Disclaimer: Nothing by Rowling belongs to me. 'Nuff said.

A/N: Yay! I actually got a semi-decent amount of reviews for the last chapter! Well, I hope you all enjoyed it. This chapter might not be as action filled as the last one, but there will be some plot advancing info shed, courtesy of Lupin.

Oh, and my thesis essay got pushed back by a fair bit, so I have time to write!

The first part of this chapter is really from Hermione's POV, in a third person limited omniscient style, just like the rest of the story. But instead of insight into Harry, we have insight into Hermione. The shift back to Harry should be noticeable.

Well, let's get the ball rolling…

Chapter Eight: Fists and Heads

"They say that the school will only open if you return." McGonagall said quietly. Harry sat there in shock for a second.

"Fuck!" He swore loudly, before getting up from the table and stalking away, followed by the dozens of sets of eyes around the table. He went into the burrow, and the door slammed behind him. The entire table was silent as they watched him go. Hermione and Ron watched him leave as well, and then shared a quick glance.

The pair of them had been around Harry long enough to know when he needed to be left alone and now was definitely one of those times. The silence began to be broken up by quiet whispers, and then in no time at all, the conversation level at the table returned to normal.

Hermione, Ron, nor McGonagall said anything while the noise level increased again. Only when there was a comfortable level of ambient noise did they speak.

"Why was he so upset?" queried McGonagall, who, of course, had no idea that Harry had no intention of returning to the wizarding school even if it did reopen.

"You see, professor, Harry doesn't want to return to Hogwarts this year." Hermione explained, leaving out the exact reason why Harry wouldn't be returning.

"And why wouldn't he want to return to the school?" She demanded. Hermione and Ron exchanged another look. They both knew that it wasn't their place to reveal the information that Harry had entrusted them with.

"Well?" McGonagall prompted, her voice holding the sharp edge that commanded respect and obedience from her students. She was giving them a hard look, and Ron squirmed in his seat. He could never hold up under pressure. Hermione smacked him on the arm, and he looked at her, and then back at his plate, firmly avoiding both Hermione's and McGonagall's gaze.

McGonagall took note of this quick exchange, and fixed Hermione with an even harder look. To her credit, Hermione's returning glare was as cold as ice.

"I'm sorry, but it's not up to me to tell you that." Hermione responded. McGonagall glared at her for a moment, and then nodded.

"Why does it matter if Harry goes back?" Ron asked. Hermione and the Headmistress turned and looked at him, and he shrugged.

"Well… it's the obvious question." Ron explained, once again squirming under the scrutiny he was receiving.

"The Ministry has promised extra protection for the school if Harry is there. Apparently only the 'Chosen One' is deserving of the Ministry's extra protection. And without that extra protection, the governors are strongly against reopening the school." McGonagall sounded bitter and angry. Apparently, she thought all of her students were important enough to merit whatever protection the Minister had promised to the school.

"What sort of extra protection did they promise to give the school if he returned?" Hermione pressed.

"Well, if Harry doesn't return to the school, they have promised us a battalion of Aurors. If he does return to the school, we have been promised two battalions from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, and a battalion of Aurors." McGonagall explained.

"I can see why the governors would much rather it if Harry were to return to the school." Hermione responded. McGonagall and Ron both nodded their agreement.

"I don't think it matters, though," Ron said, "you're going to have one hell of a time convincing Harry to return, especially since he doesn't wanna go."

"He'll go." Hermione said, her voice completely certain. Ron gave her a doubtful look.

"How do you know that?" he demanded.

"Because I know Harry." She replied. Ron continued to give her a look, so she sighed, and got up from the table, figuring that she had left Harry alone long enough for him to calm down a bit.

"I'm going to find Harry." She told them. As she walked away from the table, she missed the glare Ron was giving her back.

She approached the door slowly, and pushed it open gently. The door hinges squealed loudly as the door moved.

Funny, I never noticed that the door squeaked before. She thought as the intrusive sound hung in the air. She pushed the door closed behind her, and a quick glance around told her Harry wasn't in the room. She checked the kitchen, and he wasn't there either.

She hadn't expected him to linger on the ground floor. Knowing Harry, he had gone to the top of the stairs, and hidden in Ron's bedroom. His tactic was usually to run as far away from his problem as possible, unless it could be solved with a curse, hex or jinx.

Boys… they're all the same! She thought in irritation. She walked up the stairs as quietly and quickly as she could. As she got higher, she could here him stomping around in Ron's room, and she was certain that she heard a cage go clattering across the floor.

She reached the top floor, and stood outside the door, listening to him moving around the room, and muttering under his breath. She stepped forward, and rapped hard on the door.

"Go away!" Came the quick and predictable reply. She rolled her eyes, and slammed on the door with an open palm.

"Open the door, Harry!" She ordered. There was a bout of mutinous grumbling, and then the door swung open. Hermione smiled at him, and stepped into the room.

The room was a tip. Hedwig's cage was up against the wall, its frame all bent out of shape. The sheets were thrown all over the floor, and the pillows were all over the place. Odds and ends were thrown all over the place; socks, small toys, comics, spell books.

Hermione looked around the room, and then fixed Harry with a hard look. He just shrugged, and flopped down on the bed. He stretched out, and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses.

Hermione quickly went about putting the room straight. She fixed Hedwig's cage, and levitated it back onto the top of Ron's wardrobe. She threw the spell books onto the dresser with a flick of her wand, and repaired all of the broken toys and ripped comics, and banished them into the far corner of the room, where they assembled themselves in neat piles.

She turned back to Harry, who was watching her through half closed eyes. She gave him a half smile, and sat down on Ron's bed across from him, and she laid out as well, mimicking his movements. She watched him out of the side of her eyes, and noticed that he was doing the same.

Silence hung in the room. The sound of the dinner drifted up through the open window. Hermione turned on her side, looking full at Harry, who didn't react to her change in position.

"Harry?" She asked, trying to get him to look at her. In response, he rolled his head to the side, and gave her an inquisitive look.

"What?" He grunted, speaking to her for the first time since she had entered the room.

"You know very well what!" She snapped, irritated. Harry smiled a bit, and he looked like he was laughing at her.

"What are you laughing at me, Potter?" She snarled. He shrugged, and his smiled widened a bit.

"God, if you want to be immature, you go ahead and … and be that way!" She retorted. Harry now let out an actually laugh.

"Who's the immature one now?" Harry asked her, grinning widely. She almost snapped back at him, but bit back her response, realizing quite what she had said. She put her hands over her face, and laughed at herself.

"Stuff it, you prat!" She growled, trying to cover her laughter with feigned anger. They both shared a laugh at her expense, but she didn't mind. After their laughter tapered off, they both led there in silence.

"So are you going back?" Hermione asked after a long moment.

"No!" he replied instantly, and Hermione could tell right away that he was lying. Hermione rolled her eyes at the all too predictable response.

"Oh, of course the hundreds of kids, and future generations of British witches and wizards will understand why they can't go to school in their own country. They'll accept that it came down to one wizard, who was being a selfish baby about not wanting to return to school." She answered, her voice light and airy.

Harry sat up quickly, and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. He leapt to his feet, and his face was contorted in anger.

"Is that what you think?!" He roared. Hermione almost cringed back at the anger in his voice, and the horrible expression on his face. Almost. However, she knew she must remain impassive if her ruse were to work.

"That's precisely what I think." She countered, her voice cool and calm. His eyes flashed dangerously, and she knew she was pushing the limits of his self-control. She still remembered him loosing it on her before. The images were still all too vivid.

"You know that that isn't true! You bloody well know the reason I'm not going back. You more than anyone understand why I can't!" He shouted. She did indeed understand his reasons for not wanting to return to the castle, but she also thought that they were emotional reasons, not rational ones.

"I know why you don't want to go back, Harry, but I don't agree with your reasons. Everything indicates that you should go back to Hogwarts. There is a huge library, a huge number of the Order of the Phoenix is there, and you would be better protected than anywhere else in the world from Voldemort and his Death Eaters!" She shot back.

Harry listened to her statements, and Hermione could see that he had given in to her logic by the way his shoulders slumped just a bit. She got a small smile on her face, but she hid it quickly, in case he should see it, and get all riled up.

"You know I'm right Harry. You know you should go back. So, are you going back?" She pressed again. He turned to her, his face grim.

"You knew from the moment you came in here that I was going back." He told her, and she could only nod. It was after all, the truth, and she saw no point in lying to him. She had known from the moment the words had left McGonagall's mouth that Harry would be returning to the school.

She had just thought it would be better if she pretended that she was unsure of what his actions would be. Apparently, he saw straight through her attempt. '

"Am I really that predictable?" He asked her, dropping down on the bed by her legs. She sat up, and threw her arm around his shoulders.

"Yeah… you really are." She said, laughing. He gave her a sidelong look, and he gave her an evil grin.

"Am I really?" He said and his voice held just a trace of laughter. She nodded. He shrugged, and lunged at her, catching her completely off guard.

"Harry!" She squealed as they rolled around on Ron's bed. His hands pressed at her sides, tickling her mercilessly. She squirmed and shook as she tried to get him off her. Finally, she earned herself a moment's respite, and rolled out from underneath Harry. As soon as she was free, she launched herself back at Harry, tackling him.

Now it was her hands that tried to find a ticklish spot on him, but she wasn't able to find any. Apparently, he was one of the few people that weren't ticklish in the slightest. After a quick battle, Harry and Hermione both gave up their quick battle.

Hermione was led on top of Harry, with her hands placed on the bed next to Harry's neck. His hands were on her hips, and they were both breathing hard from the exertion of their little tickling battle. Their clothes were all messed up and Hermione's bushy hair was even more out of control then usually. Harry's usually messed up hair looked exactly the same as always.

Harry smile dup at Hermione, whose face was only inches away from his own. Her skin was flushed and Harry thought that she looked quite pretty at that moment. She smiled back at him. Harry felt his breath getting shorter, and his heart beating faster.

"Were you expecting that?" He asked her breathlessly. She shook her head, still breathing heavily. She was about to respond when they both heard the door swing open. Their heads swiveled round, and they saw Ron standing in the doorway, a shocked look on his features.

They all stared at each other for a second, then Ron slammed the door, and they could hear his rapid footfalls on the stairs.

"Ron!" Harry called out, but he was already gone away back down the stairs. Harry and Hermione both turned their heads from the door, and looked at each other. They both realized what a compromising position they had just been seen in. With some reluctance, Harry shifted Hermione's comfortable weight off of him.

He felt strangely light after he had lifted her off him, and he was certain that he had been more comfortable with her lying on top of him. He shook off the feeling, and straightened his clothes, and watched as Hermione did the same.

"One of us should go after him." Hermione suggested quietly, not looking at Harry. He nodded, even though she wasn't looking.

"Yeah. I'll go." He told her, and he crossed the room, and walked down the stairs, his mind whirling with the thoughts of what had just happened, and the confusion over what had happened to him with Hermione. His shortened breath and his quickened heart were both confusing him.

The night air was cool and fresh on Harry's skin. The last light of the day had faded while he had been inside the house. The table was emptier than it had been when he left, of both food and people. The loud boisterous conversations of the dinner had simmered down to several smaller, more intimate conversations.

As Harry approached the table, McGonagall caught his eye, and made a subtle motion towards the trees that sheltered the Weasley's makeshift quidditch pitch. She had a questioning look on her face.

Harry understood that she had seen Ron go storming out, and he nodded his thanks to her. He walked past the table calmly. Within a minute or so, the quiet murmurs of the dinner table had faded away, and Harry was left in the silence.

As he was out on his own, he slid his wand from his pocket, and looked around, ears pricked up for a sound.

I probably shouldn't be out on my own… Hermione would kill me, not to mention the Remus and McGonagall. Harry thought as he stepped into the trees that surrounded the pitch. However, his pride retorted that he was a capable wizard and that he had proven himself many times over. He walked on, feeling more comfortable with that thought.

He didn't notice the two forms that flitted through the trees, shadowing his movements.

As Harry moved farther into the growth of trees, he didn't hear anything, and he thought perhaps that Ron was trying to avoid him. As such, Harry lifted his wand, and lit it, so that Ron would see him coming, and could have the option of avoiding him if he wanted to.

Harry, who had become accustomed to the darkness of the outcropping, squinted against the bright light that flares from his wand. The beams of light were hampered by the trees, but the area immediately around him was lit up as bright as day. He moved on slowly, making a fair amount of noise, so that Ron would be alerted to his presence.

He continued through the trees, and the darkness outside of his bubble of light began to become oppressive. Harry's eyes darted left and right, chasing imaginary shadows that he saw flitting through the edges of his wand-light.

You're imagining things. He snapped at himself, and he forced himself to stop looking around, and ignore the shadows that played around him. As such, he didn't take notice of a flicker out of the corner of his eye as he moved past a particularly large tree, emerging into a small clearing.

As such, the spell that launched him off his feet as it hit him the back caught him completely off guard. He soared through the air, and landed hard on the ground. He gasped for breath, and rolled around to see Ron standing in the gap between the trees, his wand upraised. The point of light on Harry's wand had extinguished, but the clearing was filled with moonlight, allowing the two ample light to see by.

"Ron…you don't understand…" Harry gasped, still fighting for breath. His words came out in a barely audible whisper. Ron's face was contorted in anger, and he looked as if his rage was beyond words. Though it was hard to tell in the dim light, Harry thought that he had been crying. He took a step forward and, aimed his wand at Harry.

Harry reacted on pure instinct, rolling to his right as a flash of light flew at him. Ron had muttered the spell, giving Harry a split second warning of what he was going to do.

As he rolled, Harry thrust his wand forwards, casting the knock back jinx, the same one Ron had used on him moments before. The red head was picked up and launched flying, and he slammed into a tree trunk on the edge of the clearing, and Harry saw his wand go. Harry summoned it quickly, and pocketed it.

Harry lowered his wand, thinking that he had defeated Ron. He slid it into his pocket next to Ron'. He moved over towards where he had seen his friend go down moments before. He saw his friend beginning to rise, and he hurried over to help him. He was greeted with a flying punch.

Harry grunted in shock as Ron's fist collided with the side of his face. He felt the skin tear open, and only had a moment to contemplate just how hard Ron had hit him when a second blow rocked him in the side. He stumbled, but straightened almost immediately. It hurt, to be sure, but Harry knew that balance and stance was crucial in a fist fight.

He had heard Dudley and Uncle Vernon discussing boxing tactics many times during his summer before fifth year. He had listened for once, being genuinely interested in their conversation for the first time in his life, since he had been older than five years of age.

As he straightened, Ron launched another punch, but Harry intercepted it with his palm, and lashed out with his own right, cracking Ron across the jaw. His lanky friend rolled with the blow, taking a step to the side, and launching another punch at Harry, who took the blow on the arm.

"Ron!" Harry shouted, grabbing his friend's wrists as he tried to punch him again, "Calm down. It's not what you think!" Ron struggled against the hold that Harry had on his arms, and contented himself with snapping his head forward when he was unable to do so, and slamming his face full into Harry's. Harry felt the flow of blood warm across his cheek, and he was certain that his nose was broken. They broke apart, Ron balling his fists, and Harry clutching his nose.

"I saw you Harry!" He roared, "Don't you think I know what the hell you were doing? HOW COULD YOU!" With that, his fist came round again, but Harry merely dropped to the ground, and pulled out his wand in a fluid motion. Ron, already in the midst of his punch, overbalanced as his fist flew wide, and stumbled.

"Incarcerous!" Harry barked, and thick ropes appeared in mid-air, and bound his angry friend. Ron slumped to the ground, and Harry rose to his feet, and brushed himself on. He felt the swelling on the side of his face, and winced. That was going to be one hell of a shiner. He inspected his bleeding nose, and found that, surprisingly, it was not broken.

"How could you! You knew I liked her!" Ron shrieked from the ground, struggling against the bonds that trapped him. Harry approached him, but backed off quickly when Ron tried to kick him.

"I didn't do anything, Ron!" Harry shot back, knowing his friend wouldn't believe him. Ron spat at him, but the spit landed short.

'Don't patronize me, you son of a bitch!" Ron shouted, "I bloody well know what the fuck I saw! You two were snogging!" His struggling intensified, and Harry took a step back, wondering if he was going to have to stun his friend.

"No, we weren't. We were just messing around!" Harry insisted. Ron now looked livid, and his eyes bulged.

"That's even worse! You touched her Harry! I'll tear you apart!" Ron screamed. Harry shook his head, realizing that Ron had taken his words 'messing around' completely out of context.

"Not 'messing around' like that, you git!" Harry shot back, "messing around as in two friends having some fun. I was tickling her, and she pinned me! We are just friends!" Ron's fighting slowed a bit.

"Nothing happened?" He asked quietly, and Harry nodded earnestly. Ron was still looking at him suspiciously, but he stopped struggling.

"It just looked… well… you know… it looked like…" Ron stuttered. Harry nodded.

"I know what it must have looked like, but believe me, nothing happened." Harry insisted. Ron seemed to calm down a lot.

"Of course… you wouldn't ever do anything like that to me… I mean you are my best mate… best mates don't steal each other's girls." Ron answered, and Harry smiled uncertainly.

She's not your girl! Harry nearly blurted out, but he caught himself before he did. He figured that that little statement wouldn't do anything to pacify the red head's volatile temper. In fact, he was sure that it would have the exact opposite effect. More to the point, he wondered why that was his first thought.

As the red head seemed much calmer, Harry raised his wand, and the rope coils disappeared into thin air. Harry extended his hand, and help Ron back to his feet. Harry noticed the long bruise that was on his chin, and the bloody that was on his lips.

"Sorry about that." Harry said, pointing to Ron's face. Ron felt his jaw line, and pulled the fingers away with a little bit of blood on the tips.

"Hey, I gave as good as I got." Ron said, with a little bit of a laugh. Harry nodded in earnest, and he felt his sore face again. He thought Ron had knocked one of his teeth loose. A quick probing poke with his tongue indicated that one of his molars was indeed hanging by just the nerves.

"Eh, your mum will fix us up good as new in no time." Harry said, and a look of fear crossed his face. Clearly, he did not relish the idea of telling his mother that he had been fighting Harry over their best friend.

"Uh… let's get someone else to fix us up. Not Hermione, though." Ron added hastily. Harry could understand that she probably wouldn't like fixing them up after a fight they had over her.

"Well, McGonagall would want to know why we were fighting, so not her… Lupin?" Harry suggested, and Ron nodded in earnest. They both thought that the ex-Marauder wouldn't ask them too many questions.

They went wide around the dinner table, so that no one would see them, and they could avoid awkward questions. After all, they were both bruised and bloodied from their fight.

"Oh, here…" Harry said, pulling Ron's wand from his pocket, and handing it back to him. Ron thanked him, and slid it away. They spotted Lupin and Tonks, and they cut towards them, keeping their faces averted from the table, and acting as normal as possible.

"Remus!" Harry hissed as they came up behind them. The two sitting at the table turned around, and Tonks gasped in shock at the sight of the two boys faces.

"What happened, Harry?" Remus asked, his eyes roaming over Harry's face, with his torn cheek, and large bruise, to Ron's, with his bloodied lips, and bruised jaw.

"We had a… disagreement." Harry answered evasively. Remus arched an eyebrow, and looked between them again.

"What sort of disagreement?" He asked, and Harry shrugged.

"Not really important. We just need to be fixed up." Ron answered before Harry could. Tonks looked at them both, clearly a little confused by what was going on.

"Why not go to your mum, or Hermione?" she asked Ron, who shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, mum would go berserk if she saw me like this, and well… we just can't go to Hermione." Ron replied, and Harry noticed that Lupin's eyes went wide at this statement, as he realized what had happened.

"Oh, well, I won't say no one ever wondered if this would happen…" he muttered quietly, waving his wand at Harry's face. He felt the wound knitting itself closed, and the bruise faded, bu the pain remained. He watched the werewolf do the same to Ron's face.

"Bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, as he felt his own face, noticing that the external damage was gone.

"You're welcome." Lupin said, with a smile on his face. Harry hoped that the werewolf wouldn't tell anyone what had happened.

"You won't, well... you know… tell anyone, will you?" Harry asked. Lupin nodded, and Harry let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks mate!" Ron exclaimed, and the two boys turned and moved towards the house. They were halfway there before Mrs. Weasley saw them.

"You two! Get back here, and help us clean up!" She ordered. They turned around, grumbling, and they both drew out their wands. Mrs. Weasley saw Harry with her wand out, and she shook her head at him.

"You aren't seventeen yet, Harry! No magic!" she told him, and he grudgingly put his wand back into his pocket, and left Ron to do most of the cleaning. He waved his wand, and the plates were mostly all clean, and another wave stacked them in the center of the table. Harry grabbed them, and brought them into the house.

As he passed through the back door, he was greeted by the sight of two people actively engaged with each other. He saw a flash of bright pink hair, and he bit back a laugh. Instead, he cleared his throat loudly, and watched in amusement as the two figures hastily extracted themselves from one another.

"Very nice, you two. How about a room next time?" He asked teasingly. Lupin rolled his eyes, and Tonks stuck out her tongue.

"Nice comeback!" Harry snapped in response, and the two smiled at him. As they stood there, Harry remembered wanting to ask Tonks about how Hermione had known to come to Grimmauld Place.

"Hey Tonks, I was speaking with Hermione earlier, and I remembered something. Do you know what I remembered?" He asked her. His voice indicated that he wasn't happy about something. Tonks just shrugged, apparently not catching the tone of his voice.

"How should I know?" She responded cheekily. Harry glared at her, and her smile wilted a bit.

"It had something to do with a promise made by a certain witch and wizard not to tell another certain witch and wizard where a certain wizard was!" Harry said, his voice measured.

"A certain witch, wizard… what?" She responded.

"You told Hermione where I was!' Harry snapped, and she shrank back a bit from his voice. She shook her head, though, denying his accusations.

"Don't lie to me! How else would she have known that I was there?" He demanded, and this time Tonks smiled.

"Well, you see, you made me promise not to tell Hermione, but you said nothing about not telling Hermione's parents." She explained, looking rather proud of herself. Harry stared at her in shock.

"Well… that's… that's… it's not any different to telling her!" Harry stuttered. Tonks merely shrugged.

"I didn't break my promise, though." She justified, and Harry knew that he couldn't argue with her reasoning, although he disagreed with it.

"Well, not really, but you still went against it!" He argued, and she shrugged again.

'Not my problem. I wasn't just going to let you mope alone in the dark. Remus agreed with me." She told him, and Harry shot a dirty look at the former professor, who was shaking his head and holding up his hands.

"I did not, woman!" He retorted, receiving a slap on the arm for it. Tonks gave him a slant-eyed look out of the corner of her eye.

"Thanks a lot for the support, darling." She drawled, sarcasm veritably dripping from her voice.

"Anytime, oh my beloved!" He replied, bowing low to her. As he did so, she belted him on the back of his head.

"Someone is sleeping in the doghouse tonight!" She growled at him, and then she turned on her heel, and stalked off. They both watched her leave.

"Don't worry; she can't spend a night without me!" He exclaimed, winking at Harry, who shuddered.

"Never again, Moony, never again." Harry responded, holding his hand up to the professor, "Too much bloody information." Lupin just laughed, and walked away, following after his girlfriend.

Harry shook his head, trying to rid himself of the images that had cropped up in his head, all involving a certain forty-something wizard, and a pink haired witch. He felt a shudder course down his spine, and he shook his head a final time.

He moved into the kitchen, and dropped the plates onto the table, when a pair of hands snaked around his eyes, and someone began to kiss his neck softly. It felt good, and Harry moaned softly. He almost allowed himself to melt into the kiss before he realized who it had to be.

He jerked his head violently to the side, and spun around. Standing there, shocked, was Ginny. Her lips were glistening. Harry stared at her, wide-eyed.

'Ginny?! What the hell?" he snapped and she shrank back from him. She suddenly became very interested in the ground at Harry's feet.

"I… I just thought that maybe…" She trailed off, muttering indecipherable words.

"You clearly didn't think!" He responded, and she gave a half hearted shrug. Harry rolled his eyes at her, and shouldered past her. He turned at the door.

"Ginny, we are through! I don't need you coming after me at every turn. I'm not going to get back together with you." He told her, his voice a little harsher than intended.

"I don't understand, Harry! How can I mean nothing to you, so fast?" She cried, and Harry squirmed uncomfortably, unsure of how to answer. He moved back to her.

"You don't mean nothing to me. You are still my friend, but nothing more… not anymore." He told her, putting his hands on her arms. She looked up at him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but things for me are different now. I have things that I have to do. Things that only I can do." He said to her, his voice soft. She shook her head at him, and hit her fists against his chest.

"If only you can do them, then why is Hermione going with you?" she demanded, and Harry knew from that one sentence, that she, like Cho before her, was jealous of the close relationship that he had with Hermione.

"Hermione is… Hermione is Hermione." Harry told her, and he meant just that. Hermione was different. She was part of Harry, part of his life, as much as his arm, his leg or his eyes. She was with him every step he had taken. Hermione, Harry and Ron, three inseparable friends.

That fact, their friendship, would always be there, the one constant in their lives. Other things, other friends would come and go, but always, the three of them, would stay together. Sure, they had their disagreements, and their fights, but they had always come through them, and ended up as a group again.

Harry drew strength from his two best friends. He was confident that they would be there for him, in all circumstances, and that they would never leave him.

"Hermione is more important than me?" Ginny asked him, and Harry was taken aback by her question.

"Of course." He replied before he thought. Ginny looked shocked. She stepped back from him, throwing his arms off of hers. She stormed past him, and he thought that she was crying. He didn't follow her.

He sat down at the table, and leaned back against the chair. He had never meant to hurt Ginny, but he didn't know how else he was going to get her to stop pursuing him either. When he had answered that Hermione was more important than her, he had meant it. She would always be more important to him than any girl he would ever meet. He knew that he would be hard pressed to find a girl that understood that his unique relationship with Hermione.

He sighed loudly, just as Ron entered the room.

"Yeah, thanks for the help out there, mate" Ron said dryly, completely oblivious to Harry's loud sigh.

"Yeah, no problem." Harry replied, "It's not like you could use magic or anything." Ron shrugged, and yawned loudly.

"I suppose." He answered, "God, I am tired." He yawned again, as if to prove his point.

"Me too." Harry said, and he rose from the table, and the pair of them trudged up the stairs in silence. Harry pushed open the door to Ron's room, and was happy to see that Hermione had fixed the rumpled sheets, removing the reminder of what had happened from the room.

Harry slid into his bed, after dropping his clothes to the floor, and dropped his head against the pillow.

"Oh, McGonagall is going to be coming back tomorrow… she wants her answer." Ron told him. Harry groaned.

"Great" He said.

"Are you? Going back, I mean?" Ron asked, and Harry rolled to his side and stared at him across the gap between the beds.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"Hermione said you would." Ron answered. Harry smiled.

"Yeah… I am." Harry answered.

"Wicked." Ron muttered sleepily. Seconds later, a loud snore indicated that he had gone to sleep. Harry sighed, and rolled onto his back, and closed his eyes.

"Get up!" Came a female voice. Harry groaned, and rolled awake from the hand that was shaking his shoulder.

"Five minutes." He grumbled, and he pulled the sheets above his head.

"Honestly!" the voice said again, filled with impatience. Harry felt the sheets being ripped off him, and he shivered in the cold. His eyes snapped open, and he glared at the figure with a fuzz of brown surrounding his head.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted upon realizing who it was, and more importantly, upon realizing that he was wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers. He fumbled for his glasses, and jammed them onto his face. He looked round at his friend, whose eyes were roaming his chest and abs.

"Hermione?" Harry asked teasingly, and waved his in front of her face. Her head snapped up instantly, and she blushed very deeply.

"Oh… my… umm… wake up Ron… McGonagall is here…" She answered, trailing off as her eyes flicked back to Harry's chest. She blinked furiously, and fled to the door.

Harry laughed at her after she was gone. He had never seen her act like that before, except when she had been staring at Ron and Lavender the year before. He smiled, and did something he had never done before. He stood in front of the mirror in Ron's room, and he flexed his muscles.

He had to admit, he was in pretty good shape. Quidditch training had given him finely toned muscles, and the hard gardening work of the Dursleys had had him lugging around several heavy potted plants, and on eight separate occasions, a new bench. He was certain they bought them just so he would have to carry them around.

And then, of course, they couldn't decide where they wanted it, so he was picking it up and carrying it all over the garden for several hours while the sat in the shade of their desk canopy, and sipped icy cool lemonade.

He checked himself out for another minute or so, before deciding that he was indeed quite well toned. Then, he shrugged a shirt on, and prodded Ron awake with his foot.

"Idunwangerup!" Ron protested, and Harry just kicked him even harder in the ribs.

"Wake up, you lazy git!" Harry told him, and Ron sat up, and looked around blearily.

"I'm up." He said, before falling backwards onto his pillow, and rolling onto his side. Harry sighed and pulled out his wand.

Levicorpus! He thought, and flicked his wand. Ron soared up out of his bed, and dangled a few feet above the sheets.

"Witty." Ron retorted when he realized what had happened. Harry laughed, and released him, and Ron bounced on the bed.

"Hurry up, McGonagall is here, and apparently she wants to speak with us." Harry told him, and Ron nodded.

Twenty minutes later, they had both been through the shower, and they trotted down the stairs to the kitchen, to find a grumpy McGonagall, and an even grumpier Hermione.

"That's what you call fast?!" Hermione demanded. Harry looked at her.

"You never said anything about coming downstairs fast." Harry told her, and Hermione nodded furiously.

"I did!" she replied.

"Actually, you were a little too preoccupied to say much at all!" Harry reminded her, and she blushed deeply. Ron looked between them, confused.

"What?" He asked, and Harry shook his head, not wanting to rehash this debate with his friend at that exact moment of time. Just like telling Ron 'She's not you girl' would have infuriated him, Harry was certain this would as well.

"If you are done, may I proceed?" McGonagall asked, eyeing Harry and Hermione. They both nodded.

"Very well. Now, Potter, we have to discuss whether or not you will be returning to the school." She said, rather unnecessarily. Everyone in the room knew very well why the Headmistress was there, so the pretence was rather silly.

"Ok." Harry answered.

"Well? Are you?" she asked in an exasperated voice. Harry smiled, and looked at Hermione.

"Of course." He said, turning back to McGonagall.

"Yes, Miss Granger said you would be returning. Good, good." She said, "Well, then, if that is settled, then I will be taking my leave." She announced, rising from the table, and smoothing her robes.

"Oh, its not quite settled, Professor." Harry said cheekily. The Headmistress whirled around and shot him an incredulous glare.

"Well, you see, if I do return, there are special privileges I require." Harry told her, and McGonagall sat back down at the table.

"And these privileges would be, Potter?" She demanded.

"I will require unlimited access to any reading materials in the entire school, including those that belonged to Professor Dumbledore." He answered, looking at Hermione again.

"Fine." McGonagall said after a lengthy pause, "However, I forbid you to demand anyone's personal journals or diaries." Harry agreed, thinking that nobody at the school would know anything about his intended topic of research.

"Secondly, I must be allowed to leave the grounds whenever I desire. Hermione and Ron as well." He added. McGonagall shook her head.

"Well, then, I apologize, but I shall not be returning to Hogwarts this year, Professor." Harry told her, his voice deadly serious. McGonagall stared at him incredulously. Harry merely shrugged and stood up from the table.

"I'll be seeing you, then." He said, rising from the table. He was out the door and on the first step of the stairs when he heard he call out.

'Potter!" She cried. Harry allowed himself a smile before sliding on a serious face again.

"Yes, Professor?" He inquired innocently when he returned to the kitchen.

"You may leave the castle when you must." She acquiesced, and Harry beamed at her.

"Glad we could work that out, Professor." Harry said happily, "One last rule, though." She rolled her eyes, and nodded, motioning for him to continue.

"You see, I can't have anyone question why I need these things. They just have to accept that it's between myself, and Professor Dumbledore." He told her, and she looked at him, her eyes glistening. She just nodded, and Harry smiled at her.

"Thank you, Professor." Harry told her. She nodded, and sniffed.

"Now, Potter. To make things easier on you, it will be most convenient if you and your friends were to have your own dormitories. The only way for this to happen is if you were the Head Boy and Girl." She told them. They all sat still for a moment, digesting what she had just said.

"Oh my god!" Hermione squealed as the realization hit her, "I'm Head Girl!" She cried, and threw her arms around the nearest person, who just happened to be Ron. He beamed as she hung onto him, but she released him quickly, and threw herself onto Harry, causing Ron's grin to falter.

"Who's Head Boy, then?" Ron asked, and McGonagall turned to him with a very serious face.

"Mr. Potter." She said, and Ron's face fell, just a bit.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley." She said, patting him on the shoulder. Ron shrugged.

"Nah, it's ok. I was never much good at this prefect lark anyways." He said, and he grinned. She gave him a tight lipped smile, and turned to Harry, who had incidentally, had not let go of Hermione, who had hugged him even tighter upon hearing that he would be the counterpart.

"Oh, Harry, this is so exciting!" She squealed. Harry nodded, smiling.

"I guess." He said, trying not to appear to enthusiastic, for Ron's sake. Hermione squeezed him one last time, then let go. He was a little sad when she let go, but he shook the feeling off almost instantly.

"So, the three of us have our own dorms, then?" Harry asked, and McGonagall shook her head.

"No. You and Miss Granger have your own dorms. I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, but you will have to remain in Gryffindor tower." She added, upon seeing Ron's outraged face. He opened his mouth to protest.

"This is NOT negotiable." She told him, with no trace of uncertainty in her voice. Ron slumped down in his seat, staring moodily at the table in front of him.

"Well, if that is all, then I am afraid I must be going." McGonagall stated again, rising from the table.

The three of them said their goodbyes, and McGonagall disappeared with into the other room. They heard the sounds of whooshing flames, and a stern bark of 'The Three Broomsticks'.

"This is amazing!" Hermione squealed again. She was literally bouncing in her seat. She shot up from the chair, and started to gnaw on her finger nails.

"Oh no, no, no!" She cried, suddenly very concerned. Harry and Ron shared a look before turning to her.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked. She shot him a look that said 'Are you kidding me?', as if it was obvious why she was so distraught.

"We go back to school in a month, and I haven't even started my holiday assignments!" She whined, and Harry laughed at her. Ron just scoffed.

"Are you kidding me? Christ, don't be such a bookworm!" he snapped, and Hermione whirled on him.

"Bookworm?!" she hissed, and Ron nodded defiantly.

"Just because you didn't get Head boy, don't take it out on me!" She retorted, and then she turned on her heel, and stormed out of the room.

"What's her problem?' Ron asked after she had been gone a safe amount of time. Harry, wanting to preserve the peace, merely shrugged.

A/N: YAY! Un de plus, c'est fini! Another one bites the dust.

Ok folks, chapter eight is FINITO, DONE! Ok… enough euphemisms. I hope you all enjoyed it, and review PLEASE! Reviews are food to an author's soul.

shadowmage2006: It's not my goal to make it seem that way. I'll try to avoid doing that in my future chapters. Do you think that them falling is sort of a gradual, true to life sort of way? It was what I was going for. 'Believable enough that is could have been from the real books'? You flatter me! Thank you!

potterfan (): Hopefully this chapter explained why he was a deciding factor.

Viopathartic: I'm in my final year at high school. Thanks for pointing that error out. I'll have it fixed ASAP.

Alatoic01: Did you really like it? I thought it was pretty original... most stories he is just Superpower!Harry, and I find that quite annoying. Not tooting my own horn or anything.