This chapter, on the other hand, is one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.



Chapter 41

Bedtime

Cassie returned to the couch, sitting next to Hermione and close to Harry, who was leaning forward in the easy chair. She was still blushing a little and looked stressed from the phone call. Harry could tell she was embarrassed to have had such a discussion in front of the three of them. He leaned forward a little more, placing his hand on her leg and smiled reassuringly at her. He wasn't sure if the smile she attempted to return to him was indeed a smile or a grimace.

"I've only lied to my mum a few times. We usually tell each other everything. And this is kind of a big lie."

Hermione looked impressed. Ron just snorted. Harry squeezed her leg a little.

"You did a great job. It really is all for the best." Then, as if everyone had the same idea at once, all three of them turned and looked at the window. Harry finally got up, walked over, moved the now closed curtain aside and looked out. Malfoy had gone. However, the two hulking figures of Crabbe and Goyle still lurked in the shadows near the house. Harry's stomach churned as he contemplated the situation in which he had unwittingly placed Cassie. His thoughts were interrupted by Ron.

"Harry, I'm hungry."

Harry turned, planning to make a rude comment to Ron about his bottomless stomach, but both girls were nodding in agreement so he swallowed instead. "Well, I have some popcorn we could pop." Everyone seemed to like that idea and they wandered into the kitchen where Harry started preparing the popcorn. Cassie pulled what was left of the pizza and chicken fingers out of the refrigerator. She got four more plastic cups from the cupboard and then began searching for something to drink.

"Harry, do you have any iced pumpkin juice?" Ron asked as he looked over Cassie's shoulder into the fridge.

"No, sorry. Where would I get it? Muggles don't drink it." To which Cassie wrinkled her nose in agreement.

"Well, you're in London, mate. How about Diagon Alley?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to Ron. "Ron, think about it. Harry is supposed to be dead. What do you think people in Diagon Alley would think if his 'ghost' showed up to buy pumpkin juice?" Ron blushed a little at her sarcastic tone.

"Oh, yeah."

Cassie looked puzzled. "What's Diagon Alley?"

"Well," Harry explained as he reached into the freezer and pulled two cans of apple juice out, "Diagon Alley is where wizarding people go to shop for, uh, wizarding sort of items."

Cassie chuckled as she took the cans from him and began to prepare the juice. "Oh, the wizard stuff again. I'm still not sure if the three of you aren't just having a good laugh at me. What sort of things do they sell there?"

"Um, well, . . ." Harry was trying to decide how to explain what sorts of things were sold in the multitude of shops that could be found in the Alley but Cassie laughed as she imagined the possibilities.

"Let me guess, that's where you can buy big cauldrons, bats wings, black cats, flying brooms and what not?" Cassie asked with a big grin on her face. She slipped the pan of pizza and chicken into the oven, chuckling a little.

Hermione scowled a little as Harry and Ron looked at each other. Harry blushed a little.

"Well, yes. Actually, you can buy all that stuff there." Cassie's grin faded a little as she realized they were serious.

"Oh, I hope I didn't offend any of you." She looked especially at Harry who smiled in response. Hermione's face also relaxed into a smile.

"It's okay, Cassie. We don't blame you for being a little skeptical. It's a little hard to wrap your mind around the idea that there really is such a thing as magic. I remember when I first got the letter inviting me to Hogwarts. I'm Muggle-born and my parents are Muggles. We thought it was a joke at first and I was just going to ignore it. I went right to the library the day I got the letter and was very disappointed when I couldn't find any reference to Hogwarts."

"I can only imagine," Ron muttered with a grin. Hermione shot a scathing look at him but continued.

"So how did you, uh, realize it wasn't . . .made up?" Harry asked. "I mean, Hagrid delivered my letter personally and did a little magic for me, but I still didn't really believe it. But I was so desperate for some rescue from the Dursleys that I didn't really care. Then, of course, my aunt told me that my mum had gone to Hogwarts so that convinced me that the school existed at least, whether I believed the magic part or not."

Ron looked astounded. "Your Aunt Petunia told you that your mum went to Hogwarts?" Ron was well aware of how much the Dursleys hated everything to do with the wizarding world.

"Well, yeah. She was kind of in a rant about how much she hated my mum at the time, but she did tell me that she went."

"Oh, well that sounds a little more like her." Harry and Ron just grinned at each other. Cassie was looking confused about the entire conversation. Hermione answered Harry, though, and both boys sat down at the table to listen to her story as she and Cassie finished getting the snacks ready.

"Well, I guess it's fairly standard practice at Hogwarts that if they accept a Muggle-born, they send the standard letter and then about a week later, they send someone to talk to the family. I think he is just a ministry wizard whose job it is to go around convincing Muggles that there is such a thing as magic and to tell them how the money works, how the owl post works, and what it's like to have a witch or wizard in the family. He can do a little bit of magic for you to convince you and he did some for us -- fairly minor spells I know now though at the time we were impressed." She dug some ice cubes out of the freezer and added them to the pitcher of juice that Cassie had finished. "But mostly, he tells you all the magic you have ever done in your life - inadvertently, you know. And, since I think all of us have done quite a bit by that age, I don't think it takes all that much to convince people." She poured four glasses of juice and handed them around. Ron took a tentative sip and grimaced, not too thrilled with the taste obviously. Cassie was looking through a cupboard for a big bowl for the popcorn but Harry wished she could have seen Ron's reaction to the apple juice. It is very similar to her reaction to the mere idea of pumpkin juice.

"Anyway, he also invited us to go to Diagon Alley and see for ourselves. Told us how to get there and everything. That place is pretty convincing - even if you are certain that the letter is a joke and the old wizard is just some nutter in a dress." Cassie placed the bowl of popcorn on the table as everyone grabbed hand fulls and began munching. In between mouthfuls of popcorn, Hermione continued.

"I remember the first time my mum and I went to Diagon Alley. We had a tough time finding the Leaky Cauldron - the pub hides the entrance to the alley from the Muggle side." She explained this for both Ron and Cassie's benefit. Ron had never entered that way, of course, and was looking a little confused about what the pub had to do with the rest of the story. "We walked by it at least five times until I noticed it. We went in and asked the pub owner if this was Diagon Alley. My mum stared around her like she was in some weird movie. Here she was in a business suit since she had come straight from her dental practice, and there were several witches and wizards looking like . . . well, witches and wizards."

She grinned at Cassie as Ron turned a little pink, stopped shoving popcorn into his mouth and stared at Hermione.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Hermione?" The last part of the question was accompanied by a few bits of popcorn, to which Hermione frowned and brushed herself.

"Well, Ron, you know. You've seen some of the . . . uh, guests at the Leaky Cauldron. Anyway, Cassie, my mum just about turned us both around and forgot about the whole thing. But the guy smiled. I'm sure he could tell from a mile away that we were Muggles. He's probably used to prospective students coming there looking as confused as we did. He took his wand and opened the way into Diagon Alley. As soon as I stepped into the alley, I knew this was my world. I felt at home. My parents have visited several times since and feel comfortable enough."

Cassie nodded thoughtfully as she ate a chicken strip and drank some juice. "So, you mean your parents aren't magical at all?" Hermione shook her head. "And they don't mind that you're a, well, a witch?"

"No, I think they're actually quite proud of it. It's something unique. It's just a little hard to explain to their friends and patients where I go to school, but we have a story we tell everyone."

"Does that happen a lot? I mean, to suddenly have . . ."

"What? Magic show up in a family?" Hermione finished. She looked at Harry who shook his head quickly before Cassie also looked up at him.

"Are you, uh, Muggle-born, too?"

"No." That's all he said. He knew what Hermione wanted. She wanted him to mention his mother, but he just wasn't in the mood to get into this whole thing tonight. He just didn't want to bring his parents into things. Cassie didn't need to know all this old past history. She already knew too much as it was.

Hermione covered for his rather brusque answer. "Harry's a full blood wizard and so is Ron. But there are several students in the school who are Muggle born. It's not uncommon, really. There are a lot who are half and half also. One parent is magic and one is not."

"Oh." Cassie nodded, like she understood although Harry knew she couldn't possibly understand all the implications of the various blood lines in the Wizarding world. He wasn't sure he understood it, even now. He thought for a brief moment about his mum and dad when they had been to school and that led to thoughts of his dad's friend, Lupin. Suddenly, it dawned on him.

"Hey, Ron. You haven't mentioned Lupin. How's he doing?"

Only silence met this question and at the look on Hermione's face, Harry's blood went cold. Not him, too. He couldn't be. Hermione shook her head. "He's not doing well, Harry. I think your, uh, death, was just too much for him. Remember how terrible he looked on the train? Well, he looks even worse now. I'm worried about him, truthfully. He didn't take Snape's potion last time that he should have and I think a good stiff wind would blow him away."

Harry grimaced. There really wasn't anything he could say to that. "Well, I guess I'll see him tomorrow. Maybe that will help a little."

Cassie looked at Harry. "Who's Lupin? He sounds like someone important to you."

Harry would like to have avoided this conversation as it dredged up painful memories. However, he had become very close to Remus Lupin and he cherished their relationship. It made him hurt to think Lupin was suffering. Just one more problem in a life filled with them. And now Cassie naturally wanted to know who this person was that obviously meant so much to Harry. He cleared his throat and then began.

"Remus Lupin was a close friend of my father's. He was a teacher at Hogwarts and really helped me. He's been there for me a number of times since. He, uh . . . has some health problems and, well, uh . . . has not been able to work too much and, if he doesn't take his medicine, it can be really tough on him."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Hoping once again to change the subject to something a little more enjoyable, Harry turned to Ron and asked, "Who won the Quidditch Cup?"

"We did!"

"Oh, that's great! Tell me about it."

"Well, first they were going to cancel the match completely but I protested. I knew you wouldn't want that. I thought we should play if possible. But the game was rescheduled."

"Why?" Harry wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer to this when he saw the pained look that crossed Hermione's face. Ron didn't say anything at first.

"It just was." Harry looked at Hermione. Ron tended to try to avoid touchy subjects but Hermione usually would tell the truth.

"The day it was supposed to be, it was . . . . well . . .." She stopped. Harry just kept looking at her. She took a deep breath and spit it all out at once. "Your funeral, okay? Now you know." So much for happier subjects. This just kept getting better and better. Harry decided that he definitely wanted to talk about the game. If Gryffindor won, then something good had to happen and they could get away from this dreadful discussion of these morbid topics.

"So what happened during the actual match?" Harry turned back to Ron. As captain of the team, Ron was in a far better position to talk about the actual play than Hermione, who had once called a Wronski Feint a Wonky-Faint, of all things.

"We had to beat Ravenclaw by 180 points if we wanted to take the cup."

"Yeah, I remember we talked about that before . . . I left."

"Whoa! 180 points. That seems like a huge score. What kind of a game is this Quid thing?" Cassie was looking from one of them to the other expectantly.

Harry smiled. "Quidditch! It's the best game in the world, Cassie!"

"It's a wizard sport." Hermione elaborated.

"We play on brooms - 50 feet in the air!" Ron gushed.

Cassie frowned. "Okay." Harry didn't quite understand why she seemed upset about this, but he didn't want to pursue it. He was more interested in hearing how the game went.

"Who played Seeker?"

"Ginny, of course. She was really our only choice, wasn't she?" Harry nodded. "She was upset before the game. She cried all the way until it was time to get on the brooms. Then she played like a woman possessed. She played for you, Harry. I know she did. She caught the Snitch in 25 minutes flat. Then she cried for another three days. It was after that she finally got herself together. We had a score of 200 after her catch. They only got one score - which was a stupid mistake by me, may I add. So, we won and beat the Slytherins by 20 points to take the cup!"

"That's fantastic! I wish I had seen it." Harry and Ron were about to launch into a more detailed analysis of the game when Cassie yawned. She hurried to cover her mouth, looking chagrined at being rude. Harry glanced up at the kitchen clock and gasped! It was after 11. No wonder she was tired. "We better get to bed, I guess. It's really late."

Hermione nodded in agreement as she too gave a wide yawn. "So, Harry, where can we sleep? How many beds do you have?"

Harry gulped at that question. "Just one. I forgot. It's a fairly big one but it's obviously not going to work for all of us." He was glad he had just done the laundry the day before because at least his sheets were clean.

"Well, I'll just do up some cots really quick. . . ."

"No! Don't forget, Hermione."

"Oh, yeah." She had a slightly worried look now. "What are we going to do?"

"Um, well I think that you two girls can take the bedroom so you can have some privacy and Ron can have the couch and I'll, uh, sleep in the armchair." No one looked very happy at that statement and Harry didn't blame them. The chair was not very comfortable even for sitting. Trying to sleep in it would be basically a joke. Of course, he didn't really expect to get a whole lot of sleep tonight no matter where he tried.

Ron spoke up first. "That couch is not going to work for me, Harry. It's too short, I'm sure, for me to actually lay down and besides that, it's lumpy. And I can't even use my wand to make it a little softer." He was almost whining and Harry was just about to give him a stern look when Cassie spoke up.

"I didn't think it was that lumpy." Three pairs of eyes suddenly snapped to her face. Hot color flushed up into her cheeks and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh, I didn't . . . I mean, I . . . Just from sitting, it doesn't seem so bad."

Two pairs of eyes left Cassie's face and went to Harry's. He blushed bright red, also, and Ron got a sly look. "Hmmm. Not that lumpy, eh? Well, well. . . ." But before he could continue, Hermione interrupted.

"Harry, although Ron is being a bit of a prat about things, the fact is, uh . . ." and now her face flushed red. "We're kind of used to, uh, being together at night." Now three pairs of eyes snapped onto her face but she straightened her shoulders and glared at Harry. "I don't mean that! I just mean, well, we've kind of fallen asleep on the couch together every night since you left. And . . ." Ron flushed a brighter red than Harry had at this statement. "I'm used to it now. And tonight I don't want to be apart from him."

"You've slept on a couch in the common room every night for three weeks?" Harry was amazed. He had spent a night or two on the common room couches but this was a little much. "Doesn't McGonagall give you a bad time about that? I'm surprised she lets you. I mean, she would hear about it from the elves. . . ."

Ron kind of grimaced. "She actually hasn't said anything about it. But then, we've basically been able to get away with murder lately. She just looks at us and starts crying. All the teachers do that. Well, okay, not Snape. He just glowers at us even more."

"Well, then, um . . .You two can take the bedroom. I'm not even going to touch that. Cassie can have the couch and I'll still get the chair." Hermione kind of glared at him but then gave a sort of half-smile.

"Thanks, Harry."

"Yeah, uh, thanks." Ron flushed a little again. "But I guess we'll need pyjamas, then, or something. . . ."

Harry bit his lip. "I don't have anything besides my own pyjamas. I'm sorry."

Suddenly, Hermione let out a curse word. Ron and Harry looked at her funny. Hermione never cursed. She flushed a little at their surprised expressions. "I brought my own."

"What?" Ron looked extremely surprised at this. "Why would you do that?"

"Well, unlike you, Ron, I thought ahead. Dumbledore told us we'd be gone for 24 hours and I figured we would be sleeping somewhere, wherever it was that we showed up. I've been carrying these around for over a week."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag. Both Harry and Ron burst out laughing when they saw what she had in her hand. Cassie just looked confused. She bent close.

"Those are really cute little, uh, doll clothes."

"They're not doll clothes." Hermione was now holding her head in her hands. "They're my clothes."

"She shrunk them." Ron was practically rolling on the floor, now. "She shrunk them and now she can't un-shrink them 'cause we can't use magic." Harry was chuckling too, mainly at the combination of Ron's extreme amusement, Hermione's extreme frustration, and Cassie's extreme shock. Ron grabbed the bag out of Hermione's hand and peered closely at it.

"Oh, yeah! I recognize your bathrobe." He laughed harder. "And you brought, what . . .Are those slippers? And a pillow? You brought your own blanket? .And I see that for tomorrow, you brought . . ."

"Never mind!" Hermione snatched the bag out of his hands again before he could discuss anything else she happened to have in there. "It doesn't matter now, does it? It's all useless. Anyway, Ron, I wouldn't have expected you to have thought this through. So I'm not surprised you didn't bring anything."

It was obvious to Harry that Hermione was really embarrassed about how her "little" plan had turned out and she was just sniping at Ron to cover up for it. He decided that he should hurry and change the subject before things escalated to all out fighting. He supposed that their new-realized romance had not changed the basic dynamics of their relationship. They both seemed to like it the way it was. He sighed. "I do have some T-shirts that you girls could wear to bed. I suppose they'd be kind of like, uh . . . nightgowns."

Both Hermione and Cassie flushed at this statement and Harry thought that they really needed to all get into bed and asleep soon before they all just turned a permanent red color. Discussing the intricacies of beds, sleeping, pajamas, etc. was getting to be darn embarrassing. Having company stay overnight was more complicated than he would have imagined. It was Hermione who declined his offer although Cassie nodded her agreement. "I don't think that's a really good idea, Harry. They would probably, uh, you know, uh, creep up and since Ron and I . . . .Well, since we're going to be . . . Oh, Harry! I just think I'm going to stay in my clothes."

"Me, too." Cassie echoed. Then she smiled at Harry and said, "I'm pretty sure that wearing nothing but a T-shirt in front of you would be against the rules. It would be worse than a nightgown." Harry smiled back. She was definitely right.

"I think I'd like to hear more about these rules, Harry." Ron teased, clearly on the verge of laughing again.

Harry scowled a little. "No, you wouldn't. It's none of your business. So don't ask." He looked around at his three guests. "Well, all right then. If you are all staying in your clothes, then I guess, so am I. Um, I guess we should probably take turns in the bathroom. I've got . . . oh, no."

Hermione apparently was able to follow his train of thought better than everyone else, because she cursed again. "I can't believe this. I could have brought it full-sized. It's not going to do me a bit of good, now."

"What are you on about, Hermione?" Ron snapped.

"A toothbrush! I have a now very miniature toothbrush and Harry doesn't exactly want to share his!" Everyone shuddered at that thought. Ron scowled.

"You would think a magical house could provide these sorts of necessities. I can't believe they only gave you one."

"They didn't even give me one, Ron. I had to buy my own. The only thing that came with this house is the furniture. And I swear some of that was left over from when they built Hogwarts! And, no, strangely enough, when I was shopping, I didn't think to stock up on toothbrushes, pyjamas, and the like for possible future guests!"

Ron stomped around the kitchen for a minute, growling under his breath. "Look, Harry. Just let me do one spell, just one! I could whip up some toothbrushes and pyjamas for all of us with just one spell. We'd all be a lot more comfortable if we had some things like that."

"No, you look, Ron. We've got at least two Death Eaters practically camping on our front step from a simple portkey. We cannot risk anything else. This plan has been in the works for more than three weeks and my life has been miserable not to mention a lot of other people's -- including yours may I add -- and I'm not going to have it all have been wasted. So you'll just have to buck up! I promise you no one is going to have their teeth rot out just because they miss one night of . . . Oh, I get it. That's really not what you're worried about, is it?" Ron tried to look shocked at what Harry was implying but he failed miserably. Hermione looked between the two boys with confusion.

"What are you talking about? What else would he be . . . .?" Cassie muttered something under her breath to Hermione that Harry couldn't hear but Hermione turned absolutely bright red. "You don't have to worry, Ron Weasley, because with the way you've been acting in the last few minutes, my kissing you should be the least of your concerns!" And she stalked out of the kitchen, head held high. Ron followed after her, stammering apologies.

Cassie laughed and turned to Harry. "I like them but they are a little high strung. Are they always like this?"

"Ugh! Yes, basically. Even giving them some credit that they are a little stressed with the Death Eater thing and their thinking I was dead and everything, this is pretty much how they are all the time." He opened his arms and she slipped into them. He tucked her head under his chin. "I'm so sorry about all this. I didn't mean for you to get trapped here like this with us or anything."

"I know." They stood there for a few minutes longer before Harry felt it was safe to follow Ron and Hermione. He found them in the living room, arms around each other, doing something he had never seen them do. They were kissing each other. Really kissing. He cleared his throat loudly and they broke apart and met his eyes. Harry was pleased to note that neither of them blushed.

Hermione suggested using the corners of wash cloths as makeshift toothbrushes which seemed to work fairly well for them although they all looked jealously at Harry when it was his turn to go in and brush his teeth because they knew he'd have a legitimate actual toothbrush.

Ron and Hermione were already in the bedroom when he was finished getting ready for bed and he stepped in to wish them a goodnight. It seemed strange, somehow, leaving them there together. He was used to always being in the same room as Ron and there was definitely no Hermione then. He stammered a rather embarrassed goodnight to them and stepped to the door when he was suddenly suffocated in a very big hug from Hermione. "Oh, Harry. I just still can't believe you're alive. I keep pinching myself to make sure this isn't a wonderful dream." She started crying suddenly and Harry wasn't quite sure what to do with her. Then Ron was there, peeling her off Harry and holding her against his own chest as she sobbed. Ron met Harry's eyes. "I . . . I'm glad, Harry, that it was all just pretend." And then he punched Harry in the arm and Harry bore the ache without complaint, because he knew that it encompassed all the feelings Ron just couldn't put into words.

Harry wasn't sure whether to shut the door or not. He stood awkwardly in the doorway for a few seconds, looking at the two of them, wanting to look away from the intimate moment but unable to. Hermione finally looked up and smiled a watery smile at him. "Just leave the door open, Harry. Otherwise, it would just be too strange." Harry stepped into the hall and suddenly felt overcome. He went into the bathroom and shut the door, sat down on the edge of the tub, and cried. It took him several minutes to compose himself. His feelings were such a mass of confusion at that moment, that he wasn't sure exactly why he was crying. He was so happy to see Ron and Hermione but their arrival meant that he would be leaving Cassie and he wasn't happy about that. He was also, if he let himself think about it, quite worried about the Death Eaters on the sidewalk. Then, of course, there was the upcoming battle and all that would mean. But finally, he wiped his face on a towel and opened the door.

Cassie was still standing in the middle of the living room where Harry had left her quite a few minutes before. She was nervous, obviously, twisting her hands in a way that Harry had never seen until today. "Hey."

She looked up at him. "Hey, yourself."

"I brought you a blanket and a pillow."

"Okay." She didn't move.

"Are you worried I'm going to attack you or something?" Harry felt strangely about the way she was acting. He wanted to comfort her, of course, but he felt somehow offended that she was so uptight. She should know by now that he would never hurt her.

"No. It's not that. It just seems, I don't know, sort of strange."

"Yeah." Harry suddenly felt terrible for his brief frustration with her. She should be home in her own bed. No, she should be with her family in a whole different country. Far away from this whole disaster. But no, because of him, she was stuck in a strange house, her mother had no idea where she actually was, she had no idea when or how she was going to get home, and she had to sleep on a lumpy couch. All in all, she was holding up very well. He shouldn't complain. At least she wasn't hysterical.

Finally, she moved and sat awkwardly down on edge of the couch. Harry walked over to her and squatted down by her. "Let me take your shoes off for you, okay? You'll be more comfortable." She nodded, and Harry removed her shoes, trying really hard not to think about what had happened the last time he had taken her shoes off. He stood up and walked to the window to look out. Nope, still there. Of course. He wasn't surprised. He felt her next to him and turned his head to see her standing there.

"How come they haven't gone home? They can't be too comfortable, can they?"

"Oh, they're fine. They have no problem using magic. They've probably used a mild warming spell to avoid the coolness of the evening, whipped up something to eat and drink, and probably even used some sort of spell to soften the sidewalk up a little bit. They won't leave now until morning. Hopefully by then, they'll give up and think that whoever used the portkey is long gone by now. But, who knows? We'll figure out something to get you home."

"Do you really believe in this magic stuff?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I believe it because I've done it and I've seen it. It's not surprising to me that you're a little hesitant. It's okay." She moved away from him, then, and he continued to stare out at the darkness for a while. When he finally turned away, she was laying down on the couch, the blanket pulled up to her chin. He smiled at her and got himself settled in the chair. "Are you okay?" She nodded. He turned off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. "Goodnight, Cassie. Even though I'm sorry that you got stuck here by Malfoy and everything, I'm glad that you're here with me."

"Yeah, so am I, I guess. It's been, uh, interesting."

Harry stared into the darkness for a while. He knew he would not get any sleep tonight. He could hear Ron and Hermione's voices from the other room, soft and indistinct. They weren't sleeping either. But that wasn't surprising. They would be fighting tomorrow, along with him and whoever else was going to show up for this. He imagined that they were as nervous as he was. He sighed deeply. It was going to be a long night.