Disclaimer: Despite loving Harry Potter, I do not own it. I guess the same sort of thing applies to Johnny Depp, the Mormon Tabernacle choir, and a chocolate milkshake. Oh well.
Author's Note: How sad am I? Now, I'm recycling disclaimers from other stories I've written. Yeah, so the next few chapters will have disclaimers from my story "Clue." Hope you all enjoy this chapter even though it took me AGES to write. So sorry about that. And thanks for all the reviews.
ThousandI: Yeah, it seems like I've seen your name on other stories too, but I can't figure out where either. Good thinking about Lucius, though we don't see any of his horribleness in this chapter.
Righteousgrl: Hmm… divorce... Interesting you mentioned that…
Alenor: Yeah, sometimes I feel bad for what I'm doing to Harry in this story.
Sailor Moon Rose: Sorry to make you wait so long.
In Dreams: I hope this makes you feel a bit better.
dracoluvsme2: I'm so glad you like it. It makes my day to know that I'm appreciated.
LasangaCoatedEskimo: You did read past chapter one, right? Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing.
Chapter 19: Those Pesky School Matters
Sleep. The single most beautiful thing in the history of the Earth according to Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, who were at the moment comfortably waking from a long, restful night in Harry's dormitory bed.
Hermione stretched her arms far above her head and shivered from her lack of covers, stolen continuously throughout the night by Harry. Coming to herself, she blinked her eyes open to see an audience of teenage boys standing around the bed, watching them.
She screamed in surprise, waking Harry, startled, awake and also quite surprised to find his old friends watching them. The whole party simply sat staring at one another for a good minute or so, evaluating the situation carefully, until they had all silently decided upon a plan of action.
Hermione dove beneath the covers, hiding her face while the boys tugged at Harry furiously, driving him out of bed, patting him on the back and expressing their delight in his return. Harry tried constantly to get a look at Hermione to give her the signal of where to meet or what to do, but the group of was so thick he couldn't see her and they ushered him out without a goodbye to Hermione.
Left alone, Hermione had a moment to recover from the assault on her peace. She rested her head back on her pillow to catch her breath. In moments of nervousness or surprise it always seems it takes a good while to get your pulse back to normal.
She finally sat back up and gathered her hair up in a ponytail with an elastic she held around her wrist. She collected her outer robes from the ground and put them on, leisurely making her way to the door and nervously opening the door, awaiting the inevitable crowd that would be listening anxiously to Harry's adventure.
Somehow, Hermione managed to slip through the Common Room past the immensity of students and get up to her own dormitory, strangely still after the raucous behavior downstairs. She moved to her trunk and replaced her outfit with a new, clean one. She had so gotten into the groove of her old life at Hogwarts, she did not even realize that a trunk had been supplied for her.
Eager to get downstairs and see Ron and Ginny and all of the other people she had left behind, she hurried to the door, only stopping after a whimpering sound came from the back of the room, grabbing her attention. She immediately realized who it was.
"Parvati?" Hermione asked gently, approaching the crying girl in her bed. "What's the matter?"
"All of my so-called friends just left me this morning. They all said they wanted breakfast, but I said that I was too mortified to go downstairs. And you know what?"
"What?"
"They went anyway."
"Maybe they were hungry."
"So what? I'm their friend, they should have considered my feelings."
"Oh, yeah," Hermione said, standing, the sarcasm evident in her every move, "That makes sense."
"Hey," Parvati asked after her, summoning Hermione back to her bedside. "So, what about you and Harry?"
"What about me and Harry?"
"Well, last year you left engaged and now you came back together after disappearing for months. What's the story?"
"Parvati," Hermione made her way to the door again, "I really don't know what to tell you. Just don't be mad at Lavender, Maggie, and Jill. They just wanted some breakfast."
Hermione made left the room quickly, again detesting the awkwardness following any conversation with Parvati Patil. Avoiding the chance that Parvati would follow her out into the hallway, Hermione raced down the stairs to the Common Room. She traced Harry immediately, but it was something else that caught her attention far before Harry, and that was the mass of red hair directly beside Harry.
Gathering her courage at seeing her best friend again, she ran to them and tackled the redhead full force, knocking him to the ground. He rolled over and caught her in a bear-like embrace, kissing the top of her head as tears filled her eyes.
"Ron," she cried, laughing ecstatically, "I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, Hermione!" he laughed back, rising to his feet and bringing her up with him.
They stood together, the trio together again, and smiled at the perfection of it. All was once again right with the world.
"So," Ron said, a smile still gleaming on his face, "Do you want some breakfast?"
Hermione and Harry smiled together and nodded, pulling Ron out of the Common Room and down the hall. They seemed to reach the Great Hall in a matter of moments and were at their old usual seat together again. Hermione thought she could almost hear the choir of angels resonating behind them and a heavenly glow around their smiling faces.
"Harry," Ron said, his mouth partially full of toast, "Give me the details. What's the story with you two?"
"God, Ron," Harry said, leaning forward, "You'll never believe all that's happened."
"I can hardly believe all that's happened," Hermione said, her smile fading slightly.
"Yeah, but whatever happened, you two are alright. That's the point. I mean, these past months, I've been scared to death for you." Ron dove back into his porridge while Harry and Hermione exchanged glances.
"We need to talk, don't we?" Hermione said quietly.
"Is there really anything else that needs to be said after yesterday?"
"I mean about what we're going to do about this."
"Does it matter? We're at Hogwarts, with our friends and…" he lowered his voice further, leaning in, "Draco's out of the picture, Hermione."
Hermione turned away, eyes suddenly stinging.
"Fine, we'll do nothing," she acquiesced as she calmed down, "we'll live in denial, saying that the only bond we have is our friendship until we graduate and the bond becomes much more legal and permanent… and messy."
"Sounds good to me," Harry teased, returning to his meal, causing Hermione to turn fumingly to hers.
Ron finished his porridge and returned to look at Harry and Hermione, who were both absorbed in their pumpkin juice and the embroidery on the tablecloth.
"Ron," Hermione began carefully, addressing the only topic she could think of to take away the awkwardness between Harry and herself. "How's your family?"
Ron's eyes widened and said, "Well, Dad's getting better, but we've had to move him out of the Burrow. In fact, we had to leave the burrow altogether, and we've still had no word about Charlie…"
"Wait," Harry broke in, "What's happened? Why have you had to leave the burrow? What happened to your dad? Where's Charlie…"
"Shit, man," Ron interrupted, leaning back a bit. "You really have been gone. It's the Death Eaters…"
"It always is."
"No, it's bad this time."
"When isn't it 'bad'?" Hermione pointed out.
"Point taken," Ron nodded and continued, "See, about a week after you left all these wizards started disappearing. It was slow at first, but pretty soon there was a report every couple of days. Charlie went missing about a month ago and apparently they tried to get my dad, but he got out with the help of Lupin and Mad-Eye."
"God," Harry breathed and ran his hand through his hair. "This is insane."
Hermione sighed beside him. At that, a thought suddenly occurred to Harry and he had to speak.
"Hermione," he turned to her, "We must get this marriage annulled. You'd be in danger if it got out that we're married."
"You're what?!" Ron gasped.
"No," Hermione said, "I'd be in just as much danger without you being my husband. Now, though, you'll have twice as strong of a support system."
"I don't care. They'd be dying to kill the wife of Harry Potter."
"That's just it, if we're in hiding, no one would recognize a Mrs. Potter. They would think it was someone else. We'll be in less danger as long as they don't know we're married but the…"
"Wait," Harry stopped Hermione mid-sentence, "Are you arguing for us to remain married? How contradictory can you be? You were just begging for me to get this annulled a second ago."
"I changed my mind."
"Well, we could at least ask Dumbledore or McGonagall about it and get their advice."
Ron nodded, trying desperately to get back into the conversation.
"What would they have to say that either of us couldn't already figure out?"
"We don't know, we haven't talked to them."
"That was a rhetorical question, Harry."
They were stopped by the calm but demanding voice of Albus Dumbledore at the front of the room. They turned to their food, instantly aware of the subject of Dumbledore's announcement and wishing they hadn't come down to breakfast after all.
"Students," Dumbledore began, "Forgive me for interrupting your breakfast, but I have a matter of importance to share with you. Harry and Hermione Potter, who, as you are all aware, have been missing for close to three months, have returned to Hogwarts once again."
There was a brief cheer and a unanimous shuffle for everyone to stand and turn and look at the arrivals.
"They have been through a difficult time and I should like to ask each and every one of you to be conscious of their feelings. Now, with that said, I would like to thank you all for the gracious welcome back I am sure you will give to the Potters and you may now return to your breakfast."
The mass of students began chatting instantly, not so much about the 'difficult times' Harry and Hermione had face, but about the fact that they were now in fact 'Harry and Hermione Potter.' After wanting to die right there for several moments, the Potter's attention was stolen again to the front of the Great Hall where Dumbledore had risen again.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you once again," Dumbledore said, "but I have just been informed of a second important announcement that I must share with you. Draco Malfoy, who has also been missing, has just arrived."
The door was flung open and a more beautiful than ever Draco strode through them and sat confidently at the Slytherine table.
"Welcome back, Mr. Malfoy."
Draco nodded up to Dumbledore and nonchalantly reached for his breakfast.
"Once again, you may return to your breakfasts," Dumbledore said, sitting down once again.
Harry looked at Hermione, about to speak but stopped when he saw her. She was staring straight forward at the feasting Mr. Malfoy, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open, face tilted at an unnatural angle.
"Harry," she said after a pause, still staring at Draco, "Let's go talk to Dumbledore."
"What?"
"Now!" she turned to face him and stood, pulling him after her, up to the Staff Table.
"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore…" Hermione asked, approaching the tall platform the teachers ate at.
"Yes, Mrs. Potter?" Dumbledore asked quietly, lifting his face from the eggs in front of him.
"Harry and I want to know when's the soonest time we can get our marriage annulled or possibly get a divorce?"
"I don't know if I quite understand you," Dumbledore asked, as the rest of the teachers slowly leaned forward to listen in on this interesting twist.
"Well, Professor," Harry said, "Hermione and I were really more forced into marrying, as I figured you'd already guessed as much, and we want to get back to our normal lives as quickly as possible. Plus, I think that it would be in her best interest not to be my wife during this dangerous time… if you know what I mean, Professor…" Harry lowered his head, averting his eyes painfully from Hermione.
"Yes, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said softly, leaning even further in, as if to evoke their sense of privacy, "I understand. However, I must advise you two to rethink this decision."
"What?" Hermione staggered back a moment, the force of the last words uttered almost too hard to believe. "But Professor, you really don't understand…"
"Yes, Miss Granger," Dumbledore smiled, "as you would now like to be called, I presume."
"Yes please, Professor," she said numbly, hardly hearing the words the Headmaster was saying.
"You see," he continued, "the marriage is, in every way, legal. I have checked the matter myself. Now, as you said, in this dangerous time, it is crucial for us to protect both of you and all of the other students as best we can. Do you really think that brining a legal dispute over the marriage of two of the most controversial students at this school would be the plan of keeping you hidden and safe? I think not."
"I understand, Professor," Harry nodded, putting an arm around Hermione.
"As I said before, you will not be recognized as anything more than individual pupils at this school until the school year is over. However, you are married, and, I am afraid to say, while you are under my watch, I must advise that you remain so."
They both nodded, Harry bravely and Hermione languidly, her eyes nearly glazed over from the effects of the news.
"Now, if you please," Dumbledore grinned, "I would like to return to my eggs."
"Of course, Professor," Harry said, leading Hermione back to the table.
As they made their long walk back to the seats, Hermione glanced over at the Slytherine table and there saw Draco staring back at her, his eyes just as old and weary as hers. It was as if he had been a part of the conversation just held as well and their fate was his.
Hermione turned away, suppressing a gasp and holding the tears back until she safely got to her seat and could cry in the concealment of Ron and Harry.
"So, mate," Ron said to Harry in their dormitory that night, "I assume you're taking Hermione to the Valentine's Day Ball?"
"The…" Harry stopped and glared at his friend in surprise, "The what?"
"The Valentine's Day Ball. It's a new thing Parvati came up with. Ironic how the whole reason she created the ball dumped her like a fly-infested banana peal."
"Yeah, ironic…" Harry sat comfortably on the bed to get the facts from Ron, "But what are the details of this ball?"
"Oh, it's pretty much just a lame dance for guys with a girlfriend to get lucky and guys without a girlfriend to realize just how pathetic their lives really are."
"Gotcha, and why would I take Hermione to this soul crusher of an event?"
"Oh, I don't know…" Ron wrinkled his forehead in mock concentration. "Possibly because you're married. As you so conveniently forgot to let me in on until I happened to be a spectator to one of the most awkward conversations I've ever witnessed."
"I'm sorry," Harry flopped back on his bed, "I guess I forgot."
"Just a minor detail of your journey, right?"
"Well, either way, I don't think I can take Hermione."
"Why the bloody hell not?" Ron leaned his head back against the headboard while
"It would be awkward," Harry closed his eyes. He sighed, then spoke again, "Why don't you take her?"
"I'm not taking your wife to the dance."
"Why not?"
"The only thing more awkward than you taking her would be me taking her. Besides, I already have a date."
"What?" Harry shot up and looked at Ron with a wry smile on his face.
"Yeah," Ron grinned sheepishly, "I'm taking Luna."
Harry straightened himself a bit further and cocked an eyebrow, his eye twitching subconsciously, "Luna Lovegood?"
"No, Harry. The other Luna."
"You are one strange guy, Ron." With that, the subject of the dance was dropped and the two friends resigned themselves to more appropriate subject matter.
Hermione became quickly overwhelmed by the amount of work on her plate since she had been gone. Of course, she was getting help, but the fact that she didn't know what was going on in class distressed her possibly more than anything else possibly could have. Plus, the distraction of Draco in most of her classes was exasperating. He still had not spoken to her; he had hardly looked at her and was going about the same old things she recognized in him from years past. One day in Ancient Cultures she actually overheard him make a snide remark to Crabbe and Goyle, again his comrades, about how clueless she was. Needless to say, she spent dinner in tears in her dormitory.
Now, nearly a week since she had returned she was beginning get a grip on her classes and was enjoying school again… with the exception of a certain Head Boy from Slytherine who constantly kept her in turmoil. But even her thoughts toward him were softening. It was true that every time she saw another girl so much as look at him, she felt like taking the aforementioned girl's head off, but other than the pangs of jealousy and the few stinging remarks she heard Draco make about her were all was lost in the hustle and bustle of life at Hogwarts and spending time with her much-missed friends.
Her first test was in Potions, the week after returning. Snape, of course, refused to postpone the test for her on the grounds that she had been given all of the information. So, it was with concentration on the looming test that Hermione made her way to the library Wednesday night to get in a bit more studying before the early morning exam. She sat down at a table after gathering what looked like helpful books and pulled out her notes, writing furiously anything and everything that looked important.
About ten minutes into the studying process, she heard a soft creak behind her. She looked up and noticed that there was no one besides her in the large library. She looked about her apprehensively and slowly returned to her paper, dismissing it as Peeves or Mrs. Norris or something else that was relatively unharmful to her.
Moments later, though she heard another sound and this time stood to investigate. She made her way around a corner of books, leaving her book bag on the table. She almost ended the search with that, deciding to go back to her dormitory to study in a less creepy environment when a hand caught her wrist and pulled her into the shadows. She let out a weak gasp and held her breath while she was pushed further back into the shadows.
"Who are you?" Hermione breathed, terror numbing her limbs and making dreadful memories fill her mind.
"Don't you know, Hermione?" a familiar voice asked calmly, stroking her hair.
Hermione laughed as tears choked her and she leaned in, nearly losing her balance. She fell into Draco's chest and breathed in his strong scent and knew it was he. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head gently before speaking.
"We haven't seen much of each other, have we?"
She moved away from him and brought her hands to the sides of his face, "You haven't allowed us to see much of each other, Draco."
"I suppose not," his breath became heavier, lower and he said, "I couldn't wait any longer though. I need you, Hermione."
Before she knew what had happened, his lips found hers and she was caught in something she hardly recognized. The dazzling sensation of his mouth made her forget everything and she wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him closer to her.
His tongue pleaded for entrance and her lips allowed it willingly, and she felt his body getting closer, molding to the curves of her body. She could not think as he brought his fingers to her jaw line and ran them down her neck without taking his lips from hers. Soon he could feel the curve of her breast beneath his hand and their bodies both quaked with the feeling.
Hermione drew her face from him to take a desperate breath in. For a moment, Hermione's eyes fluttered open and realized where they were again. She was rushed to reality and dropped hard.
"Draco," she pulled back, her hand still on his arm, "Are we crazy?"
"I am," he said, kissing her again.
"No," she said, lifting her face and looking about the library again, "I mean, we're in the library and…" she moaned into his neck as he ran his thumb over her hardening nipple, and nearly broke, but managed to continue, "and Filch just came in."
Draco whirled around and saw Filch, being led by Mrs. Norris into the heart of the library.
"Shit," he breathed, "Why does this always have to happen?"
End Note: I know, I know. Why does that always have to happen? Haha. Um, pretty pretty please review. I can't write without them.