A/N: Thanks to my beta, doraemon, and to everyone who has reviewed so far.

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Chapter Ten: Explanations and Amends Made

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On the desk in front of Hermione, bits of parchment were strewn everywhere. All of the writing seemed to blend together. Between researching the extent of essences, trying to find a connection between all of the missing persons, and agonising over her fight with Ron, Hermione was hardly getting any sleep.

He'd been gone for exactly two weeks. He'd sent a couple of owls via foreign owls, but Hermione didn't have the energy to write him back. Was it over?

'Did you figure it out yet?' Mulciber asked, coming up behind Hermione.

'No,' she said, turning around in her chair. 'The thing is... I can't find a potion that will guarantee that an essence will be fully destroyed. If we simply kill McDougal, then his essence could escape and it would be a vicious cycle. I don't think we should kill him, though, and I don't like researching the most effective ways to do that. We should put him in prison.'

'Azkaban isn't an option. The Dementors are now rogue. None of them are on our side anymore. I've asked someone else to help with you the essences research. I want you to focus on these missing persons.'

'Isn't the Magical Law Enforcement Department doing that?'

'This is for the Order!' whispered Mulciber sharply. 'Not everyone in that department is trustworthy. I'd rather find out what the connection between all of the personnel is, and then perhaps we can figure out who would be next. Do that. No, I'll help you. Not today, no today you need to go home. It's almost time, anyway. Clear your head and get ready to focus because all you're going to be doing tomorrow is using that brain of yours.'

Hermione nodded. 'Thanks. I'm a bit tired, so I could use the extra rest.'

After gathering her things and straightening up her desk, Hermione left the Ministry. She decided to walk instead of Apparate, needing the fresh air to help clear her head. If she was going to mend things with Ron, then she would have to mend things with Mrs Weasley as well. Unfortunately, Hermione had no idea how to do that.

She went to the alleyway next to her building and Apparated into her living room. Sitting on her sofa was a familiar looking redhead.

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Ginny liked Luna well enough, but she'd grown close to Rebecca over the summer as they owled back and forth, and during the first month of school when they hung out. She liked having a girl friend to talk with, especially since Hermione had left Hogwarts. What she didn't like was this awkwardness between her and Rebecca. So, gathering up her courage, Ginny went to apologise and discuss what had happened.

As usual, Ginny found Rebecca in the library. She sat down across from the green-eyed girl and took in a deep breath, preparing herself.

'Hi.'

'Hi,' said Rebecca.

'So...'

'I'm working on some Transfiguration stuff – what do you need?'

'To apologise. For getting upset a couple weeks ago over what you said about Harry.'

Rebecca shrugged. 'It was just an opinion, but I suppose it was insensitive of me.'

Ginny nodded. 'I think it might be true, though. That's why I was so upset. What if I ruined everything with Harry because I was a bitch? I was so caught up with how I felt, I didn't really stop to think about how Harry felt. Stupid, that.'

Rebecca sniggered. 'Right you are.'

'How come you knew all that and I didn't?'

'Ever notice how I don't talk about myself much? I rather like sitting back and watching everyone else. It's a form of entertainment, really, watching other people fret over rumours... talk about each other behind their backs... screw-up their relationships...' Rebecca raised her eyebrows at the last bit.

'Why didn't you say anything?'

'Do you think you would have listened if I'd owled you back over the summer and told you to shut it?'

'Probably not,' said Ginny, shaking her head. 'I feel like a fool.'

'You shouldn't. You're only human.'

'I suppose... I can't help but think that if I hadn't been so mean to Harry, whether we'd be together.'

'He's a professor, so I doubt it.'

'Well... he asked me if I would wait for him. He wanted me to wait until the end of the school year when I would no longer be his student. And I told him no.'

'Yep, it's all your fault.'

Ginny frowned.

'So, are you still in love with him?' asked Rebecca.

'I don't know,' whispered Ginny.

'Well, you've been snogging Stebbins all over the castle this week so you better decide one way or another before Stebbins starts thinking of you as his girlfriend.'

'I think he does, but he hasn't asked me to be his girl or anything yet.'

'Don't toy with him, Ginny,' warned Rebecca.

'I won't. I fancy him, I do, and as I fall asleep at night I think about kissing him and seeing him the next day. I don't think about doing those things with Harry anymore.'

Rebecca didn't comment; she stared at Ginny until Ginny looked away, her eyes roaming over the stacks of books in the library. What Ginny said was true; she did fancy Stebbins, but she wasn't sure she could give her heart to him like she had with Harry.

'Look,' said Rebecca finally, 'as long as you know what you want and no one gets hurt.'

Ginny nodded. 'Right. Hey, look,' she said, nodding towards the door to the library, 'it's Stebbins.'

Stebbins smiled and walked over to their table. Ginny's heart skipped a beat – a good skip.

'Quidditch practise was brutal today.'

'I'm sorry,' said Ginny.

'Want to take a walk with me before curfews?'

Ginny nodded. 'Sure. I'll see you later, 'Becca.'

'Have fun.' Rebecca bent back over her schoolbooks. She certainly spent a lot of time in the library, Ginny thought. But she wanted to be Head Girl, and being in her house – either dormitory or common room – was never pleasant since all the Slytherins knew she wasn't a pure-blood.

Stebbins took Ginny's hand in his as they left the library.

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'What're you doing here?' demanded Hermione. 'You're not supposed to get back for two more days.'

Ron swallowed. Apparently she was still mad. Shite.

'I wanted to see you,' he said quietly. 'I... the game in Sicily was this morning, but we caught the Snitch in eleven minutes. The rest of the team stayed there. Sicilian wizards have really good food—'

'Ron.'

'—but I gave up the food to come back here,' Ron said, trying to lighten the mood.

'All right.' Hermione took off her coat and folded it over the arm of her sofa. She went into her kitchen; Ron followed.

'I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to give you back this.' He held out the ring.

Hermione looked at the ring but made no motion towards it. Instead, she got a glass and filled it with pumpkin juice. She took a sip, looked at Ron over the edge of the glass, swallowed, and said, 'What do you want to talk about?'

'The row we had.'

'I'd say it was more than a row.'

'Right. The catastrophic blow-out.'

'Catastrophic?'

'You're not the only one who knows big words.'

Hermione looked as if she was struggling not to roll her eyes. Ron watched her eyes travel from his face over to the table in the dining area. He'd put the stack of books he got from various bookstores and libraries while he was on his Quidditch tour.

'What're those?'

'I don't know if they'll help, but a lot of them are books on Dark potions and wizards – books that the British Ministry has restricted, but they're legal in some of the countries I went to.' Ron went over to the table. He picked up the book he got in Ukraine. 'This one is from Ukraine. It's not in English, but I was told there are enchanted quills you can buy that will translate for you? I didn't know where to find one; I figured you did.'

'You did research for me?'

'Er, I didn't rightly know what you were looking for, really. I picked up any book that I thought might help you. I figured if you found out about how to destroy essences and all that then perhaps you'd stop being so hard on yourself. None of this is your fault.'

Hermione didn't respond. She kept staring at the books. The palms of Ron's hands turned sweaty and he wiped them on the legs of his trousers. Gathering a bit of daring, Ron took a step towards Hermione. When she didn't step back, he continued to close the distance between them. Only a few centimetres away from her, Ron again tried to offer the ring to Hermione. He wasn't expecting her to start crying, but two tears fell down her cheeks.

'Hermione?'

'I'm sorry, Ron,' she whispered.

'Sorry? For what?' Hermione didn't answer, but Ron refused to leave things at that; he didn't want another row; he wanted answers and he wanted his fiancée back. 'Hermione, sorry for what? Sorry for our fight? Sorry you accepted my proposal? Sorry you can't take back the ring? Sorry for what!'

'Sorry... for our fight.'

Ron sighed in relief. 'Hermione, what was our row about? I know we bicker all the time, but this seemed out of the blue.'

'I suppose I blew things out of proportion.'

Ron knew better than to agree with her on that. 'So, what happened?'

'Your mother made me angry.'

'That's an understatement, that is.'

Hermione shrugged. 'You told me you'd wait for me. You told me you understood that I wanted to do things the Muggle way. And your mother wants everything to be her business... I just snapped.'

'Hermione. Wanting things the Muggle way shouldn't have got you so upset. There's something else isn't there? What is it?' Ron pressed.

'I don't want to talk about.'

'You don't want to talk about it? You always want to talk about everything! If you don't want to marry me, just say so.'

'It's not like that.'

'Then tell me what it's like.'

Hermione visibly swallowed and looked away. She sniffed. 'I just have a lot going on.'

'I know. I do, too. I'm travelling all the time with the Quidditch team. I'm constantly thinking about you – worrying that you're working too hard – and... well... I've been stressing about my dad. I'm so bloody worried about him that I can't sleep.'

Hermione let out a small squeak.

'Not that I blame you! I know you blame yourself for not knowing about the essence... but my dad being missing isn't your fault. I love my family, especially my dad.'

More tears fell down Hermione's cheeks.

'Don't cry,' said Ron softly. 'I already said, it's not your fault.'

Hermione's eyes snapped to Ron's. 'Not my fault? Not my fault? Is that why you think I'm crying?' Hermione pushed Ron's shoulders. 'You don't understand anything, do you?' She pushed him again; his back hit the wall behind him. 'Your father is missing. Mine's dead. My fantasy Muggle wedding will never happen because I don't have a father to walk me down the aisle. Don't you get it? Muggle tradition – everyone in a church, the music plays, and the father walks his daughter down the aisle and gives her to her fiancé. Who's supposed to give me away, huh? Who's supposed to walk me down the aisle? I don't have a dad to do that! I don't – ohh, God...'

Ron watched Hermione sink to her knees, her shoulders shaking, her fingers covering her flooding eyes. It took him a moment to respond, but he recovered and bent down. He pulled Hermione to him; she pushed against him, but he wouldn't let her get away. His arms held her tight against his chest until she stopped struggling. He loosened his grip as she sank against her, sobs rippling through her body violently as she shed tears for her father and the lost dream of a little girl's perfect fantasy wedding.

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They went to the third-floor corridor. Ginny knew it was still abandoned and off-limits for students. Ron told her stories about a three-headed dog that lived on the floor, but Ginny was never sure if she believed him. She briefly thought about it as Stebbins led her to a corner of the corridor. The thought of the three-headed dog was replaced by a fragment of memory about Harry – how they had come to this very corridor a couple of times when they were dating. But when Stebbins' lips connected with hers, all thoughts fled her brain.

His lips were always soft and his tongue always tasted a bit like toothpaste – as if he just came from brushing his teeth, making sure his breath was fresh in case he was going to kiss someone. Ginny moaned into his mouth, which seemed to urge Stebbins on. For the first time his hands left her back and travelled to her front. His fingers played with the hem of her jumper before drifting up and cupping her. Ginny arched into him, to more completely fill his hand.

When his hands disappeared from her breasts, only to find their way underneath her jumper, Ginny pulled back.

'Wait,' she said breathily.

'Too fast?' Stebbins winced. 'I'm sorry, I know you said you wanted to go slow—'

'That's not it,' said Ginny. 'It's just...'

'What? If you don't want me to touch you, I won't.'

'You don't always have to be so agreeable.'

'I just don't want my girlfriend getting hacked off at me is all,' said Stebbins. 'Not over something physical.'

'Funny, that – I don't recall agreeing to be your girlfriend.'

Stebbins paled and Ginny felt a bit sorry for him, especially when he began to sputter.

'I – I... Er, I just assumed – I mean, that – well...'

'I didn't say I didn't want to be. I was just pointing out that you never asked.'

Stebbins sighed. 'Oh, well in that case. Ahem. Gin, will you be my girlfriend?'

Ginny nodded. 'Sure, since you asked me so nicely.'

Stebbins smiled brightly. 'Phew! You had me worried there for a moment.'

'Stop talking and kiss me, please.'

'Ah, that I can do.'

Stebbins leaned back in, and Ginny watched him with open eyes. She closed them when Stebbins wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. She allowed him to kiss her neck; it felt as though he was feasting upon it. Her hands wandered a little bit, but everything came to a halt when she heard someone clear their throat. Stebbins must have heard it as well, as he flew quickly away from Ginny as though she had just burnt him unexpectedly.

'Why am I not surprised to be catching the two of you once again?'

Ginny groaned. Harry. Why was it always Harry?

'Another twenty points from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.'

'You're just like Snape, goddamn it!' cried Ginny.

'Excuse me?'

Ginny felt herself enter dangerous territory. Her brain threw her warnings, but she didn't pay attention to them. Caution: Retreat! Retreat! Do not speak of Snape in presence of Defence professor!

'Taking away house points,' explained Ginny. 'If you caught anyone else snogging you wouldn't take away so many points, but you don't like me kissing Stebbins so you're docking our points!'

'You're the only couple I've found being lewd in parts of the castle that are off-limits.'

'You didn't care that they were off-limits last year!' cried Ginny.

'Ginny – I'm a professor. If I don't do my job and punish when punishment is required, I could lose my job. In case you've forgotten, I didn't make it into the Auror program. I need this job. McGonagall is strict. If she sees me playing favourites... she's strict,' Harry reaffirmed. 'It has nothing to do with you kissing anyone!'

'Yeah, right.'

'If I had it out for you or Stebbins, do you think he would be at the top of my class?'

Ginny rolled her eyes.

'You're a brat,' said Harry. 'My world no longer revolves around you, so unless you want me to dock another twenty points, get back to parts of the castle that aren't restricted.'

Harry turned and began to walk away.

'Your world never revolved around me.'

Harry stopped walking. 'It did. Once,' he said without turning around. He continued walking until he was out of the third-floor corridor.

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Rebecca woke up with a start. She was safe inside the curtains of her four-poster bed in the Slytherin dormitory. What had she dreamt about? Ohh. Right.

It began as a normal dream, until Draco invaded it. He always did that – came into her dreams and became the centre of attention, doing bawdy and very Draco-like things to her.

In this particular dream, Draco had made her dive into the Hogwarts' lake and find the Giant Squid. She swam around it, trying to figure out how to get the creature to emit some of its black ink. It evaded her, but she kept at it, until, somehow, it squirted her. She gathered the ink in a vial that she, of course, just happened to have in her pocket, and brought it to Draco.

'Ah, wonderful,' he said to her.

She bowed. She didn't look at him as he undressed her. His trousers, pants, and shirt fell on the floor. She looked at his feet – long and pale with blonde hair all around the ankles. Draco took the vial away from her and opened it up.

'This,' he said, 'is a really good lubricant.' He poured the black ink on his hands. Rebecca chanced looking at his face; his eyes were dancing wildly as he rubbed the ink between his fingers, allowing his hands to trail down his abdomen, covering himself with the ink. 'Ready?'

At that, Rebecca woke up. She was disgusted and confused and... aroused? What... the... fuck..? Knowing that Draco would probably find the whole thing amusing, she got out of bed, went to her desk, and began to write him a letter.

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Late that night, Harry woke up to a banging at his office door. He walked through his room to his office, went past his desk to the door that led to the classroom. Ginny was on the other side of the door, and Harry groaned.

'You shouldn't be here. Get back to your dormitory and I'll have to dock more house points, Gin.'

'Am I really a brat?'

Harry blinked. 'Yes.'

'Really?'

'Yes. I thought we had become friends. I let you come here for several nights when you were upset about your dad being missing, but now... you're just a brat. You can't just snog wherever you want to. As a professor I have to give out equal punishment to everyone.'

Ginny sighed. 'I know. I'm sorry. I'm just really confused and I think I've been taking it out on you.'

Harry nodded. 'I noticed that. I think you need to just avoid me except in class. Your boyfriend won't like it if he finds out you're here.'

Ginny looked away from him.

'He is your boyfriend, isn't he?'

Ginny nodded.

'Right, then. Go back to Gryffindor Tower, Gin.' Harry made to close the door, but Ginny stopped him.

'D'you... d'you still love me?'

Harry swallowed. When he went to bed he didn't think he would be standing here answering questions like this. It was too much.

'Go back to bed.'

'Harry. Please.'

Harry looked at her – red hair, brown eyes, fair skin... she was so pretty. 'Does it matter?'

'Yes.'

'You have a boyfriend and I'm a professor; it shouldn't matter. Whatever I say, you're still with Stebbins and I'm still your Defence teacher.'

Ginny looked away from him again.

'Do you even fancy Stebbins?'

'Yes. I like him. Honest.'

'Then why do you care about whether or not I love you?'

'Because I just do.'

'Gin – stop this.'

Ginny took a step forward, grabbed the back of his neck, and kissed him on the mouth. It took Harry a couple of seconds to register what was going on. He pushed Ginny away.

'You could get me sacked!' he snapped. 'You have a boyfriend. Stop playing these games! You're going to end up hurting me, Stebbins, and yourself in the process. You need help, to talk to someone. Owl Hermione; she's always been good at figuring out these sorts of things, but no more games.'

'I just wanted to see if you would still kiss me like you used to. I could always feel how much you loved me when you kissed me.'

'Gin! Stop. Get back to the tower now or I'm giving you detention.'

'But—'

'No. Good night.' Harry shut the door and leaned against it, listening to Ginny's retreating footsteps. He had no idea what had just happened, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep well tonight.

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To Be Continued...

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A/N: Let me respond to some reviews.

Why is it taking me so long between updates? I just had a baby. He's only 2 months old. He takes up the vast majority of my time, so please be patient with me. I don't mind criticism in my reviews, but if you're going to be crappy about the time between updates then don't leave a review about that. Babies are a lot of work and very tiring. I don't get much sleep, so I feel like I'm doing well to still write as much as I do when my life is consumed by my son. That wasn't mean to sound mean, so hopefully anyone who thinks it takes me too long to update will understand.

No, Hermione is not pregnant.

Make the chapters longer? I don't want them to be too long and get boring.

Okay, that is all. Cheers!