Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.
It's for the Best
Chapter 9 - Discussions
"I know you're telling the truth, but I can hardly believe it," said Ron after he'd been informed that both his sister and his best friend had been receiving love potions that his father had been forced to give them. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Molly were sitting at the table in the Burrow. Ron's shock over what happened didn't affect his appetite at all as he continued to stuff his face with what was left of breakfast.
"It's true," said Harry. "Without the potion in our systems, neither Ginny nor myself have romantic feelings for one another."
"But why would anyone do that? What's to be gained by you dating my sister?"
They sat silently for a few minutes until Harry spoke up. "I suppose maybe Voldemort could've wanted to be sure I was `in love' with someone so he could kidnap her. Under the influence of a love potion I might be dumb enough to do anything to save her, even let him possess me or something."
"How do we know that Voldemort's involved?" asked Hermione.
"Whoever it was used the Imperius curse on my husband, so it couldn't have been a light wizard, now could it? Anyway, Professor Dumbledore will be here any minute to try and help Arthur remember who put him under the curse."
"Indeed, I shall do my best," said Dumbledore wearily. He'd just walked into the room after flooing in. "I'm afraid I have other bad news. It seems that…"
"If this is about Privet Drive, the place you promised to protect, I already know," Harry sneered, "It was in today's Prophet."
Taking a deep breath, the wizened old man said, "As I told you before, Voldemort found a way around the blood wards, so all I could put up were more conventional wards. Perhaps it was part of the same plot as the love potion. According to our sources, Voldemort hasn't boasted about killing your remaining relatives yet, so he may be holding them for interrogation."
Although Harry knew that his aunt and cousin were safe, he wanted to find out what Dumbledore would do about their alleged capture. "You mean torture."
"Alas, I fear that is what he has in mind."
"Are you planning a rescue mission?" asked Harry while the others were silently observing.
The headmaster shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid we can't afford the resources for a mission that is extremely likely to fail."
"Then it's a good thing I persuaded them to move out of that house a few days after the attack," said Harry smugly. He wished he had a camera to capture the bewildered expression on Albus' face.
"Really? Then they're safe?" Harry nodded. "That's…wonderful news. Where are they?"
Making sure not to look Dumbledore in the eyes for fear of his using Legilimency, the green-eyed Seeker answered, "I'm not telling anybody. That way nobody can betray them - intentionally or not."
"That's probably a good idea, Harry. I'd like to clear up another matter before I see Arthur. Last night, I attempted to visit headquarters to…clean up the place a bit in anticipation of a meeting I planned for tonight, but couldn't get inside. Did you have something to do with that?"
"Yes I did. You went too far when you locked down my house, so I claimed it and changed all the security. Now you'll have to find another headquarters because you can't use it anymore."
Albus' eyes widened in surprise for about half a second. "Surely you must realize that I simply wanted to make sure that the house was secure. Perhaps I should've told you the passwords, but I didn't see any need since you were here."
"It's my house and I can go there any time I choose!"
Looking for help, Dumbledore turned to the Weasley matriarch. "Molly, surely you can persuade him to see reason?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that in this matter I'm in agreement with Harry. First you lied to him about owning the house, and then you locked him out of it. I would do the same thing if you tried to take over the Burrow like that."
The old man looked around at the other children, only to see stone-cold expressions. "Surely Harry, you realize that you won't even be able to use the house for most of the year while you're at Hogwarts. Why shouldn't you allow it to be used for a higher purpose?"
"Do you have a house, headmaster?" asked Hermione.
Albus pulled on his collar as though getting hot. "Er, a modest cottage near Hogsmeade. Why?"
"Why don't you hold your meetings there?" asked Ron.
"Because it would be too obvious. It would also implicate me if we were caught."
Harry stared in shock at Albus for about five seconds. "So you want to implicate me instead? No thanks!"
"I think I should check on Arthur," said Dumbledore, quickly getting up and walking toward the stairs.
"I'll go with you," said Molly. "I'll make sure he's awake after fighting off the Imperius curse that was put on him by some foul, evil…"
"Molly, you shouldn't drop to their level by using such harsh words," said Albus sagely as they proceeded up the staircase.
-
"Do you think Mr. Weasley's okay up there?" asked Harry.
"He should be," said Hermione.
"Excuse me," said Ginny as she got up. "I've got a letter to write."
"A letter?" asked Ron.
"To Dean. I've got to explain what happened. I…"
"I thought you agreed with me about Dean being a…"
"That was the potion talking. I hope he doesn't have a new girlfriend yet," she said while hurrying up to her room.
"Don't expect to borrow Pig!" he called after her before turning to Harry. "You wanna play some Quidditch?"
"Some other time." Suddenly Harry started acting nervous. "I, er, want to talk to Hermione for a few minutes about something." He turned to the brunette in question.
"Er, alright. Why don't we go for a walk?" Harry nodded and they both got up.
"Then I'm gonna go flying. See you later."
-
A few minutes later, Harry and Hermione were walking side by side down a path in the nearby woods. Neither had spoken since they left the house. Each was glancing at the other at different intervals until they found a clearing.
"Well," said Harry with a shaky voice, "Here we are."
Hermione smiled at him. "Yes, here we are."
Taking a deep breath, he continued, "Er, um, I think, er, with knowing that a love potion was making me like Ginny, er, we, well, may want to continue the discussion we had at Grimmauld Place."
With her cheeks a bit pink, Hermione decided to play dumb. "What discussion is that, Harry?"
Now he was blushing. "W-Where I said y-you mean a lot to me and we almost k-kissed, and, er, I, er, said you're b-beautiful."
If Harry hadn't been staring at his shoelaces, he would've seen the huge smile that was forming on Hermione's face. "Oh. What else did you want to say?"
He gulped and looked up into her eyes just as she got her expression back under control. "Er, I still mean it. I mean, y-you still mean a lot to me and, er, you're still beautiful. Only now I d-don't have a girlfriend."
"Are you sure about that?" she asked, walking right up to him.
"Of course. You really do mean a lot to me and you are beautiful."
"I meant that you don't have a girlfriend," she said seductively as she moved her face closer to his. She whispered, "I think you do," just before their lips met. It was short and sweet and exactly what both of them thought a kiss should be.
"That was…perfect," said Harry, staring in her eyes.
"Yes, it was," she agreed.
-
An hour later, the front door to the Burrow opened, revealing two smiling young people walking hand-in-hand. Since there wasn't room for both of them to fit through the doorway side-by-side, Harry gestured for Hermione to go ahead of him, but they never stopped holding hands. Ginny was sitting in the living room, and looked from their happy faces to their entwined hands. A smile spread across her face as she shot up out of her chair.
"You two are positively glowing! I KNOW you've been kissing!" They both blushed and looked down. "I had a feeling about you two." She walked up to Hermione and hugged her quickly and started to approach Harry. They both tensed up and Ginny ended up shaking Harry's hand. "Er, Congratulations, you two! I think this would've happened months ago if not for…you know."
"Yeah. Thanks," said Harry. "Er, have you sent out your letter to Dean yet?"
She nodded. "Yeah. With Errol. Hopefully he'll survive the trip."
"You could've borrowed Hedwig if Ron's refusing."
"I don't think Dean would like to get a letter from me carried by your owl right now."
"You don't think he'll blame Harry, do you?" asked Hermione.
"I'm not sure what he'll think or even if he's still interested. I just don't want to…complicate things."
"You mean he might want us to completely hate each other, and my letting you borrow Hedwig doesn't exactly give that impression."
"Precisely. Anyway, I told him what had happened and asked him to meet me on the Hogwarts Express if he's still interested."
At that moment, Mr. Weasley came down the stairs with his wife. "Hello," he said.
"Oh, hello Mr. Weasley. How are you feeling?" said Harry.
"I'm feeling fine, but Dumbledore couldn't restore my memory, so we're no closer to discovering who bewitched me or why. He left about forty minutes ago. Er, Harry, Ginny, I know I was bewitched, but I'd like to sincerely apologize for what happened. I mean…"
"It's alright, Daddy. We don't blame you."
"Of course not, sir," agreed Harry.
"I'm thankful for that, but I still feel guilty about it." He took a deep breath. "I guess I always will."
"I'm just glad it's over now before any real harm was done," said Mrs. Weasley.
"So am I," agreed Harry. "If you don't mind, I think I should visit Aunt Petunia today to tell her about Number Four Privet Drive."
"That's probably a good idea," agreed Molly.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to come, too," said Hermione, who was still holding Harry's hand. This got the adult Weasleys' attention.
"Er, Harry, Hermione, are you, er…"
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione happily.
"That's wonderful!" she said.
"I think so," said Harry, turning to his new girlfriend. "That's fine, Hermione. I'll be glad for the company. Mrs. Weasley, we should be back by dinnertime." With that, they walked back out the door. "I forgot my bike. I'll be right back."
Before he took a step, Hermione stopped him. "As much as I enjoyed riding your motorcycle, I'd like to take my car if you don't mind."
"Why?" asked Harry.
Blushing, she said, "You mentioned before that you were near my house while you were running errands, so I thought my house might be near where she's staying."
"You're correct, it is."
"Then I'd really like it if we stopped by there on the way back so I can properly introduce my boyfriend to my parents. They should be there around four o'clock. I think you'd make a better impression if we didn't show up on your bike."
Harry tensed up at that prospect. "I-If you want."
"Oh, come on. It's not like you didn't meet them a few years ago anyway."
"I wasn't your boyfriend then," he replied. He shrugged his shoulders and made sure he had his disguise hat in his pocket in case they stopped anywhere. "Alright. We'll take your car."
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