BOOK 7
Harry Potter and the Persian Diamond
Author: Melissa Barrette
ATTN: I am not trying to steal ideas or anything, but I realize that Mrs. Rowling's stories are copyrighted, so if you don't tell, no one will get in trouble. I used the characters from Harry Potter, sort of the same thing that Tom did with his story. Whatever you do, don't report that I am using this stuff, I am not in the mood for a lawsuit against me. The characters don't really act like the characters in J.K Rowling's books, but I try to make it seem like they do, but my ideas are put in this story, and I am not copying any ideas, or plagiarising anything of hers or anybody else's.
Chapter One: Guests Unwelcome
Hermione and Ron arrived at 4 privet drive. They were hoping to surprise Harry, with a good old-fashioned welcome. Ron knocked on the door, waited a second, then turned to Hermione, and said: "Do you think this is such as good idea, Hermione? I mean, Harry might not want to see us; you know he said he didn't want to go back to Hogwarts again!"
"Yeah, that's possible, but I do recall that he wanted to see his parents."
Ron made a funny face and looked at Hermione, who was looking straight at the door. Then, it opened, with Uncle Vernon standing right there.
"Can we see Harry M. Dursley?" Hermione asked Uncle Vernon.
Without any reply to this, Uncle Vernon turned away ready to shut the door, when he screamed: "Boy! You have guests!"
Hermione looked at Ron. Then, Petunia came to the door, and said politely: "come in, I have tea and cookies, would you two like some?" both Hermione and Ron came in and both sat on the couch in the Dursley's living room. Aunt Petunia placed the tray on the table. As Ron went to grab a few cookies, Hermione slapped his hand. This was funny, as Dudley watched, afraid.
Harry came down, surprised that both Ron and Hermione were in his house, together. Usually they would be one at a time, maybe there's an event, oh yeah, I know what this is…
"Hi Harry!" Ron said.
"We were hoping you can come with us, to the park or something, we want to talk to you." Hermione stood up to face him, but he didn't look like he wanted to speak to anyone, at least that was his facial expression.
"Yeah, Harry" Ron said, grabbing a cookie, still sitting down. "It will be good to get out, get some fresh air…."
"No! I don't want to!" Dudley interrupted. He wasn't okay with his mother, Aunt Petunia, who was in the kitchen at this time, asking him nicely if he could come into the kitchen, to test out her new batch of cookies.
"Harry," Hermione started, looking back at the disturbance that Dudley had made, "We wanted to show you something."
"Like what?" Ron said, looking back at Hermione.
"You know what, I don't have time for this guys, please come back later when I feel like talking to people, right now I feel like talking to no one." Harry said talking to Hermione.
As they both heard this, Ron and Hermione both got up, thanked Aunt Petunia for the cookies and tea, and walked out the door.
"Ron, do you know why Harry is acting this way?" Hermione said as they were walking off the Dursley's property.
"Can't quite figure it out Hermione, do you think that Harry is just wanting a little space for a while?" Ron replied, taking his wand out to call the wizarding bus.
"I don't understand, Ron. Do you think that maybe Harry is worried about his parents? I think that Harry just wanted to be alone, or well, yes, I think that he was--Yes! That's it! He wants to see their graves, alone."
They both boarded the bus, eager to think what Mr. and Mrs. Weasley was going to say.
Chapter Two: The Leaky Cauldron
The night was cold when they reached Diagon Alley. Not many people were there. One light near Ollivander's was flashing off and on, and Ron looked a little scared from the nearly dead light.
''Ron, you look a little scared. Do you want to stop at The Leaky Cauldron for the night, Ron? You look kind of scared." Hermione said. She could see the look on his face. It wasn't a smile she could see. It was more like a frightened face, but he tried not to let it come out. "Hermione, don't you think that I am perfectly capable of staying outside at this time of night? I'm 17 years old, and you still think I am afraid of the dark. Anyway, what can we encounter here in Diagon Alley, besides Death Eaters? Without them, it would be perfectly safe here." Ron said, looking around.
"Ron, don't tell me that! I know you ARE still afraid of the dark, and we ARE staying at Tom's, okay?" Hermione said.
"Sure, then, Hermione, we'll stay at Tom's place, but we are not staying long. Look, it's starting to rain. Let's go quick before we get soaked.'' Ron said as he grabbed the door of the Leaky Cauldron. As they came inside, they saw Tom cleaning up. He grabbed the cups, and magically put them in the cupboard above. It wasn't busy this time of night, which was surprising, because usually any minute now people would be coming in, and engaging in conversation.
"Hi Tom, do you have any available rooms for us?" Hermione asked as Tom as he walked towards them. "Yea, missy, 1 'ah 2 for yah?'' he asked.
"Uhh...what?" Ron said, spacing out.
"Ron! Pay attention! Oh wait, Tom, could we have to separate rooms...I want privacy. I find that..." Hermione said, looking at someone that just came in.
"Hermione, what are you looking at----oh, okay spacing out!" Ron said.
"Fine guys, follow me!" Tom said, starting to walk up the stairs. Hermione followed Tom, and Ron followed Hermione.
At the top of the old, creaky stairs, Tom showed them the two separate rooms beside each other.
"There you are...hope they're clean enough" Tom said, walking back down.
"Which one do you want, Ron? I prefer the one on the right...but, whichever you like, I'll take the other one." Hermione pointed out.
"It doesn't matter Hermione" Ron said, looking inside the left room. "Look! Our stuff is already in the rooms!" Ron showed.
"When I get inside, I'll send an owl to notify your mother we are here, safe." Hermione said, walking in her room.
"Wait! Look at the time, it's only 9:30, do you want to play a game of cards or something? Or, just talk about anything?" Ron said, trying to continue the conversation.
"Sure," Hermione said, getting her quills, ink, and a long roll of parchment, to write a letter to Mrs. Weasley. "Just a minute, do you have any cards?" Hermione asked, shutting her door.
"No, I thought you had some. You have everything." Ron replied.
They walked down the stairs, stair by stair, hearing one huge creak after each step.
Grabbing the nearest table to the stairs, each took a seat.
"Do you want to talk instead?" Hermione said, starting the letter. She had no intentions to play cards anyway, she just wanted to talk, something she really likes to do.
"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" Ron replied, sounding like he was interesting in just talking.
"I don't know, are you going to Hogwarts this year?" Hermione said, starting off the topic. She didn't know what else to talk about, her and Ron rarely talk alone. She didn't think that this was a bad topic though, but it was a pointless question, she knew the answer, but she needed something to start the conversation.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know. I know that Harry doesn't want to go back, and I might join him. I know that my mom won't let me stop going, although, every year we have to battle ourselves out of situations that test our strengths and weaknesses, but I mean, if I don't go, then it's like I am afraid of what will happen this year. I mean, it's like I am afraid to face my problems. You know?" Ron said, anxious to see what she was going to say after him. He didn't know why he told Hermione she isn't the first person he would talk to if he had the choice, but since she was there, and the moment was unexpected, at least he had someone to talk to, to pass the time.
"Yeah, but in my situation, I will continue to go there. I am a little afraid of some of the situations that we do get in, but that are life, and we can't change the course of life, unless you do what me and Harry did in our 3rd year, use a timetable to save Buckbeak. Hagrid was so happy to get Buckbeak back; you know he is really attached to his 'pets'." Hermione replied back, interested in the topic. She thought that maybe it wouldn't be a good one, but I guess it interconnects everything. She liked how everything just came together.
Ron laughed. "You know your right. Hagrid always has such interesting 'pets'. But, that's saying that Hagrid doesn't care about what you look like or your size for that matter." He laughed again.
"I would have to agree, Ron." Hermione said, wondering if that was the first time that she ever agreed with him on anything. She finished up the letter, and rolled it up, and put it on the table.
"Can I see it?" he asked, pointing at the letter.
"Sure, it is from both of us. Tell me what you think of it. I don't have very much parchment left, so I hope I didn't forget anything, or made too many mistakes." Hermione said, giving Ron the letter, and seeing him unrolling it and reading it. She hoped that she didn't make any mistakes, but yet again, she wasn't perfect. She knew that Ron wouldn't be able to point them out, he was than Harry in spelling and grammar.
"It looks good to me…" Ron said. I knew it…he wouldn't notice if his own name wasn't spelt right! Hermione thought. She laughed.
"What are you laughing for?" Ron asked. He knew he said nothing worth laughing about.
"Oh, nothing, never mind." Hermione said, trying to keep her cool, hoping next time that she won't laugh or think out loud when there are other people there that only hear laughing, or some other noises.
The conversation continued for several hours. Ron made a huge long speech about something, Hermione wasn't quite sure just what, and she got lost at the starting when he said: "Did you know…"
She checked the time. It was almost midnight. If they wanted to get a good sleep and wake up early to go to Mrs. Weasley's house rested.
"Ron, we should be going to bed now. It's almost midnight." Hermione told Ron, getting up from her seat, wanting to go to bed. For the last hour, she was tired, but didn't want Ron to think she was rude, and didn't want him to think that she wasn't interested in what he was talking about, even though she really wasn't.
"I guess, see you in the morning." Ron said, climbing the stairs to join Hermione, who was already upstairs.
They exchanged good nights and both headed in their separate rooms and shut their doors.
The next morning, Ron knocked on Hermione's door. He didn't know that she had been up well before, and thought that she just wanted to sleep in. He was eager to get out of the Leaky Cauldron. It was the "hour of weird smells" and he didn't want to be there much longer.
"Hermione! Are you up yet? I don't want--"Ron screamed, knocking very loudly, until Hermione rips open the door, screaming.
"Ron! I'm up okay! I don't need someone to wake me up!" she screamed, running down the stairs.
''Tom, can you let Ron's parents know that my belongings are here." she said, as she shut the door. ''Ron, do you know what got into her?" A strange voice came from downstairs, watching Ron upstairs.'' Hello? I'm talking to you!" The strange voice called again. Ron looked around, then looked down, to see (wouldn't you know it) Harry, waving.
"Harry! Harry! You came!" Ron said, running down the stairs in his new clothes. He was surprised to find him here, seeing yesterday he didn't want to talk to anyone really.
"Yeah" Harry said, looking Ron in the face. He had a really small grin on his face. "Do you know why Hermione stormed out like that? She looked REALLY mad." he said.
"It's hormone season, I guess." Ron said, laughing. Harry turned his grin into a bigger one, walking over to be beside Ron, putting his arm over his shoulder.
"Now, let's go find her!" Harry said, taking off his arm, and running towards the door.
"Tom, let Mum know that my stuff is here!" Ron yelled as he grabbed his backpack, along with a few necessities for the road.
Chapter Three: The Package
Hermione looked around. She was almost at the Weasley house when she noticed something. A box, yellow colored, appears right in front of her. It looked a little beat up and dirty. She didn't waste any time in grabbing her wand from the inside of her coat, pointing it at the box, and saying: "Ripairo!"
Quick enough, the yellow box was repaired and cleaned. She picked it up. This time, ahe noticed a white sticker with writing on it. It said:
"Hermione Granger
Wherever you are
In whatever city, province or country
Whatever postal code
Courtesy of: Finding Person Mail
She looked again at the package. It could be a trap...she thought. "Then again, it wouldn't hurt if I opened it...it does say my name...but, then again, it could be a trap." She couldn't think about what to do with it. She decided to carry the box around with her, at least util she reachers Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's home.
As she got to the Weasley property, she opened the gate, she couldn't think of a way to see if the box was a trap, it was magic-sealed. She had never seen a magic-sealed, ordinary box before. She walked towards the door, and knocked. She didn't wait long. Somebody on the other side screamed: "Who is this?" Hermione didn't know what she was supposed to do, so she just said: "Hermione Granger". It took a few moments, then the other side said: "How do we know you are Hermione? What is the secret sentence? Your blood type? Who are your parents?"
Hermione made a funny face. Then she spoke. "You know I am me, because I am the only one who would come here to talk to you without Harry. Nobody else knows this, but I used to have a crush on Harry. The secret sentence is : Well, I can't tell you want the secret sentence is, my blood type is: -76b and my parents are: Susan and Gregory Granger. Do you need to know any other information?" She waited a few seconds, and then the door opened, and Mrs. Weasley was looking in Hermione's eyes.
"Next time honey, never tell anybody who you liked before and who you like now. Especially if it's the same person." Mrs. Weasley said, welcoming her inside.
Once inside, Mrs. Weasley stirs something in the kitchen. Hermione following, she asks if she wanted any.
"Its onion soup, do you want some? Have you seen Ron today? I know that you sent a letter last night, showing that you and he were at The Leaky Cauldron, safe and sound." Mrs. Weasley said, stopping every few seconds to look back at her as she gave her answer.
"You know Mrs. Weasley, I am not hungry. I might not have gotten much to eat today, but I do plan on eating tonight. The only time I saw Ron was this morning when I left. I was in a bad mood, so I left quickly. I haven't seen him since." Hermione said. "We did go yesterday to Harry's house; I mean, at his aunt and uncle's. His is 44 grimmauld place,I forgot. Oh yeah, he said that he didn't want to be bothered either."
"Okay, but I suggest you stay here, so, if Ron comes, I can have both of you here, without anybody looking for anybody else. I still want to be careful; there still might be death eaters."
Harry and Ron were still looking for Hermione when 5:00 pm came around. Because Hermione was nowhere to be found, they decided to stop at Chantilly's coffee shop, near Zonko's Joke shop. Inside, witches and wizards engaged in conversation, it was a packed house. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace. They walked at the counter, where they saw Chantilly, the owner, who was about their age. ''Hey both of you!" Chantilly exclaimed, pointing her finger to the dirty cups, washing themselves. She turned around to face them. "So how are you two? Where's Hermione?" she started.
"Not bad," Harry replied. "We were looking for Hermione, but we can't find her. Ron tells me she was a little grumpy this morning..."
"At little?" Ron added. "Oh, I see...did you see Fleur and Bill today?" Chantilly said. "If not, they are talking over there, they were here all morning!" Chantilly continued. "Served them about a dozen coffees!"
"Yeah, I know that Bill likes his wake". Ron said. "That's all I know about him."
"You know a lot more than that, Ron. He IS your brother!" Harry said, ordering a mocha double.
"I'll take a small cappuccino w/ coco mash, please" Ron said.
"Sure thing, try to get a table, it will be there in a minute". Chantilly said.
Harry and Ron sat at the nearest table by the fire place. It was warm, so both of them took their coats off.
"Do you have the feeling that Hermione is at your house?" Harry said. Grabbing his Mocha double from Chantilly.
"Yeah, and I bet that she is talking to my mother. How did you know?" Ron said, grabbing his drink as well.
"I don't know, I just had a funny feeling. You know, after our drinks, we should go to your house. That way, we can surprise Hermione with my arrival." Harry said, taking a huge gulp. "Ouch! I burnt my tongue!"
A few minutes later, Harry and Ron grabbed their coats and headed to Ron's house, hoping to see Hermione there.
Chapter Four: Visitors
Hermione forgot about the yellow box, until Mrs. Weasley asked her about it.
"Oh!" Hermione said, taking the box in her hands. "I forgot about it. Do you know anything about a company called: Finding Person Mail?" she asked, holding up the box.
"I don't know, but I know that I haven't heard of it" Mrs. Weasley said, grabbing the box from Hermione. She examined the box carefully, looking at all the sides, wondering why someone like Hermione would get a box like this.
Once Mrs. Weasley took the box, she tried to open it, but it wouldn't open. She tried to use magic, as an alternative, but even that didn't work. She couldn't figure out why it wouldn't open. Then it came to her.
"Hermione, I know why it won't let me open it. Finding Person Mail is a mailing company that doesn't use owls. It just drops the package exactly where you are, or one or two minutes ahead, before you get to that destination. For example, if you were in Ollivander's and were on your way to Gringotts, they would drop the package at Gringotts." Mrs. Weasley explained. "Also, it only let's the person who the name is on the package open the box or the envelope, not anyone else." She handed the box back to Hermione. "You open it yourself. It must be very important if whoever sent this sent it by Finding Person, since this mailing service is only used for important messages only. Go ahead. Open it, now." Mrs. Weasley said, pushing her to open the strange box.
As Hermione opened the box, she noticed a teal glass 3-D oval, and a note. Examining the object, she glanced at the note. It read: "Once, you are in trouble call me on the double."
"What could that mean?" Hermione said, looking closely at the strange thing. Mrs. Weasley looked at the object, worried.
"I don't know why you have this Hermione. It can be useful, but…." she said.
"What's wrong? I guess I was supposed to get this, since they did send it by mail, to exactly where I was. What do you mean 'but'?" Hermione asked, still holding it.
"Hermione, sit down." Once she sat down, Mrs. Weasley continued. "It's the Persian Diamond. You can call anyone, dead or alive, to talk or to get advice or help in a time of need." She explained.
A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door. At the door, Mrs. Weasley asked who was there. "Ron, your son." The voice on the other side replied.
"How can I be sure?" Mrs. Weasley asked. She heard a sigh from the other side. She knew it was her son; he was the only one who would sigh if someone asked him to do anything.
"What is the secret family saying?" she asked. She heard him speak to someone else. Then, she asked: "Who is with you?"
"Cherry blossoms!" Ron said, getting impatient. "Mum! You know who I am so let me in!"
"I don't know a certain 'cherry blossom', can you tell me who really is with you?" she said, as she laughed with Hermione, who had a small grin on her face.
"It's Harry, mum, now let us in!" Ron said, knocking three times.
"Okay, okay, come on in." Mrs. Weasley said, opening the door, letting both Ron and Harry inside.
"Hi Hermione, how are you?" Harry said, coming in after Ron. He asked the question, but didn't know why she gave him a strange look as he was asking it.
"You didn't want to talk to us yesterday. What makes you think that I want to talk to you today?" Hermione asked. "I don't know, I just thought that maybe you would be glad to see me..." Harry saw the reaction on Ron's face. "…Glad to see us."
He noticed that both Ron and Hermione had been giving each other evil glances and faces while he tried to fix things. Neither one of them were over their feud. It was beginning to get annoying.
"You guys, your not little kids anymore, but if you want to act like one, go ahead, but do it elsewhere." Mrs. Weasley said, noticing the little remarks.
Both Hermione and Ron stopped, only to please Mrs. Weasley who was back to cooking her soup.
"Would anyone like some Onion Soup?" she asked, while Ron, Harry and Hermione took each a seat at the Weasley table. "I know Hermione already had some…Harry what about you dear, have you had something to eat today? Now, be honest, I want you fed." She said, as Harry responded with a low "No, I haven't eaten today".
Ron gave him a kick under the table.
"Ouch!" Harry said, rubbing his knee. "I heard that." Mrs. Weasley said, pouring Harry a bowl.
"Ron, I know since Harry didn't eat that you didn't either, so you're definitely having a bowl. And don't try telling me one of your excuses, let see, for example, you ate before you saw Harry." Mrs. Weasley said, giving him the 'I told you so' look.
"Mum, but Harry and I did—" Ron tried to finish, but Mrs. Weasley cut him off.
"Don't start with anything, I don't want to hear an excuse from you today!" she said, ending the conversation.
Ron couldn't think of anything else to say.
There was another knock at the door. This time, whoever this was just came in, as if it was a public place.
"Hello, everyone!" It was Mr. Weasley, home from work.
"I told you that everyone is to use the system. Other wise, anyone can come in the door." Mrs. Weasley told him, trying not to get mad at him, even though she had told him at least four times a day. Harry was sitting beside Hermione, who was looking at Mr. Weasley, he looked so tired.
"Mmm! Smells like Onion soup! Can I have some? Is there any left?" Mr. Weasley said, taking off his coat.
"Sure, I'll reheat it for you!" Mrs. Weasley said, putting logs in the fire place.
"Hi Harry!" Mr. Weasley said, sitting down in one of the remaining chairs. He didn't want to think of something rude to say, he and Harry had gotten in a fight about two weeks back.
"Hello, M. Weasley." Harry said, trying to put on a good face. He was still mad at Mr. Weasley from then.
They all talked for a while, any possible subject, until somehow, the topic of Hogwarts came up.
"Hogwarts is coming in a week!" Ron said, finally thinking of something to say.
"Yes. I understand Harry that you aren't going this year. Is there a reason?" Mr. Weasley asked, looking at him.
"Dad," Ron added. "Stop it! You know what the answer is, so just leave him alone!" He knew he shouldn't have said this, using that kind of tone in the Weasley house was not permitted, whatever age you were. Even if you were an adult, or the owner. Mr. Weasley didn't say a word, he just turned his head to look at Ron, and he was not pleased. Ron knew that he had made a mistake of yelling at his dad, and he knew he would pay for it later. His father still worked for the Ministry of Magic, and who knows what they would do if they heard of this. It was very minor for something like this, but they could punish him, and anyway, Ron was too old to be yelling at his parents like that.
"Sorry." He simply responded.
The conversation started again. This time, Hermione continued.
"I plan on taking fewer classes this year; I want to take a break, since this will be my last year at Hogwarts. I want to be able to enjoy myself, as well as the atmosphere. I am hoping that this year, we won't have to deal with all the adventures that we had to put up with since we were first years. I want to be able to just concentrate on the school part, and not have to defend myself against all these troubles." Hermione said, making sure her speech wasn't too long, and tried to see if they were still interested. They were.
"I know what you mean." Ron said, looking at Hermione, who was evidently listening. "I don't want to have to go through another adventure. I always seem to get scared every adventure we get in. And the spiders in the second year, they were huge! I don't want to encounter anything like that or everything else that happened. It was horrible. I don't really want to concentrate on school, I just want to go to Hogwarts and enjoy the atmosphere, like you." Ron said, looking at Harry.
Harry had a feeling that every time that they were at Hogwarts with them, something bad happened to all of them. If they were there without him, they would be able to have a good year. They didn't know this, which was weird, because Harry thought that maybe Hermione could have figured it out, but then again, she could have, but had never told him. Harry didn't bother telling them that, because they would have wanted him there anyway, despite knowing that this year wouldn't be any different.
"So everyone, do you think it is late enough? Off to bed!" Mrs. Weasley asked, realising the time. She had also noticed that Harry needed a time out, and Ron and Hermione looked like they were agreeing on something for once, but she knew it wouldn't last. They were just fighting this morning, the same that they did last week.
"Sure Mrs. Weasley, I am tired anyway." Hermione said, getting off her chair.
"Hermione, you will find your bed in Ginny's room. There's a spare bed there. Try not to wake her though." Mrs. Weasley said, watching Hermione walk up the stairs.
"What about you two? You both have to get to bed also, Hogwarts is in five days, and Harry, you have to make up your mind if you are going or not. Oh, you know Harry, there's a spare bed in Ron's room. Bet Ron knows already. Oh, and tell Hermione, if she doesn't know already, that her stuff is there." Mrs. Weasley said, watching them go.
Chapter five: Love Unravelled
Hermione woke up early that morning, not feeling that rested. She didn't think she slept that well, and it was well apparent. She sat alone for a while until Ginny woke up.
"Morning, Ginny" Hermione said, waving at her.
Ginny had a hard time adjusting her eyes, and looked at Hermione.
"What? Oh, hi Hermione." Ginny said, rubbing her eyes, than trying to get up, too tired.
"Glad you could be up. How are you?" Hermione asked, while making her, meaning Hermione, bed.
"Good, I can't exactly be the judge of that though, I just got up. But, so far, I do feel good." Ginny said, getting up, fully adjusted. She seemed to be fully awake by this time. She started to make her bed too, following Hermione's example.
"Well, I'm glad. So, these past few days, how have you been?" Hermione asked, sitting back down on her newly made bed, her legs crossed, getting comfortable.
"Not bad. Mum has been very protective with the passwords and such; I guess you noticed when you got here." Ginny said, doing the same thing.
"Yeah, I did notice it, I sort of messed up, well, I didn't but I said too much. I learned that I only have to say the secret password, and not my life story." Hermione said.
Harry walked past the room as Ginny responded. He stopped to listen, even though he knew that eavesdropping wasn't something permitted in the Weasley home.
"So I guess you told my mom that you still liked Harry." Ginny said.
"Well, I thought if she'd known, maybe she would know it was me. I was very happy that no one else, besides her was there. Yeah, I guess I still like him." Hermione said, blushing.
Harry heard this, and thought. She had always acted like she was blowing him off. She went out with Ron, and Viktor Krum. He didn't think that all this time, she still liked him. It was all very weird to him all of a sudden. By accident, Harry made a creak in the floor. Hermione heard it, and wondering what it was, got up from her bed and headed to the door. Aware of this, Harry ran as fast as he could, without making another noise. When Hermione got to the door, there was no one there. Looking farther, she saw a leg and then disappears, as if someone was running away.
She didn't think anything of it. But, she knew she shouldn't have had that conversation. She knew that someone was listening, she just didn't know exactly who. She knew that wasn't a good idea, whoever the person. She just knew.
Harry ran as fast as he could, until he reached the spot that he was no longer in view of Hermione. He knew that Hermione could be thinking about what she said; it was something he just knew. Hermione and he both had the same sort of thinking. It was just a feeling that only him and her shared. (ATTN: That's why they are totally right for each other! Can't you see that?)
He met up with Ron, who noticed Harry out of breath.
"What happened?" Ron asked.
"Nothing" Harry responded, breathing louder than usual.
"Something is up. You aren't acting the way you usually do. So what really is up?" Ron asked, seeking an answer.
Harry said nothing; instead he walked right past Ron, getting annoyed of his continuous questions. Ron looked at him, wondering what exactly was wrong. He seemed very curious, but he knew he wasn't getting a word out of him. He had to get it (somehow) from the source.
Ginny, still in her room, got up to go to the bathroom, to get ready for today's activities.
She headed into the hall, passing by Ron, who looked a little mad.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked. Ron looked like he just came out of a fight and lost.
"Nothing. It's Harry." Ron said. As Ginny heard this, she was most interested, and had a hunch that Harry heard what Hermione and she were talking about.
"What about Harry?" Ginny asked, still wondering, it seemed more apparent as they went along that she was right.
"I don't know, first I see him running, from out of nowhere. So I ask him: What's wrong? Right, so he kept saying: Nothing. He wouldn't tell me what was up. I felt like saying: Fine then! But, I didn't." Ron paused, then said: "Why are you so interested? Do you know something I don't?" Ron asked.
To busy to answer, Ginny asked a different question.
"Where did he go?" she knew that she had to go talk to him, fast.
"Why? That way." He said, pointing to the West of the hallway.
Before Ron could get a straight forward answer, Ginny was gone.
Ron couldn't think of a possible explanation. Like Harry, Ginny had gone before he could get some answers. He was beginning to get more and more frustrated. It seemed that something was up, but she just couldn't figure out why. It seemed all too suspicious to him. Determined to get an answer, he headed after her. It was worst this time, it was like he wanted revenge.
Hermione was still in Ginny's room. It was like she knew what would happen, but she kept it to herself, afraid of what would happen. She knew she shouldn't have talked about it with Ginny, because every time she does, it's like she gets it back fired, and can never live another day. She bet it was Harry who was there, listening to her conversation, but yet it could be Ron, Harry's messenger. It was weird; they could have made another alliance. It was simple. They could have done it, it was almost too simple. If it wasn't for that noise, whoever it was could have still been there, listening to the rest of the part. To tell you the truth, before the noise, Hermione was going to tell Ginny that when Harry blew them both off, almost two days ago, she felt like blowing him off too, like saying: I don't have a crush on you anymore. But, the noise was too soon, Harry heard too much, not aware of the real truth. It was really embarrassing for Hermione; she didn't know how Harry would react. She didn't know if she would ever breathe without Harry knowing about it. It was just too much for her.
"What happened Harry?" Ginny asked, as she found Harry about to go downstairs. Harry stopped, and turned to face her.
"What do you mean?" Harry said, innocently. Ginny wasn't playing around, and Harry saw that in her face.
"Harry, we heard you. You were eavesdropping on us and you know that! Did you hear our conversation? Did you?" Ginny asked, wanting a truthful answer. He knew that she wasn't playing around, but you could see that Harry wasn't going to answer that truthfully, you could see it.
"I didn't hear anything." Harry began. Ginny cut him off.
"What do you mean you didn't hear everything! It was you that made that noise, I know it was you! Don't play that! What did you hear?" Ginny practically yelled it out. Even Hermione heard it from Ginny's room. "What are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know, Ginny. I will have to talk to Hermione. We have to stop talking like this, you are not the one talk to about this." Harry explained, getting annoyed at Ginny putting her nose into something like this. Ginny looked at Harry, and then turned away, walking downstairs, Harry simply looked at her, not saying a word.
Then, he saw Ron come up to him.
"What's wrong Harry?" Ron asked, knowing that Harry wanted to be alone, but wanting to know what was going on.
"I have too many people asking me all these questions, so please, I will answer them when I am ready." Harry said, shooing him away.
Ron didn't understand, but asked him a different question.
"Are you coming to Hogwarts this year?" Ron asked, even though he knew the answer. Harry waited a few seconds before responding. Ron started to walk away, on his way downstairs, when Harry finally said: "Yes!"
As Ron reached downstairs, he knew that Happy was only saying yes so he and Hermione wouldn't bother him anymore with it. But, on the other hand, he could actually want to go this year. He saw Ginny in the kitchen.
"Where are Mum and Dad?" Ron asked, as Ginny was seated.
"They left. They won't be here until later tonight. Why?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering." Ron said, sitting down with her.
Hermione finally got the courage to get out of her room. She headed towards the stairs, and that's when she noticed Harry. She didn't want to say anything. She knew that Ginny had put her nose into things, and she didn't want to talk to Harry just yet. She had the intentions to talk to him, but now was just not the time. Harry watched her, but didn't say a word, even though he wanted to.
Chapter Six: Diagon Alley
Three days until Hogwarts was the only thing going through their minds. Hermione got a letter by owl that morning. It was a very important letter, though nobody found it true. It was from the new headmaster, Cornelius Fudge, the old head of Ministry of Magic. He wrote that someone was replacing one of the Gryffindors. Her name was Ashley Asselin, and was going to be joining the group. Though she was best for the Slytherin house, she was chosen to be in Gryffindor, like Harry. She lived in Canada, but transferred in London, only one month before. Going to Hogwarts was mainly the only reason why she transferred, and because this year, the trio needed one more person strong enough to be with them. She was going to meet them on the train, on their way to Hogwarts, for one last year.
"Fudge wants to add another person to our group?" Hermione asked, responding to the letter.
"I guess that would be good, I mean, we only have one girl." Ron said, adding to Hermione question.
"Ron!" Hermione screamed, as they arrived in Diagon Alley.
It was like he didn't even notice that Hermione was there too, with him and Harry, not to mention that Ginny was slowly trailing.
"Sorry Hermione, I didn't realize you were there!" Ron said, and not soon after did Hermione slap him in the head. "Ouch!" He yelled.
"That's what you get for being more than an idiot!" Hermione said, walking towards a nearby shop.
"What do you mean 'more than an idiot'?" Ron asked, as him and the rest of the group followed Hermione.
They arrived at Chantilly's coffee shop. Hermione was already inside, before Ron. Harry and Ginny were at the doors. As Ron opened the door, and walked inside before the others. As they were all inside, they noticed that the coffee shop wasn't as busy as usual. They saw Chantilly talking to Hermione, and they walked towards them, and heard a little bit of their conversation.
"So I heard… what's your take on it?" Chantilly asked Hermione as the rest of the group gathered around, grabbing each a seat around the counter.
"What's your take on what?" Ron asked, who sat at the left far end of the line.
"Oh, hi Ron." Chantilly said, grabbing a note pad and a pen. "Do any of you want anything?"
"No" they all said, in unison.
"Okay then" Chantilly said, putting back the notepad and the pen on the table nearest to the counter.
"So, what were you all talking about?" Harry asked, as Chantilly made a pot of coffee, for the few customers that were in her shop.
" Oh, about the conversation! Oh, we were just talking about the new person that is transferring to Hogwarts as a Gryffindor. She will be in our year, and her name is--" Chantilly was cut off by Ginny.
" I know, I know, Ashley Asselin, from Canada. She is a seventh year? Why? She just came! Shouldn't she have been a first year?" Ginny asked. She was sitting beside Harry, who was sitting beside Hermione, which was by accident, and Ron.
"I know," Hermione started. "I heard she had private tutoring provided by Dumbledore, but when he died, she had to transfer to Hogwarts itself, to continue with her studies. She's heard of all the adventures that we've been in, but yet, she still wants to be there, even though Fudge has agreed with her to continue her studies away from Hogwarts, but she declined, saying that she wanted to finally be there, with other people."
"I guess that would be good for her, but who is she replacing?" Chantilly asked. She was a Gryffindor herself, so she was wondering, because she transferred last year, replacing Tom O'malley, the American.
"I don't know exactly. I think there's still a spot left." Hermione said. "But yet it could be wrong, because Tom had to leave to give you the chance to go. So, I guess she is replacing someone, I just have no idea who." she said.
Nobody said a word to anyone, after Harry responded with: "Me".
"You? What do you mean 'you'?" Hermione asked, with the rest of the group, wondering and chatting together.
"Ashley is replacing me if I don't go. So I am planning to go now, so Ashley doesn't replace me, she can replace someone else. I don't know who though. But I am pretty sure that Neville Longbottom is never coming back, so I am pretty sure that she will be taking his place?" Harry said.
"Harry," Chantilly began,"you do realize that Tom replaced Neville a few years back, and I replaced Tom last year, so Neville is really out of the picture, unless you were replacing me!" she looked like she was insulted, and proceeded to help other customers.
"What did you do that for Harry?" Hermione asked, grabbing him away from the others, to talk to him privatly, at one of the tables.
"You mean for who?" Harry said, grabbing her hand, pulling her towards the outside of the shop.
The streets of Diagon Alley were bare, a perfect time to talk.
"What do you want Harry?" Hermione asked. She was wondering why Harry would pull her out of the coffee shop.
"You." Harry said, leaning in. Hermione almost pulled away from Harry. She couldn't kiss him, somehow it wasn't possible that he could kiss him yet.
It wasn't like she didn't want to, I mean, she wanted to, but it just wasn't the time, and she wasn't exactly ready.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, backing away. He looked a little embarrassed, he thought that this was what she wanted.
"Sorry, Harry, but I have to tell you honestly, I have bad breath." she lied. She didn't want him to think that she didn't love him, which was basically the truth. She didn't love him, she just had a small crush on him, she didn't think that he would honestly like her too. She was a little amazed that he would go at any distance as to love her too, but it was a little unlikely. She was speechless.