Harry Potter and the Never Yielding Fates

The day the kids left for Hogwarts had always been a hectic event, despite the amount of kids actually leaving on the train. Mrs. Weasley was always shouting the time up the stairs, often shouting up to Ron or Ginny, or on occasion Harry and Hermione that they'd left something downstairs, and they needed to remember not to forget to pack it before they'd forgotten it. She was constantly reminding them that Errol was an old owl, and he probably could not be relied on to carry anything heavier than an envelope, so they most likely would be forced to go until Christmas without any item they may have left behind.

Harry and Ron had discussed briefly what had agitated Harry about the conversation in Diagon Alley, although nowhere near as freely as Harry had tackled the subject with Hermione. Ron had sincerely bumbled over apologies for the next half hour until Harry finally assured him that it was alright, and he had been the wizard at fault. He was still a little peeved about his inconsistent letters over the summer, but he really couldn't hold that against him for very long… he'd probably have done the same thing, if the situation was reversed.

That was a lie. He'd never do that; if something had happened to anyone in Ron's family, Harry would have been there in a heartbeat, aching almost as much as Ron himself. While Harry realized that it was absolutely impossible for anyone to have been there for him, the least Ron could have done would be to keep contact with his best mate.

He was getting agitated again, and Hermione was beginning to notice. Ginny was even noticing at this point. He took a deep calming breath and ran a mental checklist of the things he had and didn't have ready for Hogwarts. They were leaving in ten minutes, and Harry had everything except his broomstick. He had quite consciously been putting off touching the thing. When he had arrived at the Burrow, Remus had carried it for him. Harry hadn't even had to touch it. Sure, he saw it, but touching it would be so much worse. He seriously contemplated not bringing it with him, so that he wouldn't have to face it.

“I already shrank it.” Hermione supplied hesitantly. “Ah… your broom that is, if that's what you're worried about.”

Ginny smirked at the innuendo, and threw her hands up in an innocent gesture when Hermione scowled at her.

“Merlin, you are a saint.” Harry murmured quietly. “Thanks, `Mione.”

Hermione made a small humming noise that he took to mean “you're welcome”. She really did think of everything. It was a bit curious how she always managed to know what he was thinking, even during the times when he was almost damn sure that he had given no outward expression to reveal it.

He watched Hermione leave to grab some of her books from upstairs, to see how much “light reading” she could manage to fit in her trunk with the required necessities. It was ridiculous how many books the girl could manage to read in the span of a year.

Ginny, on the other hand, was very curious to know exactly how Harry felt about Hermione. She was almost sure - as was everyone else for the most part, except Ron - that he had feelings for her that he hadn't owned up to yet… but up until this point it had been a time bomb, and everyone had expected the two of them to wake up and realize that they were meant to be together at the same time.

Thinking on it, though, it was only somewhat natural for Hermione to cotton on first. She was the smart one of the pair, but while her intelligence in academics and real-life experiences were up to par, relationships were a weak point for her. She'd only had one relationship to the date, with Viktor Krum, and while it had been hot and heavy at the time, there was no real emotional attachment. They had… explored for lack of a better term physically, but in the long run they knew very little about each other while they were a “couple”. It wasn't until after they'd broken up that they'd become friends at all.

If Hermione were to get involved with Harry, it would have to mean a lot to both of them. Ginny knew Hermione would be in it for the long haul, and while she knew also that Harry would never intentionally hurt Hermione, she feared that if he wasn't all in Hermione would wind up crushed and broken on an irreparable level.

Ginny absolutely refused to do anything to betray Hermione's trust, but she also deeply wanted to prevent her from being hurt. She was tempted to ask Harry, straight out, what his intentions were with Hermione. She realized, though, that if he hadn't realized he had very non-platonic feelings for her yet, he couldn't really give an honest answer.

It almost broke her heart that Hermione was battling over her emotions by herself, helping Harry develop a certain sense of acceptance over the death of his godfather, while Harry was for the most part to occupied to notice.

Not that she could blame him of course… He obviously had a lot resting on his shoulders.

She was startled out of her reverie when Hermione rushed down the stairs hastily, throwing the books in her arms into her trunk and barreling back up. “Ron, get your lazy arse downstairs, we're going to be late!” She shouted.

Harry chuckled and shook his head. As much as he loved his friends, it was always a source of entertainment to him when they bickered. It could get annoying in serious situations, but it was hilarious in all other circumstances. Ron usually provided some sort of biting sarcastic remark, and it usually ended when Hermione rolled her eyes and responded with something witty, leaving Ron in a mild state of agitation and shock when he realized that Hermione had won.

Mrs. Weasley sighed impatiently, and absently started levitating Ginny's bags to the Ministry car provided for them. After the battle and the Ministry, they had deemed it fit to properly protect Harry through other means than just Order members, so proper aurors had finally been sent.

Hermione dragged Ron down the stairs by his ear muttering, “Honestly, Ronald, you'd think you'd have learned after second year that missing the train is not an option.”

“Oh, and I suppose you're best friends with Father Time himself?” Ron grumbled.

“No, which is exactly the point. I haven't got a time-turner anymore, Ronald, therefore it would be a very bad idea to miss the bleeding train. Put your things in the car, and let's go. Who's driving?” She released Ron's ear with a rather rough knock to Ron's head (which Harry chuckled at) and Hermione grabbed Crookshanks' travel carrier and tried cooing to him through the bars lightly.

“Oh Tonks is, dear.” Mrs. Weasley answered casually.

“What?” Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Ron cried out incredulously.

“Well, she says she knows what she's doing and - ”

“Has she got a license?” Hermione interrupted.

“A what?” Molly asked bemusedly.

“A license. You know, you get an apparitioner's license to Apparate… you get a driving license to drive. Does Tonks have one?”

“You have one, right Hermione?” Harry asked. “You're of age and all.”

Hermione nodded hesitantly.

“You drive.” He said simply. “No offense to Tonks, but I trust you behind the wheel loads more than her.”

“I need the keys.” She said tentatively, pulling her purse from between the cushions of the car and yanking out her wallet, nodding in satisfaction when she noted that she did indeed have her license on her.

The drive there was pleasantly soothing to Harry, omitting Crookshanks' loud mewls from Ginny's lap beside him, and Hedwig's annoyed hoots from inside her cage. Mrs. Weasley sat in the front seat, repeatedly asking Hermione questions about which road signs meant what, and after a certain point, Harry began answering them for her, as he could tell that Hermione was starting to stress.

She must not have been able to drive very much since she'd received her license, but she was a smooth and careful driver, which was only to be expected of her. Harry was right in trusting her, which Tonks was constantly reminding him of when she kept muttering, “OHHH that's what those bloody arrows mean!”

Hermione had rolled her eyes an unmentionable amount of times in the past hour, so Harry was not surprised a bit when she pulled into an open parking and nearly slammed on the breaks, sticking the car in park and hopping out of the vehicle. She kept muttering to herself and shaking her head, seemingly scolding her mental capabilities when she agreed to drive the damn thing to begin with.

“We should probably get out now.” Harry said amusedly, watching Hermione tug the trunks out of the trunk.

“Right… er… It's this little switchy thing, right Harry?” Ron asked unsurely, pointing to the notch that would lower the window.

Harry shook his head exasperatedly and leaned over Ron to yank the handle up, opening the door and pushing it out just enough so that the door would open the rest of the way and he wouldn't be forced to climb on top of Ron to get out of the vehicle.

“Hurry up, Ronald, we have a train to catch.” Hermione said wearily.

Several Ministry cars pulled up in the spots situated next to theirs and the aurors that stepped out were dressed in black suits, much like the muggle American President's security force, minus the shades.

They hovered slightly around them, not bothering to assist them with their luggage, and followed like puppies when they rushed into King's Cross and consequently (moments later) disappearing into the platform.

“There we are, loves. Now, you've all got everything you need?” Mrs. Weasley said kindly, pulling Ron and Ginny in for a combined hug. “Good, good. Harry, Hermione…” Mrs Weasley pulled them in for a hug as well. “All of you, have a good term, and don't forget to write.”

Nodding and agreeing to write as often as available, the four teens left the silently weeping mother on the platform.

“Oh, Hermione, dear.” Mrs. Weasley called out to her.

Hermione looked back, motioned for Ron to take her trunk (which he did grudgingly), and she walked back toward Mrs. Weasley curiously.

“I have something that you might find to be useful.” Mrs. Weasley said quietly, taking Hermione's hand and placing a brown wrapped item in her hand. “Open it later. I'm sorry, dear… for everything. And you were right. Now, go. Have a good term, and I'll see you at Christmas, yes?”

Hermione nodded and hugged her again, thanking her, and hurried back to the train. She leaned against a compartment and removed the item from its packaging.

Curiously enough, Hermione found herself holding a pocket watch. When she opened it, she found a miniature replica of the Weasley family clock, with only two hands, each labeled Harry and Ronald.

She wanted to cry at the gesture. The fact that Molly had bought the pocket watch would have been enough, but that she knew Hermione well enough to know just how much she cared about Harry and Ron caused her heart to swell. A note fell into her lap, and she picked it up.

Hermione -

I hope you find this useful. With how much time you spend worrying about them, I thought you might appreciate it.

Love,

Molly

Hermione smiled, and vowed to write her surrogate mother a moving letter, and purchase her a very valuable gift at Christmas. She closed the lid on the clock, flipping the lid shut as both hands were pointed to `travelling' and shoved it into her jean pocket. She started searching for their compartment, and slid into it once she'd found Harry, Ginny, and Ron, and gave a small wave to Neville and Luna when she noticed them as well.

“Hey Luna, Neville, how was your summer?”

“Oh, it was alright.” Luna smiled serenely. “Daddy and I went hunting for Nargles. We never found any, because we thought some Wrackspurts had gotten to Daddy's head so we took him home straight away.”

Fighting the urge to snort and roll her eyes once again, Hermione turned to Neville, who was staring strangely at Luna as if she'd grown another head. It was a look that the strange but kind girl had grown quite accustomed to, and she smiled back at him happily.

“Gran took me to America to look at some of the plants there.” He turned to Hermione, smiling. “It was a lot of fun. I'm really glad I went.”

“Good for you, Neville.” She patted his knee lightly and situated herself to the right of Ron and next to Ginny. “I'm glad you both had… exotic summers.”

Ginny giggled quietly, noting how Hermione was trying so hard to keep from offending Luna in any type of way.

Hermione situated herself in the seat, tucking her legs beneath her and pulling a book out of her bag, causing Ron to roll his eyes and make an annoying comment which Hermione smartly pretended not to hear.

The compartment conversation carried on, discussing trivial matters for a long while until silence reigned for a few moments, and Luna finally brought up the topic they were all anxiously awaiting.

“Harry, what do we do about the Ministry battle?” Coming from Luna, the question sounded so innocent and dreamy, but either way the question was there. The only people Harry had discussed the Ministry battle with were Dumbledore (vaguely) and very emotionally with Hermione. He was not ready at all to start chatting about it freely with anyone else.

“Nothing.” Hermione snapped, shutting her book forcefully, glaring at the younger student, to Luna's shock. “We don't do anything. It's done now and nothing's going to change it. It happened, the Ministry is acknowledging it, and so now we wait.”

Harry shot her a fleeting, grateful glance, and she nodded at him carefully.

“Hermione's right.” Harry said quietly. “Let's just not talk about it.”

Ron sighed as Neville and Luna quickly nodded and excused themselves, mostly due to the tone Hermione had taken on. “You can't ignore it forever, mate.”

“Ron!” Hermione growled. “He just said don't talk about it. And besides, if you honestly think he can just ignore it, ever, you should take a closer look. You're so insensitive sometimes.”

“Do you ever let him speak for himself?” Ron snarled. “It seems like you're doing an awful lot of talking for him, lately, and it's not like you've talked to him about it anymore than the rest of us have.”

“Ron!” Ginny warned harshly. “Stop being such a prick.”

“I'd let him speak for himself, Ron, if he wanted to, but he just sodding told you to drop it! And he is still here, you know!”

“Well, Harry, what've you got to say?” Ron turned to his mate and asked in a somewhat “go on, tell her off” sort of way.

“I've already told you what I've got to say, Ron, and Hermione's right. It's not like I can just ignore that my godfather died. I just don't want to talk about it, so leave it alone!” He shot up and excused himself to change into his robes.

“Now look what you've done, Ron.” Ginny sighed. “Why can't you ever just step down a notch and admit defeat when Hermione's right? It's one thing to try and prove a point, but you're hurting Harry in the process and you know as well as I do that it isn't right.”

Ron looked properly abashed and stood up to go and apologize to his best friend humbly. “Sorry Hermione…” He mumbled on his way out.

Hermione sighed and massaged her temples furiously. “Is he right, Ginny?” She asked suddenly. “Do I speak for Harry too much?”

“Hermione, no. You know more than anyone that Ron gets carried away when he's trying to prove something. And besides, you've discussed this with Harry more than any of us have, so you know how much he's hurting on an entirely different level than we do. You know when he doesn't want to talk about something, so it's a natural instinct to answer for him when you don't think he's up to answering it by himself. Just because Ron's being an arse doesn't mean you have to second-guess yourself.”

She still seemed unsure, but nevertheless she picked up her book and resumed reading. At least she gave the appearance of it.

Mentally, however, Hermione's mind was working a thousand words a minute.

She had been trying increasingly hard to shield away any signs of her attachment to Harry, but recently they were just being exposed even further. Maybe she was being too concerned for him? But Harry didn't seem to have a problem with it. Harry had seemed more than okay with talking things out. And he needed some sort of outlet. Obviously with Ron's understanding capacity being as small as it was, he couldn't go to him.

And a large fraction of her felt proud that she was the only one Harry could talk to when it came down to it. She scolded herself for being selfish, but despite that the giddiness was still there. It made her feel special to him, and like he needed her.

She would never admit it to them, but she was jealous of Harry and Ron. The two of them were friends before she had ever entered the picture, and she was fairly sure that they would have no problems resorting to just the two of them again if it came to that. She didn't want to be forgotten, and that was one of her greatest fears. She didn't care that she wasn't noticed by most of the school population… she just needed to be recognized by her friends.

Ron, as much of a stupid git as he was, was still a very important part of her life. She needed him. They bickered a lot, sure, but in the end their bickering was what caused a friendship between them. It's what held them together. He was brave, and loyal, and while he was very short tempered, and easily grew jealous, his positive qualities made up for it.

Harry just made her smile. As much as she was there for him, he was also there for her. If she was upset, Harry was the first to recognize it and cheer her up. She hated that he was in so much pain lately, and it irked her to no end that Ron seemed to lack the sympathetic nature to watch what he was saying in order to spare Harry's feelings.

“Hermione, stop.” Ginny snapped finally. She couldn't watch this anymore. “You've been staring at that book for twenty minutes now, and you're not getting anywhere. Talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking about.”

She closed the book carefully and replaced it in her bag meticulously. “It's just… with all the arguing that we do, sometimes I wonder if Ron makes a good point. You know I'm always paranoid that I'm going to be dropped out of the friendship.” Ginny started to protest but Hermione glared at her and continued. “Ron keeps making all those sarcastic remarks about how I'm not letting Harry say anything of his own… do you think Ron's feeling the same thing? Ginny, I don't want either of them to know about anything I may feel for Harry. I don't want Ron to get angry, I don't want to make Harry feel awkward or stressed… I just don't want it. But I can't tell anymore… I mean, I think the line separating me from acting friendly and platonic toward Harry and actually giving something away about my feelings is being blurred in my mind and it's driving me bonkers, Gin. Merlin, what was I thinking when I fell in love with my best friend?” Hermione had muttered the last bit more to herself than Ginny.

“You were thinking that he's everything you've ever looked for in a man.” Ginny suggested teasingly. “Look, Hermione, the thing is that you do love Harry, and now that you've acknowledged that fact your mind and body can't help wanting to react to it. It's called being a girl. Love it. Embrace it.”

Hermione blushed lightly, but turned her head toward the window. “Ginny I'm scared.” She paused for a moment. “I don't want whatever I'm feeling to tear us all apart, and I think that's exactly what will happen if Ron finds out. And Ginny, Harry doesn't feel the same. There's no way someone like Harry could fall for someone like me. It's just not possible.”

“Hermione, you're different than the other girls at Hogwarts. That's not a bad thing, it's good.” Ginny said softly.

“Yeah,” Hermione snorted rather inelegantly, “mentally it's good. It means I have more brains than a sack of doorknobs. But physically? I definitely don't have your figure, Gin, and I know it.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Hermione, this is getting ridiculous. No, you're not as tall, or leggy, or blonde as some girls are. But come on, you're not exactly an ugly duckling either. I mean, you went through a big phase of it, I'll admit, but you're not bad looking. You do have curves, you just don't enhance them. And you have beautiful eyes, too, while we're at it. Stop putting yourself down. Harry is Harry, Hermione. He appreciates what you are. The only problem is that you don't. It's a bit off-putting.”

Hermione sighed. “I know. You're right. I guess I just keep letting ridiculous stuff get to my head. Besides, there are more important things going on than the inner-workings of my brain.”

“Good girl.”

They both smiled slightly and Hermione really resumed reading this time, while Ginny brushed up on her Transfiguration skills.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Author's Note: This'll be it until probably this weekend. Hope you enjoy. :-)

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