The sun hit Harry's face as he sat near the tree, overseeing the Weasley's backyard. From there he could see the twins playing a quick quidditch match with Charlie and Bill; Ron and Hermione sitting next to each other, Ron cheering from the sidelines with Hermione with a book on her lap, leaning next to Ron's shoulder; Ginny braiding Luna's golden locks and Luna occupying herself with creating a necklace made of flowers, one already wrung around her pale neck.
The body next to him shifts and he wastes no time to look affectionately towards the girl dozing off on his shoulder.
Her black hair curled around her face, as her eyelids flutter open slowly, for them to look around her and stop at his emerald orbs.
A loving smile sends butterflies to Harry's stomach and he snuggles ever so gently next to the girl.
Then suddenly he was pushed down, he could feel her warmth take over him as their faces inch closer and closer.
"Lilith? What are you-"
But Harry was struck speechless as Lilith licked his face.
And before he could even stop her and ask what she was doing she licked him again.
The wet sensation caused Harry to force his crusted eyes open from his sweet dream of his ideal summer.
To Crookshank's tongue stopping at the sight of him waking up.
"Gah!?" Harry spluttered as he was sent tumbling down from his bed with a thud!
The sudden crash led to Neville sitting up from his bed, "Whuzzat?" The boy mumbled out incoherently, his hair sticking to the side of his face.
The two other boys in the dorm opened their eyes to see Harry's splayed body beside his bed and Crookshanks softly jumping down from the aforementioned bed and sneaking his way past the slightly ajar door.
"You alright mate?" Dean asked, wiping the sleep away from his eyes.
Seamus copied the action along with a big yawn, "Looks like you fell flat on your arse."
Harry grumbled and climbed up back to his bed with a grunt, he then took his wand and waved it towards Ron's bed, and after the accompanying snore did he reapply the silencing charm that had become accustomed in the fifth year's Gryffindor boys room.
"What's the time?" He asked Neville, who had slowly started dozing off before snapping back to wakefulness from Harry's question. Neville took a quick look at the clock near him which allowed him to answer back with a soft, "8 o' clock."
Harry put his hand through his hair before standing up to get ready for the day, he wasn't gonna be able to go back to sleep, much as he wanted to continue the lovely dream he had.
The other boys promptly stood up as well and formed a circle with Harry for today's honorary alarm clock for Ron, who was still snoring silently and oblivious to everything around him.
With a silent game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, the Irish boy of the group silently bristled as he was forced to be the one to wake Ron up. The three boys didn't take any notice of Seamus' plight and entered the bathroom to freshen up.
A moment later, Seamus entered the bathroom with a bucket and started filling it up with water. This prompted Harry to ask, "Aren't you gonna wake Ron up?"
"What do you think the bucket's for?" Seamus replied.
Harry shook his head and returned to washing his face of any grime or drool from his slumber, with Neville gently patting his face with a towel and Dean brushing his teeth.
The muffled sounds of water being splashed and a scream didn't stop the boys' daily routine.
"For today's lesson, you will be pairing yourselves into two."
Professor McGonagall's voice spread throughout the room.
"Now, I would usually group you all myself but with Professor Umbridge's… courteous diligence, I find myself swamped with work than usual." Professor McGonagall said, her disdain for Umbridge evident. "So please feel free to choose your own partner, afterwards I'll be giving you this week's task."
Harry looked around himself. Today was a class with the Ravenclaws and he wanted to ask Lilith if they could partner up; partly to start the façade they needed to keep so that they could watch on Umbridge. Though he would have still wanted to pair up regardless of whether or not Umbridge was involved at all.
But before he could make his way up to her, he found himself face to face with Ron, Hermione trailing behind him.
"Harry! Come on, we need to partner up fast before Professor McGonagall changes her mind." Ron enthusiastically said, but Harry had other plans, and as much as he loved Ron he needed to turn him down before Lilith was forced to choose another partner.
Harry tried to give Ron a placating smile, "Sorry Ron, but I already had someone in mind."
Ron guffawed, "Come on, I'm your best mate! Who else are you gonna partner up with besides me?" Ron asked childishly.
"A friend." Harry deadpanned, a pleading look sent to Hermione, hoping she would get the message.
And the bookworm did, as her eyes lit up in realization at Harry's silent but urgent request. So she took Ron's arm and said, "Well it seems like Harry already has someone in mind Ron, so what about you just partner with me instead?"
Ron looked at Hermione and sent her a smile, "Oh, then I guess that's fine." Ron gave Harry one last glance before letting Hermione drag him to another set of desks, with Hermione sending a secret wink at Harry's direction.
He should really get that girl a gift. Maybe a magical version of a book binder?
Harry shook off the joking thought and returned back to the task at hand.
As Harry neared Lilith his heart started to increase in pace once more. The memory of their last meeting is still fresh in his mind; but as he marched towards her, he saw that she was reading something on her desk, with a face of concentration and intense focus. Harry smacked himself mentally at his behaviour, here he was being a dolt when Lilith was as calm and collected as any person could be. So he steeled his resolve and stood in front of her desk, "Ms. Moon?" There, not too familiar as not to tip off anyone eavesdropping in on their conversation.
At hearing her name, Lilith looked up to meet Harry's eyes.
"Poft-" Lilith tried to return the greeting but bit her tongue, which prompted her face to now bloom red in complete embarrassment.
Harry stood awkwardly as Lilith tried to return to some form of decorum. Taking pity on the poor girl he decided to just sit next to her, making sure nobody had noticed her blunder.
He tried to hide his amusement from Lilith, but alas his tittering from trying to stifle his giggles revealed to her his thoughts.
"Stop it!" Lilith whispered, sending him a glare. Cheeks still red from her failure to speak to him.
Harry gave her a grin, "Don't worry, I don't think anybody noticed you screwing up."
Lilith huffed but silently nodded as Professor McGonagall raised her voice to the class.
"Now I believe you all have paired up. Now please follow the instructions on the board and ask any questions regarding your work to me. You may use our period now to get a head start." She waved her wand towards the blackboard which shimmered, revealing the words hidden by her spell.
Harry began copying down their collaborative work while Lilith fiddled with some notes on her side.
After jotting down the assignment with a quick dot on the end, Harry faced his body to Lilith to cover their conversation.
"So when do we start?" Harry quietly asked her, omitting the subject just in case anyone overheard them.
"Depends, we can start as early as tomorrow, we're both free around noon, so that gives us some time to get any information we can get from her. We can also allot some time on the weekends so we can follow her around the whole day to get a scope of her routine." Lilith said, despite her earlier mistake, she seemed to have an air of professionalism around her now.
Harry nodded, "Tomorrow sounds good to me." He agreed.
Lilith nodded with a smile, "Fantastic, then it's a date." Lilith relayed back, before her brain could catch up to what she had just said.
Both their faces blushed at Lilith's particular choice of words.
"It- it's just a manner of speech right?" Harry asked more than said. Although there was a tinge of hope in his voice.
"Pft, yeah of course it is!" Lilith exclaimed quietly, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.
"And what are you two doing?
Two heads turn to face the brunt of a stern looking down from their transfiguration professor.
"Err…" Harry trailed off, mind blank from the sudden intrusion and totally unprepared to make any sort of valid excuse.
Professor McGonagall, unimpressed with Harry's sudden loss for words, turned to Lilith, "I hope you, Ms. Moon, have a better explanation?"
Unlike Harry, Lilith was prepared and simply showed her the schedule she had created, "Yes Professor, we were simply going through our schedule to plan around our time so that we may meet and work on the assigned work." She concluded politely, letting Professor McGonagall take a cursory glance at the parchment Lilith was showing.
Professor McGonagall nodded, satisfied with what she had checked, "Very well, you two may carry on." She intoned, before making her way to another pair of students, leaving Harry and Lilith alone to themselves again.
This time, the shoe was on the other foot, as it was Lilith trying not to show her laughter from Harry and he reddening from the interaction with Professor McGonagall.
"Not funny now, is it?" Lilith asked playfully.
Harry responded by rolling his eyes, although he was sporting a big grin at Lilith's amusement at his expense.
"So, Lilith Moon huh?"
Harry's spoon halted near his mouth at Hermione's inquiry.
It was dinner at the Great Hall where Harry found himself, sitting next to Hermione with Ron right across from him, filling his stomach to the brim as his usual, though at a noticeably slower pace
Other than transfiguration, the other class that he and Lilith were able to utilize was Herbology; a duo project about the plant that gave him the advantage on the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, Gillyweed, and due to his usage of the plant they only needed the theoretical information to write. That gave them more ample time to tail Umbridge.
This didn't go unnoticed by Hermione however, evident by the sudden inquisition at dinner.
Harry put down his spoon and shrugged, "Yep." He succinctly said, ending with a small pop!
Hermione wasn't going to let this go however, "And? Is she the person that found her way into your heart?" She teased.
Harry's cheeks faintly shined red but still managed to reply, "Yes." He confirmed, and the red in his cheeks deepened with his self-confirmation.
Hermione decided to take it easy on the shy boy, "Oh Harry, I'm just teasing. I think it's wonderful that you're finally starting to open up to other people."
Harry nodded, "I know, just a bit nervous." He said, giving Hermione a grateful look.
Hermione returned the look with a smile, "Well I guess I should have guessed it would have been someone a part of the D.A." She said quietly while taking a glance at the Ravenclaw table.
Following her gaze, Harry found Lilith speaking animatedly with one of the Patil twins - Padma, as Parvati was gossiping with Lavender a couple of seats away from him - and another Ravenclaw student, Sue li.
"She's been doing well in the meetings. One of the few people that you rarely correct and learns the material quicker than most." Hermione informed Harry, "And she seems to be doing better lately, so much so I think we can make her teach other students who have been falling behind."
Harry swelled with pride at Lilith's improvement, "I've noticed. I think it'd be a good idea to have her help the others catch up."
Hermione nodded and wrote down on some notes she had next her plate, "Then we can bring it up to her next lesson. Do you want to tell her or shall I?"
"I'll do it." Harry responded immediately, making Hermione give him another teasing smile.
Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly as Hermione started to speak, "It's almost a month until December, I think we should conduct a meeting on the last day of term. So we can give them the necessary homework and materials to study during the winter holidays."
Harry nodded in agreement, "Then we'll have one on the last day of term. We'll tell the others in the next meeting as well."
Hermione gave a smile at Harry's words and returned her attention to her notes and papers. Probably her study guide if he had to guess.
Harry also returned his focus to his plate of food, the familiar sounds of Hermione's mutterings to herself and Ron's munching filling his ears.
After they had filled their stomachs sufficiently, the trio made their trek back to the Gryffindor common room. On the way Harry noticed one of his shoes was untied.
Crouching down to lace his shoelaces, he didn't expect the sudden pull of his weight towards one of the alcoves near the entrance of the Great Hall.
"Shh. It's me." He heard a voice say, though he knew this voice quite intimately, and the fact that said voice was near his ear did nothing but cause him to shiver slightly at the slight breath that passed his earlobes.
Harry did nothing as he heard his friends comment on his sudden disappearance.
"Hey, where'd Harry go?" He heard Ron ask Hermione, sounding confused.
"I don't know. You don't think something happened to him do you?" Hermione said, a slight panic tainting her voice.
He heard Ron hum for a few seconds, "Hmm, maybe he decided to go to the Room of Requirement. Didn't you say he usually stays there for a bit?"
"Well yes but-" Hermione started but was suddenly cut off by Ron.
"Then it's fine! Come on, it's our turn to make the rounds, yeah?" Ron reminded Hermione.
Hermione's perplexed voice rose up at Ron's statement, "Since when did you care about-" But he never got to hear the end of her sentence as their voices and footsteps became distant.
Harry focused his attention back to the figure in the dark of the alcove, and as expected the body of Lilith Moon entered the small light that gave their small location visibility.
"Hey." Lilith awkwardly greeted, "Sorry for surprising you like this, I just wanted to talk to you, urgently."
Harry wasn't that troubled, though he knew it was because it was her, "No problem. So what's so urgent that you had to capture me in the dark?" He said humorously, trying to alleviate the tension he could see from the girl.
And he was glad to see it worked, somewhat. Lilith visibly relaxed a tad and gave Harry a small, thankful grin, "I saw Granger looking at me during dinner. Is she onto us?"
Harry shook his head; at her to reassure her that Hermione didn't know of their espionage; and at himself, he didn't know Lilith was so perceptive, "No she isn't. She was just curious since I came to you for the Transfiguration and Herbology projects." He said reassuringly.
Lilith sighed in relief, sagging on the wall "Thank God. I was scared for a second there."
"You don't have to worry too much. She hasn't sniffed us out yet; that reminds me, we've seen you improving a ton lately at our D.A. sessions. We were wondering if you wanted to teach the others that aren't getting the lessons?" Harry asked her, remembering his and Hermione's conversation from earlier.
Lilith bloomed at the praise, "Really? I'd be glad to." She joyously accepted. Then she shook her head, "Wait no, there's another problem. Do you mind coming with me? This one could take longer to fix."
Harry leveled a confused gaze at her but nonetheless relented as he followed her out of the alcove and towards one of the classrooms. It took a couple of minutes to find one that was near and after entering an empty classroom, Lilith locked the door and a Muffliato to ensure no one could eavesdrop or barge in their conversation.
"We have a problem." Lilith began, "Even with all the free periods and projects that we share, I don't think we'll be able to have enough time to follow Umbridge and get the information we need. And even with the weekends included that's still not enough."
Lilith bit her lip nervously, which Harry caused Harry to worry, "Then what do you propose we do?"
Lilith inhaled and exhaled as she started to fiddle with her thumbs, "I propose that we create another act. One that can explain why we need to be with each other for prolonged amounts of time and don't tip anyone off suspiciously." She said vaguely.
Harry could see that she was in turmoil, so he went up to her and put his hands on her shoulders, causing her to stiffen in surprise, "Look, whatever you have planned I'm sure it will be brilliant; and if it's somehow not then I'll help you come up with a better one. We're in this together aren't we?" Harry soothingly said to her. Lilith nodded, then put a hand right on top of where his hand was on her shoulder, squeezing it, trying to absorb the comfort he was trying to give to her. They stayed like this for a couple of moments.
Then at last, she finally spoke.
"Let's pretend to be in a relationship."
Harry blinked. Did he hear correctly? "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"
Lilith's head lowered, "Err… I said we can pretend to be… a couple…"
Harry's brain took a few seconds to process the girl's request.
Then finally it hit him like a ton of bricks.
His face flushed, his heart jumping in joy at the opportunity presented to him. And he tried with all his might to not let the smile trying to form on his face come to fruition. Because Lilith was still waiting for response, no doubt thinking that he would negatively respond in protest at her idea. He needed to reassure her that he was all for the act.
And if he played his cards right, he can somehow get rid of the pretend part.
"I think that's a pretty good idea." Harry finally said, Lilith's head raising in surprise at his composed response.
At Lilith's bemused expression Harry continued, "I mean, it gives us the time to be together. No one can really refute it objectively, and most importantly it gives us a reason to always go anywhere together."
After Harry finished speaking, Lilith's bewildered expression didn't subside, "You're… fine with it?" Lilith asked quietly, and maybe it was Harry projecting but he could see the hope in her eyes. This gave him the conviction that she wanted what he wanted.
"Yeah, though there is one problem I can think of with your idea." Harry carefully said, "I don't know about you, but I've never been in a relationship before."
Lilith nodded, seeing the problem that might occur from their act, "I haven't as well. You don't think it'll convince them?" She asked, a tinge of sadness laced in her question.
Harry's chest hurt a bit from that and he decided to quickly put his game plan into action, "I think we can be convincing enough, all we need is the experience." Harry explained, scratching his cheek, anxious at her response to his next statement, "That's why I think we could do with some experience… By spending some time together. A bit of method acting."
Harry checked Lilith's face for her reaction.
"Oh." Lilith said, then she finally caught on to what he was implying, "Oh! You mean, you want to…"
Harry smiled at the embarrassed expression Lilith had produced and answered her unspoken query, "Yes, yes I do."
Now Harry was never one to exaggerate, but the smile that Lilith had given him that day could have powered a million cities and still leave enough brightness to power the sun.
Lilith tucked a strand of hair next to her cutely twitching ear, "Then I guess it's a… date." She coyly stated.
They both laughed. How one word can bring such happiness to his heart, he didn't know; but he could wager it was because of the person standing right in front of him.
The eccentric, smart, and adorable P.I. that burrowed her way into his heart.
After going over what the plan was for tomorrow, they finally settled on having a picnic near his spot at the Great Lake. She would prepare the food and nourishments; before she left she had surprised him once again by giving him a hug, reminiscent of the one she gave him that night at the entrance of Ravenclaw Tower.
Although this time he could return the favor by hugging back.
The thought brought a slight blush to his cheeks as he returned to the Gryffindor common room.
And there, on one of the seats at the corner of the empty common room, sat Ron Weasley.
Ron was noticeably conserved, an observation Harry made as he made his way to his best mate.
"Ron? What are you doing here alone? Where's Hermione?" He asked, weren't they supposed to patrol the hallways tonight?
Ron shrugged, "Umbridge gave us the boot. Told us that the Slytherins had our shifts covered. I took it as a blessing, Hermione didn't though, went up to her room after coming back here." Ron explained.
Harry sighed in frustration, he and Lilith really needed to get on Umbridge's case. Right after they had enough practice as a couple. Wouldn't be so good if they weren't prepared enough after all.
Ron simply watched Harry, before asking the bespectacled boy, "So where'd you run off too?"
Harry hesitated, "I was at the Room of Requirement." He answered shortly.
"No you weren't." Ron said, confidence emitting from his voice, "I held back for a second after you disappeared, you were running off with someone. Who was it?"
'When did everyone get so damn perceptive?' Harry thought to himself. Harry pondered on whether or not to keep on lying but it was no use, he couldn't; not only because Ron already knew he left with someone but because he wanted to stop lying to his best friend.
"I had a chat with Lilith, Lilith Moon." Harry clarified at Ron's questioning look.
Ron nodded, "Ah, is she the one you partnered up with at Transfiguration?" He inquired, Harry simply gave a nod of affirmation.
A tense silence enveloped them. With Ron just looking down at the table in front of him and Harry looking anywhere but at Ron. He couldn't let this continue, he needed to say something. This wasn't what he wanted and he needed to make sure his friend was okay. That they were okay.
"Are you mad?" Harry tentatively asked.
Ron's brow rose in befuddlement, "For what?"
Harry shrugged, nervously rubbing his arm, "For not partnering up with you in Transfiguration." He said solemnly.
Ron shook his head in refutation, "Nah, I got Hermione anyway if you didn't want to pair up with me so that's all good. Gave me an earful about actually contributing though, she said that she wouldn't do all the work, told me to actually sit down and scratch some lines." Ron grimaced. Harry gave a little grin of amusement.
"No it isn't about that, it's just…" Ron heaved a big sigh, "I know I've not always been the greatest friend to you or Hermione. Last year and this summer gave me some food for thought and I didn't like what I had become; I've been a jealous areshole to you and I wasn't there for you when you were all alone at your Dursley's. Hermione has the excuse of not understanding how bad it was for you but I didn't, I knew how the Dursleys treated you when me and Fred and George bust you out, and I didn't do anything. And now I'm a prefect, but I know I'm the least qualified to hold this position and that you deserve it more than I do."
"Ron…" Harry trailed off. He didn't know Ron was thinking all of this. Yes, he was a prat during the times he needed him most but he still couldn't bring himself to see the friend that sacrificed himself so that he and Hermione could get past the chessboard; who came with him to the Chamber of Secrets; who stood between him and Sirius before they knew of his innocence; be so down and depressed. Fourth year was a sore topic for all of them and this year's summer wasn't any better but that didn't invalidate the other times he was a good friend.
Ron shrugged indifferently, "And now you've got the whole ministry and Umbridge breathing down your neck. I want to do something, anything to help you; but I can't do anything. I'm useless." Ron finished, a deprecating undertone in his voice.
Harry decided enough was enough, "Ron stop being an idiot." Ron looked at him, glaring.
"Yes there were times you weren't a good friend, but that doesn't mean there weren't times you were a good friend. You single-handedly made every summer bearable, you and your family have shown me love, something I thought I would never get. And you and Hermione stood by me everytime it counted." Harry tried to keep his voice leveled, but couldn't stop a bit of wobble that entered his voice, "Fourth year you were a prat, but you came around. And I understand now that Dumbledore was to blame for not letting you guys see me, not you guys. Am I alright with what you've done? Honestly, no; but I know that you're at least trying, that you're trying to be a better person, a better friend. And I'm not going to stop being your friend as long as you're giving it your bloody best." Harry finally finished.
Ron's eyes shone with unshed tears, and Harry could feel a trickle daring to be free from the corner of his eyes as well.
Ron slowly nodded, "Then I better step up. I'll see to it that I become deserving of being your best mate." Ron said, a self-deprecating grin on his face.
Harry's hand reached out and patted Ron on the shoulder, "You already are." Ron only shook his head but said nothing more.
Silence again overtook them, but this time a sense of normalcy and comfortability washed over them. The tension silently disappeared after they said what was on their chest.
Ron yawned and began to stand up, "Well, that's enough emotions for the day. Blimey, I think being with Hermione's starting to have an effect on me."
Harry softly laughed, "Hermione would cuff you on the head if she heard you say that."
Ron smirked, "Didn't say it was a bad thing."
That made Harry pause for a bit, 'Guess Ron matured a bit huh?' Harry thought to himself, happy that his best friend was finally coming back around.
"Oh! And can you help me get revenge on Seamus? I'll pay him back for dumping that water bucket on my face!"
Harry serenely nodded. There were many secrets that he would tell Ron in due time. His involvement with how, or in this case, who woke Ron up will be one told in the very distant future.
A/N: Hopefully this doesn't cause any of you all whiplash. I like my reviews medium-rare, not stirred... Wait.