Love For Ever

rockstar

Rating: PG13
Genres: Angst, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 7
Published: 19/09/2012
Last Updated: 01/10/2013
Status: in_progress

Life was taking a cruel turn for her and she couldn’t do anything to prevent it, except watching as a spectator and pick up the broken pieces of her heart. [Sort of a typical H/Hr story.]

Chapters

1. Broken Pieces

2. Pain And Tears

3. Road To Recovery

4. Confusion and Hesitancy

5. Jealousy and Confused Feelings

6. Hogsmeade Trip and A Life Changing Day

7. The Beautiful Night

8. Christmas At The Burrow-1

9. Christmas At The Burrow-2

10. Dumbledore's army and Revelations

1. Broken Pieces

Author's Note: - You must be thinking I am going crazy. I am already working on three fics right now, and here I am starting the fourth one. Well, what can I say. Perhaps I am going through a phase where I am somewhat addicted to writing. I can only hope that you would enjoy it and review it.

Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Broken Pieces

Harry and Hermione had been together for a whole year now. They had gotten together in their 6th year. Harry had started to realize his feelings for Hermione during the start of summer vacation after their 5th year. Finally gathering his Gryffindor courage, he had asked Hermione out, a week after they joined the school for their sixth year.

Harry had found out that Hermione also had feelings for him since their fourth year. Life could never have been better for him. He had a girlfriend he was absolutely in love with. At first, Harry was afraid of what would be reaction of Ron, his other best friend other than Hermione. However, all his worries were futile as Ron said just three words:

"IT'S ABOUT TIME!”

Later they found out that Ron had been secretly dating Ravenclaw girl, Luna Lovegood who was a year younger than them, and she was a very good friend and classmate of Ron's younger sister, Ginny. Ron had asked her out towards the end of 5th year, and they had been dating secretly throughout the summer.
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Harry and Hermione had a great first year of their relationship. They both have been deeply in love with each other. Harry had never felt anything like this in his whole life ever before. For the first time in his life, he felt love, intense love that warmed his heart and soul to the very core.

Harry had completely bared his soul in front of Hermione. He shared his deepest darkest secrets with her. Everything he had inside him, he shared it with her, his happiness, his sadness, his fears, his dreams, his laughs, his smiles, his mischievous side (which he didn't know existed), and…… his love.

Hermione gave him everything she had, in return of love and trust he gave her. She told him things about her she had never told anyone ever before, not even her parents. Harry was everywhere in her life, in every little corner of her heart, his love was embedded with her soul, he had become an integral or perhaps most integral part of her survival.

With each passing day, their feelings and love for each other kept intensified. Yet there was a little hitch in their relationship.

Despite the fact that the relationship between Harry and Hermione was very deep and passionate, and Harry was the first priority in Hermione's life along with her parents, she still would not let him copy her homework. (Poor Harry)

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Beginning of the seventh year

It was the beginning of their seventh year. A month has passed since the start of the term. During the first few weeks of the seventh year, relationship between Harry and Hermione had been going great. They had become the most popular couple of Hogwarts. However, slowly they had started to grow apart. Lately, Harry had become a little distant with Hermione. Hermione could see something was wrong with him.

He wasn't spending as much time with her as he used to. Many times, she had tried to ask him what was wrong with him, but he just waved it off as stress of schoolwork and Quidditch.

Sometimes Hermione felt as if Harry was trying to find excuses to be away from her, as though if he was avoiding her on purpose. That thought had hurt her more than anything had ever before.

Her self-esteem as Harry's best friend and girlfriend was wounded by Harry's behavior. It seemed like he was becoming more and more distant with her and was growing closer to Ginny, Ron's sister. She could see him behaving like his old self, laughing and happy when he was with Ginny, as he used to be when he was with Hermione.

Was it what she was thinking, 'Was Harry starting to have feelings for Ginny?' Hermione felt as though she couldn't breathe. This realization had turned her world upside down. She felt cold, alone, worthless.

She felt like something acerbic was running through her system, instead of blood. She felt as though if somebody had stabbed her directly through her heart repeatedly until only shreds of her broken and bleeding heart were left behind, leaving them in an irreparable state.

It looked like only memories were left with her of the wonderful times she had spent with Harry. She still remembered one of the happiest days of her life, the day Harry had asked her out.

Flashback
Hermione was sitting alone in the library doing her Potions homework. She was deep in concentration over her homework. So she didn't notice Harry coming and sitting in front of her. He didn't disturb her. He just sat there and watched her doing her homework. He was completely entranced by the sight in front of him.

Hermione was writing furiously on the parchment in front of her. Her eyes were bright and moving frantically as she wrote lines after lines on the parchment. Her hair were tied in a messy bun but few curls were dancing on both sides of her face making her look absolutely beautiful in every sense. Her skin was flawless and her face had no make-up on. Her lips were slightly parted and her lower lip was red due to the fierce biting Hermione was doing as she continued to work on her homework.

She still hadn't noticed Harry and Harry just kept staring at her. He wanted nothing more than taking her to the backside of the library and snog her senselessly. However, he knew that he couldn't do it yet. Firstly, he needed to ask for her permission to kiss her, tell her how he felt about her, and then he had to keep hoping that she returned his feelings.
Finally stretching herself, a tired Hermione looked up after she finished her homework.

"Harry!" she said looking startled. She was shocked to see Harry sitting there in front of her, lost in his own thoughts. Harry recovered quickly and smiled sheepishly as Hermione kept staring at him with her mouth slightly open.

"Sorry to startle you." He said apologetically.

"It's alright. What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Umm...I wanted to talk to you about something." Harry said nervously not quite meeting her eyes.

"What about?" Hermione asked curiously, "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes. Everything's all right. It's just that I like, no," Harry shook his head, "I love this girl, but I don't know how to tell her." He said looking at Hermione expectantly. He just wanted to know how Hermione would react to this. He shifted his chair next to her and looked at her, waiting for her answer.

Hermione was shocked at this revelation. Her heart broke into million pieces.

"That's…That's great, Harry. You should just go and tell her straightaway. I am sure she will say yes." Hermione said with a forced smile trying to control her overpowering emotions.

Harry smiled at her with an odd gleam in his eyes.

"Are you sure, she will say yes? What if she said no?" Harry asked her looking straight in her eyes. Hermione felt as though if he could see directly in her soul.

"Of course, Harry. I am sure she would say yes. How could she not, when you are so kind, gentle, caring and not to forget, how incredibly handsome you are. No girl could say no to you." Hermione said gently, but sadly. She couldn't hide her sad expression from her best friend.

"Do you think if I go to her and just kiss her, she would not slap me? Because if she did, you would be the one responsible for it." Harry said with an amused smile.

Hermione just laughed at his statement. She controlled her feelings of despair. "She won't slap you, Harry. Just go to her and kiss her," she said with a forced smile.

Harry just shrugged his shoulder "Remember, you asked for it," Harry said in a nonchalant manner, and before Hermione could reply, he captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

It took only 5 seconds for Hermione to process what was happening, before she returned his kiss with the same fierce passion. Harry pulled Hermione onto his lap and held her tightly against his chest. They continued snogging the hell out of each other for a long time just taking short breaks in between to breath.

It looked like all the repressed emotions, feelings, and sexual tension between them had come forth in just after the one kiss and as though if an unknown power was preparing their heart, body, and soul for more such encounters in future.

Finally, they both pulled apart, breathing heavily. They both looked at each other. Suddenly, a large grin broke across Harry's face and next moment, Hermione too started laughing.
"I love you, Miss Granger." Harry said softly.

"I love you too, Mr. Potter. I love you too." Hermione replied in a laughing voice.

End of the Flashback
Hermione wiped her tears away as she remembered one of the most memorable day of her life and the days that followed thereafter. Life was taking a cruel turn for her and she couldn't do anything to prevent it, except watching as a spectator and pick up the broken pieces of her heart.

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Author's note: - So what do you think? Please tell me through your REVIEWS.

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2. Pain And Tears

Author's note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I don't own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Pain And Tears

For Hermione days passed living in depression and fear of losing Harry. She always felt her heart break whenever she watched how Harry behaved around Ginny. He laughed, joked; he looked happy and content.

It was difficult for Hermione to sit in the Great Hall with those two laughing and chatting with each other. She had started avoiding meals from time to time. She would spend lots of her time in library. Ron had noticed the change in her demeanor. He had asked her if something was wrong, but Hermione knew she could not tell him that she was hurting because she was losing her love, her life, Harry, she just couldn't.

It should have been her not Ginny, who made Harry smile and laugh. It should have been her who made him happy. It should have been her, to whom he loved forever. But like they say, nothing lasts forever. Oh, how she wished it were the love they both shared, that should have lasted forever.

However, that was not to happen. He seemed to have forgotten all the `I Love You (s)' they both had shared, all the promises they had made to each other. There was a time when she was the center of his universe, but now it seemed like Ginny had taken her place.

As the closeness between Harry and Ginny increased, Hermione's downward spiral continued.

After thinking for a long time, Hermione had finally decided to do what was right. Yes, she was girlfriend of Harry. However, before that she was his best friend. So after tormenting herself for what she was going to do, she composed herself and decided it was the right time for a TALK between her and Harry.

On the first weekend of November, she decided it was time for their talk. Harry was the captain of Gryffindor Quidditch team, and the team was having the practice, scheduled for Saturday morning. Hermione spent her morning in the library musing about how to approach the subject with Harry. When she checked her watch, it was already lunchtime. She picked up her bag and made her way towards the Great Hall. Harry and rest of the team were already there. She saw Harry and Ginny talking about something and laughing. She felt like crying. Here her world was falling apart and she could not cry even.

Ron noticed her and waved her over to join them. She slowly made her way towards them. Her eyes met Harry's as she reached the table. She tried to give him a smile, but none appeared.

"Hi guys, how the practice was?" she asked.

"Great. What you have been doing?" Ron replied.

"Come on. Ron, where else would Hermione be...library of course," Ginny said with a smug face.

Everyone laughed including Harry. However, his laugh faded when he saw the hurt look on Hermione's face.

"Of course, where else would I be." Hermione said with a fake laugh.

After that, lunch went without much conversation. After finishing the lunch, Ginny turned towards Harry to say something, but Hermione beat her to it.

"Harry," Hermione said, "I need to talk to you. It's really important. I won't take much of your time. Really, I promise," She said desperately. Even Ron looked surprised at her tone.

Harry felt a little guilty. He knew things between him and Hermione were not that great for last few weeks. The tone in which Hermione asked him showed how much they had grew apart.

"Okay Hermione. Let's go somewhere we can talk," Harry replied.

They both got up and left the Great hall.

" Let's go beside the lake, it would be quiet over there." Hermione said. Harry agreed and they made their way towards the lake.

They both set under the tree beside the lake. There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Harry decided to break the ice.

"So what is it that you want to talk about?" Harry asked in a soft voice.

"Us," Hermione simply replied.

Harry just stared at Hermione waiting for her to continue.

"Rather than hitting around the bush I'll come straight to the point. I think we should break up. Let me finish," She said when Harry tried to interrupt, "We have been drifting apart for last few weeks. It's not the same as it used to be. You don't look happy when you are with me. You have been trying to avoid me." She stopped for a couple of moments then, "Well, I don't blame you for that though. You...you look happy when you are with Ginny. She's the one who makes you happy, not me. I know you like Ginny." She added seeing his shocked face.

"I…I am sorry, Hermione." Harry said feeling ashamed.

"It's okay, Harry. People don't have control over how they feel. You remember what I told you when you asked me out. I told you I would always be your best friend first and you can talk to me about anything, even about us….I wish you would have spoken to me. Anyways I think it's time for us to end our relationship, and you should ask Ginny out. She has just broken up with Dean a couple of days back, so you can ask her out now. She still likes you, you know. Well, this is it then. I'll go now." With that she stood up and was about to leave when Harry caught her wrist. She looked down at him. He got up and hugged her tightly. They stood like that for an immeasurable time. Hermione wanted to cry, but not in front of him. She would wait until she was in the safe confines of her dormitory. They both pulled apart. Hermione gave him a small smile and left.

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Hermione reached to the Gryffindor tower and went straight to her private dormitory, one of the privileges of being a Head Girl. As soon as she reached inside her dormitory, tears started to fall from her eyes. She didn't try to stop them. She let them fall. She didn't realize when she fell asleep while crying. When she got up it was already 8:00 pm. She decided to stay in her dormitory instead of going to Great Hall for dinner, in order to calm down and hide her pain.

Maybe tomorrow she would wake up, everything that happened today would just be a nightmare, and Harry would be down there in the common room waiting for her, welcoming her with the open arms and a heartfelt kiss.

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Author's note:- Please review and tell me what you think?

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3. Road To Recovery

Author's note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Road to recovery

Harry watched Hermione walking back towards the castle. He just stood there besides the lake thinking about what had just happened.

He remembered the time he and Hermione had spent together last year. They had been so happy together, and then, everything ended, just like that.

He didn't know what happened, when these feelings for Ginny started replacing his feelings for Hermione in his heart. It was like one day he was so happy with Hermione, and next morning he started to have feelings for Ginny.

He knew Hermione was trying to be logical in this whole situation, but deep down she was hurting. He had felt the depth of her love when they were together. She had loved him unconditionally, the same way he had loved her.

Of one thing, Harry was very sure, that at one point in their relationship he had truly loved her, beyond and above everyone and everything else.

However, she had let him go now. His heart had changed its direction and it was now telling him to pursue his love for another person, and let go of his old love. He was just hoping that the breakup would not change his and Hermione's friendship.

He decided to take a walk near the lake, as he wasn't willing to see anyone that moment. He just wanted to be alone for some time.

Harry didn't realize how much time had passed; next, he checked his wristwatch, it showed 6:30 pm. He decided to walk back towards the castle. He headed straight to the Gryffindor tower and to the boys' dormitory. He threw himself down on his bed, and in a span of few minutes, he fell asleep.

Harry slowly opened his eyes. Looking outside the window, he realized that it was already past early morning. He checked the time. It was showing nine in the morning. He dragged himself off his bed and made his way towards the bathroom. After freshening up and taking a long shower, he made his way out of the dormitory and down the stairs to the common room.

It was almost empty except for some first years. He walked towards the portrait hole and out of the tower to find his friends. He thought about what had happened yesterday, and remembered that he and Hermione had broken up. Suddenly it hit him hard, he and Hermione were not together anymore. He felt as though if his heart had stopped beating. Hermione was one again just his best friend, nothing more. Then, this was what he wanted, didn't he. Now he was free and could ask Ginny out.

Lost in his thoughts Harry didn't realize where he was going. He collided with someone.

"Oye! Watch out," It was Ron.

"Hey mate, I was coming to wake you up. What happened with Hermione? I didn't see you and Hermione at the dinner yesterday. What happened? Is everything alright?" Ron asked with a concerned voice.

"We broke up." Harry blurted out.

"What? What you mean you broke up?" Ron asked in a shocked voice.

"It…It just wasn't the same anymore." Harry said in a resigned voice, "It was kind of a mutual breakup. She figured it out herself, and decided that it was time for us to break up."

"And you are okay with it?" Ron asked looking incredulous.

Harry had this sudden strong urge to shout no.

"Yeah, kind of," Harry replied shortly.

"But why?" Ron asked feeling puzzled. He didn't know what could have possibly happened which led to Harry and Hermione to end their relationship. They were doing so well together and were so much in love with each other. Then why?

"Well, you see I….I kind of like Ginny. I don't know when I started to have these feelings for her. But it's here now. Hermione figured it out and asked me to ask her out." Harry said not looking at his best friend.

Ron had the shocked look on his face," So what are you going to do about it?" He asked his best friend.

"I don't know." Harry said honestly.

"Okay," Ron said, not knowing what else to say.

"Have you seen, Hermione?" Harry asked worriedly.

"No, I haven't seen her since you both disappeared yesterday. I just hope she's all right." Ron said looking anxious.

"I wish our friendship could go back to what it was before we started dating. I don't want to lose her as a friend." Harry said in a quiet voice.

"If I really know Hermione, she will never let this matter come between your and her friendship. Your friendship is too much important for her to let this come between you both." Ron said in a soothing voice.

"I hope." Harry said looking miserable.

"Why don't you go to the kitchen and get something to eat. Then, come to common room. I'll just go and check on Hermione and see if she is all right." Ron said.

"Yeah, sure," Harry said with a forced smile and made his way towards the kitchen.

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Hermione had just come down to common room when she saw Ron entering through the portrait hole.

"Hey Ron," She said.

"Hey Hermione, how are you doing? Harry told me what happened between you two." Ron said in a quiet voice.

Hermione started trembling as despair of losing Harry took over her mind. Ron immediately took her in his arms as she started crying. It hurt him to see Hermione like this. He knew how deeply she felt for Harry. He was sure Harry had felt the same for her. But maybe he was wrong. After some time Hermione calmed down a bit.

"Sorry," She mumbled.

"There's no need for you to say sorry. What friends are for after all?" Ron said in a soft voice, wiping away the trail of tears from Hermione's cheeks.

"I had no choice, but to let him go. I love him a lot. But he doesn't feel the same way for me, at least not anymore. I rather have him as a best friend, than not at all." Hermione said gloomily.

"You know, you are a bit too noble for your own good, Hermione." Ron said jokingly in order lighten up the tense situation.

Hermione chuckled. She felt better after talking to Ron. "Thanks a lot, Ron. After talking to you, I am feeling a little better. It will take me some time, but I'll get over it. I won't let this come between Harry and me. I'll be his best friend again." She said with determination.

Ron smiled. "That's my girl, the Hermione I know, " Ron said , kissing her on the forehead.

And that's what Hermione did for the next few days. She acted the same way as she always did, bossy, know-it-all best friend of Ron and Harry. However, inside she was still broken and was trying very hard to rebuild her broken heart. But it wasn't working as well as she had hoped for. Outside she laughed with her friends, and inside her heart cried in anguish. She still nagged Ron and Harry to do their homework on time, and would try to keep them from breaking the rules. She buried herself in her studies to keep her mind off Harry. With each passing day, she wished that the pain would go away, but with no avail.

Author's note: - Ron has grown up and does not interfere with what goes in Ginny's life. At least until she is safe...Please R&R...

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4. Confusion and Hesitancy

Author's note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Confusion and Hesitancy

Things were not going well for Harry. He had thought that he would feel less guilty about his feeling towards Ginny, now that he and Hermione were no longer together. He was grateful towards Hermione about the way she had handled the situation. Never once, she showed that he had been unfair to her. However, the guilty feeling inside him had amplified since the breakup.

Even though, Hermione was back to her best friend mode and never behaved as if she was very sad due to the break up, whenever Harry would see her there was a pang of loosing something in his heart. This confused him even more. He felt like he was being torn apart in two parts. One part said that he wanted to be with Ginny, that he really liked her and she was the one for him. However, second part had become insistent in last few days, or more specifically since the day, he and Hermione ended their relationship, saying that it was something or someone else his heart desired. His mind and heart were becoming battlefield for these two parts, and no one was winning the battle right now. It was as if something was not right. Like it was not the way, it should be.

News of the breakup had spread around the school faster than he had expected. It was as though if all the girls in school were waiting for this to happen, so that they could throw themselves at Harry as he was single again. Every now and then, a girl would approach him to ask him out. Harry was getting more and more frustrated. Finally, to get rid of all his fan girls, he concentrated his thoughts upon asking Ginny out.

'After all this was the reason Hermione ended our relationship.' Harry mused.

So finally, almost 4 weeks after his breakup with Hermione and making sure that things between him and Hermione were back to normal, he decided now was the good time to ask Ginny out.

The approaching weekend was Hogsmeade weekend. So he thought of it as a good opportunity to ask her for a date. He thought that spending more time with Ginny would surely remove the feelings of confusion he was having in his mind.

On Friday morning, he got up and got ready. He made his way towards Great hall with the hope to find Ginny there. She was there sitting Gryffindor table with her friends. Ron was sitting with Luna on Ravenclaw table. Harry's eyes swept throughout the table to find Hermione, but she wasn't there.

'Must be in library for extra light reading,' He thought with an inner chuckle as he walked towards where Ginny was sitting.

One of her friend nudged her as Harry made his way towards Ginny. She looked up and her brown eyes met his green eyes. She gave him a shy smile.

"Hi Ginny, can I talk to you after breakfast?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Sure Harry. In fact you can join us and then, we can walk out of the hall together." She said pointing towards the empty seat in front of her.

"No it's ok. I am not feeling very hungry. I'll just wait for you outside." He replied.

"Ok then, I'll be there in a few minutes. I am just about to finish." Ginny said. Harry gave a swift nod and left.

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Harry had been waiting for Ginny outside Great Hall for last five minutes. He was feeling nervous. Millions of thoughts were going through his mind. What would he do if she said no? What if she said that she was already going out with someone else?

As these thoughts were going through his mind, Harry saw Hermione coming towards Great Hall with a very heavy looking beg on her shoulder.

'Typical Hermione,' Harry thought with a smile.

"What are you smiling at?" Hermione asked as she reached to where Harry was standing.

"Uh…huh…Umm... nothing," Harry stammered.

"Are you alright Harry? You seem a bit pale." Hermione asked looking worried.

'This is the Hermione I know. She is always worrying about me.' Harry thought feeling thrilled. He felt oddly pleased at this thought.

"Has there ever been a moment when you don't worry about me?" Harry asked with a heartfelt smile.

Hermione just shrugged. "This is one of my life time occupations." She said in a mock serious voice. Then, they both started laughing.

"I am glad you are my best friend, Hermione." Harry said sincerely.

"I'll always be there for you Harry, and Ron too." She added.

"Yeah, but only when he won't be busy eating." Harry said with a chuckle. They both shared a laugh at this.

"Well, I am feeling hungry. I will see you in the class." Hermione said and walked inside the Great Hall.

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A couple of moments after Hermione left, Ginny came out.

"Hey Harry," She said.

"Hi Ginny," Harry said apprehensively.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Ginny asked curiously.

"I….umm…" Harry hesitated.

"Yes," Ginny encouraged.

"Ginny, the thing is that, I wanted to tell you that..." his hands started to sweat.

"Harry, I am waiting" Ginny said with a teasing smile.

"I…Um…I…I wanted to talk to you about the new strategies for the upcoming game against Hufflepuff." Harry said in a rush. He felt as though if his mouth was moving on its own accord, stopping him from asking Ginny out.

"Oh," Ginny said in a disappointed voice, "Well we can talk about it during the practice when whole team would be there." She said

"Oh yeah, I never thought of it. Thanks Ginny. I'll see you later." Harry said and almost ran away from there.

Once he reached to an empty corridor, he relaxed. 'Way to go Potter. A real Gryffindor you are.' He mused angrily hitting the stone wall with his left foot.

"Ouch!" He cried in pain, holding his left foot. Life really sucked.

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It had been two weeks since Harry's unfortunate talk with Ginny outside Great Hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the library, trying to complete their Potions' essay, more like Harry and Ron were doing their essays, and Hermione was trying to help them. They had been sitting there for last 2 hours. Finally, Ron decided to take a break.

"Guys, I am going to see Luna. I will see you both in the common room. And I'll complete this essay tonight." He finished before Hermione could interrupt. Harry started laughing, but stopped under the glare he was receiving from Hermione.

When Ron had left Hermione turned towards Harry.

"Harry I wanted to talk to you about something." She said looking a bit angry.

Harry looked at her with guarded expression "What is it?" He asked.

"Well, last night Ginny and I were talking. She said that Michael, a sixth year Ravenclaw, handsome mind you, had asked her out. However, she is not sure what to do. So, do you care to tell me why is that you haven't asked her out yet?" She asked in a livid tone, "I told you to ask her out, and you haven't yet. Why?"

"Umm… Well, I got nervous." Harry said in a quiet voice, looking helpless.

"Why? I have already told you that she likes you." Hermione said looking puzzled.

"Ok then, I'll ask her by this weekend." Harry said in order to end the argument.

"You better do." Hermione said in a warning tone.

With that, they both set to do the work they were doing.

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Author's note: - Hermione wants Harry to be happy, that's why she is a bit angry with him for not asking Ginny out sooner. She thinks if Ginny said yes to somebody else Harry will feel very bad.

And from here onwards, it would be very easy for H/Hr fans to read this story.

Hope you like it. Please read and review….

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5. Jealousy and Confused Feelings

Author's note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Jealousy and Confused Feelings

It was close to the end of November. Harry had started training to prepare for the final battle against Voldemort and only Ron and Hermione knew about this. Mentally Harry had been preparing himself for this, since the day Dumbledore had told him about the prophecy. He still remembered the words of prophecy very clearly in his head,

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies"

When he told Ron and Hermione about this, they were shocked. Harry was afraid that they would abandon him. However, they stood by him, and Hermione even threatened him that if he tried to abandon them to protect them, she would hex him to the next millennium and Harry didn't want to argue with her about it as his heart wanted them to stay with him, especially her.

For the first time in his life, Harry started to believe that he could win the war and have a normal life he had always wanted with Ron and Hermione. They were helping him in every possible way they could with his training. He just didn't have words important enough to tell them that how much all this meant to him. However, he didn't have to, as they already knew that.

In the midst of the training, homework, and Quidditch, days were becoming very hectic for Harry. Days were passing in a blur for him. He had not found a proper chance to ask Ginny out yet. Though he got plenty of time to spend with her during practice, he just couldn't bring himself to ask her out.

Whenever he would try to approach her, something would hold him back. He wasn't sure if it was only because of his nervousness.

However, he still couldn't ask her. Sometimes he would get a feeling of despair so intense that it would actually hurt him physically.

He was becoming increasingly frustrated with all this. He also avoided the talk about Ginny with Hermione, so that she wouldn't berate him about not asking Ginny out yet.

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School had entered the second week of December. It was Monday. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were having the breakfast with rest of the students in the Great Hall. Ron and Harry were sitting next to each other and Hermione was sitting in front of Harry.

While talking to Ron, Harry saw Ginny entering the Great hall with a bloke, he remembered, played for Ravenclaw team as one of the two beaters. He and Ginny were walking very closely and were whispering about something. They separated as they reached to where the trio were sitting. Ginny kissed the boy on the cheek and then he left to sit on his table.

What Harry felt strange was that he didn't feel anything watching the exchange between Ginny and that bloke, especially jealousy. He was surprised by this revelation.

'Why didn't I feel jealous, after all I want to ask her out? Didn't I?' he mused.

"So what was that all about?" Ron asked Ginny getting into his big brother mode.

"What?" Ginny asked frustratingly, sitting on an empty seat next to Hermione and in front of her brother.

"You exactly know what I am talking about. What were you doing with that Ravenclaw?" Ron asked angrily.

"It's none of your business what I do. And for your information I am going out WITH HIM," she said putting extra emphasis on 'with him', "to Hogsmeade this weekend." She said casting a quick glance at Harry and holding his stare for a moment, before turning back towards her brother.

'Was she trying to make me jealous?' Harry contemplated. He was again lost in his own thoughts so he missed the scolding look Hermione was giving him.

Hermione was going through her own chain of thoughts to listen rest of the argument between Ron and Ginny.

'Why hadn't Harry asked Ginny out? Honestly what is he playing at?' She looked at Harry. He was lost in his own thoughts. Suddenly he looked up and met her eyes. Hermione just gave him one last glare and looked away.

'Wasn't this the reason we broke up or was he just using Ginny as an excuse to get rid of me?' Hermione felt horrible as this thought passed through her mind.

"No. Harry's not like that. He wouldn't do this to me." She muttered under her breath.

"What? Did you say something?" Harry asked looking at her.

"Erm… Yeah, it's almost time for the classes to start. I think we should better move on." Hermione said getting up from the table. Ron and Harry followed and three of them left for the classes, leaving Ginny sitting alone.

Harry was trying very hard to find the reason for why he didn't feel anything towards the fact that Ginny going out with someone else. However, he was not successful. To his relief Hermione didn't ask him anything about this.

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It was Wednesday of the same week. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were going in the Great Hall for dinner when Terry Boot, a seventh year Ravenclaw and the head boy, called Hermione's name. He was just behind them.

"Hermione," He called.

They just stopped as Hermione turned around to reply.

"Oh Terry, it's you. What is it?" She asked politely.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, alone?" He asked casting nervous glances towards Ron and Harry.

"Err ... yeah, sure." Hermione said, "I'll be back in a minute." She said to Ron and Harry.

Terry led Hermione a bit away from where Ron and Harry were standing. Harry was watching them conversing. Terry was trying to get closer to Hermione. Harry clenched his fist in anger.

'What does that git think, he is doing? Trying to get near her,' He thought heatedly.

Harry just wanted to punch the daylights out of that git. He was trying very hard to suppress his anger. He knew Hermione would not be very happy if he punched the head boy.

After conversing for a couple of minutes with Terry, Hermione came back to them.

"Let's go inside," She said, and they made their way inside the Great Hall.

"So what did Terry want?" Harry asked trying to sound nonchalant as they sat to eat.

"He asked me out on a date to Hogsmeade this weekend." Hermione replied dispassionately.

"He did what?" Harry almost shouted.

Everyone on the table sitting near them looked at Harry. He turned red out of embarrassment.

"Sorry," He said in a quiet voice, "So what did you say?" Harry asked in a voice that sounded like he was trying to be patient.

Hermione just shrugged. "I just told him that I'll think".

"Why?" Harry said, "Aren't you going to spend your time with us? I mean me; you know Ron and Luna will spend time together. I'll be on my own for the whole day."

"Harry, I haven't said him yes yet." Hermione replied patiently.

"Fine, do as you wish." Harry said a bit angrily and got up to leave the hall, leaving a shocked Hermione and Ron behind. Ron was first to recover.

"I'll go and talk to him." Ron said dolefully, looking at his untouched food. Hermione simply nodded, recovering from her shock. Ron got up and followed Harry out.

"Harry," Ron called trying to catch up with him. He just grabbed his hand to stop him going any further.

"What was all that back in the Great Hall?" Ron asked in a demanding tone.

"What?" Harry said trying to sound innocent.

"You very well know what. What was wrong with you? You were behaving as though…." Ron just stopped to think and then said, "as if you were jealous."

"I was not jealous." Harry said irately, "I was just upset that she would even think about spending her time with Terry rather than me."

His shoulder slumped a bit, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I mean I want to be with Ginny, but I don't feel any jealousy when she is going out with someone else. And Hermione, Terry asked her out and my blood started boiling. I wanted nothing more than to turn that Terry into a rat or perhaps a slug would be more fitting." He finished with a chuckle.

Harry looked at Ron who was smiling at him with a knowing look.

"What?" Harry asked looking suspicious.

"Don't you know what's happening with you?" Ron asked.

"No, I am just damn confused." Harry replied with a sigh.

"I just hope you would figure it out soon. It's not my place to tell you about it. It should be done by you only." Ron said in a comforting voice.

"I think you are right." Harry said, as he started moving again.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked looking puzzled.

"I just remembered something about an unfinished business of mine. I will meet you later in the common room." Harry said.

"Okay, I'll just go and finish my dinner then." Ron said.

Harry nodded and started to move when Ron spoke again.

"Harry," He called.

"Yeah," Harry said turning around to look at his best friend.

"Don't turn Terry into a slug. Thinking about it makes me feel like I am going to vomit another slug out of my mouth." Ron said with a shudder, remembering his second year.

Harry just laughed at his friend's reaction. "Sure, Ron," He said.

After that, they both made their way to their respective destinations.

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Harry made his way towards the common room and went straight to the seventh year boys' dormitory. He opened his trunk and took Marauder's map out. He checked the map and found the person he was looking for. He was making his way towards the library. Harry decided to corner him there and make sure the person listened to what he had to say.

Harry left the tower and made his way towards the library. There he found Terry boot talking with a girl. Harry was feeling confused about his feelings and he didn't know why he was doing this. He knew Hermione would go mad if she found out, but he just couldn't help it out. He just had to do it.

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On Friday

Two days later Hermione found that Terry Boot was going to Hogsmeade with another seventh year Ravenclaw, Lisa Belluci.

"I just don't believe it. That git, first he asks me out and then without waiting for my answer he goes ahead and asks another. What a two time prat." Hermione said angrily.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Gryffindor common room trying to do their homework, mostly on the part of Hermione of course.

"But you already said that you would have said no." Ron said feeling confused.

"So what? It doesn't give him the right to do this. He should have at least showed the decency to tell me. It doesn't do much good to a girl's self esteem." Hermione said fuming.

"Don't worry Hermione. Like you said, he's a git. He doesn't deserve you. We will go together and have lots of fun. I promise you will have a great day." Harry said grinning at Hermione. Ron gave Harry a suspicious look, but Harry ignored him and focused on Hermione. Hermione didn't notice it though.

"I like that idea. But what about Ginny?" She asked skeptically.

Harry just shrugged "What about her? She is already going to the Hogsmeade with another guy. So it would be just you and me, like always.” He said the last part grinning at his female best friend, “Later we can join Ron and Luna at three broomsticks." He finished.

"Yeah, it's a good idea actually. Luna and I will meet you there at 12. Then we can walk back to the castle together." Ron said excitedly.

"Well, who am I to say no to it then." Hermione said, "It sounds fun to me. I am all up for spending my whole day with you Mr. Potter." She added cheekily and grinned at her best friend.

"It would be my pleasure Lady Hermione to escort you to Hogsmeade." Harry replied in mock courteous tone, and next moment three of them started laughing forgetting all about completing their homework.

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Author's Note: - I hope you like it. Please Read and Review.

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6. Hogsmeade Trip and A Life Changing Day

Author's note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Hogsmeade Trip and A Life Changing Day

Hermione woke up earlier on the Saturday morning than she normally did on weekdays. It was 4:30 in the morning. She knew Harry didn't feel the same for her as she did for him, but she was still looking forward to spend her day with him just like old days when they were just friends.

She got out of her bed, took her cloths and other things required to take a bath, and went to the bathroom to get ready. She wore faded blue baggy jeans, a black colored t-shirt, and a knee-length coat that fitted her well. She pulled her hair in a simple ponytail and left dormitory to go down to the common room with a book in her hand.

Since there were still a couple of hours left to go to Hogsmeade, Hermione had decided to read a book. Time passed very quickly for Hermione and soon other students had started coming down. She checked her watch that showed 7:30 am. There was still half an hour left for breakfast to begin.

She just had to wait for 10 more minutes, when Harry and Ron came down the stairs from boys' dormitory.

"Hey Hermione, good morning," They said in unison.

"Morning guys," She answered with a enthusiastic smile.

"So you ready to go. It's going to be a fun day today." Ron said excitement evident in his voice.

"Of course it would be, after all our dear Ickle Ronnikins is going to spend the whole day with his lovely girlfriend, Luna Lovegood." Harry said teasingly, in a pure imitation of Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George.

"Just shut up Harry," Ron said in an irritated voice.

"Now come on, let's go or we would be late for Hogsmeade." Hermione said.

Harry and Ron nodded and three of them made their way out of the Gryffindor tower and towards the Great Hall.

Harry was not able to get a good deal of sleep last night. His thoughts kept wandering to his brunette best friend. He was very excited and looking forward to spend his time with her. It would be first time that they would be spending so much time together since their breakup.

After the breakup, Hermione was back to being his best friend. She would laugh with him, scold him for not doing his homework on time and so on. However, sometimes he felt like she was holding something back. She was same as he used to know her, but still it wasn't the same. He knew breakup had been hard for her, even though she never showed it. It hurt him to know that she was suffering and yet she was hiding it. He just hoped she would overcome it.

They sat on the Gryffindor table and soon Luna joined them there. After finishing their breakfast, they made their way towards the queue where Filch, the caretaker of school, was checking the permission forms of the students who were going to Hogsmeade. Once they got through their turn, four of them made their way to the village.

After reaching to Hogsmeade, Ron and Luna left to spend some time alone and Harry and Hermione were left together.

"So, where to my dear lady?" Harry asked giving a mock bow. Hermione just laughed at his antics. It sounded like a melodious voice to Harry. He gave her a wide smile.

"Well, let's go to the book shop first," Hermione said in a fake serious tone.

"Why do you want to go to book shop?" Harry complained, “Come on, let's go to the joke shop or the sweet shop."

"Okay. Okay. I was just joking. Let's say, we will visit all the shops including books' one." Hermione said.

Harry grinned at her. "Deal," He said taking Hermione's hand into his own and leading her towards the joke shop.

They spent rest of their morning moving through the different shops, teasing each other and laughing their heart out with each other. They almost didn't realize when it was 12. They made their way towards the Three Broomsticks where they found Ron and Luna sitting on a table in the corner. They joined them. While having warm Butterbeer through their system, they chatted for next couple of hours talking about their day. Soon after, they left the place and made their way towards the castle.

Ron and Luna noticed the joined hands of Harry and Hermione. They both shared a wistful look without being noticed by Harry and Hermione who argued throughout the way about something they did in the village.

When they reached the castle, it was already 3 pm. There were still a couple of hours left for dinner to start. Four of them made their way towards the lake and set under the tree.

"So Harry, Hermione, both of you would be going to Burrow for Christmas this year." Luna started the conversation.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

Luna looked towards Hermione who was lost in her own thoughts.

"Hermione," Luna called. Hermione jerked out of her thoughts and looked at her, smiling sheepishly.

"My parents are not here in England. Due to the current circumstances, I have sent them to some place safe, at least until the war gets over. They would be constantly in danger if they lived here. I can't, will never take that risk. You see I have altered their memories so that nobody would be able to track them and they will be safe. I hope that someday I'll be able to go there and bring them back. So yeah I'll be going to Burrow." Hermione said forlornly, looking lost.

Harry squeezed her hand and pulled her into his embrace holding her tightly in his arms, as she cried.

"Don't worry Hermione. When the war gets over we will go together to bring your parents back home." Harry said kissing her on the forehead.

"Thanks Harry. That's mean a lot to me." Hermione replied giving a small smile through her tears and hugged Harry tightly.

Rest of the time was spent in silence with occasional conversations.

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After the dinner was over, Harry and Hermione made their way towards the Gryffindor common room, while Ron and Luna went to spend some more time together, or more like snogging each other's head out as Harry had mentioned to Hermione.

As they reached the common room, Harry was looking for some excuse to spend some more time with Hermione.

"So what to do now?" Harry asked, "Are you going to bed now?"

"No, not yet, I was thinking to finish some of my homework in my dormitory. Would you like to join me?" Hermione asked hoping that he would say yes.

"Yeah sure," Harry said excitedly, "I mean it would be nice." He added in a small voice.

Hermione just started laughing. "Okay then, just go and get your books and other things, and come back to my dormitory. Password is Santa Claus." She said.

"What?" Hermione said as Harry just stared at her, "It's not a well-known name in the magical world. So it's not easy for anyone to guess the password." She said defensively.

Harry just grinned at her then sped towards boys' dormitory to get his books and parchments and other things.

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They were sitting in Hermione's private head girl dormitory doing their homework.

"I am tired." Harry complained, rubbing his eyes and stretching his body. He didn't notice Hermione staring at him, checking him out. He checked his watch. It was already 11:30 pm. They had been doing their homework for last 3 hours non-stop.

"Honestly Harry we have been doing this for just 3 hours. And you are already behaving like it's been 3 days." Hermione scolded.

"Well, unlike you some people need to relax from time to time." Harry said teasingly.

"You mean to say that I can't relax." Hermione said with narrowed eyes, folding her arms across her chest.

"Exactly, you don't know how to relax and have fun on your own. You should give Ron and me some credit for loosening you up. Even today, if it hasn't been for me, you would have spent your day reading books as you call it, FOR LIGHT READING. You should be on your knees thanking me, girl." Harry said in a mock arrogant voice.

"You, Harry Potter, are the biggest JERK I have ever met." She said in a formal voice, throwing a pillow on his face. It just caught Harry off guard for a minute.

"You hit me with a pillow." He said looking shocked.

"That I did. So what?" Hermione said looking proud of her doing.

Harry just stared at her for few moments.

"You shouldn't have said that." He said with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Hermione immediately recognized it. "You won't dare." She said in a warning tone.

She barely had time to get off the couch as Harry made a dash towards her. However, she got up from the couch just in time to get away from his grip. However, his seeker reflexes quickly came into action as he grabbed her hand and pulled her back on the couch, and started tickling her mercilessly. Hermione started laughing unstoppably, trying to get herself free from his strong grip.

In the attempt of Hermione trying to get herself free, they both fell off the couch and on the floor, with Hermione on the top of Harry. It just gave Hermione enough time to launch her own tickling attack on Harry. Harry too started laughing, but just managed to hold both arms of Hermione and flipped her, so Hermione was now trapped between the floor and Harry's hard body. Harry had pinned her hands on the both the sides of her head.

They both just stared at each other. Harry was just staring at Hermione, her chocolate brown eyes staring back at him. Light from the fireplace was illuminating her face and her exposed creamy skin. Her face was red from all laughing and she was breathing hard. He could see different shades of golden and brown in her hair.

'God, she is beautiful.' Harry thought as he kept looking at her with an intense feeling bubbling inside him. He felt the familiar rush of desire going through him that he had felt so many times for her in the past when they were together. Forgetting that he ever had any kind of feelings for a girl named as Ginny Weasley, Harry slowly started leaning towards Hermione. In that moment she was the only girl that existed in his world.

'God he is looking at me in the same old way. Is it possible he still have those feelings for me?' Hermione thought, 'Is he going to kiss me?'

Next thing she remembered was Harry's soft lips on her own, and then everything went blank. Old sensations of being loved by him stirred through her body, heart, and soul. She started kissing him back. What had started as a soft kiss soon turned out to be a more passionate and heated make out session.

When they parted for oxygen, she realized they were on her bed with Harry on top of her. She didn't remember when and how they got there.

Suddenly Harry realized, "I love you Hermione." He said putting all his heart in those three words.

Hermione was speechless. Harry loved her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to clear her mind. "But what about Ginny?" She asked remembering the reason they had broken up for the first time.

"I don't know what it was? I won't lie to you by saying that I didn't feel anything for her. However, it is nowhere close to what I feel for you, and I know that it is love. So I don't love Ginny. I don't feel anything for her now other than just as a friend. Trust me. I have always loved you and you only. I was a fool to let you go. Please give me one more chance." Harry said in a soft voice looking straight in her eyes. She was still crying. He raised his hand to wipe her tears away.

"I love you too Harry. I never really stopped loving you." She said and then she kissed him passionately, putting all the love she felt for him in that kiss. Harry kissed her back with same passion holding her fiercely against him.

That night they got together for the first time at most intimate level. They both gave their virginities to each other.

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They both were lying on the bed. Harry was wide-awake thinking about what had just happened a couple of hours back. Hermione was lying naked under the sheets next to him, fast asleep. Harry was just looking at her with all love he felt for her. Moonlight coming through the window was making her skin glow. She looked so peaceful, so vulnerable. A tear rolled down his cheek remembering how much he had hurt her and yet she had given him a second chance.

He delicately moved his fingers across her soft cheek. He wanted her to be with him in every possible way. He knew that he may not always be with her due to war and prophecy, but he was too selfish to let her go away and he knew she wouldn't let him.

He was just looking at her when an idea struck him.

"Hermione," He said shaking her lightly to wake her up. She opened her eyes and smiled lovingly at him.

"What is it Harry?" She asked softly.

"Hermione, I wanted to ask you something?" Harry said nervously.

Hermione was fully awake by now. She got herself into sitting position, covering her naked body with sheets.

"What is it Harry? Is something wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything." Hermione said looking a little worried.

Harry gave her a warm and full of love smile.

"There's nothing to worry about Hermione." He said taking her hand in his own and kissing it, "We have been best friends for 7 years now. I don't remember when I fell in love with you. Last year had been the best year of my life because I was with you. It was because of you that for the first time in my life I felt loved. I want to be with you forever. I can't promise that I'll surely survive in this war. But, I want you to know that I'll love you forever. I know it's selfish of me to ask this, but will you marry me?" Finally, he asked it.

He looked at her waiting for her reply. She didn't reply immediately. She just stared at him looking stunned.

"You want me to marry you?" She asked in a disbelieving voice. Harry just nodded. A wide smile came over her lips.

"Oh gods Harry, I love you so much. Of course I'll marry you." She said as she launched herself in his arms.

Harry just laughed and said, "I am not having a ring right now, but I'll get you one, the best one. I promise."

They started kissing again. After kissing and touching for about 15 minutes, Hermione asked him "So when would you like to marry? After we graduate or later,"

Harry just thought for some time, and then looked at Hermione. She was waiting for his answer, looking curious. And answer automatically came out of his mouth, "What about today, now?"

Hermione was speechless. "Are you joking with me?" She asked looking incredulous.

"No, I am serious, but only if you are ready." He replied in a serious tone.

"But how will we get married at this time of the night? How'll we arrange everything?" Hermione questioned.

"Don't worry about that. Leave it to me. Just tell me, are you ready?" He asked.

"Oh yes. I am all ready. Let's get married." Hermione said with child like enthusiasm.

Harry looked at her with amusement and pulled her in his arms, crushing his lips to hers.

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Harry and Hermione got up and got ready. As they reached the common room, Harry said, "You wait here. I'll just go and bring Ron down. I want him to be a part of it." Hermione nodded in understanding.

After about 15 minutes, Harry and Ron made their way downstairs, followed by none other than Luna.

"Ronald Weasely, would you care to explain what a girl from other house is doing in boys' dormitory at this time of the night?" Hermione asked in a mock stern voice.

Ron turned red and Luna just smiled dreamily. After a couple of minutes, Harry and Hermione started sniggering.

"Oh just shut up you two. What do you want?" Ron said looking from Harry to Hermione.

They both shared a look and then looked at Ron and Luna, who were looking back at them expectantly.

"We will tell you everything, but firstly we need to go to Dumbledore's office. We will tell you everything there. Let's go." Harry said. Ron and Luna simply nodded.

With that, four of them made their way towards the Headmaster's office.

After reaching there, Harry said the password 'Lollypop', and they entered. He knocked on the door and heard Headmaster's voice, "Enter".

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(A/N: - As Harry trains with Dumbledore, he knows the password.)

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"Harry, what you four are doing here?" Dumbledore asked looking a bit surprised.

"Sir, the thing is that Hermione and I want to get married right now. We want Ron to be the best man and Luna to be the bridesmaid. Would you two accept it?" He asked looking towards Ron and Luna.

Ron was shocked, his mouth wide open and Luna was simply beaming at Harry and Hermione. Luna nudged Ron on the side. He just came out of his stupor.

"Wow! You two finally hooked up with each other again. Ha, going pretty fast mate. Of course we will accept." He said grinning ear to ear.

"Are you both sure about it? It's a very big step." Dumbledore asked looking at Harry and Hermione through his half moon spectacles, his blue eyes twinkling merrily behind them.

"Yes sir," they both replied in unison, without any trace of doubt in their voices.

"Very well then, I would just call Remus and Minerva in it. Will you both be okay with this?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes sir," Hermione said. Harry nodded in agreement.

Dumbledore went towards a portrait and said something, and in the next second woman in portrait was gone with a swish. Then he picked up the floo powder, threw it in the fireplace, and bent down to call Remus. After a couple of moments, Remus's head appeared through the fire in fireplace.

"Albus, you called me. And hello you four," He said looking at four teenagers looking surprised.

"Remus, I want you to come here with wedding rings of James and Lily. Now," Dumbledore said.

As he finished talking to Remus, Prof. Minerva McGonagall, their transfiguration, teacher came in the office. She was surprised to see four students there.

"What is it Albus?" She asked looking perplexed.

"Minerva, Harry and Hermione have decided to get married today. So will you please transfigure their dresses according to the occasion?" Dumbledore asked.

"Y…yeah, sure, Albus," She stammered, looking at Harry and Hermione with shock evident in her eyes.

She took Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Luna in another chamber in the headmaster's office.

After around half an hour, they came out one by one. Harry and Ron were wearing muggle tuxedos. Both were looking quite dashing. Luna was wearing a yellow sunlight color knee-length dress with straps. Her hair were held loose. She was looking very pretty.

And Hermione, Harry had never seen anything as beautiful as her. She was wearing a pure white off-shoulder gown, which was flowing, down to her ankle. Her hair were done up with soft curls framing her face nicely. She wore no jewelry and no makeup, not that she needed it. Her skin was glowing in the soft light of the office and she was smiling tenderly at him.

"Wow!" was all Harry had said when he saw her. Four of them thanked Minerva for her help.

Remus was already there.

“Harry, I am so very proud of you and I am sure your parents would have been very happy as well." Remus said, hugging Harry in a fatherly way.

"Thank you Remus, that's mean a lot for me." Harry said sincerely.

"So, are you two ready?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and nodded together.

Dumbledore performed the ceremony and after saying their vows, they exchanged the rings brought by Remus, the very same rings that were used by Harry's parents at their wedding.

"Now groom may kiss the bride." Dumbledore said with a smile.

They both looked at each other with love in their eyes and their lips touched in a soft kiss. As their lips touched, a soft golden glow enveloped them. Everyone was in awe seeing this.

"It means that their love for each other is pure and unconditional and they are bound together by heart and soul." Dumbledore explained to the stunned audience.

"So, we are finally married my dear wife." Harry whispered in Hermione's ear.

She laughed softly at his endearment and kissed him on lips.

"Yes my dear new husband," Hermione said amusedly.

"Congratulations mate," Ron said to Harry with a pat on his back. "And congratulations to you Hermione or I must say Mrs. Potter." He said hugging her.

"Thank you Ron. We both really wanted both you and Luna to be a part of this." Hermione said with a warm smile.

"I am so happy for both of you." Luna said with a dreamy look in her eyes, "I knew you will choose me as a one of the bridesmaids. I just didn't know I would be the only one." She finished. Everyone laughed at this.

Harry moved towards Dumbledore and said, "Sir, I don't want anyone to know about this wedding, at least not until the war gets over."

"I understand Harry. If you want, we can perform Fidelius charm so that nobody will know about. You can choose your secret keeper so that no one except your secret keeper will be able to tell this, not even yourself. Whom do you want to be your secret keeper?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry and Hermione decided to make Dumbledore their secret keeper. After the necessary rituals were performed, Dumbledore waved his wand on a parchment and handed it to Harry.

"This is a small wedding present for you both. It will take you to a cottage on a secluded beach. It was the beach where your parents had spent their honeymoon after they got married. I hope you will love it. I have already asked Dobby to make the necessary arrangements there." Headmaster said.

When Harry opened his mouth to ask about what Dumbledore had told to Dobby, Dumbledore interrupted him answering his question. "Don't worry, he didn't ask anything and I told him not to tell anyone about it. And yes I paid him for the extra work, Mrs. Potter." He said looking towards Hermione. She just blushed profusely.

"This portkey," Dumbledore continued pointing towards the parchment, "will take you there and will bring you back here tomorrow morning at 10:30. It would just leave in 5 minutes so you both get ready.

"Thank you professor." Hermione said gratefully.

"It's my pleasure Mrs. Potter and have fun." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

Both Harry and Hermione turned crimson as he said it, clearly knowing about what was he indicating towards as FUN.

They both said their goodbyes to their friends and left with the portkey.

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Author's note: - Hope you would like it. Please read and review.

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7. The Beautiful Night

Author's note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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The Beautiful Night

After travelling through the portkey, when Harry and Hermione opened their eyes, they found themselves on a beautiful secluded beach. They were all alone at the beach. The moon was shining brightly against the dark sky along with the small shining stars. Cool air was blowing around them softly. Sand on the beach was shinning and looked like very small diamonds under the silver moon light. At some distance, there was a small cottage that looked very cozy and warm. Overall, it was beautiful place and felt like a dreamland.

"Wow! It's beautiful." Hermione said looking around her surroundings with awe-filled eyes.

"Not more than you, love." Harry said looking at her with an intense expression.

Their eyes met. Hermione could see many emotions swirling in his eyes - love, lust, nervousness, hope, and contentment. And suddenly, his eyes were bright with amusement and happiness as he slowly started moving towards her. Her heart had stopped beating. She couldn't breathe as he walked towards her.

The way he was looking at her was making it difficult for her to stand straight. He was now standing right in front of her, just a few inches apart. She could see her own reflection in his bright intense green eyes.

"You are beautiful, Mrs. Potter." He whispered in her ear in a husky voice.

Next moment she found herself trapped in a tight embrace of her husband. He was holding her tightly yet gently against himself. He softly touched his lips to her. Kiss was soft and gentle at first, but slowly it turned into a very passionate kiss, but somehow it still held the innocence of a first kiss of a wedding couple.

Hermione was completely lost in the kiss. She gasped when Harry scooped her in his arms in bridal style and start walking towards the cottage. She giggled a bit wrapping her slender arms around Harry's neck.

"Harry, what are you doing?" She asked in a laughing voice.

"What do you think I am doing? Taking my newlywed wife to ..." He trailed off, raising his eyebrow suggestively. Hermione blushed furiously at his implication.

When they reached to the cottage, Harry kicked the front door open. It was a small house, but had a very comfortable and warmish feeling to it. There was a hall that contained a comfortable looking couch similar to the one in Gryffindor common room and a fireplace, which was alight with fire. There was only one room, which they presumed to be the bedroom.

Harry carried his wife into that room and put her down gently on the large and soft looking bed. Various candles were floating in the air bathing the room in a soft and dim light. It was decorated with various kinds of flowers, and in the corner on a table was a bottle of wine with two empty glasses.

It seemed like Dobby had put all his best efforts to decorate the room for the newlyweds, even though he didn't have that particular piece of information. Hermione made a mental note to give Dobby a colossal thanks one day, when she would be able to tell everyone about her marriage without the fear of hiding it from anyone.

Her eyes fell on Harry who had started to undress himself. He had his back to Hermione. Hermione just sat there transfixed as she stared at his lean and athletic body. His firm muscles rippling with the movements his body was making.

Harry just turned around as he tossed his shirt on the chair nearby the window.

"Like what you see?" He said in a teasing voice, his eyes darkening with the hunger, making Hermione shudder with pleasure.

Hermione just had enough time to compose herself. "Hardly," She said in a mock arrogant voice, with her nose in the air.

Harry just raised his eyebrow at her. "We'll see." He said and started moving towards the bed where Hermione was sitting.

Hermione backed away from him. Harry just stopped at the edge of the bed and stared at Hermione strangely.

"What?" Hermione asked nervously, "Do I have something on my face?" She said rubbing her cheek lightly.

Harry just shook his head. "Are you waiting for me to undress you?" He asked in a deep voice, but amusement was clearly visible in his eyes.

Hermione blushed frantically at this, but then her eyes widened. She realized that he was teasing her. She picked up the pillow from her side and threw at Harry, which hit him square in the face. Harry was taken aback by this.

"You are going to pay for this, Mrs. Potter." He said with a mock stern expression on his face. Then he gave her a charming grin and slowly crawled towards her on the bed, and before Hermione had any chance to react, he trapped her between soft bed and his hard body.

Hermione just swallowed. She knew that Harry knew the kind of control he had on her that time. He started kissing her slowly and lazily and she immediately responded. Harry slowly moved his right hand towards her waist and then moving upwards, he touched her back.

Hermione didn't know how and when this happened, but soon she was lying naked under her husband kissing him deeply.

Later they drank wine to celebrate their first night together as a married couple. They spent the night making love for first time in their wedding life and the second time for that night.

Hermione opened her eyes. It was not so early in the morning. For a minute, she didn't realize where she was, and then suddenly all the memories of last night came down to her mind. She blushed fervently from head to toe when she felt a hand on her waist holding her tightly from behind. She turned her face to see Harry's hand on her waist holding her close to him. She smiled.

Hermione slowly got out of his firm grip without waking him up. He stirred a bit, but went back to his usual position lying on his stomach. She took this time to study him. He looked so peaceful and adorable. She hadn't seen him this peaceful for a long time, probably since their fourth year.

Since then he had always carried the burden of the world on his shoulders. He had never looked this relax in school. He had a very hard life, before he came to Hogwarts. Durselys were his only living relatives and they were always very cruel to him because he was a wizard.

When Hermione came to know about how they had treated him, she wanted nothing more than to hex them and turn all of them into frogs or better, slugs. She removed the hair from the eyes of a sleeping Harry. His hair had always been messy and untamable, which made him look more adorable and hot. He had received his messy hair and his dashing looks from his father and bright beautiful green eyes from his mother.

Hermione was surprised to see that despite how Durselys had treated him throughout his childhood, he had still grown out to be such a wonderful man, with a great heart. She kissed him lightly on the forehead. He smiled in his sleep.

'Oh god, he has no right to look so delightful while sleeping.' She mused happily. She still couldn't believe it. Yesterday, it seemed like ages, when she and Harry were visiting the Hogsmeade only as friends, and now they were married.

Finally, she gave him a light kiss on the lips and decided to get out of bed. She wanted to walk around the beach and see the place before leaving.

She was about to get out of bed when she suddenly felt herself being pulled back into bed. Harry had just pulled her back as she was getting out of the bed. He pulled her under him.

"Where do you think you are going?" He asked in a sleepy voice, nuzzling her neck and pressing her further in the bed. Then he pulled back to look at her face. Her chocolate-brown eyes were bright, her lush brown curls were spread on the pillow under her head, and her cheeks were a light shade of pink. She smelled very sweet like vanilla and strawberries. Her breathing was slow, her chest moving up and down in rhythm.

She was looking at him expectantly as he leaned down to kiss her. They kissed each other ardently for some time until the breathing became a crucial matter. Hermione finally broke the kiss and looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It showed 8:45 in the morning. "I think we should get out of the bed and get ready. I want to explore this place, before leaving." She said.

"As you wish, my love." Harry said giving a small kiss on her lips.

After having shower and getting into the cloths they had worn last night (which were back to their original state), they made their way out of the room and got out of the cottage. There on the beach was a small table with two comfortable chairs. On the table, they found the warm brunch for themselves.

"It seem like everything has already been taken care of." Harry said with a smile as he entwined his fingers with Hermione's.

"Yeah, you know, we should thank Dobby for making such wonderful arrangements." Hermione said looking at Harry blissfully. Harry nodded as he led her towards the table.

They sat on the chairs and ate the breakfast. After the breakfast was over, they still had an hour before it was time for their pre-scheduled portkey to leave. So they decided to take a walk around the beach.

After walking for around 15 minutes in comfortable silence, Harry finally spoke, "It all just feels like a dream to me. You have made me the happiest man on this planet." Harry said pulling Hermione closer and kissing her on the forehead.

"You too make me the happiest person, Harry." Hermione replied beaming at him.

Harry was just lost in his thoughts when Hermione spoke. "A sickle for your thought," She said with amusement.

Harry looked down at her with a faraway look in his eyes. "I am sorry Hermione." He said.

Hermione looked confused "What for?" She asked.

He cupped her face with his hands and said, "For all the hurt I put you through when we broke up”.

He stopped for a moment and then spoke again, "I don't know what I did to deserve your forgiveness, especially after what I did with you. You are the most important person in my life, has always been since we met for the first time, and I hurt you. I'll try everything I can do to make up for all the hurt I have put you through. I love you Hermione Jane Granger Potter. I always have and I always will." he finished with a soft kiss on her lips.

Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes. She threw her arms around Harry's neck.

"I love you too Harry. I always have and always will. No one can change what I feel for you, not even myself. Don't be sorry. It's all in the past now. You're here with me, and that's all that matters to me now." She said still crying and hugging him hard.

She pulled back, "But promise me one thing, Harry," She said.

Harry nodded. "You will never ever push me away from you, not with the stupid theory of `for protecting you' to support your arguments. You should know I won't listen." She said to lighten the mood.

"I'll never think of it even." Harry said laughing, pulling Hermione back into his arms and kissing her lovingly.

They made their way towards the cottage together hand in hand. Harry knew dark times lay ahead of them, but now he had a reason to live and he will try everything he could, to overcome this darkness and bring the light of hope back into their lives. Now he had a future to look up to and fight for.

Together they grabbed the portkey 2 minutes before leaving and 2 minutes later, they were back on their way to Hogwarts.

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Author's Note: - Hope you like it. Read and review.

Document created with wvWare/wvWare version 1.2.7

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8. Christmas At The Burrow-1

Author's note:- Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer:- I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Christmas at the Burrow-1

Harry and Hermione arrived back in Headmaster's office. Prof. Dumbledore was sitting in his chair reading some book. As they both arrived he looked up at them through his half moon spectacles.

"A very Good Morning Mr. and Mrs. Potter." He said with amusement in his voice.

Both Harry and Hermione blushed. "Good Morning Professor," Both replied in unison.

"So did you enjoy your little trip?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes sir. It was a brilliant and beautiful place." Hermione replied with sincerity.

"But where was it? It was very warm there." Harry asked curiously.

"It is a magical island. It was owned by your parents, Harry, and now it's owned by both of you.” Dumbledore said gesturing towards newly wed couple, “It is in the Caribbean. But since its magical it's invisible to the muggles and untraceable in the magical world." Dumbledore finished.

Harry looked surprise at this piece of information. "Wow! I never knew that. It's really an amazing place." He said.

"Now, I think both of you should make way towards Gryffindor common room. You both along with Ron and Ginny will be flooing to Burrow at 12 pm today. Rests of the students are already leaving by Hogwarts Express. And yes Ms. Weasely had already asked Prof. McGonagall where you both are." Dumbledore informed them.

Seeing both Harry and Hermione tense Dumbledore continued further, "Don't worry. She had already been answered about your whereabouts. Harry, you have been in my office for some important talk, and Hermione, you have been helping the teachers with students boarding the train for going home. So now, you both can leave." Headmaster finished.

Both Harry and Hermione felt relieved as they didn't have to answer Ginny. They both got up to leave when Harry remembered, "Sir, what about training? How will I be able to train at Burrow?" He asked.

"Ah yes, about training, well, you are not training during vacation. Just enjoy it with your newlywed wife." Dumbledore said with a playful wink "and yes, Merry Christmas to both of you."

"Merry Christmas to you as well professor." Harry and Hermione wished together. With that they both left the office and made their way towards the Gryffindor tower.

"I just don't believe it. I am married." Hermione said in a dazed voice while looking at her wedding ring, as they walked back to Gryffindor tower.

"I can't believe it either." Harry said, "I am luckiest bloke on the earth who's married to the most amazing girl in the whole world." He pulled Hermione in his arms and kissed her on the forehead.

Holding hands they both reached Gryffindor tower. As they reached there their hands separated.

"Password," Fat Lady asked.

"Poinsettia," Hermione said.

They entered the common room and found Ron and Ginny were waiting for them.

Ginny just threw herself at Harry. "Oh Harry, I have been so worried about you when you didn't come down to the common room with Ron. He said you weren't in the dormitory when he got up."

Harry looked at Ron while getting himself free from Ginny's death grip. Ron just shrugged and started grinning, pointing towards Harry and Hermione behind Ginny's back. Harry just glared at him.

"Umm… Yeah, Dumbledore wanted to talk with me about something important." Harry said sitting on the couch. Ron, Ginny and Hermione sat down as well.

"Yeah, Prof. McGonagall told me about it." Ginny said smiling shyly at him. She was constantly stealing glances at him.

Silence was becoming more and more awkward so Hermione decided to break it. "So Ron, Luna already left." Hermione said.

"Yeah. She will join us for the Christmas dinner at Burrow and then stay there for remaining holidays." Ron replied with a dreamy look just like Luna's.

Harry just laughed at his expression. "It seems like she is finally rubbing off on to you mate." He said giving a friendly pat on Ron's back. Everyone started laughing.

"Well I still have to pack some of my belongings before we leave. I haven't finished packing yet." Harry said getting up from his place, and avoiding Hermione's eyes. Though he wasn't seeing her directly in her eyes he knew she wasn't very happy with his lethargic attitude towards packing.

"Do you need any help? I can help you if you want." Ginny offered.

"No thanks. I'll just do it." Harry said with a smile and rushed off to his dormitory. When he reached dormitory he found Hedwig sitting on the window sill. "Right on time when I needed you girl." Harry said.

He took out a parchment, quill, and ink from his bag and quickly started scratching something on the parchment. Then he rolled the parchment and tied it to Hedwig's leg. Then she just flew out of the window to deliver the note.

After Hedwig left, Harry quickly levitated his things into his trunk and closed it. He levitated his trunk out of the dormitory and down to the common room. There he found that Ron and Ginny's trunk were already there that he had failed to notice earlier. He noticed Hermione's trunk was also there.

He was about to ask where she was when Hermione came through the portrait hole with a small pouch in her hand. At their questioning glances, she answered, "Its floo powder. Prof. McGonagall gave it to me. It's enough for four of us."

"So are you guys ready to leave?" She asked, "We still have 10 minutes before we leave." Harry, Ron, and Ginny nodded and brought their trunks near the fireplace.

"Well floo network from this fireplace will be opened for 20 minutes in which we have to make to Burrow. We can send our trunks first then we can leave." Hermione explained to three of them.

When it was 12, "Ok let's do it" Hermione said. She threw some floo powder in the fireplace and levitated four trunks in fireplace and shouted, "The Burrow" and the trunks disappeared in a flash of fire.

"Ok Ginny, now it's your turn." Hermione said to Ginny as she was standing nearest to the fireplace. After both Ron and Ginny left, it was just Harry and Hermione left in the common room. They still had 15 minutes before the floo network closed itself.

"Ok Harry, now you go," Hermione said, holding out the pouch towards Harry. But Harry took the pouch from her hand and pulled her in the corner near the window where no one could see them from the fireplace if anyone tried to check on them. He just pinned her against the wall and crushed his lips with hers, kissing her passionately. Hermione was surprised at first, but then she returned the favor with equal passion. After kissing and snogging each other senselessly for near to 10 minutes, they pulled away from each other, breathing hard.

"Wh…What was that for?" Hermione stammered, breathless from all kissing.

Harry just grinned at her expression and kissed her lightly, "I don't think I would be getting many opportunities to do this at Burrow. Who knows when will I get the chance to even spend some time alone with you." Harry whispered in her ear which sent chills down her whole body.

"I think we should leave now. They would be wondering where we are." Hermione said. Harry nodded reluctantly and then they both left the common room.

Harry was last to come out of the fireplace. He fell out of the fireplace ungracefully, landing on his back in the kitchen at Burrow.

"Ouch!" He yelped.

Harry looked at others in the kitchen. Ron and Hermione were laughing and Ginny was glaring at them.

Harry got up from the ground and was immediately hugged by Mrs. Weasely who had just came into the kitchen.

"Harry dear, how you are? It's so nice to have you hear for Christmas." She said in motherly voice.

"I am fine Mrs. Weasely and I am really happy to spend my Christmas here." Harry replied politely and gave a wide smile to the elder woman.

"What took you both so long?" Ginny asked with a suspicious look. Harry and Hermione shared a glance with each other, before Harry answered in an amused voice, "Hermione forgot something in her quarter and went back to retrieve it. So I waited for her."

Hermione just glared at him although she agreed with his story.

"So finally Ms. Perfect did forget something. What the world is coming to?" Ron said in a dramatic fashion, clutching his chest for effect, which earned him a slap on the arm by Hermione.

"Hermione, you would be staying with Ginny in her room and Harry, you and Ron would share the room as usual." Mrs. Weasley interrupted.

They all made their way to their respective rooms with their respective trunks.

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Days at Burrow were going fairly well for everyone. They enjoyed playing Quididtch (except Hermione of course), doing their homework on Hermione's insistence, talking about life, future etc... And in Ron's case, he was trying to make Harry reveal the details about his time at beach, which Harry clearly refused, saying that Hermione would not be happy with this.

It was just four of them with Mr. and Mrs. Weasely at Burrow. Fred and George were staying at Diagon Alley in the small apartment above their shop. They kept showing at Burrow from time to time. Also some of the Order members had shown up once or twice. Harry knew Burrow was under heavy protection because he was staying there.

Only problem was that Harry and Hermione were hardly getting any time alone to be with each other. Whenever they would try to be alone without raising any kind of suspicions with the excuse of studying together in the room, Ginny or Mrs. Weasely would always come in the room for some or the other thing. Sometimes Harry suspected that they were doing that on purpose so that he and Hermione would not be alone together.

On other side Ginny was throwing him signals that she would like to be more than just a friend to him. Harry was still surprised that why had he felt attracted to Ginny when they were in school. He clearly remembered that one night while sleeping on his bed, he was thinking about Hermione, and next day he started to feel more than friendly feelings towards Ginny. But now he had no doubt about his feelings, his heart belonged to Hermione and he was innately in love with her. He still found it difficult to believe that a girl as amazing as Hermione loved him so much.

Three days before the Christmas four teenagers at Burrow decided to visit Diagon Alley for some Christmas shopping. They reached to the Leaky Cauldron through floo network and from there they made their way towards the Diagon Alley. Mrs. Weasely was not in favor of four of them going alone, but agreed when it was decided that Tonks and Kingsley Shackelbolt would accompany them.

Six of them reached to the Diagon Alley. They moved to different shops to buy their different requirements.

Hermione wanted to go to Flourish & Blotts while Harry, Ron and Ginny wanted to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies. According to Hermione, Ginny only wanted to go because Harry was going. But she didn't say anything. So it was decided that Hermione and Tonks would go to book shop and Kingsley would go with other three to the Quidditch shop. They decided to finish their Christmas shopping and then meet outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

After looking through the Quididtch shop and other shops buying whatever they needed, Kingsley, Harry, Ron, and Ginny made their way towards ice cream shop. Hermione and Tonks weren't there yet. So four of them decided to sit in the shop and ordered their ice-creams.

"Sometimes I don't understand how you can stand Hermione for the whole day." Ginny started.

At Ron and Harry's questioning glance she continued, "I mean she always talk about books and books and only books. She's no fun. You guys have nothing in common. She doesn't even like Quidditch." She finished.

Harry got angry at her statement. He was about to reply, but Ron beat him to it.

"Well you see Ginny, that's what makes her unique. She keeps us in line and has saved us from troubles many times than we can remember. And she has never missed any of our matches. That speaks a lot about her. " Ron said a bit loudly.

Kingsley just gave him a stern look. "Sorry,” Ron mumbled.

"That's rich coming from you, Ron." Ginny said, "If I remember correctly, it's you who always criticize her and fights with her about homework and studies and other things where she doesn't agree with your opinion."

Before Ron could reply, Harry interrupted, "Well, that's how Hermione and Ron's friendship is. They fight but still care about each other, though Ron can be a git sometimes." Harry said remembering their third year. Ron glared at him, but refrained from saying anything.

Ginny looked a bit shocked. It looked like she wasn't expecting Harry to say that at all.

"Yeah, of course, you are right." She said with a bit uncertainty, thinking about something.

They were quietly eating their ice-cream when Hermione and Tonks arrived. Hermione was carrying few heavy looking books. She looked a bit flushed while Tonks was looking at Hermione with pride.

"What happened, Hermione? Are you alright?" Harry asked as Kingsley produced two chairs for Tonks and Hermione with a wave of his wand.

"You won't believe who we came across while we were shopping for books." Hermione started telling.

Hermione and Tonks were in the book shop. She was looking for some books she needed. She was searching through racks and Tonks was standing outside waiting for her. Hermione managed to find out the books she needed. She paid for the books and made her way outside.

Tonks and Hermione were leaving when she heard a drawling voice calling behind her.

"Mudblood! So you can finally pay for your books without Potty to pay for it. Huh!"

There was no need to guess who it was.

"Malfoy. Seems like you don't have anything new to say to insult me." Hermione retorted with a smirk, gesturing with one hand, stopping Tonks from interrupting in between.

"Talking too much can be dangerous for you mudblood Granger. Your knights in shining armor are not here to protect you. Now, are they?" He said, looking around, " And she doesn't look like, would do much." He said, eying Tonks who had a bubbling appearance with bubble gum pink hair and flashy robes, which also made her look a bit clumsy.

Hermione just laughed inwardly. 'Git doesn't know what would hit him if Tonks came to her real charm.'

"I don't need her help ferret. I can take on you any day on my own. Sure, you wouldn't have forgotten our third year yet." Hermione replied in a calm voice.

Draco looked a bit agitated at the mention of the third year. So he threw another insult at Hermione.

"But it looks like your ex- boyfriend has finally come to his senses to know what a filthy ugly mudblood you are and has ditched you. At least, the Weasel girl who's already after him would be a better option." Draco said in a smug voice.

This time his words hit home for Hermione. But she wasn't going to give ferret a satisfaction of finally managing to hurt her. After al,l things were so different now and it would do no good to dwell in the past. She composed herself before giving any reply.

"Don't talk about the things you don't know and understand about, Malfoy. And as far as about me and Harry, we are still best friends, a relation break isn't going to affect it. And Harry, he is still a brave man and you are still a ferret." Hermione replied in a strong voice.

With that, Hermione and Tonks turned to leave when Hermione felt a curse flying from behind her back, just inches away from her left ear. She quickly turned around and cast a silent 'Expelliarmus' to disarm Malfoy. His wand flew in Hermione's arms that she caught gracefully.

"You have always been a sneaky bastard Malfoy, always attacking from behind. Don't have guts enough to face without your father being here to save your arse." Hermione yelled angrily.

Then she looked around, "This would serve you right." She whispered taking one step closer to Malfoy. She performed a babbling charm on Malfoy which would cause him to babble and make nonsense noises whenever he would try to speak. And it was made clear when Draco tried to make a retort to Hermione. Instead of words they just heard gurgling noise coming out of his mouth. He clamped his mouth shut with his hands. Both, Tonks and Hermione laughed until they were breathless.

Tonks took Malfoy's wand from Hermione and put that in her pocket. "About your wand, Mr. Malfoy" Tonks said, "Being a Ministry Auror, I confiscate your wand from you for attacking a witch due to her blood status. You have to be present at Ministry tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM for your actions. Did I make myself clear?" Tonks said in a professional manner. Malfoy just nodded as he couldn't say anything.

Though Hermione didn't tell them anything about the comment Malfoy made about her relationship with Harry, Harry knew she was hiding something. He made a mental note to ask her later about this.

"That was bloody brilliant Hermione!" Ron exclaimed praise evident in his voice.

"Thank you." Hermione replied her cheeks turning red. She looked at Harry to find his reaction. He had a thoughtful expression at his face, but then he grinned from ear to ear and she relaxed.

"You should have seen him making that gurgling noise. It was a brilliant spell work, Hermione." Tonks said in amazed voice looking at the young brunette. She was very impressed by Hermione's performance with charms.

"So will it be permanent on Malfoy?" Harry asked in a hopeful voice.

"No. It will work for only next few months, though he can remove it if he tried the right charm. But I doubt he would. So it would be a nice change to not hear him insult me or other muggleborns for some months." Hermione replied with a chuckle.

"Though you should be careful Hermione when you are around Malfoy. Due to his father's status he will get off easily, so he will surely attend the school." Tonks said.

"Yeah, I'll be careful. Thank you for your concern." Hermione replied sincerely.

After sometime all of them made their way to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Fred and George showed them around. They also showed them some of their new inventions. When they were satisfied with their purchases for school and Christmas they made their way to the Burrow.

It was already twilight by the time they arrived back at Burrow. After keeping their purchases in their rooms, they joined Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for dinner. After they finished dinner, Harry, Hermione and Ginny were sitting in the living room, except Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Ron.

Mr. Weasly had left the house to go in the shed where he worked on various muggle objects. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen and Ron had gone back to his room saying that he had some work to do, which Harry was sure, was to write a letter to Luna. Ron had been frequently writing to Luna this winter.

Harry was thinking of some idea to get some alone time with Hermione when Mrs. Weasley called Hermione.

"Hermione dear, can you help me a bit? I wanted to ask you about a muggle recipe I found in a muggle book?" She asked coming out of the kitchen.

"Um...Sure Mrs. Weasley." Hermione replied. With that Hermione and Mrs. Weasley went back to the kitchen, which left Harry alone with Ginny. They were sitting on the couch. Harry was feeling a bit uncomfortable in being alone with her.

"So Harry, are you enjoying vacations here or missing Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, breaking the silence.

"It's really nice to spend Christmas here. You all are almost like my family." Harry replied genuinely.

"So umm..." Ginny hesitated a bit before continuing, "Why you and Hermione did broke up? Do you like someone else? I asked Hermione, but she didn't tell me anything." Ginny said looking expectantly at Harry, as though if expecting him to give some particular answer.

Harry was surprised at her question. 'Does she know why we broke up?' He thought before answering.

"It was mutual. We both have decided we are better off as friends." Harry said. "And no I don't like anyone in particular." He added carefully checking for her reaction.

She frowned a bit, but then composed herself quickly. "Would you like to go for a walk? I am not feeling like sleeping right now." She asked.

Harry didn't want to go, but before he could say no, Ginny just took his hand and dragged him outside. It was very cold outside. While Harry was wearing his jacket, Ginny wasn't wearing cloths thick enough to completely avoid the cold. "You will be cold. We should go back inside." Harry said as he made to turn back towards the house.

However, Ginny pulled him back. "Come on Harry, that's not what a gentleman do." She said playfully.

Harry looked confused. "What you mean by that?" He asked.

(A/N: - Harry can be so clueless sometimes.)

"Nothing," Ginny said dismissively. She took out a sweet from her pocket and offered it to Harry, "I got it from Fred and George's joke shop. It will keep you warm."

Harry took it from her. "Won't you take one as well, you are not wearing cloths thick enough to prevent cold." Harry asked.

"Uhh...No, I already took this while we were inside so I am feeling quite warm." She said.

Harry just shrugged and put the sweet into his mouth. He put the wrapper in his pocket to throw away later. He felt heat starting to spread throughout his body. Along with the heat he started to feel some strange sensations in his body, as though if some kind of battle was going on in his body.

"So feeling warm." Ginny asked stepping closer to him.

"Yeah, thanks." Harry replied.

"Harry," Ginny said softly.

"Yeah," Harry asked looking at her.

"There was something...you know," She tried to say, but before she could continue Hermione came out of the house.

"What you guys are doing out here in so cold weather?" She asked rubbing her hands together to keep herself warm.

"We were just taking a peaceful walk before you came." Ginny said bluntly, looking irritated with Hermione for disturbing her and Harry.

Harry and Hermione both looked bewildered at her tone. Ginny quickly recovered and continued what sounded like a calm tone, "I mean we were just taking a walk and were talking when you came out all of a sudden. You just caught us unaware."

"Well I think we should go inside now. I am feeling very sleepy." Harry said faking a yawn. He wanted to spend some time alone with Hermione. Ginny nodded reluctantly and three of them walked back towards the house. Ginny was walking ahead of Harry and Hermione.

As they reached near to their rooms Harry quickly whispered to Hermione "Meet me at midnight in the kitchen,"

Hermione gave a quick nod in return and followed Ginny into her room. Harry too made his way to Ron's room where he found Ron fast asleep, snoring loudly. He hoped down on his bed.

Harry checked his watch, he still had half an hour before midnight.

When Hermione arrived in kitchen at about 15 minutes after midnight, Harry was already there.

"What took you so long?" Harry asked although it had been only 15 minutes.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Harry its been just 15 minutes past midnight and besides that I had to make sure Ginny was in deep sleep and wouldn't come here to search for me."

At this Harry raised his eyebrows " I just performed a little charm on my bed, which will make her think I am still in bed." Hermione said trying to hide a grin.

"Very clever of you, you naughty witch." Harry said while putting his arms around her waist. Pulling her in his embrace, he kissed her softly. After they pulled apart, Hermione rested her head on his shoulder.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Hermione asked looking up at him.

Harry just chuckled "I can't hide anything from you. You always know when something is bothering me."

"I am glad you think that of me, because others say it's difficult to read your mood and that you can be quite mysterious when you want to be. You don't open up easily." Hermione replied.

Harry shrugged his shoulders "I don't like sharing some things about my life with everyone except you and Ron. Well, now I think we should move out." He said.

With that they both made their way outside in the backyard. They both set under the tree and Hermione performed a charm around them to keep them warm in the cold night of December. She also performed a silencing charm so nobody would hear them talking.

Hermione was looking at Harry expectantly, waiting for him to start.

"You didn't tell us everything about what happened with Malfoy." Harry said looking at Hermione with a knowing look in his eyes.

Hermione just looked at her hands in her lap. "Malfoy commented about our relationship. He said that you ditched me because I am an ugly filthy mudblood and that Ginny would be a better option for you."

Hurt she had managed to hide after breakup came back full force on her, as tears flowed down her cheek.

Harry gathered Hermione in her arms as she cried. After sometime when her crying subsided he spoke, " Hermione I am really sorry for hurting you" He said hugging her tightly to himself, "I will do anything to take your pain away." Harry paused for a second.

However, before he continue further, Hermione stopped him with a tender kiss. "I know Harry you love me and that's all that matters. Whatever Malfoy say will never affect what I feel for you. After all that we have been through, we are still together, and actually better than before." She said with a huge grin on her face.

"And for crying, well I am feeling a lot better, now that it's all out.” She said.

“Hey what do you think would happen if Malfoy showed up at Hogwarts? Just think what will happen if he forgets about the charm and speaks in front of everyone." Hermione said trying to change the course of conversation.

Harry understood it and decided to go with it.

"I think it would be good for Crabbe and Goyle as they would finally be able to understand what Malfoy would be saying." He said in a mock serious tone.

They both burst out laughing. They spent rest of the time talking and kissing, and when time was close to 5 in the morning, they made to their respective rooms.

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Author's note:- Thanks to all those who are reading this fic, and have reviewed it. I just hope you would keep reading and reviewing to tell me about what you think of the story.

So what do you think of this chapter. Tell me through your reviews.

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9. Christmas At The Burrow-2

Author's note:- Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Christmas At The Burrow-2

"Harry, get up, it's Christmas today. Come on, let's go downstairs, and open the presents." Ron said excitedly, pulling the covers off Harry.

"Merry Christmas, mate, and good morning," Harry said getting up and rubbing his eyes to get rid of sleepiness. He put on his glasses and looked at Ron.

Harry grinned at his best friend, "Come on then, let's go, and wake others up." He said.

Both Harry and Ron dashed out of room and went towards Ginny and Hermione's room. They started banging loudly on the door.

"Hermione, Ginny, come out." Ron shouted. Door opened to reveal a sleepy Hermione. "What is it? Why are you screaming like a banshee so early in the morning?" She asked looking at her two best friends annoyingly.

"Its Christmas today, Hermione. We are going downstairs to open the presents. So you and Ginny should come down quickly. Others would be there soon." Ron said.

“Let's go,” He said looking towards Harry. But Harry just motioned Ron to move on, who left instantly, but not before rolling his eyes at the black-haired boy.

"Hermione, one minute," Harry said grabbing Hermione's arm to stop her as she turned to go back into the room. He pulled her to come out of room.

Harry looked around to check if anyone was there. Seeing that no one was there, he gathered her in his arms and quickly kissed her on the lips. "Merry Christmas," He said grinning sheepishly and ran away downstairs.

Hermione just stood there for a moment and then smiled widely and went back into the room.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George along with Harry and Hermione were gathered to open their presents. Harry and Hermione has decided to exchange friendly gifts so as to not to raise any kind of suspicions.

Each person received one of Mrs. Weasley's hand-made jumpers. Harry gave a transfiguration book of advances spells as gift to Hermione and a Chudley Cannons jersey signed by all players for Ron, who was simply delighted by his gift.

Hermione had given Harry a book, that was about rare and ancient defensive spells and rituals, and for Ron, she gave him a book about best Quidditch keepers of last century.

Ron brought a Fancy Quill set for Hermione and a Sneakoscope for Harry. "You need it the most, Harry." He had said.

Both Harry and Hermione had brought gifts for other Weasleys as well. The most awkward moment came when Ginny opened her present from Harry. It contained Quidditch gloves, nothing romantic or fancy; however, she acted as though it was the most romantic gift ever and kissed Harry on the cheek, her lips lingering there longer than was necessary. Mrs. Weasley looked like it was the wedding day of Harry and Ginny.

"Don't they just look like James and Lily?" She whispered only for Mr. Weasley to hear, but was heard by everyone in the room.

Harry tensed a bit and looked at Hermione who just rolled her eyes at Mrs. Weasley. Ron, Fred, and George were just laughing silently, and Ginny was glaring at them.

After exchanging their gifts Mrs. Weasley announced, "Along with the family, some of the order members will also attend Christmas dinner tonight. So everyone should get ready by 6 PM and I would be needing lots of help with dinner and decorations, so just tighten up yourself."

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Whole day passed in a blur. With helping for dinner and decorations day passed quickly and everyone was ready by 6 when others started arriving. There was enough food for everyone. Along with the whole Weasley family (except Percy), there were some order members and Luna had arrived as well. There were Tonks, Lupin, Kingsley, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and some others whom Harry didn't recognize. After dinner when guests had started to leave and Ron and Luna left to keep Luna's trunk and other things in Ginny's room, as she was going to stay at Burrow for rest of the holidays (though when they joined back others their lips looked red and swollen).

Lupin asked Hermione if he could talk to her in private. Hermione nodded and followed Lupin in a secluded corner of the room.

When they were away from everyone, Lupin took out a package from his pocket, "Here is what you asked me for last summer, Hermione. I collected as much as I could. I hope it would be enough." He said handing the package to Hermione.

"Thank you Professor Lupin. I don't have words important enough to describe you how much this means to me." Hermione said looking grateful.

"Oh it's nothing, Mrs. Potter." Lupin said with a teasing smile, making Hermione blush furiously.

"Well, I'll leave now." With that, he and Tonks left.

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(A/N:- Tonks and Lupin are together not married.)

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When all the guests left, Weasleys, Luna, Harry, and Hermione made their way towards their respective rooms after an exhausting and happy day.

Next day Harry got up very early in the morning. He was smiling very widely, thinking about the gift that he had received from Hermione last midnight.

Both Harry and Hermione had decided early in the day to exchange their real gifts during midnight when everyone would already be in their bed after the hectic Christmas dinner party.

They both met in the kitchen and went outside in the backyard.

Harry had brought a Beautiful necklace for Hermione. It was a diamond platinum necklace with, diamond curved in infinity symbol.

"Oh my god Harry! It must have cost you a fortune. Though I don't agree with you spending so much on me, I agree it's absolutely beautiful." Hermione said with admiration evident in her voice.

Harry just smiled at her expression. "My dad gave it to my mum at their first anniversary of getting together. I got it from their vault in Gringotts. I saw it in the vault this summer when we went to Diagon Alley for purchasing books and other things. Before we came here to Burrow, I had sent a note to Lupin who got it for me. He sent it to me last week here. It's an ancient and enchanted necklace. It will kind of provide protection for you using my love for you as a shield. This infinity symbol represents my love for you." Harry explained.

Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes as she just threw herself at Harry hugging him tightly. "I love you so much, Harry." She said simply.

They sat there for some time in each other's embrace. No words were spoken between them but they understood how the other felt.

As they pulled apart, Hermione spoke "Well it's time for your gift now." She took out the package Lupin had given her earlier and a small velvet box from her bag that she had brought with herself.

Harry looked curious. "Isn't it the package Remus gave you?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's your Christmas gift from me." Hermione said smiling. She gave him the velvet box and gestured him to open it. Harry opened the box. Inside there was a golden snitch tied with a golden chain. He looked at Hermione for explanation.

"It's a kind of pensieve. It stores memories just like Dumbledore's. You see, I made it with the help of Dumbledore, though he did the majority of work. It doesn't have all the features like that of his pensieve. You can see memories, but cannot go inside them. You can only see them from outside. All you have to do is perform an Engorgement charm on this."

"Engorgio" She said tapping her wand at the snitch. It started to stretch and looked like a flat screen of about 16 inches.

“You would just have to tap your wand on it and think about the memory you want to see and it will appear. Once you are done, say 'Reducio' and it will turn to its normal size. To store the memories, you just have to pull out the memory and drop it in snitch. It can be opened at half at the curving at its middle." Hermione said explaining the features of her gift.

"Now for your memories, I asked Prof. Lupin to collect some of the memories of your parents when they were together at school and of their wedding and other times, also the memories of marauders." She gave him the package, "It contains some phials labeled with their memories so you can see what memory you want to think about. You can put them in this snitch. But I think you should keep them in phial and put them in snitch as you see them one by one, then it would be easy to recall." She finished.

Harry hadn't spoken a word while listening to everything Hermione said. Instead of saying anything, he just kissed her softly putting everything in that kiss he was feeling that moment, love, passion, gratefulness…happiness. When they pulled apart all he said was," Thank you." Nothing else was spoken for next hour as they sat in comfortable silence kissing and holding each other. After sitting for some more time in each other's arms and talking for some time, they made to their way to their beds. They both decided to see the memories in school where they will have more privacy.

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Days after the Christmas passed very quickly and New Year arrived. A small party was arranged at the backyard of Weasleys. Everyone enjoyed it. When cloak struck 12 at midnight, everyone shouted 'HAPPY NEW YEAR' and congratulated each other. Ron and Luna had already left earlier to be alone with each other.

This time Ginny tried to kiss Harry on lips but he moved his face sideward at the last moment and kiss landed on his cheek. Hermione was furious and wanted to hex the redhead girl but controlled herself. Harry and Hermione managed to steal few kisses here and there when no one was watching which made Hermione forget all her anger towards redhead.

Finally, the day of departure to Hogwarts arrived. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Ginny boarded the train and were on their way back to Hogwarts.

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(A/N: - Hope you like it. Read and Review.)

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10. Dumbledore's army and Revelations

Author's Note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Finally, the day of departure to Hogwarts arrived. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna and Ginny boarded the train and were back on their way to Hogwarts.

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Dumbledore's army and Revelations

Five of them were on their way to Hogwarts after a very happy and relaxing Christmas break. They found an empty compartment and after putting away their trunks, they sat down enjoying their activities. Harry and Ron started playing chess, Luna took out her Quibbler, reading it upside down, and Hermione started reading the book she had bought from Diagon Alley during their trip to the alley. Ginny had left the compartment to find her friends.

So it was just the two couples in the compartment. After Ginny left, Luna locked the compartment with her wand and cast a silencing charm so that nobody would disturb them or hear their conversations.

"So, Harry, Hermione" Luna said getting others' attention, "How's been your married life so far?" She asked excitedly.

Ron chuckled. Luna glared at him. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I had been trying to get details from Harry, but he didn't tell me a thing." Ron said defensively.

"And why would you try to do any such thing, Ronald. Does a word like PRIVACY exist in your limited vocabulary?" Hermione asked looking infuriated, also a light blush staining her cheeks.

"Awe...Look at our dear Mrs. Potter. She's blushing." Luna said teasingly. "So, are you guys going to tell us or we would have to try something else?" She said.

"Honestly Luna, you are just as bad as Ron." Harry said, trying to sound incensed, but ended up laughing.

"Enough of hitting around the bush, guys. You are our best friends and we have every right to know how you both are doing." Luna said seriously (at least as serious as she could without turning to her usual dreamy mood).

"Everything feels amazing, as though if I am dreaming." Harry said lost in his thoughts, as he looked out of the window remembering his past, "Durselys never loved me. In fact, they made me feel as insignificant as they could. I never knew what love was until Ron and Hermione came along. With Hermione as my other half, and you and Ron as my friends, I have never been happier. Now I can think of a future and a family I never had. With you guys standing with me, I believe I can defeat Voldemort." Harry finished looking at Hermione.

Her chocolate-brown eyes were filled with love and warmth her heart possessed for him. She just got up from her seat and hugged him tightly. Harry pulled her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her.

"I feel the same way, Harry. We will get through this war and we will have a future together." Hermione whispered passionately.

Ron and Luna looked awestruck. It was an unblemished evidence of how much Harry and Hermione loved each other; one would never survive without another.

Harry lightly kissed Hermione on the lips. His heart started thumping rapidly as Hermione deepened the kiss.

"Please! Don't start another one of your snogging sessions here. Some people prefer a pleasant conversation as well." Ron said to lighten the mood.

"Look who's talking." Hermione said in a mocking tone, getting up from Harry's lap and sitting back on her seat.

"If I remember correctly it were you guys," She said pointing towards Ron and Luna, "who took off to some secret place to snog each other's heads off just before New Year arrived."

"At least we found a secret place," Ron grumbled as his cheeks turned red. Both Harry and Hermione started laughing relentlessly.

Rest of the journey went on smoothly. With talking, laughing and eating, time passed very quickly. Ginny didn't come back up until the train reached to Hogwarts. She joined them as students started to get down from the train. When they reached to the Great Hall, she gave a quick smile to Harry and once again left to sit with her friends. After the dinner and a humorous speech from the headmaster, all the students were sent back went to their dormitories.

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January arrived with a penetrating cold. It was easy to stay in the warm castle and attend the classes. However, classes on the school grounds were difficult to attend due to intense cold and a couple of times classes were cancelled due to heavy snowfall.

World outside Hogwarts was growing as cold, but because of Voldemort and his death eaters.

Both magical and muggle world in England were terrorized due to the frequent attacks of death eaters. Students at Hogwarts were scared for their families and relatives. In every few days, there was some kind of attack. Muggles didn't know about the magical occurrences, as they called the attacks to be done by the terrorists.

It was Friday of the last week of January. Most of the students were in their common room as it was very cold outside and classes for the day had already ended.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Gryffindor common room doing their homework. Hermione had already done hers and was reading the same book she was reading on the train. She put her book down and looked at Harry.

"Harry," She called to gain his attention.

"Yeah," He said looking up at her.

"Umm...what do you think about starting Dumbledore's Army again?" She asked hesitatingly.

Harry looked a bit surprised at her question. He hadn't really thought about Dumbledore's Army since their fifth year. Even Ron looked eager with their talk (more like it was a good excuse to take a break from his homework, especially with Hermione sitting there).

"But why? Umbridge is not here anymore. We are allowed to practice the spells and Professor Goodwin is teaching us so well. Why do we need DA now?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"Yes, Prof. Goodwin is an excellent teacher for DADA and we are allowed to perform the spells." Hermione explained. "But don't you think we should prepare ourselves for the war. Looking at the attacks that have started this year, we should learn how to face them and defend ourselves. This time it's going to be real. Everyone must be given a fair choice whether they want to fight or not. They should be trained at more advanced level and Prof. Goodwin can help us with the training and learning new things. War is just looming over our head and when will it break out we never know, but it will happen, that's for sure. We can ask Prof. Goodwin what he thinks about it. If he approves, we can talk to Prof. Dumbledore." She finished taking a deep breath.

"I think she's right, mate. You are already training with Dumbledore. But we also want to help you as much as we can. Remember, you are not alone in this war, you'll always find us by your side, Harry." Ron said.

Harry looked at his best friends of seven years. He could see in their eyes, they meant every word they said. "Okay then, we will talk to Prof. Goodwin tomorrow morning after breakfast. And if he and Dumbledore agree with our plan we can inform others about it." He said with determination in his voice. Both his friends looked at him with pride.

That night Harry and Hermione spent their time together at astronomy tower laying in each other arms staring at the starry night. In school it was a bit easy to spend time together alone. They had cast a warming charm around to prevent from getting cold.

"Hermione," Harry said.

"Hmm…" She murmured looking up at him.

"One day when all these things about war and Voldemort will be over, we will have a real wedding in the presence of all our friends, Weasleys and your parents. I know you missed them at our wedding." Harry said.

"Really?" Hermione said looking astonished.

"Really," Harry confirmed, laughing at her expression. Hermione surprised Harry by kissing him full on lips that he returned gladly.

After spending some more time at the tower, they made their way back towards Gryffindor tower under Harry's invisibility cloak. They went straight to Hermione's private quarter and slept there for rest of the night.

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Next day Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to Prof. Goodwin's office after finishing their breakfast. Hermione knocked on the office door. "Come in," they heard from inside the office and entered the office. Prof. Goodwin was sitting in his chair sipping his morning tea. He had blue eyes just like Dumbledore's. He had light brown, shoulder length hair, tied in a ponytail.

"Good morning students," Goodwin said with a smile.

"Good morning Professor," Trio said in unison.

He gestured them to sit. Three of them sat down. "So what brings you three here on a Saturday?" He asked good- naturedly.

Hermione started "Professor, we wanted to talk to you about Dumbledore's Army. It was a defence club we started back in our fifth year."

Before Hermione could continue further, Prof. Goodwin interrupted her. "I have heard about it. You three formed this group in your fifth year because of ministry's insistence about not to learn spells in practical form. And Harry helped others, who were willing, in learning the spells." He said as he looked towards Harry, impressed. Harry felt a bit embarrassed by the praising words.

"Hermione and Ron helped a lot." Harry said.

Hermione took over from there, "Sir, we want to start the club again. Looking at the current circumstances it would be better if a proper training is provided to those who are in fourth year or above. It will help in fight against Voldemort. What do you think about it, sir?" Hermione asked a bit uncertainly, "DA can be useful for the order as well." She added as an afterthought.

Goodwin seems to ponder their idea for some time. Then he spoke "I think it's a very good idea, Ms. Granger. It would be an extra learning for students and very beneficial as well and I agree with you, it will help in the war as well. But who will run this club, as Harry is already very busy with the training. Will you be able to take this responsibility?" He asked looking at Harry.

However, before Harry could answer, Hermione answered it for him. "Sir, Ron and I will help with this. We will not let him get distracted from his actual training and you will help us as well. Won't you?" She asked.

"Of course I will." Goodwin replied.

Four of them went to meet the Headmaster to ask for his consent. He gladly gave them permission to start the duelling club. He announced it to the other students on the dinner that night.

After they had eaten, he called for their attention.

"Everyone, can I have your little attention please? I have some important announcements to make." Dumbledore's voice carried throughout Great Hall.

Everybody fell silent and looked towards the Headmaster. "We are going to restart the defence club, which was started 2 years back, as some of you liked to call it my army that frightened some of the high post personnel at the ministry."

Many students chuckled at this. "Those who want to join can contact the head girl Ms. Granger. Rest of the information will be put on the notice board of common room of each house by tomorrow morning. Well this is all for the night. Go and rest your overly loaded minds. Good night." He finished in an amused voice. Students were excited about the latest announcement and had started to murmur about this while retreating to their dormitories.

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By the time next morning arrived, notices were already put on the notice boards of the each house.

Dear Students,

This notice is for the students who are in fourth year or above. This is about to inform you that school will be starting the duel club which was started 2 years back by some Gryffindors for practicing spells. This time many advance spells will be taught. This would be a kind of training that would help you in defending yourselves and fighting against Lord Voldemort. As students started this club, they will handle it completely. There would be no direct involvement by any teacher, except Prof. Goodwin, who has agreed to guide and help with the club. Those who want any other information about the club can contact Head Girl Miss Hermione Granger and those, who want to join the club, can give their names to either her or Ronald Weasley, a Gryffindor student. Names must be given before 7 PM on the upcoming Wednesday.

By

Prof. Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

P.S.:- This training will nothing be like that of a normal class. It will involve the training like that of a war camp. Those who join should consider it thoroughly, it's not a game for fun but a preparation for what is out there waiting for you. Choice will be yours.

Trio was excited with the response they were getting from the student population. Many students had already given their names. All the students in or above fourth year in Gryffindor house had submitted their names on the day of the announcement itself. Others were also coming forward to give their names. By Tuesday night, almost all the students who were eligible to participate in the training program had given their names.

Nobody had expected Slytherins to participate in the program. However, the most interesting fact was that some of the Slytherins also gave their names. They assumed that even if Malfoy had wanted to join he wouldn't have, as he could not speak due to charm Hermione had placed upon him, which made them laugh harder. Malfoy hadn't crossed their path since the holidays.

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On Wednesday night, Harry, Ron, and Hermione informed Dumbledore about the response they had received from the students. The first meeting of club was scheduled on upcoming Saturday at 7 PM in the Room of Requirement. Students were told about how to enter the room.

On Saturday evening, everyone who had signed for the club was present in Room of Requirement. Seeing the number of students that were at least around 150, room expanded itself. There were many books on the shelf about advanced defensive spells. There were also some sneakoscopes, dark magic detectors, and other magical equipment required in dealing with dark magic.

Hermione started speaking, "Hello everyone. I am Hermione Granger; this is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." She said gesturing towards Harry and Ron.

"We already know them." Said a Ravenclaw girl dreamily, which Hermione assumed was from fifth year.

"Right, so we have gathered here to learn how to defend ourselves from the attacks that are happening in the outside world. Those who were in this club two years back would know about some of the defensive spells we learned that time. This time it's an official club so we will have no problem as far as staff is concerned. However, this time we would be adding some different things apart from defense in this training. We are dividing the training in 3 parts; they would be Attack, Defense and Healing. Everyone will be trained with basics of all the three elements, but more stress would be in learning the thing you would be better at. By this, we can help each other. On weekdays we would be training each day for 2 hours and on weekends it would be more than 4 hours and there would be break as well, to do your school homework and for your personal time as well." she added before anyone started complaining.

None of them complained which showed that they understood the importance of training in current circumstances.

"Any questions," Hermione asked.

Lisa Turpin, a seventh year Ravenclaw, raised her hand. "It was mentioned on the notice that Prof. Goodwin will guide us." She said.

"Yes, he has agreed to help us. However, he would not be completely involved in this but he will guide with new and advanced spells. Now the thing is that we would make a committee that will manage the club. It would be good to make the committee from the sixth and seventh year students, as they are more experienced in spells and learning than others are. Does anyone have any kind of objection to this?" Hermione asked looking at everyone. She waited for their answer. All were murmuring among themselves.

Harry was listening to Hermione very carefully. Trio had discussed with Prof. Goodwin about operating the DA, before the meeting. Hermione and professor had come up with the idea of dividing the group as per the strength everyone possessed. Hermione was in her element when she was speaking. She wasn't the girl insecure of her looks or a girl without friends like back in first year, but a girl who had confidence in her abilities and knowledge, who was proud to be called a bookworm and who could fight against inequality different living beings suffered. That's what made her unique, different from those girls, who were more interested in fashion and looks, than worrying about injustice in the world. Harry was staring at Hermione lost in his own thoughts.

Hermione nudged Harry on the side, before anyone noticed him staring at her. He looked at her and gave a private smile to her.

"Day dreaming Mr. Potter," She whispered playfully.

"Oh yeah, about a beautiful girl," He replied in mock dreamy voice.

Before Hermione could reply, Ron interrupted, "Guys, don't start here, next you would be snogging in front of everyone." He said with a smirk, and then added, "Ginny was looking at you both very closely. Be more careful or she'll figure out something." He said, his voice turning serious, which was very unusual for Ron.

Everyone agreed with the suggestions presented by Hermione. It was decided that two members would be selected from each house, either from sixth or seventh year. And it was up to the members of the house to decide who will represent their house in the committee.

"Okay then, we will have our first meeting on Monday at 7 PM here. By then each house should decide their two representatives for the committee. One more thing, we are not going to change our schedule due to Quidditch practices. In fact practices must be scheduled around the meetings, captains agree?" All the captains from each house except Slytherin captain, who was not present in the meeting, agreed to what Hermione said. They knew that it was wartime and it was very important for them to be prepared for what was waiting for them outside.

With that, everyone made their way towards their respective houses.

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It was Sunday. Harry and Hermione were sitting in the common room chatting about DA and school, while Ron was somewhere with Luna in the castle. Ginny joined them after sometime.

"Hi," She said coming over to them and sitting next to Harry in an empty chair. "So what you guys are up to today?" She asked casually.

"Nothing, we were just thinking about going to meet Hagrid." Hermione said looking at Harry.

"Would you mind if I join you?" Ginny asked sweetly. They both looked at her with bewilderment. Never before had Ginny joined with them on their visits to Hagrid, the gamekeeper of school. Seeing their expression, she added, "If you don't want me to go with you, it's ok. I understand." With that, she got up to leave, but Harry stopped her by saying "No Ginny. It's ok. You can join us."

Ginny immediately perked up. "Oh Harry. Thank you so much."

But then her excitement faded as she looked at Hermione who had an unreadable expression on her face. "If you don't want me to come, Hermione, it's okay with me. I mean it's your personal visit and I don't want to spoil your fun. I know we haven't been on best of terms since you and Harry broke up." Ginny said looking at the floor, sounding like it was her fault they broke up.

Hermione snorted under her breath, but Harry heard her and looked at her, feeling confused. "I have no problem, Ginny. You can come with us." Hermione said with a forced smile on her face.

"Thanks Hermione," Ginny said looking happy as she hugged Hermione. Hermione just rolled her eyes at Harry, who shook his head in response.

Three of them made their way towards Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was sitting outside his hut at the door, as it wasn't very cold today. He looked at them coming towards him.

"Harry, Hermione nice to see ya both and Ginny's also here. Come in yer." He said happily.

"Hello Hagrid. How have you been?" Hermione asked as they entered the hut.

"Am absolute fin'" He replied, "An yer all?"

"We are doing just fine." Harry said sitting on the chair, "We are starting DA again."

"Ya hear' about it. It's really nice that students can learn to defend themselves." Hagrid said while pouring each of them tea from kettle.

"And yes Hermione, Grawpy miss' yer." He said with a chuckle. Hermione turned red with embarrassment while Harry started laughing. After sometime, Hermione started laughing as well. Ginny sat quietly feeling envious, as Harry and Hermione laughed at their shared joke.

"Did I miss something?" She asked trying to sound polite.

"Oh it's nothing," Hermione said dismissively while staring daggers at Harry who was still laughing hard.

"Our dear Hermione has an admirer." Harry said in a singsong voice. Hermione just gave him a look that said 'wait till i get you alone'.

Next few minutes were spent talking about school and Quidditch amongst other things. By the time they finished it was already past noon.

"Oh! We have already missed the lunch." Hermione said checking her watch.

After saying goodbye to Hagrid, they walked back to the castle. On the way, Ginny and Harry continued to talk about Quidditch, as most of the talking was done on the part of Ginny. As they already missed the lunch, they decided to take something from the kitchen. Dobby was very happy to see them and served them with whatever they wanted. He was especially very good with Ginny, which confused Hermione. As far as she knew, Dobby hardly knew Ginny. After having their fills, they made their way towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Thanks for letting me come." She said to Harry and Hermione, though most of her attention was on Harry. She kissed Harry on the cheek and left. Hermione was practically fuming.

"How dare she?" She said angrily.

"Hermione, calm down," Harry said, squeezing her shoulder. She immediately felt her anger fading away.

"So, will you care to tell me what was happening between you and Ginny this morning? You two being not on the best of terms?" Harry asked.

"Well, since we got together in our sixth year she hadn't been a very good friend to me. Of course, she never got over you. After that, we just kept growing distant. It had never been the same anymore." Hermione said feeling a little sad. "I think she needs to grow up and to be truth I don't trust her as I used to. I think she is expecting you to ask her out or maybe she will ask you herself." She added with a smirk.

Harry gave a horrified expression. "How did you know I was going to ask her out? You were never supposed to know about my other girlfriend."

Hermione hit him on his arm "Ouch!" Harry whined mockingly.

"You are such a cry baby, Potter." Hermione said, laughing. Harry just loved to see her laughing. Her laugh was infectious and he too started laughing with her.

After sometime when they stopped laughing, Hermione spoke, "Harry, there was something I wanted to talk to you about. Can we go somewhere more private?"

"Yeah sure, let's take a walk around the lake." Harry replied, getting up from his seat and dragging Hermione along with him towards the portrait.

As they were walking near the lake, "So what was it you wanted to talk about?" Harry asked curiously.

"You remember you mentioned about how all of a sudden you started to feel attracted to Ginny." Hermione said. Harry nodded thinking where the conversation was leading.

"Yeah I remember that. One day I was dreaming about you and next day I was attracted to Ginny. But, you don't think I still harbor feelings for her. Do you?" Harry asked nervously looking at Hermione.

"Oh no Harry, it's nothing like that. I know you love me and I love you too." Hermione assured him, touching his face lightly with her fingers.

Harry sighed with relief. "Then what is it about?" He asked, pulling Hermione in his arms.

"Well...ermm" Suddenly Hermione looked anxious, "Look don't take it wrong way, it's just that those feelings weren't real. Someone tried to meddle with your emotions, either through some spell or potion. I had bought a book in Diagon Alley along with some other books. It was about spells and potions that affect and alter our feelings towards others. You told me that your feelings for Ginny appeared all of a sudden, so I decided to do a bit of research."

Hermione stopped to take a deep breath and then continued, "I found about some spells and potions that attract you to others. They are not like love potions. They just attract you. Some witches and wizards used to brew these potions around 300 years back. They preferred these potions to attract their lovers or spouses after many years of marriage to revive the old passion in their marriage. Love potions were developed few years later after that. So whosoever it was, either he or she just wanted to break us apart or wanted you to be with Ginny." Hermione finished her explanation waiting for Harry's reaction.

Harry was appalled. "You mean someone put a spell on me or gave me a love potion so that I'll fall for Ginny and leave you. But who would do it?"

Hermione just shrugged. "There are many people who don't want you to be with me. According to them, someone like me doesn't deserve you. You deserve so much better." Hermione said last part in a soft whisper looking at the ground, but Harry heard it.

He tightened his grip on Hermione and raised her chin to look into her eyes. "I deserve you. Hell no. I don't deserve you, especially, after what I did to you, but you gave me a chance. You are the most amazing, beautiful and reliable person I have ever met, Hermione, and I am luckiest person to have you in my life."

"Now that I have made my point clear there will be no more talks about not being good enough. Do I make myself clear Mrs. Potter?" He said in a mock stern voice.

"Yes sir," Hermione said laughing and kissed Harry tenderly.

After some time, Hermione pulled away. "So who do you think would have done it? Any suspects?" Harry asked.

"It can be anyone, may be Malfoy. But, I think Ginny can do it as well, especially after seeing her behavior these past few days. I was surprised when she was insistent in knowing about why we broke up, as though if she knew but wanted me to say the words." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"You think Ginny did this to us?" Harry said, surprised.

"I know it's difficult to believe as we are friends. I wish my doubts are not true." Hermione said thinking about her once only best girl friend.

"Now that you are mentioning it, she asked me about our break up while we were at Burrow. She also asked me if I was interested in someone else, but I said no. It seemed like she wasn't expecting me to say that." Harry said.

"I think we should ask Madam Pomfrey to examine you and tell us if there was any spell on you or were you been given any potion." Hermione said. Harry agreed, as he also wanted to know whether his unexpected feelings for Ginny were real or just an end product of a potion or a spell. He wished it were a spell or a potion. He still hadn't gotten over what he did with Hermione, how much he had hurt her despite loving her so much.

Later when they talked to Madam Pomfrey, they were surprised to know that their theory was correct.

After their walk near lake, they went to Hospital Wing to ask Madam Pomfrey about their suspicions. Madam Pomfrey was sitting in her office reading a magazine.

"Madam Pomfrey," Hermione called.

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey said, coming out of her office with a magazine in her hand.

"Oh Ms. Granger, and Mr. Potter is also here. Don't tell me you have once again managed to injure yourself, Mr. Potter." Medi-witch said in a stern voice.

"Oh no Madam Pomfrey, he is not injured." Hermione answered, "Actually we wanted a little help from you. Can you examine Harry and see if he has any kind spell on him or if he has been given any kind of potion other than the usual ones?"

It was a good thing that Madam Pomfrey didn't ask too many questions. "Of course Ms. Granger. I'll check it." Madam Pomfrey replied...

She asked Harry to lie on the bed. After Harry lay down on the bed, she took out her wand and started performing some non-verbal spells, moving her wand in a complicated fashion. After some movements, her wand started to glow bright orange. She stopped her wand movements and frowned a bit.

"Well Mr. Potter it looks as if like you had been given a potion that has emotional impact your feelings." Both Harry and Hermione looked at each other.

"And what could it be Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked in a worried tone.

"He has been given Kissing Concoction. It causes the drinker to become infatuated with the giver of the potion or to the person whose hair has been put into the potion." Madam Pomfrey explained, "It seems like Mr. Potter had been under potion's influence for quite some. But it has not been given to you for at least a month now, but its residue is still in your system. Did you feel any kind of attraction towards anyone, Mr. Potter, except Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey asked seriously.

"Err...yes, but I don't feel it any more. In fact it was very short lived." Harry said.

Suddenly Hermione squeaked, as a thought crossed her mind, "Can it be that his own magic or say his strength of mind and heart was fighting against the effects of potion?" Hermione asked Madam Pomfrey. "Maybe that's why effects of potion were so short. Otherwise as you said Madam Pomfrey, he was fed with it for quite some time, then definitely effect of the potion should have been longer, but it wasn't."

"A very good guess, Ms. Granger. Five points to Gryffindor." Medi-Witch said smiling. Hermione blushed a bit.

"Miss Granger is right. The amount of potion you were given. Mr. Potter, it should have worked almost as a love potion. But it didn't. It means either you already had very strong feelings for someone else or your magic is very powerful." Madam Pomfrey said.

"Is there any antidote?" Harry asked.

"Yes there is an antidote, not that you need that. But it would be good to take it as a safety precaution." Madam Pomfrey said. With that, she went back to her office and came back with a small phial, which contained a bright blue colored potion.

"Here, take it with you. Take one sip each day, for one week. It will completely clear your system from the lasting effects of the potion." Medi-witch said.

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey" Harry and Hermione said together.

She just waved it off, "If you have any problem or side effects, come to me." They both nodded and left the hospital wing.

"Well that went better than expected." Harry said as they walked through deserted corridor. He linked his hand with Hermione's almost absent-mindedly.

"Yeah we were lucky she didn't ask who it was." Hermione said with relief, "Also your love for me won the battle in the end, so no more guilt trips for you." She said smiling widely at Harry.

Harry stopped her and pulled her in his arms. "I am glad more than I can ever tell. I was feeling so bad for hurting you that I couldn't live with myself. But I was also acting like a hypocrite because I broke up with you and then didn't want you to date with someone else either." He said.

"You shouldn't have worried yourself over it. I never wanted to date anybody else either. Only person who asked me was Terry Boot, but luckily, he went with that Ravenclaw girl, Lisa Belluci. So I didn't have to go with him." Hermione said.

When Hermione mentioned Terry Boot, Harry looked at her sheepishly. Hermione looked back at him suspiciously, "It didn't have anything to do with you? Did it?" She asked.

"Well… I just gave him a piece of my mind and hinted him to stay away from you." He replied nonchalantly, though his lips twitched upwards.

Hermione just shrugged out of his arms "Harry James Potter, you are just incorrigible." She said in a low but stern voice. A panicked expression appeared on Harry's face.

Hermione burst out laughing at his predicament. Harry was dumbstruck at her reaction. Then it dawned onto him that she was pulling his leg.

"Why you little..." He said as he made to grab her, but she had already started running away from him. He ran after her and caught her at the end of corridor. He held her tightly by waist from behind.

"Won't let you go so easily love? You were making fun of me." He whispered in a rough voice, sending chills down her spine.

"So what will you do about it?" She asked defiantly.

"Don't you want to know?" He said nuzzling her neck and kissing her jaw line. She turned around in his arms and put her arms around his neck, "Of course I do." She whispered more boldly than she actually felt. With that they both started making out passionately in the empty corridor and then in an empty classroom.

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"Should we tell Ron about our suspicions regarding Ginny?" Harry asked Hermione. They were sitting in the Gryffindor common room on Monday morning, waiting for Ron to come down from boys' dormitory.

"I think we should wait. At least until we have a solid evidence of what Ginny did." Hermione replied thoughtfully, "It won't be easy for him. Ginny will always be his little baby sister. We should not make him choose sides. And though most of our theories about this are correct, we are not 100% sure that it's Ginny."

"Yeah, it would be good to wait for some time." Harry agreed.

"Did you take your potion yesterday?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I took it before going to bed." Harry replied.

"Today we are having first official meeting of DA. Feeling nervous?" Hermione asked understandably.

"A bit. But I have you and Ron with me. I can get through anything." He said looking determined.

"We will always stand by your side, mate, even if Hermione can be an insufferable and know- it-all and well, list goes on and on." Ron said with a chuckle. He had just arrived from his dormitory. Hermione threw the cushion she was holding at Ron "Prat!" She said.

"See, told you..." Ron said, laughing.

"Are you ready to face another grueling day, my dear friends?" Ron said in a mock serious voice.

Both Harry and Hermione grinned at his antics. "Yes sir, absolutely," They both replied together playfully.

With that, three best friends with an unbreakable bond between them made their way towards the portrait hole to face another challenging day.

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A/N: - Prof. William Goodwin is a new DADA teacher, an old friend of Dumbledore and Dumbledore didn't die in sixth year. Goodwin is also a member of order of phoenix.

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