Authors Notes: Hi all, thanks for your reviews!!! Sorry if this chapter is a bit dull, it's kinda a bridging chapter to get to some good stuff. I've finalised the gritty details of how this will all pan out (some things were a bit undecided), so I can really start getting into the good stuff!!!
I don't know when I'll next be able to update- my puppy is very demanding on my time and he can't stand to be separated from me!!! But he's getting better, so hopefully I'll be able to get in some writing time.
Enjoy!!!
Seven
Harry felt like he was going to have no chance to talk to Hermione at all the next day. She had arrived only just in time for their first trial. Harry started to ask where she had been, but she had shushed him as the accused entered the courtroom.
They took a morning tea break, but she vanished whilst Harry was sorting his papers out. He extended the break twice when she hadn't reappeared and was starting to get worried when she suddenly burst back into the courtroom, looking flustered.
'Sorry,' she muttered to him, taking her seat again and immediately calling the court back into session.
She vanished again at lunchtime, once again appearing only just in time. Harry felt like he was going to burst- this was very un-Hermione. But again, she shushed him as he went to ask what was going on. After Ron's late night call, he was feeling slightly paranoid.
At 3 o'clock, she called the afternoon break, but this time Harry grabbed her arm before she could run off.
'What is going on?' he hissed. She looked around, and beckoned him over to a side door that led into a small chamber that they often ate lunch in. 'Ron was looking for you late last night. And you've been late all day, not to mention running off at morning break and lunch.'
Hermione smiled at this, which made Harry even more infuriated.
'Are you jealous?' she asked and Harry felt like he was about to explode.
'Do I have reason to be?'
'Not if you don't trust me,' she said, her smile faltered and she looked slightly hurt. Harry turned away from her, rubbing his temple and taking a deep breath.
'Just tell me what's going on, please?'
'I'm helping Ron look for an flat,' she said as she sat down on the small desk.
'What?'
'He really likes that muggle girl, Monica. Except he's getting a bit tired of having to organise to meet her somewhere and having to make some excuse not to show her where he lives- he's been telling her he's just crashing on someone's lounge and they don't like having visitors. So, he asked for my help in looking at flats.'
Harry couldn't believe he'd let his mind jump to awful conclusions- he'd put two and two together and come up with ten. He turned back to face her and arranged his face into the most sheepish expression he could manage.
'He found a nice one- he moves in on Saturday,' Hermione continued. 'I said you'd help him move, but he didn't seem to want to tell you yet.'
'Why?'
'He think's you'll laugh at him,' she said with a shrug. 'Thinks you won't understand what's he's doing for a girl.'
'But he can confide in you?' Harry asked, feeling hurt.
'Only because he doesn't fancy me anymore,' she said, looking almost smug.
'What!' Harry exclaimed.
'We had a good talk last night- a late one,' she explained. 'He said that he'd fancied me for years, but that he's realised that if we haven't been able to make it work yet, that we probably wouldn't get it to work. And then he met Monica.'
Harry couldn't really explain the feeling of relief he got from hearing this.
'I couldn't believe how honest he was with me,' she said, shrugging. 'He's never been that honest with me before.'
'Well, when you think about it, Ron's probably the person who has changed the most over the last year.'
'What makes you say that?'
'I dunno,' he said. 'It's just he seems to have, well this sounds horrible, but he seems to have grown up a lot.'
'I think it was losing Fred that did that,' Hermione said very soberly. 'If you ask me, Fred was always a little bit harder on Ron than George.'
It was at that moment that they heard people re-entering the courtroom. With a soft sigh, Hermione went back in first, Harry on her heels.
~*~
Ron called in to visit Harry that night and explained for himself about Monica and his new flat. Harry had pretended that Hermione hadn't told him anything and assured him that he would be there on Saturday to help him move in.
The alarm went off at dawn on Saturday and Harry found himself wishing he hadn't agreed to help Ron. He had been having the best sleep he had had for a long time and he grumbled about this as he pulled on some clothes. He disapparated from the front step and when he arrived at the Burrow, it was a hive of activity.
Hermione was already there, helping Mrs Weasley carry several boxes. Ron, Mr Weasley, George and Percy were carrying Ron's furniture down to the front lawn. Harry swung into action, taking heavier boxes from Hermione and helping George carry out one of the spare lounges from the den.
At 9am, Ron disapparated to go get the keys and then they started the hard work. Apparating with objects wasn't terribly difficult, but it got awkward with the large furniture. Mrs Weasley and Hermione remained at the new flat, shifting the things from the designated apparation spot. It was lunchtime when they had finished and Mrs Weasley had prepared sandwiches and pumpkin juice for them.
And then it came time for the Weasley's to leave Ron on his own. Mr Weasley, George and Percy said a hearty goodbye before apparating. Mrs Weasley lost it as she hugged him goodbye. Ron was holding on to her pretty tightly, which Harry pretended not to notice by bending into a box full of pots and pans and busying himself looking for the teapot.
After a good ten minutes, they both let go and, very quickly (Harry thought so that she didn't lose her nerve) Mrs Weasley disapparated. Ron, looking exhausted fell to the floor exactly where he was.
'Can you believe this is all mine?' he said, with a grin staring up at the ceiling. 'I've got a guy coming to connect the felly tone on Monday so that I can call Monica, like a real muggle.'
'Yes, well, if you want to look like a real muggle, you'd better be careful what you unpack,' Hermione said wisely.
They stayed with Ron until dinner time, when Harry excused himself in tiredness and Hermione said that she needed to feed Crookshanks. They disapparted at the same time and as Harry reappeared on the step of Grimmauld place, he felt something beside him.
'Crookshanks will be right,' Hermione said, smiling at him and taking his hand. 'Thought you might like some company.'