Chapter 24
Interrogations and Explanations
The Gryffindor common room exploded with cheers after the big win over Hufflepuff. Seamus (taking over for Fred and George) had taken care of getting butterbeer and various snacks to get the party going. Colin Creevy had been taking magical photos of the game and when Harry got a break from shaking hands of congratulations, he noticed a picture of himself catching the Snitch hanging on the wall, and a similar picture of Ron waking a bludger at the opposing seeker.
The party went on for hours, and everyone was so excited and happy that Harry figured they probably didn't even notice that three of the games stars had already abandoned the festivities. They had tried to enjoy the win. For about twenty minutes they actually did. Seamus came up to Harry and Ron and handed them a butterbeer and then led a toast in Gryffindor honor. But then, the common room portrait opened revealing the sullen face of Charlie Weasley. Thankfully, nobody took notice of him. Charlie Weasley was something of a legend in Gryffindor. He was the last seeker before Harry to lead Gryffindor to the Quidditch cup and was sure that Charlie would not be in the mood to have people fawning over him.
It seemed that nobody really took notice of Charlie except Harry. He didn't say a word or even walk farther into a room. He just nodded to Harry to follow him out and then quickly existed the room. Harry found Ron, Ginny and Hermione quickly and without drawing too much attention to them he made it clear that they had to leave. He knew they understood right away by the way their faces fell with grief. They exited the common room to find their brother waiting there patiently.
"Charlie!" Ginny yelled as she ran up and threw her arms around her big brother.
"Hey Gin." Charlie replied hugging her severely. "Great game, all of you. You were a credit to Gryffindor." "I've never seen a move quite like that Ron." Ron beamed for a second, but only a second. Harry knew that getting a compliment about Quidditch from Charlie would ordinarily have made Ron's week. But things were different right now.
"So. Where is everyone?" Ron asked quietly.
"Dumbledore secured us a room on the first floor." Charlie answered and began making his way towards the stairs. They were able to get down to the first floor without any of the staircases moving on them and they finally made their way to a door that Harry had never been through before. Upon entering, Harry noticed that the room was similar to the Gryffindor common room. There were couches, chairs, and a fireplace. There were also plenty of tables where people could sit down and get work done at.
"This is a lounge for professors." Charlie spoke up as they entered the room. Harry noticed that the Weasleys were gathered around the fireplace on various couches and chairs. They were all there except of course for Percy. "Hello kids." Mr. Weasley said as he and Mrs. Weasley stood up and greeted them. Mr. Weasley made some small talk about the Quidditch match and Mrs. Weasley gave each one of them back breaking hugs and even whispered a thank you into Harry's ears for saving her daughter once again.
Fred and George slapped Harry and Ron on the back and congratulated them on a great win. Bill shook each of their hands and then hugged his little sister and then they all settled in for what would probably be a difficult conversation. Aberforth (who was still assuming the form of Dumbledore even in the Weasley's presence) was there and was sitting in a chair of his own just to the right of the fireplace.
"As you are aware," Aberforth said addressing Ron and Ginny. "Your brother Percy was taken into the Order's custody for alleged Death Eater activities. He has been thoroughly interrogated over the past week and I'm sure you would like to know exactly what are findings were." Ron nodded sternly as tears began to well up in Ginny's eyes. Harry, who was sitting next to Ginny, instinctively grabbed her hand to offer her some kind of comfort. Aberforth nodded in Mr. Weasley's direction and he took over addressing the kids.
"I'm afraid it's not good news." Mr. Weasley started. "He showed no remorse. He said that he was told that You Know Who hand picked him to be the Minister of Magic once his takeover was complete. He said that the Death Eaters were the only people that saw his true potential. He said some pretty horrible things about all of us. He really didn't seem like the same person. But there is no sign of the Imperious Curse and any Polyjuice potion would have worn out by now. I know this is hard to take, but we mustn't let this effect the rest of us. Percy has made his choice and now he will have to deal with the consequences but we still need to stay strong."
Ginny was gripping Harry's hand tightly as she spoke up with a bit of a crack in her voice. "What's going to happen to him?"
"This is confidential." Mr. Weasley started. "We are going to keep Percy and Lucius Malfoy in the dungeon at Grimmauld Place as prisoners of war. There is still a lot of corruption at the ministry. I'm working hard to sort out the good from the bad but it is sometimes hard to see. We are currently trying to find a way to secure Azkaban without the aid of the Dementors."
"What about a trial?" Harry asked.
"Of course he deserves one Harry." Mr. Weasley answered. "And he will get a fair one in due time, but we can't afford to let that happen now. The people already feel like they were betrayed by Fudge, how would it look if the new minister's son went on trial for being a Death Eater?" Harry understood the point well. Mr. Weasley needed the support of the entire Wizarding World if they were to sustain Voldemort's impending attacks.
"I just don't understand." Mrs. Weasley sobbed. "He wasn't the same boy I raised." She threw her hands over her face and quickly sped out of the room crying. Curiously, it was Ron who ran out after her. Mr. Weasley started to get up also but then seemed to realize quickly that he needed to stay to answer some questions.
"Is there any good news?" Harry asked, diverting everyone's attention back. "What happened with the interrogation of Lucius?"
"I don't want you kids getting caught up in the details." Mr. Weasley said dryly. "But we got some valuable information and we are hopeful that we will be able to rescue Hagrid soon. We'll let you know if anything further comes up. But for now go on with your business the best you can. Don't alarm the other students. I know you lot have more responsibility than any teenagers should have, but you just have to do your best to stay focused." Mr. Weasley got up, shook Aberforth's hand and then stuck his hand out to his daughter.
"Now we all have to be going." He said motioning to his other sons. Fred and George shook Aberforth's hand and then Harry's. Harry noted that it was eerie seeing Fred and George acting so timidly. It couldn't have been easy bringing in their own brother. "Why don't you come along too Ginny. I'm sure your mother would like to say goodbye before we leave." Ginny got up and joined the rest of her family and began to leave the room. Mr. Weasley pulled Harry aside to say goodbye and asked that he keep an especially keen eye and Ginny.
"Well, I best be going too." Aberforth spoke up once all the Weasleys were gone. "As you can imagine, I have quite a lot to attend to right now." Hermione and Harry nodded and bid him goodbye. They both collapsed on the couch in a heap. It had been a very emotional day for everyone. Harry knew that this was a very difficult time for the Weasley's and since they were like family to him he was sorry for them. But he had always like Percy the least of all Ron's family and he was actually in a better mood upon hearing that Hagrid could be rescued soon. He had hoped to get some more information from Fred and George regarding a possible rescue mission for Hagrid but considering the current circumstances he thought it best to delay that for now.
"I can't believe this all happened." Hermione said. "Poor Ron." She said lightly almost under her breath although Harry heard it.
"Speaking of Ron." Harry said. "What happened with you too last week? You two were acting even more crazy than usual."
"I can't tell you." Hermione responded as she began to blush profusely.
"I'm not completely daft you know Hermione." Harry said cracking a small smile. "I know that there is something going on between you and Ron. You know you can talk to me about it. After all, I talked to you about Cho last year."
"So Ron hasn't mentioned anything?" Hermione asked. Harry had never seen her look so attentive, even in class.
"No, he hasn't." Harry replied.
"Well alright, I mean it would be nice to talk to someone and I can't really talk to Ginny considering Ron's her brother." Hermione started. "But... oh... no Harry I can't. The three of us have been such good friends and I don't think I could talk to you about this. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't understand my point of view and then you and Ron would go on and on talking about how silly you think I acted."
"I promise." Harry replied. "I won't even tell Ron that I know anything." Harry had previously decided to stay out of Ron and Hermione's private business. However, curiosity was getting the better of him and now he was really interested to find out what was going on.
"Okay, as long as you promise." Hermione said smiling a little. Harry nodded in agreement. "Well as you probably know, the two of us started have some feelings for each other over the past couple of years. I think we both tried to ignore it as much as we could. But then, this summer one night we were alone at Grimmauld Place playing chess. He beat me and as usual began to gloat. I called him a jerk and went to leave the room. But he stopped me and before we knew it we... were kissing."
Harry couldn't help but laugh out loud, mostly out of embarrassment from hearing about his best friends snogging.
"Shut it Harry." Hermione scowled hitting him on the shoulder. "I knew you were too immature to hear this. Just like Ron. I swear they're like children." She was talking to herself and had gotten up off the couch but Harry quickly grabbed her.
"I'm sorry." He replied. "Go on, I promise I won't laugh again." It was clear that Hermione must have really wanted to get all of this off her chest or she probably wouldn't have accepted Harry's plea to continue with the story.
"Like I was saying." She started back up. "We kissed and then we didn't really know what to do. So we decided to keep it a secret. We didn't know how you would feel about it. We didn't want you to feel awkward especially with everything you've had to deal with."
"I thought you'd know that I want you and Ron to be happy no matter what." Harry responded in a serious tone. He didn't like the fact that Ron and Hermione felt like they had to hide their true feelings for his benefit.
"Of course we knew you would be supportive." Hermione answered. "But we just thought that a change like that might be too much for you to handle." Harry did understand her point. Losing Sirius hurt him a lot and especially after all the anger he had shown the previous year, he could see how Ron and Hermione might have been afraid to risk hurting him at all.
"I understand." Harry said. "I appreciate the loyalty you two always show me." Hermione just smiled and looked down.
"But this still doesn't explain what happened with you two last week." Harry added getting back to the subject at hand.
"Oh yes well, you see, nobody knew that Ron and I were ya know secretly together." She said. "So at dinner one night I told Ron that I needed to go to the library, but I asked him to meet me in the Room of Requirements at around 9. We were scheduled to monitor the hallways at ten and so I figured we could... do homework there undisturbed until our shift was ready to start."
"Uh huh." Harry said stifling a laugh. He wanted to hear the rest of the story so he put his hand conveniently over his face to conceal any signs of a smile.
"Well apparently after I left the dinner table, Luna approached Ron and asked him for some help with some spells that she was having trouble with in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Hermione continued. "Now I have realized that Luna has had a crush on Ron since last year but apparently he didn't know. So you can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the Room of Requirements and found the two of them alone."
"What did you do?" Harry asked.
"Well, I may have overreacted a little." Hermione said smirking a little.
"What did you do?" Harry asked a little more sternly.
"I uh... turned both of them into toads."
"YOU WHAT!" Harry yelled a little.
"Well he should have known better than to be alone with another girl like that. Especially Luna." Hermione replied as she began to imitate Luna's voice. "Oh Ronald that was a great Quidditch match, oh Ronald you're so good at chess, oh Ronald could you teach me how to do that spell. I mean come on."
"Hermione, you know Ron had a right to be angry." Harry replied.
"Well I did apologize didn't I." Hermione answered. "After he admitted he was wrong for being alone with her of course."
"You're both mental." Harry added with a sharp smile. "Hey why hasn't Luna said anything about this?" "Well I know that you trust Luna and consider her a friend." Hermione began sheepishly. "And I didn't want to have anything I did jeopardize that. So, I did a tiny little memory charm on her."
"Couldn't that have been dangerous?" Harry asked. "And when did you learn to do memory charms.
"No, I just had to make her forget about ten minutes. It is a simple spell, no danger at all. It's more complicated memory charms that can be dangerous. And I learned how to do it after all the research I have been doing to help Neville."
"How is that going by the way?" Harry asked. He and Ron had been helping Hermione research Memory charms but Harry knew that she would do most of the real work on her own.
"As far as I can tell," Hermione responded. "It is possible to reverse his memory charm without harming him. I am studying different spells now, trying to figure out which would be the most appropriate. The problem is, I can't practice the spell on anyone and I wouldn't want to try it on Neville without practice. If something went wrong I'd never forgive myself."
Harry contemplated that for a moment. He agreed that he didn't want any harm to come to Neville, but there had to be a way. "I'll think about it." Harry replied. "I'm sure there is a way." Hermione nodded and went to stand up.
"We should probably get back to the common room." She stated.
"Yea, you're right." Said Harry. "Your boyfriend could probably use your support right now." Harry specifically used the word boyfriend to reiterate the fact that they didn't need to keep it secret anymore and Harry could tell by the look in her eyes, that she appreciated it. So after a quick hug, they headed back to the common room.
McGonagall had apparently been around recently to end the festivities in the Gryffindor common room because the room was basically empty except for a few read-heads sitting around the fire. Harry and Hermione approached the pair and Hermione gave Ron a surprising kiss on the lips as she sat down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. He initially looked shocked and looked at Harry sheepishly but quickly settled in and extended his arm around her.
"How's your mum?" Harry asked as he sat down at a chair across from Ginny and gave her a brief smile.
"She'll be alright." Ron replied and then took his arm away from Hermione and sat up a little straighter. "I just wanted to say that from this moment on, I don't want to hear Percy's name mentioned again. As far as I'm concerned, he's dead. We have many more important things to worry about." With that he got up and headed up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. Harry, Hermione and Ginny sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Ginny finally broke it.
"Fred and George are moving to Hogsmeade this week." Ginny spoke up. "They are going to be living in a little place over by the Hog's Head. They told Ron and I that they have some things to talk to us about. That said to meet them there on Saturday as soon as we get in."
"What do they want to talk to us about?" Harry asked. "Hagrid?"
"I don't know." Ginny said. "For once in their life they didn't say much. They just told us to meet them there." Harry nodded and Ginny began to get up from the couch. It had been a long day for her and Harry kissed her softly on the forehead before pulling her closely into a hug. She then ascended the stairs to the girl's dormitory leaving Harry and Hermione alone again.
"Do you think they are going to be alright?" Hermione asked peering cautiously at Harry.
"Yea, they'll be fine." Harry replied with a soft smile. But in his mind he knew that there were going to be many more hard times ahead of them, and things would probably get worse before they got much better.
Author's Note: I hope you liked this chapter. I think it provided a little insight into what's going on with R/Hr. I think often times in stories where Harry is paired with Ginny, Ron and Hermione often take a back seat to her but I'm trying to keep them right in the center of the story like I know JKR will. In the next chapter, Fred and George will reveal some interesting things, and the kids will try to enjoy Hogsmeade a little. Also, as you have probably all heard, JKR mentioned on her website that the character Mark Evans was nobody. This throws a little wrench into my plot because I definitely had some plans for that character towards the end of the story. I'm not going to go back and edit him out of the story, but I'm also not going to use that character much as a result so don't be surprised if you don't see much of that character again. Thanks as always! Keep Reviewing!
Interrogations and Explanations
The Gryffindor common room exploded with cheers after the big win over Hufflepuff. Seamus (taking over for Fred and George) had taken care of getting butterbeer and various snacks to get the party going. Colin Creevy had been taking magical photos of the game and when Harry got a break from shaking hands of congratulations, he noticed a picture of himself catching the Snitch hanging on the wall, and a similar picture of Ron waking a bludger at the opposing seeker.
The party went on for hours, and everyone was so excited and happy that Harry figured they probably didn't even notice that three of the games stars had already abandoned the festivities. They had tried to enjoy the win. For about twenty minutes they actually did. Seamus came up to Harry and Ron and handed them a butterbeer and then led a toast in Gryffindor honor. But then, the common room portrait opened revealing the sullen face of Charlie Weasley. Thankfully, nobody took notice of him. Charlie Weasley was something of a legend in Gryffindor. He was the last seeker before Harry to lead Gryffindor to the Quidditch cup and was sure that Charlie would not be in the mood to have people fawning over him.
It seemed that nobody really took notice of Charlie except Harry. He didn't say a word or even walk farther into a room. He just nodded to Harry to follow him out and then quickly existed the room. Harry found Ron, Ginny and Hermione quickly and without drawing too much attention to them he made it clear that they had to leave. He knew they understood right away by the way their faces fell with grief. They exited the common room to find their brother waiting there patiently.
"Charlie!" Ginny yelled as she ran up and threw her arms around her big brother.
"Hey Gin." Charlie replied hugging her severely. "Great game, all of you. You were a credit to Gryffindor." "I've never seen a move quite like that Ron." Ron beamed for a second, but only a second. Harry knew that getting a compliment about Quidditch from Charlie would ordinarily have made Ron's week. But things were different right now.
"So. Where is everyone?" Ron asked quietly.
"Dumbledore secured us a room on the first floor." Charlie answered and began making his way towards the stairs. They were able to get down to the first floor without any of the staircases moving on them and they finally made their way to a door that Harry had never been through before. Upon entering, Harry noticed that the room was similar to the Gryffindor common room. There were couches, chairs, and a fireplace. There were also plenty of tables where people could sit down and get work done at.
"This is a lounge for professors." Charlie spoke up as they entered the room. Harry noticed that the Weasleys were gathered around the fireplace on various couches and chairs. They were all there except of course for Percy. "Hello kids." Mr. Weasley said as he and Mrs. Weasley stood up and greeted them. Mr. Weasley made some small talk about the Quidditch match and Mrs. Weasley gave each one of them back breaking hugs and even whispered a thank you into Harry's ears for saving her daughter once again.
Fred and George slapped Harry and Ron on the back and congratulated them on a great win. Bill shook each of their hands and then hugged his little sister and then they all settled in for what would probably be a difficult conversation. Aberforth (who was still assuming the form of Dumbledore even in the Weasley's presence) was there and was sitting in a chair of his own just to the right of the fireplace.
"As you are aware," Aberforth said addressing Ron and Ginny. "Your brother Percy was taken into the Order's custody for alleged Death Eater activities. He has been thoroughly interrogated over the past week and I'm sure you would like to know exactly what are findings were." Ron nodded sternly as tears began to well up in Ginny's eyes. Harry, who was sitting next to Ginny, instinctively grabbed her hand to offer her some kind of comfort. Aberforth nodded in Mr. Weasley's direction and he took over addressing the kids.
"I'm afraid it's not good news." Mr. Weasley started. "He showed no remorse. He said that he was told that You Know Who hand picked him to be the Minister of Magic once his takeover was complete. He said that the Death Eaters were the only people that saw his true potential. He said some pretty horrible things about all of us. He really didn't seem like the same person. But there is no sign of the Imperious Curse and any Polyjuice potion would have worn out by now. I know this is hard to take, but we mustn't let this effect the rest of us. Percy has made his choice and now he will have to deal with the consequences but we still need to stay strong."
Ginny was gripping Harry's hand tightly as she spoke up with a bit of a crack in her voice. "What's going to happen to him?"
"This is confidential." Mr. Weasley started. "We are going to keep Percy and Lucius Malfoy in the dungeon at Grimmauld Place as prisoners of war. There is still a lot of corruption at the ministry. I'm working hard to sort out the good from the bad but it is sometimes hard to see. We are currently trying to find a way to secure Azkaban without the aid of the Dementors."
"What about a trial?" Harry asked.
"Of course he deserves one Harry." Mr. Weasley answered. "And he will get a fair one in due time, but we can't afford to let that happen now. The people already feel like they were betrayed by Fudge, how would it look if the new minister's son went on trial for being a Death Eater?" Harry understood the point well. Mr. Weasley needed the support of the entire Wizarding World if they were to sustain Voldemort's impending attacks.
"I just don't understand." Mrs. Weasley sobbed. "He wasn't the same boy I raised." She threw her hands over her face and quickly sped out of the room crying. Curiously, it was Ron who ran out after her. Mr. Weasley started to get up also but then seemed to realize quickly that he needed to stay to answer some questions.
"Is there any good news?" Harry asked, diverting everyone's attention back. "What happened with the interrogation of Lucius?"
"I don't want you kids getting caught up in the details." Mr. Weasley said dryly. "But we got some valuable information and we are hopeful that we will be able to rescue Hagrid soon. We'll let you know if anything further comes up. But for now go on with your business the best you can. Don't alarm the other students. I know you lot have more responsibility than any teenagers should have, but you just have to do your best to stay focused." Mr. Weasley got up, shook Aberforth's hand and then stuck his hand out to his daughter.
"Now we all have to be going." He said motioning to his other sons. Fred and George shook Aberforth's hand and then Harry's. Harry noted that it was eerie seeing Fred and George acting so timidly. It couldn't have been easy bringing in their own brother. "Why don't you come along too Ginny. I'm sure your mother would like to say goodbye before we leave." Ginny got up and joined the rest of her family and began to leave the room. Mr. Weasley pulled Harry aside to say goodbye and asked that he keep an especially keen eye and Ginny.
"Well, I best be going too." Aberforth spoke up once all the Weasleys were gone. "As you can imagine, I have quite a lot to attend to right now." Hermione and Harry nodded and bid him goodbye. They both collapsed on the couch in a heap. It had been a very emotional day for everyone. Harry knew that this was a very difficult time for the Weasley's and since they were like family to him he was sorry for them. But he had always like Percy the least of all Ron's family and he was actually in a better mood upon hearing that Hagrid could be rescued soon. He had hoped to get some more information from Fred and George regarding a possible rescue mission for Hagrid but considering the current circumstances he thought it best to delay that for now.
"I can't believe this all happened." Hermione said. "Poor Ron." She said lightly almost under her breath although Harry heard it.
"Speaking of Ron." Harry said. "What happened with you too last week? You two were acting even more crazy than usual."
"I can't tell you." Hermione responded as she began to blush profusely.
"I'm not completely daft you know Hermione." Harry said cracking a small smile. "I know that there is something going on between you and Ron. You know you can talk to me about it. After all, I talked to you about Cho last year."
"So Ron hasn't mentioned anything?" Hermione asked. Harry had never seen her look so attentive, even in class.
"No, he hasn't." Harry replied.
"Well alright, I mean it would be nice to talk to someone and I can't really talk to Ginny considering Ron's her brother." Hermione started. "But... oh... no Harry I can't. The three of us have been such good friends and I don't think I could talk to you about this. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't understand my point of view and then you and Ron would go on and on talking about how silly you think I acted."
"I promise." Harry replied. "I won't even tell Ron that I know anything." Harry had previously decided to stay out of Ron and Hermione's private business. However, curiosity was getting the better of him and now he was really interested to find out what was going on.
"Okay, as long as you promise." Hermione said smiling a little. Harry nodded in agreement. "Well as you probably know, the two of us started have some feelings for each other over the past couple of years. I think we both tried to ignore it as much as we could. But then, this summer one night we were alone at Grimmauld Place playing chess. He beat me and as usual began to gloat. I called him a jerk and went to leave the room. But he stopped me and before we knew it we... were kissing."
Harry couldn't help but laugh out loud, mostly out of embarrassment from hearing about his best friends snogging.
"Shut it Harry." Hermione scowled hitting him on the shoulder. "I knew you were too immature to hear this. Just like Ron. I swear they're like children." She was talking to herself and had gotten up off the couch but Harry quickly grabbed her.
"I'm sorry." He replied. "Go on, I promise I won't laugh again." It was clear that Hermione must have really wanted to get all of this off her chest or she probably wouldn't have accepted Harry's plea to continue with the story.
"Like I was saying." She started back up. "We kissed and then we didn't really know what to do. So we decided to keep it a secret. We didn't know how you would feel about it. We didn't want you to feel awkward especially with everything you've had to deal with."
"I thought you'd know that I want you and Ron to be happy no matter what." Harry responded in a serious tone. He didn't like the fact that Ron and Hermione felt like they had to hide their true feelings for his benefit.
"Of course we knew you would be supportive." Hermione answered. "But we just thought that a change like that might be too much for you to handle." Harry did understand her point. Losing Sirius hurt him a lot and especially after all the anger he had shown the previous year, he could see how Ron and Hermione might have been afraid to risk hurting him at all.
"I understand." Harry said. "I appreciate the loyalty you two always show me." Hermione just smiled and looked down.
"But this still doesn't explain what happened with you two last week." Harry added getting back to the subject at hand.
"Oh yes well, you see, nobody knew that Ron and I were ya know secretly together." She said. "So at dinner one night I told Ron that I needed to go to the library, but I asked him to meet me in the Room of Requirements at around 9. We were scheduled to monitor the hallways at ten and so I figured we could... do homework there undisturbed until our shift was ready to start."
"Uh huh." Harry said stifling a laugh. He wanted to hear the rest of the story so he put his hand conveniently over his face to conceal any signs of a smile.
"Well apparently after I left the dinner table, Luna approached Ron and asked him for some help with some spells that she was having trouble with in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Hermione continued. "Now I have realized that Luna has had a crush on Ron since last year but apparently he didn't know. So you can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the Room of Requirements and found the two of them alone."
"What did you do?" Harry asked.
"Well, I may have overreacted a little." Hermione said smirking a little.
"What did you do?" Harry asked a little more sternly.
"I uh... turned both of them into toads."
"YOU WHAT!" Harry yelled a little.
"Well he should have known better than to be alone with another girl like that. Especially Luna." Hermione replied as she began to imitate Luna's voice. "Oh Ronald that was a great Quidditch match, oh Ronald you're so good at chess, oh Ronald could you teach me how to do that spell. I mean come on."
"Hermione, you know Ron had a right to be angry." Harry replied.
"Well I did apologize didn't I." Hermione answered. "After he admitted he was wrong for being alone with her of course."
"You're both mental." Harry added with a sharp smile. "Hey why hasn't Luna said anything about this?" "Well I know that you trust Luna and consider her a friend." Hermione began sheepishly. "And I didn't want to have anything I did jeopardize that. So, I did a tiny little memory charm on her."
"Couldn't that have been dangerous?" Harry asked. "And when did you learn to do memory charms.
"No, I just had to make her forget about ten minutes. It is a simple spell, no danger at all. It's more complicated memory charms that can be dangerous. And I learned how to do it after all the research I have been doing to help Neville."
"How is that going by the way?" Harry asked. He and Ron had been helping Hermione research Memory charms but Harry knew that she would do most of the real work on her own.
"As far as I can tell," Hermione responded. "It is possible to reverse his memory charm without harming him. I am studying different spells now, trying to figure out which would be the most appropriate. The problem is, I can't practice the spell on anyone and I wouldn't want to try it on Neville without practice. If something went wrong I'd never forgive myself."
Harry contemplated that for a moment. He agreed that he didn't want any harm to come to Neville, but there had to be a way. "I'll think about it." Harry replied. "I'm sure there is a way." Hermione nodded and went to stand up.
"We should probably get back to the common room." She stated.
"Yea, you're right." Said Harry. "Your boyfriend could probably use your support right now." Harry specifically used the word boyfriend to reiterate the fact that they didn't need to keep it secret anymore and Harry could tell by the look in her eyes, that she appreciated it. So after a quick hug, they headed back to the common room.
McGonagall had apparently been around recently to end the festivities in the Gryffindor common room because the room was basically empty except for a few read-heads sitting around the fire. Harry and Hermione approached the pair and Hermione gave Ron a surprising kiss on the lips as she sat down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. He initially looked shocked and looked at Harry sheepishly but quickly settled in and extended his arm around her.
"How's your mum?" Harry asked as he sat down at a chair across from Ginny and gave her a brief smile.
"She'll be alright." Ron replied and then took his arm away from Hermione and sat up a little straighter. "I just wanted to say that from this moment on, I don't want to hear Percy's name mentioned again. As far as I'm concerned, he's dead. We have many more important things to worry about." With that he got up and headed up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. Harry, Hermione and Ginny sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Ginny finally broke it.
"Fred and George are moving to Hogsmeade this week." Ginny spoke up. "They are going to be living in a little place over by the Hog's Head. They told Ron and I that they have some things to talk to us about. That said to meet them there on Saturday as soon as we get in."
"What do they want to talk to us about?" Harry asked. "Hagrid?"
"I don't know." Ginny said. "For once in their life they didn't say much. They just told us to meet them there." Harry nodded and Ginny began to get up from the couch. It had been a long day for her and Harry kissed her softly on the forehead before pulling her closely into a hug. She then ascended the stairs to the girl's dormitory leaving Harry and Hermione alone again.
"Do you think they are going to be alright?" Hermione asked peering cautiously at Harry.
"Yea, they'll be fine." Harry replied with a soft smile. But in his mind he knew that there were going to be many more hard times ahead of them, and things would probably get worse before they got much better.
Author's Note: I hope you liked this chapter. I think it provided a little insight into what's going on with R/Hr. I think often times in stories where Harry is paired with Ginny, Ron and Hermione often take a back seat to her but I'm trying to keep them right in the center of the story like I know JKR will. In the next chapter, Fred and George will reveal some interesting things, and the kids will try to enjoy Hogsmeade a little. Also, as you have probably all heard, JKR mentioned on her website that the character Mark Evans was nobody. This throws a little wrench into my plot because I definitely had some plans for that character towards the end of the story. I'm not going to go back and edit him out of the story, but I'm also not going to use that character much as a result so don't be surprised if you don't see much of that character again. Thanks as always! Keep Reviewing!