I'm so sorry about the wait! Seriously, it's been more than two weeks; that's pretty bad! Of course, school might be a pretty good reason (ASB, Mock Trial, Homework)...Well, I made this chapter a bit longer to say I'm sorry!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Chapter 4 Another Unexpected Visitor
Usually, in the Burrow, mornings consisted of loud rackets in the kitchen, loud rackets after one of Fred and George's pranks were pulled and loud rackets from Ron's room as Ginny yelled five or six times to wake him up. But Grimmauld Place had a sort of eerie effect on the mornings. Mrs. Weasley was probably taking caution as to not break anything in the kitchen, Fred and George definitely had to rid the house of all pranks, and Ginny, most likely, was still asleep.
In one of the Grimmauld Place's many bedrooms, a ginger-haired boy laid comfortably on an antique, wooden bed. The blinding-white sheets had twisted all over his lanky body, almost as if he were in a straight jacket. His chest lifted and fell with each snore while a trickle of drool spilled from his mouth. He stirred a bit after a long chill swept through his body. Unexpectedly, he shot open his piercing blue eyes.
It was just a dream. Phew... for a minute there, I actually thought Hermione had kissed my cheek before running her fingers through my hair. But, it was just a bloody dream! Well, that's a relief!
"Hey, mate, you up?"
Ron nearly fell out of his bed from shock.
"Whoa, there, Ron. Are you okay?"
Oh, it's just Harry.
"Yeaaahh, okay, you must be only half-awake."
"No!" Ron protested. He was awake! He was just overwhelmed by his dream. "I was just shocked," Ron said a little too quickly.
"Where'd you go with Hermione, last night?" Harry said with a gleam in his eye.
Ron shot Harry a scared glance. "Are you reading my mind?" he asked somewhat frightened.
"W-What? No…"
"So then, how did you know about my dream?" Ron voice infused with both anger and confusion.
"Ron, are you feeling alright? Last time—"
"Harry? Ron?" Hermione burst through the bedroom door. She was wearing deep red robes and Muggle clothing underneath. Her hair was nicely done, and in the tight clutch of her right hand laid her wand. To match her prepared attire, she expressed determination on her face, but after making eye-contact with Ron, her face lost all fortitude as embarrassment crept in.
Okay…so it wasn't a dream.
For another minute or so, she stared intently at the floor. But, as if being zapped by electricity, she shot her face back up expressing anger.
"Why aren't you two ready?" she snapped.
Ron and Harry looked nervously at each other. It was no use arguing back; Hermione would probably just outsmart them like she always did.
"Oh, honestly, you two can't be thinking what I think you're thinking!"
What does she think I'm thinking?
"I cannot believe you both are still in bed! Is this anyway to…"
"Hermione! It's six in the morning!" Harry retorted.
"Exactly. We should be downstairs already telling Ron's parents of our plans!" she huffed before continuing, "It really irks me that you two cannot even perform the littlest of responsibilities! I mean, how hard is it to get up in the morning, get ready, and…"
Ron watched Hermione who continued to complain about Merlin-knows-what. She's beautiful even when she's annoying. He smiled to himself before coming to his senses. Hermione was getting a little freaky…
"Hermione," Ron finally spoke.
She looked at him and immediately stopped.
"Give us ten minutes or less. We'll be ready, okay?" he cocked his head to the left while looking pleadingly at Hermione.
She sighed and nodded acceptingly, but that didn't stop her from opening her mouth once again,
"Oh! And—"
"Ronald, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley swung open the door making it slam against the wall. She looked at Hermione and all worry left her face, "Oh, Hermione, dear. You're up here."
"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said as Ron and Harry exchanged confused looks.
"Morning, dear. Yes, well, you three need to come downstairs right now."
"What's the reason, mum?" Ron asked worriedly.
"Headmistress McGonagall is here," she said before leaving rather hurriedly to probably make her way back downstairs.
Ron drifted his eyes to see Harry exhale intensely.
As Harry descended from the stairs he saw McGonagall sitting in a very upright position at the end of a long sofa. Her dark purple robes blended in the overall darkness of the Black residence. Without the Weasley's red hair, the room would've appeared just about as boring and dreary as every other room in the house. Normally, the many wrinkles on McGonagall's face scrunched together from smiling. But today, she wore a sullen expression, the creases on her faces drooping, and her usually bright eyes remained hollow. But after seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she replaced her sorrow with somewhat fake smile.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger! It's so lovely to see you three again!"
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," they spoke in unison.
"Well, I should just cut straight to what I'm here for. I'm aware of your encounter, Mr. Potter, with Rookwood." Harry nodded a bit before she looked at everyone else, "Well, as much as it pains me to say, Hogwarts is in danger. We have extensive security inside and outside of Hogwarts and we have notified Minister Scrimgeour." Harry flinched at hearing Scrimgeor's name. "I must inform you all that, as of right now, Hogwarts is closed down…" she lowered her head a bit before addressing the group once more, "So, it will be okay if you," she eyed Harry, "began your…" Her words died away. Harry, Ron, and Hermione's eyes were widened knowing the next words that would fall from McGonagall's mouth. She seemed to understand. "May I see you three in the kitchen, please?"
"You haven't told them yet?" McGonagall's eyes shook with worry and confusion.
"We were going to do that today, Professor," Harry said assuredly.
"Actually," Hermione began rather flustered, "we were going to do it earlier but,"
"Professor, what Hermione means is that we'll do it right now," Ron smiled weakly and then looked at Hermione who appeared a bit stunned.
"Well get to it, then!" McGonagall suppressed a small smile, and this time it was a real one.
"And you're planning on leaving after your Apparation test, yes?" Mrs. Weasley stuttered, still shocked from everything she had just heard.
Ron's eyes expanded as he suddenly remembered Harry's and his Apparation test scheduled for next week. Ron cringed a bit at the thought of his previous test…half an eyebrow, Blimey! As Ron recollected the events of that horrid day, he was interrupted with a nudge in his stomach. He looked down to see Hermione giving him an apologetic look.
"Sorry, I..."
"I forgot too. So did Harry. Don't be sorry," he said while he gazed tenderly at her. The twelve freckles that he loved to count lay perfectly on her smooth and soft face.
The corners of her mouth twitched briefly before motioning for Ron to say something to his parents.
"…Right! So after the exam, we'll leave…" Ron hastily spoke avoiding eye-contact with his mum.
"You're really going to do this, huh?" Mr. Weasley asked with a hint of regard in his voice. Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded resolutely. "Where are you planning on going first?"
"Arthur! You're letting them go?" Mrs. Weasley glared fearfully at her husband.
"I couldn't think of a better time to start," he said matter-of-factly.
"They could be killed!" Mrs. Weasley's shoulders shook as she cried softly. Ron watched his father lovingly embrace her.
"You know these three, Molly. They're strong,"
"I couldn't agree less, Molly," Professor McGonagall said affirmatively.
As she ducked her head and continued crying gently, Mrs. Weasley nodded finally and waved her hand at the trio as if giving them her blessing.
Ron heaved a great sigh of relief.
Hermione briskly bobbed her impatient knee up and down while sitting on a very uncomfortable couch in the front of the Black residence. A massive book was sprawled on her lap while dozens of other books surrounded her shaking feet. Ron and Harry were not back from the Testing Center yet, and it was driving her mad! They should be back already! But, being the bright witch that she was, Hermione decided to do some more Horcrux research while she waited. Earlier in the day, she had unexpectedly discovered Sirius' grand library while looking for Crookshanks. Merlin, was it grand! She browsed for an hour or two before taking a few books downstairs. She would've stayed in that library forever, but she was afraid someone might catch her. After all, it wasn't her library. But the books were so intriguing. Sirius definitely had good taste. Hermione smiled briefly while she remembered one of the books she had found-- A Brief Study of Animagi. Strangely though, the book was definitely not brief. It was just about the same size as Hogwarts, A History.
But what made Hermione smile was the inside of the book, notes scribbled on almost every page, a few unrecognizable stains, and a very remarkable photo at the very end-- a young, black-haired man tossing a tiny baby into the air. As the baby finally reached the man's arms, another man with glasses and the same raven-colored hair walked into the picture and laughed brightly. It pained her to know that only one of the people in the picture was living. She yearned deeply to show Harry this picture, but she knew he wouldn't be able to take it. Her thoughts quickly jumped back to the book in front of her. She was halfway through it, but had no luck, and yet every once in a while, Hermione jotted few notes on the lengthy parchment resting by her bobbing knee.
CRACK!
Hermione shot her head up and brushed away the bushy curls that had fallen out of her bun. A very proud-looking Harry Potter smiled directly at Hermione. She squealed excitedly and gave him an enormous hug, "Congratulations, Harry." It was then that she remembered the other boy that went to the testing center—the boy with the adorable lop-sided grin. "Where's Ron?"
Harry's smile faltered as he cleared his throat, "He uh…"
Hermione's face fell slightly, I don't understand. I really thought he was—
POP!
There, next to Harry, was a very relieved-looking Ron with a somewhat smug look on his face. He shrugged uncomfortably at Hermione who was staring wide-eyed at him.
"We passed!" He said as if to wake Hermione from her trance.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry who chuckled softly knowing that he had just pulled a joke on her. But now wasn't the time for scolding Harry. In a few moments it would be, but now, she just wanted to hug Ron. She jumped into his arms unexpectedly and whispered into his ear, "I knew you could do it."
Ron's face turned a vibrant red.
Harry cleared his throat rather loudly making the two immediately tear apart from each other. Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry. She was enjoying that hug. Ron had managed to recover most of his natural skin tone, but a few pink splotches remained on his cheeks. At that moment, Mr. Weasley apparated into the living room; he raised an eyebrow at the trio after noticing how terribly quiet it was. He looked at Ron who still appeared a tad shocked. Harry had that famous nonchalant expression on his face, which was always present when…tension aroused between his best friends. Hermione was staring intently at the floor.
"Congrats again, boys," he said before making his way toward the kitchen.
"So…uh, what do you have there, Hermione?" Harry asked while pointing to the large pile of books scattered on the floor.
"I was researching…about the Horcruxes,"
"Did you find anything?"
Hermione didn't answer right away; she stared again at the floor thinking everything over. "Harry, Tom Riddle's diary…where is it?"
"I've already destroyed that one…"
"Yes, Harry, but where is it?"
"At the Malfoy Manor, I suppose," he said casually.
"I think we should retrieve it. What if it falls in the wrong hands…again?"
Harry and Ron nodded slowly, not once looking Hermione in the eye.
"You guys think it's a bad idea?" Hermione sounded appalled and hurt.
"No, it's a good idea, Hermione. That Horcrux should not be with the Malfoys." Harry reassured her.
She nodded, quite pleased with her idea.
"I think we should leave tonight," Hermione added.
"For the Malfoy Manor?" Ron asked with a hint of confusion.
"No, for Godric's Hollow. There could be something there," Harry said before Hermione could answer. She stared quizzically at Harry. Doesn't he want to go alone?
"Harry," she began hesitantly, "do you want Ron and me to be there with you?"
He sighed and placed his hands on Ron and Hermione's shoulders. He looked at both of them before speaking. "I wouldn't want to go with anyone else."
Three words—Fred and George. Merlin, save me, Ron thought to himself. They just had to come today. It was a good thing he, Harry, and Hermione were leaving at midnight; otherwise he would never hear the end of Fred and George's constant teasing. At the moment though, it was only two o'clock in the afternoon. Bugger!
In the kitchen, Ginny, Harry, Fred and George were completely engrossed in a game of Exploding Snap giving Ron the chance to escape the evil wrath of his brothers.
He peered into the living room to see a very worn out Hermione practically falling asleep on the book in her hands. In an attempt to not frighten her, he marched in with a strong yet caring, "Hermione."
Her eyes shot open as she looked up at Ron. She was sleeping.
"Oh, sorry about that," Ron said, truly meaning every word.
"No, it's good you did that. I can't believe I fell asleep; how irresponsible of me!" She slapped her hand to her head.
"Don't do that to yourself," he sighed after taking in her entire appearance. They hadn't even left, and yet Hermione looked utterly jaded. "You need a break, a very long break, okay, Hermione?"
She let out a loud huff.
He chuckled softly at her stubbornness as he planted himself next to her.
"Ron?" Hermione whispered as she stared at the book in her lap.
"Hmm?" he replied while absently playing with a curl in her hair. She looked up into his blue eyes and inhaled deeply.
"We haven't really had that much time to talk,"
"'Course we have," Ron began, "we talk all the time!"
"No, Ron, I mean alone," she blushed a little.
"Oh," Ron silently cursed himself at his own stupidity. "Well, we can talk now. I'm pretty sure Harry, Ginny, and the twin monsters from Hell won't be interrupting anytime soon."
Hermione giggled and bat Ron on the arm. "Don't call your brothers that!" she said with a smile.
"You're right; they're really the twin gits from Idiotsville," he said seriously.
"Ron!" Hermione playfully smacked his arm again.
"Oi! What is with this violence?" Ron questioned with a fake look of sadness on his face. They both laughed at Ron's terrible acting attempt. When the laughter ceased, Hermione rested her head on Ron's shoulder.
"Hermione?" Ron began timidly.
"Yes, Ron?"
"Um…" he contemplated on how he should phrase what he had to say. I'm sorry? Are you still mad at me? I never meant to hurt you? Yeah, that's a good one. I'll say that one.
"Hermione, did I ever apologize for being such an unbearable prat all year?" Bloody hell, that's not what I wanted to say! Smooth, Ron. Smooth.
Her small shoulders shook with tiny laughter, "No, Ron, you actually didn't."
"I-I-I never meant to…hurt you, Hermione." There we go!
"I know, Ron. But…but you did." She lifted her head from his shoulder to look him square in his face. He was worried, terribly worried.
Ron exhaled greatly preparing himself for what he was just about to say. "It…it was hard hearing that you had…"
"Had what Ron?"
"…snogged Krum," he whispered.
"Ron," she shook her head while smiling, "I might've kissed him, but why did that make you go out with Lavender?"
Should I really tell her? Should I tell her I wanted to make her jealous?
"I…" he looked down at her and suddenly noticed that they were only a few centimeters away from each other. He could count every one of her eyelashes. They fluttered as she soundly shut her eyes, inching even closer. He placed his palm on her cheek, this time keeping it there, and used his other hand to lift her chin up. They were so close…
"Is Ickle Ronniekins going to kiss his Hermione?"
Hermione looked over Ron's shoulder.
"How long have you two been here?" she asked skeptically.
"Isn't it interesting, Fred?"
"What, George?"
"The doors in this house don't creak!"
"Is that so, George?"
"Indeed so!"
"Or maybe, these two love-birds could only hear one thing!" Fred piped.
"What's that, Fred?"
"Enough!" Ron bellowed, "We get your point!" he marched past Fred and George to make his way into the kitchen. Of course, he elbowed them on his way.
A/N: please tell me what you think! rate and reviewwww :-)