Luna

Harry and I were swiftly kicked out of the infirmary while Madam Pomfrey flapped around Hermione. The pair of us made stood outside the infirmary door in a daze, chattering madly in excitement.

'We have to find the others and tell them she's awake!' I exclaimed happily.

'Yeah!' Harry agreed, his face stretched into the biggest grin I'd seen on him this year … come to think of it, that I'd seen on him ever. 'I wonder where on earth Carlos is?'

'I'm going to go and get some dinner, do you want to come with me?' I suggested. 'Maybe Carlos will be there?'

'I think I'll wait around here and see if I can get to see Hermione,' Harry replied. 'Then I'll check the common rooms to see if he's there.'

'Okay, well if I see anyone then I'll pass on the news!' I left Harry trying to peer into the infirmary and I descended to the ground floor to the Great Hall. I didn't get very far before I spotted Carlos and Ginny coming in the front doors of the castle, shivering and dusting snow flakes off their shoulders.

'Guys!' I exclaimed. 'You're not going to believe it, Hermione's awake!'

Ginny looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry – I knew how she felt.

'She's – she's really awake?' she repeated, still not quite smiling.

'Is she all right?' Carlos asked anxiously.

'I think so,' I replied. 'She was talking and sitting up when Madam Pomfrey made us leave … oh, by the way, Harry's been wondering where you got to, Carlos.'

Ginny and Carlos exchanged a tiny glance and Carlos looked rather tense. What on earth was the matter with them?

'I'll – I'll find him later on,' Carlos told me, then kissed me on the cheek and left.

'What was that all about?' I asked Ginny. 'I thought you guys would be ecstatic!'

Ginny blinked. 'We are …of course we are.'

'So what's up with Carlos?'

Ginny blushed. If it wasn't for the fact that Carlos was going out with Harry, I'd have been sure something was going on between them. But there couldn't be … could there?

Hermione

Propped up against about fifteen pillows, I felt my strength gradually begin to return. Madam Pomfrey and Ron were constantly fussing over me, asking how I felt, what I remembered, what year it was and who was the Minister for Magic.

'Rufus Scrimgeour,' I replied wearily. 'And it's 1998. Happy?'

'Almost,' Ron replied. He turned to Madam Pomfrey. 'Can I have a moment alone with my wife please?'

The matron nodded and left the room. Ron was staring at me curiously … in fact, almost angrily. Suddenly I realised: he must have somehow found out about me and Neville.

'What – what is it, Ron?' I asked weakly.

'Why didn't you tell me about the baby, Hermione?' He looked hurt and confused. I wanted to cry.

'I'm so sorry, Ron, I wanted to tell you,' I said, sniffing. 'How did you find out?'

'Madam Pomfrey told me,' he said stiffly.

'Eh?'

'She assumed I already knew. She was trying to reassure me by telling me the baby was okay. I assumed you didn't know you were pregnant yet or else you'd have told me, but then when you woke up the first words out of your mouth were about the baby. If you knew then why didn't you tell me?'

My mind was spinning. Ron didn't suspect the baby wasn't his after all. I didn't know what to say. Then I burst into tears.

'Oh, sweetheart, it's okay!' Ron whispered, moving to sit on the edge of my bed and hugging me. 'Did you not think I'd be happy about it?'

Gasping through my tears, I managed to say, 'I don't know.'

'Hermione … I'm over the moon!'

Ron and Madam Pomfrey left me alone to have a nap. When I woke up, Harry was sitting in a chair beside my bed.

'Harry?' I whispered blearily. My head still felt a little fuzzy. I hadn't seen more than a glimpse of Harry since I woke up from the curse. As soon as Madam Pomfrey had seen that I was awake she had sent away everyone but Ron while she examined me.

Harry sat by my bed, biting his lip. I couldn't read his expression. I so badly wanted to know what he was thinking: I was certain he was furious with me on more than one count.

'Harry,' I whispered, feeling my eyes fill up with tears. 'Harry, I'm so sorry about everything.'

I wasn't sure but I thought his lower lip trembled slightly. He put his arms around me and held me tightly. 'I'm just glad you're okay,' he whispered. 'Nothing else matter just now.'

Draco

Okay. So I was lying on my stomach on my bed alone in my dormitory, having thrown out my four roommates and told them to leave me in peace for the rest of the afternoon. I was in an extremely bad mood. Snape was furious with me, I was no closer to fixing the situation with Harry and Carlos, and I hadn't even seen Carlos for forty-nine … no wait, fifty hours.

There was a knock on my dormitory door.

'Who is it?' I called grumpily.

'It's me.'

'Carlos?' I jumped off my bed and smoothed down my hair. Although I spent ninety-nine percent of my time thinking about him, it was still a shock to hear his voice at my door. 'Come in!'

He stepped inside the door and peered around at my dormitory. I tried not to think about the fact that it was the first time he had been in my bedroom.

'Hey. Long time no see,' I said casually. 'How are things?'

He shrugged listlessly and sat down on my bed.

Oh my god. Carlos is on my bed.

'Are you all right?' I asked him. He seemed restless.

'I've had some really amazing news,' he told me. 'But also some really bad news.'

'Oh?' I said.

'Well, the great part is that I'm not a Horcrux anymore.'

Uh oh. 'You're – you're not? How is that possible?'

'Well, I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say that I found someone who knew how to break that spell.'

A million questions were circling in my mind. Who? How? When? And what the hell am I going to do when the Dark Lord finds out? I was as good as dead. Wait … what was the bad news?

'What's the bad news?' I asked him.

Carlos sighed and flopped backwards onto my pillow.

Oh my god. Carlos is lying on my pillow.

'It's about Harry. Harry and me.'

'Have you broken up?' I asked him, trying not to sound hopeful.

Carlos sighed yet again. 'No. But I think we will. He's – he's been seeing someone else.' Carlos breathed in sharply. I suspected he was trying to hold back tears. Normally I would laugh at any man (and in my most scathing moments, any girl) who cried, but I could easily make an exception for Carlos. His sensitivity was perfectly balanced by his masculinity.

'He cheated on you?' I asked, this time barely managing to conceal my glee.

'No … I don't know. Maybe it was before we were together. But … well, it's complicated.'

I nodded sympathetically, not really having a clue what he was going on about except for the part about Carlos soon being single.

But even the thought that I might have a chance with Carlos again couldn't distract me from the terrifying truth: that I might be about to die.

Neville

'Harry, that's amazing news!' I exclaimed, hugging him.

'I know, isn't it great? Hermione's all right!' Harry said happily. 'Have you seen Carlos? I can't wait to tell him the great news!'

'Sorry, Harry, I haven't,' I told him.

'Okay, well, I'm going to keep looking. See you later,' he said, and headed back out of the portrait hole. I sat back down in my comfy chair in front of the fire and tried to get on with my essay again, but I was suddenly too excited. Hermione was awake! I was desperate to go and see her. I had to tell her that I knew about the baby and find out once and for all whether it was mine or not.

Bang.

I jumped in fright at the sound of the common room door slamming. Twisting round, I saw a flash of red hair as Ginny stomped through the common room.

'Hey, hey, hey, what's the matter?' I cried, jumping up. I caught hold of her arm and pulled her towards me. She was breathing hard and looked utterly furious, but as I held her, her angry expression turned to one of utter distress.

'Ginny?' I ventured.

'It's Hermione.'

'Yeah, I just heard! It's fantastic that she's awake, isn't it?' I marvelled.

'That's not what I'm talking about,' she said impatiently.

Oh no. I felt sick. 'Has – has something happened?' I asked, feeling dizzy with dread.

'Too right, something's happened,' Ginny spat. 'I just found out that she's pregnant.'

'Oh … that … yeah, I know. Ron told me,' I said cautiously, half-expecting a tirade of anger from her because I hadn't told her.

'Yeah, but what Ron doesn't know is that he's not the father.' Ginny eyed me furiously and suddenly I wanted to run away. I wondered how she had managed to hold back from killing me for a whole two minutes already.

'Ginny ... I don't know what to say,' I began to murmur. 'Can you ever forgive—'

'It's Harry!' she burst out.

We stared at each other for a second. 'Wait, what?' we both said in confusion.

'Nothing,' I said briskly, realising with relief that she had no idea about me and Hermione after all. 'What do you mean, Harry's the father?'

'Just what I said – they had an affair, she got pregnant, and she's never going to tell my brother that she's actually a dirty, cheating little—' Ginny broke off and punched the wall in anger.

For a second I was confused. Not only had Hermione cheated on Ron with me, but she had also cheated with Harry? When? How? Oh, wait a moment …

'Ginny,' I said carefully. 'How did you find this out?'

'I overheard Harry at Hermione's bedside before she woke up, sort of talking to himself. He was saying he had lied to you about it, that he had told you it was Ron's baby,' she said, wincing as she massaged her bruised knuckles.

'And then Harry said it was his?'

'Yeah … I think so …well, maybe not in so many words, but that was obviously what he meant! Who else's would it be?'

She sat down in an armchair and pulled out her Divination textbook, still looking angry.

I took a deep breath. I was going to have to tell her. I couldn't let her go around telling people Harry had got Hermione pregnant when it was me. Could I?

'Ginny,' I began. 'I have to tell you something …'

'What is it?' she asked. I could see nervousness in her eyes, knowledge that I had even worse news for her, and suddenly I couldn't say the words. I cast around for something to say instead.

'Er … I love you,' I murmured without really thinking about it.

Oops.

'You – you what?' she said faintly.

'Um …'

'Oh.' She turned a bit white. Then a bit red. Then she started cramming books back into her bag. 'Ummm … I have to get to Quidditch practice …'

'But it doesn't start for fifteen minutes,' I pointed out, raising my eyebrows at her as she jumped up.

'See you later,' she called, leaving so hastily that she knocked a chair over, and nearly sent a gaggle of tiny first years flying as she pushed past them out of the common room door.

Damn. What had I just done?

Harry

'Carlos?' I called. The Ravenclaw common room was fairly deserted. Come to think of it, I had never seen that common room remotely crowded. Maybe that would explain why it was impossible to find a free table in the library without tripping over at least seventeen Ravenclaws.

Only a few scattered groups could be seen in the bluish glow of the fire, most poring over textbooks and long rolls of parchment.

Michael Corner looked up from his studying. 'Carlos isn't here, Harry,' he told me. 'I haven't seen him all day, actually.'

I slumped against the doorframe. 'Thanks, Michael,' I told him glumly.

Turning back out of the door, somebody smacked right into me.

'Oh. Harry.' It was Carlos.

'Hey, baby!' I said enthusiastically. 'I've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been?'

He shrugged. 'Around.' He glanced at the wall and then studied his nails.

'Did you hear about—' I began.

'Hermione? Yeah,' he interrupted shortly.

I stared at him for a moment. Carlos looked grumpy, the way he only ever did when he first woke up in the morning. But it was past dinner time.

'Is something wrong?'

'Why don't you tell me?' he retorted quickly.

'Er … okay … except that I don't know.'

'Well maybe you should come and find me when you do know. Excuse me.' And he pushed past me and disappeared up the stairs to his common room.

I glanced around me in utter confusion. Michael Corner shrugged at me.

'Bloody men,' I muttered as I left.

Luna

I bumped into Ron the next day on my way to the hospital wing to see Hermione.

'Hey,' we both greeted each other shyly.

'So how's she doing?' I asked.

'Good,' Ron replied, nodding enthusiastically. 'Professor Lovegood – I mean, your dad – has just been in to see her to check that there's no lasting damage from the spell, but I'm sure she'll be out of the hospital wing in no time at all!'

'That's really great, Ron,' I said, and I really meant it. 'I'm so glad.'

'Yeah, me too.'

'Well … I was just going to go and see her,' I said awkwardly.

'Great! I'm just going to grab some food. I barely ate the last couple of days and now I'm starving!' Ron replied. 'I'll maybe see you up there in a bit?'

I nodded. I was slightly shaken by how normal Ron was suddenly being with me. Did that mean that he had completely forgotten that anything weird had happened between us? Or just that he was no longer feeling guilty about it because Hermione was all right?

Either way, I was still feeling very odd about the whole thing, but I was determined to be there for Hermione. I waved goodbye to Ron and headed to the infirmary.

Neville Longbottom was sitting beside Hermione's bed. I was almost relieved. Lately, I'd been feeling really guilty when I was with Hermione, not to mention jealous that she was married to Ron, and having someone else there eased the pain a little.

'Hermione, I don't know what to do,' Neville was saying in that slightly whiny tone of his. Don't get me wrong, I thought Neville was great … but he was just so insecure … it got a little old after a while.

'What can we do, Neville,' Hermione replied softly.

I hesitated at the door. I've never been one to eavesdrop, really. Why was I doing it now?

'Everyone thinks it's Harry you had an affair with,' Neville told her.

Hermione dropped her head into her hands. 'I know.'

'Sooner or later the rumour will get back to Ron, and what are you going to do, just deny it?'

'I – I don't know!' Hermione exclaimed, sounding harassed.

'And Harry knows the truth – there's no way he'll cover for us if it's his own reputation on the line,' Neville said. 'Especially if Ron confronts him.'

'What are we going to do, Neville?' Hermione moaned.

In shock, I stumbled backwards away from the hospital wing door. I ran all the way back to my dormitory, where I sat on my bed, breathing hard and trying to sort out my thoughts. I felt totally numb.

Ron and I had been feeling incredibly guilty over a kiss that didn't even happen. Hermione was having someone else's baby. What was wrong with this picture?

Carlos

Harry and Hermione.

Harry and Hermione!

How on earth was this possible? When could it have even happened?

I almost wished Ginny hadn't told me anything. I had finally been happy, everything had been perfect for those ten precious minutes … then it had all fallen apart.

And now I just couldn't face him. I couldn't face Hermione, either. In fact, I couldn't even face any of their friends.

The only person I could stand to be around was …

'Santiero, what the hell is up with you?' Draco drawled as he lounged on his bed flicking through the Daily Prophet. 'You've been mooning around here looking miserable for two days now.'

'Nothing, I'm fine. I just feel like hanging around here, all right? And anyway, I promised you I'd help you, didn't I? So here I am, ready to help!' I knew I sounded slightly manic. I couldn't help it. I'd never had my heart broken before.

'Carlos … I'm your friend, I'm here for you,' Draco said, suddenly taking on a look of utmost sincerity. Though most of the time I was highly suspicious of Draco's motives, at the moment I could see that he really, really cared about me.

I stared at him, suddenly realising the one thing I could do that might take away some of the pain that filled my chest. Draco looked back at questioningly, a shy smile wavering on his lips.

And then I kissed him.

Ginny

I had been turning the Harry and Hermione news over and over in my head. And the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became …

I was still in love with Harry.

It made sense. It certainly explained why I was so upset about it all.

And yes, I know I had been slightly infatuated with Neville lately. But that was clearly just transference. I was projecting the feelings for Harry I had been burying for months onto Neville. It was so obvious now.

But I was torn. I wanted to confront Harry about it. I wanted to tell Ron everything. I wanted to storm up to that hospital wing and kick Hermione's ass.

But most of all, I just wanted to stay in my room and spend the whole week crying.

Plus, I felt incredibly guilty for telling Carlos. He had caught me at a weak moment and I hadn't been able to help blurting it out. But now he was avoiding Harry and looked horribly depressed when he should have been enjoying the first taste of freedom he'd ever had.

I felt guilty about Neville too, I was totally messing with his head. One minute I was all over him, the next I was so preoccupied with Harry and Hermione that I barely even noticed when Neville was in the room. And now he had said he loved me. What was I meant to do now?

I heard a set of footsteps from behind me and turned to see Harry descending from his dormitory.

'Hey,' he greeted me.

I turned my back on him without replying.

'Are you okay?' he persisted, sitting opposite me. 'You've been awfully quiet the last few days.'

I raised my eyebrows but kept reading my book.

'Ginny?' he said, sounding a little frustrated. 'Why won't you talk to me, what have I done?'

I snapped my book shut. 'I can't believe you need to ask!'

'Okay, this is just getting silly. First Carlos and now you – what the hell is going on?'

'You know fine well, you sneaky, lying, little … god, how could you do this to Ron?! He's meant to be your best friend!'

'Have you lost your mind? What on earth are you talking about?' Harry cried.

Ron appeared on the stairs now, closely followed by Neville.

'Hey, I heard shouting, what's going on?' Ron asked, frowning.

'Why don't you ask Harry,' I said and raised my eyebrows pointedly at Harry, who was now staring at me like I was insane.

'Harry?' Ron asked uncertainly.

'Ron, mate, your sister's lost it,' Harry replied, shaking his head. 'I don't know what I'm supposed to have done.'

'How dare you talk about me like that!' I cried.

'Ginny will you please just tell me what's wrong?' Ron sighed.

'He's a lying scumbag, that's what's wrong,' I retorted.

'She's insane, that's what's wrong,' Harry muttered hotly.

'What's wrong with you two?' Neville asked, glancing from me to Harry warily. Great. The last thing I needed was for Neville to get jealous of Harry and I.

The portrait hole opened and someone else came into the common room.

It was Professor Lovegood, wearing a very serious expression.

'Harry, Ron,' he said. 'I need to speak to you urgently.'

Ron

Harry, Ginny, Neville and I all followed Lovegood silently to his office, where he conjured chairs for us all and surveyed sadly.

'What's the matter?' Harry asked. 'Did you – did you get it wrong about Carlos? Was the Horcrux not really neutralised?'

Lovegood sighed. 'Yes and no.'

Harry gave a moan and dropped his head into his hands. 'Oh, god … Carlos …'

'Carlos is fine, Harry. He's definitely not a Horcrux anymore.'

Harry looked up again. 'Well, what's wrong then?'

'The Horcrux wasn't neutralised. It was transferred to someone else.'

We all glanced at each other in alarmed confusion.

Then it hit me.

In shock, I stared, at Professor Lovegood, who was looking at me with a kind of tragic expression. He gave a slight nod.

'Hermione,' I whispered.