Chapter Twelve

Sunlight was creeping through the partially closed curtains when Ginny opened her eyes. She moved her head slightly on the pillow and found Harry propped up on one elbow watching her.

"Morning," he said, smiling at her.

She smiled back at him. She reached back to push a strand of hair out of her face and her smile disappeared. She groaned and buried her head back against the pillow. "I must have the world's worst bed head," she said, feeling the tangled mess her hair was in and picturing what a sight she must look.

"It looks nice," said Harry.

It was far from the most riveting compliment she had ever received, but the fact that it had come from Harry meant more to her then anything anyone else could have said.

She still couldn't believe that she had spent the night in Harry Potter's bed – actually, on top of the bed would have been more accurate. They had fallen asleep on the covers and at some point Harry must have got up and thrown a blanket over them both.

"How did you sleep?" She asked him. For the first time in weeks he look well rested and relaxed.

"Better than I normally do," he responded.

"Did Ron come back?"

His brow creased slightly. "I don't know. I'm sure he's okay, Ginny," he said, seeing her worried expression. "He just needed to blow off some steam."

She tried not to worry about her brother, but with the way his life seemed to have spiraled out of control the last few days it was hard not to. "I don't snore, do I?" She said, partially wanting to distract herself and partially wanting to prolong the enjoyment of waking up next to Harry.

Harry looked to be thinking the question over. "Do you want the truth?"

It took her a moment to realize he was teasing. She shoved him playfully in the shoulder.

"But it was nothing compared to Ron. He can wake the dead."

She laughed, and for the first time hoped her brother wasn't home. She most certainly did not want him to know she was there, and she was sure Harry didn't either.

"I saw Fred and George yesterday. Did you know Oliver Wood stopped by their shop?"

"I haven't seen Oliver since the summer when we went to the Quidditch World Cup. From what I've read, he's really making a name for himself. He was Puddlemere's reserve Keeper until theirs got hurt. Now he's got the starting job and a bunch of offers from team's around the league."

"The twins told me he was trying to talk them into trying out for the team. The current Beaters contracts are up at the end of the season and they're asking for too much money." She shook her head and grinned. "Fred and George who always fooled around and were never serious enough for Oliver, and now he wants them to play with him again."

Harry fell back against the pillow, wishing for the first time he was either Fred or George Weasley. Their shop was well enough off they could hire some more help and only go in a few days a week. They had no other responsibilities keeping them from doing anything that they wanted to.

"What did the twins say?" He asked her.

"At first they thought he was just playing with them, but since Oliver was never one to joke around they realized he was dead serious. They told him they would think about it."

"They were the best Beaters I ever played with," said Harry, thinking back to the days of Gryffindor and Slytherin grudge matches where the twins could hold their own and still protect the rest of the team.

"Oliver asked about you too," she said suddenly.

"Me? Why?" He said, stunned.

"Their reserve Seeker is leaving for personal reasons. In another month they're going to be holding tryouts for the vacant position."

Oliver hadn't seen him play in years, how did he even know he was still any good? More to the point, there were already dozens of solid reserve Seekers in the league and there had to be at least a handful or more with contracts expiring.

"You want to do it," said Ginny reading him carefully.

"It was good of Oliver to think of me for it, but I can't," he said, sitting up.

She sat up as well. "There's nothing wrong with thinking about it if he asks you."

"I'm not going to let him think I'm actually considering it when I can't do it," he said, his voice rough. "I have a job that I can't quit just because something else comes along."

She had figured that would be his response, but a part of her had been hoping he might consider it. She could understand his reluctance. He felt it was his duty to be an Auror and protect as many people as he could. Maybe for once in his life he should be selfish and make a decision for himself instead of for other people. But unless she wanted to pick a fight with him, there was no way she could say that to him.

"What time is it?" She asked, changing the subject.

Harry looked over his shoulder and the clock on the nightstand. "Almost nine."

"Nine?" She shrieked and jumped off the bed, nearly taking him with her.

"What's wrong?" He asked in alarm.

"I have lessons with Remus in about fifteen minutes." She frantically tried flattening out her shirt to make it less wrinkled.

Harry looked confused. "Gin, it's Saturday."

"Saturday's are my O.W.L. preparation lessons until I take the exams in October," she explained, attempting to make her hair look decent, but she couldn't tell if she was having any luck or not as there were no mirrors in Harry's room. It definitely wasn't a very girl friendly place.

She slowly opened the door to Harry's room, keeping her eyes alert for Ron. The door to his room was open, but that didn't mean he wasn't there. She wasn't going to take any chances. She was going to make a mad dash for the fireplace.

"I have to go," she said, turning back around and giving him an apologetic look.

"It's all right," he said shrugging. "I need to go for a run anyways."

She darted out of his room and made for the fireplace, not quite sure if he was angry because she pushed him about the Seeker tryouts. The only thing she was sure about was she didn't have a clue where things stood between them anymore.

"You can't just go around using untested spells like that," Remus said, getting the feeling he sounded like a broken record.

"It wasn't exactly untested," Hermione protested. "I had done all the research – "

"And Harry ended up being your test subject," finished a vehement Remus. "That was dangerous for you and for him. You know his scar is linked to Voldemort. Who knows what kind of damage that could have caused."

"I would never use a spell on Harry if I didn't think it could work."

"That's not the point," Lupin said, growing increasingly aggravated. "You just acted without telling anyone else what you were planning. You were reckless, Hermione."

She threw him an insolent look but stayed silent. She had made the mistake of mentioning the spell she had used on Harry to fight the affects Azkaban was having on him. She had thought Remus would be impressed with her resourcefulness, but that could not have been farther from the truth. As soon as Remus had heard what she had done he was only interested in reprimanding her for trying something so dangerous.

"I know what I'm doing," she insisted, her tone resolute.

"I'm not questioning your intelligence, Hermione, but we've had this discussion before. Magic isn't something that can be bent to do your will. When you start messing around with forces you don't fully comprehend the results can be disastrous – " He stopped talking as movement outside the kitchen caught his eye. "Ginny?"

Hermione turned around just as the younger girl was coming in to view. Her appearance gave away everything.

"Ginny, you're already dressed. I didn't think we were going into town until later," Hermione said, flashing her a knowing look.

It took a moment for Ginny to catch on. "We're not. I, um, have lessons with Remus this morning," she said, her gaze flickering between Hermione and her professor. "I'm going to bring down the last of my books," she finished and took off up the stairs before anyone could say another word.

Ginny made a mad dash for her room, knowing she didn't have any books downstairs and trying to remember what subjects she was supposed to be revising today. She quickly grabbed her Transfiguration and Potions books figuring those were her two hardest subjects and that Remus would not object to her studying for them.

She looked her appearance over in the mirror and cringed. Could she have been any more obvious? She reached for her brush and started running it through her hair. She wanted to change her clothes but wondered if that would just incriminate herself further. She was stuck on that thought when Hermione showed up at her door.

"Remus is waiting for you in the study," Hermione told her.

She nodded, grabbing some parchment and a quill to shove in her knapsack. "Thanks for down there," she said, her tone grateful. "I owe you."

"You could repay that debt right now by telling me where you were," Hermione responded, even though she knew quite well who Ginny must have been with.

She let the hand holding her brush hang in mid air. Hermione was probably the only person she could tell and understand exactly what she was feeling.

"I spent the night at Harry's," she said, lowering her voice because the door to her room was open.

"I knew it," said Hermione in a triumphant voice.

"Then why'd you ask?"

"I just wanted to have my theory confirmed," she said with a shrug. "Well?" She prompted when Ginny didn't say anything.

"Well nothing," Ginny said, grabbing a hair tie and throwing her hair up in a messy ponytail. "We fell asleep, that was it."

"I think that's something, Ginny."

It was Ginny's turn to shrug while she shoved the remainder of her notes into her knapsack.

"So you guys talked everything through? About Harry's powers, I mean."

"A little. We didn't really come to any astounding conclusions. I don't think we decided on anything."

"Are you going to start seeing each other?"

"I don't know," she said, sitting on her bed with a sigh. "I know how good it felt to wake up next to him, but Harry's not exactly the easiest person in the world to read. I don't know where things stand between us anymore."

"You could always ask him," she said with a smile. "That generally seems to work."

"That would be too easy," said Ginny returning the smile. "So what was going on with you and Remus downstairs? It sounded pretty intense."

"It was nothing," Hermione said, dismissively. "He thinks I'm not being careful enough when it comes to magic."

"There's nothing wrong with being a little cautious."

"Not you too, Ginny," Hermione said with a sigh. "I do this kind of stuff every day. It's my job. I'm not an amateur."

"Hermione, you have to admit it's a little scary some of the things you can do. I think Remus is just worried about how powerful you're becoming."

Hermione had a feeling the word 'worried' could easily be substituted for 'afraid'. Her old professor couldn't understand how she was able to do some of the things she could do and was automatically afraid by it. She would have been too, except she knew how hard she had worked to become a powerful witch.

"Remus! Hermione! Ginny! Are you here?" A voice yelled from below.

"That's Tonks," said Ginny standing up.

Both girls headed downstairs, finding the Auror standing at the door.

"What is it, Tonks?" Remus asked, coming out of the study.

"Jeffrey Moore is awake," she started. "He was one of Ron's attackers."

"Have they questioned him already?" Hermione said.

Tonks nodded. "I just read the report myself." Her expression was grim when she spoke next. "He's going to need a lawyer. They're pressing charges."

Harry returned from his morning jog, feeling refreshed and having a much clearer head as he always did after a run. He went to grab a bottle of water from the fridge and found Ron sitting in the kitchen reading the morning paper. It was an odd sight since Ron rarely ever read the paper.

"That must have been some walk," said Harry, unscrewing the cap on a bottle of water.

"I had a lot to think about," Ron said, still folding up the paper. There was nothing new about his case in there. It was still all speculation. As near as he could tell they were still conducting the investigation.

"Did you know Oliver Wood asked the twins to try out as Beaters for Puddlemere?" Harry asked him.

"Are you serious?" Ron asked in complete astonishment.

"Ginny said he stopped by their shop a few days ago and they told him they would think it over."

"Those bloody wankers never tell me anything," he complained, leaning back against his chair.

"She also said Oliver was looking for me," he said taking a long drink from his bottle.

Ron's forehead creased as he appeared to be thinking something over. "Schneider's the reserve Seeker for them, isn't he? I read somewhere he was taking some time off for personal reasons."

Harry nodded. "Apparently, Oliver wants me to tryout."

"Harry, that would be perfect," said Ron excitedly.

"Yeah, except it isn't," said Harry.

"Forget about being an Auror for a second. You'd probably be the most in shape of the lot with everything Mackenzie's put us through. Not to mention dozens of good players start their careers off as back ups."

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell Ron about this. He was only making him more willing to consider the possibility.

"There's no harm in trying out if it's what you want to do," Ron was saying.

"I'm not pursuing this, Ron."

"Then why even bring it up?"

"I'm starting to wish I hadn't," muttered Harry.

"You know what I think, mate? I think you want to do this, but you're looking for other people's permission to see if it's all right."

"Harry? Ron?" A female voice called.

"We're in here, Hermione," Harry said, grateful for the timing of the interruption.

When she was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, Ron said, "I hope you're not hear for more research, because I'm done with that and I'm not wasting anyone else's time with it either."

"Hermione, what is it?" Harry asked, noting her somber expression.

"Tonks just came by the house to tell us Jeffrey Moore's awake."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Though Harry was fairly certain by the look on her face it was anything but that.

"He's already been questioned. He told the law enforcement official Ron attacked Malfoy for no reason and he was just trying to break it up."

"Told you those books were a waste of time," Ron grumbled getting to his feet.

"There's still a chance Malfoy will wake up. Tonks said his vitals – "

"So he can just confirm Moore's story?" Ron snapped. "I might as well start packing for Azkaban now."

"Ron, with a good lawyer – "

"Don't take this the wrong way, Hermione, but I don't want to talk about this right now." He walked out of there and down the hall to his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"We need to go down there and talk to Moore," she said, turning to Harry.

He hesitated. If they were caught, it would probably make things even worse for Ron – if that were possible. On the other hand, they had nothing left to lose, so he agreed to go down to St. Mungo's. He hoped Hermione wasn't expecting to get a confession out of Moore because she was only setting herself up for disappointment.

At mid morning, St. Mungo's was at its busiest. Patients and Healers came and went to morning appointments, and visitors flocked through the halls as visiting hours had just started an hour earlier.

Though Hermione had no idea where Jeffrey Moore's room was, she knew there was only one way they were going to find it. Grabbing Harry's arm, she pulled him off to the side and started pushing his hair back.

"What are you doing?" He hissed.

"Trying to make you more noticeable," she replied calmly, pushing his bangs out of the way that he often used to try and keep his lightning bolt scar hidden.

"I thought the whole point was for us to stay unnoticed."

"We have to find what room Moore is in first, and I very much doubt they're just going to tell us," she said letting her hands drop to her side, satisfied that his scar was fully visible now. "I need you to district that witch at reception while I take a look at the patient list."

"Hermione, you can't expect me to chat up some witch I don't even know – "

"I don't expect you'll have any problems once she figures out who you are. Just keep her talking until I have what we need. Go on," she said giving him a push forward when it was evident he wasn't going to move on his own.

Sure enough when Harry walked over and the young witch at reception got a look at who he was, she was practically swooning over him, taking no notice of how uncomfortable Harry appeared.

Hermione waited another thirty seconds before springing into action herself. As casually as she could she walked over to the other end of the desk and began searching for the daily patient listing. She found it sitting open on the desk. Checking to make sure the receptionist was still distracted with Harry, she leafed though it until she found Jeffrey Moore's name. When she found what she was looking for, she put the list back where she found it and stared over at Harry, trying to get his attention. When he caught her eye, she turned and started walking over towards the lifts.

It wasn't until the lift doors opened, that Harry joined her.

"I told you you wouldn't have any problems," she said, grinning at him.

"Did you find the room?" He asked, flattening the hair over his scar as they boarded the lift.

"third floor, room three fifteen," she said pressing the correct button inside the lift.

When their lift arrived on the third floor, they went right, following the sign that would take them to the head trauma ward.

"There's something else," Hermione whispered to him as they walked. "Malfoy's name wasn't on the list."

"Did you look through all the pages of patients?"

"No, but I did search through the ones that would apply," she said to him as they wound another corner. "That leaves us with two possibilities. One, Malfoy's mother put down an alias name to avoid her son being hounded by unwanted visiters, or two – he isn't here at all."

"Hermione, it's not like he can just walk out of here," Harry said, as they passed room one ten. "Tonks said he's still unconscious. That means he has to be here."

"I know," she conceded, "but something doesn't feel right about this whole thing."

They reached room three-fifteen a few moments later. The patient board only had one name on it, which meant they could question him without someone else in the room.

Without formulating a plan, they walked in, Harry using a locking spell on the door behind them. But that would only buy them a few seconds if a Healer came to check on Moore. If that happened, he and Hermione would have a lot of explaining to do.

"Jeffrey Moore?" Harry asked, looking at the young man lying in the hospital bed.

Moore's head turned at the sight of the two visitors, his eyes widening immediately when he recognized who Harry was.

"You're not allowed in here," Moore said, his voice panicked.

"Actually, they let us walk right in," said Harry, moving to stand at the foot of the bed.

"I don't know what the hell you're doing here. I already told the investigator what happened."

"How about telling the truth this time," Hermione said coolly.

"I did tell the truth," Moore snapped, forcing himself into a sitting position. "I saw Weasley attack him. He was like an animal."

"You're lying," she stated.

"Everyone knows Weasley is out to get Malfoy. Law Enforcement has everything they need for a conviction. They'll probably throw him in Azkaban without conducting a trial," he said with a touch of smugness.

"That's not going to happen," Hermione said, drawing her wand.

While Moore's eyes became fearful, Harry said, "Hermione, what are you doing?"

"You cornered him, in that alley, didn't you?" She accused.

The instant Moore began screaming for help she cast a silencing charm around the room. "Can Malfoy Apparate? Is that how Ron didn't notice him earlier?"

Moore was shaking his head, and for a moment Hermione's head cleared and she knew aiming her wand at him wasn't going to give her the answers she needed. Then she realized those thoughts weren't her own and shook them off.

She lowered her wand and marched from the room, the door unlocking and flying open at her will.

Harry ran after her, knowing they would get nothing else out of Moore. "Hermione! Hermione, stop!" He shouted.

She spun around, her face furious. "Stay out of my head, Harry. You had no right to invade my mind like that!"

He raised his voice to match hers. "You pulled your wand on him. What the hell was I supposed to do?"

"Trust me!" She yelled back. "He's a lying bastard who's trying to get Ron thrown into Azkaban!"

The rage coming off of her in waves was so intense Harry had to take a step back. "What's wrong with you?" He said, his voice dropping considerably.

"Nothing, I'm fine."

He could see she was the exact opposite of fine as she pocketed her wand with shaking fingers. Whatever had her all worked up was more than just the possibility of Ron being convicted.

She started walking away, not wanting to be scrutinized by him anymore.

He grabbed her arm. "Hermione – "

"I said I was fine," she snapped, shrugging him off.

Harry recoiled as if he had just touched a wire alive with electricity, while Hermione stormed off, paying him no attention.