Disclaimer:

The Characters and situations of Harry Potter depicted in this story are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made off this site, and is for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Notes: This is an Alternate Universe Story in the Harry Potter Series in that it branches off from the series before the final Chapter of The Order of Phoenix. Also, the ages of Charlie and Bill Weasley were conceived prior to the announcement by JKR. For the purposes of this story they are Twenty-eight and Thirty, respectively.

Of Hearts and Heroes

Chapter Nineteen

Ron was stunned when Hermione ran from the room in tears. Now, taking the steps as slowly as he possibly could, he felt terrified. The words, 'she wants you,' were ringing in his ears.

He couldn't exactly shrug it off as speculation when it came from an Empath.

Why would she want him? What could he do? He was the absolute worst at these sorts of things. Hermione knew that. But still she wanted him. It filled him with awe, warmth…and hunger.

And he was going to muck it up big time, guaranteed.

Ron paused at the door; his hand rose to knock and he took a deep breath. If this is what Hermione wanted then he'd do it. Well, he'd try. He knocked and was rewarded with a muffled murmur. He knocked again, more insistently. This time he heard her call, "Go away, Ginny."

Ron almost laughed. Hermione thought it was Ginny. Of course she did. Ron was far too much of a coward and a loser to comfort his own girl…best mate. His best mate!

"Hermione, it's me," he called, and then held his breath. When she didn't respond, he began to get annoyed. He was holding his breath here. This wasn't easy for him either.

Enough! He had to get this over with or he was never going to do it. "Hermione, I'm coming in."

When he entered the room, she was lying on her belly on the bed, her face turned and buried in the pillow that she had hugged to her. He could just make out her eyes as she peered at him between a mass of hair and a soft feather pillow. They were wet.

As he knelt next to her, Ron felt a rush of affection so strong that all other emotions were pushed to the side. He brushed her hair out of her face to reveal her tearstained cheeks and her delightful pout.

He couldn't help but mimic it, relieved that she didn't seem to be 'someone had died' upset, but rather 'I got 99 points on my Transfiguration Exam' upset.

Oh, wait, he knew how to deal with the death thing, this was unfamiliar territory. In this scenario, he would usually call her mental and avoid her. Somehow, he didn't think that would go over well now that they were Practicing.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Her pout intensified. She was adorable. "I'm a terrible person," she murmured.

Ron laughed, which was probably not the thing to do. She turned her head into the pillow, pressing the sides of it up around her ears and letting out a moan. "Come on Hermione, I'm sorry," he stroked her hair. "It's just that it's ridiculous." Another moan, he wasn't handling this at all well. "You're the best person I know."

Hermione sniffed and shook her head into the pillow. "I mean, if you're a horrible person what does that make me? Lower than a slug, I suppose." She shook her head again.

This wasn't working. Why did anyone think he'd be good at this? He let his forehead fall onto the bed next to her. Now what? Maybe he should just lay with her until she wanted to talk? Maybe he should just leave?

That certainly sounded appealing.

Ron tried again, lifting his head and placing his chin on the bed. "Hermione, please, look at me."

Amazingly, she did. "You don't understand. I'm selfish and careless and irresponsible. A horrible person, really."

Ron started to protest but she handed him the crumpled letter in her hand. He smoothed the paper out with a sense of dread. What could be so bad that it would make Hermione act like this?

As he perused the letter, he became increasingly confused. He had to go back and read it again to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "Hermione," Ron said, shaking his head, his brow furrowed. "I don't understand. It's just an ordinary letter."

She frowned and muttered, "Crookshanks," before burying her head back in her pillow.

Hermione really was mental. "It says the mangy beast is fine. Your parents picked him up from your aunt's after they returned from holiday. Healthy as can be."

"You don't understand," she whimpered.

She was right about that.

"I forgot about him." She turned and looked at him again. "I forgot all about him. You came to the cottage five days ago and not once did I wonder where he was or even spare a thought for my own pet. He's my responsibility. I'm a horrible person."

Ron sighed with relief. "Is that all?" She went to pull away from him again, but he stopped her, grabbing her hands and pulling her into a sitting position. "You're not a horrible person. Crikey, Hermione, it's been a bloody insane five days…"

"Don't swear," she muttered.

He laughed, continuing, "It's perfectly understandable that you forgot him. He was safe after all."

Hermione shook her head. "I forgot my parents as well; I sent them a quick note saying I'd gotten here safely…then nothing. I just forgot about them."

"Hermione, it's only been five days. Think of all that's happened."

"No!" she insisted, more forcefully. "A lot is always happening to us. We're always getting threatened, or kidnapped, or injured and I never forget things. I'm always responsible. I get my essays done on time. I do my prefect duties. I write my parents. I take care of Crookshanks. I don't forget!"

She was getting hysterical and he was getting apprehensive. "Ok, Hermione, ok." He stroked her hand, feeling utterly impotent.

"And just look at my behavior today. Percy was right. I was acting like a common whore in the Ministry of Magic…"

"Hermione! No!" he protested, outraged at even her for saying such a thing.

But she ignored him. "…I haven't even been thinking about Adrianna or Death Eaters or Charlie and what in the name of Magic is going on there? I have no idea if Adrianna is evil or if she's Harry's savior, and it's because I haven't been paying attention. I could be condemning her and ruining my relationship with Harry for no good reason. I should have lists…and a plan…and theories. But I don't…I don't because something's wrong with me."

Now Ron was scared. He shook his head against the words. "It's just a lot…."

"No, Ron." There were new tears in her eyes. "It hasn't been a lot. We've been a lot." She bit her lip and looked down. "I've been distracted, because of…because of what we've been doing, the Practicing and such." Her voice was barely audible. "I haven't been responsible because all I've been able to think about is these…feelings."

Ron gulped, "Feelings?"

"Yes, Ron." She looked at him in frustration. "These stupid, tingly…" her voice dropped an octave, "sexual feelings." Then she turned away again, embarrassed.

The first thing Ron felt was arousal. He made her tingly…and distracted. Did it feel for her the way it felt for him? The idea gave him a rush of pleasure. And, Shite, Hermione just said 'sexual.'

Then Ron allowed himself to take in her miserable posture and tearstained face. He was hurting her. He was hurting her with his perverted, self-interested lust. It was all his fault. Once again, he was the reason Hermione was crying.

He moved to sit next to her, his eyes on the floor. "Maybe…" He couldn't believe he was saying this. "Maybe we should stop, then." The words stuck in his throat. Ron felt as though something inside him was dying. "I don't want you to feel like you're not yourself."

He wanted her to be happy. That was the most important thing. He forced himself to look at her. Hermione was staring at him and when he met her eyes, she said, "Maybe you're right." Misery filled her voice. Then she let out a gut wrenching sob that tore at his heart.

Ron pulled her to him roughly, wrapping both arms around her as far as they could go, burying his head in her bushy curls. Hermione sobbed even louder into his shirt.

He had no words to comfort her. Hurt and disappointment were choking him. Ron felt like he was losing something important. He felt like he was losing her.

It was ridiculous. He wasn't losing Hermione. She was right there… his best mate. But the longer the minutes stretched out, the worse he felt and Hermione's despair hadn't faded. He could feel it coming off of her in waves.

Why were they doing this to themselves? It was insane. It wasn't fair. They'd barely even gotten a chance to start.

"Hermione," Ron forced himself to say. "I don't think we should."

She nodded, miserably. "It's all right, if you want to stop…."

"No…I mean…I mean we shouldn't stop."

Hermione's crying stilled and she pulled away, looking up at him.

"No listen," he tried to explain. "Since when do we give up after one little obstacle? We can…we can work around this." He was talking nonsense, he knew, but she was listening raptly. "We just need to, you know, be more careful. Not let things get out of hand. We can Practice and be responsible. I know we can. Well, I know you can and I'll…I'll try as hard as I can."

"But, Ron," she said sadly. "It's so overwhelming."

He shook his head. "It's only overwhelming because it's new. It'll get better. So, really what we need is more Practice." Ron didn't even know where that last bit came from, but he'd never been so bloody proud of himself.

She actually seemed to be buying it. "I suppose that's true," she said, biting her lip.

He rushed to continue the momentum. "We just need some ground rules." Yeah, she would like that. Rules. "Like no Practicing in a public place."

Hermione gave a huff of a laugh.

"Or when Mum, or anyone else could find us, or when we should be doing something else. We'll just, you know, find a time when we probably would be alone anyway and instead of say, rowing…" She laughed again and he smiled at her in a way that he knew would make her melt. "We'll just Practice."

"I suppose that would be all right," she said with a shy smile. She looked much calmer. Thank god!

Ron's breath left him in a rush. Disaster averted. Feeling lighter, he smiled and said, "All right, then we should…" He started to stand.

Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled him back down to sit beside her. She was staring at his chest when she said, "We're alone now…and your mum's out and everyone else is busy with that mess downstairs…" She glanced up at him through her eyelashes.

The arousal was back full force. "I don't suppose they really need us to go through all that stuff…."

She nodded and licked her lips, making them glisten. "And I did promise that later…"

Hermione met him half way in a reverent, almost chaste kiss. It filled him with emotion. He felt like he'd almost lost her. What would he do without her? Without this?

Desperation overwhelmed him. Ron reached for her and crushed her to him with a force he hadn't intended, but couldn't control. She grabbed his head with equal passion, splaying her hands on either side of his face. Her kiss turned as frantic as he felt and he began to devour her with equal fervor.

Maybe, just maybe, this meant as much to her as it did to him.

Ron was wrong. Hermione was selfish. There were so many important things to worry about and no matter what he said, this made her feel weak. She was weak. She couldn't give this up. She needed it.

Hermione pulled his face closer to hers, sliding her lips over his harshly. She tasted tears and Ron. She ate his lips as if they were ice cream and she hadn't had dessert for a month.

She had almost lost this.

Her abdomen was filling with that new, scary hunger that pooled between her legs and made her moan and suck on his lips. Ron growled in response and she felt his teeth. Hermione loved it when he was animalistic. What was wrong with her?

He caught her with her mouth open, unawares, and plunged his tongue inside, aggressively. He'd never been that aggressive before. The heat between her legs tripled. She gasped and pulled away, frightened.

"Are you ok?" he asked anxiously, his breath coming in pants, his lips swollen.

Hermione nodded, licking her lips. She could still taste him. "Yeah, yeah, I was just startled."

Ron cupped her cheek. "It was too much."

"No," she said breathlessly, leaning into his hand. "It was just a surprise." She looked at him and smiled lazily. Hermione felt as though she'd taken a pain killing potion or something. "I just think we need to Practice that one some more."

He gave her his big, bright smile. It made her dizzy. He leaned back into her, then hesitated, making eye contact. "You want to try that again, right?"

Hermione nodded. "Uh huh." Her stomach seemed to be in her throat. She licked her lips and parted them to encourage Ron. He approached her head on and aligned their open lips. Carefully, his tongue came out and touched hers. He paused, then came closer still and made a slow, meticulous perusal of her mouth.

It made her feel….treasured.

With equal hesitation, she allowed her tongue to run over his, earning a moan from him. Ron's uncertainty slipped away as he tilted his head even more so that their lips could fit more closely together. He stroked her tongue with his and the dam broke.

Her mouth and tongue moved more quickly to match his, making him increase the intensity, making her slip into his mouth…soon their teeth were clashing and her head was swimming.

She barely recognized that they had moved up to their knees and were pressed tightly together. She was clutching at him. It was too much.

Hermione heaved herself away, moving completely away so that she was once again sitting on the edge of the bed. She clutched at the quilt as she struggled to breathe. She snuck a look at Ron. He was sitting on the side of the bed as well. He looked like he was doubled over in pain. "You all right?"

He nodded, looking at her breathlessly. "Brilliant…it was just…"

"Intense."

"Yeah, intense."

"I wasn't quite expecting that."

He nodded. "Yeah, we just need more Practice."

Ron moved toward her again and she held up her hand. "Wait." He looked stricken. "I just need another minute… to calm down."

Ron nodded and sucked his lower lip into his mouth, making her imagine it was hers. He was staring at her like he wanted to devour her. "Um, Hermione, could I …could I try something else?" He was staring at her neck.

She gulped. "Um…ok." Somehow, she didn't think this would be any less intense.

Ron slid on the bed so that their hips touched. He brushed the hair off her shoulder, as she watched, transfixed. She felt as though she was dreaming as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her jaw.

When he looked up at her, they were so close their eyelashes were almost brushing. "This is ok, right?"

He must have been asking because of the rigid way she sat and the way she clutched the bed until her knuckles turned white. Hermione barely managed to say, "Yeah," her throat was so thick.

Ron went back to kissing her jaw line, leaving a path of fire. Hermione could feel him watching her. Surely, he could see the pulse beating in her neck. It felt like it would burst.

He became a little bolder and the kisses became open and wet. His hand was buried in her hair, holding her to him. Her eyelids were too heavy to keep open. His lips traveled along her jaw to the edge of her ear and then to the very pulse point that was giving her such trouble.

"Ron," she found herself saying breathlessly.

He paused, she felt his hand clench at her side. "Say it again," she felt him say in her ear, huskily.

She shivered, not sure what to do. Then he attacked her throat with increased vigor and it came out naturally. "Ron."

He growled again and nipped at her. "God! Hermione!" She couldn't stand it any longer and grabbed his head, bringing his mouth back to hers. They came back together as if they had never paused with clanking teeth and dueling tongues. She wrapped her arms around his neck as far as they would go, mewling and swallowing his moans as well.

There was a loud knocking at the door, causing them to pause. "Oy, you two, you can use magic now. You might want to try a silencing charm," they heard Harry yell.

"Harry!" Ginny admonished from the hallway. "We don't want them to do that now. Are you decent? 'Cause we're coming in."

"Yes, we're decent!" Hermione snapped, trying to smooth her hair. Ron leaned over with his elbows on his knees, running his hand over his face.

The door opened and Ginny walked in, immediately bursting out laughing at the sight of them. "You call that decent?"

Harry blushed when he saw them, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Your mum's home, dinner's ready."

"And you're damn lucky she didn't come up after you… 'Ron,'" she moaned mockingly. "'God, Hermione!'"

Hermione closed her eyes in shame. She would never forget the silencing charm again.

"Hey, um, I'll see you down stairs, then." Harry scurried out.

Ginny rolled her eyes as he left and motioned for Hermione. "Come on into the lavatory. Lucky for you I know a few beauty charms. Nice love bite, by the way."

Hermione's hand flew to her neck. Mortified, she watched Ginny leave and rose to her feet. Half way to the door she turned. "Ron?"

"Hmmm?" He looked up at her without sitting up. He was flushed.

"Um, I don't think it's a good idea if we sit next to each other at dinner…or across from each other even…it could be, you know, distracting."

He nodded, Adam's apple bobbing.

"We should…um…," she continued. "Be extra careful around people…"

"So we can focus," Ron finished. "Right; no public touching."

Hermione nodded, biting her lip. She turned and headed toward the door again.

"Hermione, wait!" he called just as she stepped into the hall. Ron came over to her quickly and stood close to her…not touching her, but close enough that he may as well have been. "Um about that…" he looked down shyly, then back up through his lashes with a pleading expression. "We can still… you're still going to sleep with me, right?"

A rush of affection filled her and pulled at her heart.

"'Cause I can't sleep if you don't," Ron finished.

She couldn't help but smile at him. She touched his cheek and brought his eyes more fully back to hers. "Yeah, ok, but…only after everyone is asleep."

She was graced with another winning smile as Ron shyly turned and walked toward the stairs to the second floor.

Was he walking funny?

Ron bounded into the kitchen for breakfast the next morning whistling happily. He was the last one there, which was carefully planned, of course. Didn't want anyone to think anything uncharacteristic had been going on. Ron had actually been up since dawn. Ever since Hermione had quietly slipped back to her own bed.

He settled himself in a chair across from Hermione, but not directly across. He didn't want to distract her. That's right, he, Ron, distracted her. He had the power to turn that beautiful mind to jelly and make her moan his name.

"Ronald!"

He jerked his head. "Yes, Mum?"

"I asked you if you wanted bacon or ham. Weren't you listening?"

Well, maybe she distracted him a little, too. He should probably work on that. "Um, both."

His mother shook her head and filled his plate. "That's what you get for having too much of a lie in. Too much sleep addles the brain."

Ron avoided answering by shoveling food into his mouth. If only she knew what was really addling his mind.

"I hope you enjoyed it. It's the last one you'll have in a while."

Ron looked up to see who spoke, finding Adrianna sitting across from him. He really hoped she wasn't reading his mind and referring to Practice. "Lass whah?" he asked his mouth full of food.

"Last time you'll be sleeping in." She took a sip of her coffee. "From now on training starts before breakfast."

"Whatever for?" Ginny asked, aghast.

"Morning all," Charlie called, sauntering into the room.

"Morning, dear," Molly replied as her second eldest gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It's summer holiday, why should they be getting up early for lessons?" she asked crossly.

"Because," Adrianna countered. "I have a piece of paper from the Department of Under Aged Magic that says for the rest of the summer I'm in charge of teaching all four of them to not die."

Charlie interrupted the mutual glaring. "Adrianna," he warned, before hissing in her ears, "stop antagonizing my mother."

"I'm not," she protested softly.

"You are."

They continued their hushed discussion throughout the remainder of breakfast, lapsing in and out of English. Ron wasn't paying all that much attention. Oh, he tried at first. For Hermione, since she had said they needed to figure out what was going on with them. But while it seemed that Hermione was right, as usual and that there was something going on, for the life of him, Ron couldn't figure out why he should care.

Now, Charlie was pouting at Adrianna to transform his coffee and she was ignoring him. Hardly menacing.

"Dobby, could we have four glasses of water?" Adrianna called out. "Ready for your first lesson?"

It took Ron a minute to figure out she were talking to them. "We're doing magic at breakfast?" Hermione asked, seemingly unable to decide whether she should be excited or appalled.

"Yup, now watch here." Adrianna pulled over Charlie's coffee. "A simple circle with your wand." She demonstrated. "And Cambi Lalimento."

"We're going to make coffee?" Ginny asked, perplexed.

"We're making hot chocolate," Adrianna explained. Charlie started to protest. "Yours is Hazelnut Mocha, same as always. It's the same spell."

Mrs. Weasley harrumphed, coming to stand over them like a mother hen, with her arms crossed. "This is defense?"

"This is survival. The first step in turning rocks to food."

"The trick is getting it to taste like something other than rocks, which I'm willing to bet a month's galleons they can't do," Charlie laughed.

"Shush!" she admonished. "Charlie's just bitter because he's challenged in this area. Ignore him. I'll walk you through it."

Charlie sniggered as Ron and the others pulled their mugs to them. Ron didn't have much hope that he was going to be able to perform this spell. If Charlie couldn't do it… He also wasn't thrilled that his mother was standing over them watching. Watching him be the worst in the group, which he always was. It was bad enough that Hermione was always privy to these little humiliations….

Ron glanced over at Hermione who was desperately trying to hide her eager smile. She was so adorable. Oh well, why let his ordinarily piss poor abilities at transfiguration ruin his good mood?

"Ok, close your eyes… the key to all transfigurations is imagination." Adrianna started and Ron thought he heard his brother scoff. "The better the image is in your head, the better the result. I want you to imagine the best cocoa you've ever had."

Ron relaxed in his chair; this was something he could handle. He remembered the amazing hot cocoa they had been served during their numerous trips to the Hogwart's hospital wing.

"Think about how it tastes, hold it in your mind…."

Mmmm. It was rich and warm, the perfect combination of sweetness with a touch of bitterness. There was the rich, smooth taste of heavy cream... and just a touch of cinnamon.

"Imagine how it feels on your fingertips, on your tongue, your lips…"

What were they talking about? The feel of Hermione, beneath his hand, his lips, his tongue, sprang to his mind. Right, cocoa. The thick, velvety feel of chocolate as it flowed over his tongue. Mmmm, chocolate and Hermione, hot, but not hot enough to burn.

"How does it look…?"

That was easy, it was a warm, deep, heavenly brown, the color of Hermione's eyes.

"Finally, the smell…"

Ron breathed in, unconsciously, smelling the warm chocolate smell. Damn, now he was hungry again.

"Ok, open your eyes, one circle, clockwise with your wand and say Cambi Lalimento."

Ron was the last to perform the spell, feeling relaxed and hazy for some reason. He could still taste chocolate and Hermione on his tongue. "Cambi Lalimento."

He didn't actually realize what was happening, when it was happening. Ron watched the water swirl and turn thick and brown…into the exact color of Hermione's eyes. Ron frowned, touching it with his fingers. It was hot and clung to him.

He looked around. Harry's mug looked like water with a drop of chocolate melted in it. Ginny's was a thin, watery brown. Hermione's, of course, was a thick dark brown.

"Not bad," Adrianna said. "Hermione's and Ron's look really good," she added, with a sideways glance at Charlie.

"I bet it tastes like mud," he replied.

Hermione looked affronted and immediately lifted up her mug to take a sip. She tried valiantly to hide her grimace. "It doesn't taste like mud, exactly," she said over Charlie's laughter.

Adrianna glared at Charlie. "Ron, try yours."

Hesitantly, he lifted the mug to his mouth. If Hermione's cocoa tasted bad, his would probably taste worse than those slugs he vomited. Everyone's eyes were on him, making it much worse. He closed his eyes and forced himself to drink.

"So?" Ginny prompted, eagerly.

Ron just held out his cup to his teacher, who frowned and took it. She drank without hesitation, smiling broadly. "This is fantastic Ron! I didn't know your were so good at Transfiguration." She turned to Charlie, "Ha!"

"He's not," Harry said, sipping his own cup and frowning. "Blah…..tastes like water."

"Give me that," Charlie grabbed Ron's mug and drank. His face betrayed his surprise. "How did you do that?'

"Charlie, your brother clearly has more imagination than you do," Adrianna teased.

"He's got a bigger stomach, is what he has," Charlie countered.

Molly lifted the mug out of her son's hand and drank. "Why, Ron, that's wonderful."

Ron couldn't help but smile as he watched Hermione's disbelieving face as she too tried the cocoa and gave him a look of awe. He'd never felt so proud…well, maybe last night when he made her moan his name….

This was really turning into quite a brilliant summer.

Ginny stifled a giggle as Ron knocked Harry over with a particularly enthusiastic Expelliarmus. Adrianna was assessing their previous Defense Against the Dark Arts skills, one by one. They were in the ballroom, using the side they had already cleared out. Luckily for Harry, Adrianna had transfigured some blankets and pillows into padding for walls and floors.

Ginny thought her brother's usual sloppy magic was at its best today, probably due to the confidence boost afforded by the whole hot cocoa thing. Given Ron's unhealthy obsession with food, she was astonished that anyone was surprised.

Though how he could concentrate with the presence of his snog buddy, as well as with their instructor's constant bickering with Charlie ….

"Charlie, what are you even doing here?'

"Just lending my emotional support."

"That's very thoughtful of you, but aren't you needed back in Romania?"

"Not really."

"Charlie!"

"I've taken holiday."

"And how long is this holiday?"

"Haven't decided, got a lot of time saved up."

And on it went. Ginny was finding the current state of affairs marvelously entertaining.

"Ginny?" Hermione's whisper pulled her attention to the girl next to her. "Do you think she's distracted?"

"Who? Adrianna?" the younger girl laughed. "Yeah, I'd say she's distracted. Why?"

Hermione looked around anxiously, and then whispered, "We haven't discussed the Death Eater incident since Harry and Adrianna came back."

Now Ginny was distracted. She glanced quickly between Hermione and the Empath. Adrianna didn't seem to be listening …to their words or their thoughts. Though the way Ginny's anxiety was rising, it probably wouldn't be long before she got her attention. "I told Harry about it," she confessed.

"Oh," Hermione responded lamely, looking down. Ginny kept her eyes carefully trained on Harry and Ron, only glancing at the older girl out of the corner of her eye. "What did he say?" Hermione asked.

"He thinks Adrianna is a target for Voldemort, now that she's in his life."

"Hmmm." Hermione lips thinned, as she said softly, "That's one explanation."

Ginny turned, looking Hermione in the eyes. "What are the others?" The question was genuine, she had no idea what had happened that night. The idea that Adrianna was behind it all seemed absurd now.

"It could have been someone working with Adrianna…no listen, she has all these connections and people are willing to do her favors….and no one was hurt at the Burrow, which is suspicious if Voldemort was behind it." Ginny continued to look skeptical and she continued, "If Adrianna was ok with us reading those books, why did she take them with her when she left?"

Ginny frowned, taking in Hermione's concerned, analytical expression. She steeled herself before saying, "I think we should ask her."

"What?"

"I think we should ask her about the books and tell her about what the Death Eaters took." Ginny crossed her arms, ready for a fight.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think that's wise."

"She's going to find out anyway…one of us will think about it at the wrong time. This way we can gauge her reactions better. Besides, she'd probably be able to help."

"We can control our thoughts. We just need to be careful."

"Careful of what?" Harry asked, making Ginny startle, having not seen him come over. She looked to see Adrianna was now directing Ron through some of his fourth and fifth year charms. "Careful of what?" Harry repeated.

"We just…" Hermione began.

"We were talking about the Death Eaters stealing the Empath stuff," Ginny interrupted what was obviously going to be a lie from Hermione, judging from the scathing look she received. She met the look, stating calmly, "I was saying we should talk to Adrianna about it."

"Let's not be rash…" Hermione whispered.

Harry looked at Hermione with a challenging expression. "Ginny's right. I don't know why I haven't mentioned it before. I don't want to keep any secrets…"

"Hermione, you're up," Adrianna called, as Ron walked toward them.

"Just, wait, please," Hermione entreated quietly as she walked over to the padded area.

Ginny leaned over to Harry. "No, secrets, huh. So, you told her about that pocket watch you took yesterday…. and about what we saw on the Auror map."

Harry's response was to redden and give her a guilty half smile that made her feel a little flushed herself. It was rather hard to be upset about a secret he kept from everybody but her.

"All right, now I want you to…" Adrianna paused in her instructing of Hermione, turning to look at her curiously. "What research notes?"

Ginny's attention was immediately diverted back to Adrianna and Hermione. Everyone else was looking at them curiously as well. Ginny had told Hermione that she couldn't keep a secret from the Empath for long. Was anyone ever going to listen to her?

"What else did the Death Eaters take?" Adrianna questioned Hermione, who stood biting her lip and grimacing.

Charlie sprung out of his chair. "What about Death Eaters?"

"They took Hermione's and Ginny's research on me and Empaths," Adrianna explained, crossing her arms and staring at Hermione intently.

"You were doing research…" Charlie accused.

"Of course they were," Adrianna waved a dismissing hand. "Wouldn't you? Which book, Hermione?"

The girl sighed, "The Legend and Legacy of the Empath."

"In the original German," Ron offered helpfully. "Hermione was translating the bloody thing…" He trailed off at the look he received from Hermione.

"Why would they want that?" Adrianna said softly, almost to herself.

"Obviously, they are after you," Charlie stated heatedly.

Adrianna rolled her eyes. "There is nothing about me in that book. It's a history. Besides, it's not like that's the only copy in the world. Why go to all the trouble of breaking in and stealing it? It makes no sense. Are you sure, Hermione?"

Hermione took a deep breath.

"You're not sure." The Empath stated.

"Well…it was at home when the Death Eaters attacked and I wasn't able to look for it myself. They didn't bring it with my things…and I had told them to."

"So, they could have been after something else," Adrianna concluded.

''Drana, this is serious." Charlie was frowning.

She shook her head. "What could they possibly have gotten that wasn't common knowledge? Ginny and Hermione didn't know anything that would put me in danger and those books…"

"They do explain about your powers," Harry called out with a worried expression.

"It's nothing…"

Adrianna was interrupted by Charlie grabbing her arm roughly. "I need to talk to you." He pulled her over to the far end of the room, behind a stack of unsorted Black family heirlooms.

Charlie began what seemed to be a lecture in that extremely annoying other language. As Hermione walked back over to her friends, Adrianna interrupted to call out, "Hermione, those books are in my room. You can read them any time you want." Then she was drawn back into the intense argument with the older Weasley.

The four friends exchanged solemn glances as they came together as a group. Ron broke the silence. "Maybe we're all overreacting. Adrianna didn't seem very concerned."

"Yeah, but," Ginny glanced over to the arguing twosome, "Charlie sure is."

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time toreview. I hope you are enjoying the story.

If you are18 or over I recomendthe NC-17 version of this story visit There is also a running discuission of the story at http/forums. Thanks again.