Chapter 14: Mistakes Repeated
"To start off, I want to let it be known that everything Harry and I have done since you left us has had a very practical and sound reasoning behind it."
Harry listened intently to the beginning of Hermione's defense. The scene was disturbingly reminiscent of being tried at the Winzengamot. Although he knew in his heart that they had done nothing wrong, the intensity in which Ron was looking at them made him feel like they were criminals.
"Well, despite the strain it was putting on us because a certain someone left us to fend for ourselves," Hermione paused, letting her not-so-subtle snub rattle around inside Ron's head for a bit, "we were continuing having one of us out on watch at all times."
As if on cue, all eyes turned toward the canvas flap which served as the entrance to their housing. Even though Hermione had just implied that it was best if someone was acting as guard at all times, the fact that all of them were awake at the moment offered enough security for them to be having this discussion without fear of intrusion.
"One day as I was in the tent alone cooking our dinner, I started to feel fatigued. My previous shift had been during a particularly violent snow storm, and I suppose the exposure along with the constant stress had just been too much for my body. To put it simply, I had fallen ill."
Harry could see Ron's face start to break into concern, but he somehow managed to retain his determination in being suspicious until he heard the full story. It was instead Luna who inquired as to the intensity of Hermione's sudden sickness.
"Was it anything serious?"
"No," Hermione answered, shaking her head. "Just a simple fever and cough, but at the time I just needed to rest. So I went to bed early."
"That really doesn't explain how you ended up..."
Ron's outburst was interrupted as he felt something sting his kneecap, the intensity not much greater than that of a static shock. Confused, he looked under the table to try and find the source of the sudden sensation. He failed to find anything out of the ordinary. Giving up, Ron turned his attention to the conversation at hand. It was Harry who continued.
"I came in later that night after my watch had ended and realized that Hermione was not awake. It was about midnight and usually when I have the early morning guard we take a few minutes in-between to discuss our plans for the next day. Naturally, I was concerned," Harry said matter-of-factly. Luna nodded, her eyes asking him politely to continue. Ron's look had begun to soften, probably unintentionally.
"She left me a note saying that she was sick, so I checked on her and realized that even under all her covers she was still shivering. I'll be honest; I didn't really know what to do. I just assumed that she needed more warmth, so I threw all my covers from my cot on top of her. It seemed to work," Harry conceded with a shrug, wholeheartedly believing that anyone else would have done the same in his position. He took a moment to turn to Hermione and smile comfortingly at her. He didn't know why he did it, but for some reason Harry knew that it was the right gesture. She, in turn, returned a grateful grin of her own before something on the table seemed to grab her attention away from his face.
Harry shifted his eyes to see what she was looking at, but he found nothing of interest. Bewildered, he averted his gaze back to the girl sitting next to him and tried to read the emotions on her face. What he saw confused him even more.
"Is Hermione...blushing?!"
Harry couldn't understand why Hermione's face had suddenly turned pink and why she couldn't look at him eye to eye. Had he said something embarrassing? Either way, he had to divert his attention away from her. Seeing her blush was making him blush for some reason.
"Can we get to the point al..."
Ron's second interjection was ended prematurely as another sharp feeling spread through his leg, this one as painful as a bee sting. Frustrated, Ron slid his chair back as he bent over and stuck his head under the table. Harry and Hermione looked on at Ron's sudden paranoia with a quizzical expression.
"What are you doing, Ronald?"
His head popped back from under the table as he dragged his chair to its original position, obviously flustered.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it. So she was sick, then what?"
"Well after that..." Harry trailed off, choking on his words. For the life of him, he could not fathom the correct combination of words to explain why he had climbed into bed with Hermione. There was no way that Ron would believe that he had done it for survival, like Hermione had decided the reason was. Even Harry himself had trouble believing that was a good enough explanation. What he needed was a scapegoat.
"There was a hole."
Harry turned toward Hermione, surprised at her remark. She was sipping her water nonchalantly, her entire posture emanating confidence. He had seen this before. To any other person her matter-of-fact tone would have reflected an attitude of relaxed honesty, but years of being her acquaintance had allowed Harry to see through the façade. This meant only one thing.
Hermione had a plan.
"You see, Harry donated all his sheets to me and realized that even with all his layers on it was still frigid in here. Too frigid, even," Hermione explained, shivering a bit. Whether or not it was for theatrics Harry could not tell, but it somehow added to the authenticity of her performance.
It was his turn to take the stage, despite having no idea where Hermione was taking this. Admittedly, being a realistic liar was not one of his strong points. "Right. It wasn't until after I had settled Hermione down that I discovered the problem."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the left side of Hermione's lips twitch into a miniscule smile that lasted a moment, the gesture an unspoken volley of praise and approval. The small movement elicited a jolt of...something through his stomach and up his neck. Harry was filled with a small amount of pride that he had caught on so quickly to her scheme, which in turn allowed him to carry on their lie with determination. He paused for a moment, choosing a spot slightly beyond Luna's right ear to stare at so it seemed he was reminiscing about some distant memory.
"I was preparing to sleep in my cot when I noticed, even through the extra layers I had put on to compensate for the loss of my blankets, that there was an abnormal chill coming into the room. At first I thought I had left the front flap open, but when I checked I realized that it was properly sealed as usual. That's when I found the hole."
Hermione nodded in agreement, happy that Harry picked up on her non-verbal signals. He had an eerie way of always knowing what she was thinking, and she had always been secretly proud of the fact. It was a rare talent that she knew she would never share with anyone else.
Ron's face started to contort with suspicion. He had known Harry and Hermione long enough to know that something was amiss. However, before he could even send the signal to his mouth to vocalize his wariness a violent shock hit his exposed knee, causing him to yelp in pain.
"OW! What the bloody---"
"So there was a hole?" filled in Luna casually as Harry and Hermione stared at the confused and fuming Ron.
"Yes..." Harry started, one eye still locked cautiously on the now silently brooding red headed teen across from him. "It had been hard enough trying to stay conscious through the last leg of my watch, so I knew that my body was going to collapse at any moment..."
"But with the way the temperature was that night, sleeping without any covers would have been just asking for an illness. Losing one day of movement due to being bedridden might have been just enough time for You-Know-Who to catch up to us, as I've said before."
Ron grunted affirmatively. He could not debate the fact that time was of the essence and that every move to a new location was necessary to remain hidden. Hermione had always reminded him of the fact whenever he insisted to stay at one spot for more than a day.
Hermione paused, glad that Ron had nothing to debate at the moment. It meant that even though their story was based on a fib, they had enough factual evidence to make it seem plausible. Granted, tricking Ron was not exactly the hardest thing to do in the world, but she took comfort in the fact that logic once again provided an answer to their problems. It made her proud to be such a book-worm. She waited for Harry to continue where she had left off, and sure enough, it wasn't very long until his voice filled the room once again.
"That put me in a dilemma. Like Hermione mentioned earlier, your room was no longer an option with it disappearing after you left and all. I tried to cozy up next to the fire but even that wasn't good enough. So the only other option was to try to stay awake, but I sincerely could not keep my eyes open for more than a minute without dozing off. I had no idea what to do, so I thought to myself, 'What would Hermione do?'" Harry paused, giving Luna and Ron time to draw their own conclusions.
Hermione also took a moment to think what she would have done if she were in Harry's situation. To be honest, sharing a bed with Harry would have been at the end of her list of solutions, but for the life of her she could not add anything else to that list. She frowned to herself for being stumped. It really was a dilemma.
Ron thought about saying something snide about how that was a convenient excuse for him to weasel into bed with Hermione, but part of his mind told him to remain silent. Even though he did not know how his body was being shocked, he bet that any attempt by him to interrupt his friends' story would result in extreme pain.
"So yes, in short, the best solution was to share a bed for one night," Harry concluded, letting out the breath he had been holding. It felt as if a massive burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He turned his gaze towards Ron, who seemed to be deep in thought. For the moment, at least, it seemed as if their story had been good enough for his anger to subside. Now, all Hermione and he had to do was survive the expected wave of follow up questions.
"Show me."
Harry was confused by Ron's vague statement.
"Come again?"
"I want to see it."
"See what?" Hermione responded this time, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
With their story seemingly complete, Ron took it upon himself to conduct his own investigation into the validity of their story. Even though the problem was plausible, the solution was too ridiculous to believe. There was no way that Hermione would allow such an inappropriate event to occur between herself and her so called "platonic" friend. Sure, she had remained unfazed in their fourth year while Rita Skeeter convinced all their peers that they were dating, but back then there was no basis to the journalist's claims. This was different. They were admitting that they had shared a sleeping situation voluntarily. It would be impossible for anyone not to assume they were intimate in one shape or another from such an action. Thus, Ron was determined to find the wrinkle in their alibi.
"You said there was a hole in the tent that led you into sleeping to...sharing a bed, yes?" Ron inquired.
"Yeah..." Harry trailed off, apprehensive that Ron was questioning the only part of their story which was fabricated.
"Prove it, show it to us."
Harry gulped. Before, he had been so confident in his storytelling. Now he had no idea what he was supposed to say. Hermione had failed to relay any psychic instruction on what to do if Ron had asked for physical evidence. Should he say that they had fixed it? Should he try to lead the conversation away from the non-existent tear in their housing? There seemed to be an infinite number of paths he could take their lie, but one wrong phrase and their whole story could fall through.
"Hmm, yes I'd like to see it too," Luna added after a moment. Ron quickly looked at her with a raised eyebrow. For the past couple of hours she had been the arbitrator in the quarrel, but now it seemed that she too realized the oddity of Harry and Hermione's explanation. Ron never considered Luna to be a skeptic.
"Well, you see the thing is..." Harry's voice was drowned out by an obviously forced cough, his capability to maintain his composure reaching a dangerous low. An image of Hermione shaking her head disappointingly flashed into his mind. If he was trying to convey any sort of confidence, he was failing miserably at it. It did not take long before Ron picked up on his weakness.
"Hah! I knew it!" Ron sneered, leaning across the table and squinting his eyes while waving an accusatory finger between the two defendants. "You are lying!"
"No, I swear," Harry said feebly. He knew they were cornered.
"Really Harry, stop being so melodramatic and just show them," Hermione stated softly. Both Harry and Ron turned to her. They had the same surprised look plastered across their faces.
"Err---," Harry started, dumbfounded. "Uhh...are you sure?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. She looked at the two of them as if they had forgotten some obvious fact they had learned in one of their classes. Harry was impressed. He never knew that she was such a convincing actress.
"Yes, go ahead Harry, you can show us," added Luna, smiling encouragingly. She patted Harry's hand as if he was having a deep internal conflict as to whether or not to show them the supposed hole in the tent.
"Alright," Harry said dejectedly, standing up from his seat. He scratched his head, failing to hide his confusion. "It's just, you know, right over there...no, over there..."
"Oh for Merlin's sake, Harry," interrupted Hermione, irritated. It really seemed as if she felt the hole in the tent actually existed. Harry's eyes followed Hermione as she slid out of her chair and made her way towards a small bookshelf in-between her room and Harry's now empty old room. She gingerly placed her hands on the side of the piece of furniture.
"As you can see," she said before pushing the furniture roughly. The old shelf creaked as it glided harshly across the floor. With a wrenching squeak it came to a stop, the contents of the bookshelf coming to a dust-ridden halt as they leaned the opposite way from the force of the movement. Hermione took a moment to brush her hands against her pants, the dirty shelf having left a thin layer of grey on her alabaster skin.
"Here, Ronald, is your hole."
Ron had to crane his head to the right a bit to see exactly where Hermione was pointing, but sure enough in the middle of the shadowy canvas wall a golf ball sized rip marred the once perfect lining of their shelter. Ron frowned. This almost certainly meant that to some extent their story held credence. Harry did his best to prevent his jaw from dropping in shock.
"To answer your next question," she continued, strolling across the room like a professor in front of a chalkboard, "we have no idea how it got there. It was probably just wear and tear from having to destruct it so often, heaven knows how old this thing is, but that's beside the point. Since conventional Muggle repair techniques would be inadequate for a magical lodging such as this, we could not simply patch it up. Harry wanted me to use magic to repair it, but since I strictly forbade excessive spell casting outside of the protective charms that was not an option. Up until today we have been in high risk locations. It's all in the log if you need further proof."
Ron sighed, raising his hands in concession. When they had first started their journey, Hermione made it a point to drill into their heads the importance of refraining from using too much magic. With Voldemort's cronies lurking practically everywhere, they had to make certain that no trace of their location could ever be tracked. Even the smallest of spells could leave enough magical residue to prove their existence. That was why one day she had taken a map and had color coordinated the entire country according to how much magic they could use based off of known wizarding density. Ron remembered the so-called "high risk" zones vividly. They were a deep shade of scarlet red, almost the color of blood.
Ron was pretty sure that Hermione was exaggerating the extent of the Dark Lord's tracking capabilities (he was pretty sure the only reason she wouldn't let him use a cleaning charm to do the dishes was to, as she put it, "teach him how to be a gentleman"), but he had been friends with Hermione for long enough to know that listening to her was almost always the right thing to do. As to the log she mentioned, he had never actually seen her keep a detailed travel journal of where they had been, but it sure did sound like something Hermione would do.
"Alright, alright, so I can buy this whole 'hole' business, I guess," Ron said as Hermione and Harry retook their seats across the table. "But that only explains why you, ahem..." he paused a second to choose the right words, a slight blush tinting his face, "shared a bed for that night. She said that she was only a little bit ill, so why are you guys still sharing a room?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other nervously.
"That's the odd part," Harry said honestly, running a hand through his hair. "The beds that we have in here can only fit one person, so if I was going to sleep with...share the covers with Hermione and not be lying on top of her," Hermione let out an awkward cough at the sound of the idea, "I dragged my cot over from my room to hers and...well...they kind of fused together."
"They what?" said Ron, suspicion in his voice.
"You know...they sort of merged together into one, big mattress," replied Harry weakly. It still sounded ridiculous, even to him.
Ron blew air through his lips mockingly. "What a load of bollocks," spat Ron. "Do you hear how crazy that sounds?"
"It's true!" cried Hermione in their defense.
"She's right. There was this bright blue light as soon as I put my bed down next to her and before I could do anything, they had combined," reiterated Harry.
"Well that means," everyone else jumped a bit in their seats as Ron rose from his chair with haste. They watched carefully as he limped across the kitchen to the closed canvas flap which had once been Harry's room. Raising his arm to grab the tiny zipper which sealed the room off from the rest of the tent, he opened the door with one powerful pull. Although the room was a bit dark because of its distance from the main fire near the kitchen, it was easy to see that the room was completely empty.
"Ronald, what are you doing?" asked Luna, completely enthralled with interest.
Ron grumbled an inaudible reply as he slowly made his way back across the table on his way to the next room. Unlike the last one, this room's door was open, the two parts which made up the flimsy separator tucked neatly into hooks on opposite sides of the opening. Ron poked his head inside and let out a quick "ah," a signal that he was satisfied with what he had found. His figure disappeared seconds later as he entered the dimly lit room.
"So you mean to tell me, that if I take this," he answered a moment later as he reappeared into the living room, carrying the cot he had found within. Harry shot up in fear. He knew what Ron was going to do. Cautiously, he started to walk toward Ron, the girls following suit, as he began to drag the cot to the final unexplored room in the tent. "And I put it right here..."
"Ron, don't!" Harry called helplessly as they all followed the red headed wizard into the room. Before he could stop him from committing the same mistake he did, Ron slammed down the cot net to the fourth and final bed. Almost instantaneously a dazzling sapphire light flashed, and sure enough, all that was left was one perfectly combined two person mattress. The room fell silent, Harry and Hermione stunned in disbelief that Ron had not listened to their warning.
Ron stared at the bed, more impressed than angry. "Wicked!" he said excitedly. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Alright, now how do we undo it?"
"You can't," Harry groaned, taking a seat on the bed and rubbing his eyes. "Ever since that night we've been trying to get our beds separated, but it's seriously impossible. Magic...cutting...literally anything you try to do to get them separated and they will seal up immediately. Feel free to try, but it will just make you tired and frustrated."
The color drained from Ron's face as the realization of what he had just done started to process in his mind. He took a seat next to Harry at the foot of the bed.
"Oh," he sighed, staring blankly at some unknown spot, "That's not good."
"Of course that's not good!" Hermione said coldly, glaring at him with her arms crossed. "If you had just taken two seconds to trust us and listen to what we had to say---"
"Alright, alright," Ron cut in with a wave of his hand, the anger in his voice gone. "You win, I believe you. But what does that mean now? Who gets the rooms?"
"It's simple, really," Hermione spoke as they congregated back in the kitchen, "Luna and I will get the rooms and you two boys will sleep out on the couches."
"Hey, now wait a second," Ron retorted, "just because you are girls does not mean you get exclusive rights to the comfortable beds!"
"Ron, it's called manners," Harry stated plainly, although part of him was not looking forward to sleeping on the stiff sofas Hermione was referring to.
"Ha, like he knows the first thing about being a gentleman," Hermione said snidely.
"Well sorrrry, your majesty," Ron spat back as he faked a bow in Hermione's direction, "aren't you the one fighting for equal rights? What's the point in fighting for house elf rights when men like me are losing their rights to a comfortable place to sleep?"
Hermione scoffed, her anger flaring. "And what exactly would you happen to know about house elf rights?"
"Alright you two, cut it out," Harry said, annoyed. He supposed that it was a good thing that they were back to their normal bickering, but as usual he found it to be pedantic and childish. A shallow sigh escaped his mouth as, as usual, Ron and Hermione ignored his plea and continued to argue, the subject getting further and further away from the original topic as they lost themselves in their own little world.
"Well then, what do you want?" Hermione said after a few minutes, huffing. "Why don't you and Harry share a room then if you are going to be a baby about it?"
"Ugh," Ron said, disturbed, "I am not sharing a bed with another guy!"
"Well then better get used to the floor!" Hermione shot back, triumphantly.
"Excuse me."
The banter between Ron and Hermione stopped at Luna's soft call. Somewhere amidst the volley of hollers she had managed to plant herself firmly in the doorway to the now double room. Harry turned his head with interest toward the younger witch. If two words from her could cease what he had been struggling to find a way to stop for years, perhaps it was a good thing she had somehow ended up tagging along. She stroked her chin and averted her gaze, deep in thought.
"I think," she started, "that it only makes sense that Ronald and I share a room. That way, Harry and Hermione can stay together as they were."
"WHAT?" the trio shouted simultaneously. None of them were expecting Luna to say that.
She blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry," Luna responded after an awkward silence, inhaling a huge breath of air before continuing. "I SAID I THINK THAT---"
"We heard you just fine the first time!" cut in Hermione as Luna's scream threatened to damage her hearing.
"Oh, that's good," Luna responded at her normal shallow tone, relief displayed across her face in the form of a faint smile. "I really don't enjoy talking loudly."
Ron stood up and marched his way to Luna, leaving Harry and Hermione watching intently from the bed. Luna stood there smiling at him as if there was some happy melody stuck in her head. She swayed to side from side absentmindedly, almost as if she had already moved on from her previous declaration and had proceeded to melting back into the shadows.
"Let...let me get this straight, Luna," Ron started to say in a shaky voice. His face was lit with an embarrassed blush. "You want you...and me...us to...you want us to sleep in the same bed?!"
Luna frowned. "Sure. Is there something the matter?"
"Are you completely BONKERS?! That's just so...it's not right!" Ron concluded as he stumbled to find any sort of vocal stability. Luna just continued to stare at him as if he was the one not making any sense. Her confidence in the correctness of her suggestions almost made her seem arrogant, if not only naïve.
"I don't see the problem," she said flatly, like a child trying to comprehend why exactly the sky was blue. "Harry and Hermione have been sleeping together for weeks and it hasn't seemed to affect their friendship, if that's what you are worried about. I think we should be fine having a go at it."
Harry suppressed a laugh as Hermione shot him the same look she gave him and Ron whenever they were whispering to one another during a lecture. Apparently she found no humor in their present sleeping arrangements. Harry took a moment to roll his eyes as soon as she turned away.
"Luna," Ron said, his vocabulary decreasing in size by the second. "But...we...no, just no! It's too...weird!"
Luna smiled. "It's not that weird, Ronald. I mean, how long were we stuck in the cave for? We were sleeping together there, weren't we?"
"Sure, but that's---"
"Well, it's the same thing just...you know..." Luna took her two index fingers and gently met the tips of each one in front of her nose. "...closer."
Ron growled in frustration, violently scratching his head. He could find nothing else to say.
"So," Luna reached into her pocket and pulled three wands from it. She tossed the objects back to their respective owners before disappearing from the room.
"If Ronald and I have been with one another the past couple of weeks and Harry and Hermione have been with each other also," Luna called back to them, her voice carried back to the trio through the cool winter air, "it only makes sense, given our predicament, that that's how it shall remain!"
"But Luna," Ron rebutted, "for a guy and a girl to share a same bed shows a certain amount of...well, you know..."
"Intimacy?" Harry chided in.
"Yes, intimacy!" Ron agreed, pointing at Harry while continuing to look at Luna. "Don't you find it the least bit inappropriate?"
Luna shrugged. "As Hermione would say, as long as both people are absolutely platonic then the practical solution, in terms of survival and comfort that is, would be for them to share a bed. If there is no feelings involved, what's the risk?"
Ron looked at Hermione, looking for some sort of argument. She was taken aback. She really wanted to fight Luna. She wanted to find a way to finally get out of the comfortable-yet-uncomfortable living arrangement she had been sharing with Harry for so long. But yet, the younger witch had turned her most trustworthy weapon against her. To be honest, her reasoning was so akin to something she would say that she swore Luna read her mind. All Hermione could do was sigh dejectedly, admitting defeat. She stormed out of Ron and Luna's newly anointed room in frustration.
Harry got up, raising his arms far above his head in an attempt to crack his back. "Alright then, well I guess that is that. I'll give you guys time to, err, get used to everything. I better go check on Hermione. Night."
With a quick wave and a sigh of his own, Harry made his way across the tent to his and Hermione's room. He knew that she would not be too pleased with the events which had just unfolded.
Slowly, Ron and Luna managed to find all their belongings and drop them onto the floor next to their bed. They stood side by side, neither saying anything as they stared at their new resting spot.
"Well," Luna said first after the awkward silence, "this is going to be awkward."
Ron placed his hands on his hips and nodded. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. Whenever we had relatives over at the Burrow Mum would force me and Percy to share a room with the twins. It was crowded and everything, and at least we all had our own bed, but I reckon this can't be that dissimilar."
"That's true, but I wasn't talking about that," Luna responded.
"Then what's up?" Ron asked, turning to face her. She frowned, still staring at the bed.
"Usually when I sleep in a bed, I do it in the nude."