Chapter Ten

In the Company of Others

It was dawn again and Harry was once more upon the hill overlooking the Burrow. This place was becoming too much of a place to run and think or get away from the problems plaguing his own tangled mess of relations for Harry's own good. He knew it and he knew that running away from the problems that he had a major hand in creating was not going to do anything good.

With that in mind, Harry stood up, stretching a bit as the morning rays struck him and the sound of bird song, wind blowing, and a distant call of some animal filled the air. He grinned for no apparent reason, feeling flushed and alive with the new day.

"You're looking oddly pleased with yourself this morning." Hermione replied, looking up at him.

Harry glanced to the woman who had spent most of the night at his side. She like him had gotten suffocated by the high feelings and emotions of the Burrow and when he had snuck out after everyone had fallen asleep, she had joined him in his little escapism. Now she looked up at him, her eyes bleary and a yawn running through her body.

She looked lovely in the morning sun.

"Quit looking at me like that." She said, blushing a little.

"Exhaustion has never looked so much better on a person." Harry said, kneeling down before her.

"Aren't you full of flowery speeches in the morning." Hermione responded, a smiling gracing her lips. She moved slightly closer to him, her eyes dark and inviting.

"Call it a lack of sleep. Or a decision made." Harry grinned. He could feel a charge between them, like two magnets trying to come together. Bare inches separated them.

Harry pulled away and he saw the disappointed reflected briefly in her face.

"I have to talk with Ron." He said.

"Now?" She asked, her hand went to his, the soft warm flesh upon his. Harry felt like taking her in his arms. He resisted.

"It has to be now." He said.

Hermione looked at him and then abruptly nodded. "Go." She said.

Harry held onto her hand for a moment longer, taking her in. The golden light of the rising sun did make her look incredibly beautiful, but he knew it was only a scant addition to her already amazing qualities. He grinned to himself. Foolish. He thought.

"There' something odd about you." Hermione whispered.

"I think it's finally all hit me at once." Harry said.

"How so?"

"A watershed of sorts. Everything finally coming together." Harry replied.

"Not everything has come together." Hermione replied.

"Yes and this is why I have to talk to him. Now." Harry said.

Hermione nodded. "Go." She said again.

With a force of will he did not know he possessed, Harry rose to his feet and headed back down the hill.

Hermione watched as he left, feeling a profound sense of contentment. She smiled and leaned back against the tree, basking in the morning sunlight.

Everything would be fine.

She knew it.

XXX

The Burrow was quiet. Harry knew that it was the weekend and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would be waking up later than they usually did. He made his way up the stairs, their creaking seemingly dampened today. He got to the top floor and paused a moment, a shiver of nervousness and anxiety flooding him for an instant.

As he was going to knock, he saw from the corner of his eye a flash of golden hair. He turned and looked up the flight of stairs, spotting a pair of blue eyes looking down at him.

"Luna?" he asked, taking a step back from Ron's door.

"Morning Harry." Luna answered back, a smile upon her face. She quickly descended down the flight of stairs and came to rest beside him. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm.. I'm going to talk to Ron." Harry said.

"Why?"

"I just need to." Harry answered, feeling a sensation of nervousness. He was losing momentum, he knew it. It had to be now. Now… "I'm sorry, Luna. But I have to do this." He moved back toward Ron's door.

He took a breath and knocked.

There was no answer.

He knocked again.

Still no answer.

"Ron. It's me." Luna said, in a bright voice.

Harry glanced at her and she smiled back.

"Go away."

"Open up." She demanded.

There was a long silence and then the sound of muffled cursing, and finally there came the clatter of locks coming off the door. Finally the latch open and the door swung open, to display a bleary eyed, disheveled Ron.

"What?" He demanded, blinking. He saw Harry and suddenly his face hardened up and he glared, stepping back into the darkness of his room to slam the door shut.

"Ron, I need to talk to you." Harry said.

"That's bloody likely to happen." Ron hissed before moving to close the door.

Luna suddenly dodged into the room, squeezing pass Harry and Ron and vanishing into the darkness

"Oh, it's very dark in here." Her voice echoed behind Ron.

"What the hell? Get out of my room." Ron said, his anger suddenly sidetracked by annoyance and confusion.

Harry took the plunge, using Ron's confusion against him. It was dirty trick he knew, but desperate times call for deserate measures. He steped forward, causing Ron to step back and away from the door, his head still snapping back and forth between Harry and Luna, trying to decide which to deal with first.

'We need to talk. About what happened between me and you and Hermione. " Harry stated, moving fast.

"Oh, you really should clean that up." Luna remarked from the darken corner of the room.

"Bloody hell, get the hell out of my room!" Ron snapped at both of them, which made the curse only has as effective.

"I love her." Harry stated out loud. It felt odd, telling someone else other than Hermione. As if it made it more real, more permanent. "I.. I love Hermione." He said again, feeling the flavor of the words on his tongue and enjoying it.

Ron stopped and stared at Harry; behind him Luna perked up and smiled brightly at Harry's words.

"Get out." Ron snapped, his face going cold once more.

"No." Harry said. He stood his ground, though he was shorter than Ron he still dominated the doorway, a stubbornness born from not wanting to lose this, his closest friend, caused him to take root upon the spot and force Ron to confront him. "We're going to talk this through. We may not come to a satisfying conclusion, but by Merlin's Beard we're going to discuss this like adults." Harry felt the power of those words flash through him. They were not children anymore, they were adults and it was time they started dealing with such things in an adult manner.

"You two really have to talk this out." Luna said, almost gliding past Harry. "If you don't' then it'll fester and you'll both be miserable." She smiled and set her hands upon the door latch. "Trust me, you'll come to some kind of agreement or at least get things off your chest." She suddenly pulled the door shit and plunged the two of them into darkness.

"Wow, it really is dark in here." Harry commented.

"Sod off." Ron snapped.

Harry felt him brush him aside as he strode for the door. There was a jingling, tugging, and ten followed by banging.

"Bloody hell, she's locked us in."

"Use your wand." Harry said.

'I can't find it. Use your bloody wand."

Harry patted his pockets for a moment. "I seem to have forgotten to bring it up."

"Great."

There was silence.

"So what happens now?" Ron asked.

Harry was quiet for a moment. "I don't know."