Chapter 10: Everything is Going to Change Now, Isn't It?
A/N: I'm not sure who got the answer first about the Grey's Anatomy moment, so online chocolate chip cookies for all!! Yay! By the way, for those of you who didn't know, it was the scene with Sirius and the two girls, the lines were taken almost exactly from Grey's, during a conversation between Sloan and two of the nurses. Loved that moment, "Nurses United Against Mark Sloan." :-D So yeah, props to Grey's Anatomy! Hopefully everyone over in Hollywood can negotiate and we can get some more new episodes!!!
Oh and in this chapter, we'll see a return of our third trio member!
And another thing I forgot to mention last chapter, Happy 2008 everyone!!
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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia
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"I don't know why, but I just felt-guilty-for what happened. I know you're not dating each other anymore, but Ginny was my friend before-I guess it was sixth year when we started to fall apart as friends. And for years I listened to her talk about how much she liked you, and it was just like one of those things: you don't date/kiss the guy that your friend likes."
"But she didn't know that the kiss had happened."
"I know that, but I knew."
"And it wasn't your fault, it was mine. Call it a "caught up in the moment" thing." Hermione smiled halfheartedly.
"Well, we'll just have to make sure and not get "caught up in the moment" again," she said in an unconvincing tone, like she didn't really like what she was saying.
"Right," Harry said, in that same unconvincing tone.
"Well, I should probably go back to my flat; I should go over my lesson plans for tomorrow." Harry nodded, sort of staring into space. He didn't even notice that Hermione had gotten up to leave until he heard the door click shut. He was completely lost in his thoughts. He could understand why Hermione felt guilty about the kiss; he had felt guilty about it too, only he felt it was almost like a betrayal of Ron. He made a face as the thought crossed his mind about the unspoken rule that some people abide by that you don't date/kiss your best friend's ex-girlfriend. The more he thought about it, the more he found that rule absolutely ridiculous. Not that he wanted to date Hermione, but he shouldn't feel guilty about that kiss, it was purely innocent and was what he had said, a "caught up in the moment" thing. But then, he wasn't sure he totally agreed with what Hermione had said about not letting themselves get "caught up the moment" again. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to stay away from those situations, because even though Hermione was one of his best friends, and most likely always stay that way, a small feather light kiss with her was about ten times more passionate than any kind of kiss he had ever shared with Ginny. He could lie to himself and anybody else till he was blue in the face, but in the end, the fireworks were there, and he couldn't deny it. He looked over at Teddy's crib when he heard the baby moving around after waking up from his "power nap", as Hermione called it. Harry shook his head at his godson, who smiled when he saw his godfather.
"I'm in trouble, Teddy. You know? I'm heading in a direction I'm not sure I wanna go." Teddy laughed and clapped his hands, as though applauding the fact that Harry had just admitted that. Harry smiled at the baby.
"You're a silly little guy, you know that?" Teddy clapped again.
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Hermione took a seat at her desk and put her elbows on the desk and massaged her temples. Why was this bothering so much? She put a stop to it, things like the kiss wouldn't happen anymore. It was the right thing to do. Or was it? Harry was her best friend, but, a kiss with Harry was better than any kiss with Ron. She sighed. She did not want to be thinking about things like that again. She had spent six years burying those thoughts and feelings, and was not ready for them to surface again. She already knew they were starting to emerge again, especially after she broke up with Ron. Folding her arms on the desk, she put her head down on them and sighed again. Why were things so complicated?
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Hermione was walking through the halls, her destination intently on her mind, and what was going to meet her when she got there. She arrived at the door, and hesitated a little before knocking. She took a deep breath while she waited, and exhaled as the door opened. Harry gave her a questioning look, wondering why she was there.
"Hermione, what is it?"
"Remember how I said I wanted to make sure we don't get "caught up in the moment" again? And you agreed?"
"Yeah?"
"Well…I was lying."
"Me too." They both reached for each other and wrapped their arms around the other, kissing fiercely. It was nothing like that light innocent kiss they had shared, it was heated, passionate, and full of potential guilt later. The guilt that would follow lay with the dreamer as she shot up from her desk after waking up. Hermione's breaths were short and fast, and she felt like she had just run a mile. She sighed and put her head in her hands.
"Oh no," she groaned. She did not want to deal with those feelings again. But they'd just have to be pushed aside like she had been doing for years.
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"Ok, Malfoy, what are your plans that you were talking to me about?" Ginny asked Draco as they sat in the Room of Requirement. But he didn't answer right away.
"Malfoy? Draco?" Finally he answered her.
"I think I want to withdraw my offer to help you break them up and humiliate them or whatever you had planned."
"What? Why?"
"I've been thinking of what Potter said to me, Red. And I do want to start over, and do it right. I've been given a second chance, and I don't want to screw it up. Because let's face it, I may not like it, but Potter is a big thing in the wizarding world. If I mess with him, there goes my second chance, and I probably won't get another one."
"Oh my gosh, you've got to be kidding me! You're having a change in heart now?! Where the hell was this when you could've stopped from ruining your first chance?"
"My thoughts had been manipulated to believe that I was doing the right thing."
"And now?"
"I don't want to be manipulated anymore. I want to do what I want to do, and I don't want to always be known as this horrible evil clone of his father. And you'd better be careful too, Red, otherwise you'll end up on the outs with Potter and the wizarding world."
"I don't mean to do anything to Harry," Ginny began, but Draco cut her off.
"Ok, but keep in mind, the wizarding world holds Granger in almost as high esteem as they do Potter. And he will defend her to the death. I think you need to face the facts that it's over between you and Potter."
"I refuse to take a defeatist attitude in this, Malfoy."
"You should, because regardless of the fact that you've broken up, he's your teacher. And he's got too good of a good streak of morality in him to get involved with a student. It's over, and it's time to move on, Red."
"You know, I don't need your help, Malfoy. I can come up with something myself."
"Oh what are you going to do? Go to the Daily Prophet again and give an anonymous account of what's going on? Face it, Red, your ideas are shite."
"Whatever, Malfoy, I'll come up with something." With a flip of her hair, she got up and left the room. Malfoy left soon afterwards, instead of going down to the Slytherin common room, he went up to the Transfiguration classroom. He stuck his head in to check and see if the light was on the teacher's office. Finding Hermione there, bent over her desk, writing down notes from a book, he came into the classroom and knocked on her office door. Hermione looked up and her expression turned to one of surprise when she saw who it was.
"Malfoy? What are you-I mean, can I help you with something?"
Taking a deep breath, Draco said, "I just wanted to stop by and apologize for the other day in class." If Hermione was surprised by Draco stopping by she was even more surprised at what had just come out of his mouth.
"An apology? Really?" Draco nodded. "Is there a catch or something?"
"No, just an apology, I decided I want to start over. Right some wrongs. Oh, and while I'm apologizing, I'm sorry for all the cruel things I've said over the years, including calling you a Mudblood. And if, in the future I happen to slip up, feel free to slap me across the face again." Hermione smiled and laughed a little.
"Hopefully it won't come to that. But thank you, Draco." Draco nodded and began to leave, but stopped.
"Oh, and I should probably warn you, Ginny's planning something."
"Planning what?"
"Some sort of sabotage. She's out for revenge. And you're her target." Hermione sighed. Draco said, "And, I don't know the whole truth about what went on, only her side and I know it's none of my business, but for what it's worth, I think she's being unreasonable, and she's not thinking about what she's doing." Hermione nodded.
"Well, thank you, Draco." Draco nodded and left.
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"You're kidding." Hermione shook her head.
"Nope, I swear on my copy of Hogwarts, a History that I am telling the truth, Draco Malfoy apologized to me."
"Wow, that's…really out of character for him, isn't it?" Harry said. Hermione shrugged.
"He said he wanted to start over. Right a few wrongs. He even apologized for calling me a Mudblood all those times and said that if he ever slipped up again in the future I could feel free to slap him again."
"Wow, I wonder what made him change and decided to start over."
"Didn't you say you said something to him after class? Maybe he's taking it to heart."
"Maybe."
"Oh, and I should warn you, Ginny's planning something."
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A few weeks later, Ron was walking down the hallway of Hogwarts, heading for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He found it empty, but called for the teacher. He didn't receive an answer, just heard a gurgling noise coming from the little play pen next to the desk. Teddy was sitting up half playing with his toy and half playing with his toes. He squealed and threw his hands up as if he'd just discovered something exciting. Ron laughed. Walking over to the play pen he stuck his hand down to Teddy for him to grab his finger.
"Well hey there, Teddy. How're you doing?" Teddy giggled and fell backward. Ron grabbed his arm to keep him from falling over. "Whoa there, little fella, be careful." Ron reached down and picked the baby up; Teddy looked curiously at Ron's red hair before reaching up to grab it. Ron pulled his head out of the way to keep from getting his hair caught in Teddy's grasp. "Well, little fella, since you're in here, I suppose your godfather isn't far. Where is he?" Just then, Harry came out from his office carrying a couple books. He was surprised to see Ron there, and even more surprised that he'd picked up Teddy.
"Oh, hi, Ron," he said uneasily, wondering what Ron was doing there.
"Hey, Harry. How're you doing?"
"Fine, you?"
"Fine." Teddy grinned again and clapped his hands, blowing spit bubbles again. Harry smiled.
"I see Teddy's taken a liking to you."
"He's a friendly little guy." Changing the subject, Ron said, "I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing here."
"Yeah, that's the first thought that came to mind."
"I just figured I hadn't seen you and Hermione for a while, and heard you were teaching so I decided to come and see how you both were, how you like teaching and all that." Harry gave Ron a skeptic look.
"Really?"
"Really, I'm not here to yell, fight, or argue, just here as a friend. The way we used to be."
"What made you decide to do that?" Ron smiled shyly.
"I had a talk with some family. And they reminded me that you two are family too, even if you're not blood related, or related by marriage. And my mother reminded me too that our family has lost enough that it shouldn't lose any more." Harry smiled and nodded. Ron added, "And no matter what happens, whether you and Hermione get together or not, I'll still be there for you. I'm moving on and stepping aside." Harry laughed.
"Thanks Ron, but like I've said before, I doubt that's ever going to happen."
"Ah well, you're throwing `doubt' into those sentences, it used to be just a definite, "never going to happen" sentence. Something must be changing." Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. Ron looked at the baby in his arms and bounced him on his hip. He said, "You know, this little guy needs parents, two of them. He's lost so much already and he's not even a year old. Hermione's one that won't leave him." Teddy reached for the ceiling and squealed and brought his tiny fists down on Ron's chest. Both wizards laughed at the little baby.
"Well, I will say this," Harry said, "There's never really a dull moment when Teddy's around. He's always there to make you laugh and feel better." Ron nodded, and Harry motioned for the chair in front of his desk. "Here, have a seat." Ron set Teddy back in his playpen and handed him his toy again. The baby was totally engrossed in the toy while Harry and Ron sat to talk.
"So what were you doing before I came in that you needed the books?"
"Research."
"Research? Are you starting to turn into Hermione, here? You're becoming a tough teacher who gives notes all class long and ten foot essays?" Harry laughed.
"I'm not that bad. The longest essay I've assigned as been three feet. Hermione's longest I think has been six. I think she has too high of standards set for her students sometimes. I think she forgets that not everyone puts as much effort into their school work as she did. So how's the new job going?"
"It's alright, I suppose. I've been put in charge of inspecting artifacts to check for dark spells in them. I take them apart and put them through all sorts of tests to see if they are trustworthy. It's slow work, and since the war is over, there aren't a whole lot of things coming in. I suppose that's a good thing. But on my days off I help George with the joke shop, he's had to hire a few more employees to pick up sales, and some of them aren't working the best, so I've been helping him as much as possible. It's actually more enjoyable than taking apart objects and putting them back together. I'm considering working full time with him. So how about you, Harry? How do you like teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"I'm enjoying it a lot. I think I've found my calling in the professional world. It's fun to see a student get something that you've been trying to teach them for a week. It's pretty self gratifying work."
"I'm surprised you're teaching, I thought you would've gone into Auror training. I'm sure they would've taken you."
"I thought about it, but I decided that to get into the Auror training I'd have to throw the "Harry Potter" name in there. I'm not qualified, I haven't even finished school. So the only reason the Aurors would take me would be because I'm the Boy Who Lived or Chosen One or whatever they're calling me these days." Ron nodded in understanding and was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both wizards looked to see who it was to find Luna Lovegood standing in the doorway.
"Hi, Luna, come on in," Harry said. Luna came in, and stopped in front of Harry's desk. Instead of addressing her teacher, her attention was brought first to the man sitting across from Harry.
"Well hello, Ronald."
"Hi Luna, how're you?"
"Fine, thank you."
"What can I do for you, Luna?" Harry said.
"Well, I have a question on the assignment for tomorrow. When you're performing a non-verbal spell, what happens when a Swedish Norfwaddler penetrates your thoughts?" Ron looked from Luna to Harry, wondering how Harry would answer Luna's question, and trying not to laugh. Harry didn't answer right away, for he had no idea how to answer that question.
"Uh, I have no idea what to do in that situation, Luna, I've never heard of a Swedish Norfwaddler."
"Oh, it's a creature that surrounds you and keeps you from thinking straight. It can cause mixing up of words and stuttering. I would think that it would affect the thoughts for nonverbal spells."
"I see. Well, I suppose you just do your best to ward it off and think through its control."
"I see. Thanks, Professor. Oh and I also have something for you. Actually, it's for little Teddy." Luna pulled out of her bag a string of blue and orange radishes. She said, "It's for the Western Blue Bellied Beneezels. They are attracted to young children under the age of two. If you string this around his crib or playpen it will ward them off."
"Well thank you, Luna, I appreciate it."
"No problem and thank you for answering my question." With one last look and smile at Ron, Luna left. As soon as she was out of earshot, Ron started laughing.
"I see Luna hasn't changed a bit. I've missed her in a way. It's always fun to hear what new creature she's come up with." Harry laughed.
"You miss her? I thought you always thought she was loony?"
"Well she still is, but more wonderfully weird." Harry gave Ron a surprised look. He wasn't expecting Ron to say what he did. He laughed, and Ron, realizing how his last comment sounded, said, "No, no, no, not like that. I don't like Luna like that."
"Hey, I'm not judging, just laughing."
"I'd better get going, I have to get over to George's shop," Ron said, looking at his watch.
"You sure you can't stay longer, say hi to Hermione?"
"No, I can't. Next time I will. Tell her hi for me though," Ron said, getting up. Harry stood too.
"I will." There was a slight awkward pause until Ron stuck his hand out.
"Take care of yourself, mate." Harry shook his hand.
"You too, don't be a stranger." Ron nodded and left.
A little later, Hermione came into Harry's office. She pointed over her shoulder and said, "You'll never guess who I just met in the hallway on my way here."
"I bet I could guess. Was it Ron?"
"Yeah, it was. He came to see you?" Harry nodded.
"Yep. We kind of forgave each other. Then we talked about work and stuff." Harry told her all about Ron and his conversations. Hermione looked impressed when Harry finished.
"Well someone's grown up, haven't they?"
"Yeah, I suppose so. What did he say to you?"
"Just said hi, and that he couldn't stay long, but he wanted to talk to me sometime, he'd come see me soon. But I was on my over here to tell you something."
"What's that?"
"I just got a letter from my parents. And they are free this weekend and were wondering if we could meet them in London for the weekend. What do you think? They really want to meet Teddy. I figured I go even if you didn't want to, but if you don't want to go, I'll take Teddy this weekend to meet Mum and Dad."
"I suppose I could go. I've never met your parents before."
"Oh that's right you haven't. So you want to go?"
"Sure, sounds good."
A/n: Well, here's chapter 10 for you all, hope you enjoyed. Kind of a lot going on in this chapter, but that's good I suppose, at least I'm not at a loss for ideas at the moment! Thanks for reading everyone! Look for meeting Hermione's parents next chapter and also another meeting with Ron!
Husker_fan_2006
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