A/N: Yes, it took a whole week to get this one out. I was moving this past weekend (ditching the boyfriend) and knew it would be cutting it close-- but here it is!!! I added extra heavy snogging to make you all like me.
Chapter 19. Secrets, Secrets
Harry had left the library quickly after Dumbledore and meant to go to his room and to just try to absorb all the night's events but he was stopped by Hermione who had followed him upstairs, "Harry?"
He turned and saw her looking at him with a mixture of exasperation, confusion and pleading. He tore his eyes away from her and fumbled with the door to his room.
"Aren't you going to tell me what this is all about?" She sounded fearful, afraid of being left out and with a note of bitterness that whatever it was she didn't know, clearly involved her, to some extent.
"I just need to go to bed," he said as he finally got the door open.
But she wasn't to be brushed off; he had barely stepped into the room and she was there. "Harry, I need to know…please," she begged.
Harry was afraid to tell her what was on his mind, he was afraid to look at her and he was afraid these things combined would set her off. He didn't blame her; he'd want answers too. But he didn't have the answers to give.
"Look, Hermione, I just…I need to…I know you want to know and you want me to tell you now, but I think…I think I don't know…yet." Harry was carefully not looking directly at her to avoid channeling Voldemort and to avoid her pleading eyes.
"Look at me, Harry. Can't you even look at me?"
Oh, no. She sounded near tears and Harry said, "No, not right now—it's not you. It's Voldemort. I need to figure this out. I…I just can't tell you until I figure this out."
"How you feel you mean, when you're with me. You need to figure out how you feel when you're with me."
He was surprised to hear her know this and also a little bit fearful of the subject being addressed so candidly and he looked briefly at her in shock and then turned away.
"Don't look so surprised. If you felt Voldemort when he was angry and violent and if you're the one the Order's meant to have lead the fight, then it makes sense that you're the antithesis of him and that he might feel you when you're happy," she said simply.
It was near enough to the truth and more near to what Harry might have her believe for now and as he sighed in mild relief, he conceded, "Something like that."
He saw her turn away and was thankful, thinking she was going to her own room now and he might really be able to think over the night but as she was at his door and called out goodnight, he heard her voice break.
"Please don't cry," he begged quietly as he turned to see her in the doorway.
She turned back and he closed his eyes as he saw her rush forth and fling herself at him. Her arms were around him and she was all-out crying now. It hit him that she had endured a lot tonight, as well. She had been the first publicly hit target of the war and her home had been violated by Death Eaters and Voldemort. Her face had been glimpsed by Voldemort when she should have felt most safe. Harry knew he really should be there for her and seeing as how Voldemort knew exactly why she would be this way, then it really wouldn't matter if he saw. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He felt his own troubles vanish in the comfort of holding her to him.
"Please, Harry," she sobbed and he felt his shirt dampen with tears. "I don't want to be alone tonight."
She slept the night nestled against him and Harry spent most of the night wide-awake. He alternated between replaying the events of the night over in his head and between being distracted by Hermione having fitful dreams. When he saw her fretting in her sleep, he took to smoothing the hair back from her face and kissing her forehead gently and held her tightly until she would fall back into peaceful slumber.
Harry had left her there to sleep in the next morning when he left for training with Moody. He was happy to see that the ex-Auror was still as demanding and unpredictable as ever, despite having been a witness to the previous night's events.
At the close of their training he called Harry over and said, "I'll thank you for trusting me with your secret, whatever it is. You've got my word that whatever it is, it'll stay a secret as you long as you like."
Harry thanked him and went back to his room to change out of his sweaty clothes. He saw that Hermione had awoke and could hear by the sound of the shower next door, that she was in there. He was momentarily distracted with pondering the sight of Hermione in the shower…naked…wet…until he heard a voice from the chair beside his fire, "Hey Harry."
Ron was seated there and had moved the small gaming table out in front of the chair and upon it, set up a chessboard. 'You were up early. Is Mad-Eye part of your training?"
Harry flung himself down in the opposite chair exhaustedly, "Yeah, he's brutal. How was Diagon Alley? How was the broom?"
They began a game of chess and bantered easily back and forth, with not a hint of the argument from the day before.
Just as Ron swung his knight into position to neutralize Harry's bishop, Hermione came into the room, "Harry I just wanted to thank—," she stopped short at seeing Ron in the room and Harry watched Ron's face as it went from shock, to unease, and then to regret.
Hermione stammered, "Well, I can come back later…"
"No--," Ron stood awkwardly and said, "you can stay…I heard…Mum told us…" Harry saw Ron swallow and redden as he pushed on, "about your house and all… and I reckon…I reckon we really shouldn't be fighting now…" he stole a quick glance at Harry, who looked down in a futile effort to pretend he hadn't a clue what was going on. "I reckon we all need our friends more than ever right now."
Harry couldn't help but look at this and see Ron's face a brilliant red and then to see Hermione staring slack-jawed at Ron's confession and apology.
Hermione regained her composure, waved, and said, "Forget it." She stepped forward and grasped a hand of Ron's and one of Harry's and said with shiny eyes, "We're friends: always have been and always will be."
They got along well that day as Hermione began to lecture Ginny with what she might expect to plan to revise for her upcoming OWL exams and Ron regaled Harry with every excruciating minute detail of the new broom released the previous day in Diagon Alley. They never mentioned Ron and Hermione's previous animosity nor the attack on Hermione's house. Mrs. Weasley remained, notably, out of sight.
That night, as they all slipped off to their own rooms to turn in for the night, Harry set at his desk with his journal and began to write his recollection of the events from the past few days. He was still struggling to comprehend and bend his head around everything that had happened.
He had just completed a chronicle of his induction into the Order when a soft knock at his door broke into his drifting mind. He could feel by the perimeter charm he had erected earlier that it was a familiar presence at the door and one that elicited a warm tingle on his skin as the charm ward was breeched.
He opened the door a crack to see Hermione, in her nightclothes, grinning impishly and then slip in past him, brushing ever so slowly and lightly against him as she passed.
He shut the door and sealed it with a spell and turned to find her just behind him and still with a ghosting grin as she caught her lower lip in her teeth.
His eyes never left her lower lip until he was tasting it and tugging it between his own lips and teeth. He hadn't kissed her like this in two days and now that he had her again, it felt more like it had been two years.
Hermione pressed herself against him and he felt electrified as their bodies made contact. Her head tilted back and she opened her mouth to him and he took it eagerly and held her head to him as he struggled to satisfy his hunger for the taste of her mouth.
She moaned and he pulled up to gasp for air and then, upon seeing her neck arched before him, he began to kiss beneath her ear. He trailed down her neck and to her throat where the sight of her chest, contracting with her ragged breathing made his head feel light.
He kissed down along the hem of her v-neck t-shirt and then up the other side and back up her throat and neck and then nuzzled in her ear as her head was flung up and she began to kiss below his own ear.
"I want you." The words rushed across his lips and into her ear as his hands slid across her back and up her sides.
"Harry…" she gasped as he pressed himself against her with evidence of his want.
He opened his eyes to see her pull back her head and look hungrily at him. She attacked his mouth then and pressed back at him as he spun them around. He walked her backwards until her knees hit the bed and they fell back, with him on top of her.
He was kissing and sucking at her throat as her fingers laced thru his silky locks. Her hands in his hair only furthered his frenzy.
He slid off to the side and his hand slid up from her waist to just beneath her breast. He drew back from kissing her and watched for her reaction as he ever so slowly glanced his thumb over the swell. Her eyes opened and locked with his and he felt the combined swelling in his own chest of adrenaline and emotion.
There. He froze and shut his eyes as he ever so briefly had felt his heart begin to swell. That has to be it—what reaches out to Voldemort… He tried to replay it over in his mind and categorize the emotion and feeling to understand just what it might mean.
"Harry? What is it? Are you okay?" she whispered as she placed one hand over his.
"Shhh." He needed to concentrate to map the feeling he had just had. He needed to hold on to the memory, but it was fleeting. It was gone.
He rolled over on his back and away from her and opened his eyes to stare up at the canopy of his bed.
Hermione rolled over onto her side then and looked down at Harry. "Was it him?" she asked concernedly as she placed a hand on his chest.
He saw her brown eyes inquisitive and not without worry. "No, it was me. We need to talk."
She nodded and recollected herself and then sat up on the bed and he followed her lead.
Harry saw Hermione blush slightly as she said, "That's actually why I came in here tonight."
He quirked up a smile at this and glanced down, mumbling, "Sorry."
She laughed, "S'all right. Go on then. We do need to talk. I've been dying to get you alone all day—to talk of course," she reached for his hand and said, "and more."
He looked at her and remembered this was nearly the same position they had been in the night they kissed like this on his bed. "We should, well, I think maybe I should just not be looking at you when I try to explain this."
She shook back her hair, "Well, that's just it, Harry, what more can Voldemort find out? If he already thinks we are together and identified me as a target, then what else have we to lose by being together?"
"Well," Harry hedged, "depending upon when I feel what I feel that reaches to him, he might be able to eavesdrop in or something."
Her brow furrowed and she said, "I don't understand." She paused a moment and then said, "Oh, you mean how you have seen and heard things with your visions? But can't you shut him out now that you know what to do?"
"Remember what you said about me feeling happy, triggering the connection to him and causing him to feel pain?" she nodded, "Well, it's more like that…when I am happy, not just having fun or something, but happy—happy to be with you, perhaps…then I think it's triggered."
Harry purposefully wasn't looking directly at Hermione's face and he felt it best to not quite trigger the connection until he fully understood it. "But, you are perhaps, right. I mean, I'm not sure what he might glean from seeing us, together, that is. On one hand, if it causes him pain and discomfort for us to, you know—"
"Snog?" Hermione smirked.
Harry grinned at her, "Yeah, then it can't be all that bad. But on the other hand, we can't let him gain more information than he already has. I'm not sure how it all works exactly. When I stopped before, I think I thought that I might have felt whatever it was that triggers it. I'm just not sure." Harry hated to have to stop what they had been doing and wasn't sure he could do so again if needed, so it was with great resolve he said, "I think we should, maybe that is, I really don't want to, but—"
"What?" Hermione pleaded.
"You know, I don't know if it's wise, is all…for us to, to be together and, you know…do stuff." He really hoped she knew what he meant because by now, even he wasn't sure if he meant what he thought he meant. "Do you know what I mean? Just until tomorrow—I see Dumbledore tomorrow afternoon and I need to talk to him about this all." It didn't sound like the most pleasant conversation to have with someone and Harry could already imagine him twinkling away at the subject but Harry could think of no other person to consult.
Hermione just nodded and said, "If you think it's best. Then I guess that's what we should do." She looked down a moment and then up out with her head tilted to one side and asked shyly, "Do you think we can still, sleep next to each other? I just feel so safe with you and after what happened… it will be dark and we won't be talking—there's nothing for him to glean. Can we?"
Harry grinned again, "Three nights in a row—it might become a habit."
They snuggled down under the duvet on Harry's bed and as he waved the lights out, he set his wand on the nightstand. He turned back to pull Hermione close and she whispered, "Good night," and leaned in to give him what was meant to be a quick peck on the mouth. Rather, it turned into a succession of longer and longer kisses and Harry soon found himself abandoning the idea of just holding each other. Whether it was just their proximity under the covers and the darkness of night or the exhilarating rush of daring to do what they had half-heartedly forbidden themselves to do, it was nearly an hour and half later before they finally settled down and drifted off to sleep.
Hermione slipped out of bed early in the morning and kissed a sleepy Harry on the forehead as he mumbled in his sleep. She slipped back into her room unnoticed and the morning slipped by with Ron challenging Harry, Hermione and Ginny to a chess tournament. Harry suspected that Ron was trying to show he held no hard feelings towards Hermione by pairing him up with Ginny first, while Ron played against Hermione.
After lunch, Harry slipped off to the library study to meet with Dumbledore. He found the headmaster already there and waiting.
"Good afternoon, Harry."
"Sir, good afternoon." Harry sat nervously in a chair by the fire and agitatedly bounced his knee.
Dumbledore seemed to watch Harry's agitation with amusement and asked, "Is there something bothering you, Harry?"
"Yes!" he nearly shouted, and then went on "I just, sir, I mean, I just don't know what to do!" Harry looked desperately at Dumbledore. Since last night's decision for him and Hermione to try to keep their interactions to a minimum, Harry had felt like there was no room in his mind for anything else but thoughts of Hermione: thoughts of her reading, thoughts of her laughing, thoughts of kissing her, thoughts of holding her and lying beside her, thoughts of touching her as he did under the cover of darkness last night—if this went on for much longer, Harry would surely go mad.
Dumbledore just twinkled and asked, "Which predicament are we talking about now, hmm?"
Harry looked at him with exasperation, "Her—Hermione! What else?"
"Ah, yes. That predicament." The amusement with which Dumbledore seemed to be treating Harry's problem was not sitting well with him.
"Yes, that predicament! What am I supposed to do now? How can I avoid her completely? I've tried—well, not really, but I mean, I should, right?" Harry was falling apart and only mumbled, "I just don't want to." He taken to whining a lot lately; he must have been regressing into the childhood he never had.
"Harry, I think you'll be just fine. What you need to remember is that you have been practicing Occlumency and are more skilled than you give yourself credit. Last night you were able to close your mind to a very powerful magical object that is as skilled in Legilimency as myself or Lord Voldemort.
"Do you not think that Voldemort has learned to close his mind off to you by now when he wants to? Since he has been aware of the connection you share, he has controlled it, only allowing it to reach out to you when he has wanted to manipulate you. You, Harry, can do the same now." Dumbledore paused and summoned a tea tray from the table and set about pouring two cups. "The misconceptions that Professor Snape spoke of last night also can lead us to believe that Voldemort, nor his followers truly know the nature of the connection. It is, however, possible that now that Voldemort perceives pain when your triggering emotion calls forth the connection, he may attempt to ascertain if he can also cause you pain. Which, of course, we know has been the case. However, that is also one of the reasons that Occlumency has become essential to master. You will now be able to shut off the connection to avoid the pain."
Harry was still not thinking this was all so well and good. "But won't Voldemort want to wait and use the connection to be able to glean information from it?"
"Perhaps, for a while. However, Harry, he will have to weigh the benefits of waiting for opportune information against enduring a pain he cannot withstand. Also, whereas when his anger and hate that triggered the connection to you were often associated with his plottings and plannings, your, shall we say, triggering emotion, is rarely, I might assume, related to or involving our own plans or the secret dealings of the Order—am I correct? Also, once you learn to identify when the emotion is within you, you can then practice shutting off the connection before it ever reaches him.'
Harry nodded eagerly, "Yes, I think I might have already done that. Noticed it, I mean." Ergh—why does this have to be so bloody difficult to talk about!
Dumbledore seemed quite pleased to hear this and said, "Well then, with some more practice, I would imagine you may be able to identify and control it in no time. I trust you can work that into your schedule?"
Dumbledore twinkled and Harry felt himself blush and stammer at the implication.
"Now, Harry, we need to decide when and how to share our secret with those you've chosen. Do you have a preference?"
Harry swallowed loudly and welcomed the change of topic. "Soon." Dumbledore nodded in agreement. They moved on to further discuss some of the other recent events and then to discus some of the theoretical implications and advantages to Harry's mastery of Occlumency. Harry had yet to master the art of deception and manipulation through Occlumency and he was now more motivated than ever, to become proficient in this aspect.
They made plans to arrange to meet with those Harry had chosen the next evening. Harry left the study and found Hermione, Ron and Ginny all in the drawing room. He paused outside the room. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't imagine dealing with Ron knowing the prophecy. Maybe he wasn't giving him enough credit or maybe it was some warped payback for how he had treated Hermione. No, he just couldn't see anything good to come of telling him. Ron would freak out about it or he would just shrug it off and then go back to mindless banter about quidditch—neither of which Harry felt he needed. If anything, Harry needed Ron to remain a friend to whom he could always go to and forget about what the prophecy meant for him and a friend who just reminded Harry what is was like to be normal.
Harry saw Ginny look up as if she had felt Harry watching them. Harry put a finger to his lips to urge Ginny to be quiet that he was there. He pointed to Hermione, who was reading a book on the sofa next to Ginny. Ginny quietly nudged Hermione and pointed to the doorway where Harry was.
Hermione looked up and smiled at Harry standing just at the edge of the doorway. He waved her to come out of the room and he ducked back around the corner and heard her excuse herself from the drawing room.
She came out into the hall and spotted Harry, "Oh, there you are!"
He shushed her and pulled her near. He checked both ways and whispered into her ear, "I just got done with Dumbledore. He wants to meet with everyone tomorrow night. You'll know everything then."
He saw Hermione's eyes widen as she nodded and then Harry turned as he heard Remus topping the stairs and turn down the hall. "Remus—" Harry motioned for him to come near. "Did Dumbledore just talk to you?" Lupin nodded and Harry went on, "Good, you both will be there. There's just one problem now," he beckoned for them to follow him down the hallway and into the library.
Harry checked once more out in the hall, before shutting the door and turning back to them, "You're the only two here now who will be there. I don't know what to tell the others. Ron will go spare if he finds out there's a secret he's not being let in on. Dumbledore said just to have everyone meet in the kitchen tomorrow night at seven, but now that I think about, even Mrs. Weasley might pitch a fit if she gets wind of it." Harry just wanted to avoid the drama scenes from here on out if he could.
Remus looked concerned, "Don't you trust Ron? I thought you all share everything?"
Harry snuck a glance at Hermione, who hid her face, and said, "Well, it's not that I don't trust him, it's just that I'm not sure how well he would take it." Harry looked between Hermione and Remus, "It's just that everyone I've chosen to share this with—I'm doing so because I can't imagine not sharing it with you—such as the both of you and also because I think I can rely upon you all to be able to handle it. To help me… well maybe not help so much, as just not to freak out or anything…maybe to just understand it and then maybe to help me to… oh hell, I have no idea what I'm talking about!"
Both Hermione and Remus looked like there were alternating between amusement and confusion. Hermione came to his rescue though and said, "You mean to support you, Harry? You know you can count on us."
Harry felt relieved to have a word to describe it. "Yes. That's it."
Remus smiled at this and said, "Yes, Harry, you know you can count on us. And I can take care of the others. In fact, I'm sure Arthur would help if I just ask and he can try to provide a distraction."
Remus left them alone and then Harry became acutely aware that he was alone with Hermione. He felt her look at him as he stared into the fire. "Did you and Dumbledore talk about…your connection with Voldemort?"
Harry nodded slowly, not taking his eyes away from the fire, yet, all the while, watching Hermione out of the corner of his eye.
He saw her step closer to him and he could feel the heat from her body as she whispered, "What did he say?"
Harry swallowed with difficulty as he said, "He said we should be okay, as long as were not discussing secret details of the Order or anything when it happens and," he turned to look at her now. He noticed (how could he not?) that she was now wearing a very tight white button down shirt that was open at the top few buttons in a way that made her look more than just a little alluring. After last night's explorations, his hands knew all too well the feel of just what it was this particular shirt showed off just so well.
"And what?" she drew his mind back up to her face.
One of her hands fingered his own hand at his side and he grasped it as he said in a low voice that he barely felt he could control, "He said I should practice identifying the emotions that trigger the connection."
He saw her lips form the shape of the word, "Oh," and she met him halfway as he dived forth to feel her searing lips fight his own for control and begin to seek to satisfy the hunger of not having kissed each other for at least, oh say, twelve hours or so—it seemed more like a year.
Harry pushed her back a few steps until she was pressed against a bookcase and his mouth was now abandoning hers to venture down her throat and towards the neckline of her shirt. As his mouth moved lower, the hand at her waist moved higher and he heard he moan and then gasp.
"Oh! S-sorry…I'll just…."
It wasn't Hermione who had gasped and he realized it as soon as he heard Ginny begin stammering. Harry had turned just in time to see Ginny turn a brilliant red and hasten out the room, slamming the door behind her before either he or Hermione could say a word.
Harry was still staring at the slammed door as Hermione caught her breath and said, "Should I go after her?" Harry's brain was still deprived of oxygen as other parts of his body had been commandeering his blood flow and he nodded dumbly.
Hermione rushed out of the library and Harry waited a few moments for his blood flow to equilibrate before he wandered upstairs to his own room to fall upon his bed and stare at the ceiling. What a day. What a week. What a life.
He shrugged off dinner to stay in his room that night and just had Dobby bring him a meal to his room. Ron tried to convince Harry to play chess with him but Harry begged off saying he was still tired and that he had a ton of homework to get completed. Which wasn't really a lie, it also, just so happened, to strike a nerve with Ron to be reminded that he and Harry now had so many different classes and Harry thought, for a moment, that Ron was going to get hacked off. Instead Ron asked, "Harry, I was thinking, it might not be too late to try to switch back to take Charms and maybe ask about getting an exception to be allowed into Transfiguration. What do you think?"
"Er, sure. That'd be great. What did you get in Transfiguration?"
Ron looked down, "Only an A—I know I needed an E to get into NEWT level," he looked up hopefully at Harry, "but don't you think McGonagall might bend the rules for me?"
Harry nodded, "Sure, mate. She might—you never know until you ask."
Ron seemed excited now and said, "Right—I think I'll go write her and ask then." He turned to leave and called back, "Hope you're feeling better tomorrow!"
Hermione slipped into Harry's room again that night they continued to expand their explorations of each other as they entwined under the covers. It was easier, Harry felt, to just abandon themselves to the feelings of bliss and sensation in the dark where he wasn't thinking about how he felt about Hermione or looking deeply into her eyes. He felt he'd deal with those feelings and what they meant later; the night was just for them.
The next day Harry felt jumpy and agitated as he kept checking the time and counting down until the meeting with Dumbledore. He barely noticed when Hermione nearly wept for joy at her first successful apparition while they worked in the Practice Hall with Remus.
Hermione had told him that Ginny wouldn't say a word about their relationship and said she even understood why they were keeping it from Ron for the present time. She also said Ginny would help to run interference whenever they needed it.
About an hour before dinner, Mrs. Weasley rushed into the drawing room where Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were. Harry was just about to lose his third straight game to Ron as his queen was being spectacularly bludgeoned by a vicious knight.
"Ron, Ginny, dear, we need to go out tonight for dinner. Your father just flooed and said that Percy would meet us at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner tonight. Now go and change to go out."
Ginny hopped up and looked eager to go, but Ron whined, "Can't Harry and Hermione come, too?"
Mrs. Weasley looked apologetically at Harry and then Hermione, "Well, not right now. I'm sure they understand. Oh Harry, dear, Percy should probably make amends with you, too but let's just see how he does with just the family."
Harry quickly jumped up and waved it off, "That's all right. I understand. Hermione and I could both do to work on our Potions essays, I reckon."
Harry saw Ginny smirk at this as she turned and left the room. Mrs. Weasley seemed relieved to not have to make further excuses and she pulled Harry into a crushing hug, saying, "Harry you just focus on your studies. That's a good boy. I know Professor Snape gives you a hard time but I think he is secretly quite pleased with how well you did on your OWL."
Harry nearly choked from the combined pressure of the hug and trying not to hurl at the notion of Snape just giving Harry a hard time but really being pleased with him—as if!!
As soon as the Weasleys left Grimmauld Place, Harry hurriedly asked Hermione about something that had been playing on his mind for a few days now, "Er, I was wondering, you remember that jinx you put on the list everyone signed in the DA? Well, I was wondering if there is something we can do to make sure or at least know, if anyone who meets tonight spills what they learn. Do you think you know of anything?"
Harry knew it might be just a futile effort to try to keep such fully trained wizards as Moody, Snape, and McGonagall in check with a simple jinx but he felt he should at least try something. If anyone would know of a way to do it, it would be Hermione.
She looked at him and he could see her mind already working through the possibilities. She nodded and said, "I think I can put something together. Do you mind if you ask them to sign something or do you want to keep it secret?"
"Won't they know what it is if they have to sign something?" Harry asked?
Hermione shook her head slowly, "Perhaps, but I might have an idea…would you mind asking them?"
Harry shook his head, "No, I guess not."
Hermione rushed out of the room then and began pouring through books in her room. Harry, meanwhile, took to pacing in his own room until Hermione dragged him down to the kitchen at quarter to seven.
"I just need you for this one part. I'm tying it into a loyalty charm to you." She positioned him in the doorway to the kitchen and told him to stand still while she muttered some incantations while reading from a book.
"There," she said, "now it's activated when anyone walks in through the door--everything they hear in this room while that charm is active will be tied to a loyalty charm to you."
"What will happen?" Harry asked.
Hermione just smiled, "Let's just say, you'll know about it." She looked most satisfied with herself and added, "I still want you to ask them to just sign their names to a list just like the one I used for the DA. It won't do much other than act as a simple jinx that I am sure any one of them could break, but it might throw anyone off the track to look for something else. Plus, it will tie in to the existing charm on the door."
Shortly thereafter, Moody ambled in through the door, followed by Remus. Dumbledore arrived with Fawkes in tow, who landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry settled down, still quite nervous, in a chair by the fire. Lastly, Professors McGonagall and Snape hurried down the stairs and in the door. McGonagall apologized for being a tad late and Snape looked surly as he threw himself into a chair at the far end of the table.
Dumbledore cleared his throat to begin and Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry to get the signatures from everyone.
"Er, can I say something quick?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore turned to him and cocked his head to the side, "Certainly, Harry."
Harry stood and pulled out the piece of parchment Hermione had given him. "Well, it's a simple matter, really. Since this is a matter of trust and all, I thought the lease I might do is ask you all to pledge your willingness to keep what you hear here a secret." He held forth the parchment and Moody examined it carefully with his whirling eye.
Harry saw Snape sneer and say, "Is this one of Ms. Granger's special little jinxes? Aren't we all a tad too old for spots such as Ms. Edgecombe was made to suffer?"
Harry was spared answering the Potions Master when McGonagall speared Snape with a look, "It really shouldn't matter Severus unless you plan to break the secrecy."
"A jinx, eh?" Moody asked. "I should tell you then, those can be quite easy to break once one knows what to look for." Moody was eyeing Harry carefully.
Harry snuck a look at Hermione, who nodded discreetly. "Well, it's just a formality, really then."
Lupin didn't hesitate to sign the parchment and McGonagall followed him and then shoved the parchment and quill at Snape. Snape hesitated for a brief moment, eyeing Harry and Hermione with contempt and scrawled his signature before Moody took it and added his own name to the list.
"That's all then." Harry took the parchment and then settled back into his chair and nodded to Dumbledore to begin.
It took nearly two hours of Dumbledore's explaining and answering questions until everyone truly understood. Harry had taken a sick pleasure in watching Snape squirm under scrutiny from Remus, McGonagall and Moody while Dumbledore explained that Snape had been the one Death Eater who overheard the prophecy and who offered forth the information he had in order to save his own life. Harry could feel Snape shooting looks of hatred at him across the room for causing him to endure the scrutiny.
Hermione had started to take copious notes throughout Dumbledore's explanations, but Lupin had helped her by bewitching the quill to just write down everything that was said.
Harry, meanwhile, watched everyone with a detached interest as he listened to a lulling chorus of indistinct voices in his head. He blocked out, as much as possible, everything that Dumbledore was saying; he had heard it all once before and was not eager to hear it all again. Crookshanks had curled up on Harry's lap and Fawkes was snoozing on his chair back; both, along with the soothing voices, occupied the majority of Harry's attention for the night.
Harry finally snapped back into reality when everyone rose from their seats and began to gather their things to leave. Dumbledore leaned down to Harry and asked, "Was there anything else you wanted to add, Harry?"
Seeing as how he had basically mentally checked out for the past two hours, Harry just shook his head and stretched his arms before him. Crookshanks leapt down from his lap and ran out the door that Snape had opened and left through without a second glance at Harry.
Harry looked over at the table to see Hermione and Remus going over some of her notes. He stood up from his chair and stretched again, only to open his eyes and see Professor McGonagall in front of him, wearing, for her, a very rare look of affection, but with a fierce determination.
"I hope you do realize, Harry, that I am now more motivated than ever to train you harder than even before?" she asked with both sincerity and mock sternness.
Harry smiled at this and said, "I'm counting on that, Professor."
Harry followed McGonagall up the stairs and into the Entry Hall, where they soon saw, Mr. Weasley, Ron and Ginny all milling about while Snape was being whispered to fiercely by Mrs. Weasley.
Snape caught sight of Harry and McGonagall and arched an eyebrow as he proclaimed for all to hear, "I assure you Molly, it was nothing more than a small gathering set up to boost Potter's already-inflated ego."
This set off Mrs. Weasley who turned then to see Harry, McGonagall, and also now Dumbledore and Moody coming up from the kitchen. "What is going on here!? As far as I understood, the inductions were not complete until the next meeting--"
She was cut off by the screeching sound of Mrs. Black's portrait, "What FILTH still belies my home?!! Scoundrels!! Be gone!!"
Hermione then rushed past Harry to the portrait and pointed her wand at it and cried, "Silencio!"
Harry heard Snape laugh and say, "And her jinxing is supposed to ensure your secrets, Potter?"
The portrait then screeched again viciously at Hermione, "YOU--You filthy little twit!! Scum of the earth and befoulment of my home! Tramp!!"
Harry could also hear Mrs. Weasley accosting Dumbledore about whatever clandestine meeting had been occurring this night and he felt his the clamor building around him.
It was as the portrait screamed the insult at Hermione, "MUDBLOOD FILTH AND WHORE!!" that he whipped out his wand and in a flash pointed it at the painting and snarled, "REDUCTO!"
The Entry Hall rang with silence then and the sound of crumbling plaster. His curse had blasted a hole into the wall and the portrait was no longer. He saw straight through the crumbling hole in the wall and into the dining room.
Moody, with a gruff laugh broke the silence, saying, "No one ever thought to use a Reductor Curse on the damn thing?"
Lupin was the one who answered, "No, we did," and with a short dry laugh of his own added, "It just never worked like that, before."
Harry glared daggers at Snape and Mrs. Weasley just daring either of them to start a rant. Mr. Weasley ushered Ron, Ginny and Molly up the stairs and out of the Hall quickly. McGonagall gave Harry a curt nod and bid him goodbye until Thursday and then beckoned for Snape to hurry up.
Snape merely passed Harry with a sneer in acknowledgement and then only Moody and Dumbledore were left to say farewell. Harry hastened to leave the crumbling mess of plaster in the Hall and quickly bid them good night.
He saw Remus and Hermione waiting for him by the stairs and he pleaded with them, "Not tonight, please. Can we wait to talk tomorrow?" They both seemed disappointed but Harry didn't care much. He was getting sick and tired of dealing with Snape's attitude and with Mrs. Weasley's volatile temper tantrums.
He felt them following him upstairs and he knew Hermione had stopped to watch him at her own door as Harry made his way to his room. He turned back to her and felt the need to have her rise up in him stronger than ever before.
She must have seen his eyes darken with desire for she checked to see that no one was watching and then went to him and met his eyes, not backing down. He stepped aside and she walked in through the door before him. He had barely shut and locked the door behind him before she had sat down on his bed looked demurely up at him.
He didn't need to be urged on like this tonight and stalked forward, as if she were his prey and he were hungry for his next meal.
Previous to this night, it had always been Hermione to push things further and further. But this night, Harry was the aggressor and he took risks in moving their explorations further than they had before. He was continually urged onward by the delicious sounds Hermione would make when he found just the right spots to kiss, lick, suck, fondle and rub.
When he finally was able to remove her top, he couldn't fathom how he had ever not kissed her in all these new places, ever before. It was all he could do not to push himself over the edge just by looking at her and holding her topless self to him.
It was just lucky, then, the next morning that Hermione had already awoke and dressed when she heard a knock at the door. She froze and saw Harry bolt awake and whisper, "It's Ron." He looked at Hermione and breathed a sigh of relief that she was dressed properly, all be it in yesterday's clothes. "Can you disapparate into your room?"
She bit her lip and he saw she doubted she could. He summoned the invisibility cloak once again for her and she donned it quickly.
"Come in," Harry called from his bed when he knew she was safely hidden away.
The door opened and Harry fumbled for his glasses just to see Ron standing in the hall and walk in. Harry thought he saw a blur of red rush past Ron and into the bathroom, but disregarded it when Ron asked suspiciously, "Have you seen Hermione? Her bed wasn't slept in last night…"
Harry floundered for a moment trying to think up an excuse for this but soon saw the return of the red blur from the bathroom rush forth into his room.
Ginny, dressed in her dressing gown and with damp hair from a shower, threw herself onto Harry's bed and sidled up to him as if she did it all the time. "Course not. Hermione slept in my bed last night."
Harry wasn't sure what the hell was going on but was encouraged to see that Ron seemed just as confused. "But," Ron said, "then where were you?"
Harry watched Ginny turn to him and grin impishly and say, "In here with Harry," and then she leaned in and grabbed Harry's head and kissed him full on the mouth.
Whoa. What the…Whoa…that's not so bad… Harry was shocked yet again as he heard
another voice from behind Ron.
"Virginia Weasley!!!" If Harry had thought he had ever seen Mrs. Weasley brassed off before, he was wrong--this was her brassed off. Bad. "What in the name of Merlin and Aphrodite, do you think you are doing, young woman?!?!?"
She stalked into the room and dragged Ginny off the bed and screeched, "That's it!! We are leaving!! I've had enough of this--Ronald you pack your bags and your sisters things too!! We are going home! Young lady, you will follow me and listen to what I have to say!"
Ron watched his mum drag his sister out of the room and down the hall and stared dumbly at Harry for a moment before stammering, "Well, I should…she's pretty hacked off…" Harry just nodded and Ron left, mumbling, "I gotta go."
He would have been completely surprised by Hermione ambushing him then if she hadn't snickered before she struck. They spent a good portion of the morning imagining all the things they might now be able to do openly with the Weasleys gone from the house.