Authors' note: We're sorry for forgetting to post last night! We've both been really busy and last night was Grey's Anatomy! But, here is the chapter for you guys and we hope that you enjoy it! Let us know what you think…
"Is that what you want?" Harry asked evasively.
She stayed quiet; disappointed that he hadn't answered her.
"I don't know what you want from me, Hermione," Harry said quietly.
"Sometimes I don't know either," she answered, lifting her head to look at him.
"We like being together," Harry said cupping her cheek in his hand. "Why do we have to put a label on it? We can just figure things out as we go along..."
She leaned into his touch. "I think you might be right."
"Can you say that again?" Harry asked with a grin.
"Don't push it," she answered.
"Can I tell you something?" he asked her.
Hermione nodded. "What is it?"
"I was scared tonight too," he admitted.
"You were?" she asked. "Really?"
He nodded and wondered again why it was so easy to talk to her about almost anything in the world. He never would have admitted to anyone but her that he'd been scared. "Because of you. I don't know what I would have done if something would have happened to you."
"Harry..." she said softly.
He stroked her cheek with his hand. "I'd do anything to protect you."
"You did tonight," Hermione said, closing her eyes.
"Hermione," Harry whispered before brushing his lips against hers.
She let out a tiny whimper as she leaned in to kiss him harder.
Harry pulled her closer, his hands running through her hair. He supposed that this was inevitable after what had happened tonight.
"Yes," Hermione whispered, her eyes still closed. "I want this..."
Harry pulled away, not sure that he'd heard her correctly. "Hermione did you just..."
She nodded. "I mean it Harry... I want this with you."
"Are you sure?" he asked her. "You said you wanted to wait..."
"I know," she answered. "But I'm positive Harry. I want this... tonight."
They might not ever have a chance like this again, Harry thought as he held her in his arms. She wasn't like other girls though and he knew that if they went through with this, it would change everything. "I-I want this too," he said before kissing her again.
She clutched onto him, digging her fingers into his shoulders as he kissed her deeply, forcing her lips open.
He wanted her like he'd never wanted anyone else before, but he tried to rein it all in, not wanting to rush her or to hurt her since this was her first time.
Her breathing quickened as he reached under the shirt she was wearing and began pulling it up over her head.
He tossed the shirt to the floor and sat up so he could take off his own t-shirt and pyjama bottoms. "Cold?" he asked her.
"No," she managed.
"Are you protected?" Harry asked.
Hermione closed her eyes. "No..." she answered again, in a disappointed tone. "Merlin am I stupid..."
"A good Auror always comes prepared," Harry said with a wicked grin. "Wait right here..."
Hermione opened her mouth as Harry slid from the bed. "Where are you going?"
"I'll be right back," Harry said over his shoulder practically running out of the room and into his own. He hoped what he was looking for was still there. Sure enough, he found the box in his bedside table.
"Thank you Sirius," he muttered.
"Harry?" Hermione called out from her room.
"Coming!" he called.
"Hi," she said softly when he came back into the room. "I thought you might have changed your mind..."
"No way," Harry smiled at her. "Just had to get one of these," he held up the packet. "You know..."
Hermione blushed. "Right..."
He got back into bed. "Where were we?"
"You were there," Hermione said cuddling up closer to him. "And I think that I was here..."
"I think you're right," Harry slid his arms around her.
"Will you show me what to do?" Hermione asked.
"Don't worry about anything," Harry said softly.
"I'm not," she promised. "Not with you."
He pushed back her hair and leaned in to kiss her, running his hands over her slender body.
Her body responded to his every touch and she forgot all her doubts and all her insecurities.
"That's it," Harry said, kissing under her jaw and over her shoulder.
"Harry," Hermione breathed.
He wanted to hear her say his name like that every day for the rest of his life. It got his blood pumping even harder than before and he crashed his lips onto hers.
She couldn't believe the way he was making her feel and they hadn't really done anything yet. His hand travelled slowly up her thigh and Hermione shivered at his touch.
"Just stay relaxed," he said softly, his lips brushing her ear. "You'll enjoy this, I promise."
"I trust you," she whispered.
"Good," he answered.
Hermione closed her eyes as Harry's hand went even higher up her thigh.
His hand rested between her legs as he began to massage her, readying her for what was to come afterwards.
"Harry," Hermione whimpered.
His mouth kissed over her neck and down between her breasts.
Her entire body felt like it was on fire. She wanted to be even closer to him than she already was which seemed impossible given their current position.
He withdrew his hand as her body began to arch into his. Positioning himself above her, he stared down at her face.
She looked up at him. "What is it?"
"You're just..." Harry paused. "You're gorgeous, Hermione."
She smiled and wanted to tell him that the reason she was so sure that this was right was because she was in love with him. She wasn't sure when or how it had happened. The way he was looking at her made her think that maybe he felt the same way and was just scared because he'd never felt that way about someone before. It might be wishful thinking on her part, but she couldn't help it. "No one's ever said that to me before," she said softly.
"You should get used to it," Harry said, giving her a gentle kiss. "I hope this doesn't hurt..."
"Please," she begged.
Carefully, he eased himself inside her.
Hermione's eyes grew large as she felt a pain like she'd never known before. Tears welled up in her eyes as Harry looked down at her.
"Hermione," he said. "It's going to get better, I promise... just move with me..."
She did as he asked and the pain was gone almost as soon as it appeared.
He saw her expression relax and he leaned in to kiss her.
Nothing had ever felt this good, this right before, Hermione thought as Harry kissed her tenderly. He was being so gentle with her that it made her love him even more than she already did.
"That's it," Harry's own voice was becoming strained as he tried to hold himself together.
Hermione cried out as he pressed further into her. "Yes, Harry..."
Harry clenched his teeth as she arched up against him.
Her arms tightened around his back. "Harry..."
"Hermione," he said with a guttural moan.
He collapsed on top of her, amazed at what had just happened. A single tear fell down Hermione's cheek. "Harry, I--"
Harry looked at her then brushed the tear away. "Are you all right?"
Hermione nodded. "I didn't know it could be like that."
"You were pretty incredible," Harry brushed her hair off her sweaty forehead. "Especially for that being your first time."
Hermione smiled. "I had a great teacher."
He chuckled. "I take it you're feeling better now..."
"Thanks to you," Hermione said softly.
"I'm glad," he reached down for the covers. Drawing one of the lighter sheets over them, he pulled her close again.
"I wish we could stay here forever," Hermione said dreamily.
Harry was growing tired, so he simply nodded and dropped his glasses on the nightstand.
Hermione rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.
"No more nightmares," Harry also closed his eyes as he ran his hands through her long hair.
"No more nightmares," Hermione agreed.
He tightened his hold around her as he finally started to drift off.
Hermione waited until she was sure he was asleep before saying what she'd wanted to say all night. "I love you, Harry," she whispered.
*** *** ***
The following morning, Hermione woke up with a smile on her face after a very deep sleep. She lay there for a few minutes just looking at Harry, who was still breathing steadily, his eyes closed. What they had experienced together last night was amazing, especially to her.
But, she also knew that they had a case to solve and she was more determined than ever to solve it. She carefully slid out of bed and dressed in her clothes from the night before. She went into the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face and brush her teeth. When she came back out, she saw that Harry was still fast asleep. She hoped he wouldn't mind her doing some extra research before they went back to Hogwarts.
Smiling at him as she left the room, she tried to remember her way to the library.
"Oh!" Hermione said in surprise as she came face to face with Sirius. "Good morning..."
"Good morning," Sirius smiled at her. "I hope you slept well."
Hermione blushed. "I did, thank you."
"Can I get you anything for breakfast, Hermione?" Sirius asked.
"I'm all right," Hermione said. "Thank you- though... I can't remember how to get to the library..."
Sirius chuckled. "I get lost in here sometimes myself. Come on, I'll show you the way."
Hermione smiled. "I appreciate it."
"I was going to wake up Harry, but he wasn't in his room," Sirius said. "Knowing him, he's probably in the gym."
Hermione blushed hard, not knowing if she could tell Sirius about the night before.
"Here we are," Sirius said opening the set of double doors that led into the library.
"This is such a wonderful library," Hermione looked around the room.
"It would have been great having you around to teach," Sirius said with a grin. "You would have actually liked coming in here. Harry hated when I'd make him sit down in here to read."
"He's not really the type for that," Hermione smiled back. "He likes being out there and fighting."
"You two make quite a team," Sirius said admiringly.
Hermione felt herself turn red yet again. "Thanks," she murmured.
"You are more than welcome to take any of these books with you," Sirius said as Hermione sat down at one of the tables.
"I've got some at school I need to send back to you," Hermione replied, reaching for a thick tome.
"Keep them for as long as you need," Sirius said waving his hand. "I'll leave you to your research. You still have an hour or so before you're to be back at Hogwarts."
"Okay," Hermione said. "Thank you again Mr. Black. I really appreciate this."
"It's the least I could do for someone so important to my godson," Sirius said before heading out of the library.
Hermione wanted to call and ask what that statement was supposed to mean, but soon forgot about it as she immersed herself in the books in front of her.
Upstairs, Harry turned over in bed and reached for Hermione.
"She's downstairs in the library, lover boy," Sirius said throwing Harry's discarded pyjama bottoms at him.
"SIRIUS!" Harry roared. "What the hell are you doing in here?"
"I could ask the same of you," Sirius retorted. "You know when I asked Dumbledore to let you both stay here last night; I didn't think you'd do something like this."
"Sirius it's not what you think--" Harry began.
Sirius folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"Ok maybe it is what you think," Harry muttered.
"You did act responsibly, I assume," Sirius said quietly.
Harry's eyes strayed to the empty condom wrapper on the bedside table. "She had a bad dream," he tried to explain.
"And one thing led to another?" Sirius guessed in a sarcastic tone.
"Sirius don't," Harry warned. "She's not just some girl I'm messing about, okay?"
"She'd better not be," Sirius countered.
"What do you care?" Harry asked moodily.
"I'm just your godfather," Sirius said. "The person that James and Lily trusted to look after you."
"Where did she go?" Harry asked.
"Library," Sirius replied.
"I should have known," Harry said.
"I'm going to make us all some breakfast," Sirius said.
"Fine," Harry answered shortly.
Sirius walked out of the room leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. He didn't understand why Sirius cared anyway. Wasn't he the one who told Harry to have fun while he could?
He decided to head to the library to see Hermione. After last night he actually felt more confused than ever about exactly what his feelings towards her were.
"Find anything in there?" he asked from the doorway.
Hermione jumped. "Good morning," she said a bit shyly. "Um... yeah I'm going to borrow a few more of these."
Harry nodded and watched her for a few moments before saying anything else. "So..."
"Um..." Hermione stood up and closed the books. "How... how did you sleep? I didn't have any nightmares after we... after we um..." she realised she was babbling.
"After we....," Harry couldn't resist teasing.
"You know," Hermione said, her hair swinging forward to cover her face.
"Oh, that," Harry said sitting down across from her.
"Stop teasing me," she said.
"It's so much fun though," Harry said with a lazy grin.
She shook her head. "We should um... get back to the school..."
Harry reached for her hand. "I'm sorry."
Hermione sent him a shy grin. She hated acting this way but had no clue how to be around him now.
"I'm not very good at this morning after thing," Harry admitted giving her hand a squeeze.
"I've never had a morning after thing," Hermione admitted as he pulled her close to him.
"I was disappointed when I woke up and you were gone," Harry said nuzzling her neck.
"I'm sorry," she said, closing her eyes. "I just... I didn't want to wake you and I though I could get a bit of research done before we had to leave..."
He had been all set to distance himself from her, but once again where she was involved, his thinking was clouded. He couldn't help himself. "I'm not going to be able to concentrate," Harry said against her skin.
"We have to go anyways, don't we?" she asked, already feeling herself losing control.
"Probably," Harry said before kissing her.
Her arms wound around his neck as she took initiative and kissed him back this time.
Harry was pleasantly surprised by her boldness. He wished they could stay here all day and not have to worry about the case or going back to school.
"Mmm..." she said, breaking apart for a moment.
He rested his forehead on hers. "What are you thinking?" he asked.
"Lots of things," Hermione replied.
"Such as?" Harry asked grinning at her.
She blushed again- it seemed to be a habit that morning. "Just... nothing in particular..."
"You aren't a very good liar," he said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Well what are you thinking about?" she asked, her hands running over his shoulders.
"Truth?"
"That would be nice," she tried to say lightly.
"I'm thinking that I---that we," Harry corrected, "Have a big case to solve and that this was the last thing either of us expected when we met each other."
Hermione sent him a half smile. "I know I certainly didn't expect it."
"You've thrown me for a loop," he continued.
"I have?"
"Completely," Harry said before giving her another kiss.
Hermione felt herself melt against him.
He was just contemplating taking her upstairs again when Sirius knocked on the door. Harry sighed and reluctantly let go of Hermione. "Usually, you knock and then come in, Sirius."
"It's my house," Sirius replied cheekily. "I wanted to let you know that we'll be leaving shortly, but I have pastries and juice in the kitchen."
"Thanks," Hermione blushed. "Um... I'll be borrowing these," she gestured to the books on the table.
"That's fine," Sirius said warmly. "And I'm meeting with Remus today to see if he's found out anything on that 17th century wizard."
"I keep looking for his name," Hermione said. "It's quite frustrating to find nothing." she smiled at Harry as he picked up her stack of books.
"Remus is the same," Sirius said conversationally. "He'll tear the Ministry apart looking for it."
"I'd like to meet him sometime as well," Hermione told him as they headed for the kitchen.
Harry was silent, ignoring his godfather.
"Help yourself," Sirius told them. "I'm going to get the Floo all set up for you both."
"Thank you," Hermione said grabbing a plate.
"Hungry?" Harry asked with a grin once Sirius had gone.
"Just a little," Hermione said with a laugh. "Aren't you?"
"Sure," Harry piled his plate.
"Juice?" Hermione asked.
"Thanks," Harry sent her a grin.
Hermione poured them both a glass and then sat down with him at the table.
"This is nicer than eating at the Gryffindor table," Harry commented.
"I think so too," Hermione said smiling at him.
He looked at her for a moment. "What DO you plan on doing after you're done with school?"
Hermione looked thoughtfully at him. "Well, my parents would probably like for me to become a dentist and take over the family practise."
"You're going to be a dentist?" he asked in disbelief.
Hermione laughed. "No, I just said that's what my parents would love to see happen. But, it's not what I want to do."
"What do you want to do?" Harry asked, tossing a bit of his pastry at her.
"Very mature," Hermione said throwing it back at him. "I think I'd like to pursue being an Auror, Harry. I know last night I completely messed up, but --"
"Hermione," Harry interrupted her. "Do you know how many times an Auror has messed up? No one's perfect. Even the best make mistakes."
"Have you?" Hermione asked.
"Maybe just one or two times," Harry joked.
Hermione threw another piece of her pastry at him. "Smartarse."
"Part of my charm," Harry replied with a grin.
Hermione took another bite of her pastry, dreading for the first time in her life going back to school.
"Come on," Harry left his plate on the table. "We've got to get back..."
"Right," Hermione said wondering what she would tell Lavender and Parvati about being out all night.
Harry took her hand. "I'll carry those," he motioned to the books.
"Thanks," Hermione said smiling at him. "You are pretty charming."
"I'm naturally good at it," Harry leaned in and gave her a quick peck. "That and Sirius is a great teacher in that aspect."
"Come on you two," Sirius called out from the sitting room. "You don't have much time."
Harry led her into the sitting room. "We'll be in touch," he said to his godfather.
"As will I," Sirius said. "Be careful."
"Thank you again Mr. Black," Hermione said.
"Anytime, Hermione," Sirius said. "And don't call me, Mr. Black."
"I'm sorry--" she began.
Sirius chuckled. "Call me, Sirius."
"Okay," Hermione smiled at him. "Thank you, Sirius."
"You'll arrive in Dumbledore's office," Sirius told them.
"Let me know when you find anything about that cloak," Harry told him, as Hermione prepared to enter the Floo Network.
"I will," Sirius promised.
"See you," he nodded. "And I'm being careful."
Hermione stared quizzically at him before throwing her handful of powder into the fireplace.
"I'll meet you in the office," she told him.
Harry watched as she disappeared and then he turned to look at his godfather. "I really do like her, Sirius."
Sirius nodded. "I know I don't have to stress the importance of you and her and this assignment..."
"I'm not going to let you down," Harry promised. "I know what this could mean for my future in the department."
"Exactly," Sirius nodded again. "I'm proud you've chosen to stick with this assignment despite a rocky start and I'm also proud that you're putting forth effort. Just make sure that for all the fun you're having with Hermione, you're also putting in that much work."
"I will," Harry said nodding. "You know, you're starting to sound more and more like Remus every day."
"Perish the thought," Sirius made a face. "And don't you ever tell Moony you said that."
Harry laughed. "Okay, old man. Let us know what you found out."
"Will do," Sirius cuffed him on the shoulder. "Behave."
"Not a chance," Harry said mischievously before he stepped into the fireplace.
Dumbledore was waiting for them in his office. "Miss Granger assures me she's feeling better," he nodded at Harry. "And that Mr. Black will be examining the cloak?"
Harry dusted himself off. "Yes, sir."
"Your professors have been alerted that you both may be late due to a meeting with me," Dumbledore said.
Harry and Hermione took their seats.
"I assume you are feeling better, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
"Yes, sir," Hermione replied. "Much better."
"Good to hear," he smiled. "If you both need anything, you know you can come here. We checked the corridor last night after you both left but found nothing, I'm afraid."
"We'll go up and check again too, sir." Harry said. "We might be able to comb over some of the areas where... where um..."
Hermione looked down at her lap. "Um, we should wait until after class."
"Of course," Harry said quickly.
"And remember, it's not wise for anyone to go walking around the castle alone," Dumbledore reminded them.
"I'll make sure we're always doing rounds together," Harry promised.
The headmaster dismissed them and Hermione was silent as she and Harry made their way to the common room so they could freshen up and retrieve their belongings.
"I'll meet you back in here," Harry said once they'd reached the common room.
Hermione nodded and quickly went upstairs to change into her uniform and grab her books. Thankfully, everyone was already in class so she didn't have to explain where she'd been to Lavender or Parvati.
She couldn't stop thinking about the previous night and what she'd said to Harry and how awkward they were around each other now.
She'd felt so close to him last night and this morning in the library, but now it was like they didn't know what to say to each other.
Meanwhile Harry was also thinking about the previous night. He couldn't help but admit he cared about Hermione.
This--whatever it was---couldn't have come at a worse time. This case was what could make or break his career as an Auror and he didn't need any distractions.
However, he didn't know if he could harden himself against her. Not now.
"Are you ready to go?" Hermione asked from the stairwell.
"Yeah," he forced a smile. "You?"
Hermione nodded. "We're really late."
"I think it'll be okay," he said as he joined her. His resolve immediately weakened as she smiled warmly at him.
"We have a good excuse," Hermione said feeling much better when he took her hand.
"If we've got Dumbledore on our side we can do anything," Harry joked.
"I'm sure you'll love telling Snape that," Hermione said laughing.
"I think that might be fun," Harry said mischievously.
Hermione shook her head. "You could get detention, you know. And you have better things to do with your time than doing that, Harry."
"I don't care about detention," Harry answered.
"What do you care about?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself.
Harry looked at her with a crooked smile. "There are certain things..."
"Would it be safe to assume that--oh never mind," Hermione said hastily quickening her step.
"What?" Harry almost had to run to catch up to her.
"We really are late and I wanted to hear what Binns had to say about the Goblin Revolts," Hermione said with a nervous laugh. "It's going to be on our N.E.W.T.S."
"Hermione," Harry caught her hand. "Are you trying to ask me how I feel about you?"
"Of course not," Hermione said trying to break free.
"Do you want me to be completely honest?" he asked softly.
"I'm not sure," Hermione said quietly.
He tipped her chin back. "I care about you," he said. "This is all new to me Hermione... I've never met anyone quite like you."
Hermione smiled tentatively up at him. "I've never met anyone quite like you before either."
He smiled back. "This is all I can do for now... is that okay?"
"It's okay," Hermione replied. "I mean, it's like you said, we'll figure it out together."
"Right," he squeezed her hand, feeling more relieved than he had all day.
They walked into Professor Binns' class without comment from the professor. But, everyone stared at them and whispered as they walked by.
"What's their problem?" she muttered as they sat down.
"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we were out all night?" Harry whispered. Ron glared at the two of them and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"It's no ones business but ours," she whispered fiercely.
Ron slipped Harry a note and Harry unfolded the piece of parchment.
You probably don't care, but we have practise this afternoon. Do you think your girlfriend will let you go? You're the captain and you should start acting like it.
Harry rolled his eyes and glared at Ron as he crumpled the note.
Hermione pulled out some parchment and began writing down almost verbatim what Binns was saying.
Harry leaned back in his chair, still really not caring about any sort of exam or homework he had to do.
Even though they didn't have any leads as to the identity of the cloaked figure, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that it was a student.
He tapped his quill on the blank sheet of parchment in front of him.
Hermione scribbled something on a piece of parchment and slipped it to him.
Dumbledore said the professors were going to be doing all night patrols.
He looked at her and wrote his own note. When did that start?
Hermione wrote back: He told me right before you arrived. Apparently, some of the parents are threatening to take their children out of the school. Dumbledore's very worried. I've never seen him like that, Harry.
We'll have to be careful not to run into anyone then. We can't give up on those night patrols. It's our only chance to find anything that can help us solve this. Harry shoved the parchment back at her.
But what if the attacker is a professor? Hermione wrote. This will give them free reign of the grounds.
We'll be careful, Harry scribbled. Sirius might have something that can help us. I'll write to him tonight.
Hermione nodded and pocketed the parchment. Class ended shortly afterwards and before either she or Harry could stand up, Ron had cornered them.
"Not to be pushy or anything, but we've had four practises since the start of the season and you haven't been to a single one," Ron said resting his hands on the table. "Our first match is next weekend and YOU are the captain."
"I've been busy," Harry said, realising he'd forgotten about his supposed position as Quidditch captain.
"You should go," Hermione said to Harry. "I can handle that project of ours."
Harry nodded reluctantly. "Fine."
"I'll catch up with you in Charms," Hermione said. "I wanted to go and ask Professor Binns if he can go over what we missed."
"You'll be okay?" he asked her.
"I'll be fine," she said smiling at him. "Save me a seat in the next class."
"I will," Harry smiled back.
Hermione gathered up her belongings and headed for the front of the classroom. Ron followed Harry out of the room.
"Since you're finally coming to practise," Ron stressed. "You'll probably want to look over our plays."
Harry noticed the dig, but chose to ignore it. "It's with Slytherin, isn't it? The match, I mean?"
"I can't believe you remembered," Ron said sarcastically.
Harry sighed. "If you've got a problem with me just come out and say it."
Ron rolled his eyes. "You've just changed ever since you started this weird relationship with HER."
"My weird relationship with her," Harry repeated. "By her--I assume you mean Hermione?"
"Who else," Ron stated.
Harry stopped and looked at his friend; if that's what you could call someone that you'd only met a few weeks ago and who assumed that he knew you because of some implanted memories.
"And where the hell were you last night?" Ron asked before Harry could respond. "Seamus, Nev and I thought you'd been attacked!"
"I'm fine, as you can see," Harry responded a bit irritably.
"I'm sorry for being concerned about my best mate," Ron retorted.
Harry softened. "Look I'll tell you something but you have to swear not to say anything to anyone."
"What?" Ron asked.
Harry told him an abbreviated tale of what had happened the previous night, leaving out them going to Grimmauld Place.
Ron was speechless and felt a little guilty about the things he'd said to Hermione the previous evening. "They almost had her?" Ron asked.
"Yeah," Harry answered. "She was really freaked out so we stayed in um... Dumbledore's office."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Ron apologised.
"Just don't noise it around," Harry told him.
"I wouldn't," Ron promised. "I guess it's a good thing that you were there, Harry."
"Yeah," Harry finally smiled at him.
"I guess I was also taking out what happened last night to me on you," Ron said as they continued along the corridor toward the Charms classroom.
"What happened to you?" Harry asked curiously.
"Luna Lovegood stood me up," Ron said with a laugh. "Can you believe that?'
"Really?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "But you said she was all sprung on you."
"Well, she is," Ron said quickly. "She apologised this morning at breakfast. Said she was trying to catch up some reading for Divination and fell asleep."
"That sucks," Harry replied. "But at least it's not some other excuse."
Ron nodded. "Yeah, I was glad that it wasn't some other bloke."
"So um..." Harry said as they turned a corner. "Why don't you tell me what's been going on at practise? You're more the captain than I am these days."
"Ginny's been rubbish lately, but I'm hoping that she'll pull it together during the match," Ron told him. "I had her change positions. She's a better beater than you'd have thought. Seamus is helping show her the ropes. And Geoffrey Hooper is a real show-off, but I think he's going to be good for us."
"Okay..." Harry answered. He realised he had no idea what position he was, or Ron for that matter.
"And with me as Keeper and you as Seeker," Ron said with a grin. "We'll murder the Slytherins."
"Right," Harry pumped his fist with a relieved grin. "Slaughter them."
When they walked into the classroom, they found Malfoy flanked as always by Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson.
"Scarhead," Malfoy said gleefully. "I have to ask you a question."
"Piss off, small fry," Harry answered disdainfully.
"I haven't seen the Mudblood," Draco drawled. "Please tell me that lunatic grabbed her and did the world a favour?"
Harry felt the anger in him rise so quickly that several of the torches along the walls in the corridor snuff out as a wind whipped past them.
"He's not worth it," Ron said putting a hand on Harry's shoulder to hold him back.
"Draco, tell him that thing you said about her," Crabbe said hitting Draco on the arm.
"Yeah, tell me so I can pound your face in," Harry said furiously, not noticing Hermione as she watched from a distance.
"When you're shagging her," Malfoy said to snickers from his cronies. "Does she---"
Harry grabbed Malfoy by the neck of his robes. "If you finish that sentence--" he threatened.
"You'll what?" Malfoy challenged.
"You don't want me to finish that," Harry said darkly.
"Careful, Scarhead," Malfoy hissed. "Your slag is watching."
Harry turned and saw Hermione quickly approach them. He tightened his hold on Malfoy's collar and smirked as the blond's face began to turn red.
"Let him go, Harry," Hermione urged.
"Yeah and I can tell him how your best friend and your best girl never told you the truth," Malfoy said weakly.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Harry shook him.
"You didn't tell him, did you?" Malfoy asked laughing even though he was finding it hard to breathe. "Granger and Weasley, I'm surprised at you..."
Harry shoved Malfoy back so hard he hit the wall. "What's he talking about?"
"Nothing," Hermione said not looking at Harry.
"He's full of shit," Ron said also looking away.
Malfoy smirked as he collected himself. "These dirty little secrets sure find a way to the surface," he said before Pansy helped him walk away.
"What was he talking about?" Harry asked.
"It was a long time ago," Ron began to explain, his cheeks almost as red as his hair. "And it didn't mean anything..."