A/N: Right, so, another semester of college has started and I am miserable again. God school sucks. Sorry I haven't written in awhile; writer's block and being abducted from my dorm room kept me from doing so. Anyway, here is another chapter of the story, finally.
Lock and Key
Chapter 22
Parvati brought her boyfriend to the DA meeting on Saturday. It marked history, seeing as how he was the first Slytherin to ever attend a DA gathering. Sadly, most of the people there did not trust him far enough to throw him and watched him with regarding eyes. Ron wanted to throw him out but Hermione quickly came to his defense, saying it would be completely wrong of them to discriminate against someone just because of a House name. She thought it was wonderful that Daniel was there; it 'strengthens House bonds', she said. She also pointed out Daniel did not run in the same crowd as Malfoy. This, however, did not matter. The snakes were furious and disgusted that one of their own was dating a lion, above all others. Harry was weary of the boy himself but said nothing.
Ron begged Harry to assign partners when needed and put him with Colin Creevey, and Harry honestly considered granting his friend's wish, but when he saw Ginny, he couldn't go through with it. Ron also found out about David and Rebecca during the meeting and took that news strangely. He wasn't jumping for joy over it, as having once liked Rebecca, but he wasn't very upset either. He watched them together a few times and would throw a glance in Hermione's direction, all the while calculating.
The night before Gryffindor's first game of the year against Slytherin, Harry and Ron sat near the common room's hearth, dealing with their homework. Practice had been held at five o'clock earlier that evening; Harry was confident they would win.
"So I checked this morning," Ron energetically started, "And I've grown another inch!" Harry looked at him wryly but was smiling.
"Congratulations! You are now as tall as Hagrid!" he joked.
"Oh, I see, you're envious. Well, I would be too if I were five feet!"
"Hey, I am well over 60 inches!" There was silence while they let their humor and smiles settle in.
"So, this whole Rice, Rebecca thing is good." Ron remarked, making up an answer for a Divination question.
"Good," smirked Harry, "Despite the fact that you fancy her?"
"Whoa, it's fancied—fancied! It… wouldn't have worked out, anyway."
"Yeah, because Rice got to her first!"
"As I was saying," the redhead continued, pretending to ignore his best friend, "It's good in the… Hermione sense." Harry looked at him.
"With Mr. Yawn occupied by Rebecca, he can't or won't go after Hermione." Harry remained silent but gazed at Ron purposefully.
"It's like he's thrown in the towel, realized he can't win," said Ron.
"Why?" Harry suddenly asked.
"Why what?" smiled the Weasley boy.
"Why do you care about David and Hermione so much? Why do you want him to stay away from her? Why are you so concerned about that?" he pushed, his voice rising with each question. Ron was always making suggestive or ambiguous comments about Hermione, about her love life, about his feelings concerning her. He tiptoed around the blatant truth and Harry, was suddenly, tired of it. He needed to hear it; he needed to hear Ron admit that he had feelings for Hermione. It had been too long since Ron had last done it.
"Oh, I… uh—" Ron sputtered, utterly thrown off track. What was with Harry? They stared at each other for a few seconds, Harry's gaze deep, and Ron's, abashed. They broke the connection when someone was heard entering the common room. It was Hermione, back from her meeting with Dumbledore.
"Hello," she greeted. Harry glanced at her before bending over to write. Ron looked uncertainly at Harry's head, recognizing a very strange moment had just occurred.
Hermione and Draco Malfoy sat in front of the headmaster's desk, listening attentively to his words, or, in the Head Boy's case, somewhat disinterestedly.
"Due to Hogwarts' last visit to Hogsmeade, major changes have been made." Dumbledore said.
"Are we… still allowed to go to the village, Professor?" she inquired.
"Yes Ms. Granger, but under new circumstances." Malfoy arched an eyebrow, conveying possible curiosity.
"It has been decided that the students shall not be allowed to return until March. When that day comes, only fifth years and up will be permitted. There will also be many more professors present for supervision." Dumbledore explained. Hermione nodded and Malfoy smiled darkly.
"Sir," he started to drawl, "Do you really think these new… precautions will the stop the Dark Lord if he wishes to attack Hogsmeade again?" Hermione scowled whereas Dumbledore smiled benignly.
"And do you, Mr. Malfoy, truly believe Voldemort will be foolish enough to strike the village once more, or attempt to?" the old wizard inquired. The blonde boy leered at him for a moment before looking at the floor, confused and angry.
"I will leave it up to you to repeat this message to your Houses, and to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff prefects as well."
"Yes Professor," she promised.
"You may return to your affairs, but please—take a lemon drop before you go." Dumbledore said.
"A what?" Malfoy pondered.
Hermione wanted to desert the Slytherin the moment they left the headmaster's office, and tried to, but it appeared he was being "friendly" tonight.
"Shouldn't you get back to your common room Malfoy," she snapped, "Your admirers must be lonely."
"No," he grinned viciously, "I'd much rather torment you." She scoffed and hurried her pace; he kept up easily.
"So I noticed that ridiculous ornaments around your neck. Who gave it to you? I know a wizard did—the Muggles aren't smart enough to think up something like that. Rare, those are. What disgustingly, love struck moron decided you deserved it?" Malfoy probed. Hermione glared at him, hand tightening on her wand. He laughed.
"Interesting what happened to the Minister, isn't it," he tried, switching subjects, "Imperius Curse by a Death Eater. It's as though nothing is safe anymore. Real pity."
"You know Malfoy," Hermione said, whirling around to face him, "You sure do sound cool and collected for someone who cowered and ran into a building the instance you saw a dementor." He stared at her, his handsome face showing too many emotions at once to count.
"All you do is talk," she informed before resuming her path to Gryffindor Tower. She didn't trouble herself with glancing back.
When Hermione entered the common room she saw her two best friends sitting near the fireplace.
"Hello," she greeted, going to join them.
"Hi Hermione." Harry replied, writing something down. Ron pulled his gaze away from Harry.
"H-Hey Hermione," he said.
"What'd Dumbledore want?" asked Harry.
"To talk about Hogsmeade." Hermione responded.
"What'd he say?" pondered Ron. She told them what he had said, and then described her conversation with Malfoy.
"Fifth year and up?"
"You really said that to Malfoy?"
"March?"
"Did he try to hex you?" came their comments. The boys quickly looked at one another before switching issues.
"Oh, yeah, but what you told Malfoy—that was brilliant."
"So we really can't go to Hogsmeade until March?" Hermione smiled.
"We'll have to have a prefect meeting to tell everyone Ron, so they can get the word out," she noted.
"Yeah," he acknowledged, squinting at the picture of Jupiter he had drawn, "That can't be right…"
"Well since everyone's working, I'll just dash upstairs and fetch my things!"
"You've got homework as well?"
"Of course not—I've already finished it all. I'm going to get my NEWT work!"
Two hours later Harry and Ron lumbered back to their dorm room, all "worked" out. They were the only ones there, seeing as how Neville was in the shower and Seamus Dean were with their girlfriends.
"Listen, Ron, mate," Harry started, uneasily raking his hands through his hair, "About earlier, with the Hermione thing… I didn't mean to, er, lose my head. I just… I don't know."
"It's all right Harry," Ron insisted, pulling his robes off, "Don't apologize. I know I talk, or complain, about Rice a lot. It must get on your nerves. I guess I'm just protective of Hermione because, well… I…" He trailed off, staring at his bed. Harry looked at him, expecting more.
"Bah," Ron exclaimed, coming to life. He kicked his shoes off, "So, about that game tomorrow!"
Hermione smiled, holding Harry's face in her hands, before he moved in for another heated kiss. It was ten minutes before the start of the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, and Harry was in the middle of a pre-game snog. He had told Hermione at breakfast, and for no one else to hear, to meet him in the locker room 20 minutes beforehand. (She had an inkling of what he wanted). He then told his teammates he was going to the locker room early to go over some last minute plays and didn't want to be disturbed, but also commanded them to come when it was time. Hermione left a few minutes after he did, claiming that she wanted to get some studying time in before the match began. (Ron rolled his eyes disbelievingly). As it was now, they were blissfully snogging like there was no tomorrow.
"Should've come 30 minutes earlier," he grinned, rubbing her back. He kissed the corners of her mouth and then went to her neck, her sensitive spot. Harry left two kisses before his tongue lashed out. Hermione bit down on her lip, hard, as she grasped fistfuls of black hair. It would not be wise to let out noise of any kind, though she was dying to. He gripped her hips and maneuvered them closer to him as he started sucking her throat.
"Okay, Harry—as much as I want to continue this," Hermione gasped, "It's my turn to go."
"Go? No, don't go. To hell with the game; we can just stay here," he remarked.
"But everyone else—the team is coming!"
"Bullocks, you're right." Harry sighed and reluctantly let go of her.
"I'm just as disappointed as you," she pointed out, standing on her tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek. She affectionately nipped his ear before pulling away. He grinned both mischievously and suggestively at her.
"Okay, I obviously shouldn't have done that." Hermione noted, stepping back as he stepped forward. Footsteps and voices were then heard coming closer and closer, and they weren't that of the students watching the game.
"Damn it! My teammates!" Harry hissed, rushing over to his locker. He threw it open, grabbed his Invisibility Cloak, and hurled it at her. She caught it and twirled it around her body, vanishing.
"Leave when the last person walks in," he instructed.
"I know," came her voice. He then felt the sensation of lips pressing against his as the Gryffindor Quidditch team entered.
"Finish those plays yet Harry?" Matthew Burnstone asked cheerily.
"Er, yeah," he responded, vainly trying to see any sign of Hermione leave the locker room.
"Were you out flying?" pondered Sarah Clayborn.
"What?" the captain wanted to know, looking at her.
"It looks as if you've been flying. You're all flustered," she smiled.
"Yeah, your hair's all over the place." Ron noted.
"You mean more than usual?" Lauren asked. His team laughed while he grinned, blushing.
"Yeah, I took a… a short ride." Harry lied. They began putting on their Quidditch gear. Harry noticed Colin was slightly pale and looked a little shaken as he slipped a glove on.
"Hey, Ron—what's up with Colin?" he questioned quietly. They redhead smiled triumphantly, but it held more menace than happiness.
"Finally had a talk with the little bugger," he said, "Told him exactly what I'd do if he does anything to Ginny."
"Great. One of our Beaters is afraid of the Keeper. This won't be odd!" Harry remarked sarcastically, however grinning. Ginny then walked over to her boyfriend and began talking to him worriedly. Ron moved to intervene but Harry put a hand on his shoulder.
"I think you've done enough damage for one day, Ron," he mentioned, "Save that determination for the Slytherins!"
Gryffindor won and the customary party was held. The score turned out to be 200 to 80, and Harry had caught the Snitch before an irate Malfoy. Lavender Brown joked over how Malfoy must feel about having never captured the Snitch against Harry. Hermione wanted to celebrate his victory the succeeding evening but Harry was forced to decline, claiming he had to go over an assignment with Professor Higgins (which meant another training lesson). And so the next two weeks of January passed, marking its end, with Harry frequently disappearing many nights for an hour, always declaring it had to do with school work, or detention. Sometimes he wouldn't even give a real excuse, and just passed it off by saying it was, "Stupid stuff, really".
Ron didn't pay much attention to Harry's absences, and basically believed his stories, but Hermione was a different case. When she had first started dating Harry, she had noticed them, yes, but they did not raise an alarm in her. Now, on the other hand, she couldn't move past his goings. Hermione did not believe Harry needed that much help with his work; he wasn't stupid! If he had been, he wouldn't have gotten into his NEWT classes. The one matter that truly bothered her was that of Snape. Slytherin's Head of House was not a patient man, and he did not tolerate anything, especially not Harry. Hermione was willing to bet Crookshanks that after Harry's fourth or fifth mishap in NEWT Potions, Snape would have kicked him out of the class. He had said himself several times that he would harbor no foolishness in any form in his upper division course, and Harry seemed to have a lot of detentions despite this. What was more, Harry appeared to return tired after many of these intervals, wincing or rubbing a body part.
So, as far as Hermione was concerned, Harry was lying straight to their faces, and she wanted to know why. The chance came after a DA meeting on a Thursday night, another of which Daniel Marx had attended. (He seemed pretty sincere about being there so many students dropped their hostility, Ron not being one of them. Hermione was annoyed by this and called him an absolute bigot).
"Bye Harry!" Parvati said as she and Daniel walked out with Padma. He waved, and then to the group of Hufflepuffs with Neville, who was talking to Hannah. Ginny and Colin left next, hand in hand, with the Weasley girl glaring back at Ron, daring him to follow them. He seemed up for the challenge.
"Ronald, would you mind escorting me back to the Ravenclaw common room?" Luna asked, offhandedly drifting over to him and virtually saving Ginny.
"You—what? Y-You want me to walk you back?" he inquired.
"Yes. I want to discuss mehorgans with someone." Harry had no clue what mehorgans were, and neither did Ron, but guessing by the look on Hermione's face, there were another one of Luna's creatures.
"Sure, Luna." Ron agreed. He looked at Harry before he walked out with the blonde Ravenclaw; Harry laughed to himself. Pretty soon he and Hermione were the only ones left.
"So… you don't have detention or anything later tonight, do you? No appointments with professors?" she wondered, righting a squashed beanbag.
"No," he chuckled, "Thankfully. Why? Do you have something in mind?" Hermione stood up and looked at him. She hated to break his good mood, but she just had to know. She didn't want a relationship with secrets, or lies.
"It's just… you always seem to have something along those lines." Hermione remarked.
"Not tonight… and not always." Harry said.
"Well, a lot Harry, you can't deny that." His happiness was rapidly falling away.
"All right, maybe a lot. What does that have to do with anything?" he commented.
"They're just… unnatural," she replied.
"Unnatural? You mean," Harry gazed at her intensely, "You think I'm lying, don't you? About where I go?" His happiness was completely gone.
"Well, to be honest… y-yes, I do." He sat down on an orange beanbag and stared ahead, thoughts beginning to consume him. Well, he couldn't be angry with her because he was lying about it all. I should have known she would have caught on, he grimly thought, this is Hermione.
"Harry," Hermione tentatively began, "I just want to know the truth. I want to know what's happening to you… I'm w-worried." So this was it? He had to tell her about his sessions, about learning how to fight for his life. Why don't you go the entire way and tell her that these sessions aren't precautions, that you know you have to fight Voldemort—tell her about the prophecy. Harry clenched his fists. No! Not now.
"Harry," she pleaded, sitting on the floor next to him and grabbing his hand. He looked at her.
"They're sessions," he quietly stated.
"What?"
"I meet with Aurors, Order members, and professors. They teach me how to duel."
"But… you already know how to duel."
"They teach me with advanced magic… legal dark magic," continued Harry, in the same dull tone, "They teach me what I need to know to… protect myself against Voldemort." He had been careful not to say the word 'fight' or 'defeat'. Hermione put a hand to her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.
"I have to learn sometime. He seems to like me, doesn't he?" Harry quipped, smiling sadly. She threw herself onto him, distraughtly clinging to anything and everything. A sob escaped her as tears fell. There it was again, that monstrous and petrifying thought of life without him. Harry sank to the floor and gathered her closer, kissing the side of her face before finding comfort in her plentiful hair. How would she react when she found out about his real fate? The thought was unthinkable.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, apologizing for more things than she could imagine.
A/N: Neh. I'll post on Friday. Next chapter deals with Valentine's Day.