Thank you again to those that reviewed! :)

M'Lady - as for Harry being gay and all that involves that, it'll be explained in this chapter. as for Draco, that'll be explained in the next few chapters! lmao and questions are fine :) I'll always answer what I can!

Here is some Ron!Hermione for you! Enjoy!


Chapter 3

I gotta get out of this place that I'm in
'Cause I'm running this race I can't win

Once Harry Potter stepped into the Three Broomsticks, it only took him a moment to identify the two he was coming to meet. Harry spotted the couple sitting at a table, side-by-side. He recognized the flaming red hair of Ron Weasley beside the tangles of brown hair belonging to Hermione Granger (or, rather, Hermione Weasley), although the tangles were slightly more tame than they were during their school years. It had been several months since he had last seen them at their wedding, but it felt more like an eternity. Everything felt like an eternity these days.

Harry ambled over to their table and stood beside it. He said in a bored tone, "Oh, is this seat taken?" Before he could think of anything else to say, Hermione had already leapt out of her seat and wrapped her arms around Harry, pulling him into a tight hug.

"HARRY!" she exclaimed. Ron laughed and stood as well. When Harry finally wrenched himself free from Hermione's grip, he received a hug from Ron. The three of them all took their seats, Harry across from Ron and Hermione. He noticed that they had already bought him a butterbeer.

"How have you been, Harry? We haven't heard from you in ages!" said Hermione. Harry blushed guiltily. He hadn't sent either of them an owl in week, other than a reply to their request that he join them today. He truthfully hadn't even thought about it.

"I've been fine," said Harry. Ron and Hermione both stared at him intensely. His eyes darted back and forth before he furrowed his brow. "...What?"

"That's all?" asked Ron, "You're an Auror! What have you been doing? Where have you been?" Harry sighed and laughed.

"All right, um . . . " Harry paused and trailed his mind back over the past month. He really wasn't supposed to reveal too much of what he had done to anyone–it was one of the first things he had learned during Auror training. However, he was able to give a general description of his trek in Malaysia with a troupe of traveling vampires, as well as his run-in with three Veelas (at this, Ron began to grin dreamily and Hermione kicked him under the table). After Harry told his stories, his friends stared at him with wide eyes.

"Wow," said Ron, gaping. "Those are just like Lockhart's stories . . . only yours are real!" Harry laughed, although Hermione seemed slightly taken aback at the negative mention of their former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"I guess I never really thought of that," said Harry. Both Ron and Hermione continued to stare at him expectantly. Harry knew what they were expecting. "Look, I can't really tell you anything else. I'm not allowed. You guys know that." His friends glanced downward at the table in a defeated manner.

"Yeah, you're right," said Hermione, turning her gaze back to Harry. The three of them sat in silence for a few moments, quietly sipping their butterbeers. Harry's earlier meeting with Draco Malfoy kept running through his mind. There was something that made him desperately want to know more about Draco, like he was just filled with secrets and stories that Harry would never have expected. Harry sat down his butterbeer and cleared his throat.

"I have to tell you," Harry began to say. Ron and Hermione gazed intently at him. "It's not . . . well, it's not a big deal or anything, but I still think I should say something. You're never going to believe it–" And before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off with his two best friends speaking unison.

"We know," they said. Harry paused.

"You . . . You know?" he asked. They both nodded. "But," Harry continued, "How?" Both Ron and Hermione exchanged troubled glances, as if playing a game of Not It to decide who would be the first to speak.

"Well," Ron began. "We've known for a while." Harry furrowed his brow.

"I don't understand," he said.

"I think what Ronald is trying to say," Hermione picked up, "Is that we know you're–Well, you're . . . " The words seemed to be stuck in her throat. Harry stared at her, unblinking, afraid he would miss some sign as to what in Merlin's name she was on about. "Harry, we know you're . . . gay." She whispered the word to him as if she was afraid saying it louder would be offensive to him. To this, Harry worked hard to suppress a smile. He kept his face very serious, and before he could open his mouth to speak, he was interrupted again.

"We don't care though, mate!" Ron added. "I mean," he cast his eyes down at the table, as though he felt somewhat embarrassed by his outburst, "We care . . . " He stammered over his words for a few seconds before Hermione glanced at him and rolled her eyes.

"Harry, we just want you to be happy," she said reassuringly, reaching her hand across the table and placing it on top of Harry's. "You deserve to be happy, more than anyone. We hope you know that you have our support." Harry leaned back in his chair, coughed slightly, and darted his eyes back and forth between Ron and Hermione. They gave him that expectant stare again. He raised his eyebrows, as if to draw any remaining comments from them. The two sat there silently. Finally, Harry leaned forward and took a sip of his butterbeer. This prolonging silence was probably torture for his friends, but he found it to be quite funny. He sat down his bottle and then gave them his full attention.

"Wow," he said simply. "Thank you both for that. I'm glad I have your approval." Ron and Hermione exhaled in relief as if they had been holding their breath for minutes. They smiled at each other and then looked back at Harry. Harry put up his index finger, gesturing for them to not talk just yet. "However," he continued, "That's not really what I wanted to say."

The faces of his friends had the appearances of balloons being deflated. He could practically see their hearts dropping out of embarrassment. Hermione kept glancing all over the room as Ron sunk his reddening face deep into his shoulders.

"Oh," Hermione choked. Harry had to use every ounce of his will to stop himself from laughing.

"I wanted to tell you that I had a conversation with Malfoy today in the Leaky Cauldron," said Harry. Ron and Hermione quickly jumped at the opportunity of a subject change.

"Draco Malfoy?" asked Ron, his eyes wide with interest. "Whatever happened to him?" Harry shrugged.

"Dunno," he said. "He said some harebrained story that didn't make a lot of sense, but I'm assuming he's living fat."

"What was he like?" Hermione questioned, leaning forward on her elbows. "Was he nasty as usual?"

Harry glanced a bit to his left, allowing his and Draco's conversation to replay in his head once more. "Actually, no. He was quite civil. Still a git, of course–some things will never completely change–but he was tolerable. Believe it or not, I think he's matured. Either that, or he's simply too concerned with himself to really care anymore," Harry explained. And he believed that Draco really had matured. At least he wasn't throwing grade school nicknames left and right, or commenting on how his father was right about everything.

"I haven't heard anything about him in at least five years," said Hermione. "Not even in passing. It's like his family never existed." Ron snorted.

"Well, who wouldn't want to forget about that idiot?" said Ron. "He was a right bastard if I've ever met one. I always thought he just eloped with Parkinson, and the pair had pug-faced ferret children." The three laughed at this, Harry mostly because the subject had already been mentioned that day.

"I said something about it to him, actually," Harry commented. "How we all assumed those two would get married. He said that it was an insult to suggest that, and then went on to say how much he couldn't stand her."

"Can't say I blame him," Hermione added. "She was an awful little cow." Harry and Ron nodded in agreement, each taking a sip of their butterbeers as if to confirm this. When Harry sat his bottle down, he cleared his throat and tapped his fingers on the table. He looked back and forth between Ron and Hermione, who seemed to be waiting for another Auror story. Harry, on the other hand, had no interest in telling them about any more adventures. He'd had something he had been meaning to tell them for years–he just hadn't realized beforehand that they already figured it out.

Harry then began drumming his fingers against his bottle. He diverted his eyes to the table before finally looking back up at Ron and Hermione. Before he could continue to consider his options, he finally convinced himself to just blurt it out.

"You're right, you know," he said simply. Ron and Hermione exchanged bemused glances.

"Right about what, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry stared at them, unblinking. His friends looked at each other again before placing their eyes on Harry again.

"About earlier," he said. The two still appeared clueless. All of a sudden, Harry felt a wave of blood rush to his cheeks. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn't expected to be nervous about telling them until he realized how incredibly stupid they had become. Harry rolled his eyes and stated, "I'm gay." It took a few seconds before Ron and Hermione both caught on.

"Oh!" they said in unison. At this moment, Harry thought he could really use a cigarette. He had smoked for a few years starting after graduation, mostly due to the stress of Auror training. Once he was unable to catch his breath anymore while running laps, he forced himself to break the habit.

"Well, yeah," Ron said, bringing Harry's attention back to the conversation. "We . . . Well . . . Right." Harry almost wished he could offer Ron a cigarette, too.

"Don't be nervous about it," Harry said. "I'm not." He was clearly lying however, by the deep pink shade his cheeks had become.

"It's fine, Harry," Hermione assured him. "Be proud of who you are." Harry let out an amused chuckle.

"Well, I'm not running around flaunting it or anything. It's not that I'm ashamed of it, but you two are making such a bloody awkward deal out of it." Ron and Hermione took their turns at blushing now. To this, Harry laughed a bit more.

"Sorry," they both said quietly. Harry sighed and subdued his laughter.

"So, you guys really don't mind?" asked Harry. "Tell me the honest truth." Hermione was quick to answer this–probably just to stop Ron from saying anything inarticulate, and, as Harry put it, "bloody awkward."

"What we said earlier still stands, Harry. We just want you to be happy," she said with a smile. At this, Harry smiled back.

"Yeah," Ron added, "Just don't date an idiot, all right? Like . . . I don't know, like Malfoy or something. Even if he is somewhat tolerable." Harry rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Don't worry. I have no plans for dating Malfoy or anyone of the sort. I don't even have time for myself anymore let alone time for anyone else," Harry said. He began to have a sinking feeling in his stomach. Ron and Hermione both offered small smiles, realizing through his tone how incredibly lonely Harry had become. He was never able to see them anymore, and his stories made it clear that he hadn't even been in his own house in over a month. Harry let out another sigh and finished the rest of his butterbeer.


Bah! R/R pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!! :)