* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART THREE

The Eighth Year

Chapter 53: Birthdays, Butterbeer & Broken Hearts

April was now underway, and it was Susan's birthday. She wasn't particularly happy; however, it was clear that something wasn't right with her. Nobody had managed to figure it out, so nobody had called her out on it yet. She had seemed happy with her presents when they had given them to her in the common room, although they expected that she was sad that Hannah wasn't with her because they had once been so close.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked Susan quietly while the boys discussed the party at dinner and argued about who would get the butterbeer.

Susan smiled, but Hermione could tell that it was forced, "I just wish I had some family on my birthday," she admitted, "Traditionally in the wizarding world, you get your prom dress from your mum on your birthday if it comes before the prom, and you get it as an early birthday present if it comes after prom. I guess I'm just not looking forward to having to go out shopping on my own for my prom dress."

Hermione smiled at her friend, "Well, you won't be on your own. I'm a muggle-born. I'll be buying my own dress too."

Susan's spirits were lifted slightly, "Thanks Hermione," she said, and as she went back to pushing her food around her plate, but she did seem a little less miserable now.

The rest of the day passed reasonably slowly and quietly, no one did any work (apart from Hermione), and everybody spent the day inside just being lazy. The weather outside was horrible; it hadn't stopped raining all day. After dinner, Harry gave Theo his invisibility cloak and the password to the passageway, then he and Sadie headed off to Hogsmeade to get the booze. The others got started on preparing the common room.

The party was as crazy as any party in the eighth year common room ever was. Percy had somehow managed to sneak into the castle for the party, although Susan had been spending more time dancing with the girls than with the Weasley man.

"What do you think?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes as Hermione came over to the armchair he was sitting on and sat down on the arm of it.

"About what?" Hermione asked.

"Percy," Harry said as he surveyed the Weasley, who was currently drinking firewhiskey and talking to Draco and Theo at the other side of the room.

"I think he got pretty hot," Hermione said with a smirk as Harry rolled his eyes and handed her a drink.

"He's getting pretty badass," Harry said as he watched Percy suspiciously, "He better not try and out-badass me."

"Don't worry, babe," A new voice said from behind him.

Harry grinned as Daphne dropped down onto his knee, "No one can out-badass the chosen boy-who-lived and killed Voldemort, etcetera," she said casually as she grabbed her drink from the table in front of him.

Hermione chuckled at this, and Harry continued, "Well, what I meant was, do you think he's bad news for Susan? She's had enough crap with Krum, and I think he might be screwing around with her."

"It's sweet that you care," Another voice said, and Harry watched as Ginny made her way the front of his armchair and leant against the table, "But Susan's a big girl. She can handle him. Besides, he's here, isn't he? Why would he be here if there wasn't something there?"

"Gins right," Hermione said as she got to her feet, "But it's cute that you're worrying."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I'm not cute," he said in annoyance, "I'm badass, I'm THE Harry Potter, the chosen one."

"Right, bighead Potter," Ginny said in amusement as she and Hermione disappeared into the crowd.

Daphne chuckled, "The others are talking about a game of wizarding truth or dare later. You up for it?"

"Sure," Harry said as Daphne pulled him away to dance.

As the evening progressed, more and more people disappeared from the common room.

By the time the clock struck midnight and Susan's birthday was technically over, there were only a smattering of people left partying, and by the time it hit 1 am, only the dedicated (or insane) partiers were left in the common room. This group of people, of course, consisted of Harry, Draco, Theo, Neville, Hermione, Daphne, Sadie, Lilly and the birthday girl Susan. Blaise had stayed too, as had Ginny, who was, of course, the only sober person there.

Around this time, they ended up in a circle as they prepared to play wizarding truth or dare. The difference between wizarding truth and dare and ordinary truth and dare was that there was a glowing circle around the group of cross-legged students, which compelled them to do the dares whether they wanted to or not. Everybody had taken a sip of Veritaserum, which meant they would have to answer the questions honestly.

They decided to start by going around the circle and letting everyone ask a question, either to an individual or to the group as a whole. It led to some strange and amusing revelations.

"Alright then, who has been in another house common room and why?" Daphne asked with a smirk. They went around the circle.

Harry grinned sheepishly, "Well, I've been in almost all of them," he admitted.

Daphne rolled her eyes. She hadn't known that, but it didn't exactly surprise her either, Harry elaborated, "Well I went to the Ravenclaw common room with Luna, not for the reasons you'd think!" he added as he started to get suggestive looks, "I had to go there to see if I could find anything out about one of Voldemort's Horcruxes because it had something to do with Rowena Ravenclaw."

"Come on then, Potter," Draco said. He reverted to using the Gryffindors second name as he usually did when he was drunk or annoyed, "Why were you in the Slytherin common room?"

"Yeah, Harry? Why were you in our common room?" Sadie asked with a laugh.

Harry and Hermione shared a smirk, "Well, do you guys remember in second year when the chamber of secrets was opened?"

A dark look flashed across Ginny's face that it seemed that only Harry noticed, but everybody else just nodded. Harry continued, "Hermione, Ron and me thought that it had been opened by the heir of Slytherin and we sort of thought that was Draco and that his Dad had opened the chamber when he was at school."

Hermione laughed and added, "In fact, we thought that Lucius had handed down the key to the chamber to Draco," there was laughter all around as Harry finished, "So Ron and I took some polyjuice potion to become Crabbe and Goyle, and we snuck into the Slytherin common room to question Draco."

"Oh Merlin," Draco said through his laughter, "That day Crabbe and Goyle were acting so weird, that was you?"

Harry nodded sheepishly, "Yeah..."

"And he thought you were the heir of Slytherin," Theo choked out between laughs.

Draco grinned, "I know, it's hilarious!"

"Why didn't you sneak in as well, Mione?" Daphne asked, and Hermione's cheeks turned scarlet.

This time Harry burst into laughter and said, "She was too busy coughing up fur balls."

Hermione glared at Harry but unfortunately couldn't reach her wand, that was one of the rules of the game, wands were to be left outside of the circle, "I tried to use the potion to turn into Millicent Bulstrode, but the hair I thought was hers was her cat's hair, so I ended up with the face of a cat."

"And a tail," Harry added as the others laughed.

They continued around the circle and found out that Theo had been in all of the common rooms, most likely because he had been hooking up with different girls. Then they found out that Neville had also been in the Hufflepuff common room.

Next, it was Harry's turn to ask a question, "Have you kissed someone of the same sex? It's a general question, but let's start with….Draco."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Oh sweet Salazar, here we go."

Sadie smirked, "Go on, then Draco."

"Yes," Draco muttered.

"Who?" Harry and Neville asked in unison.

"Theo," Draco answered, "But not in the way you think! It was a tactic against the Carrows during the war."

Neville struggled to contain his laughter, "A tactic? I mean, I know Harry was a fan of the shag your best friend tactic, but don't you think that's taking it a bit far, Draco?"

Draco's cheeks flushed, "Oh shut up, Longbottom! It was not a fun experience, and not one I want to repeat either."

"Agreed, and my answer is the same as his, so let's move on to someone else," Theo said hastily.

Neville shook his head, "Nah, I've only kissed girls."

"As have I," Blaise said.

"And I've never kissed a girl," Sadie said, "Daphne and I have a pact, right?"

Daphne made a face, "Uh…"

"Daphne!" Sadie exclaimed, "You broke the pact? We agreed in first year we wouldn't conform to the whole Slytherins will shag anything, stereotype!"

"Sorry," Daphne said sheepishly, "I may have kissed a girl, once or twice-"

"Susan doesn't count; I know about her," Sadie cut in.

"Well, there was another occasion," Daphne confessed, "During the war…"

"Who?" A general echo sounded around the room.

Daphne glanced apologetically at Ginny, which did not go amiss by Harry.

"Ginny?" Harry asked. His eyes about popping out of his head.

Theo snorted, "Fucking hell, Potter; it's like one of your wet dreams is coming true!"

Neville guffawed with laughter, and even Draco giggled at that comment.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "What happened to never telling Harry about that?" she asked Daphne.

"Well, a lot has changed," Daphne smirked, "Back then, you were his girlfriend, and now I'm his girlfriend."

"Not going to lie, I'm more than a little bit turned out about the fact my girlfriend has kissed my ex-girlfriend," Harry admitted with a sheepish grin, "Are you going to show me the memory?"

"Oh, maybe for your birthday one year," Daphne said, shooting him a sly smirk.

"I'll hold you to that," Harry said.

Blaise opened his mouth, and Ginny shook her head, "Nope, never going to happen, Blaise."

Blaise rolled his eyes, much to the amusement of the others.

"How many of you wanted me in 6th year when you found out I was the chosen one?" Harry asked with a slightly cocky smirk.

The next question that arose was a general question of, "What was the scariest experience of your life?"

The answers were pretty predictable. Hermione said the time she was tortured in Malfoy Manor. Harry said it was when he walked into the forbidden forest to die. Daphne told them it was when a nightmare curse hit her during the war. Draco said it was when he was supposed to kill Dumbledore, and so on. Then they got to Ginny.

"Uh," Ginny said with a slight frown, "It was when Voldemort possessed me in my first year."

There was a small silence, and then Daphne asked, "Ginny...what did happen then with the diary? We didn't really know you then."

Ginny smiled, but it was forced, "I wrote in a diary, I confided in it I guess, and it wrote back to me, but I just kept writing not realising that it was possessing me," She shrugged, "Eventually Voldemort managed to get inside my head, and I ended up in the chamber."

"You had it so much worse than me, Gin," Harry said, "If Voldemort's soul did split into two pieces every time he made a Horcrux, then the diary contained 50% of his soul."

Hermione nodded, "I'm amazed, Ginny, that you came out of it as okay as you did," she said with a gentle smile.

Ginny nodded and changed the subject as quickly as she could. Harry's eyes lingered on her briefly, but then Daphne spoke to him, and his eyes were drawn away.

The questions kept going, and then they began to really get interesting when Theo jokingly asked Daphne and Hermione if Draco or Harry was better in bed. Without their boyfriends seeing, the girls shared a small smile and replied in unison, "Harry."

"Hermione!" Draco exclaimed as his girlfriend burst out laughing along with Daphne, "That isn't funny; you could have given me a heart attack."

"Hey, on that note, I bet Draco's slept with more people in this circle than you," Theo said way too cheerfully.

Harry snorted, "He probably has. I'm not as much of a womaniser; I'm more the awkward type."

"Yeah, that's true," Hermione said with an amused smile, "How you get girls is beyond me, Harry."

"He can be smooth when he wants to be," Daphne said with a smile, "It's how he got me, once he stopped being a bumbling fool all of the time that was."

"Hey, you distracted me a lot," Harry said in an attempt to defend himself.

"Alright then," Sadie said, "There is one easy way to settle this, put your hand in the air if you've slept with Harry."

Hermione, Daphne and Ginny raised their hands, so there were no surprises there.

"Okay, and raise your hand if you've slept with Draco," Sadie said. She watched as the hands went into the air. Hermione and Daphne raised their hands, and again nobody looked surprised.

"Okay, so you win, Harry," Daphne said in amusement.

Harry snorted, "I don't care. It's not a competition. And frankly, all of this who slept with who stuff is pointless."

The others seemed to agree, but Theo was drunk, and he was an arse which meant that things got just a little too personal.

Susan voiced that she agreed with Harry, and Theo remarked, "Well, that's a surprise. I mean, is there anyone here you haven't slept with, Susan? Is there anyone in this school you haven't slept with?"

"Fuck off, Theo," Susan said. She withdrew herself from the game and ran off, and it looked like she was crying.

"Nice one Theo," Daphne said with a glare as she rushed after Susan.

Hermione made to leave too, but Harry stopped her, "Don't, Hermione; I think Daphne will be better at helping her out on this one."

Hermione nodded but sighed; the game was over now. Everyone was either annoyed with Theo or tired and ready for bed. Sadie and Theo made their way out of the common room they were arguing as they did so.

Hermione and Draco quickly disappeared upstairs. Neville and Lilly briefly kissed goodnight and left for their separate rooms. As all of this was going on, Harry simply sat and stared into the fire. He was vaguely aware of Blaise saying goodnight to Ginny before making his way up to his dorm room, but he shut his eyes tightly as he felt a headache coming on.

"Do you mind if I stick around for a bit?" A voice asked from next to him. Harry opened his eyes and saw Ginny standing by the fire.

"Nah, stick around as long as you want," Harry said as Ginny dropped down next to him on the sofa.

"Thanks, Harry," Ginny said as she laid her head on his shoulder. They were silent for a moment.

"What did you mean earlier? When you said I had worse?" Ginny asked, eventually.

Harry opened his eyes and looked at her. She looked troubled, "Voldemort's soul split in half every time he made a Horcrux, so the first Horcrux contained 50% of his soul, and that was the diary."

"What about you, Harry?" Ginny asked as she caught Harry's eye, "You were a Horcrux, weren't you?"

Harry nodded thoughtfully; he had researched this, not that anybody else knew about it, but he knew exactly what percentage of Voldemort's soul had gone into each Horcrux.

"So 25% of his soul was in the second Horcrux," Ginny realised.

Harry nodded, "Which was what cursed Dumbledore and damaged his hand. The third Horcrux was the locket we found in Grimmauld Place, and that contained 12.5% of his soul."

"And the next had 6.25%," Ginny said, "I understand, so what about you, Harry?"

"I had 1.5% of Voldemort's soul inside me," Harry admitted finally. It was something he didn't like to talk about to anyone about. Daphne didn't even know the whole story yet.

"Wow," Ginny said as she shook her head in disbelief, "For 18 years."

"It wasn't like how it was with you," Harry admitted, "It was diluted."

"Yeah, but Harry, I only had to put up with it for a year, less than that really," Ginny said with a look in her eyes that Harry couldn't interpret.

"It was different, Ginny. He couldn't take control of my body like that...apart from once in fifth year," Harry said as he stared into the fire once more.

"What did it feel like?" Ginny asked quietly.

Harry sighed and leant back against the sofa. He shut his eyes, "It felt...it felt like he was always there, in the back of my mind, like there was always some dark thoughts lurking in the back of my head," Harry opened his eyes and looked at Ginny, "I felt like I was becoming him and if it had happened for much longer..." Harry trailed off and shook his head.

"You think you would have become like him," Ginny said with a look of understanding. She nodded, "I felt like I was becoming evil like I couldn't-"

"- control your own thoughts anymore," Harry finished, and Ginny nodded. They both looked into the fire once more and were silent for a moment.

"I'm going to be a terrible Mother."

Harry's eyes snapped up, and he looked at Ginny in surprise, "What?"

"You heard me," Ginny said as she caught his eye, "I was possessed by Voldemort. I'm tainted, aren't I? How do I know that I won't be a terrible Mother?"

"You won't be," Harry said simply, "I know you won't be. As much as she holds grudges at times, your mother loves you. Two loving parents raised you in a loving family. You have all the tools to become a great mother. Voldemort became the way that he was because he wasn't loved. After all, he was conceived under the influence of a love potion."

Ginny sighed, "I want to be a good mother, Harry. I'm just not sure if me raising this baby is the right thing. Wouldn't I be doing it a favour to give it a better start in life?"

"No," Harry said firmly, "There are times when adoption is the answer, Ginny. When the parents are too young and immature to raise it, for example. You and Blaise may be young, but one thing you aren't is immature. The best thing you can give a child is its parents, and unless there's a firm reason why those parents shouldn't raise it, that will always be my stance."

"Well, I understand why you think like that," Ginny said quietly, "With you never knowing your parents and all. I just want it to be happy, to have a good life."

"And it will have that with you," Harry said softly, "Because that's the funny thing about babies. You don't know how things will be; you don't know how you will feel when they are just a concept you can't see yet. Once the baby is born and you hold it, you'll fall in love with it, and you'll know the best thing for it is you, you and Blaise."

Ginny looked up at him with bloodshot eyes, "You sound like you know from experience."

"I do," Harry said, his voice broke a little, "Because all of this is just confirming something Daphne's been suspicious about for a long time. For all my objections about not replacing Remus, I am in effect Teddy's father. Maybe it isn't by blood, but I've been there since he was a month old. I change his nappies, I feed him, I rock him to sleep, and Merlin knows that I'll be the one who has to potty train him too, no doubt. He's a little rascal, but I love him, and I can't imagine life without him. I can't imagine him being raised far away from me where I couldn't see him, Ginny."

Ginny nodded and swallowed hard as the tears she had been holding back cascaded down her face. Harry sighed and pulled her into a hug. She shook as she spoke, "I know that you're right, Harry, but I'm just so afraid."

"Of course you are, Gin," Harry said as he stroked her dark red hair, "If you weren't scared, I would be worried. This is a big deal, and you need to accept that and cope with the fear. You can't just run away from it and give the baby up for adoption."

"I know," Ginny said throatily, "And Blaise wouldn't want that. It was a stupid whimsical thought. I'm sorry."

Harry shook his head, "No, it was the fear speaking. You just have to remember that you aren't alone. You're doing this with Blaise right beside you, and not just me but all of us behind you."

Ginny nodded again and breathed a little heavily as she leant into Harry, "Thanks, Harry," she said softly.

After Susan hurried upstairs, Daphne had followed her friend. She knew that Susan probably wouldn't want to talk, but she needed to, and if anyone could help a girl in her situation, it was Daphne. As Daphne made her way into the dorm she shared with Susan and Hermione; she caught sight of the Hufflepuff climbing into her bed and pulling the curtains around it.

"Susan, let me in," Daphne said calmly, "Trust me, I can help you out."

There was no response from inside, and Daphne groaned.

"If you want people to help, you've got to let them in, Susan," Daphne said. She was slightly exasperated.

A muffled response came from within, "I don't need your help or anyone else's!"

Daphne decided to change her approach. Susan was reasonably similar to her. She knew the approach that would have gotten a response from herself, "Susan, if you want idiots like Theo to keep implying that you're a slut, then, by all means, stay inside your bed and don't let anyone help you. It doesn't bother me; I'll go and spend the night with my boyfriend, who I only got because I stopped being the way you are!"

It worked. The curtains flew open.

"The way I am?" Susan hissed angrily, "Thanks, Daphne! So you're saying I'm the screwed up version of you!"

"Yeah!" Daphne said as she raised her voice slightly, "You are Susan! You are exactly how I was before I met Harry, which is why you've got to let me help."

Susan was silent, and then she heard footsteps coming up the staircase, "Come in," she said gruffly, and the moment Daphne had seated herself cross-legged on Susan's bed, the Hufflepuff drew the curtains, locked them both in and cast a muffliato charm around the bed.

Susan's eyes were slightly bloodshot and puffy; her hair wasn't quite as immaculate as usual either.

"Susan, I do want to help you," Daphne said honestly, "I know what you're going through, and I bet it's for similar reasons to me."

"Okay then," Susan said, sounding slightly more like herself, "Why do I sleep with so many losers?"

"Well, I think part of it is to make yourself feel better because you don't think you are good enough or attractive enough, which is complete nonsense because you are gorgeous," Daphne said matter of factly as she casually lay down on the bed, "And part of it comes from never having a father figure. If you've never had a good male role model, then you sometimes just don't think good men exist."

"Do they exist? Apart from Harry and Neville, I've never met a nice guy," Susan said bitterly.

"Why didn't you ever ask Neville or Harry out then?" Daphne asked curiously.

"I don't know," Susan admitted, "I wish I had...I got scared with Neville because he was such a good friend of mine. And Harry, as nice as he is, always seemed massively out of my league."

"I guess I know what you mean," Daphne admitted, "The moment things got anywhere near serious with Harry, I freaked out."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked with a frown.

Daphne smiled slightly, "I was completely smitten by him. He was perfect for me, but whenever it got remotely serious, I freaked out, and a few times, he nearly gave up on me because of it. I screwed with his feelings for two months, he shouldn't have stuck around, and I definitely don't deserve him. But I love him, and I'm so glad that he did stay."

"Percy was engaged," Susan said with a sigh. She moved to lie down on her stomach next to Daphne, and both of them stared at the wooden headboard, "It wasn't my fault it broke off, though. She said he changed too much when he became a bounty hunter, and she didn't like the same things as him anymore."

"Hermione says he seems like a different person," Daphne said, she was trying to help Susan, but she was also fishing for gossip a little.

"Yeah, he kind of did what Harry did," Susan admitted, "He seemed to go on fine for a while after the war, then it all hit him, and he wanted to do something to help people and just totally changed."

"It seems like you've talked to him a lot," Daphne realised.

Susan smiled, "Yeah, he's different."

"Let me guess," Daphne said with a fond smile as she thought of her own memories, "You fool around and pretend it's not serious, but then you end up in bed together, and you sit and talk for hours."

Susan grinned, "Exactly, and neither of us leaves after. I've never spent the night with someone apart from that one time with Viktor. And Percy is a gentleman, even if he has changed. He's just a bit rougher around the edges these days."

Daphne grinned, "Yeah, but rough edges are so fun, right?"

Susan laughed and was glad that she had let Daphne in, "They are."

"I don't mean to intrude, but this seems like more than you make it out to be, so can I give you some straight advice?" Daphne asked.

Susan nodded, and Daphne said, "If you can make sure of it, don't let him get away. If things start to get serious and you need someone to talk to, you can always come to me but don't let him go just because you get scared."

"Okay," Susan said with a smile, "Thanks, Daphne, you're a great friend."

Harry had been doing an awful lot of thinking since his conversation with Ginny. They had gotten closer again in light of recent events. For some reason, Ginny seemed to think that Harry was the person to turn to about babies, which he didn't understand. But he had promised to be there for her, and he had meant that. As he sat in the common room with Hermione a couple of nights later, he sighed.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Hermione yawned.

"I was just thinking about Ginny and her baby," Harry said thoughtfully, "I was trying to work out how I'd feel if it were Daphne and me."

"Elated probably, knowing you," Hermione smiled, "You love children, and I know you love Teddy, but you want your own."

'Teddy's as much mine as any child by blood," Harry said thoughtfully, "But you are right, I do want more. There's a time and place for everything, though. That's how Daphne feels, and if she was upset by it, I think I would be too. But if she wanted to give it up for adoption, I don't know how I would feel."

"Ginny doesn't want to give the baby away, does she?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"No," Harry said with a shake of his head, "She thought about it briefly, but it was just because she was afraid...what do you think you would do in the situation?"

"It's hard to say unless it happens," Hermione frowned, "It's easy to say that the time and place wouldn't be right, so I would consider taking a potion to make it all go away. But when I knew I had something growing inside of me...I don't think I could go through with it."

"No," Harry said with a frown, "And Ginny couldn't either, at least I don't think she could."

"If someone really didn't want a baby, I can see why they would choose to do so," Hermione said with a shrug, "If they were very young and incapable of raising it, or if they had been raped."

Harry sighed, "I'm sorry for bringing this up. It's depressing, isn't it?"

"It's not the happiest topic of discussion," Hermione agreed, "But I think it's all about who you are with. We're all in fairly stable relationships, so if Daphne were pregnant, she would have you."

"Oh no, no," Harry said as he shook his head, "She isn't, sorry. I was just musing."

"You're cryptic today," Hermione said with a slight smile, "Any other odd questions?"

"Yeah, actually," Harry said as he stared into the fire, "When did you realise you were in love with Draco?"

Hermione paused for a moment to think about Harry's question and then replied, "It's hard to say exactly. I always noticed him...even when he was horrible to me. It was hard not to notice how attractive he was or his intelligence, although he did try to hide it. I suppose I started to realise I had feelings for him around fourth year, but I always pushed them away."

"But when did you really know?" Harry asked as he turned to look at her, "When did you know that he was the one you wanted to spend your life with?"

Hermione frowned slightly, "After Valentine's day. When we went through all of that, and we lost Dean and Tracey...it made me realise how short life was, and I couldn't imagine mine without Draco anymore. Every time I thought about the future, Draco was in my image of it, and I knew that I had fallen in love with him."

"I think I realised with Daphne around the same time," Harry said with a nod, "And I know we hadn't been dating for anywhere near as long as you and Draco, but I think I just knew. She was a wreck after Tracey died, and when I was building her back up, I finally saw the vulnerable side to her. Once that wall was down, I saw how beautiful she was, inside and out."

"Is that when you knew you wanted to spend your life with her?" Hermione asked with a slight smile, "Because this sounds awfully like a serious conversation that amounts to a proposal."

Harry laughed at how much she could see through him, "Yeah, well, I am thinking about it, very seriously actually. I don't know when I knew she was the one. I think it just crept up on me. It was in all of the little moments over the months...and then one day, I found myself walking down a beach with her and Teddy, and I could just picture another little blonde-haired kid in the mixture and a ring or two on her finger."

Hermione smiled at her best friend, "So when are you going ring shopping then?"

"Soon," Harry said with a broad smile at his best friend, "Over Easter, I realised, as cheesy as it is, that there's been this gap forever, and she's just come along and filled it. It's like she was always meant to be there, and now that she is...well, I couldn't imagine my life without her."

Hermione chuckled and kissed Harry on the cheek, "You have a way of words about you. Say something like that when you propose, and she'll be in tears," she said as she got to her feet.

"In a good way, I hope," Harry said with a nervous sort of laugh.

"In a good way," Hermione smiled, "And Harry?"

"Yeah?" Harry said as he turned around to look at her.

Hermione smiled at him one last time from the foot of the staircase, "Daphne likes emeralds," she said as she disappeared.

* ~ TBC ~ *