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Authors' note: This one is kind of short, but we hope you like it just the same. Warning---you might not like the chapter ending! You have been warned…
Ron, for once in his life, awoke early on in the day and headed for the Ravenclaw part of the castle. Aside from wanting to give Luna her earring, he wanted to tell her about Neville and about what Harry was going to tell Dumbledore.
He found her sitting just outside of Ravenclaw tower on the steps. She looked lost in her thoughts and Ron was struck yet again by how tired she looked.
"Hey," he said quietly, not wanting to startle her.
"Ronald," Luna said looking at him. "What are you doing here?"
Ron held out her earring wordlessly.
Luna silently took it from him.
"Neville Longbottom was attacked last night," Ron sat down next to her. "And um... Harry... he found that on the floor there. I told him you lost it while you were up there for classes..."
"Neville," Luna said softly. "He's my friend."
"Mine too," Ron said quietly.
Luna rested her head on his shoulder. "So many people..."
"I told Harry you had nothing to do with what was going on," Ron took her hand in his. "I reminded him about how you were attacked too..."
"I love you so much," Luna whispered. "I don't deserve you."
"Why do you say that?" Ron asked, looking over at her.
"I don't know," Luna replied. "I don't know anything anymore."
"Luna," Ron slid his arm around her. "I know you have nothing to do with any of this."
"I would never hurt Neville, or Ernie, or Padma...they were my friends," Luna said firmly.
Ron nodded. "Someone like you could never do anything like this. Malfoy, on the other hand..."
"You think he did?" Luna asked.
"Seems to be right up his alley," Ron replied.
"Something else happen?" Luna asked.
Ron made a disgusted noise. "Apparently my sister's been seeing Malfoy and Neville found out."
Luna didn't look too surprised at this news, given that scene from a few days ago when she'd called Malfoy on his crush.
"I mean, what the hell was she thinking?" Ron asked furiously.
"Maybe she has real feelings for him," Luna said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, well I doubt Malfoy has any real feelings for her, or for anything," Ron said bitterly. "Except for all that hate.
"Poor Neville," Luna commented.
Ron stopped his tirade on Malfoy. "Yeah..." he said glumly.
"Would you like to go down to breakfast?" Luna asked.
"Sure," Ron said, helping her up.
They were silent as they made their way down to the Great Hall.
"Things will probably be tense," Ron said. "I'm willing to bet people are going to start pulling their kids out of school soon."
"Just like they did during my first year," Luna said sadly. "With the Chamber of Secrets."
They were almost to the Great Hall when Ron started noticing how strange other students were being. Instead of saying hello or even just nodding their way, most people hurried past as fast as they could without looking up.
"How about you sit with me at the Gryffindor table?" Ron asked.
"I'd love to," Luna said gratefully. "Thank you Ronald."
"No problem," Ron said leading the way. He found an empty space beside the Creevey brothers, who practically tripped over themselves to move away.
"Hey," Ron frowned at them. "What's going on?"
"N-nothing," Colin stammered.
Ron glared at them suspiciously.
"Just ignore them," Luna said placing a couple of pieces of toast on his plate.
"They don't normally have much to say anyhow," Ron gave them one last look before turning away.
"Do you want black currant or marmalade for your toast?" Luna asked.
"Marmalade," Ron answered. "You don't have to do that for me--"
"I want to," Luna said smiling at him for the first time that morning. "I like doing things for you."
"Thanks," Ron leaned in and gave her a kiss.
Luna started to act more like herself and Ron ignored the looks and whispering around them.
Harry and Hermione headed into the Great Hall, just out of their meeting with Dumbledore. They'd found out that Viktor Krum had been spotted on the grounds near Hagrid's hut, but they'd been unable to find out his purpose.
"Let's go and sit with Ron and Luna," Hermione said.
"Sure," Harry said, squeezing her hand.
Hermione smiled at him. Last night, they hadn't done anything other than sleep, but she'd felt so close to him.
"Morning," Harry greeted his friends as they sat down.
Luna smiled warmly at them. "Morning, Harry. Hermione. Ronald said you found my earring. Thank you."
Harry nodded. "He said you dropped it during class."
"I'm sure I did," Luna said.
Hermione noticed that the blonde wasn't wearing the pendant today. Instead she was wearing her cork necklace.
"I'm sure Ron told you about Neville," Harry said quietly.
Luna nodded. "He did. I was really sorry to hear about that."
"I really hope they find an antidote soon," Hermione also said in a soft tone.
"I'm surprised you're not working on that," Ron said to Hermione. "Seems like that'd be right up your alley."
"I've been trying to figure something out," Hermione stirred her porridge around.
"How you can sneak into our bedroom without getting caught?" Ron asked dryly.
"What?" Hermione was startled.
"The other night, I saw your bra and knickers on the floor beside Harry's bed," Ron said helping himself to another piece of toast. "Unless he's taken to cross dressing, I figured they were yours."
"I um..." Hermione looked at Harry.
"Maybe they were yours," Harry countered to Ron. "You are a right slob."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Sorry, no can do. Don't wear the things."
Luna giggled. "Ron wears boxers."
"You blokes are the only ones who have restrictions anyway," Hermione informed him. "Girls can go wherever we want."
"Well, I never would have figured you to be one to bend the rules so blatantly," Ron said.
"You aren't going to tell everyone are you?" Hermione asked.
Ron grinned. "That all depends..."
"Ron," Harry cut in. "Come on mate..."
Ron shook his head. "No, I think I could use this to my advantage. You remember all those lectures she used to give us about following those precious rules of hers..."
Hermione levelled a glare at him.
"I'll keep my mouth shut," Ron said. "If you do my Charms essay..."
"I am not doing your homework," Hermione snapped. "Why are you so bloody infuriating?"
"Because I can be," Ron said before shoving an entire piece of toast in his mouth.
"Ron won't say a word," Harry glared at him.
"Of course he won't," Luna said reaching for Ron's hand.
"But--" Ron began.
"Apologise," Luna whispered.
"Sorry," Ron muttered.
Luna gave him a kiss. "Good boy."
Hermione relaxed. "Thank you," she said coolly.
"I wasn't going to tell anyone," Ron muttered.
"Good, because she's not going to stop coming in there," Harry said.
"I think Luna should be able to sneak in too," Ron said. "It's not fair."
"We'll just have to find other places," Luna said winking at him.
"Actually..." Hermione bit her bottom lip pensively.
Ron rolled his yes. "Yes Miss Holier-Than-Thou?"
"There is a spell that could get her into our dormitory. I came across it last year. But if you're going to be an arse, I don't know why I should tell you." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I'd rather be an arse than a raging---" Ron started to retort.
"What is it, Hermione?" Luna asked eagerly.
Hermione wrote something down on a piece of parchment and gave it to the blonde. "I'm doing it for you, Luna. Not for you Ron- although it wouldn't kill you to be nice once in awhile when someone's doing you a favour."
"It wouldn't kill you to stop being such a nag," Ron said under his breath.
"Ronald," Luna looked at him. "She just helped us out."
"You could say thank you," Harry prodded.
"Thank you," Ron said grudgingly.
"You're welcome," Hermione said.
"We have to get to class," Harry said.
"I'm going to walk Luna to hers," Ron said. "I'll catch up with you in Charms."
Luna smiled at them before hurrying off to join Ron.
"She didn't seem any worse for the wear," Hermione commented.
Harry shook her head. "No she doesn't. Guess he was right about her dropping the earring during class."
"She wasn't wearing that pendant today," Hermione said. "I still think that has something to do with it."
"Do with what?" Harry asked. "What pendant?"
Hermione reached into her bag for the sketch she'd done of the necklace. She handed it to Harry. "She was wearing that when we found her in the corridor. I'd never seen her wearing it before and something about it struck me as odd."
"I'll send the sketch to Lupin," Harry folded it up.
"I should have mentioned it earlier," Hermione said as they made their way out of the Great Hall. "We were kind of at each other's throats at the time though."
"It's all right," Harry replied.
Hermione smiled slightly at him. "I like it better when we're not fighting."
"Me too," Harry squeezed her hand.
"No more bad dreams last night then?" Hermione asked.
"No," Harry answered. "Thanks in large part, to you."
"I didn't really do anything," Hermione said modestly.
"You were there," Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"I'll always be here," Hermione told him. "If you want."
"I do want," Harry kissed her temple.
Hermione felt so happy just then, she resisted the urge to skip to her next class. Things were going great with them and if they could just find out who was behind these attacks and find a way to cure the others, things would be even better.
"Let's stop by the owlery," Harry said. "I want to send this drawing to Lupin as soon as possible. I also want to tell him and Sirius about Krum being on the grounds last night."
"We'd better hurry," Hermione said looking at her watch. "We haven't much time."
"Right," Harry took her hand as they rushed up the stairs. "You write, I'll get Hedwig."
Hermione hastily pulled out a piece of parchment and scribbled a quick note to Lupin and told him their latest findings. She hoped he would be able to find some way to help them.
Upstairs in the hospital wing, Ginny stretched her arms. She hadn't left Neville's side since she'd found him. Madam Pomfrey wasn't happy about it and kept insisting that it made no difference, but Ginny couldn't leave him.
"Miss Weasley," the nurse said sternly. "I cannot allow you to miss classes by staying up here."
"I'll get my assignments from Natalie," Ginny argued. "Please."
The nurse stood firm. "You need a good breakfast and you need to resume your daily schedule."
Ginny nodded in defeat. She leaned over and placed a kiss on Neville's cold cheek. "I'll be back. I promise. And I'll read you something."
Madam Pomfrey actually stood by the door to make sure she left before closing it firmly behind her.
"Old bat," Ginny muttered before heading downstairs.
"About time you got out of there," Draco said coming up behind her.
"Go away," Ginny said walking faster to get away from him.
"Hey," Draco grabbed her arm. "You know I didn't do this."
"I know," Ginny said trying to squirm out of his grasp. "You were with me. And if I hadn't been with you, Neville would be fine right now!"
"You were with me because you wanted to be," Draco pointed out. "It's not your fault Longbottom chose to stalk you."
"He wasn't stalking me," Ginny retorted. "He was worried about me and he followed me."
"And nothing happened to you," Draco said. "I wouldn't have let anyone hurt you."
"I know," Ginny said. "But right now, I don't care about myself, Draco. I want Neville to get better."
"He'll be fine," Draco told her.
"You don't know that," Ginny said looking away from him.
"Why do you keep pushing me away?" Draco asked. "You obviously want to be with me."
"Look," Ginny began. "I have feelings for you. That's not a secret, but I care about Neville too. And until he's better, I can't make any decisions. I can't believe you expect me and you to just carry on as if nothing has happened."
Draco stared at her, his disappointment obvious.
"Can you wait?" Ginny asked him.
"You want me to wait for you?" he asked.
"If you care about me, you will," Ginny said softly.
"Okay," he said finally.
Ginny hugged him tightly. "Thank you."
He allowed himself to bury his nose in her hair. "I'm better for you than Longbottom."
Ginny wasn't so sure about that, but she didn't say anything. She cared about Neville, too. And she had to find some way to make this up to him.
*** *** ***
It was one of the coldest nights of the year and Hermione shivered as she walked alongside Harry just outside the castle. There had been another report of Krum being spotted on the grounds. So in addition to their nightly rounds, they'd decided to take two or three passes around the castle.
"Nights like this make you wish the bloody school was in Hawaii," Harry muttered.
"Tell me about it," Hermione agreed, snuggling against him.
"I say when we get finished, we go the kitchens for hot chocolate," Harry suggested.
"I'm with you," Hermione said.
Harry pulled her closer. "I was just having a vision of you and me working on some case....on a beach...you in this killer bikini...."
Hermione blushed. "I never wear bikinis."
"You should," Harry said grinning at her. "A nice red one..."
"Honestly," Hermione blushed even harder under his stare. "I don't like them. A simpler suit is nicer."
"Not even for me?" Harry asked with a pout that would have made Lavender Brown proud.
The way he was looking at her made her feel like a stammering idiot. "I... I don't know..." she said. "Maybe..."
"Sometime during your training breaks, we'll go on holiday somewhere warm," Harry promised.
"Just us?" Hermione asked.
Harry grinned. "Well, unless you wanted Ron to come with..."
She made a face. "No, thank you."
"So you and me then," Harry said with a grin.
The thought of them sharing a hotel room on some warm tropical island thrilled her. "I already can't wait."
Harry impulsively kissed her. "Warm already..."
"And getting warmer," Hermione closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his.
They were both breathless when they pulled apart a few minutes later. "Let's finish this up and get back inside..."
"And back to the common room," Hermione said suggestively.
"I'll take the greenhouses," Harry offered, thinking that if they split up, they'd finish the job quicker. And besides, Hermione would be within shouting distance if anything happened.
"I'll go down by Hagrid's hut," Hermione nodded. "And we'll meet around the other side?"
Harry kissed her. "Okay. You call out if you see anything."
"I will," Hermione promised.
In the shadows, Bellatrix Lestrange watched the mousy brunette go toward Hagrid's hut. She couldn't believe how easy they were playing into her hands. Now, if Viktor Krum would do his part, everything would be perfect.
Silently, she slid over behind the disgusting shack and waited for the right moment.
The wind howled causing Hermione to shiver. She gripped her wand tightly, unable to shake this feeling that someone was watching her.
Harry was just rounding the third greenhouse when a figure stepped into the pale moonlight. His first thought was that Hermione had decided to meet up with him there, but his jaw tightened when he saw who it really was.
"Hello," Viktor said coldly. "Vot are you doing here?"
"I go to school here," Harry reached for his wand. "You don't."
"You aren't who you say you are," Viktor said. "Hermy-own-ninny told me."
"Hermione doesn't tell you anything," Harry said in a controlled voice. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Viktor glared at him. "Hermy-own-ninny is quite the woman. I have enjoyed our time together very much."
"As have I," Harry replied. "She's not with you, Krum. She's with me."
"I taught her what she knows," Viktor said triumphantly. "So you can thank me for that."
Harry sneered at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Distracting you," Viktor said training his wand on Harry.
"Pardon?" Harry asked.
"You heard," Viktor said. "Bella has the big plan for Hermy-own-ninny."
Harry's eyes widened as he charged towards Krum.
Viktor laughed. "You can't touch me, Potter."
"I could kill you if I wanted," Harry snarled. "But I don't have time for you right now."
Viktor pointed his wand at Harry. "Incarceratus!" Ropes shot out of his wand and coiled around Harry, binding his arms and legs.
"You bastard!" Harry struggled.
Viktor put a finger to his lips. "You can hear her scream if you're silent..."
As Hermione rounded the side of the hut, Bellatrix stepped out of the shadows. "Hello little girl," she purred.
Hermione's eyes grew large as she saw the infamous Death Eater. "HARRY!"
"He cannot help you now," Bellatrix smiled wickedly.
Hermione pointed her wand at her. "What have you done to Harry?"
"I haven't done anything, my dear," Bellatrix drew closer.
Hermione summoned her courage. "Stay away from me."
Bellatrix chuckled. "I don't need to get near you to do what I have to do."
Hermione pointed her wand directly at Bellatrix. "Expel---"
Bellatrix waved her hand and Hermione's wand was yanked away. "You have so much to learn, little girl."
Hermione struck a fighting stance. If she couldn't beat this horrible woman by magic, she'd try something that had never let her down before.
Bellatrix laughed. "What is this?" she pointed her own wand at Hermione. "Crucio!"
Hermione froze as every inch of her body seemed to be in almost unbearable pain.
Bellatrix laughed. "Your boyfriend once tried that on me, you know. But, he didn't realise that for the good, old Cruciatus to work you have to really want to inflict pain. He was young then, so perhaps he wasn't quite ready. I imagine that when I'm through with you...he might feel that way toward me, but by then...it'll be too late."
Hermione screamed as the pain grew twice as bad. "HARRY!"