A/N: Thanks for the great reviews. For everyone who was wondering what exactly Hermione was talking about in the last chapter…well you get your answer in this one.
"What is this about?" she asked.
She had no intentions of coming downstairs that morning. Hermione didn't have a stash equivalent to Ron's but she did have enough to take her through to lunch. And those where her intentions until Harry unleashed one of the girls of Gryffindor to get her downstairs. And until then he paraded her downstairs.
"You're going to eat something," he insisted. "You've been holed up in your room all weekend. And if not there you've been in the library working on who knows what. All I know is that you need a break before you wear yourself out."
"That's sweet Harry," she offered. "And I appreciate that, but you have no idea what Arithmancy's been like. That report is worth more than half of our grade before we head off for winter break. I just really need to do this so I can relax over the holidays."
"Relax now," he urged.
She muttered as he continued to pull her along towards the direction of the Great Hall. Hermione regretted when her stomach betrayed her when the aromas coming from the dining area overtook her. Hermione shook out of his grip before she settled her hand into his caressing it gently as she still worked the essay through her mind.
She wasn't going to let it go.
"You're the best."
Hermione latched onto Harry as they entered the great hall, but she couldn't overcome the sense of guilt that she was feeling. Here he was being the most wonderful boyfriend that she could imagine and she was lying to him. She simply couldn't imagine how he would take it.
And then it happened.
She ran into Ginny.
Hermione didn't imagine that it would be a pleasant conversation that they would share initially, but that they could at least be civil to one another. Ginny, she imagined, was heartbroken because in theory Hermione had taken what she wanted so dearly.
"Does this look familiar to you?" she asked.
Hermione was about to ask what she was talking about before she unwadded one of her old shirts that she had received from Harry. It took her a moment, but by the time she came to the shocking realization it had clattered to the floor.
The coin.
She closed her eyes hoping, even wishing, that this was just a nightmare. She had kept this from everyone for a long time, and now it was unraveling not only before her eyes, but before the entire school. It was private enough, but everyone was trying to get a look at what was going on.
They had been waiting with baited breath for a confrontation between the three, and this while what they had expected, was nothing like what they had dreamed.
"Don't do this," she whispered.
She could feel the tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
"Please, don't do this. Not in front of all these people."
"You should have done it, Hermione. You should have been the one to do it a long time ago."
Hermione's heart clenched in her throat as Harry bent down and picked up the small coin. He flipped it between his fingers before he finally looked across between both Ginny and Hermione. It was obvious to her that he hadn't examined it closely enough.
"It's just a D.A. coin," he said.
"Look closer," offered Ginny.
There was nothing she could do. Her wand was there at her side, and at the ready, but she could think of no spell that could change the outcome. She looked up at the Head table and silently shared a look with both Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.
Hermione looked back as he gazed at the coin scrutinizing every inch of it. And although he was smart he wasn't exactly grasping the concept of what Ginny was trying to do. With careful hands she took it from him and flipped it over, showing the insignia on it.
"It's not a D.A. coin," said Ginny. A dangerous look flashed across Hermione's face before Ginny dared to continue. "You've probably never seen one, but if you had you'd recognize that the D.A. coin is only based off of the Ambrosia calling card. I just thought you'd like to know that she's one of them. In fact she's more than that…she's their Princess."
Harry turned to Hermione his face neutral, except for the question his features begged. And Hermione had to let him down and tell him the truth.
"I don't know how she found out," she whispered. "And I was just waiting for the right moment to tell you the truth. I swear that I didn't want you to find out this way. But there's a lot more that you need to know, Harry. There's so much more that you need to know.
**
Hermione had woken up several times that night, and the time that she'd finally been able to go to sleep she had dreamt of Ginny. She had dreamt of Ginny, the Great Hall, Harry, and Dumbledore. And normally that combination seemed harmless, but it was worse that she could still remember everything that happened that fateful morning.
And for that reason alone she was beginning to realize why Harry had not slept in their room. Perhaps he had his own memories that were tormenting him. Hermione knew that besides that one awful nightmare simply the memories of this room put a damper on her mood.
The sun had barely crept through the curtains that enclosed them from the world. Hermione just wanted to stop thinking about it for a moment, and for that reason she adjusted herself once more in his embrace as she wanted to find some sense of comfort.
"Is it too late to give an ultimatum? I know I've already agreed to stay here, but I can't help but feel that there needs to be a condition somewhere. Something that makes this all feel a little more like this is going to be permanent."
"It would have to be reasonable."
"I'm always reasonable," she argued, softly, before sighing. It took her a moment. "I've been thinking about it all week, Harry. And I want to be the last person to jinx us. But we both know that realistically we can't live this way forever. That night was quite possibly the culmination of everything going on in my head."
"You still haven't told me what it was about?"
"It's nothing."
Harry decided that he wasn't going to press her on the issue for now. And she seemed grateful for that as they slid into a comfortable silence. And it wasn't until an alarm went off that she even bothered to look his direction once more.
"I'll see you this afternoon."
**
Hermione twisted her fingers around the strings hanging from her paper gown. She hardly imagined herself at St. Mungo's. The last time she'd been here she'd herself been a Healer, but this time around she was the patient feeling the uncomfortable things that she wasn't used to.
She was good at disguising herself though she didn't exactly feel the need to. It was pretty easy to sneak in and using a different name she had achieved an appointment. The only part that irked her was the waiting.
The door opened revealing the person that she had been looking for. Her jaw dropped at first as she caught sight of Hermione, but she tried to hide it quickly. It failed though, but all she could do was turn to look at her gown.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I think it's obvious."
Ginny stood still as she scribbled away on her pad. It was apparent that she was waiting for Hermione to come out and say it rather than for her to assume the wrong thing. Rather than hope that it was different.
"I'm here for a checkup," concluded Hermione. "You know to make sure that everything's in working order. If it makes you a bit uncomfortable then I'm sure that you can find some other doctor that's willing to."
"Hermione you can run the spell yourself," snapped Ginny. "And in case you've forgotten it's Swish Swish Swish Flick Swish. And if all else fails just have Harry do it, I'm sure that you'd have no problem doing it for you."
Hermione offered a smile.
"I didn't know you had such a crude sense of humor."
Ginny only offered a sneer.
"What do you want?" asked Ginny. "There are a ton of other things that I need to attend to, and it doesn't include giving you a good laugh."
"I can feel it coming," said Hermione. "And I don't know if it'll be two months from now or if it will be a year from now. But I just want you to know that if I find out you're the one who turned me in, it will be over. And it's not about how much you hate me, but how much you love Harry. Because he wants things, and we can both agree that we want him to be happy."
"You're insane," said Ginny. "And I'm only telling you this so that you can float back to reality, Hermione. You can't be married to someone like Harry, and be the person that you are. He's a magnet for media and it's only going to be a matter of time before either you get too comfortable or he slips up."
"You mean before you slip up," corrected Hermione.
"I'm right," said Ginny with a hint of arrogance. "And you know that I'm right. I'm not calling you insane because you want a family with Harry. Anyone can tell you that it's too late, and that the time has passed. I think you're crazy because you think that it'll work."
Ginny gave Hermione a hard stare, before she finally shrugged realizing that her time had passed. Without another moment she suggested that Hermione change back, and left the room clipboard still in hand.
**
Hermione felt absolutely horrible, the tear ducts working overtime. And all she needed to do was repeat her conversation with Ginny once more before she would finally push over the edge. She wanted nothing more than to forget about it.
Hermione supposed that this alone was the reason why she sat on Harry's desk. Her bare feet implanted on the chair as a bewildered Harry sat wondering why her sudden appearance. She had simply apparated in not truly caring if anyone was there.
And no one was, except for him.
Although there was a conference call.
She hesitated not a moment longer before she leaned forward closing the distance between the two. And one final look between them before she took the leap and kissed him. Despite the fire burning inside her with all the thoughts in her mind she tested the waters.
Her heart stopped beating in the moment that he pulled her closer. There was nothing about the moment that she found to be anything but loving and passionate despite the situation. Never before had she done something like this.
And as if he had snapped back to reality, he pulled away. She took a deep breath as she appraised him wondering what was going on in his mind. He seemed to be avoiding her gaze. But even though he didn't confront her he didn't seem to let go of the strong hold he had on her waist.
And by the time he turned to her his stare made her uncomfortable. Hermione couldn't resist from adjusting herself in his lap as she held onto his shoulders. She could feel the message passing between the two of them and before she knew it there was resting her head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent.
"You have to know that I love you."
She nodded burying her face even deeper and tightening their embrace. And she couldn't imagine that he minded. They were in silence for a while before she finally broke away from her thoughts.
"I love you too," she murmured. She bit her lip hard wondering if she should even bother telling Harry this now. The moment was so entirely perfect that she didn't want to ruin a thing. She'd rather just resume their previous activities. "I had a nightmare, Harry, and the thought of anyone figuring out that I'm alive simply terrifies me."
"You're not the only one," he admitted.
Hermione let a small smile escape as he rubbed her back in a soothing manner.
"I just feel as if it's coming, Harry, and I just want to take advantage of every moment that we have together."
Hermione knew that he wished her to be open, but she didn't believe that he wished her to be that open. She could feel him tense up in his chair and she couldn't help but wonder if it was because of her revelation or because of the intimate position they were in.
"You should get back to work," she decided.
A/N: Love it? Hate it? Tell me all about it .
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