A/N: I know that I posted the last chapter twice, but in order to make this one show up as updated, I had to just leave it alone. My computer is having issues, and I don't know what the deal is...
Anyway, thanks for all the reviews!
Hope you enjoy this part!
Disclaimer: If I owned them, I'd be
rich. And I'm not. Ergo, I don't.
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Dinner on Tuesday evening was not very peaceful.
The first D.A. meeting was scheduled for later that night, and it seemed as if every single member of the Defense club had come up to the Gryffindor table to clear the time. Harry wasn't sure if any of the teachers would object to them holding the meetings, but he hadn't exactly asked permission. All of the Educational Decrees from the year before had been lifted, but there was always the chance that someone like Snape would find the club unacceptable and a good reason to dock points from all the participating Houses, a group that included every House besides his own Slytherin. It was because of this that he was growing increasingly anxious as person after person approached him.
"Don't worry," Hermione said when she noticed that he was getting antsy. "I talked to Tonks, and she's cool with it."
"You talked to Tonks about the D.A.?" Harry was surpised.
"Yes," she nodded. "And she was perfectly fine and said she'd cover for us and say she was heading it up in case any of the other professors have a problem with it."
"Is she coming to the meeting?"
"She said she might come to some of them, but she's busy tonight."
Harry glanced up to the staff table where Tonks was laughing at something that Professor Flitwick was saying. Hermione followed his gaze and then, out of nowhere, said, "Don't you think she should date Professor Lupin?"
Harry turned his attention back to his friend and raised his eyebrows. She really was being very random lately, and he wondered what had gotten into her. "Why do you think that?"
She shrugged. "Well, they get along well. And they're both very intelligent. And they're both single..."
"And he's old enough to be her father."
"Oh, he is not," said Hermione, frowning. "He's, what," she counted in her head, "He's only fourteen years older than her."
"That's a lot," said Ron speaking up from Hermione's other side. "And by the way, did you know that Malfoy was her cousin?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, Sirius told me." The mention of Sirius sent a brief moment of awkward silence over the group before Harry hurried to brush over it. "But her mum doesn't get claimed by the family anymore because she married a Muggle."
"Bellatrix Lestrange is their other sister, then," said Hermione, looking at Harry for confirmation.
At the sound of Bellatrix Lestrange's name, Harry felt a hatred like no other flow through him quickly, but he forced a nod. "Yeah. They're all Sirius's cousins."
"So Sirius and Malfoy were cousins, too?" Ron's eyes widened slightly.
Harry, who had never really thought about it, was suddenly struck with the
truth to the statement. "Yeah, I
guess. Second cousins anyway." Then another, more startling thought
occurred to him. "And Sirius is
related to your parents, so that means you've got to be related to
Malfoy, too..."
"No fucking way!" Ron looked disgusted, and Hermione shot him an annoyed look for the language.
"Oh, I'm sure you're all related some way or another," she said briskly. "You and Harry are probably related somehow, too."
Harry hadn't thought of that, either, but he remembered something else his godfather had told him. "Yeah, Sirius said all of the pureblood families are interrelated."
"Well, I am not related to Malfoy," Ron said firmly, sticking his fork through a cherry tomato and glaring at it.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, you probably are." She smirked smugly then and said, "But at least I know I'm not."
Ron elbowed her. "It's not nice to gloat."
She shrugged and said, "I guess it depends on what you're gloating over, doesn't it?"
"You gloat over everything," he said pointedly.
"I do not." Hermione grinned. "And if I do, it's only because I have good reason."
They continued to playfully bicker, and Harry glanced at his watch. If they didn't leave soon, they weren't even going to get to the Room of Requirement early to make sure everything was set up properly. He told them this, and they quit their mini-argument to join him.
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Harry was surprised to see that all of the D.A. members had returned for the second year, minus Fred, George, Angelina, Katie, Alicia and Lee, who had all graduated, and, of course, Marietta Edgecombe, who was no longer welcome, though SNEAK had finally disappeared from her face. He wasn't sure if he expected Cho to come or not, but she strolled in with Michael Corner and some of his sixth year friends, not meeting Harry's eye at all as she joined them in some seats on the left side of the room. The others filed in, as well, all of them taking seats in the room, which still looked exactly as it had the last time they'd had a meeting, minus the list of names pinned to the wall, which had been confiscated the year before.
When everyone had arrived, Harry let Hermione take over, as she was much better at this sort of thing than he was. She talked about several things, including the fact that Tonks was going to cover for them if there were any problems. She then went on to say that she thought they should recruit new members as well because, as she pointed out, anyone who wanted to learn extra Defense Against the Dark Arts should have the opportunity. Everyone agreed, and they all decided they would ask around to other friends and younger students who might not have been involved the year before for one reason or another. When she finally let Harry talk, there was nothing much left to say except that he thought they ought to start with something simple like they did the year before. He suggested a disarming warm-up and was met with no complaints, not even from Zacharias Smith, who was watching him rather ruefully.
Everyone paired up, and Harry watched as Ron and Hermione chose each other without a second glance to him. The same thing had happened the year before, but he somehow noticed it more this year. He glanced around for Neville, who he was sure would be partnerless but found that he had actually paired himself up with Luna Lovegood and was currently ducking as she accidentally sent her own wand flying toward him instead of summoning his toward her. It took him a moment to find the odd person out, and he was surprised to find that the only person left without a partner was Ginny Weasley.
She walked over to him and said, "Looks like you're stuck with me."
"What about Dean?"
She sighed slightly and shook her head. "Apparently Seamus Finnigan is much more attractive than I am." Harry laughed at her comment as he spotted Dean and Seamus across the room. "I see that you got rejected, too," she said pointedly as she watched Ron and Hermione, who were now arguing over something at the far side of the room; it was impossible to hear what they were saying, but their argument suddenly turned quite funny, as they both burst out laughing.
Harry looked away from them and back at Ginny. "Are you ever going to fill me in?"
"Is this really the time?"
"Do you know how to disarm?" She nodded. "Then this is the time." He crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly.
Ginny studied her brother and Hermione for another moment before taking Harry
by the arm and dragging him a bit away from the main crowd and out of harm's
way as wands flew in every direction.
"Well," she said when they reached their destination, which happened to be as far away as possible from the pair in question, "Hermione told me that she finally gave up on waiting. You know, after they were kidnapped or whatever."
"Did you already know she liked him?"
"Of course," Ginny looked slightly offended. "It was only the most obvious thing in the world."
Harry hadn't really ever noticed it to be that obvious, at least not from Hermione's point. He didn't say anything, though, and Ginny went right on.
"And she snuck up to his room the first night he was home from the hospital, and then she just kissed him real quick and disappeared. Then the next day, Ron apparently got the picture, and they snogged for a good half-hour in the mud."
"Yeah, he mentioned the mud," Harry said absently. "But I still don't get why it just happened out of nowhere."
Ginny shrugged. "Who knows? They're both quite strange."
"Well, are they serious or what?"
Ginny looked at him as if she felt sorry for him. "Do you think Hermione would just go around making out with boys if she wasn't serious about it?" She then apparently got a thought and said, "Haven't you asked Ron about it?"
Harry shook his head. "No, not really. He told me a little in a letter right after it happened, but I haven't really asked for details. Don't really want them, actually; that's why I asked you."
Instead of catching whatever Ginny was saying next, he found his mind conjuring up the same image it had when Dean had asked him the same question. It was the image of one of his best friends and his other best friend's little sister doing things that he was certain they definitely would not do. Or at least he was certain that Hermione wouldn't, but Dean had hinted that Ginny might be persuaded...
"Are you listening to me?" Ginny's voice jerked him back to reality, and he looked at her, feeling his cheeks heat up as he caught the eye of the very person he'd just been imagining in a rather questionable situation.
"Wha-" He swallowed. "Yeah, sure. But... maybe we ought to practice now."
Ginny stared at him weirdly for a moment before finally shrugging and saying, "Well, you better be careful because you might not know this, but I can probably kick your arse."
Harry
snorted, and she glared at him.
"Just wait," she warned. "All that Boy
Who Lived crap doesn't impress me."
Harry was amused thoroughly by her; she had certainly changed a lot since the first time he'd met her. In more ways than one, he noticed, as she walked a few paces away from him, her hips swinging slightly. Before he even had a second to appreciate it, though, she had whipped around and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" which sent his wand flying straight into her outstretched hand.
He gaped at her, and she sent him a rather smug smirk before shrugging her shoulders and saying, "See? I told you I could kick your arse." She tossed his wand back to him, and he caught it with reflexes born of a natural Seeker. Before he got a grasp, though, she had retrieved it once again.
"You're cheating!" he accused, though he was grinning. "You're not even giving me a chance!"
"Perhaps I should be the one teaching," she said confidently. "I know I don't have the scar of anything, but, hey!" She shrugged, and they both broke into laughter. Ginny tossed him his wand and looked at him squarely. "Okay, here's your chance."
"Expelliarmus!" He raised his wand and aimed it at her, but she ducked easily, and his spell hit Ernie Macmillan right in the back of the head, causing the Hufflepuff to grab at the place where his hair had singed slightly for a brief second and whip around to see who the offender was. Harry, his eyes widening the moment it happened, stared very pointedly at Ginny as she struggled against laughter, and neither of them looked at Ernie.
When Ernie gave up on finding out which of his fellow students had hit him with a spell and turned back to his own partner, Hannah Abbott, Ginny broke into nearly convulsions of giggles. Harry, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention, quickly walked the few steps to her and grabbed her forearm, dragging her once again away from the crowd and to the place by the door. She was giggling mercilessly now, one of her hands clasped tightly to her mouth and her entire body shaking.
"Maybe we shouldn't practice anymore just yet," he said warily, and Ginny finally broke into full out laughter.
"Maybe not," she agreed through hiccups. "I can't believe he didn't know who did it!"
"Shh!" Harry looked over her head at Ernie and Hannah, who were now right back to disarming each other. "There's a bald spot on the back of his head..."
Ginny turned around so quickly that Harry couldn't stop her before she doubled over with giggles again. "He doesn't even know!"
"Shh!" Harry said again. "Just don't look over there."
Ginny nodded, though she was still having great difficulty with keeping her cool. After she calmed down just a bit, though, she changed the subject. "So, when are you having Quidditch tryouts?"
Professor McGonagall had held him after class the day before and told him that he needed to have a team secured by the end of the following week. He shrugged, though, having no definite answer and said, "Probably this weekend."
"Any idea how many people are trying out?"
He shook his head. "Not a clue. All we need are Chasers, though."
"Yeah, I know."
"Do you still want to play?" He knew that he had sort of ripped the position of Seeker away from her without any sort of warning. She'd been rather good, though, and she had mentioned wanting to be a Chaser.
She nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
"You don't have to try out." He shrugged. "You were already on the team, and if you want, you can just switch positions."
"I don't have to try out?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you sure? Because what if someone's better than me?"
He shrugged. "You don't have to try out," he repeated. "If you want to be a Chaser, I mean."
She nodded, a grin now on her face. "Yeah, sure. That's what I wanted to play anyway."
"Good because I'm not giving up Seeker again." He smiled at her, and she rolled her eyes.
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Later into the night after their first D.A. meeting, Hermione found herself standing alone in the Common Room and waiting rather impatiently for a very late Ron. He was supposed to have been down ten minutes ago, and she still hadn't seen any sign of him. Part of her wondered if he'd fallen asleep and completely forgotten that it was their turn to do the late-night patrol of the corridors. As sixth year Prefects, they were given even more responsibilities, and one of these included walking the hallways for two hours after curfew every fifth night. It was a duty, which was split evenly with the other three houses and the Head Girl; this was Gryffindor's first night, though, and Hermione somehow didn't think it would look too great if one of the Prefects had fallen asleep and skived off of his duties.
Just as she was getting anxious, though, she heard footsteps coming down from the boys' side of the dormitory, and she looked up just as Ron stumbled into the Common Room, tugging a trainer on as he rushed.
"You're late," she said simply as she watched him finally give up on the half-run/half-hop that he was doing in order to get his shoe on; he finally stopped and bent down to fix it and tie it up properly.
"I
know, I know," he said breathlessly when he straightened up. "I forgot."
She frowned. "Ron, I just reminded you not an hour and a half ago."
He shrugged, looking slightly irritated. "I know, Hermione. I just forgot, okay?"
She rolled her eyes. "You can't just forget. These are our responsibilities."
"I get it!" He looked at her, his eyebrows constricting slightly. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm not that late."
She gave up on lecturing him because she had enough experience to know that it did no good whatsoever. Instead, she just turned and headed toward the Portrait Hole. He followed her through it and down the stairs leading away from Gryffindor Tower.
"So what are we supposed to be doing anyway?" he asked, breaking the silence as they turned up the first floor corridor and started making their way through the castle.
"Just making sure that no one's out of place or breaking curfew."
"Oh, that should be fascinating," he said sarcastically. "We get to walk around for two hours and do absolutely nothing."
Hermione kept walking and somehow managed not to roll her eyes. She knew that if they kept talking, they would end up arguing, so she just walked on in silence for several more minutes, turning up one hallway and down another. She was just beginning to marvel at how huge the castle really was when she felt Ron slip his hand into her own without warning.
She looked down first at their intertwined fingers and then up at him. It was the first bit of affection that he'd shown her since they'd been back at school; other than the odd shy smile he'd send her way from time to time, she couldn't see that he was treating her any differently than he had all their other years. There was no doubt in her mind that he was suffering enough teasing at the hands of his dorm-mates because she certainly was. She'd never taken Parvati and Lavender to be her best friends by any means, but it seemed that ever since they'd found out that she had a boyfriend, they wanted to be the closest of mates and find out as many details as possible. Unfortunately for them, there weren't too many details, as there had been absolutely nothing happening between herself and Ron since the moment they boarded the Hogwarts Express. She didn't know how she felt about showing off the fact that she was dating someone by public displays of affection, but she did know that she was missing Ron and the hours upon hours of private time that they had had in their last few weeks at the Burrow. Then Harry had shown up, but even after that, they'd still managed to snag plenty of time together. At school, though, things were a bit more difficult.
She didn't say anything about the handholding, and they walked along in continued silence, still holding hands. They passed the stairs that led down to the Slytherin Common Room and made their way around the castle until they'd also passed the entrances to the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Common Rooms as well. But even after all of that, Hermione glanced at her watch and saw that they still had a full hour before they were allowed to retire for the evening.
There were other places that they were supposed to check, too, and Hermione checked them off in her head as they passed them. The entrance to the kitchens, the third and fourth floor corridors that were littered with now empty classrooms, the foyer in front of the Great Hall, and, of course, the Astronomy Tower- the number one favorite spot for young couples seeking a private snogging session.
"Are you still taking this?" Ron asked after they'd climbed the two-hundred and thirty-six stairs to reach the circular room at the top.
Hermione nodded and lit the tip of her wand so that she could see better in the moonlit room. There was no one up there, either. They hadn't caught a single student out of bed in the entire time they'd been patrolling, something that surprised Hermione.
"Wow, this is so not fun," Ron said blandly as he dropped her hand and unexpectedly sat down on the stone floor. "I'm already sick of it, and we still have forty-five minutes."
Hermione looked at him and sighed before turning away and taking an opportunity to look out of the Tower's windows, a view which never failed to amaze her. A bright light was falling slightly, and she realized all at once what it was. "Look, a falling star!"
Ron pushed himself up and joined her at the windows, and they both watched as the light streaked slowly across the sky. Hermione had been fascinated by stars when she was younger, and now that she knew a good deal about them, she liked them even more. Something her mother had told her when she was very young entered her mind, and she tore her gaze away from the star and looked at Ron. "Do you believe in wishes?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Wishes?"
"Yes. My mum says that if you make a wish on a falling star, it comes true."
He shrugged and looked back at the sky. "Maybe. I don't know."
Hermione once again looked to the star and silently made a wish, trusting her faith in things she had no control over. She wished for happiness for them all, for her and Ron and especially for Harry. He could use a good wish about now, and though she knew it was probably silly of her, deep down inside of her, she believed that it might just work. At least she hoped it would.
"Did you wish?" She could tell that Ron was watching her curiously, and she felt her cheeks heat up slightly. She nodded and kept her head turned away from him. "What'd you wish for?"
"I can't tell," she said, finally meeting his gaze. "It won't come true."
"Did your mum tell you that, too?" He looked slightly amused, and she felt a bit embarrassed but admitted to it anyway.
"Yeah," she said quietly. "Didn't your
mum ever tell you things like that?"
He shrugged. "She might have. I don't really remember. Maybe she used to tell the others, but she was probably worn out on stories like that by the time I came around. And anyway, the twins probably would have spoiled it anyway, so she probably just didn't even bother."
"Spoiled it?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, you know, like they told me and Ginny that Santa Claus was fake when we were just like four and five or something."
Hermione smiled sympathetically.
Ron, though, just shrugged. "Oh, well. They got in trouble for it, so it was worth having it ruined."
Hermione
giggled and was caught off-guard when Ron suddenly kissed her. He drew back slowly and looked at her
through barely lowered eyelashes.
"Sorry," he mumbled quietly. "I've just
been waiting to do that for a few days."
She smiled at him shyly and nodded. "Yeah, me, too."
He kissed her again, this time a little more possessively. Hermione felt as if he were trying to get his grip back on kissing her, as it had been several days since they'd had any sort of practice. Hoping to edge him along a bit, she sat down on one of the stone ledges beneath the windows and dragged him with her.
She quickly forgot everything about wishes and school and Prefects' duties and everything else. Except for Ron.
And when their patrolling time was finally over and it was time for them to return to Gryffindor, Hermione knew exactly why the Astronomy Tower was so favored.
And that night, as she climbed into bed with thoughts of Ron's lips in her mind, she made a mental note to skip half of the things on the patrol list next time and head to that Tower a bit earlier.
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