Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Hey everybody! Chapter two! Hope y'all like it! Please review! About anything, seriously. Are you liking the chapter plots, the situations, how I'm portraying the characters, my writing, ANYTHING! And if you hadn't guessed already, I don't own Harry Potter. Surprise!

Chapter 2: Another Walk By The Lake

Upon exiting the kitchens, Harry and Hermione made their way down to the Black Lake in silence. Harry noticed in pleasure and slight surprise that the grounds were pristine and almost innocent-looking, a bold façade disguising the blood that had been shed there.

Once they had begun their familiar trek around the lake's shore, Harry ravenously began to eat his way through the toast. It was when he started his fifth piece that he noticed Hermione had stopped eating.

"Why aren't you still eating?" he asked before taking another large bite.

"What do you mean? I'm full," she said. "People tend to stop eating once they've eaten their fill…unless you're Ron, of course."

Harry shook his head. "Yeah, I get that, but we ate barely anything yesterday. I'm starving. I get that girls don't eat as much as guys, but you're making me fill like a gluttonous pig."

Hermione eyed him curiously. "What do you mean yesterday? You were asleep all day yesterday, so I can understand why you're hungry, but-"

"I slept all day yesterday?"

"Yeah…I thought you knew. We figured that you deserved to sleep, so we didn't wake you."

"Ah…I guess I was more tired than I thought."

Hermione offered Harry the last piece of toast, and laughed when he shook he head. "Aw, comes on!" she said. "Don't refuse to take it on my account. If it makes you feel better, I ate like a pig yesterday."

"Really?"

"Really. I could've given Ron a run for his money on one of his good days."

Harry chuckled in amusement but again refused the toast. Hermione threw the bread into the lake and watched as it became waterlogged and sank below the surface. The giant squid was obviously still a little nervous.

"So…" Harry said casually after a beat of silence. "Wanna explain why you were in the boys' dormitory?"

He watched Hermione turn a beet red that also would've given Ron a run for his money.

"Well- I, uh … well, the thing is -" Hermione stuttered, but then shot Harry a glare when he gave a snort of laughter. "It's not nice to tease, you know."

"It's fun, though."

"For you."

"Fine, fine, you won't hear another peep from me. However, I'd still like to know."

Hermione's expression saddened slightly. "Well…yesterday was pretty tough. All the casualties were listed…the bodies were taken away…it was our first real chance to see what had happened." She sighed before continuing. "Once the main `business' had been taken care of and the students had left the grounds, the Weasleys just sort of broke down…" she trailed off and was quiet for a moment. "I'm glad you were asleep. I sort of wish I had been sleeping. I felt like I was intruding on their grief."

Harry was also rather happy he had been asleep as well, and almost felt ashamed for it. He glanced over at Hermione to see that tears had formed in her eyes and were on the verge of spilling onto her cheeks. Harry could feel his own eyes beginning to itch and his throat burned as he kept himself in control. Despite his and Hermione's attempted withdrawal from the Weasleys' mourning, they had failed miserably. They may not be members of their family, but Fred had been their friend, and his death was still raw on their hearts, as well as the deaths of Lupin, Tonks, and even Colin Creevey.

Harry remained silent, and Hermione brushed away her tears frustratingly before speaking again. "Anyway, I think Ron just wanted a chance to talk to someone outside of his family, so I sat up and talked with him for a while. Obviously we fell asleep." She fell silent, but then brightened suddenly as they plopped (or in Harry's case, gingerly lowered) themselves onto the grass in the shade of the beech tree bordering the lake. "We did get to take long baths, though!" she exclaimed happily.

Harry raised an intrigued eyebrow. "I surely hope you mean separate baths."

His comment was met by a prompt but light punch in the chest, and he was surprised when agonizing pain spread from where her fist connected with his body.

"Ouch!!!" Harry yelped.

"Oh, you're being a baby," Hermione said. "I barely hit you."

"I know," Harry mumbled, massaging his chest gently with a wince. "That's why I'm surprised it hurt so much."

"That actually hurt?" Hermione asked, her tone switching immediately to concern. "Let me see; you could have a broken rib or something."

"Don't you think I'd feel if I had a broken rib?"

"I would think so, but you'd never know. You might not have felt it with all the adrenaline from battle, or it could be an after-effect of a spell. Either way, let me see it."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Harry said warily, unwilling to remove his shirt on a whim in front of his female best friend.

"Fine. If you won't let me see it, we need to go to Madame Pomfrey."

"I'd rather not."

"Too bad," Hermione stated sternly, rising swiftly to her feet. "We're going whether you want to or not. I'm sure you're in more pain than just that anyway. I know I was. Madame Pomfrey will have you in and out in no time."

"Can we come back here afterward?"

Hermione's expression softened slightly. "Sure, if that's what you want to do."

"Fine, I'll come," Harry said, as if he'd had a choice.

Hermione smiled down approvingly at him and started the walk back to the castle. She had only taken a few steps when she heard her name called from behind her. Turning around, she saw that Harry remained in the same spot, grinning bashfully.

"Do you think you could help me up?"

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