A/N: Thank you for the follows and favorites! I appreciate every one of you. So without further ado- here's an early update. Thank you as always to my beta RedGardenGnome!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. But a girl can dream.
"Welcome to Advanced Potions! I'm sure you are all ready and excited for this class. I have already taken the liberty and paired everyone up. Before any of you complain, I have taken the liberty and paired you all so we can help each other out. These potions we will learn this term take very specific ingredients in a very specific order, and we want everyone to do well on their N.E.W.T.s." Slughorn clapped his hands together, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Any questions?"
Slughorn was greeted with silence, a few worried looks, and a shake of the head from Hermione. "Alright, time for your partner assignments then, shall we?"
As neatly-folded pieces of parchment flew into everyone's hands, Hermione waited impatiently, tapping her foot. She opened it, and scanned the name before her: Neville Longbottom it read and she couldn't help but smile; maybe she could actually help Neville, she would love to see him do well in Potions this year. Hermione gave him a small wave, a smile gracing her features.
Draco had been paired with Ginny, and if the two stared at each other any longer, Neville was sure one would explode; after several tense moments, an awkward air passed between them. Harry had been paired with Callum, whom he greeted with a curt nod.
Hermione leaned over and whispered, "I hope we get to brew something today Neville; it's been so long since I have."
Slughorn started to move to the front of the class. His stature was so different than Snape's had been; the dungeon even seemed brighter, but Hermione felt a small pang of sadness when thinking about her late professor. Snape didn't deserve the end he came to; he was no hero, but he wasn't the villain some portrayed him out to be either.
Slughorn turned around to address the room. "Today we will start with something fairly easy as far as Advanced Potions goes." He let out a barking laugh though no one joined in. "While I'm sure none of you have ever brewed it before, today we will begin the first few steps of the Polyjuice Potion."
X
Harry bit his lip to stop his laughter and looked toward Hermione whose face lit up like a Christmas tree; her smirk would have given her away to anyone paying attention. Neville, Harry thought, was the luckiest person in class, as Hermione had not only brewed Polyjuice Potion in their second year, but she had also done it while they went on the run when they infiltrated the Ministry of Magic. Harry softly shook his head; hopefully this would be an easy one for him too…he had seen it so many times already.
X
Class went by quickly, and rather uneventfully. The potion brewing process was long but by the end, Neville felt a bit more secure in his technique; Hermione was quite the excellent teacher.
With the first few steps of the potion done and time being up, Slughorn called out, "I need two feet of parchment on the ingredients of the Polyjuice Potion and their properties for our next class Wednesday!"
Everyone started packing up notes and books, Hermione more quickly than the rest. Neville glanced up to grab the last of his things, and barely caught the quick wave Hermione provided as she rushed off to Arithmancy.
Ginny, Harry, and Neville left the classroom together, their faces lakes of sweat from standing over bubbling cauldrons for the last hour.
Neville was the first to speak as he looked over at Harry and Ginny and stated, "I think we all should do something to make Hermione really smile."
Harry was intrigued, "Like what Neville?"
Ginny felt jealousy flood through her veins at Harry's immediate interest, stealing a cold look from the back of his head.
"Well too bad we can't bring Charlie here; he seems to make Hermione happy, doesn't he?"
Harry tensed and stopped walking while Neville furrowed his brow and asked, "Charlie…isn't that your brother, Ginny?"
"Yes, he works with dragons in Romania." Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she continued, "You know, I'm pretty sure Charlie likes her too. They do make a good couple." Ginny, however, did not say this with an air of mirth; instead, her tone was more hostile.
Harry rolled his eyes, "You know, you shouldn't try and play matchmaker, Ginny. Hermione likes Charlie but I don't think it's how you're playing it out to be."
"It sure looked like it this summer!" Ginny snapped back at her boyfriend.
Neville took this as his cue to step back; he hadn't meant to cause a rift between the two, but he really just wanted to see Hermione happy. She may have fooled everyone else, but Neville had noticed how lost she seemed lately, but maybe that was only because he felt the same way.
"Stop trying to set her up! I know you can't understand what she's been through… what WE'VE been through, but she doesn't need a new relationship! She needs her friends, now more than ever."
Harry was furious; Ginny was at this again and it wasn't what Hermione needed.
Ginny clearly wasn't ready to let it go, "THEN SHE SHOULD HAVE STAYED WITH RON!"
She was greeted with complete silence; she knew she had gone too far. She was never good at keeping her temper in check (not unlike Ron in that regard) but the next words out of Harry's mouth hurt worse than a slap to the face.
"Ginny, don't pretend to understand things that don't concern you." Harry's words oozed venom that made their fellow onlookers disappear rather quickly. No one wanted to face the rage of the wizard responsible for the defeat of Voldemort.
Harry turned on his heel and stalked away, leaving behind a silent Neville and a crying Ginny.
Neville gently tugged the redhead's arm, "Ginny, are you ok?"
Apparently this was the wrong question to ask as she then started to sob even harder. Neville barely understood what she was saying.
"Why does he care so much about her?" She hiccupped. Neville moved her into a classroom to avoid the nosiness of their fellow students.
"Ginny… I'm sure it's nothing personal." He sighed before pulling Ginny into a tight hug. She muffled her sobs into his chest.
Neville, as it seemed, blended into the woodwork; he was able to see things most people couldn't. He knew Harry and Hermione had something between them but both for whatever reason he didn't understand, found it best to pretend it didn't exist; Neville, therefore, said nothing about it either.
"He's mine. He's meant to be with me." Ginny said rather haughtily into his chest.
All the sudden, Neville was at loss for words. He stood there, arms wrapped around the girl he fancied, one who he had fought beside for years. Fate was cruel for sure, or at least had a twisted sense of humor.
They sat there for a while until Ginny's sobs subsided. Free period had gone as they then headed into the Great Hall for lunch.
X
To say Harry was mad was an understatement. Ginny didn't understand anything. She was so lucky to have made it through the war with little more than a few scrapes and scratches, but he still would have thought it made her more mature. "But what did she lose?" the voice in his head taunted. He made it to the top of the Astronomy Tower frustrated, and sat down in a huff.
He removed his glasses and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes, forcing himself to see stars. It was only the first day of the bloody school year. He remembered the last time he was in this tower; he had watched Mal-Draco fail to kill Dumbledore.
Though he hadn't realized it until they went on the run, that was the night that the war was no longer black and white. The classmate he hated, was truly just as lost as he was, stuck on the wrong side of the war because of his family. He had suffered too, and Draco had ultimately saved himself, Ron, and Hermione in the end.
Harry rested his head against a stone pillar. Draco had found him last night; after everything that had happened between them at school, Draco had found him to help Hermione. Good and evil were just endpoints. Everyone fought their own war, both before and during the battle at Hogwarts; people did what they had to in order to survive.
Why was it so hard for Ron and Ginny to see that things weren't what they had been before? Why did they insist in going back to a time when things were broken, where lives were ended and a war brewed and boiled overhead? Why were they unable to move forward? It was as if they didn't want to accept that the world, and the people around them had changed.
"Nothing changed for them; there is no more danger; their lives can be everything they ever wanted." the voice taunted again.
Harry's head was spinning. Forcing himself to take deep breaths, he stood up. He had already missed lunch, and he would be late for class if he didn't hurry down now. Hermione would be very upset if he missed the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the year.
X
Hermione wasn't entirely sure what happened during the hour she was in Arithmancy, or during the hour she was at lunch (which was spent in the library), but something had happened because Harry wouldn't even look at Ginny, while Ginny's eyes looked red from crying. Neville, meanwhile, looked like he would rather be anywhere but between the two at the moment.
Maybe she didn't want to know what happened; however, the thought was just as quick to come as it was to go when she looked at Harry's face. He looked entirely torn inside, and Hermione had never been one to not help him through everything.
For the first time in a long time Hermione found it very hard to pay attention in class. You couldn't cut the tension around the four with a knife, and Hermione hated feeling clueless. But as the lesson concluded, and they were assigned the section of their textbook on The Natural Properties of the Demiguise, Neville and Ginny left quickly, leaving Hermione and Harry alone.
"Harry, did something after Potions?" Hermione prodded as gently as possible.
He sighed. "Ginny and I had another row. She wants to set you up with Charlie to cheer you up, but I keep telling her that it isn't like that between you two." Harry was talking animatedly and Hermione seemed to sense there was more to what he was saying.
"Harry, what's really the problem?" Hermione spoke softly, like if she said it too loud he would break.
"It's not black and white. It hasn't ever been black and white; and it's just so easy," the volume in his voice was rising so Hermione pulled them out of earshot of the curious students walking past. "It's just so easy for everyone to be okay, for everything to be okay, but it's not okay, I know it's not okay, you know it's not okay, Charlie, Fleur, Bill, Draco, Neville, Luna…everyone knows it's not okay but Ginny and Ron! They were with us Hermione! How do they not get it?" Harry's voice had dropped to almost a whisper for the last question.
Hermione didn't have an answer for him. She instead gave him a hug, wrapping her arms around him as his head perched on top of hers.
Harry inhaled her smell as it comforted him…she felt like home. They stayed wrapped up for a while, both seeking comfort from each other that they desperately needed.
After a few moments, Hermione, her voice muffled against his chest, asked, "Harry, how did you know I was having a nightmare last night?"
Harry held her at arm's length and answered, "Draco heard you crying and found me."
"Oh," was all Hermione could muster.
Harry gave her a small smile, "He was just concerned Hermione. He lives with more guilt than either of us."
She nodded; Draco Malfoy was not the haughty boy with a 'holier-than-thou' attitude. He was a man bound to the worst parts of the world by a love for his mother, and a bit of self-preservation, but he was also broken.
"Let's go inside," Harry proposed. "I suppose I should talk to Ginny sooner rather than later." He scratched the back of his neck absent-mindedly.
Once they entered back inside the castle, the pair parted ways with Hermione heading to the eighth year rooms while Harry went to the Gryffindor Tower.
X
Neville found Hermione reading in the common room when he returned a while later, though she seemed unfocused.
"Starting on homework already?"
Hermione shook her head, closing the book and tucking it away quickly.
"Is everything okay Neville? I heard you were almost in between Harry and Ginny when they fought."
Neville snorted, "You could hardly say that, it was pretty nasty though."
Hermione looked curiously at him and questioned, "What started it?"
Neville felt uneasy, as he shifted in his chair unsure of what to divulge.
"I wanted to do something to make you happy; you look like you could use some friends, or some fire whiskey, or both, you know?"
Hermione laughed out loud and Neville smiled at her reaction.
"Maybe you're right…maybe we could do something this weekend? Hermione stood to her feet and added, "We'll all figure something out." And with another smile, she was gone.
X
Harry had a hard time finding Ginny; he was unsure whether that was more of an unconscious decision or if she was hiding. He sighed heavily once he found her.
"There you are," Harry said with a hint of exasperation he hoped she would miss.
"What do you want Harry? Why aren't you with Hermione?" Ginny was still clearly angry and not thinking rationally.
"You know, maybe we should talk about this later," Harry said softly; he was trying to be fair but she was not making this easy.
"Why? So you can go talk to Hermione about it and get her input?! You're mine Harry! She's just jealous!" Harry looked at her like she had grown a second head, but Ginny was adamant. "Last time you dumped me, you, Hermione, and Ron left me here to go on some hunt. You will not leave me again."
Harry was at a loss for words for a long second before he regained his composure.
"Is that what this is about?" His voice was low again.
"It's what it has always been about!" Ginny was furious as she shoved him away, trying to push past him.
Harry didn't budge, "Ginny I thought we were past me being a 'thing'. I thought you were better than that."
Ginny squeezed past him, letting out a poorly disguised sob.
Harry stared at her retreating back, galloping up to the girls' dorms. What had just happened? This was supposed to be a normal year.