Author's Note: Welcome back, fellas. I'm so fricking pumped about this chapter, for real, as it marks a new arch I've been waiting and planning for a while. Hope y'all like it.

Thanks again to everybody who's stuck around this long with this story. I gotta admit, some days I'm still blown away by the fact that there are people out there willing to read any of the stuff I write. Seriously.

Disclaimer: If I could, I would. However, I cannot own anything from the Harry Potter franchise, so please don't sue me.

Screaming.

That's what greeted the Zabini's when they floo'ed to the Potter residence on that Sunday morning. Harry was somehow distantly aware of their arrival, but couldn't seem to stop himself from screaming the next words at Hermione.

"You are delusional!" He yelled while waving his arms and pacing across the living room.

That wasn't the first time he had said those words since the beginning of that discussion. They had been walking in circles with the same argument since the meeting at Neville's house ended at 3 am. It began with a rational conversation, but had somehow quickly escalated to a full-on shouting match in less than twenty minutes — one they were still having at 6 am when Blaise and Pansy stepped inside their house.

Perhaps the tension between them had been too obvious, because Pansy never arrived that early on Sundays, no matter how important their discussion was.

"Stop being so damn stubborn, Harry, for the love of Merlin!" Hermione's voice was somewhat hoarse from all the screaming she'd done in the past hours.

"He's incapable of that," Blaise interrupted, announcing his presence to the girls.

"Zabini," Hermione suddenly turned, gritting his name out of her teeth. "What are you doing here?"

"Perhaps we could hear your shrill screams all the way from our residence," Pansy said, not looking disturbed by the less than stellar welcome she was receiving. "Or maybe we came to get a front row seat to this disturbing little fight."

"Oh, shut up, Pansy," The youngest Weasley said, her whole face morphed into an angry scowl. "Maybe you should just go fuc-"

"I told you we should've come earlier," Susan's voice interrupted the insulting sentence Ginny had been about to utter as she walked inside their house.

"What's this?" Harry asked, unimpressed. "I wasn't aware our personal problems had become public all of a sudden."

"Neville," Ginny greeted, in a relieved whisper, completely ignoring Harry's displeasure.

Neville smiled softly, moving to stand next to her in an automatic gesture they did with each other since Hogwarts. She leaned back and rested her torso on his side, taking comfort from his presence. Immediately some of the redness disappeared from Ginny's face, while she took some much needed deep breaths.

Harry still sometimes got surprised by how powerful their bond was. When he left to hunt for the Horcruxes, leaving Ginny behind had been an action done to protect her, but he never stopped to consider how much she would have to face within Hogwarts walls. It was only after the final battle that he got the full story of Neville's and Ginny's last year. Taking over the leadership of the DA while facing the Carrow siblings forced them to lean on each other more than ever before.

"Don't be ridiculous; your problems have always been public," Pansy dismissed his protest, casually sitting on one of the empty sofas. "Now, what's with the fuss? Has somebody died or what?"

"Well, if you'd like to know, our dear Hermione accepted a necklace from Lisa Krum last night," Harry said. "And not just any piece of fucking jewelry, no. She opened a box with Nadia Krum's engagement necklace and just rushed to put it around her lovely neck."

"She thinks there's nothing wrong with that," Ginny added, turning to glare at Hermione.

There was a moment of shock, where no one spoke anything. Even Pansy seemed speechless, and that woman did not shut up easily. She was a pureblood, though, just like Neville, Susan, and Blaise, so they all knew exactly what it meant — no explanation needed. To them, it was an inconceivable mistake.

"Did anyone see you with it?" Blaise asked, looking at Hermione with a serious face.

"Dolohov," Hermione cursed out the name, still missing the whole point of the conversation.

"She was the one who told her to take that damn thing off," Harry explained, not caring that it was an admission of eavesdropping on his part.

"Did she?" Neville sounded surprised. "I guess that was an almost nice gesture for her."

Harry shrugged, not contesting. That surname still unnerved him, and it went almost against his instincts to say anything good about her — even if he agreed with it, deep down. Deep, deep down.

"Did you deal with Krum?" Pansy asked.

"Yes," Harry assured. "Cornered her after the party and made sure she knew what I thought about her sneaky tactics. Sure, she sounded apologetic and claimed that her brother thought it would be a romantic gesture on her part. But it sounded off. It was too perfect — almost like a rehearsed line. She mentioned that it was never with the intention to brand or mark her and that it was merely a gesture."

"I told you it was a gesture," Hermione said. "This is all ridiculous. I won't stand for this any longer; I refuse to. I'm not a child nor am I in need of this group scolding. If I want to receive a gift from someone, then I sure as hell will, and none of you can tell me off. I harmed no one, and neither did Lisa."

"Have you checked her for spells?" Blaise asked, looking a little alarmed at her vehemence.

"When she had her back turned, yes," Ginny said, who also made all sorts of different faces as Hermione continued to speak.

"You what?"

"You have to admit, Hermione, this is not your typical behavior," The redheaded said. "I had to check."

"You're all out of your god-damned minds," The brightest witch of her generation spoke, sounding way less bright than usual.

"If you say so, sweetheart," Pansy managed to sound insulting and caring at the same time — it was almost a form of art. "What was the deal with you, ginger, anyway? I saw your little fight with Padma at the bar."

"It was nothing," Ginny said, shrugging. "I just... She was just talking about her job, which made me feel like crap. That's all."

"I can't believe you're still worried about that," Pansy said, raising one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "The healer said that you might have problems-"

"That I possibly will," She corrected, crossing her arms. "Possibly will."

"But you may not," Neville pointed out, nudging Ginny's arm with his own. "You shouldn't concern yourself so much with it."

"And I've offered to brew all the ferti-" Blaise began, repeating his offer for the hundredth time.

"I know!" The redheaded said, frustrated. "I know. I just feel somewhat inappropriate now that all this extremely fertile women are throwing themselves at Harry's feet."

"Ginny," Harry whispered, opening his arms for her to sit on his lap just as she approached him. "You know that is not a concern for me. It changes nothing."

"Yes, rationally I know. But it still hurt when Padma began to talk about all the babies she sees every day and how much she wishes to have one of her own someday," She admitted, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Don't let it get to you, my love," He comforted, rubbing her back. "We'll deal with it if the problem ever arises."

"Should I feel insulted that all this mess waited for the meeting to be at my house to happen?" Neville asked, forcing a joke to soften the mood.

"It's just a stupid necklace," Hermione said, in a defeated tone, when they all looked at her. "I don't even have it anymore."

"That's so not the point," Ginny said, lifting her head to look at her. "If Vasilisa-"

"That... that woman has nothing to do with any of this. She's disgusting and vile."

"She was only trying to warn you of the mistake you were about to make, don't be so petty," Harry said, incredulous with his situation. Was he actually defending Dolohov's child?

"Warn me? Is that you call it?" Streaks of magic once again began to show around Hermione's whole body. "She basically called me Lisa's slut."

"Well, if you don't wanna be called such names, then perhaps you shouldn't behave like one," Harry felt the less bit of his patience leave him at the same time as the horrific words left his mouth.

He expected it, but still the shocked and offended face Hermione immediately spotted made him feel like the number one dick on planet earth.

"Hermione, I-" He began to apologize, only to be left speaking to no one, 'cause she'd gotten up and left the room.

"Great, Harry, that was a great way of dealing with this," Ginny smacked him over the head, a furious glare accompanying it.

"Ouch, mate," Neville added. "That was way too rash."

He rubbed his entire face, frustrated with himself and his inability to control his temper.

"That was brutal," He agreed. "I just wish she'd understand where I'm coming from, though. This situation is complicated enough as it is, we can't afford to be so reckless."

"You better fucking apologize to her as soon as you leave this room, Harry Potter, or so help me, I'll murder you myself. Do you hear me?" His girlfriend ordered, clearly expecting to be obeyed.

"Of course," She needn't have said it. "I just... I'll be back."

He got up, knowing way more stress awaited him in the room.

Fuck.

XxXXXXxXXXXxXXX

Harry knew where he'd find her. Whenever Hermione needed to think, she came to her office. To her, the room wasn't a space reserved for work-related moments only; it represented a space she created for herself, where everything was organized her way and served a purpose often only known to her. It was Hermione's safe heaven, and Harry was reluctant to taint it with their fight.

So he knocked, giving her the option of leaving it and meeting him in the hallway. But only silence met his knock, so he tried again.

"Hermione, please, can we talk?" He pleaded, knowing his case wasn't the strongest.

More silence followed, so he decided to open the door. Only to be met with an empty space. What the hell?

There it was, her massive dark desk, filled with papers and large books like it always was. But she wasn't there. Occupying the space was only the bouquet of Kadupul Flowers Krum sent her almost a week before, still shining as if they'd just been picked hours before.

Harry was viciously cursing Krum's name when the sound of Hermione's voice echoed through the house.

"Harry!" She screamed, and suddenly his heart was racing a mile an hour.

All other thoughts were pushed to the side in his head while Harry began to run, following the panicked sound of his girlfriend's yell and thinking of possible ways somebody might have broken into their house. Behind him, other footsteps could be heard. No doubt her scream sent every occupant of the house into overload.

Harry burst into the room first, wand firm into his hands, ready for trouble. But Hermione was with Fleur in their room; neither one was carrying their wands.

Everybody else burst into the room seconds after him, also looking ready to battle.

"What is happening here?" He asked, pissed off.

"Harry, I think Gabrielle has been kidnaped," Hermione said, her face as white as a sheet.

AN2: I can't believe this is finally happening. I've been keeping this secret for so many chapters, you guys! Many times I've wanted just to come out and say it, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise. To everybody who complained about Gabrielle sudden disappearance, don't worry, for she's about to make a grand come back.