Chapter 22: An Argument and a Revelation
January 2nd, 1994
Harry waved at his friends as he approached them at Platform 9 and 3/4. They hadn't even opened the train yet, probably another security precaution. Still, Harry was surprised that they were able to wrangle the Weasleys so easily. It probably had more to do with the way that Percy had ridden everyone to get ready the night before. Harry looked at the man who was now standing nearby, searching for his girlfriend. Harry had to admit that Percy had come a long way in the last seven months or so. Harry was actually starting to like Percy now.
Harry had briefly considered just revealing the marriage contract to everyone in the Weasley household. He was certain that the entire rest of the family would have turned on Molly for that. Which was the main reason he didn't do it. Despite what she had done, he couldn't hate the woman, and he didn't want to destroy the Weasley family. Harry suspected that Dumbledore had asked for the contract, as there was virtually no way Molly would have come up with that idea on her own. No one in Magical Britain thought back fondly to marriage contracts. Arranged marriages had gone out of fasion in Britain long before the Statute of Secrecy.
No, Molly had done what Dumbledore asked her to. And he couldn't actually fault that. The man had stopped Grindelwald and held off Voldemort long enough for him to be defeated. Harry supposed that Dumbledore had a plan for him as well. So why wouldn't he just tell Harry what was expected of him? That didn't mean Harry was going to go along with it, of course. But maybe they could work something out if Harry understood what was going on. As it was, he was clueless.
This didn't mean that Harry liked or approved of what Molly had done. The truth was that Harry was beginning to feel as if he was being played, and while the evidence pointed to Dumbledore, something about that idea rubbed Harry the wrong way. There had been no reason for Dumbledore to file the document with the Ministry, and he could have informed Gringotts that changes to Harry's account were coming at any point in the next four or so years.
It was almost like someone other than Dumbledore had filed the contract under a secrecy clause. Which didn't make sense... unless that person knew that Gringotts would immediately inform Harry of what happened once they were informed. In which case that person could have been trying to warn Harry!
Harry sniled as he saw Hermione. She ran over and hugged Harry. There was something off about her though. She seemed a bit more distant than she had when he'd left her home.
"Everything alright?" he asked.
"It's fine," said Hermione, looking past Harry to her parents, "My mum, well, she thinks there is something going on with you and Ginny."
"Ha, I wish!" said Ginny bitterly, "My mum was sure trying though."
Harry suspected that a large part of the problem was that Hermione hated being in the dark about things. It preyed on her worst insecurities. Hermione probably wouldn't bat an eye if he was snogging Ginny in front of her, so long as she knew what was going on. It was the secret that was killing her.
Harry gripped both of her shoulders. "I promise you; we have a good reason for keeping secrets. You'll understand when we finally tell you."
Percy turned to them, "I assure you; they had a very good reason to keep this a secret. Once you find out what has happened, you may wish you hadn't."
Harry groaned internally. Hermione's eyes flashed, "You told Percy?" she demanded.
"They also told me first, and I gave them the legal advice not to tell you," interjected Daphne, "Please Hermione, this has been so hard on both of them. Don't make this harder. If you do, I'm telling you, you'll regret it when you find out what this is about."
Hermione nodded, but Harry knew she wasn't fully mollified. "I'm thinking that we should start work on our house elf project, we've been putting it off for far too long," he said.
Hermione nodded, "I actually did do a bit of reading on it last term…"
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January 5th, 1994
The IUC was a rather big success. The attendance had remained high, and while they had all learned other things in other sessions, each session usually ended with people practicing their patronuses. And most of them could get a good Patronus shield going. At the first meeting of the new year, Harry surpassed that. He'd been practicing his Patronus with Justin when Hermione had snuck up behind him and kissed him on the cheek. The result was that Harry cast a fully corporeal Patronus, in the form of a stag.
Luna of course had immediately walked up to Hermione. "You should kiss me as well," she had said, "That way I'll be able to summon a Patronus."
To Hermione's credit, she did comply with the request (while laughing), but Luna's Patronus was not forthcoming.
"I guess we'll have to keep trying," said Luna to howls of laughter from the students around her.
"Really, what was she up to?" asked Hermione as she and Harry left the Great Hall.
"I don't think Luna's actually into girls," said Harry, "but she does like any sort of affection. She just saw an opportunity to get a friend to kiss her, so she took it."
"Well, okay then," said Hermione, "I guess I won't begrudge her that."
"Anyway, weren't we going to the kitchens tonight?" asked Harry.
"Oh right!" said Hermione, her face brightening. They had decided to start interviewing the elves, but first they actually needed to talk to them.
They followed the Marauder's map to the basement under the Great Hall. It pointed them to a painting of a bowl of fruit. The map suddenly said Tickle the pear. Shrugging, Harry tickled the pear in the bowl. It turned into a door handle.
"Convenient," said Hermione. She grabbed the handle and turned it, opening a secret door. The made their way into the spacious kitchens. There were elves working everywhere. As soon as they saw Harry and Hermione, they all cheerfully ran over to them, asking them what they wanted.
One elf in particular was very insistent. "Dobby?" asked Harry.
"Harry Potter!" cried the elf happily. The other elves were eyeing Dobby askance.
"It's good to see you again Dobby," said Harry, "You work at Hogwarts now?"
"Yes, yes!" said the excited elf. "The Headmaster was so very generous."
One of the other elves sniffed. "Dobby is paid. Shameful, shameful."
"What's so shameful about being paid?" asked Hermione.
"A house elf works for the joy of the work, and the good of their family!" said another elf angrily, "No self-respecting elf wants to be paid!"
Hermione was about to say something else, but Harry stopped her.
"That's very interesting," said Harry, "You see that is why we came down here, both of us have lived our whole lives in the muggle world, and we know next to nothing about elf culture. We think that there is something very wrong with a system that lets bad masters hurt their elves even when they haven't done anything wrong. So, we came down here to hear what you want out of life, and how you would want wizards to treat you."
This got quite the reaction. Most of the elves couldn't believe a wizard would care about them. They were practically crying with gratitude. Some of the older elves seemed to be more level headed, but also clearly sceptical.
One of these older elves took Harry aside, "Many people have tried to free us elves, but we are very happy as we are."
"That's good!" said Harry, "I'm not trying to force you to do anything. I just want House elves to have choices when a bad master treats them badly, and for elves to live happy, safe lives. But if I don't know what you want, how can I help you?"
The older elf nodded, "Others have said 'We will help you' before, but never have they asked for what us elves desire. Please promise you will not try to force us to do anything, and we will speak to you as much as you wish."
"Agreed!" said Harry instantly.
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January 27th, 1994
Ginny was rushing to class. She didn't want to be late for potions again. Snape could be nasty to those who were late, and while he wouldn't do anything to her in front of the Gryffindors, he would punish her later. There was also something unnerving about him. She couldn't quite pinpoint it. Every time he spoke her name there was something, a slight hesitation. It creeped her out, and she didn't understand why. Maybe he just didn't like her because she was friends with Harry.
She was late because she'd stopped to watch Harry talking to Hermione. It was so obvious the way he felt about her. It would be so much easier on Ginny if he would just admit it! Then she could move on with her life happily. Hermione, on the other hand, was growing more and more suspicious of Ginny. She'd seen Ginny looking at her and she'd been, if not hostile, at least wary of her. Ginny wondered how much of that was residual fear of the girl who'd petrified her, and how much was jealousy.
Ginny was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she ran right in to Justin Finch-Fletchley. He had been walking with Susan, Ernie and Hannah when he came around the corner and Ginny slammed into him. The two collapsed on the floor all of Justin's books flying out of his arms.
"Watch where you're going Weasley!" he said angrily.
"I'm so sorry," said Ginny, "Let me help you pick those up."
"Just leave me alone Weasley!" Justin snarled.
Ginny stood up and looked at him. Saw the hate on his face. And that was it. She burst into tears and ran for the Slytherin common room.
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Susan watched Ginny running away in tears. "What the hell is your problem Justin?" she asked.
Justin scowled, "I just don't like her, I have the right you know."
"I don't know," said Ernie, "That was a little much mate. Yeah, she petrified you, but it's not like it was her fault. She was mind controlled. A lot of people were mind controlled in the last war."
"Justin," said Hannah, "Ginny is just a twelve-year-old girl. Imagine what having everyone think you are a dangerous murderer would do to any twelve-year-old. And you aren't just anyone, you are one of Harry's closest friends. It's messed up."
"I don't think she's a murderer," said Justin.
"Then stop acting like it," said Susan, "From what I've seen Ginny's had a real rough time of it. She gets possessed last year and this year she's had to deal with the fact that the boy she likes is clearly into another girl, while other people think she's about to start killing people."
Justin hung his head. "I…I'll try." he said.
Susan shook her own head. What was this boy thinking?
XXXXX
Harry knocked on the door to Ginny and Luna's room. Luna opened the door.
"Oh good," said Luna, "Ginny has a rather bad wrackspurts infection, and she could use some help clearing it up."
"So I've heard," said Harry. He entered the room and saw Ginny lying on her bed, just staring at the wall.
"Can we have a moment?" he asked Luna.
"Of course," said Luna, who turned to Ginny, "If the two of you do anything inappropriate, make sure to tell me all about it." She said this last with a straight face. Ginny snorted a small joyless laugh. Luna then left the room, closing the door behind her.
Ginny sat up in bed. Harry sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Justin told me what happened," he said, "He sounds genuinely sorry he reacted the way that he did."
"Hmmm," replied Ginny.
"What's this about," Harry asked, "Please tell me. It hurts to see you like this."
"Justin is right to be scared of me," said Ginny, "You're right to not want me. I have his thoughts in my mind. I'm dangerous. I'm going to turn out just like him."
"We talked about this," said Harry, "You and Riddle are very different people. You won't end up like him."
"You can't be sure!" said Ginny, "Look at the pain I've already caused!"
"You are nothing like Riddle," said Harry, "People love you." He kissed her forehead.
"Thanks Harry," said Ginny as she pulled away. She didn't sound convinced. Harry wanted to say more, but he recognized the tone of dismissal in her voice.
Harry stood up, then turned back to Ginny for a final word, "Just because we're not together, just because I may be in love with someone else, it doesn't mean that I don't love you. Because I do. I do love you. And I think it's time I started telling my friends that," he said.
He opened the door and left her in peace. As he went out into the common room Hermione ran up to him and latched onto his arm.
"How is she doing?" she asked.
"Not great," said Harry.
"Were you able to tell her anything that helped her?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know," said Harry.
"What did you say?" she asked.
Harry knew what this was. And in truth, he wanted to reassure Hermione. To tell her that she had nothing to worry about. But he couldn't. Not yet.
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you that," he said.
"Oh," said Hermione, who seemed instantly deflated, "Okay."
XXXXX
February 4th, 1994
Harry was reading over his notes from his interviews with the elves at his desk. Hermione was doing likewise. Both of them were dressed for bed, but they had been up late into the night reading these notes. The picture they were painting was grim.
Daphne had tried explaining to them yesterday that the elves had been modified by magic to be more docile. Apparently, she thought that this would make Hermione less outraged. It had not. Hermione had gone into a rage, yelling about wizards destroying everything they touched. Hatrey had to admit that she had a point. That was really fucking heinous.
And the interviews showed the elves to be far more intelligent than Harry's interactions with Dobby had suggested. Elves weren't educated of course, and they were intentionally kept in a state of childishness. Yet as they grew up, they could easily see the injustices in their world.
The problem was, they really did want to serve people. It was both a cultural and a magical directive to them. And the thing was, it wasn't entirely on the wizards. According to the elves themselves they'd always wanted to help humans; they'd just been more willing to stand up for their own interests in the old days. The elves described this older behaviour as bad, but Harry agreed with Hermione in that this was probably brainwashing. Probably magical brainwashing.
But how could they deal with this when the elves themselves didn't want it to change? Harry felt that there had to be some kind of magical effect currently in operation that was what had modified their behaviour. If that was the case then getting the ministry to remove it might let the elves express their displeasure more.
"I don't think we can move forward on house elf rights until we get rid of the magic that forces the house elves to be docile," said Harry.
"But that could take forever!" objected Hermione.
"I know," Harry replied, "But if we don't the house elves will fight us all the way."
"Maybe not," said Hermione, "Dobby seems more reasonable about things."
"And normal house elves think Dobby is crazy," said Harry, "We need the house elves to support whatever we do."
"So, we just let the house elves live like slaves in the meantime?" demanded Hermione.
Harry frowned. He hadn't expected Hermione to like this line of reasoning, but she was taking it a lot harder than he had expected.
"What choice do we have?" asked Harry.
"We push to free the elves!" said Hermione.
"Against their wishes?" demanded Harry. Now he was getting heated.
"They don't know their wishes! They're brainwashed!" said Hermione.
"We can't treat sentient creatures as if they can't make decisions for themselves!" yelled Harry, "We'd be no better than the people who are enslaving them!"
"You're saying I'm no better than the people enslaving the house elves then?" screamed Hermione angrily.
"That is NOT what I said!" Harry said defensively.
"Whatever," said Hermione venomously, "I'm done talking to you. I'm going to bed." Hermione jumped into her bed and turned out the light. Harry sat at his desk, stunned.
What had just happened?
XXXXX
February 7th, 1994
Harry thought that things would blow over the next morning, but when he awoke Hermione was already gone. When he saw her eating breakfast in the Great Hall, she barely said two words to him. Apparently when she had said she was done talking to him, she had meant for longer than that night.
He tried to engage her in conversation all day, but she ignored him. He tried to talk to her when she came to their room that night, but she just grunted at him. He asked Daphne to talk to her. But Daphne quickly learned that Hermione wasn't interested in talking about her irritation with Harry. With anyone.
Finally, on the third night of her silent treatment Harry snapped.
"What do you want me to do Hermione?" he demanded of her, "Please, just tell me, what do I need to do to get you to talk to me again."
"Admit I'm right!" said Hermione.
Harry's heart fell into his stomach. "I'm sorry Hermione, but I won't. This is too important."
"Then why are you bothering me?" said Hermione.
"Because I thought we were friends!" he roared as he jumped up and left their room. He went across the hall to Blaise's room.
"Can I crash here tonight?" asked Harry.
"Trouble in Paradise?" asked Blaise.
"Like you wouldn't believe," said Harry.
XXXXX
February 19th, 1994
For the next two weeks, Harry and Hermione refused to talk to each other. Ginny was determined to stay out of it. It was very clear to her that this argument was not about elves at all, but was about Hermione's insecurities about Harry and Ginny. Ginny just didn't want to make things worse. It didn't help that Harry was stubborn. Hermione had never been on the opposite end of his stubbornness before, but she was beginning to understand just how unpleasant that could be. At this point, Hermione would have to be the one to break the ice, which didn't look likely.
Harry had moved back into their shared room though. He might be mad at her, but he wasn't about to take any chances that the magical protections on that room would fail. Oh, he knew that was unlikely, but he cared about Hermione too much to take any risks. Which made their argument all the more baffling to Ginny.
Still, she figured that Hermione would have at least come to the Ravenclaw/Slytherin match, if only to root on Tracey and Blaise. But she was conspicuously absent. The game was a bit of a rout. Ravenclaw only had one of their Chasers from last year, even though their beaters were very improved, combined with a new Keeper, and their team was probably the worst in the school this year. Cho had handily taken the first game against Hufflepuff by catching the snitch 20 minutes in, but there was no such luck today. Harry hunted up and down the pitch for the snitch with the single-mindedness of a bloodhound. Ginny knew he was trying to ignore the absence of Hermione in the stands.
After he caught the snitch Harry simply nodded and began to descend. His depression was so evident that Cho, who had just lost the match, came over and comforted him! Even she seemed to know what was going on!
And at that point, Ginny just lost it. She couldn't take this anymore. She had to do something. She marched into the locker room and walked up to Harry.
"Don't go back to your room for a bit," she said, "Me and Hermione are going to have a conversation."
And without waiting to change her clothes she marched down to the Slytherin common room.
She went into the third-year hallway and knocked on the door. Hard.
"Open up Hermione!" she screamed.
"GO AWAY!" Hermione yelled back.
"NO," said Ginny, "You are going to open up, and you are going to explain to me why you are treating your best friend like garbage. I am not going away Hermione. I AM STAYING RIGHT HERE!"
The door opened. "Go away," said Hermione.
"No," said Ginny, "Why are you doing this? Why? It's killing Harry. It's killing all of your friends to watch it happen. Please, help me understand. Please."
Hermione sighed and motioned Ginny into the room. Hermione sat on her bed, while Ginny sat in the chair in front of Harry's desk. Sitting on Harry's bed would give Hermione the wrong thoughts here.
"We were talking about the house elves…" started Hermione.
"Oh no, that isn't why you're mad!" said Ginny angrily, "You know damn well that Harry cares about the elves as much as you do! Why are you blowing up over a minor disagreement?"
"That's not what's going on," said Hermione.
"Like hell it isn't!" yelled Ginny, "Okay, I'll tell you what I think. I think you're jealous. That you think Harry is keeping secrets from you because he's falling for me!"
"I…" Hermione was clearly trying to deny what Ginny had said, but understanding swept across her face as she realized the truth, "You're right." Hermione's head sank into her shoulder defeated.
"You idiot," said Ginny, "Harry loves you! I wish he loved me half as much as he loves you! But he never will. You've won already!"
"What?" asked Hermione, "But why all the secrets then? We never had secrets before."
Ginny looked at Hermione, and suddenly she felt a small bit of pity. Of course, these two idiots had been oversharing their lives this entire time. To Hermione it must feel as if he was pulling away.
So, Ginny had a choice. She could keep Hermione in the dark, keep her secret, and sow seeds of distrust that might destroy her relationship with Harry. She could take Harry's heart after all.
She could steal his heart.
If you steal his heart, he will die.
Ginny wailed in consternation. Tears began to flow of their own accord. "Dammit this is so unfair!" she said, "I can't win, no matter what!"
No, she didn't have a choice.
"Harry didn't destroy the horcrux in the Chamber of Secrets," said Ginny, "I did. I absorbed its power. And it left me with all of Tom Riddle's memories."
Hermione gasped. "Why haven't you said anything?" she demanded.
"There are muggleborns who think I'm dangerous as is, can you imagine what they'd think if I told them I have young Voldemort's memories? Can you imagine what Fudge would think?" said Ginny hopelessly, "No, I've told Harry and Bill and that is it. Till now."
Hermione nodded. "I see. But there's more isn't there?"
Ginny nodded. "Last term, Harry got a package from Gringotts. My mother and Dumbledore bound me and Harry together in a marriage contract. Without telling either of us!"
"That's not possible!" said Hermione.
"That's what Daphne said until we showed her the fucking contract," said Ginny, "She was very upset."
"But if that is the case…" Hermione's entire body seemed to sag in defeat.
"Harry and I are trying to break this contract, but that is neither here nor there. What is important is that we have no intention of getting married," Ginny stomped her foot on the floor for emphasis.
"And that is because he's in love with you," said Ginny, "He may not be able to admit it yet, but he is. He does love me, as a very good friend. But he loves you as more than that. He just doesn't know how to say it yet."
Hermione shook her head, "How can you be sure?"
"Because he's my friend, and he's talked to me, and it's fucking obvious! And I've told him that he needs to tell you how he feels."
Hermione exhaled slowly. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"No," said Ginny, "Ask Daphne if you want to know anything else."
"What?" said Hermione, "You're just going to leave things at that?"
"Yes," said Ginny, "For a good reason. One which I assure you, Daphne can explain."
Hermione nodded again. Then she stopped and gave Ginny a sad look.
"It must be horrible to have his memories," she said.
"You have no idea," said Ginny, "Even as a boy, he was so evil. So horrible."
Suddenly, Hermione hugged her.
"I'm so sorry I made this harder on you," said Hermione, "I want to talk more about it later. I just don't know where to start right now."
"That's all right," said Ginny, "I'm used to it now."
"Now who's deluding themselves?" asked Hermione.
Ginny smiled. She had to admit, Hermione was right.
XXXXX
Hermione knocked on the door to Daphne and Tracey's room. Tracey opened the door and looked at Hermione sourly.
"I'm sorry I wasn't at the match Tracey," apologized Hermione, "I had my head up my arse, and I'm sorry."
"Is your head out of your arse?" asked Tracey.
"Yes, thanks to Ginny," she said, "But I need to talk to Daphne privately."
"Okay, I forgive you," said Tracey as she walked out of the room.
Hermione sat down next to Daphne. "Ginny told me about the marriage contract," she said simply. Ginny hadn't told Daphne about the thing with Riddle, so Hermione still had to be careful about that.
"I see," said Daphne, "What did she say about it?"
"Just that it exists and she wants to be rid of it, but she told me she didn't need my help and that I should ask you about it if I had more questions," said Hermione.
Daphne let out a sigh of relief. "Good. If Ginny had asked you for help directly it would have been a problem. Simply put, the only way out for them is for them to break the virginity clause in the contract."
"What!?" demanded Hermione.
"Not with each other of course, that wouldn't work," said Daphne. "But the way things are worded if either of them breaks the contract they will have some very bad… ill effects."
"So then how do we help them?" asked Hermione.
"Simple," said Daphne, "We need someone to break that clause without explicit permission. There are ways to do it of course. One person tells him to leave if he doesn't want to take part, then another person comes in and does what is necessary. This person would have his implied consent, he just wouldn't be able to give it to them directly."
"You want me to do this," accused Hermione.
"I may have assumed that you would want to once you were older," said Daphne, "I mean you just have to do it before he turns seventeen. And I would never try to ask you to do this If I didn't think…"
Hermione held up her hand. "I see the problem. Thank you, Daphne. I will do my best to help, when the time comes."
"You will?" asked Daphne.
Hermione blushed, "The idea… well I'm not ready for it now. But I do kind of want that sort of relationship with Harry. In the long term."
"Well then it's settled. Just don't tell Harry you've decided yet. He might accidently thank you." said Daphne.
"And that would be him giving me permission," said Hermione, "Okay, I understand."
Hermione stood up. "Now I have to apologize to him for treating him so badly."
Daphne smiled. "He'll forgive you," she said, "He loves you."
Hermione smiled right back, "So I've been told."
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Harry lay on his bed sullenly, absently petting Crookshanks. It had been a bad couple of weeks, and a bad day in particular. And with Ginny likely having enraged Hermione further, he didn't see much hope of things getting better. He got it though. He really did. Hermione was terrified of losing him, she'd shown that last summer. The entire thing was clearly still eating her up, and her parents probably hadn't intended to do it, but they'd stoked those fires rather effectively.
Then Harry noticed the door to the room opening slowly. Hermione peeked in then opened the door all the way and closed it quickly. She walked over to his bed and sat down on it, by Harry's feet.
"Can we talk Harry?" she asked timidly.
Harry sat up. "Go ahead," he said neutrally. He didn't want to discourage her, but at the same time he didn't want her to think that he was desperate to reconcile with her. Even though he was.
"First, I want to apologize," said Hermione, "I'm sorry I missed your Quidditch match. I know it means a lot to you that I'm there. And I'm really sorry I attacked you over the house elves. You were right about everything. I was upset, and while a very tiny part of it was with that situation, it was mostly about my own insecurities."
Harry didn't say anything. He'd let her finish.
"The truth is, I'm still afraid of losing you," she said, "and with all the secrets you've been keeping it felt like you were pulling away from me. I don't think I ever really recovered from my anxiety earlier in the year. I think I was just suppressing it. But it isn't just you. I feel like everything in my life that I want, that I hope for, could so easily slip away. Everything in the magical world is so corrupt, I just couldn't take it."
"You know there is a very good reason that I'm keeping those secrets right Hermione?" asked Harry, "I'm protecting Ginny from that same corruption."
"I know," said Hermione, "She told me everything."
"Everything?" asked Harry.
"She told me about the marriage contract," said Hermione, "and I am so sorry about that. I won't say anything more, but Daphne filled me in completely."
Harry gulped. That was ominous.
"She also told me about Tom," said Hermione, "so I know about her memories. I'm so sorry I made things harder on both of you."
Harry smiled warmly. "Thank you, Hermione, you have no idea what this means to me," he said earnestly, "So if I can ask, what did you and Daphne talk about?"
Hermione smiled. "Oh Harry, I understand why that topic might make you… curious. But I can't talk about it. And you know why."
Harry gulped. Had she agreed to…? He shook his head. No, speculating over this was not a good idea.
"Well, I'm glad you know those things," said Harry, "I really did want you to know them." He scooted over so that he was closer to her.
"I know," said Hermione. She turned her head towards him, and suddenly their faces were close together. Harry had a sudden urge to kiss her again.
No, she wouldn't want that, he thought.
And then Hermione leaned in and kissed him. It was a lot like the kiss they'd shared over the holidays, but Harry sensed so much more behind it. Well, if this was a part of her apology, Harry wasn't going to complain.
When she finally pulled back, Harry was wearing a goofy grin, "Wow, uh, when do we get to do that again?"
Hermione giggled, "Well, how about now?" she asked as she went in for another kiss. This time she wrapped her arms around Harry. He quickly reciprocated, and suddenly they were full on snogging.
After a minute of two (or maybe five, Harry had stopped paying attention) Harry pulled his lips away. "Great as this is, I think we need to stop now," he said.
Hermione nodded and let Harry go. She looked vaguely disappointed.
"Want to go to Hogsmeade with me on the next weekend?" Harry asked.
Hermione gasped and hugged Harry again. "Yes, yes I do!" she said excitedly.
"It's a date then," said Harry almost as excitedly.
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March 3rd, 1994
All of Harry and Hermione's friends seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief that the two of them had gone back to being friends. Oddly, Professor Flitwick had started giving them little winks and nods in class. Neither Harry nor Hermione could figure how he had figured out that something had changed in their friendship, but Harry had to admit that this wasn't the first time the small Professor had read the two of them like a book.
Daphne had started making a big plan for all of them to go to Hogsmeade together when the week finally came. Neither Harry or Hermione quite felt comfortable revealing that they would be going on a date, but ultimately, they realized it wouldn't be fair to the other girl to not let her know.
And so, they'd both walked up to Daphne while she was in the middle of planning.
"So, what do you two want to do in Hogsmeade?" she asked them as they walked up to her, "I have to plan our itinerary."
"We're not going to be going to Hogsmeade with you," said Harry bluntly.
"We're going together," said Hermione.
Blaise sat up with a wicked glint in his eyes. "Oh ho!" he said teasingly, "I see the two of you are finally hooking up."
Harry somehow managed to keep his composure. "I'm not sure about that, but I do know that we want to spend some time alone together."
"You spend all sorts of time alone together," said Tracey, "You room together! Not that I disapprove, mind you."
"You should invite some other people," said Harry firmly.
"Seamus, Ron and Neville might be fun," said Blaise suddenly.
Harry stopped for a moment. Blaise had been spending a lot of time with Seamus. Was it possible…?
"Ron Weasley?" asked Daphne, "No thank you."
"Ron isn't that bad," said Tracey, "Plus you seem to get along with him at the IUC." Harry noticed what might have been a hint of jealousy in Tracey's voice.
"What about Dean?" asked Hermione.
"Seamus said he's going with Parvati," said Blaise.
"Well you guys can figure it out," said Harry, "We have studying to do."
Harry and Hermione returned to their room.
"It was kind of cute the way Blaise was trying to get them to take Seamus along," said Hermione.
Harry's mouth dropped. "You knew about them?" he asked.
"Dean's a good friend of Seamus's and he's sort of seeing Parvati right now. As much as anyone our age is seeing anyone. And of course, Parvati likes to tell Padma things, and I'm pretty close with Padma. And apparently Dean has spent a lot of time with Blaise and Seamus and they are obviously super into each other," said Hermione.
"I knew Blaise was attracted in that way," said Harry, "but it wasn't until just now that it became obvious to me that he was interested in Seamus. I bet Daphne noticed it too."
"I bet Tracey noticed it Harry, Blaise wasn't very subtle," said Hermione, "Luckily it doesn't seem that any of us care."
"I thought I detected Tracey being just a bit into Ron?" Harry asked.
"She probably is," said Hermione, "unfortunately, so is Daphne. She's playing hard to get."
"Ron's a good bloke, but there's no way he picks up on that," said Harry.
"I have to agree," said Hermione.
XXXXX
March 11th, 1994
"Harry, I want to sneak into Hogsmeade tomorrow," said Ginny on the Friday of the Hogsmeade weekend. Harry was sitting in the common room when the younger girl had approached him.
Harry gave Ginny a long appraising look. "You sure you won't get caught?"
Ginny shrugged. "I can disillusion myself," she said.
Harry shook his head. "That won't get you past McGonagall."
Ginny grinned evilly. "Fred and George told me you could help me with that."
Harry remembered the Marauder's Map. "Maybe I can help you," he said, a smile playing across his face.
XXXXX
March 12th, 1994
Peter Pettigrew hobbled into Hogsmeade in his Animagus form. This had been an absolutely dreadful year for him and no mistake. The moment Ron had mentioned Padfoot, Peter had known that Harry was on to him. He'd barely managed to get away, but that hadn't been the worst of it.
No, ever since that day, Sirius had been dogging him. He winced at the unfortunate pun he'd just made to himself. He'd been nearly caught by Sirius five times. The last time Sirius had bitten him in dog form, while Peter was in rat form. Hard. So, he'd come to Hogsmeade. Surrounded by dementors, it was the one place in Magical Britain Sirius Black wouldn't dare to come.
Or at least, so Peter hoped.
What Peter hadn't expected was that some (but not all) of the aurors guarding Hogsmeade were clearly searching for rats. Peter was pretty good at keeping a low profile, but he suspected that he would eventually slip up. The only thing that made sense was that Amelia Bones knew Sirius was innocent and was hunting for Peter to prove it. Which meant that Peter might not be able to stay in Hogsmeade very long anyway.
Security was worse because it was a Hogsmeade weekend at Hogwarts. On top of that the first two students Peter saw were Fred and George Weasley. Any of the Weasleys would likely recognize him, but Ron or Percy certainly would. Ginny too for that matter, though she wasn't likely to be here today. She'd always been a bit uncomfortable around him.
Peter supposed he'd had that coming. He'd often spent a lot of time looking at her, but it wasn't because of any attraction he'd had for the girl. It was just that when she was younger, she had looked so much like a young Lily Potter. It had been distracting, as he'd constantly felt as if she was Lily's ghost come back to haunt him. The last few years had seen Ginny change a lot though. She no longer looked nearly as much like Lily.
Luna had been another one he'd always watched, because she'd always seemed to look right through him. When Harry had said she was an aura reader, Peter had immediately realized it was true. From then on, he'd done his level best to avoid the girl. He supposed that if the girls remembered him staring at them dressing, they might have decided he was a bit of a pervert. Which he had to admit he probably was, though not in the way they thought. He wasn't interested in little girls.
The group that had included Ron Weasley had also been a bit of a worry. Ron was flanked by Greengrass and Davis. Peter actually wished Ron fairly well. The boy had always been fairly conscientious of his wellbeing. And if it hadn't been for his warning, accidental though it may have been, Harry Potter certainly would have exposed him. But Ron was by far the most likely to recognize Peter, even though Peter would think that he'd have more of his attention on the two girls who were clearly vying for his affection.
When he saw Harry and Hermione walking into the bookshop however, an intense anger overtook him. There was the boy who was responsible for all of this. Harry had ended his comfortable life with the Weasleys. Harry was responsible for this last year of fear and flight and being bitten by Sirius Black. Peter wanted to just transform in the middle of the street and cut the boy down. But no, he'd be killed almost instantly. He could kill the girl. Clearly, he liked her. Then suddenly it clicked. If he could just get Harry away from her for a moment, he could finally have a bit of revenge.
Author's Note: Did a double Christmas post, so this note will be short.
Harry and Hermione's fight was something that had to happen. They need to understand that they are capable of hurting the other. But Hermione needed something she cared about a lot to be the excuse that allowed her to express her frustration. Thus, the argument was over house elves.
The scene where Ginny charges in and screams at Hermione for failing to understand how much Hermione means to Harry is one of my favorites. In fact Ginny getting angry is almost always great.