Not an overly long chapter but the finish sets things up perfectly. I also love how this chapter came out.

"So," Harry said slowly, drawing out the vowel as he sat down at lunch with Paul and Hermione. "Does he know?" Hermione nodded. "Everything?"

"Everything," she confirmed.

"How'd you take it?" Harry asked, turning to the wolf. Paul and Hermione exchanged looks.

"I took it pretty well," Paul admitted.

"What the fuck do you mean you almost got killed by a troll when you were twelve?" Paul shouted. "Do you even know how fucking dangerous that is? Because I don't. I don't even know how big these guys are and here you are, telling me that it almost smooshed your brains into the floor. How are you so calm about it?"

"Are you sure?" Harry asked doubtfully.

"Sure am," Paul answered.

"So let me get this right," Paul sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Even after your horrific first year at this crazy magical castle, where you encountered a mountain troll, a three headed dog-"

"A cerberus," Hermione interjected.

"A cerberus, right, as well as having to go through larger than life size manic chess and plants that try to kill you, you went back." Hermione nodded. "And during this year, you encountered a massive fucking snake that kills people with a glance but instead of looking at it directly, you were smart and looked in a mirror so that you were in a comatose state-"

"It's a basilisk and I wasn't in a coma. I was petrified."

"Does this make anything fucking better?" Paul gasped, tugging on his hair in frustration. "This school could've killed you. You had moving staircases for fuck's sake! You could've tripped and fell to your death!"

"That surprises me," Harry confessed, sipping on his coffee. "Hermione told me that Bella and Charlie took things really bad when she came back every summer and admitted what had happened."

"Really?" Paul said, eyebrows raised. "Well, I guess I'm just calmer than them."

"For a smart girl, you can be incredibly stupid," Paul said through gritted teeth. "Not only did you try to kill yourself with taking more lessons than normal, you went after a convicted criminal who happened to be innocent which you didn't know at the time as well as encountering a werewolf."

"I punched Draco in the face," Hermione added, trying to make the situation better.

"The bully?" Hermione nodded. "Good on you."

"Now that I can believe," Harry agreed, pointing at Paul as if he'd made a great point. "You're a man who turns into a wolf when he gets overly angry, so I can imagine emotion training being a priority."

"Indeed," Paul lied. Emotion training - what a fucking brilliant idea! That would've made him transition less when he was younger and definitely ruin less jeans.

"So, my translation of this year was that it was less dangerous than the others buuuuuuut, you were involved in a wizarding terrorist attack before you even started school, was taught by one of said terrorists, was frozen in a lake for a foreign sportsman to save you and had your first kiss?"

"Sounds about right, unless you include the madman being released into the world as part of my school year when in theory, that affected Harry more than me."

"I'm not even going to fucking ask."

"You're kind of going to need to. He has, kind of an important role."

"Oh, hats off to you by the way Harry," Paul praised. "For, you know, the whole prophecy thing." Harry snorted and raised his cup as in a toast.

"Did it purely to be selfish," Harry confessed. "I didn't want to die."

"You had to anyway," Hermione commented, glaring at the man she considered her brother, still sour that he left without her.

"Wait, wait, wait," Paul called, holding his hands up to stop her from talking anymore. "The little bookworm that is my lovely girlfriend, started a club that was prohibited almost from the get go? You're fucking amazing!" he exclaimed. "At least that was the craziest thing you did that year."

"This is why you should let me finish," Hermione said. "You stopped me from telling you about how Harry, a few friends and I broke into the Ministry so that we could try and save Harry's Godfather but then encountered a bunch of Death Eaters and duelled them."

Paul stared at her and she felt her face flame up at the intense look he was giving her. "Look, I know you're freaky smart and from what you've told me, you were really talented too but how on earth does a sixteen year old fight adult terrorists, and come out unscathed?"

"We don't," Hermione whispered, lifting her top up and waving her wand over her stomach, cancelling the glamour on just that one spot. She revealed the large scar that travelled from one side of her hip, diagonally across to below her breast and around her ribs.

"Fuck," he growled before turning into a massive wolf before her.

"Do you know what my favourite year was?" Paul asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Sixth Year. My condolences to the death of your headmaster but that year seemed to be the least dangerous for Hermione."

Harry thought it over and nodded. "Yeah, that was actually."

"Do I ever get to meet this dickhead that was like a fucking octopus?" Paul asked curiously, twirling a curl around his finger as he laid down next to her on the bed.

"Pffft, yeah right," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Tell us though Hermione," Harry said, bringing attention to her. "What was your favourite year?"

"It's hard to choose one when they all possess such shit qualities."

"True," Harry shrugged.

"And then the big battle happened and we lost people and we didn't lost others. That's life and war."

"So, the most dangerous thing that happened to you that year was breaking into the Ministry, riding a dragon out of a bank and the battle at school?"

"Yes," Hermione lied, scratching her left forearm absentmindedly.

"It was still too much action that you should've experienced," Paul said darkly, glaring at nothing through the mess of her hair which he'd burrowed himself into. "Still too much."

"I just can't believe how calm you are about the whole fucking thing," Harry breathed, eyeing the couple with wide eyes. "If I'd found out that my girlfriend had been tortured and carved into like a block of wood, I'd be locking her in a room until I knew for sure that she was safe." Harry's eyes widened when he saw Hermione pale and shake her head at him, but the sight of Paul, his skin turning red with restrained anger and the way his whole body was shaking was just mesmerising. And terrifying, definitely terrifying.

Hermione quickly moved away from her boyfriend and dragged Harry away from the table which probably saved him from having to go to St. Mungo's since the moment he moved, the table and chair that he was sitting on were crushed.

"Fuck sake Harry, can't you read facial expressions?" Hermione cursed, glaring at her best friend. "Honestly, a girl shakes her head subtly and glares at you and you'd think that would be enough to shut someone up but nooooo."

"What? I thought you'd told him everything!" Harry defended. "Torture is kind of in the category as everything. You should've told me beforehand that you'd left shit out."

"Oh really? Then you would've just pestered me until I'd told him and we'd be in the same situation anyway."

"So I did you a favour," Harry replied, puffing his chest out. "I helped you."

"No you fucking didn't!" Hermione shouted. The wolf growled and Hermione immediately stepped back away from him and closer to Paul who nudged her with his muzzle and earned himself a scratch behind the ear. He looked relieved and comforted that she was close and unharmed - which he'd deemed correct after a few sniffs.

If this was how Paul had reacted to the little bit of missed out information, then Harry doesn't think Paul acted calmly for all the other parts.

"Are you still mad at me?" Hermione asked quietly, standing in the doorway tentatively where Paul seemed to be still brooding. He shot her a weak glare and she sighed. "It's just, we're going out for dinner and I thought you'd like to come."

"Fine," he muttered. "But you are going to do a proper apology when we get back," he told her, walking so that he was standing in front of her. She smirked up at him and he shook his head, fighting off his own smile. "I didn't mean an apology of that kind."

"What other apologies do we have?" she asked innocently, blinking for exaggeration.

"How is it standing?" Paul breathed, eyes wide with shock. "It's just so out of proportion."

"That's what we ask ourselves every time we see it," Harry admitted and Hermione grinned.

"What even is this place?

"Welcome to The Burrow."

Right. I've got a twitter all set up now for fanfiction - some people have tumblr but I can't get along with it - so if you have questions, want to demand chapters/stories/pairings and so on, then i'm over there. You don't have to do anything but it'll be there if people need it to be. Don't be shy. (My username is wannabewyler)