food or said or word the entire meal. Or the past couple of days, come to think of it."
"I'm sorry," she replied as she stood up. "I guess this has just hit me harder than I thought it would."
"Is there anything I can do?" asked Harry, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"No," sighed Hermione with a rueful smile. "I suppose I shouldn't even be complaining to you about this...you've lost so much more than I have, after all."
"Hermione," said Harry, placing his hand on her shoulders and stopping her. "I can't even imagine what this must be like for you. Yes, I lost people I cared about. But I knew their fate. The uncertainty that comes in this kind of situation...I don't know what I'd do, but I will do whatever you need me to."
"Thank you," said Hermione softly. "You always can make me smile, can't you?"
"I try," replied Harry softly as they took their seats on the couch in front of the tree.
"Alright," said Fleur, holding about a dozen wrapped gifts in her arms, all the same shape and size. "Now, especially with a baby on ze way, I 'ave decided zat per'aps I should learn to do something much less stressful. Zees 'ave taken me weeks to get right, but I think zey are okay. One for each of you," she said, passing out a gift to each person in the room. "Go on, don't be shy."
The sound of paper ripping filled the room, followed quickly by a loud 'ooooh' from Ginny.
"How did you do this?" asked Ginny incredulously, holding up the a glass container in which a glimmering rose sat peacefully.
"Crystalized flowers," smiled Fleur proudly. "The process and charms are complex, but what you are looking at is a real flower with thin crystals forming on eet's surfaces."
"A sugar solution?" asked Hermione, though Harry noted that her curiosity didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Yes..." said Fleur slowly. "In an airtight environment, ze flower doesn't absorb ze sugars as long as I use a preservation charm, so crystals form on ze surface."
"They're exquisite," said Luna with a smile. "It must've taken you forever to figure out."
"Eet was a task I took to with a liking," smiled Fleur. "I am hoping to make a business out of eet, per'aps."
"Thank you very much," said Molly kindly, admiring her purple chrysanthemum. "I'll go put it up on the shelf next to the boys' awards."
"I think I'm going to get some air," said Hermione softly to Harry.
"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.
"I think I'll be alright," she replied with a kind smile.
"Alright," said Harry.
"I'll be back," said Hermione, rising quietly and departing towards the kitchen and the back door.
Over the next twenty minutes everyone enjoyed opening presents from each other, though Harry's heart was more concerned about Hermione than his gifts. He was sitting staring off into space when Ron waved his had in front of his eyes.
"Earth to Harry," he said.
"Sorry, mate," smiled Harry. "What's up?"
"I asked you where Hermione is," said Ron. "I want her to open her present."
"She went for some air," said Harry absently. Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Neville each shared a look at this.
"Harry," said Neville. Harry turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "Might I have a word upstairs?"
"Sure," nodded Harry, getting up. He followed Neville up to Ron's room and closed the door, only to find his friend staring at him with his arms crossed.
"Harry, what are you thinking?" asked Neville honestly.
"I'm sorry?" asked Harry confusedly.
"Why are you in here?" he countered.
"Because Hermione wanted to be alone," replied Harry honestly.
"So you let her be alone," stated Neville, frowning. "Harry, I don't know what you or Hermione are going through...I don't know how your mind works. But I do know that if it was Ginny out there, I would make sure that she knew without a doubt that she was not alone."
"I -" Harry started to say but Neville raised his hand.
"I don't know what's going on between the two of you," he said. "But Hermione needs to know that there's still someone who loves her."
"She knows that we all love her," replied Harry. "Ron, Luna, you, me, Ginny -"
"I'm not talking about the kind of love that friendship creates," said Neville. "I'm talking about the kind of love that keeps a person sane. The kind that people live for. The kind that people die for."
"When did you get so insightful?" asked Harry, echoing the words Hermione had once said to him many months ago.
"When you opened my eyes with Ginny," replied Neville. "She means everything to me, and she's the best thing to happen to me. And I think that's what you are to Hermione and visa-versa." Neville walked past Harry and opened the door, standing slightly in the hallway. "She needs you, Harry. Show her she's not alone." And he walked down the stairs to the laughter of the holiday.
Harry sighed and went over to the window overlooking the yard behind the Burrow. A light snow was falling, and he could barely make out Hermione's figure sitting hunched up on the stone bench near the garden that they had sat on the day of Bill and Fleur's wedding.
"I'm an idiot," said Harry softly, chastising himself. Without wasting any time, he grabbed his cloak and ran down the stairs, not even pausing to let the people in the sitting room know where he was going, and quickly making his way out the back door and into the yard.
Hermione looked up as he approached, putting her chin back on her knees when she saw it was him.
"I didn't want you to get cold," said Harry, draping his cloak over her.
"Thank you," she whispered. After a moment of silence, Harry took a seat next to her.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked. Hermione nodded almost imperceptibly. "Do you feel alone?"
Hermione stiffened slightly at the question, and she turned to look at him.
"It's hard not to when the only people who have ever told me they've loved me have disappeared," she sighed.
Harry waited a moment then placed his palm on her cheek and stared into her eyes.
"Then I need to remedy that," he whispered, leaning in and resting his forehead on hers. "Hermione, I love you very much and I hate that you feel you're alone right now, because I will never, ever, leave you, or stop loving you."
"Do you mean that?" she asked shakily, silver tears welling in her eyes.
"I'll show you," replied Harry.
In the moment his lips touched hers, Harry briefly thought that if there was a heaven, it would have a tough time beating what he was experiencing. Hermione melted into him, tears streaming down her face as he pulled her against his body, laying down on the bench so that she was resting on top of him.
Harry thought he could've lain there forever.
He wanted to lie there forever.
No war, no Voldemort.
No horcruxes, no forces of nature.
Just him, Hermione, and their love.
When they finally broke apart an unknown amount of time later, Hermione wiped her tears away and smiled gently at him. Snowflakes had begun to gather in her hair and the way they were sparkling in the moonlight, Harry thought she looked almost angelic.
"If there's one thing left to say," he whispered. "It's that I'm sorry for taking so long."
"It's alright," replied Hermione, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "I would've waited forever."
"Thankfully I'm not that thick," smiled Harry. Hermione chuckled softly.
"Can I tell you something?" she asked softly.
"Anything," replied Harry.
"I love you," she whispered.
"You know," smiled Harry. "I don't think I've ever been this happy in my life."
"Really?" asked Hermione
"Really, really," smiled Harry. "That's what you do for me."
"The feeling is mutual," said Hermione.
"That reminds me," said Harry, fiddling for the box in his pocket. "I have something for you."
"What is it?" asked Hermione, looking at him.
"Your Christmas present," he smiled, handing it to her. Curiously, she took the box and opened it, her mouth falling open slightly when she saw what was inside. "I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of promise rings?"
"Of course," she whispered, taking out golden circle with a small, real sapphire set in the middle.
Harry took her hands as she placed the band on her right ring finger.
"I promise to always be there for you," he whispered. "And I promise to do everything I can to get your parents back."
"I have something for you too," said Hermione after a brief pause. "I honestly didn't think I'd be giving it to you as a Christmas present...but after what you've done for me tonight..."
"What is it?" asked Harry curiously.
"This," replied Hermione, taking out a small package wrapped in plain brown paper from her pocket and handing it to Harry.
Harry unwrapped the paper and found himself with a white cardboard box.
"Open it," she whispered.
Harry did as he was told and nearly gasped when he saw what was inside.
"Hermione...this...this is -"
"Eternium," she said as Harry removed a chain with a small, silver-colored, opaque crystal from the box. "The most magical of all metals, and the rarest."
"Where did you get this?" asked Harry in awe.
"Eternium is man-made," explained Hermione. "It's forged with the magic from emotions, which is why it's so magically rich. I purchased a diamond and some raw silver and 'mixed' them together to get that."
"You made this?" asked Harry, amazed.
"Yeah," smiled Hermione softly. "I mean, normally you need magical amplifiers, several witches or wizards, and a nice hot forge to make the stuff, but I found a loophole."
"How?" asked Harry.
"Well you told me, really," smiled Hermione. "When you said that Dumbledore had told you that love was the strongest force of all."
"You created this...with love?" asked Harry, half in shock and half in amazement.
"With my love for you," whispered Hermione, brushing Harry's bangs out of his eyes softly. "It took me two whole months to do it, every night for a couple of hours in my room, behind closed curtains."
"Sometime in the future I want you to explain the mechanics behind what you did," said Harry, placing the pendant around his neck. "But for right now...thank you."
"You're welcome," smiled Hermione. "And I will, it was actually very interesting."
"So you were planning to give this to me...?"
"When you told me you loved me," said Hermione. "It's my promise to you that my heart will be yours forever."
As she said that, the gem softly glowed a pale gray.
"See," smiled Hermione. "It's very receptive."
"I'm speechless," said Harry, his mouth still hanging open. "I just...I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything," whispered Hermione, still smiling. "Just kiss me."
Harry did as he was told and pressed his lips to hers, once again feeling that wonderful sensation of absolute bliss as he did so.
"You know," whispered Hermione when they parted a few minutes later. "Despite all that's happened in the past few days...I think tonight has been the best night of my life."
"That goes for both of us," smiled Harry.
"Think we should head inside?" asked Hermione.
"I don't really want to," chuckled Harry. "But I guess we should before people come out looking for us."
"Besides, we still have presents to open," laughed Hermione as they got up and brushed themselves off."
"Too right, you are," grinned Harry, taking her hand and weaving their fingers together. Hermione looked down at their interlaced hands and smiled.
"You might want to tuck that in," she said, motioning towards the pendant. "It might be a good idea to keep the knowledge that you have that to ourselves until we can tell Ron and the others in a private place."
"Agreed," replied Harry, tucking the gem inside his shirt collar.
"Ready?" asked Hermione as they reached the back door.
"I should be asking you that question," smiled Harry. Hermione laughed softly and opened the door, walking inside the kitchen and into the sitting room.
"There they are!" exclaimed Ron, sitting in front of a pile of chocolate frogs. "Look at this stash! The twins bought out Honeydukes, they did!"
"We figured we owed Ronnikens something for all the misery we've put him through over the years," grinned George. "We also have a pool going with our employees as to how many he can eat in one sitting without vomiting."
"A pool?" asked Ron. "Cor, I wish I had been in on that."
"You would've bet on your own stomach, Ronald?" asked Luna, with a laugh.
"Darling, in all of life, how many times do you get a shot at a sure thing?" asked Ron, shoving a whole frog into his mouth.
"Well said," exclaimed Fred, clapping Ron on the back as he started to cough.
"So," said Neville, walking over to Harry and Hermione with Ginny. "Have you sorted everything out?"
"Of course they have, Nev, look at their hands," smiled Ginny. Harry and Hermione blushed slightly.
"I owe you one, Neville," said Harry as he and Hermione sat down on the couch.
"Nah, I just paid you back for helping me with Gin," smiled the boy. "So long as we're all happy, no one needs to owe anyone else favors."
"That's a good piece of wisdom," smiled Hermione.
"So what now?" asked Ginny.
"Dessert!" exclaimed Ron as Molly came into the room with over a dozen small plates floating in front of her, each holding a slice of pumpkin pie.
"Maybe we should look into getting him another stomach for next Christmas," chuckled Harry as Ron made a beeline for his mother.
"Don't need it, this one never fills up as it is!" called Ron as his mother let one of the plates float into his outstretched hands.
"You know," sighed Hermione. "I sort of feel guilty."
"Why?" asked Harry.
"Because my parents are somewhere out there right now probably going through hell...and yet..."
"You're happy?" he asked.
"I'm with you," smiled Hermione. "Of course I am."
"I know the feeling," sighed Harry. "I felt the same way after Sirius got away on Buckbeak after our third year...knowing he was in hiding and scavenging to survive. But I realised something."
"What?" asked Hermione.
"The people that we love would want us to be happy, no matter what happens to them," smiled Harry. "Especially the people you and I look up to. So as long as we do everything we can to get them back, we're allowed to be happy in the meantime."
"You always know what to say to make me feel better, don't you?" asked Hermione softly.
"I try," chuckled Harry.
"Oy! You two!" called Ron. "If you don't come and get your pie now I'm going to eat it for you!"
"Don't you dare touch my pumpkin pie, Ronald," chastised Hermione, getting up. "It's my favorite, after all."
"You know, Harry," said Remus coming over to him. "After all that's happened, I find it hard to believe you can be so relaxed, considering how you've acted in the past."
"I guess I've had some help growing up," he smiled, looking over at Hermione, who had just taken a bite of her dessert.
"Haven't we all," chuckled Remus.
"Harry!" called Hermione. "I'm not bringing yours over to you! Come here and get it!"
"Coming dear," grinned Harry, getting up.
Remus smiled broadly at the site of Harry purposely getting whipped cream on Hermione's nose, followed by her chasing him around the room. Everyone else in the room roared loudly as Ron popped a chocolate frog into his mouth that had a canary cream concealed inside, and promptly burst into bright yellow feathers. Sighing to himself, he went over to where Tonks was laughing hysterically by the tree and sat down next to her.
"Do you ever wonder that maybe we worry too much?" he asked, taking her hand in his.
"It's hard not to, looking at all of them," smiled Tonks, watching as Hermione tackled Harry from behind and collapsed to the floor together in fits of laughter. "Makes you feel like it's all worth while."
"I'll tell you," grinned Remus. "After tonight, I think we've got an actual shot of coming out of this war alright."
"What makes you say that?" asked Tonks.
"Harry," said Remus, pointing at the teen, who was currently helping pluck feathers off of his best friend. "For the first time I can remember, he's actually happy."
"And why does that give us an advantage?"
"Because now he has something to fight for, instead of just being forced to fight," smiled Remus. "And with that in mind, I'd give our side pretty damn good odds."
---------------
Yay! It happened! There it is!
This week, my readers, I leave you with this:
Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small people who find it easier to live in the world they've been given, than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact, it's an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is nothing.
As a follow up to last week (two weeks ago, w/e) when I said not to dwell in fantasies and forget to live, I give you this, a reminder to strive to make your dreams become your reality.
A quick note, I apologise for the many time gaps (represented by the ===== that I use) in the first half of this chapter. Hopefully you all were able to keep up with them, and enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Until next time!