AN: Hi hi! I love the feeling you get when you wake up in the morning and you realise it's the holidays. I just got that randomly this morning :D I feel really happy today, I don't know why. It might be something to do with the fact that I bought high-waisted shorts today, and they are so cool, and I'm wearing them right now with my baggy horse shirt and I feel like an American cowgirl. :P

Before we go any further, I'd like to thank LunaxNight for her review in particular - it made me smile so much I thought my face was going to split in half! So you can thank her for this being up today :) Now, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Bear with... bear with... bear with... nope, don't own anything. Except my new high-waisted shorts. I can't get over how cool they are.

10

Conversations

'Rose?'

'Rosie?'

'Rosie-Posie Roly-Poly?'

'Shut up, James.'

'Rose, you're awake!'

'No, I'm talking in my sleep.'

'No, you're not.'

'Well, obviously not, James!' A bleary-eyed Rose tried to sit up on… the couch? 'Where am I? What happened?'

'You collapsed in the kitchen, remember, Rose?' Al was sitting on the armrest by Rose's head, peering down at her. 'You collapsed because you… lost too much blood.'

'Lost too much blood?' Rose repeated, trying to sit up again. She settled herself awkwardly on the old couch. 'Why would I lose too much blood? What did I do?'

'You don't remember?' Al paled. The whole thing had been awful, he didn't want to have to explain it all again.

'No. At least, not yet… what happened?' Rose looked round at the other people in the room. Scorpius was knelt beside her, looking rather stiff, as if he'd been there a long time without moving. Lily was sat on the armrest at the other end of the couch, by her feet, and Hugo was sat on the floor leaning against the couch. Everybody else – Teddy, Victoire, James, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George – was scattered around the room. 'How long was I out?'

'The whole night,' Lily replied. 'It's just gone midday.'

It was then that Rose finally noticed the bandage wrapped tightly around her hand, making it impossible for her to move her fingers. 'Oh,' she murmured, remembering finally. Al nodded, looking sick again. Rose managed a weak smile. 'It wasn't that horrific, was it?'

'It kind of was,' Hugo grimaced. 'Scorpius found you just after you collapsed, then Mum and Grandma came, and Aunt Ginny. They managed to… sort you out, mostly, between them, but you… you wouldn't stop… wouldn't stop bleeding…' Rose could see quite clearly how troubled Hugo was by his face, and realised how helpless he must have felt, seeing his sister like that, but not being able to do anything… 'Rose, honestly, I'm so glad you're alright.'

'Course I am, Hugo,' Rose said softly, unable to speak very strongly. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stabbed myself with that fork. Clumsy old me.'

'It wasn't your fault, it was mine,' Hermione said. She looked quite relieved that Rose was awake. 'I should have gotten Mrs Weasley quicker. I had no idea what was happening to you…'

'It's nobody's fault,' Scorpius said stiffly. His eyes never left Rose's face. 'We don't know what's happening, but it isn't because of us.'

'What – what do you mean?' Rose asked. 'You don't know what's happening?'

Hugo sighed. 'Rose – remember when James hit Lily at the end of the Quidditch game a few days ago?'

'Accidentally,' James put in.

'Whatever,' Hugo frowned. 'Point is, James really didn't hit her very hard, at all. And yet… she was still bleeding, a lot.'

'And the night you got a nosebleed,' Ron said to Hugo. 'That wasn't just a nosebleed, was it?'

Hugo shook his head. 'No. That was much worse than a normal nosebleed.'

'Oh,' Rose gasped, catching on. 'The bleeding. It's part of the curse.'

'Yes,' Victoire said quietly. 'And what's even scarier is that so far, the bleeding's been caused by something. Lily getting hit, Hugo getting a nosebleed, you with the fork. We don't know how long it is until… until the bleeding starts for no reason.'

'You mean, we could start bleeding at any moment?' Al asked for confirmation. He was white as a sheet now. 'Without warning?'

'That's exactly what I mean,' Victoire nodded.

Everybody in the room, even the twins, looked quite pale now, especially the eight time travellers. Some looked a little sick.

'Look on the bright side,' Fred tried to joke weakly. 'At least the kitchen floor is a rather more vivid colour now.'

The corner of George's mouth twitched. Ginny threw a look that clearly said, 'Really? Right now?' in their direction.

Rose groaned, lying back on the couch. The room had started to spin. 'Rose? Are you okay?' Scorpius asked immediately.

'Yeah,' she replied faintly. 'Just need to close my eyes for a bit.'

At that moment, Mrs Weasley bustled into the room and, seeing that Rose was awake, shepherded everyone out the room so she could fuss over her. Scorpius gave Rose's hand a squeeze before he was the last to be shoved out the room.

. . ./ * \. . .

'Harry.' As everyone else pushed past them, heading upstairs or into the dining room, Ginny was by Harry's side. 'I need to talk to you.'

Apparently Harry didn't get a say in the matter, as Ginny pushed him through a door he hadn't noticed was there before. The room they were in now wasn't any different to most of the other rooms in the house: everything about it was old and dirty and generally looked like it hadn't been touched in a very long time. It was also devoid of furniture, except from a couple of tables, boxes and odd-looking objects here and there.

'I can't take this anymore,' Ginny began boldly.

Harry stared at her. Her arms were folded, and she stood about a metre away from him, looking very determined. 'Er – what?'

'You know what,' Ginny told him. Harry grimaced, realising where this was going. 'Ever since James, Albus, Lily and the rest of them arrived, we haven't been able to look at each other without blushing and pretending we weren't looking at each other.'

Harry was sure that this was the most she'd ever said to him in four years. He was also surprised by how blunt she was being – and embarrassed that it was all true. 'I'm sorry, Ginny. It's just –'

'You can't stop thinking of me as Ron's little sister?' Ginny interrupted him. 'Because that's all I've been for four years. I know we don't know each other very well, because I've always been too shy to speak to you.' Harry thought that Ginny must be making up for all those years she hardly said two words to him, because she seemed to be trying to get a lot off her chest right now.

'Ginny, that's exactly what it is,' Harry said. 'I don't know you very well. And that's not a bad thing,' he added quickly, becoming slightly panicked at Ginny's crestfallen expression. 'It's… erm, well, I mean, I want to get to know you better. Yeah, that's it.'

This had to be the most awkward conversation he'd ever been part of. It didn't seem to matter to Ginny, though – she brightened up immediately. 'Really?' she said, before blushing. 'I'm sorry. I just needed to get all that out. It was driving me insane.'

'No, it's fine,' Harry assured her.

'Right,' she nodded.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, in which they looked around the room at anything but each other. Ginny was mortified. What if this conversation had just made things more awkward for them? Here she was, spilling out all her pent-up frustration over the last few days to him, saying twice as much to him as she'd said in the past four years put together. She realised Harry didn't know her at all, and now neither of them knew where to start. Oh, Merlin, what had she done?

Harry, meanwhile, didn't know what to think. He was glad Ginny had finally come out of her shell around him – but what did he say now? The fourteen-year-old standing in front of him was the girl he was going to marry in the future and have three children with, and he barely knew her – and their children were now living in the same house as them! And there was another thing: she was fourteen. Harry had turned fifteen only a few weeks ago. They could hardly go around acting as a couple, and yet they were both uncomfortably aware of the fact that they were married in the future with three kids. That was a lot for a fourteen – and fifteen – year-old to cope with.

'Look, I know we're going to have to be Obliviated when James, Albus and Lily and the others go back to their own time,' Ginny said eventually, 'and after we are you'll just go back to thinking of me as Ron's little sister, and I'll go back to hardly being able to talk to you. But while they're here, which might be for a while still, we at least need to be comfortable around each other.'

Harry nodded. 'I agree,' he said, wishing for this conversation to be over as soon as possible. They just got more self-conscious as it went on.

'Good,' Ginny said, a look of relief crossing her face. She brushed her red hair over her shoulder; Harry couldn't help noticing for the first time that she had lovely hair. 'Friends?' She held out her hand, looking slightly nervous.

'We were always friends,' Harry replied, taking her hand but not shaking it. Ginny blushed a furious red, and Harry wondered if he'd gone too far. He dropped her hand immediately as if burned, feeling terribly embarrassed once again. He guessed this was just going to take a lot of getting used to.

'Right,' Ginny said, giving him a funny little half-smile. 'Good. That's good. Er – I'll just -'

'Oh yeah.' Harry stepped to the side to let her past. They reached for the door handle at the same time, and Ginny blushed again, letting Harry open the door. She didn't move, expecting Harry to walk through first. When he didn't, and she'd only just realised he was holding the door open for her, they both laughed a little too loudly, before Ginny stepped through the door.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry followed her out.

. . ./ * \. . .

At the same time Ginny had pushed Harry into that room, Hermione had grabbed Ron's arm and yanked him into the room across the corridor.

'Hermione – what are you doing – ow!'

'We need to talk, Ronald,' Hermione stated firmly. Apparently Ron didn't get a choice in the matter – just like Harry.

'I'd rather not, Hermione,' Ron tried to say. 'I've got to go and – polish my broom –'

'You haven't got a broom here, Ron,' Hermione said.

'Harry's broom,' Ron said quickly. 'I meant Harry's broom.'

'Stop making excuses, Ronald Weasley!' Hermione snapped impatiently.

'I wasn't making excuses!' he protested, holding his hands up. He sighed, recognising defeat. 'What is it?'

'We need to talk. About us,' Hermione told him. 'Ginny's having the same conversation with Harry.'

'You two planned this?' Ron asked, and Hermione nodded. 'Hey, I'd much rather my best mate didn't go anywhere near my sister –'

'Actually, it's your sister going near your best mate, and you're not her minder, Ron,' Hermione admonished. 'Oh, relax. They're not doing anything. Trust me.'

Ron scowled. 'Fine. But if I see them – holding hands or something, underneath the table…'

'They won't be doing anything like that, Ron,' Hermione said exasperatedly. 'Honestly, could you have more faith in them? Harry's your best friend, remember? He'd never dream of even touching Ginny without consulting you first. And he doesn't feel that way about her – yet.'

'Fine,' Ron said again. 'But what are we talking about?'

'Us,' Hermione said. 'I already told you that.'

Ron flushed at the word 'us'. 'But… I mean, what about us?'

'Well, Ron, we've just found out that we're married in the future, and have a daughter and a son, and we haven't even talked about it. Don't you think we should?' Hermione questioned, raising her eyebrows.

'I suppose,' Ron shrugged. He wasn't able to look at her properly without blushing. She had more guts that him, that was for sure.

Hermione bit her lip, looking uncharacteristically unsure. 'Ron, what do you think we should do? We can't carry on like this. We can barely talk to each other, we're so embarrassed.'

Ron sighed. He should tell her how he felt. Why not now? If he was going to tell her, now was the best time to do it. But what if she rejected him? What if he ruined things between them? What if they wouldn't even be able to be in the same room as each other, let alone talk to each other?

Come on, Weasley. Where's that Gryffindor courage of yours? Hermione was staring at him, chewing a fingernail nervously. Her brown eyes silently asked for an answer. He had to tell her. If it all went wrong – well, didn't Teddy say they would be Obliviated once he and the others left? So it would all go back to normal in a few weeks tops, whatever happened.

'Ron?' Hermione asked again.

Ron looked up at her. It was now or never. Well, never for the time being. 'Hermione, listen. I… uh, like you. A lot.'

Hermione frowned. 'Of course you do. We're best friends.'

'No, I mean, as more than a friend.'

'Well, obviously. You wouldn't marry me otherwise, would you?'

Ron resisted the urge to curse. Why was she making this so bloody difficult?

'No… Hermione, I mean, not in the future. As in, I like you more than a friend… now.' There. He'd said it.

Hermione stared at him. 'Oh.'

'Yeah,' said Ron uncomfortably, beginning to regret his confession.

'Well, I… I guess that would explain the whole Yule Ball scene last year,' Hermione said slowly. 'And the whole thing with Krum.'

Ron didn't say anything.

'Ginny was right, after all. And I didn't believe her! Oh, Ron…'

Bloody hell. He'd blown it. 'Hermione, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said –'

'Yes you should,' Hermione interrupted. 'Ron, I'm glad you said it! Do you really mean it?'

Ron nodded, staring fixedly at the wall opposite.

'Ron, why didn't you say sooner?'

The redhead looked up at her in surprise. 'You mean – you –'

'I feel the same way,' Hermione nodded.

'Well – why didn't you say anything?' Ron asked.

'You should have said something first,' Hermione retorted.

'No, you should have, you know what I'm like!' Ron argued.

Hermione started to laugh. Ron stared at her like she was mental. 'Oh – I'm sorry – but some things are never going to change, are they? We're always going to be bickering constantly.'

He saw her reason for laughing then, and began to chuckle as well. 'Yeah. I guess you're right.'

The bushy-haired girl smiled up at him, a little shyly. Hermione, shy? Where did this come from? 'So… where do we go from here?'

'Uh – I don't know.' They were back to being uncomfortable again. 'I mean, do you want to…?'

'Go out?' Hermione supplied, before nodding. 'Yes. Even if it is only for a little while before we're Obliviated.'

'And I go back to being a git,' Ron said regretfully. Why had he waited this long?

'You'll always be a git, Ron,' Hermione smiled fondly.

'Oi!' Ron complained, before grinning. On a high, he decided he was feeling brave, and stepped towards Hermione with his arms open. She stepped into him, and he wrapped her in a hug.

'Finally!'

The pair sprang apart as the door burst open, and Ginny, Harry, Fred, George, Hugo and Lily spilled into the room. Ginny was positively beaming as if Christmas had come early.

'Were you all listening?' Hermione asked incredulously, already blushing nearly as red as Ron.

'Only for about half the conversation,' Ginny shrugged. 'You two don't half take your time, do you? I don't think I've ever listened to a more awkward conversation, and I just talked to Harry.'

Hermione felt she should be angrier, but with the beam Ginny had plastered on her face, she couldn't bring herself to be very cross. The look the twins were giving her and Ron made her apprehensive, though, and she knew they weren't going to hear the end of it for a while.

AN: Does anyone else like the song 'Soldier's Poem' by Muse? I've fallen in love with it :) I'M GOING TO SEE PALOMA FAITH SING IN JULY! I'm so excited, I had to tell you!

Review, please, for Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione's awkwardness! ^^