Hello, I have edited this chapter in acknowledgment of my many mistakes and beg your forgiveness. Please enjoy and review. Thanks to my reviewers for pointing out my many mistakes. To Michelle, there are small changes in this chapter to make the whole 'question' issue flow. Again, acknowledging my mistakes.
Disclaimer: The amazing world of Harry Potter belongs to J K Rowling. Only the plot of this story and all the horrid delusion is mine. Ye be warned. ( A special sorry to JK, you would be appalled)
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Nightmares
Harry Potter sat alone in his bedroom on number 4 privet drive, waiting. Waiting for the nightmares. He knew it was late, he also knew that if his uncle woke to find his light on, he would be in serious trouble. Reluctantly he stood from his chair and turned off the light. And still he waited. He had never before realized how very long it took Hedwig to deliver a letter to Ron's and return with a response.
Harry had been home 4 weeks from school and had finally broken down after the continual silence from his relatives. He stormed to his room and wrote Ron a very short letter asking if someone would be coming to get him soon, discreetly of course, as he assumed Hedwig could still be intercepted.
He had refrained from writing to his friends. He knew they would be hurt about the letters they had been sending him (the ones he didn't answer), but also knew that they were trying to give him space. Even though he couldn't put the words in writing he knew they were trying to understand and be supportive by not bothering him, he made a mental note thank them for that.
'Waiting is the worst' he thought to himself. Although Harry now understood the importance of staying on privet drive during his summer holidays, it wasn't helping his sanity. The thoughts that went through his mind about that horrible night had changed gradually over the last few weeks but not enough to stop the nightmares.
He continued to blame himself, of course, but he came to realize slowly that others had contributed his Godfathers death. He thought long and hard about all the things Dumbledore had told him over the years and the things the old man had kept from him. He spent hours alone, thinking about the role he was born to play in the Wizarding world, about the people he cared about most, and more about the people he was slowly beginning to hate.
He found himself making mental list of the people he hated. 'The Dursleys?'
'No,' Harry thought, 'I could never put them in the care about category, but I don't hate them. Hate is a very powerful word' he reminded himself.
'Malfoy? Yes well, perhaps not as much as he hates me,' Harry thought, remembering the enraged cold stares coming from Slytherins eyes on their last encounter.
Then Harry hit the tip of the iceberg 'Bellatrix? Absolutely. Wormtail? Can only think of one person I hate more than either of them,' But before Harry could let his mind think the assumed name of Tom Riddle, the magical energy had reached a dangerous level in his small room and the door flew open, the lamp he was staring at shattered and the window slammed shut and broke.
'Here we go," Harry sighed as his uncle Vernon screamed his name. Harry heard footsteps approach his room and braced himself for the yelling he knew was coming.
Harry stood and waited with his eyes shut, willing himself not to speak to his uncle no matter what. In the few seconds it took for the footsteps to reach Harry's room, several things happened at once.
pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,
"You retched, bastard boy! How dare you wake the whole house! What the hell is..........."
Vernon's voice trailed off as a hand grabbed his wrist a tore him form the door way of Harry's room.
"YOU!" Vernon pointed a finger at the man still holding his arm.
" I " said Remus
"How dare you enter my home…."
"You would be shocked at the things I DARE to do, Dursley, would you like a brief description?"
Harry opened his eyes to see Remus pushing his uncle Vernon into the hall, and his Aunt and Dudley whimpering in the corner of the hall. Harry took a few steps to see who else was there. He was not surprised to see Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Arthur Weasley and......
"What the hell are you doing here?" Harry spat out at his potions master.
"Manners, Potter." Snape replied smoothly.
"Harry, why don't you come down stairs for a minute?" asked Mr. Weasley.
Reluctantly, Harry pushed past everyone to the landing, and gave Snape a cold stare before going to the kitchen.
Standing behind a kitchen chair for support, he asked Tonks, who descended the stairs after him, "When do I get to leave?"
"Almost immediately." Aurthur replied from the foyer, looking up the stairs.
"Remus, we are leaving now."
Remus came down the stairs and after giving Harry a huge grin, vanished through the front door. Aurthur walked to face Harry.
"Here Harry, take this." Arthur said trying to hand him a glass paperweight.
"We're leaving now? I haven't packed or anything, Hedwig's not here and...."
He trailed off as Mr. Weasley cut in "There is no time Harry, we have no idea who else heard all that racket and…"
Harry cut in "You heard the glass break? How many people have been monitoring my every move?" He asked angrily.
Mr. Weasley looked a little apprehensive, but when he spoke, it was with all the fatherly love and strength he could muster into his voice.
"Harry, you don't really think were just going to stop protecting you, do you? We're not here to apologize for our actions; we're here to escort you out of here as soon as possible." Arthur added in a lighter tone, " Do you have your wand on you?"
"Yes" Harry said, feeling slightly ashamed of himself for yelling at Mr. Weasley.
"Good."
"Is that a Portkey?"
"It is now." Kingsley replied after taking the paperweight from Mr. Weasley and muttering 'Portus', he handed it to Harry.
Harry looked at it for a moment. "Where am I going?"
Kingsley raised his eyes at Harry for a moment. Then, Harry realizing what that look meant, said "No, no I don't think I can." Harry started to feel weak at his knees. Someone put a hand on his shoulder, turning slightly Harry saw that Remus had returned to the kitchen.
Remus nodded to the others, " I think the way is clear out there, I'll accompany him."
"Me too," Tonks cut in "Don't worry Harry I'll come over and get all your things tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I remember all that needs to be packed."
"Thanks," Harry muttered. He didn't want to return to that house, too many memories, too many people, it's just too much.
Turning to Remus he said, "Are you sure this is a good idea?" wanting desperately for him to say no.
Remus turned his head to look Harry in the eye. Harry noticed he had the look of some one who couldn't sleep for nightmares too.
"I'm sorry Harry, it's the safest place we have now and…"
"Hurry guys, it's time to go." Kingsley pushed the paperweight into Remus' hand.
Harry placed a finger on the portkey after Tonks did and shortly felt a jerk behind his navel. Harry closed his eyes and thought 'At least I'm not frozen to my broom this time.' Then he felt his feet hit the ground.
They landed in front of where number 12 Grimmuald place was rapidly squeezing itself between the neighboring houses. Walking cautiously across the street to the front door, Harry was conscious of all of the blackness in his heart where Sirius used to be threatening to drown his vision as he stepped through the threshold.
The house was fairly noisy when he entered and Harry wondered how many people were in the kitchen down stairs. Before he could really give it too much thought he saw Ron and Ginny in their pajamas grinning at him from the stairs.
"Hey Harry, how's it going?" Ron asked, slightly apprehensive about Harry's response.
"Hi Harry how are you?" Ginny said with a cheerful smile that Harry had a hard time ignoring.
"Hey guys, uh, what's going on in there?"
Ron looked a little relieved at Harry and answered him quickly, "We don't really know, they just started yelling about thirty minutes ago."
"Mum said we're not to eavesdrop, but to escort you upstairs." Ginny said with a wink then slipped him an extendable ear behind her back as the rest of Harry's guard went down to the kitchen.
Harry briefly thought about his last encounter with the extendable ears in St Mungos, out side Mr. Weasley's hospital door.
Ginny, misreading the look on Harry's face, quickly whispered "It's ok, they were in such a rush, Mum forgot to charm the door."
Harry nodded and joined Ron on the landing out of sight form the door. He put the extendable ear to his own ear as it snaked under the kitchen door. Again Harry had the feeling he was in the kitchen standing next to Snape as he talked.
"I do not think the Dark Lord had anything to do with the incident at the Dursleys' tonight, but….."
"Dumbledore is going to be upset; he wanted Harry to stay a week or so more." The voice of Molly Weasley sounded as Kingsley responded.
"We couldn't leave him there after all that shouting, just because Voldermort can't get in doesn't mean that he hasn't sent his Deatheaters to kill the kid as soon as he leaves the house. Severus?"
"Dumbledore knows this already, yet he wanted Potter to stay longer and…"
"It is all right, Severus."
Several people gasped at the headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry sudden appearance from the fireplace.
"Headmaster, we didn't expect to see you until tomorrow."
"Where is Harry, has he been upstairs yet?"
"I'm here." Harry had had enough of the order members talking about him as if he were a child. Despite the warning looks from Ron and Ginny as he walked down to the kitchen door, (strangely enough it clicked open for him) Harry walked in to find Professor Dumbledore staring straight at him.
As the grown ups gasped again, clearly upset he was able to stride through the door, Dumbledore held up a hand to silence them.
"Harry I would like to speak to you in private, if that's all right with you?"
"All right." Harry said.
"Could you all please wait for me in the drawing room? We will have a meeting to straighten things out after I have spoken with Harry."
After everyone left, Mrs. Weasley giving Harry a big hug on her way out, Harry was the first to speak.
"How do I do it? How do I kill him?"
It was the one question that had been on his mind all holiday long. The only thought that kept him sane. Harry knew that it would not be the easiest thing he would ever do, but a few weeks ago he made a promise to himself to die trying.
Dumbledore was taken back only for a moment at this question. Then realizing Harry had finally accepted his fait, sat in the chair nearest the fireplace and motioned for Harry to sit beside him.
Harry sat and stared at the aging headmaster for a moment before Dumbledore spoke.
"First Harry, I must tell you that I am glad you decided to come here, I didn't think you were ready to face this house yet."
"I didn't have much of a choice. I didn't want to come, but I didn't want to stay there either…."
Harry trailed off trying to keep his voice from shaking with the emotions that were desperate to escape.
They sat in silence for a moment; Harry was still fighting back tears when Dumbledore spoke.
"Harry, I do not wish to keep you in the dark about all that has happened and all that I have surmised over these years any longer. I have many things to tell you and after I have given you the first part, I must ask that you meet with Remus before you go to bed.
I'll just start from the beginning of this summer. Feel free to ask me any questions along the way, some things are hard for me to explain to people other than myself."
He smiled briefly before speaking again. Harry sat in the chair across from the old man. Still not sure he wanted to hear any of this. He looked into Albus' eyes with no intention of interrupting the headmaster until he was finished. Slowly, Dumbledore started,
"I think it is necessary to inform you about the Order first. While you can not join until you are seventeen, I will not keep any vital information from you. I will be back in three days to speak to you, feel free to ask all you wish to know and I will tell anything I can. I must ask that you keep all information to yourself though, so as not to endanger the order's secrecy.
However, there are some things you should know as soon as possible. First, I tell you this information with Severus' full consent so that you may find a way to co-exist peacefully. Severus joined our side after three months of service to Voldermort. 17 years ago Voldermort punished Severus and another Deatheater, for information Tom received that was wrong. He killed the other man because he had nothing to offer Voldermort. Instead of killing Severus, knowing how useful he could be, given his position, he murdered Severus' wife and five month old daughter in front of his very eyes."
Harry gasped involuntarily at this information, but Albus pressed on.
"Since then, Severus has put his life in danger everyday to protect the people of the Wizarding world from the pain he endured. That is all Severus wants you to know, I trust that you will respect his wishes and keep that information to yourself. Next, I must tell you of another rival of yours who has joined our side.
Lucius Malfoy and his wife Narcissa were tortured shortly after school ended. Lucius, and several other Deatheaters, escaped Azkaban around that time. Voldermort was still very angry about the Ministry incident and asked Lucius to bring Draco to an initiation meeting. Apparently, Narcissa went also.
Voldermort tortured the Malfoy's in front of Draco. Severus can only guess Tom thought this would make Draco be as faithful a servant as Severus is. Perhaps showing Draco his power, who knows..... " Dumbledore sighed and trailed off.
Harry saw the sickening look he felt linger on the headmasters face, but he waited for the rest.
"Harry I do not expect you to befriend Draco. I dare say, I have learned my lesson about such things, but I think I can count on you for a certain amount of understanding, and give him the peace he needs to sort through all this. His parents are in much the same state as Neville's. They are in St Mungo's, in the same ward as the Longbottom's. I know this is a lot to take in Harry, but I would like to ask you to let Ron in on this a little, just so Molly doesn't have to put up permanent shields on all the doors."
At this Harry cut in. "Wait a minute, we won't see Malfoy until September, why would Mrs Weasley…"
"Harry, Mr. Malfoy is here and he will be staying with the Weasleys until he is seventeen. They offered when Arthur was informed of the situation and Draco accepted. Although I think the other Weasley children are still very cautious about the arrangement."
Harry was stunned, and he thought this day couldn't get any worse.
After a lengthy silence Dumbledore pressed on.
"As to your question earlier, I've had long years to think on the subject of how to rid us of Tom. I can't say I have more than one idea. Harry, I believe you are the only hope for our world. I believe you will defeat Tom with the only weapon he has ever feared."
At Harry's questioning look, the old man said simply "Love, Harry, love. It is the only thing Tom could never understand. How you are to do this I have not yet figured out. I believe that part is in your hands, but I will help you in this task in whatever way I can."
Harry sat for a long time trying to let all this information sink in. He looked up and saw his headmaster watching him carefully.
"Harry I know you don't want to be here and the thought of Sirius still causes you great grief, but try to remember, Remus is going through the same thing you are. He will be staying here for a while, take my advice; he's a very good friend to have. I'll leave you now, but I will return in a few days to talk to you about this further."
Albus turned to leave, "Remus will be in in a moment, Harry, Goodnight." With that, he disappeared into the dark hall.
After a few minutes Remus entered the kitchen. He knew what Dumbledore must have told Harry and he expected to walk into the room to a child like Harry pacing, waiting to hound him with questions. What he had not expected to see was an almost grown man sitting in a chair, crying.
Harry had fought so hard to keep the tears back, but found that they were stronger than he was in this house. He didn't hear Remus come in and he hardly notice who put a hand on his shoulder. Harry turned his head and buried his face in the robes of his father and godfathers best friend. They sat in the floor for an hour waiting for the tears to stop. After they both composed themselves Remus pulled a letter out of his pocket.
Harry's eyes grew wide at the sight of Sirius' handwriting. He couldn't open the letter. His heart caught in his throat and the barely stemmed flow of tears threatened to engulf him again. He looked to Remus for support.
Remus opened the letter for Harry and started to read:
"Dear Harry,
If your reading this then I am gone, and I am sorry, No matter what happens Harry do not blame yourself, if I died fighting then I died a happy man. I wish I could have gotten to know you better and watched more of your Quidditch games. You really are the best seeker I've ever seen, you'd give you father quite a challenge.
I'm sorry I wasn't there for you during your childhood, but I am glad to know you as the fine man you have become. James and Lilly would be proud of you, don't ever forget that. Know that I am proud of you. Hopefully Remus is still with you, I'm sure he is, he always was the levelheaded one. Lean on your friends Harry, they can help you more than you will ever know.
I don't know how much you know about women Harry, but I'm kind of glad I'm not there to have to have that conversation with you. I was never good with them myself, not that I was ever that interested, but don't worry, I've made Remus promise to have the talk with you! Ha!"
"Oh my god, he can't be serious?" Harry asked Remus with raised eyebrows.
"Well honestly, I won't be much help either, but he did make me promise. Only Sirius, he still knows how to be malicious, even after death."
They laughed at this for a moment. Then, feeling a little lighter Harry started reading the letter.
"Seriously Harry, Remus will be there for you now, he has agreed to take on the Godfather duties if you'll have him. I'm leaving all of my possessions and family assets to you. Remus knows what they are and he will make most of the financial decisions for you until your ready to handle it all.
Please let the Order use the Black House, it's really the best use for it. I'm sorry I had to leave so soon Harry, know that I love you as if you were my own son and that I will always be with you. Take a chance on love and enjoy your last years at Hogwarts, live for me Harry, live for you.
Always,
Sirius
Harry went to his room that night with so much to think about he thought his mind might burst. Instead he fell fully clothed on his bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Harry woke two hours later to the sounds of someone else having nightmares. He slowly got out of bed and pulled off his shoes so he wouldn't wake anything up. Out in the hall he heard the sounds coming from the room above his, where the twins used to sleep. He crept up the stairs and heard the sounds again. Harry opened the door to the room to see Draco Malfoy thrashing around in his bed. Harry stopped at the sight half way through the door.
'I could go back to bed now and pretend I never heard anything' Harry thought to himself.
Turning to go, the light caught Draco's face and Harry saw his enemy was crying in his sleep. Cautiously, Harry sat on the bed next to Draco for a while, thinking.
He thought of all the sorrow he has gone through in the last 15 years, and couldn't imagine going through all that in four short weeks. Thinking back on Dumbledore's words, Harry did something he never in his life would have imagined himself doing. He stood and knelt by Dracos side, placed a hand on his shoulder and thought of all the happy memories he had ever had.
Draco's tension eased away and he stopped crying. Harry could feel his nightmare stop and he felt Draco fall into a dreamless sleep. Harry noticed that Draco stopped moving and thought curiously about the difference he made in his enemy's sleep with his own happy memories. Then he thought for a long time about how awful the rest of his holiday could be. Sighing, he fell into an easy sleep right where he sat.
"Potter? What the hell are you doing in here?"
Harry woke with a start, then remembering where he was and why he was in Draco's room, he said "What, oh, uh sorry, got in late, didn't realize the room assignments changed."
Getting to his feet Harry hurried out of the room to go to his and Ron's room, leaving behind a thoroughly confused Malfoy in his wake.
Draco sat in his room for half an hour before he got up to get dressed. 'That will give everyone enough time to disappear after breakfast so they don't have to be around me.' He thought to himself.
~~~~Flash back~~~~
Mrs. Weasley had insisted on eating all the meals together. Draco was not used to this. At his manor he always ate by himself while the servants stood quietly in the corner and waited to be called. This place was definitely not home, although, Draco didn't mind his new arrangements. He did miss being with people sometimes and other times he wanted to be alone.
He had tried desperately to stay in his room at Grimmuald place and not come into contact with anyone but he found out very quickly that that sort of behavior was not tolerated well in this house. Besides the meals, Mrs. Weasley insisted on chores. Draco didn't mind the chores much, he almost enjoyed them, although he was not very good at showing it. He had hardly spoken a word in the weeks he had been here. He thought it would make things easier for everyone involved, especially Ron.
At first the thought of spending the next year of holidays with the Weasleys almost made him ill. Father had always maintained the image that the Weasley's were filth. Draco realized quickly that this was not true. He started to wonder why such a family would offer to take him in. Other families had offered, of course, but they were all Voldermort supporters so that was out of the question. But it was the Weasley's invitation that intrigued him the most.
He wondered what he could have done to make them think of inviting him into their home, especially after how he had spoken and thought of them for so long. Mrs. Weasley seemed as though none of it had ever bothered her, like she had never heard the foul things he called her in his years at school. He assumed none of the Weasley children ever repeated such things in front of their mother.
He had never had as much respect for his own mother as he did for Mrs. Weasley. She took him in without blinking, treated him as if he was her favorite nephew, and always looked at him with a reassuring wholehearted smile. She was almost too much sometimes. The others had taken longer to come around.
Mr. Weasley wasn't around much, and it took him until the third dinner to make eye contact with Draco. That night Arthur apologized to Draco, (something an adult had never done to him before) for treating him like his enemy's son instead of the person Draco was. He made his apology in front of all of his children (minus Charlie and Bill ) and other Order members. Draco noticed when he was finished, Ron actually looked him in the eye and Ginny smiled at him.
Draco sat in his room that night and thought himself a very lucky person. The twins stopped by on occasion over the next few weeks, a little wary but altogether friendly towards him. Ginny made polite conversation and did some of her chores with him. But it was Ron that really shocked Draco.
The first week of Draco's presence seemed to bring out the beast in Ron. He made no attempt to be nice to Draco, even calling him a few names that earned him quite a yelling from his mother, and was constantly glancing at Draco waiting for him to say something horrible about the Weasleys. Draco kept quite. Not to make Ron mad, although it did, but because he had no idea how to tell Ron how much he appreciated his family.
After that memorable night at dinner with Mr. Weasley, Ron seemed to finally look at Draco as something more than evil scum. To Draco's surprise, the next few days passed well with Ron. They were able to be in the same room with each other with out Ron storming off and even managed to play a few games of chess. Until Draco won a game.
They had not played a game since then and Draco did not want to push the matter. He was just happy Ron wasn't trying to provoke him anymore. School was going to be difficult in September when the Slytherins found out where he spent his holiday, but Draco was more worried about the weeks before school.
He knew Potter would be coming soon. He didn't know when but he certainly wasn't ready to face him. Then it happened. That Saturday night, Draco had finally convinced Ron to have a go at chess when they heard the shouts. People came running through the drawing room and then out again to apparate from the front yard.
" Mum, what's going on? Is it Harry?" Ron yelled through the kitchen.
"Wait in your rooms, all of you, now!" Molly said frantically.
Draco went to his room leaving Ron and Ginny arguing with their mother. Draco had no desire to wait for Potter. He was not looking forward to the confrontation that was bound to happen when Harry Potter found out that Draco Malfoy was living with the Weasleys in his dead Godfathers home. The thought made Draco cringe.
He thought about the night he found out Bellatrix Lestrange killed the cousin he never knew. Although they were related, Draco only knew the man named Sirius black betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord, killed Peter Pettigrew and landing himself in Azkaban. It was strange that he was now living in the most 'Noble house of Black' with the Dark Lords opposing forces.
That's all he could think about these days. Voldermort. Draco had never really liked his father, he felt no love for him but he was raised to respect him. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even respect the man anymore.
He started to hate the man he had called Father, only because he was responsible for torturing other innocent families, like what happened to his mother. He really did love his mother. She was not the best mother a child could wish for, but she had always made an effort to bond with her son.
He hated his father more than he hated Voldermort. If his father hadn't joined the Dark Lord and tried to force Draco to become a Deatheater, Draco might still have his mother. He tried not to think about the memories of that night. He knew they would only cause nightmares and he didn't want the curious stares from the others at breakfast in the morning. Morning. 'Oh god, Potter will be here in the morning, life will always be miserable. Well, at least we might have something in common now, perhaps he won't hex me straight away.'
Draco had a horrible nightmare that night, well the same horrible nightmare he had been having for weeks. He stood in paralyzed with fear watching his parents being tortured into insanity. He watched as the Dark Lord explained that Draco could live to be more powerful than Lucius could ever be. Voldermort said he could offer Draco an amazing opportunity, the chance of a lifetime, to be in the Dark Lords inner circle.
Draco could not breathe. He was sure his mother was dead. No, worse than dead. He started reliving all the horrible thoughts in his nightmare until he felt a hand reach out to him from somewhere.
Suddenly he was flooded with amazingly happy memories, memories he did not remember seeing before, and felt as if he would never be sad again. When the nightmares disappeared, he fell into a dreamless sleep and his mind was able to rest for the first time in a month.
~~~~End flash back~~~~
Draco woke to a sight he never imagined he would see. Harry Potter was lying in the bed beside Draco's. He was sleeping like he fell asleep sitting up facing Draco. He almost looked peaceful. He put out a hand to wake him after hearing Mrs. Weasley's voice from downstairs, then thought better of it.
'If I touch him he'll probably fly out of bed and start hexing as soon as he sees my blonde hair.' After that thought, it struck Draco that Dumbledore probably told Potter about what had happened to the Malfoys. He didn't know how to react. He decided to wake Potter with the only greeting the 'Old Malfoy' would have used.
"Potter? What the hell are you doing in here?"
Harry jumped as Draco winced slightly in anticipation of an attack. Instead, Potter seemed embarrassed and confused.
"What, oh, uh sorry, got in late, didn't realize the room assignments changed."
Draco watched quizzically as Harry left the room. 'How could he have come to the wrong room? What was he doing up here and why did he seem embarrassed. Most importantly, why did he not try to kill me on sight?' Draco thought about this as he sat in bed giving the others time to eat.
Harry quickly went down to the next flight of stairs. Upon entering his and Ron's room, he saw Ron jump at the sound of the door opening. Ron saw the look on Harry's face and thought, 'Ah hell here we go' as he braced himself for Harry yells. When Harry didn't say anything Ron spoke up.
"Harry I swear I wanted to tell you but..."
"Let me guess, Dumbledore told you not to?"
"No, uh, not really, I mean I couldn't really put it on paper, but I didn't know how to tell you that our worst enemy has been invited to live with my family. I was kind of afraid you wouldn't come back if you knew before hand and......"
Harry put up his hand to silence Ron.
"First" Harry sighed, "I'm not really mad about you not telling me, its probably better that you didn't. And second I don't know if I can really call Malfoy my worst enemy any more, I mean, there are people I hate more and I think he's been through too much to treat him like we used to."
Ron was speechless at the wisdom that came out of Harry, he had expected a yelling match like the year before.
After a few moments silence Harry asked Ron, "Uh, is Hermione coming this summer? I haven't really kept in touch and......" Harry trailed off at the look on Ron's face.
Ron's ears went red and he looked down in answering " Uh, yeah, she should be here tomorrow around noon."
Harry raised his eyebrows when Ron looked up, Ron's face was now blushing profusely.
"Uh, Ron, is there something you want to tell me?"
"Well, Harry, its just, uh well, uh...." Ron sighed heavily and then sped through his next question. "Harry, do you like Hermione more than just a friend?"
Harry, trying to hide his grin, responded, "Uh, Ron do you by chance have a crush on Hermione?"
At this point Ron was practically a radish. "Well, she wrote me this letter and said how stupid I am for not figuring out that I like her and that if I didn't come to terms with it before she got here she would never speak to me again."
Harry couldn't hold it in any longer. He bust out laughing and fell on to the bed, rolling.
Draco passed their room on his way down stairs and thought ' Well, I guess Potter isn't going to be civil after all.' Thinking Harry was having a good laugh at Draco's family's expense, he went to breakfast with the hatred for Potter he had always felt suddenly well intact.
Ron laughed slightly before Harry finally stopped long enough to speak.
"So she basically forced you into this? Oh that's brilliant, only Hermione..."
"You still haven't answered my question," Ron said rather abruptly, getting irritated at Harry's laughing.
Harry wiped the grin off his face quickly seeing the Weasley warning signs and said "Look Ron, I don't have any feelings for Hermione other than brotherly love, and I think Hermione was right to tell you that because you're obviously too thick headed to realize she's loved you more than a brotherly way for almost two years."
Ron, looking like someone whacked him upside the head and didn't speak for several moments. Then suddenly he burst out laughing.
"Yeah, Harry, you're probably right, I don't think I ever would have acknowledged any of it until she wrote that."
They sat and laughed for a while, talking about how strange it will be if, and when, Ron asks Hermione to be his girlfriend.
Then Ron said suddenly, "You know Harry, Ginny's kind of growing up and.." Suddenly Ron was hit full in the face with a pillow.
"Look Ronnikins, I appreciate it, but I don't think you helping me with my love life is a very good decision, thanks."
Ron laughed and shook his head "You're probably right, I think I have enough on my hands already."
Then they heard Mrs. Weasley's angry voice from the hall downstairs.
"Boys you will be eating cold food now if you get any at all!"
The boys recognized the threat and hurried down stairs.
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Hope you enjoyed it so far! This is my first fanfic so please go easy on me with the read and review thing. I'll try to update at least once a week. Can't do it any sooner, my husband already thinks I'm insane!