Insert short, cleverly worded author's note here.
-Gina
In late November in a remote corner of an cornfield somewhere in Wales, they woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground. Hermione could nearly see her breath as she shivered, even underneath her many covers. Harry gathered firewood and built an outdoor campfire to keep them warm during the day. They were in a fairly remote location, so when Harry suggested they stay and rest for a few days, Hermione agreed immediately. They'd been in a new location every night for the past several weeks, and the exhaustion was creeping in.
They read some of Hermione's research books by the fire, taking most of the day to relax and doing as little as possible. Hermione read through a book that had a section on household charms, and attempted an insulation charm on the tent. The tent seemed marginally warmer, but not much. In the evening, Hermione made them tea, beans, toast, and eggs, wanting the simplicity of the comfort food. Harry didn't seem to mind at all, and he did the dishes afterwards.
Hermione had no idea how she was going to sleep that night. She had a few of her jars of little blue flames, but those only worked for warmth if she was holding onto them or directly next to them, and she didn't trust them not to spill and burn something if she kept them too close while sleeping. She had tried cast a few warming charms on her blankets, but the charms always fell after she fell asleep. Harry was bundled up in two layers of socks, flannel lounge pants, and a jumper to sleep in, and he seemed to thinking about the same thing Hermione was. Harry double-checked that the locket was still in his little pouch, and then the two of them stood in their little bedroom.
"This is supposed to be an all-weather tent. I cannot figure out why it is so cold in here," she confessed to him. Her chest ached from shivering all day. Honestly, she feared hypothermia at the rate they were going.
"I don't know either," he said, "But we're likely to freeze to death if it gets any colder,"
"I know. But there's nothing else I can think of to keep us warm,"
"We could always sleep together," Harry said.
"Come again?" Hermione was sure she'd misheard him. Harry flushed.
"Sorry, I should have thought about saying that out loud. I only meant, if we slept beside each other, it would be warmer because we could share body heat. But if that would be weird, we don't have to. It was just an idea, I've been reading about…"
"No, it's okay, you're right. That's a smart idea," now they were both blushing. Despite the size of the tent, they'd managed to maintain a level of privacy and propriety. As much as she thought of Harry as her brother, they were both still teenagers. Harry had learned the hard way to announce himself before entering Hermione's room, and Hermione still blushed at remembering the day Harry had forgotten to secure the bathroom curtain while taking a shower. Harry did have a point. Sleeping beside each other would keep them warmer. Hermione recalled reading a book about wilderness survival that had said something similar. However smart the concept was in theory, the execution was still going to be strange.
Hermione transfigured her bottom bunk to be slightly wider within the confines of the little room, and Harry pulled down a few of his blankets and his pillow. She crawled in first, and he followed, extinguishing the lamp. It was much warmer with Harry under there with her. She turned on her side to face the wall, and she could tell Harry had turned to face the entrance, so they were back-to-back, mirroring each other.
"Good night, Hermione," Harry said, softly.
"Good night,"
Hermione woke up the next morning and wasn't shivering, though her nose and ears were still cold. She was facing the other way, towards the entrance to the room, and Harry hadn't moved at all. It was warmer with the two of them together. Hermione could feel his body heat from a few inches away. Harry looked so much more peaceful in his sleep. She hated that he, a seventeen year old, barely a man, had to carry the weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders. He'd been quieter in recent days, which she attributed to having lost Ron. She vowed to herself that she'd try to engage with him and draw him out, make him laugh. Briefly, like she had with Ron, Hermione imagined what it would be like to be in a relationship with Harry.
No. Absolutely not. Harry was absolutely, positively her brother. One of her best friends, sure. But there was no attraction, no magnetic pull, no fluttery feeling in her stomach.
Once again, an image of Percy came into her mind. Her stomach fluttered, once. She frowned. Harry shifted slightly, but didn't wake, and Hermione decided that falling back asleep for a short while wouldn't hurt anyone.
Percy had to wait nearly two weeks before he had an opportunity to catch Alicia alone. They'd been busier than usual in the executive office, and Alicia and Percy had been working hard, sometimes working overtime, to keep everything running smoothly. Though there were only six people with permanent offices in their quarter of the executive floor, there was enough foot traffic that Percy couldn't risk starting a conversation to be overheard. He and Alicia also worked alternating shifts in the Muggleborn Registration Commission court hearings, so it always seemed like they were out of the office and kept missing each other. But today, finally, it was only the two of them in their wing, and Minister Thickness, Madam Umbridge, and the two other Senior Undersecretaries, Rookwood and Rowle, were all in a meeting elsewhere in the building. He had ample time to speak with Alicia, so long as no one else came in.
Percy had asked Hermione more about Alicia. Hermione admitted that she and Alicia hadn't spoken much during their mutual time at Hogwarts. But Alicia was definitely supportive of Harry and of the anti-Voldemort resistance. She had been a quidditch player, a good student, probably very bright if she'd managed to land this job, and best friends with Fred and George. Percy could only pray that the twins hadn't told her about his alleged betrayal. He could only imagine the prejudices that she could carry if they had.
"Alicia, would you fancy a drink after work with me? My treat, it's been a long week," Percy approached Alicia's desk. He would never admit to anyone the number of times he'd practiced that phrase at home the previous evening. Alicia looked up from the pile of parchments she was notarizing and blinked before shrugging her shoulders.
"Alright, sure. When are you leaving work tonight?"
"Probably around 5:30, if that works for you?"
"5:30 is fine. I've got a lot of injunctions to read over and verify, but most of them are rubbish, so it won't take all night,"
"Alright. Let me know if you need anything. You've been doing the work of three people lately, and doing it better than all of them," Alicia grinned, even as three more interdepartmental memos landed on her desk.
"Thanks. And you've been basically running the country all by yourself, I ought to be offering to help you,"
"Don't worry about it," In truth, despite being so busy, Percy was in his element, especially now. He was very good at his job, and he was shining despite how much he loathed it at times.
"Alright. I've got a meeting with Dolores in about 15 minutes, so I'd better start preparing now. I always have to hide this," Alicia reveals a scar on the back of her hand which could only have come from a Blood Quill. Percy leaned closer, and he read the words. I must do as I'm told. "She doesn't remember me from classes because I used to wear my hair darker and I had glasses," Alicia's hair was now light red with faint streaks of coppery gold and pink. She could almost have passed for a Weasley.
"Good luck with your meeting," Percy grimaced. Alicia quirked an eyebrow and matched his expression. Percy headed back to his desk and got to work. He had a few office hours with the MRC in the afternoon, and he wanted to get into the records office to destroy another muggleborn's file.
"What should I order? I usually get a flaming butterbeer, but I doubt they have those here," Percy had taken Alicia to a pub in muggle London. He wanted to get out of the magical world for the conversation he hoped to have. Alicia was a good sport about it, despite the fact that she'd been raised almost entirely in the wizarding world.
"Try...a hard cider with a shot of Fireball," Percy suggested. Alicia repeated the order verbatim to the bartender. Percy ordered a whiskey sour, and the two took their drinks to a smaller table in the back. They chatted about small things. Alicia liked the muggle drink she had ordered enough to continue sipping it as they chatted.
"So, Percy, is this supposed to be a date?" Alicia asked. Percy nearly choked on his drink.
"Come again?"
"Because if you intended it to be a date, you should know that I'm not into men," of all the things Percy had expected her to say, lesbian was not one of them.
"I...I'm not—this isn't a date. That wasn't my intention at all," Percy smiled in embarrassment and in apology, "Sorry if it seemed that way,"
"I just wanted you to know. Could have made things awkward around the office," Alicia smiled back and Percy relaxed a bit, "But I know you, so I am assuming you must have had an ulterior motive for asking me for drinks,"
"I do," Percy paused, "But first, I have to know, do you agree with Dolores on any of her political stances?"
"No," Alicia sipped her drink, "If I didn't need this job so badly, I'd have quit ages ago. I dislike what she does so much I can barely stand it,"
"I'm glad we're on the same page about that," Percy had already decided he liked Alicia, which gave him the courage to continue, "You were a member of Dumbledore's Army. Do you know anything about the Order of the Phoenix?"
"Fred and George have mentioned it. I know Dumbledore started it, that it's meant to fight you-know-who, and they're involved with it, though I'm not sure with what,"
"I don't know either," Percy admitted, "But I'm also involved with the Order," It was strange to say the words out loud, and he knew he was taking a big gamble by revealing this to Alicia.
"Are you?" Alicia lowered her voice, "You're really against you-know-who?"
"Absolutely against him,"
"Good. I was worried I was the only one in our office,"
"So was I, I had no idea what side you were on,"
"The side that doesn't tell my mother she's stolen her magic and belongs in prison," Ah, there it was. Alicia's mother was a muggleborn.
"Anyways," Percy returned to his mission, "I'm involved with the Order. It's a secret; none of the people in the Order know I'm involved, for their safety as much as mine. Only a couple have been told, and now I'm telling you, because I wanted to know if you wanted to work on a special project with me,"
"What did you have in mind?" She asked. Percy outlined his plan. The implementation of more progressive laws, removal of oppressive and outdated legislation, inclusive language revisions, and eventually, a complete rework of executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the Ministry. He had plans to research muggle forms of government to develop a system of checks and balances to prevent an imbalance of money and power. He wanted to push as many smaller laws as possible through the Wizengamot while most of them were under the Death Eater regime and not paying any attention. Then, after the war ended, and it would end, use people's fear of another evil regime to push the rest of the legislation through, assuring the people that these new laws were developed in order to ensure that it never happened again.
"Percy...that's so devious. And smart. We're going to need a political strategy to salvage the government after the war," Alicia smirked, "I love it. I'm so in," Percy pulled out a muggle notebook and pen, and they started scheming then and there. One of the first laws Percy wanted to push through was the removal of the word "half-breed" from legislative documents. Hermione had spoken to him quite a bit about individuals who were magical humans and also had the ancestry of another magical being. It would be an arduous task. Percy and Alicia would have to go through all known legislation, change the wording, write a preamble stating the reason for the change, and convince two thirds of the Wizengamot it was a good idea.
Alicia offered to begin hunting down and writing up the documents they would need. Percy had plans to hit the books on Saturday to search for an appropriate term to use to replace half-breed. By the time they made plans to meet up at a different muggle pub after work next Friday to speak again about their special project, both were feeling satisfied and invigorated.
"Isn't it an odd thought," Alicia mused, as they walked together to the nearest apparition point, "That the future of Wizarding politics rests in the hands of two twenty-something junior assistants?"
"It's probably a good thing, too," Percy countered, "Most of the people in power now have their heads so far up their arses that they haven't realized that they left the future of the wizarding world to us,"