Episode Eighty Seven

            The tests were complete. The finals were over. Most teachers had handed in their grades already. The boys were lazing on the great grassy lawns in front of the castle they'd come to consider as their home.

"Hermione's working in the department for Magical History Preservation." Ron said, rolling his eyes skyward.

Harry couldn't help but laugh.

Ron took a deep breath. "So she starts work in September. They thought it would be nice for her to have a bit of a vacation and Fred and George don't need my help really until school starts, they have a slow spot until Hogsmeade weekends begin. We figured the summer would be the best time."

"For what?" Said Harry, completely clueless.

"For our wedding." Ron said with a bashful grin. Harry's jaw must have dropped because Ron started laughing at him. "As if you didn't know." Ron teased. "We want you to be the best man."

Harry had a hollow feeling in the back of his head as if someone had stolen some memory from him. He honestly didn't know, didn't think it possible. Of course, he had seen the early stages of their chemistry together, but he didn't think it would lead to marriage.

The gulf of silence was growing as Harry tried to figure out why he didn't know about this sooner. He came to his senses as Ron stared at him, torn between flabbergasted and concerned. "Of course." He said. "I'd be honored."

"Good. There'll be fittings for our tuxedoes sometime in July and of course we've set the big day for mid-August. You know Harry, I feel kind of stupid, but I think this is the best decision I've ever made."

Harry smiled at him, for a moment forgetting his confusion. He truly was happy for his two best friends. They weren't madly in love, like people who couldn't keep their hands off each other, but they were deeply in love and it was obvious. The way Ron looked at her when she wasn't looking at him. The way Hermione sighed when he held her hand.

That evening at dinner Harry noticed the thin band of gold on her hand with a single pink stone. He wondered when and where Ron had picked it up. It looked expensive. Ron noticed Harry admiring it and bent close to his ear. "Fred and George loaned me a bit for that, so in a sense Harry you paid for it."

Harry gave him that ponderous look of confusion once again. "The tri-wizard money you gave them." Ron explained with a hint of exasperation. "They didn't spend it all on the business. They put some in Gringotts and have been making a pretty penny off interest."

Harry had a fitful night of sleep and when he couldn't stand it anymore he climbed out of bed, donned his invisibility cloak and wandered the halls of Hogwarts. There was a very good chance he wouldn't be coming here again for a long time. He was surprised to see a light on in Gwen's office and to hear the soft hum of a tune he couldn't quite recognize.

He knocked gently on the door and at the soft surprised "come in" he entered, removing the cloak as he went.

"For a second there I thought you were Graves." Gwen said as Harry emerged. "Of course, he wouldn't knock." She laughed. "Couldn't sleep?"

He nodded his head. "You either?"

"Nah. Never can this time of year."

"Why's that?"

"Dunno. I usually sit next to a window and gaze out until I feel sleepy again, but I just had to get out of my room tonight."

"I know how you feel."

"Restless." She said with a painful smile. He hadn't really looked at Gwen in a long time. She wasn't the same daydreamy Gryffindor he'd come to know. She had grown and for the first time Harry thought she looked like a woman and not a confused little girl. The transition had happened while his eyes were turned elsewhere and that hollow feeling had come back, leaving him dazed.

"Ron and Hermione are getting married." Gwen commented after a silence that stretched out for miles. She had heard it through the grapevine and again during her daily tea with Minerva.

"Yeah." Harry replied, a sullen note hidden under false enthusiasm. The hollow feeling was growing by the second. Had someone performed the oblivate spell on him when he wasn't paying attention?

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to be the best man?"

"Yeah. It's just that so much is changing."

Gwen gave him a sympathetic smile, but like a teacher she replied: "well you guys couldn't mess around Hogwarts forever."

"No, and I know that. I just didn't realize we were growing up so fast. We're facing some pretty adult decisions now and I wasn't really prepared for it."

"I don't think anyone is ready for that transition Harry. It happens, it knocks the wind out of you and eventually you learn how to cope with it."

Harry looked at Gwen thinking in his already aggravated mood that he wouldn't ever learn to cope with it. The Boy Who Lived was now struggling to survive.