Disclaimer: All the characters and so forth belong to J.K Rowling. I think I only own the plot of the story.
Quick notes: I'd like to think everyone so far that had reviewed! I've answered all of them except for a few in the first chapter, and sorry for those I did miss. I do hope you like this chapter. I certainly like the end. Now, to the story…
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The Previous Night...
I'm so sick and tired if them, thought Hermione, as she slammed her door shut. She was trying to calm herself down as she walked towards the bed, but thoughts kept coming back. Just because we can do magic they are prejudice against us. If it is the last thing I do, it will be to get something on them. I would much rather get something on Mrs. Dursley though. Harry is her blood family, and she neglected him all these years, and allowed her husband and son to do the same. It will be her I focus on, thought Hermione while climbing into bed.
It was then that the Dursleys made their loud appearance downstairs. She had started to cool back down, but the Dursleys making their sudden appearance just reminded her of everything. Hermione was sick and tired of being discriminated against because she was who she was. In the wizarding world it was because she was muggle-born. And now, where she thought she was safe form the ridicule, she was being discriminated because she was a witch. She never would discriminate against anyone. Race and the level of society didn't affect her. And it was them refusing to look at her, combined with everything else, which had finally put her over the top. She was done trying to pretend words like "Mudblood" didn't affect her. She would show those bigoted people that she was worthy of their respect.
WHY ARE THEY BEING SO LOUD? It's like they don't care we are trying to get some sleep, thought Hermione, which was probably true. We still have to spend a month here, and I will be damned if things don't change. She knew she needed to calm down, but she couldn't help it. It was five years of being discriminated against that was driving her to do something vengeful. Nothing too bad, because she couldn't live with herself, but something that says, "Hey don't mess with me".
I'm going to search around tomorrow and see what I can find, she thought. I think Harry mentioned they were leaving again, so I'll have a go at the attic. I need some sleep now though, so they need to shut up.
And with that she laid down to try and sleep. But an hour later when they arguing continue, she got up and quietly opened her door. She very stealthily sneaked down the stairs, skipped the creaking bottom step, and went into the kitchen.
"Silencio!" she shouted, and with that she turned on her heel and walked to her room with a huge grin on her face. She had an excellent sleep after that.
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When Harry woke up the next morning, it was eerily quiet. They were always some commotion going on downstairs. Whether it is talking in the kitchen, or the telly blaring, there was always noise. The noiselessness of the house unnerved him. He pulled on his pants from the prior day and cast a silencing charm on his door to keep it from creaking. It opened without a sound and he looked around the hall. Dudley wasn't in his room, and Aunt Petunia wasn't in hers.
Maybe they left early, he thought. Or Dudley went to work with Uncle Vernon. He knew neither option were likely, but couldn't think of any better explanation.
He was extremely surprised to find the Durslsys sitting on the couch and not saying anything. They just looked at him with anger on their faces, and a little fear.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
They didn't answer.
"Umm, okay. I'll just leave then," said Harry, turning towards the hall.
But as he turned towards the hall, Uncle Vernon stood up and starting waving his arms around, and stamping his foot.
"What in the world? Why don't you actually say something?" repeated Harry, who was completely dumbfounded. Then he thought of the dream where he heard a voice shout Silencio! "Finite Incantatem," yelled Harry.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" demanded Uncle Vernon, when he was finally able to use his voice. "Why did that girl use a s...sp...spell on us?" he demanded again.
"What girl?" Harry asked, completely dumbfounded. "And I have no clue why someone used a spell on you."
"The one with the bushy hair," piped in Aunt Petunia. "I think her name was Harriett."
"My name is Hermione actually," said a girl with bushy brown hair, while coming down the stairs. "And I used a spell on you to get you to shut up. You were being awfully loud and inconsiderate, actually. We were trying to sleep."
"I'm not exactly sure as to why there was an argument, but we all had a hard day, and I thought it was quite rude to just ignore us," continued Hermione. "Also, I'm sorry if I am not being respectful, because I generally am to all adults, but, and forgive me for saying so, you have not earned my respect. You act more like children then we do."
And with that, Hermione turned around and calmly walked back up the stairs, leaving a stunned Harry and Dursley family behind.
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Over the next week and a half the household was sort of tense. The Dursleys no longer went out of their way to forget about their guest. They would even occasionally say a few words, but everything had a forced effort behind it.
Hermione had, as she said she would, searched around the house. There wasn't much in the attic actually. Mrs. Dursley obviously did not like clutter. Either that or she went to great lengths to get rid of her past. It didn't help that Hermione did not know what to try next. She had thought about going into Mrs. Dursley's room and having a look around, but decided against it. She was afraid to take it that far. Attics and around the house were one thing, but actually searching someone's private room was another.
She wasn't the only one having trouble in the house either.
Harry was having trouble, too. He was dumbfounded as to what had caused this change in Hermione. He wasn't sure if he preferred her this way or not. He had only seen her cry a few times, and wasn't sure if this was healthy or not. Her mum coming seemed to have helped, but now she seemed to have just tried to forget all together. They still spent time together, and everything was the same. It was when they were separated, he noticed things. She would occasionally open drawers or disappear for awhile into the attic. But, besides that, everything was fine. They continued to grow closer. Having Ron not there was strangely pleasant. It was always fun with Ron, but it was different somehow now, and Harry was only just now beginning to suspect why. The trouble was, Ron and Ginny were coming today and wouldn't be leaving till the night. He knew Ron liked Hermione and still thought Ginny might have a thing for him. He wasn't sure how this would play out, and that scared him.
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Harry had gotten a letter telling him that if he wanted, Ron and Ginny would be able to stay for the day. He had, of course, wanted them to come, and owled Ron and Ginny right away. He did fill sort of guilty for not continuing to write them letters. School was about to start in half a month and the communication had been lacking between the group. He was really glad they were coming though, but was still sort of on edge about it too. He never had before been afraid to see Ron. He had, at one time, sort of been afraid to see Ginny, but only when he was younger and she was obsessive. Everything was thankfully okay now.
Except for the fact that my best mate is practically in love over my other best friend and I might like her too, thought Harry. And it doesn't help that I think Ginny still has a thing for me. Stupid, bloody relationships, he thought angrily.
While he was thinking, he wasn't aware that three people were watching him from his doorway. He had left it open so he would be able to hear a knock at the door.
"HEY, MATE!" yelled a voice from the door, startling him from his thoughts. He was actually starting to try and describe his relationship with a certain person, and had once again been interrupted.
When he turned around it was to find Ron, wearing a huge grin, and Ginny, dressed very nice in a shorts and a top. Wow, Ginny really is getting older, thought Harry.
"RON! GINNY! I didn't hear you come in," he said happily, forgetting all his worries instantly.
"Hermione was waiting by the door," explained Ginny. "She was trying to make it a surprise. Oh, Harry, I'm so glad to see you!" she said suddenly, throwing herself at him in a hug.
"Oh," said Harry, caught by surprise. "I'm glad to see you too."
"Harry, I just thought of something. How did you get the Dursleys to agree to Ron and Ginny coming for the day?" asked Hermione. "Come to think of it, where are the Dursleys today?"
"Professor Dumbledore took care of it actually," stated Harry. "He didn't give me all the details in his letter from Fawkes, but he did say to not worry about it. Oh, he said you guys could spend the night too, because they won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. Order members are around the house, so it should be safe, and he mentioned that you guys can do magic while your staying here."
"That's cool!" exclaimed Ron. "I've missed doing magic. Mum makes us wash dishes by hand and everything. She refuses to do it with her wand. Anyways, Harry, may I have a word later?"
"Umm, sure, why?" asked Harry. He was a little surprised by the sudden question.
"What's there to do around here?" interrupted Ginny, trying to regain Harry's attention, but was disappointed when he didn't answer.
"There's not much to do around here," responded Hermione instead. "I've taken up a sort of project to take care of my free time. We can do mock battles and things later though, if you want. Play some games, watch the telly. It's still better than cleaning the house for fun."
She was instantly sorry for saying that when Harry's face changed immediately when Grimmauld Place was mentioned. She knew completely how he felt. If someone had mentioned her father so unexpectedly like she had, she would have run from the room. As it was, she was already starting to tear up. And when Harry fled the room, she followed, leaving an uncomfortable Ron and Ginny behind.
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It was about mid-afternoon and the foursome had decided to start the mock battles. They had early tried Monopoly, an American game they found in Dudley's room. Hermione was familiar with the game, and Harry grasped the concept easily enough, but it was Ron and Ginny that had a hard time, so they had finally moved on.
It was going to begin as a few warm-up battles; nothing serious and just minor jinxes, curses, and other spells. After awhile, it would move to high jinxes and such. Eventually they would do two on two and three on one after doing a championship like thing to determine the better fighters.
"What happens if we get hurt?" asked Ron. "It's not exactly like we can run to the Hospital Wing."
"I've been preparing potions for this, actually," stated Hermione. "I figured we might get hurt, so I started brewing all sorts of healing potions and I also worked on healing charms."
"That's great!" exclaimed Ron. "You really are always prepared."
"Whose facing who?" asked Ginny.
"Umm, you and Harry," responded Ron. "I need to talk to Hermione for a minute."
"Ron, what do you nee..." started Hermione, but was cut of by Ron.
"It's private," was all he responded.
"Oh, um okay then. I guess we will see you in a few minutes," Hermione told Harry and Ginny, while Ron dragged her from the room.
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"RON!" exclaimed Hermione. "What is it? Stop dragging me through the house. I am capable of walking."
"Sorry, I just have wanted to speak with you, and I couldn't exactly talk to you about this in a letter. I'm not Vicky..."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Hermione, already getting angry. "Why did you bring me all the way out here to talk about Victor?"
Oh, bloody hell, thought Ron, I've already messed up. "Nothing, it meant nothing. I was just talking nonsense." He was completely relieved when Hermione started to settle back down. Harry had mentioned early that she had been having a hard time. Damn, I never did get that word with Harry. I had meant to ask him what he thought I should do. Oh well, I have already started.
"Ron, what is it?" asked Hermione. She had just noticed that he looked extremely nervous and was already a faint pink around the ears, and she was worried.
"Umm," he began. "This is really hard to say, Hermione. I know this may come as a shock to you but I think you should know. I myself only began realizing it last year and I had wanted to say something to you before summer break, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. This is really hard to say and I'm not sure how to begin so I'm just going to say it."
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"So, should we begin?" asked Harry, a little nervously. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of fighting Ginny. He knew she had a killer bat bogey hex, but he couldn't recall any other spectacular spells from her.
"Yeah, I guess we should," responded Ginny.
"Where do you reckon we should start?" asked Harry.
"The living room looks fine, if we move the furniture and silence the room," she said.
"Umm, okay. I guess I will just shrink the furniture. Reducio! Silencio!"
And the furniture was gone. Actually, it was just extremely small, but it looked gone.
This is weird, thought Harry, having never seen this room empty.
"I guess we should get started," Ginny said. I'll prove to him that I'm worthy of noticing, by beating him, she thought.
"Yeah, I guess. Do you think we should wait for the others? In case something goes wrong?" Harry asked, stalling for time.
"No, I think we will be fine alone," she answered. "Now, draw your wand and get ready."
They faced towards each other, with wands drawn, across the room. They then bowed to each other, following wizard customs. Raised their wands, and Harry began counting to three.
"Two...One..." said Harry.
"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Ginny.
But Harry dodged it easily, and being afraid to hurt her, cast the tickling charm, Rictusempra.
"Protego!" she shouted.
"Incarcerous!" he shouted back. This spell didn't make it but it did break the Protego Charm. Petrificus Totalus and Expelliarmus he shouted again, right after another on opposite sides of her. She unluckily dived to the right and hit the Expelliarmus spell and her wand went flying into Harry's hand.
She rose from the floor looking dejected and went to retrieve her wand.
"Sorry, Ginny, I didn't mean to hurt you or anything," he said.
"I'm fine Harry. I'm not a brittle person, and I do play Quidditch, I think I can handle falling down. I won't break from a little rough play," she laughed. "It's okay, promise."
"Good, I mean I was only trying to win, and I didn't use anything powerful or hurtful..."
"Harry, I said it's fine. Now, let's do something fun. Show me some cool spells," she said.
"Well, there is this one I found while reading yesterday, but it has to be placed on something living," he said. "It's also nonverbal, so you won't here me say anything."
"As long as it's not harmful or anything, use it on me. I don't care, I just need a laugh," she responded. "I won't get mad, promise."
"Well, okay...LEVICORPUS!" he said inside his head
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"You what?" she asked.
"I said I think I might have feelings for you Hermione. I think I might have had them for awhile," he responded again. She had already asked him to repeat himself once and he was beginning to think she was in shock.
"Ron, you can't..." she began.
"Why," he asked. "Why can I not have feelings for you?"
"Ron, come on," Hermione said. "We argue constantly, and it could destroy our friendship and..."
"I know this, Hermione!" he exclaimed, getting frustrated. "I have thought of every possible consequence for this. None of that matters. You just have to take a leap and hope for the best."
"Ron, I'm so sorry, but I just don't think we're made for each other, and I don't think this relationship will last!" she exclaimed. Why does he not get this? Hermione thought to herself.
"But why..." Ron persisted. "Why will this not work?" he asked, showing his stubborn self. "I thought you loved me..."
"I do love you, Ron. I'm afraid just not in the, I'm-in-love-with-you, sort of way. I'd even be willing to give it a try, if there weren't so many downsides. It could hurt our friendship, we argue constantly, and I just don't think it would work, and what about Harry?" she asked.
And that's what stuck with Ron. Harry....Harry....always Harry. Then something struck him so hard it hurt. "Hermione, that's the reason you don't love me isn't it? It's Harry you love...isn't it?" he asked, begging for the truth and wishing it weren't so.
"Ron," she began, "why do you always revert to Ha..."
"Hermione, please, please, just tell me the truth. I have to know. Is it Harry?"
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Author's notes: For those of you that don't know yet, I update every other day. Well, that is until chapter 12, which I am currently writing but should be done with today. Thanks again to all those that reviewed! I love to hear what you guys think, good or bad. Hope you didn't mind the cliffy!
-EthanG
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