Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.
A/N: This is an idea I've had bouncing around in my head since before DH came out, I've just never had a chance to really work on it until recently. I originally hadn't planned on posting this until after finals, so I can't promise consistent updates in the beginning, but I should have a lot more free time in the next few weeks so hopefully I won't make you guys wait too long in between chapters.
Chapter One
"Psst! Hermione!"
Hermione paused and glanced around her. "Wh-?"
"Is she gone?"
Hermione looked over towards the shed in confusion. "Ron? Where are you?" She asked. As she moved closer she finally saw the bright red hair popping out from behind the bushes.
"Over here." He hissed. "Is she gone?"
"Is who-" She started before realizing exactly who he was referring to. Her shoulders started to shake and even with her hands pressed firmly against her mouth she couldn't prevent her laughter from spilling forth.
"'Mione! It's not funny!" He exclaimed indignantly. "Is she gone?"
"Yes!" Hermione finally gasped as she collapsed to the ground in another fit of giggles. "Yes Ron, you coward, your mother is gone. It's safe for you to come out now." She replied breathlessly, while still grinning widely, her brown eyes sparkling in delight.
"You shouldn't take so much pleasure in my pain, Hermione. It's bad form." Ron informed her testily.
"And I suppose it's good form for you to be out here cowering in the bushes, hiding from your mum?"
"You'd be hiding too if you'd had to deal with her all week, bloody madwoman. You have no idea how unbearable it's been!" He insisted.
Hermione laughed. "And this was your idea of a good escape, was it?"
"Actually I was originally going for the shed but Fred and George were already in there. They told me to find my own spot."
"Hm. I'd have gone for that big tree over there myself. Plenty of bushy branches and leaves to hid behind." She mused thoughtfully.
"Charlie already called it. He's been asleep up there for over an hour."
Hermione laughed again. "No wonder your mum's going berserk, what with all her help disappearing everywhere."
Ron shrugged. "Where'd she go anyway?"
"She and Fleur went to the baker to figure out some problem with the cake."
Ron snorted. "Because people are really going to know that the icing was supposed to be blue instead of aquamarine."
Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him. She wasn't aware Ron knew anything about the color aquamarine.
"What? I overheard them talking about it." He defended. "So where's everyone else?"
"Harry and Bill are setting up the tables for the reception and Ginny and your dad are inside trying to figure out what to do with the dozens of roses Fleur insisted upon. I was actually on my way to come find you. Once Harry and Bill are finished with the tables we have to finish decorating the tent before the rehearsal starts in a few hours."
Ron groaned. "Do we have to?"
"Yes, Ronald, we have to." Hermione replied, standing up and dragging him with her. "Just think, after the rehearsal is over we can all eat and relax for a while. And tomorrow is the wedding and then it'll all be over."
"Can't wait."
They managed to finish decorating the tent by the time Molly and Fleur returned. They immediately decided to get the rehearsal started and began gathering everyone at the altar. Since Harry and Hermione weren't in the wedding they retreated to the back porch to watch the others.
"I'm going in to get a drink, do you want anything?" Hermione asked heading to the door.
"Water, thanks." Harry replied throwing himself into a nearby chair.
A moment later Hermione returned with two large glasses and seated herself next to Harry. Harry smiled gratefully as he was handed his glass and downed half of it in one gulp.
"Thirsty?" Hermione laughed.
"Yeah," Harry grinned sheepishly. "I've been outside almost all day and Mrs. Weasley isn't too keen on breaks recently."
Hermione nodded. "I know what you mean." She responded. "I caught Ron hiding in the bushes earlier for fear he'd get caught taking one."
Harry laughed. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence before Hermione spoke.
"Harry, have you thought anymore about when you want us to leave for Grimmauld? I don't mean to be pushy but as much as I'd love to pretend this is just another carefree summer; it's not. We really need to get started on everything soon."
Harry let out a long sigh. "I know. I was thinking we could leave a few days after the wedding. That'll give Ron time to tell his parents we're leaving at least; although I'm still not looking forward to their reactions when they find out."
"About that, I was thinking we should just tell them we're going to Grimmauld for the rest of the summer and not mention that we don't plan on returning to Hogwarts. They have enough to worry about without us adding to it."
Harry glanced at her. "Are you suggesting this because you don't want to worry them or because you still hope we'll go back?"
"I'm suggesting it because it's more practical than upsetting everyone by rushing out into the sunset without taking other things into consideration. As much as I'd love to be able to finish our final year I understand that we have things to take care of that are much more important right now. Don't think I'm not just as dedicated about this as you are, Harry." Hermione shot back hotly.
Harry sighed. "I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't mean anything by it. It's just with you making Head Girl and all; I wanted to make sure you don't regret your decision…"
"I've made up my mind." She interjected immediately.
Harry merely nodded. "Okay."
After the rehearsal they all went in for dinner and then the trio retired to Ron's room soon after. Harry and Hermione told Ron what they thought he should tell his parents about what they were doing this summer and that they planned to leave a day or two after the wedding. He nodded in agreement and after talking a little while longer they all agreed they were much too tired to do anything else but go to sleep.
~~~~
The next morning everyone was awoken bright and early by a loud ear-piercing scream. Everyone ran to the kitchen to see what was wrong when they saw Fleur covered head to toe with icing and bits of cake. She was pointing a shaking finger at her now ruined wedding cake. Apparently Errol, the Weasley family owl, had arrived to deliver the mail and had managed to crash smack into the cake, splattering the room, including Fleur, in the process. For a few moments everyone was too stunned to speak. Then Fred finally stepped forward and untied the letter from Errol's leg. He glanced up at Fleur.
"Well at least it's for you." He offered, holding out the letter.
Fleur gave him a murderous glare before snatching the letter from him and stomping back to her room furiously.
Bill soon followed her.
There was another moment of silence before George burst into laughter and soon the rest of the group followed until they were all laughing hysterically.
Molly shook her head disapprovingly at them while trying to hold back her own smile as she pulled out her wand and began cleaning up the mess.
Ginny managed to pull Errol out of what was left of the cake and took him to the sink to help clean his feathers.
Molly turned to the still laughing group as the last of the cake disappeared from the walls. "Well the rest of you better go get dressed and come back down for breakfast. Things are about to get a lot more hectic after this."
And she was right. The rest of the morning was a whirlwind of activity. Fleur's parents, sister, and bridesmaids showed up and went straight to her room, Molly went to go get another cake from the baker, Bill and his brothers all went to get dressed for the ceremony, while Arthur and Harry and Hermione were all left to deal with the last minute details before they too finally went to get ready for the ceremony. Before Harry knew it he was dressed and downstairs greeting the arriving guests. Hermione soon joined him and together they began escorting the guests to their seats in the back yard.
The ceremony went off without a hitch and as the band began to play signaling the beginning of the reception Harry found himself suddenly face to face with Ginny Weasley.
"Want to dance?" She asked with a smile. She looked very pretty in the golden colored dress that Fleur had chosen for her bridesmaids.
Harry hesitated and Ginny seemed to sense his reluctance. "Come on Harry, it's just a dance. I promise I won't step on your feet." She added with a grin.
"I think you should be more worried about me stepping on yours." Harry admitted as he followed her to the dance area. She placed her hand in his and moved close to him as he slid his other hand to her waist as they slowly began to sway to the music.
They danced in silence for a while before Ginny looked up at him and asked, "You're leaving soon aren't you?"
Harry nodded.
"And you're taking Ron and Hermione with you?" She continued.
Harry nodded again.
"So why not me too?" She asked.
Harry took a deep breath. "I can't take the risk-"
"But you'll risk them." She insisted.
"They're different, they been through these kinds of things with me."
"So have I! I was at the Department of Mysteries. I was in the DA, you taught us all so much."
"Not enough, Ginny, not enough. I still have a lot more to learn before I face him. We all do. And Ron and Hermione have been there for more than just the Department of Mysteries. They've been with me from the beginning. I'm stronger with them than I am without them."
"And you can be stronger with me too!"
"No, Ginny, no I can't."
She pulled away from him suddenly. "You don't think I can do it. You don't think I'm strong enough to help you. You think I'd just be in the way."
"No." Harry said forcefully taking her by the shoulders and squeezing slightly. "I don't want to make you go through it all. I don't want you to have to see the horrors we'll have to see, to know the things we know, to do the things we'll have to do. I can't make you go through that. I won't make you go through that."
Ginny stood her ground. "That's not your decision to make. You're not the only one who's seen horrors. You're not the only one who's done things you didn't want to do. Have you forgotten the Chamber of Secrets? Have you forgotten that it was me down there too? That I've already had to face him in my own way? Are you really going to discredit me like that? You think I'm too young? I was too young then! But I didn't have a choice; just like you don't now. So let me help you. Don't shut me out just because you think you're the only one this affects. You're not; you never have been and you never will be. We're all a part of this fight, whether you like it or not."
Harry stared at her. He really had forgotten what she'd gone through her first year and how much that must have affected her. He knew he couldn't let her come with them on the hunt, the fewer people who knew about the horcruxes the better. But maybe she could help in a different way. Maybe he really shouldn't shut everyone else out.
He took a deep breath before making his decision. "I can't take you with us, Ginny, the fewer of us involved in what we'll be doing the better. I won't change my mind on that. But maybe you're right about one thing, I shouldn't shut you out. How would you feel about helping in a different way?"
Ginny arched an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically. "How so?"
"The DA. We need to start it back up, maybe a few meetings during the summer and then regular meetings during the year. We could keep teaching as much as we can and maybe branch out to other things. You can be in charge of meetings. How often to have them, where, when, etc. We're going to be so busy with other things we won't really be able to keep track of all that, we'll still go to meetings of course, but you'll be in charge of setting them up and how they're run, plus since you'll be at Hogwarts you'll have better access to everyone."
Ginny looked at him in surprise. "You want to put me in charge of the DA?"
"If you'll accept the task. You're the one that wanted to help."
Ginny thought for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Okay. Okay, I'll do it."
Harry smiled. "Good." Harry was actually glad they'd had this discussion. He hadn't thought about the DA until she'd mentioned it but now the more he thought about it the more he agreed that they should start it up again and keep training everyone. He'd have to remember to tell Ron and Hermione about this later. He looked back at Ginny suddenly feeling in a lighter mood. "Another dance?" He asked.
She smiled brightly. "Definitely."
Across the way Ron and Hermione were having a dance of their own. Hermione was laughing at something Ron had said and she found herself thinking back over these past couple weeks. Things between her and Ron had gotten so much better. When she'd first arrived at the Burrow it seemed that all they'd do was snog and fight. It had eventually gotten to the point where neither one of them could take it any longer and they'd managed to have perhaps their first serious and mature conversation. She smiled slightly as she remembered it.
They'd been up in Ron's room acting like typical teenagers when they eventually began fighting again over something so insignificant that now she couldn't even recall what it'd been. Finally she'd simply collapsed onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, forfeiting the fight and leaving Ron bewildered. Eventually he sat on the edge of the bed next to her and waited for her to speak.
"Ron," she started, turning to him at last. "Why do we fight so much?"
He shrugged. "I dunno."
"Well why do you think we do?" She pressed.
"We just do. We always have. Why do you fight with me?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't turn this around on me. I'm asking you a serious question and for once, I want a serious answer. I don't care if it hurts; at this point I just want to know."
He was silent for a long time and she'd almost begun to think he wouldn't respond when he finally spoke.
"You get under my skin. I guess that's why. You always have. You're always right and it drives me nuts. You're bloody brilliant and you know it. You thrive on it. And you're so uptight! For someone who's so smart you'd think you'd realize that it's not the end of the world if you break a few rules; you're future will not be ruined if you get a detention. And although you've gotten better about it over the years, there are still times when you can be just as insufferable as you were in first year. And it just frustrates me. I've seen you loosen up and have fun. I know you can do it, I just wish you would let yourself do it more often." Ron paused and took a breath. "We fight because we're so different, but as much as we drive each other crazy, I'd rather have us be the way we are than have us be the same. Besides," he added with a grin, "it's kind of fun when we fight, you're cute when you're all riled up."
Hermione smiled at that. "Yeah and you're pretty adorable when the rest of you turns the same color as your hair." She teased. She thought a moment about what he said and then sighed. "I know our fighting can sometimes be fun, but it can also hurt. I just wish we would fight less or at least that it didn't hurt so badly when we do. It was bad enough when we were just friends, but do you really think it's healthy for us to act this way in a relationship?"
Ron thought for a minute. "Are you saying you don't want to be with me?"
Hermione shook her head. "I like you, Ron. I have for while, but if all we do is fight, is it really even considered a relationship then?"
"So what are you saying?"
Hermione hesitated and then decided to change tactics. "How long have you liked me?" She asked.
"Since fourth year." He answered instantly.
She nodded. "Me too. So did you feel at all that when we got together it was kind of…anticlimactic?"
Ron furrowed his brow. "I don't follow."
"We've spent the past three years having feelings for each other and when we finally decided to act on them, didn't it seem like there should have been…I dunno…"
"More?" He supplied, catching on. "Like we spent so much time waiting for it finally happen that when it did, we didn't know what to do about it."
"Exactly." She agreed.
"Like when you've trained real hard for a Quidditch match and you're so confident you're going to stomp the other team and then you end up winning, but only by a few points?" He continued.
"Er, sure."
"Or when you borrow Harry's invisibility cloak to sneak into the girl's prefect bathroom only to find Pansy Parkinson-"
"Ron!"
"Oops, sorry, got a bit carried away there." He said sheepishly.
"Did you actually do that?" Hermione demanded.
"Noo…" He looked away, his ears turning pink.
"Ugh, whatever. Do you at least get the point I'm trying to make?"
He nodded. "I think so. You're saying that we liked each other for so long it just became habit and we forgot why we even liked each other in the first place. And now we've built it up so much that we'll never be able to meet each other's expectations, which is probably partly why we fight so much. And if we continue trying to make this relationship work it's only going to hurt our friendship in the end so we should just give up now so we can stop hurting each other and go back to being best friends."
Hermione was momentarily stunned by his sudden perceptiveness. "Well, yeah, basically."
He smirked at her. "You're not the only one who can be smart, you know."
After that day, things had changed between them dramatically. Now when they fought, it was more playful and less hurtful. They were more open around each other and not so guarded with their feelings. They even tended to flirt more, something they'd never been too good a doing before. Their attitudes towards each other had changed. Hermione no longer cared if he called her a bookworm when he caught her reading inside. And Ron was no longer bothered when she said he was immature or griped on him about applying himself more. They had finally managed to achieve complete and total friendship. And Hermione couldn't be happier about it.
Their behavior had confused the rest of the house for awhile. They'd told everyone they'd broken up and we're simply going to remain friends. But their new found light flirting and relaxed nature around each other had everyone guessing otherwise. Molly would often give them knowing glances when she saw them together and Ginny was convinced that they were just fooling themselves and would get back together eventually. Harry even seemed a little confused at first, but he'd adjusted to their new ways easily enough and never questioned them on it.
Hermione started slightly when she realized the dance was over. Ron raised an eyebrow at her as they headed off the dance floor.
"You were lost in space for quite awhile." He told her, handing her a drink when they reached their table. "Something up?"
She shook her head. "Just thinking is all." She replied before sipping her drink.
He snorted. "Sometimes I think that brain of yours never quits."
She simply smiled while looking around at the rest of the guests. She spotted Harry and Ginny leaving the dance area looking as though they were in deep conversation. "Wonder what those two are up to." She said to Ron.
"She's probably demanding we take her with us. She was pretty pissed when she found out we're leaving so soon. " He replied.
"Did you tell her we're leaving?"
He shook his head. "No, but I told dad about it when we were all getting changed. He was actually pretty understanding about it. Ginny pulled me aside once she got wind of it and insisted she was coming too. I told her that was up to Harry, not me."
Hermione looked back at them again. Ginny didn't look that upset. "Do you think he'll actually let her come?" She asked.
"I doubt, not with his whole protecting people thing. He didn't want us to come at first, there's no way he'd bring her along too."
She nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."
A/N2: Alright, let me know what you think! Please review!
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