Author's Note
Two very simple and heartfelt words for each and every one of you who has left their thoughts about my dad: Thank you. Each word, each prayer and each thought is appreciated more than you know. For the time being, he's out of hospital (surgery lies ahead) and we have our fingers crossed.
"Reunion" has become a welcome refuge and it makes me happy to share it with you, so here - at last! - with the usual bushel of thanks to the irreplaceable Kirsti, is Chapter Ten…
REUNION
By JanieB
CHAPTER TEN
Q & A Time
`Did you hear what he said?' asked Fred, a look of utter amazement on his face as he gazed at Harry. `He wants to know if there's anything we want to ask him about?'
`You'd be better off asking what we don't want to ask about, mate,' said George, grinning.
`Because that would be precisely nothing!' added Fred.
`All right, you two, that's enough,' said their father, although not harshly, `I think Harry gets the point.'
`Perhaps we should take turns,' put in Dean, `because each of us may well have different questions.'
`And at least five hundred of them,' muttered Fred.
`Sounds fair,' said Ron, looking to Harry and Hermione who both nodded their agreement.
`Who goes first then?' asked Ginny, drawing a chorus of "me's", making everyone laugh.
`I think we should start with you, dear,' Molly said to Arthur when the laughter had subsided, `and then just move 'round the table - me, Ginny, Dean, Fred, George and then Luna.'
`Excellent idea, my dear,' Arthur told her, beaming; no one disagreed so he turned to Harry, saying, `I wanted to ask about the first memory we saw, Harry, and I think it would be easiest if we moved through the memories in the order we saw them. I'm sure that'd be the least confusing for us all. Does everyone agree?'
Everyone did and as Harry nodded, he replied, `Fire away, Mr Weasley.'
`Well, I'm really curious about those flashes we saw around the Spire of Death - what were they? They looked like some kind of strange lightning.'
`We all thought of that as "Voldemort's Lightning". Hermione knew about that -' Harry hesitated, looking at Hermione, sitting on his right. `Actually, I think Hermione's more qualified to explain this than I am.'
Hermione gave him a small smile as she nodded, then looked around at everyone in turn as she began to speak.
`It took a long time and a lot of research, but I eventually learnt that the Spire of Death had undoubtedly become a receptacle of what, under normal circumstances, would've been Voldemort's ghost. However, the particular spell we used that night prevented him from -'
`That spell - it stopped the Killing Curse! How did you come up with it?' exclaimed Dean excitedly.
`Wait!' cried Arthur, holding up his hand. `We'll get to that. Let's just take it one question at a time, eh?'
Realising he'd interrupted, Dean apologised with an embarrassed grin. `Sorry,' he said sheepishly, `it just slipped out!'
`Don't worry, honey,' whispered Ginny with feeling, `I know precisely how you feel!'
`Back to the lightning and Voldemort's ghost, Hermione,' said Arthur, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the table.
Hermione sat back in her chair, her clasped hands resting on the table; she looked for all the world like a teacher giving a lecture…
`The spell we used that night actually prevented Voldemort becoming a ghost. We're certain that's what he would've done as that choice that was still available to him. Despite what he'd done to his soul with the Horcruxes, there was still a remnant remaining in his body. We believed it was essential he was prevented from doing that as, even in ghost-form, Voldemort would've been capable of wreaking all sorts of havoc - he'd become a rallying point for all his Death Eaters and very probably recruit a lot of new ones. He'd also probably attract a lot of unsavoury ghosts.'
Everyone was looking rather dumbfounded at this revelation and Hermione allowed them a few seconds to absorb it before continuing.
`In place of a ghost, the last dregs of Voldemort's memory or essence, including his final action - the curse he threw at us - became embedded in the very earth on which he died and then, when the Spire was erected, this "left-over Voldemort" as I called it to myself, was drawn into something more material than the mere earth which it had originally infected. My research showed that to reverse the effects of the curse, we would have to "re-visit" the time during which it was cast. That was possible only if the three of us returned to the same spot on the night of a full moon and called forth the memory and the "left-over Voldemort" held in the Spire. The incantation we used did just that - but it also meant that we had to re-live that night ourselves so that we could reach the point at which we'd be able to change what happened. That was why we had to re-enter that place you saw in the third memory - the place of the curse.'
Hermione paused to take a few sips of her tea.
`So that's why the next memory took us to the night you defeated Voldemort? Because it was the night he cursed you?' asked Arthur.
All three nodded, Hermione putting her cup down carefully before continuing.
`That's what the three of us experienced after Voldemort's Lightning hit us last night. The foundation of the incantation allowed our conscious selves to re-visit that night while another part protected our bodies to a certain extent, although not as well as I'd hoped. I knew we would be lying there, unconscious, for some time and so I spoke to Professor McGonagall and Fred and George just in case.'
`Which is why we went off -' began Fred, `- on our rescue mission,' finished George with a grin at his brother.
Molly rolled her eyes expressively; she didn't like to remember the state of the Trio when they'd first been brought back the previous night. `My turn,' she said quickly, revealing a measure of uncharacteristic impatience. `So, how did you come up with that spell? Or perhaps I should say spells - the first one that surrounded you in that mist and the second one that you shot at Voldemort and the Death Eaters?'
`That was amazing!' interjected Dean again. `I don't know which did more damage - the spell you shot off at them or their curse rebounding off that misty shield and hitting them!'
`Dean!' admonished Molly, but Ron answered nevertheless. `Hermione came up with those, of course,' he said. `All that swotting in the library paid off in the end.'
Hermione gave a light-hearted groan at Ron's words, Harry chuckling along with everyone else.
`All right, back to Hermione,' put in Ginny, drawing chuckles from everyone else, including Hermione, although serious silence soon descended as she continued.
`To be honest, we weren't absolutely certain that the ancient Spell of Protection would work, strong as it was. It was a relief when it did, and an even bigger relief when the Spell of Destruction also worked. Ridiculous as it may sound, I'd forgotten how indescribably ghastly that night had been. I can see now that I deliberately pushed the memory away all these years.'
`I'm sure you all did that,' said Dean solemnly, `and for very good reason.' He shivered slightly, the horrors of what he'd seen that night tugging unpleasantly at his mind.
`I knew,' said Hermione quietly, `that we'd have to re-live everything that happened that night and I tried to prepare us all, but -'
Ron leaned a little closer to her and Harry put his arm across the back of her chair; she smiled gratefully at each of them for their small signs of unspoken support.
`- but it was almost as awful last night as it was that night five years ago. And after the curse -' Hermione couldn't prevent the shudder that passed through her or the tears that threatened to spill over, `- I'm still not really sure where we were, I just think of it as the "place of the curse", but I've come to believe that during that interlude, Voldemort's curse on us was set in place and sealed. I think only someone like Voldemort would be capable of creating such a place - I've always wondered if that's what his mind was like…horrible and evil and…' she shuddered again.
`That awful place!' whispered Luna, her large blue eyes looking haunted.
`I've also come to believe,' ventured Hermione, `that what was left of Voldemort - what would've become his ghost - is what possessed Harry.'
`And that was truly ghastly!' breathed Ginny.
`It was,' said Harry laconically, attempting to lighten things a little. Ginny simply stared at him, her eyes showing how disturbing she'd found the night's revelations.
`Sorry,' said Harry, turning once more to Hermione. When he saw that she was looking a little distressed by her recount, he gave her a reassuring smile and took up the explanation himself.
`After Voldemort managed to curse us, we found ourselves in that horrible place. The air was so thick with hate and evil it was overwhelming. Even while part of me was aware of what I was doing - and aware that it was wrong - I was helpless to do anything about it. Which only added to the horror…'
`That's what made it possible for Voldemort to possess Harry - the curse filled him with intense hatred,' put in Ron, Molly moaning softly as she closed her eyes against the memory of Harry with glowing red eyes.
`Those things you said,' Ginny whispered, `that was part of the curse?'
All three of them nodded, Harry saying quietly, `The curse filled us with hatred and anger - all we wanted to do was hurt each other in any way we could. But in the end my determination to live was stronger than Voldemort's determination to dominate; I would never allow him to live through me. And I had - well, love, trite as it sounds.'
`Far from trite, Harry,' said Arthur. `Love is far more empowering than hatred. Hatred by its very nature is destructive - the complete opposite of love.'
`Precisely, Mr Weasley!' said Hermione. `That's why I believe the Spell of Protection worked for us - its foundation is love, and the three of us loved - love - each other.'
`So much for taking turns!' complained Fred loudly.
`I knew we'd miss out,' said an equally disgruntled George.
`Bloody hell, you two!' exclaimed Ron. `If it's not custard you're whinging about, it's turns!'
Everyone laughed while Fred and George looked put out. But not for long - the laughter was infectious and they soon joined in.
`All right, your turn Fred,' said Harry, still smiling broadly.
`About time,' retorted Fred, a cheeky grin in place. `Right, I'm curious as to why you three didn't keep in touch by Floo or owl, even if you couldn't actually be in each other's presence.'
`Oooh, good question!' exclaimed Ginny, looking impressed.
`There's a very good reason for that,' said Harry, exchanging another of those "Trio-only" looks with Hermione and Ron. `We found out about that when Hermione tried to owl me at Hogwarts when she needed a book that -' Harry broke off, sighing.
`It's a bit complicated,' said Hermione. `We'll have to backtrack a little for it to make sense if that's all right.'
`Fire away!' said Fred and George simultaneously.
`It all began with the letter that Dumbledore left Harry. I'll let him tell you about it,' said Hermione.
`I received it on my seventeenth birthday. Dumbledore had arranged delivery before -' Harry hesitated.
`Before he died,' put in Luna.
`Yes, that's right,' said Harry brusquely, momentarily closing his eyes; the image of Dumbledore being hit by the Killing Curse before toppling backwards off the tower still haunted him at unexpected moments. He took a deep breath and continued, `This letter contained a lot of information that we were able to use in our search for the remaining Horcruxes. There were a lot of facts in it, but it was mostly the Professor's thoughts and ideas.'
`Do you still have it?' Asked Arthur curiously
Harry nodded. `Oh yes, it's in my Gringrott's vault.'
`One of the facts in the letter,' said Hermione, taking up the story once more, `was the location in the Headmaster's office of a certain book, the only known copy of that book I've since discovered. It's called "The Eternal Almanac" and is extremely ancient.'
`Hermione disappeared for the best part of a week after she got her hands on it,' put in Ron, leaning forward to grin at her past Harry. This drew a chuckle from everyone, Hermione rolling her eyes as she laughed too.
`It's true,' she admitted, `but it was a fascinating book, and rather difficult to read - some of the chapters would change, new ones would be added. Once, a whole chapter just disappeared. I was able to stabilise the most important chapters, eventually. It was that book which gave us the Spells of Protection and Destruction.'
`Was that the book you brought down to read at lunch the other day?' asked Molly.
Hermione nodded. `Yes. It was also instrumental in supplying the incantation and counter-spells we used last night.'
`So you put that book back in your vault after you knocked over Voldemort?' asked George and Harry nodded.
`So how did you get it again, Hermione?' asked Dean.
`Hermione owled me about six months after she began teaching at Beauxbatons,' said Harry, `to ask me if I could send it to her so she could use it for research.'
`But while he received my owl, it wasn't what I wrote,' said Hermione, her voice sounding strangely hollow.
`That's when we found out about another aspect of Voldemort's curse,' said Harry solemnly.
`We couldn't even owl each other!' Ron interjected bitterly. `Any letters we wrote to each other arrived full of - well, things we hadn't written, would never think let alone write. All because of that bloody curse!'
A stark, painful silence descended as everyone once again contemplated the enormity of the Trio's suffering - of their enforced isolation.
A single tear trailed down Luna's face. `How terribly lonely and sad for you all,' she whispered, as she tucked her arm through Ron's and gave it a comforting squeeze.
Harry put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and hugged her to him. `We tried a few different things, but in the end we had to give up. We didn't even consider Flooing after that - we were afraid of what might happen considering the consequences of merely writing.'
`How did you manage to owl in the end?' asked Ginny.
`Hermione asked one of her students to write a letter to me on her behalf asking for the book - I don't know what she told the student…' Harry's voice trailed off.
`I simply told her I'd hurt my hand and wasn't able to hold a quill,' said Hermione. `She was a young second-year student and, well,' Hermione's cheeks became stained with a delicate flush of colour, `I think she was a little in awe of me. She was happy to help and never questioned my excuse. It actually took me a long while to think of doing this because I was so deeply distracted trying to research without the help of the Almanac. Not being able to get my hands on that Almanac was the main reason it took so long for me to find the counter-curse. About six months ago now I became so desperate because I wasn't getting any further, it just hit me - everyone else could owl Harry - it was only Ron and I that couldn't. I called it "Dumbledore's Book" when I was talking to my student, but Harry knew what I meant. It worked.'
`So I received this letter,' said Harry, picking up the narrative, `from a Beauxbatons student asking if she could borrow "Dumbledore's Book" for her Wizarding Studies course with Professor Granger.'
Hermione smiled at him. `I received it two days later,' she said. `I still can't believe I didn't think of doing that earlier!'
`You know you were too focused on research to think of anything else, and sometimes the obvious is so close we can't see it,' Harry chided her with a smile.
`I don't suppose you could really get other people to write for each of you - short of using a Memory Charm on them afterwards,' pondered Arthur.
`And of course, since that's illegal, none of them would've considered that for a second!' cried Molly.
Ginny groaned. `Back to the questions!' she cried impatiently.
Hermione chuckled. `Once I had the Almanac and had completed my research, I was able to find a charm for the parchment we wrote on, preventing the words from changing. So, finally, I had the spells to break the curse and I was able to write to Ron and Harry and tell them.'
`It was such a relief!' sighed Ron. `It was all arranged; we were going to meet up for the first full moon after Christmas at Hogwarts. Then my little sister -' Ron winked at Ginny across the table, `- came a-nagging one day and convinced me we should get together sooner!'
`Just as well I was able to improve on the original Peace Potion,' said Hermione, `otherwise it wouldn't've been possible.'
`But you did, it was - and here we are!' cried Ron, flinging his arm wide to underline his words, Luna ducking her head sideways to avoid being hit.
`What I'd like to know,' said Molly, `is what about the things you said to each other? What was that all about?' She looked from Hermione to Harry and back. `What about how you felt about each other? And Ron?'
Each of the Trio dropped their heads for a moment before looking at each other. As though some silent agreement had taken place, Ron spoke first.
`You all know that back at Hogwarts, during our sixth year, that, well - Harry and Ginny went out for a while and everyone assumed Hermione and I - well, I guess I assumed too…' Ron's voice faltered, his eyes glued to the table top between his clenched fists. Hermione reached past Harry, who leant back to accommodate her, and gently placed a hand over one of those fists, squeezing gently before taking up the explanation.
`It was all a little strange for us, too, back then,' she said softly, `I'm sure you all remember being that age and sometimes being confused about which girl or boy you liked? There'd be one special one and then you'd find it was someone quite different a month or two later. It was probably slightly weirder for us because I was a girl who was friends with two boys, which was fine for the first few years, but once you get to a certain age, well, things have a way of changing.'
`You can say that again!' agreed Ron heartily, waggling his eyebrows comically.
Hermione chuckled. `I know now that I loved both these men - as boys - as I do now - but I was more protective of Ron because I knew he always felt as though he was second fiddle to Harry. I knew he was just as good, but he didn't, and I guess my protective, mothering instinct drew me to help him by -'
`Spare me!' cried Ron, his head dropping in embarrassment.
`Let's not bore them with the details,' said Harry, `although I'd like to say that the three of us were just friends during the time we were tracking down the Horcruxes - we had no time or inclination for anything else. Once we'd destroyed them, and our research for ways to defeat Voldemort himself became paramount, it was different; we were in one place for the first time in a long time, we felt as safe at Hogwarts as it was possible to feel anywhere and we were comfortable. I think that's when -'
`You got the hots for Hermione!' cried Ron, laughing.
`Ron!' cried Hermione and Molly together, their voices drowning out Harry's embarrassed groan.
Hermione leant over and swatted Ron on the arm, making an inarticulate sound of dismay and embarrassment at his blunt delivery. Harry couldn't help but grin at her, after which Hermione simply moaned and dropped her head onto her arms.
Ron laughed. `I was pretty much past the illusion of wanting to live happily ever after with you, Hermione, but I was a bit put out at first when you started mooning around after Harry in between the chapters you were reading!'
`Enough already!' groaned Fred.
`I think it's all rather funny,' chortled Ginny.
`You would!' shot back George.
`To be truthful,' said Ron soberly, `things were pretty awkward after we left on the "search, find and destroy" mission as we called it.' He grinned mischievously. `Harry was still lusting after Gin-'
`Ron!' cried Molly, Ginny and Hermione simultaneously, glaring at him.
Ron shrugged, obviously enjoying himself. `Sorry,' he said, not meaning it at all.
Hermione "tched" loudly and took up the narrative.
`Things were rather awkward,' she conceded, `but not for long. I think Harry felt lonely in a way at first because Ron and I had each other and Ginny wasn't there.'
Ron poked his finger in Hermione's direction. `And that's when you decided we'd have to "go on hold" so as not to upset Harry,' he said. `It was always "think of Harry", "what about Harry" - Harry, Harry, Harry! That alone should've told me something!'
`Things were a little easier after that, though, weren't they?' retorted Hermione.
`Yeah,' Ron conceded grudgingly. `Looking back, I think I already knew then you and I weren't meant to be more than a teenage fling. But I did love you.'
`And I loved you,' replied Hermione smartly.
`And Harry,' shot back Ron.
`And Harry,' agreed Hermione. `I loved Harry before you, you know. That nasty remark back in our first year -'
`Hermione, come on!' cried Ron, sounding enormously aggrieved. `That was forever ago and you know you were a pain before Harry and I sorted you out!'
`A pain?' repeated Hermione indignantly.
Harry's head had been turning from one to the other as they spoke and then he burst out laughing. He looked around the table at everyone and shrugged. `See what I had to put up with? And I still have to put up with it!'
Ron and Hermione appeared not to have heard him though. Ron's ears reddened as he glared past Harry. `Come on, Hermione!' he ground out. `Our first year you were a pain! You've even said so yourself!'
`Ronald Bilius Weasley! Even if I did say that, it doesn't mean you have to -'
`That's enough you two,' said Molly crossly. `Ron, you apologise to Hermione!'
Ron looked as though he was about to protest the gross unfairness of this request when his expression suddenly softened and he sighed. Pushing his chair back, he rose and crossed to stand behind Hermione; putting his hands on her shoulders, he leant down and kissed the top of her head.
`I'm sorry, Hermione,' he said.
Harry was watching her and he saw the tears spring into her eyes as she lifted her hands to rest them on Ron's.
Tilting her head back so she could see him, Hermione gave Ron a tremulous smile.
`So am I,' she said softly.
`Good! Now that's out of the way, let's move on!' said Fred briskly.
`Can we please just get back to the questions!' moaned Ginny.
`Hear, hear!' agreed George.
Everyone chuckled at the sight of Harry, grinning, as he shook his head in exasperation.
`Can you believe them?' he said, rolling his eyes.
As the amused chuckles died away, Dean said, `Where were we? Oh yes, you were in that awful place - and your selves from now turned up - what was going on there? Even we could feel the awfulness of that place!'
`Hermione's department,' said Harry promptly, grinning at her.
`I think that perhaps you were affected because it wasn't a place of here - it was a state, if that helps at all; that's why both times our bodies appeared unconscious. Perhaps the best way to imagine it is by thinking of us as being asleep and all having the same nightmare - one that you could all watch. That was how the incantation worked. It was as though we lived through that night again, the night we defeated Voldemort. But then instead of living through what happened in the place of the curse as well, the incantation enabled us to appear there as our current selves. We were then able to use the counter-spell to break the curse before it was "finalised" so to speak - and it was over. We were free. We are free.'
A moment's solemn silence followed Hermione's words, "we are free"; they seemed to hover in the air around them, echoing gently.
`And then we ended up in the last memory back here at the Burrow,' said Dean quietly.
Harry gave a small, deprecating shrug. `Yeah, I just thought that'd finish off the explanation. With the Peace Potion and so on. That was the last time we were alone together.'
`Quite a story,' said Arthur quietly, smiling at them, `even better for having a happy ending.'
Suddenly, the fireplace crackled loudly and they all jumped as they heard Charlie's loud, joyful yell.
`I'm a father!'
Everyone stood and quickly moved to the fireplace.
`We're grandparents again, Arthur! How wonderful!' exclaimed Molly, before promptly bursting into tears and burying her face against her husband's chest.
Fred, George, Ron and Charlie exchanged a look of indulgent acceptance of their mother's feminine outburst.
`So, am I an aunt -' asked George, `- or an uncle?' finished Fred.
`It's a boy!' cried Charlie, barely audible over the happy cries of everyone in the room, including Fred and George's, `We're uncles!'
`Oh, yes!' exclaimed Ginny and Ron together, laughing merrily as they hugged each other while Fred and George groaned, glaring at their younger brother and sister.
`What's wrong? What's going on?' asked Harry.
Ron and Ginny were now laughing too hard to speak, but they did manage to point at Fred and George who were looking more disgruntled by the second.
`We had a bet going on whether it would be a boy or a girl,' said Fred.
`And Fred and I bet for a girl while these high rollers bet on a boy,' finished George sourly.
Molly, now recovered, scowled at them. `I'm not sure that's proper, betting on your brother's baby,' she said tartly.
All five siblings rolled their eyes then smiled impudently at their mother.
`Charlie put his money on a boy,' said Ginny airily.
`What?' Molly's eyes widened, turning to stare at the disembodied, ecstatically smiling face of her son in the flames. When Arthur cleared his throat uncomfortably beside her, she frowned up at him, her hands going to her hips.
`Boy or girl?' she asked acidly.
`Erm, a girl, actually. I was hoping -'
`Arthur Weasley! A fine example you're setting for your children!'
`I wouldn't say that!' crowed Fred. `He lost! Some fine example!'
Once Charlie was loaded with congratulations and more good wishes for Cordelia than he could possibly remember, Ginny remembered to ask if he and Cordelia had chosen a name for their new son. Charlie's expression suddenly changed and it was apparent he was listening to something they couldn't see.
`Cordelia's calling me,' he announced, looking flustered, `I'll have to go! I'll Floo again in the morning!' And he was gone.
`Two Galleons says they call him Charlie Junior!' cried Fred, immediately causing everyone to begin talking at once, the resulting noise making his mother frown furiously.
`Fred Weasley, don't you dare start that again! Don't any of you take him up on that!' cried Molly… to no avail.
As it turned out, there were no winners this time. No one had chosen "Sam Arthur Charles Weasley" after his grandfathers and father and it was his tiny, wrinkled countenance, nestled between the beaming faces of his parents, which peered out at them from the Burrow's kitchen fireplace the next morning…
The next morning saw everyone up not much later than usual, surprisingly, given the hour they'd finally gone to bed. However, any tiredness anyone may have felt was dispersed by the buoyant mood infecting them all. It stemmed from the happy news of both the outcome of the Trio's efforts and the birth of Charlie and Cordelia's son. All the women spent a good fifteen minutes "ooh-ing and ah-ing" over baby Sam, to the great amusement of the men.
Shortly after eleven, Harry and Hermione Flooed to her parents', leaving with the promise they'd return in time for dinner. Luna, who had stayed the previous night, also Flooed home, wanting to see her father. Ron had asked rather diffidently if it'd be all right for him to accompany her and found himself being hugged delightedly as Luna cried, `It's better than all right, Ronald!'
Ginny and Dean also left for lunch, going to visit with Dean's parents, and so Molly and Arthur had a very welcome few hours alone; they had a light lunch and as Arthur dozed before the living room fire, the Daily Prophet laying open across his stomach, Molly began knitting a tiny blue wizard's hat, smiling happily as she hummed an old lullaby to herself…
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note
There, no cliffhanger dear readers! *grins* Because I made the original Chapters 8 and 9 a single Chapter 8, there is now actually only eleven chapters all up - so the next chapter will be the last one! I've actually decided to make a few changes and a few additions to it, and as I'm going to be flat out organising my dad's special birthday party (for 70 odd people!!!) I can't give you an exact posting date - I'm so sorry about that - I truly don't like to keep you waiting, but believe me, it'll be posted as soon as humanly possible!
Thank you all once again and cheers,
Janie xoxo
PS A good dose of well deserved fluff is coming your way, too. Here's a tiny taste…
Harry straightened as Hermione turned to him. `I hope he's all right,' she said, her expression anxious.
`I'm sure he will be,' said Harry, putting his hands on her shoulders and squeezing gently. `In the meantime, we have a couple of hours to ourselves…alone.'
Hermione's eyes widened and she felt her cheeks flush. She quickly looked down at her hands; she was still holding the note and she began to fidget with it, suddenly finding herself unable to either speak or meet Harry's gaze.
What's the matter with me? she thought vexedly. You'd think I was some gauche little third year!
`Hermione?'
She felt Harry's warm fingers under her chin and unable to resist their gentle but insistent pressure, she slowly raised her head. With her heartbeat echoing loudly in her ears, she met his gaze, a soft gasp escaping her at what she saw there.
`You all right?' Harry asked softly.
Hermione found herself rather distracted by the feel of Harry's fingers as they moved to gently brush her hair away from her face. Then they traced the delicate lines of her cheekbone before moving to cup the back of her neck. Harry's other hand was now firmly around her waist and as he pulled her to him, the note fluttered, unheeded, to the floor as she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck.
`Never better,' she murmured just before his lips claimed hers.
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