Beyond the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other names, places, or ideas related to the world of Harry Potter. They are the property of J.K. Rowling.

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A/N: Okay guys, I hope that you enjoyed the last chapter! Sorry for the delay, but I almost stopped writing—I got my first flame. It was for a different fic, but when someone tells you that you are the "most horrible author in the world" it sort of dampens your desire to continue writing. Despite that, I decided to persevere, so now I bring you:

Chapter 4: Explanations

Hermione flushed under the scrutiny of her two male compatriots. She began to nervously start twisting and tearing at an unfortunate piece of parchment that she had been holding. She clearly had no desire to tell the boys what was going on. Her eyes shifted back and forth between the determined faces of her friends.

"Well…I…," she began. Then in a flash, she made to dart between the two boys and momentarily escape her inquisition. Unfortunately, she had miscalculated the reaction time of her friends. Harry's Quidditch skills kicked in and he managed to grab Hermione by the waist.

"Oh, no you don't!" Harry hissed at her. "Ron, if you please?"

Harry nodded his head towards Hermione's arm, which was flailing about quite dangerously. Ron picked up on Harry's message and grabbed her wayward appendage before it could cause Harry any damage.

This did not seem to deter Hermione, who began to kick back against Harry's shins, in much the same way as a donkey might have.

"Harry James Potter! Put me down this instant!" Her yells echoed hollowly around the empty corridor.

"I don't think so Hermi—oof!" Harry grunted as Hermione landed a particularly painful blow to his left leg. "Ron!" Harry had to raise his voice quite loudly to be heard over the still yelling Hermione.

"Oh, right," Ron mumbled as he began fumbling around in his robes. His eyes lightened as his hand curled around his wand. He quickly pulled it out and pointed it at his friend. "Silencio!"

Hermione's screams stopped instantly, as a look of shock crossed her face. The distraction of being mildly cursed by one of her best friends also rendered her unable to concentrate on kicking Harry. After a moment had passed and it did not appear that Hermione would start kicking him again, Harry flashed Ron a smile and said,

"Not the spell that I was thinking of, but it proved to be quite effective."

Ron returned Harry's grin. "So, mate, what do we do with her now?" Ron gestured towards Hermione with the arm that wasn't currently bruising her wrist.

"Well," Harry began, "we find some place private and make her talk to us."

"Right!" answered Ron cheerfully. With that, the two boys began to practically drag Hermione down the halls.

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Ron and Harry forced Hermione to sit down on the middle of a couch in front of an empty fire place. It turned out that Harry's idea of somewhere "private" was the Gryffindor common room. As if in a show of support towards Harry and Ron, the room, which still wasn't what one would generally consider to be private, was deserted except for the three of them.

"Okay, Hermione," Harry began, "I am going to remove the spell, but I don't want you to start yelling again. Ron and I are only concerned about your welfare. We're doing this to you for your own good. You need to talk to us. Alright?"

Hermione slowly nodded her head in defeat.

"Ready?" Harry asked Ron. Ron nodded. Both he and Harry tightened the grip that they had on Hermione's wrist. The boys sat down on the couch on either side of her. The two leaned in close to her as if her flight mechanism was somehow connected to the use of her voice.

Ron raised his wand back up so that it was once again pointing at Hermione. "Finite Incantatem," he whispered hoarsely.

There was a pregnant moment of silence before Hermione opened her mouth. "You know, you guys can let go of my wrists now." Harry looked at her with suspicion. "I promise I won't run again," she continued. Harry still looked at her with distrust. Hermione was beginning to become impatient.

"For goodness sakes, Harry! I promise I won't run again," she repeated her earlier statement emphatically. "Normally I wouldn't mind holding hands with you two," her voice was dripping with sarcasm, "but I do not appreciate having you morons act as human tourniquets. I would very much like to retain the use of all my extremities. As it is, I can no longer feel the fingers on my right hand!"

"Okay, okay," Ron said placatingly as he and Harry slowly pulled their hands away from her. "No need to get your knickers in a twist."

Hermione shot him a withering look as she began to slowly massage her red wrists.

"Er, sorry about that Herms," Harry mumbled while looking at her swollen joints. "I guess Ron and I just got a little carried away." Both his and Ron's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"It's okay Harry." Hermione flashed him a wan smile. "I understand that you and Ron are just concerned about me…and if you should get a little overly exuberant while showing your concern, then I suppose I will just have to understand."

Harry sighed in obvious relief that Hermione had forgiven them so easily. Ron stretched out his arm along the back of the couch and pulled her in to a one-armed hug.

"You're the best Hermione!" Ron exclaimed with quiet enthusiasm. Hermione snorted at the boys' about-face in attitude in regards to her.

Harry and Ron exchanged a quizzical look, but neither decided that it would to be worth it to ask her what she found amusing. Harry let her moment of levity continue on for a few more seconds before he leaned in again, a serious expression on his face. "Okay Hermione. You need to tell us what's up!"

Hermione let out a long sigh and began to worriedly rub her hand back and forth across her eyes. "It was a bet." Her voice was low and hollow.

Ron and Harry exchanged a confused look over her head.

"Sorry Hermione," Ron began, "but we couldn't quite make that out."

Hermione sprang to her feet in an agitated show of frustration. She began to pace in front of the fireplace, her arms flailing about her, gesticulating wildly.

"I said that it was a bet! For goodness sakes, I am in this mess because of a stinking, lousy bet! Ohhh, and that dumb cow Lavender Brown. It's all her fault…well it's mostly her fault. Okay, I'll admit that I am largely to blame, but still!"

Harry and Ron sat back further in to the couch. Hermione had reached full rant mode and could not be easily interrupted. They knew from experience that they should just let her carry on for awhile and hope that she would answer all of their questions.

"I mean, honestly," Hermione continued "what was it to them? Why should they care? They're a stupid, shallow bunch of girls and Lavender's the stupidest of the bunch! But I'm even more stupid for letting them get to me like that. How hard would it have been for me to ignore them? I thought it was harmless, but then Lavender came up with that bet and I was curious. You know my desire to know everything?"

Here she turned to look at the boys. "Um," said Harry. However, it didn't really appear that Hermione had wanted an answer as she resumed her frantic pacing.

"Yes, exactly, Harry. I couldn't agree with you more. It is my greatest weakness."

Harry shot Ron a look that clearly said, "Did I say that?" Ron merely shrugged.

"Oh, but, oh that reward. I couldn't just turn it down! It's what I've always wanted. Well, it's what I've wanted since third year when I first discovered Arithmancy. But then, you see—"

"Hermione!" Harry stood up and shouted her name. "Hermione!" he shouted again. When Hermione still did not seem to realize that her "rapt" audience was no longer listening, Harry marched over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hermione Granger, what the heck are you talking about!"

Hermione stared stupidly up at Harry.

"Huh?" she asked her eyes slightly unfocused as if she had just received a severe Obliterate.

Harry slowly released her. In a calmer voice, he reiterated, "Hermione, we have no clue what you're talking about. Please, start at the beginning." Hermione glanced over at Ron, who was still on the sofa, he was nodding emphatically.

"Alright" Hermione breathed out slowly. "Harry, if you'll take your seat?" Harry quickly obliged by returning to his place on the couch.

"Well," Hermione resumed talking, "this all began in June, right after we had finished all of the exams. The girls and I…" Hermione trailed off as she spotted Ron's lifted eyebrow. "Yes Ron?"

"Well, I was just wondering which girls you meant when you said 'girls'."

"Oh, well I meant Parvati, Lavender, Abigail, and Gwendolyn. What other girls do I ever mean?"

"Well, I, uh…" Ron began.

"Never mind, Ron. So, the five of us were staying up late in our dormitory talking. Well, to be honest, the other girls were talking and I was going over my Arithmancy final. I couldn't help but hear what the other girls were talking about. It wasn't long before they dragged me in to their conversation."

Here Hermione paused, as if unsure what to say next.

"Er…what were they talking about, Hermione?" prompted Harry.

Hermione's face flushed bright red. She flopped onto the end of the couch next to Harry and buried her head in her hands. When no answer was forthcoming, Harry again prompted her. "Hermione? What were the girls talking about?"

Hermione slowly brought her head up to the boys' eye level. She cleared her throat and concisely said, "Sex. They were talking about sex."

Upon hearing her declaration, Ron promptly burst into a fit of giggles. Hermione shot him a withering look. Harry reached behind him and pulled out a pillow which he then used to box Ron about the ears.

"Grow up you prat!" He glared at Ron. He then turned calmly to Hermione. "Please, continue." He said with a wave of his hand. Hermione snorted at his courtly manner.

"So, the girls were talking about sex. Actually, they were waxing rather long on the subject. They had discussed their favorite positions, their favorite sex toys, their sexiest negligee…well, you get the idea. Eventually, the talk turned to when and with whom they had lost their virginity. After everyone had discussed it—in minute detail, no less, the vultures then turned to me. 'Hermione," Parvati said in a sing-song voice. 'Tell us about your first time.' I looked up from my Arithmancy notes and coldly replied, 'I'm still a virgin.' Well you should have seen their reactions! It was as if I had said that I was really Celestina Warbeck in disguise. There was shocked silence at first, then there was squealing and giggling…and…" Hermione trailed off and released a heart-felt shudder.

"Anyways, Parvati asked why I hadn't had sex yet. I told her that I had no desire to befoul myself with any boy in the school. They then tried to explain just what exactly I was missing out on. When this did nothing to sway me, Lavender expressed the opinion that no one would have me."

"Oh no she dih-ent!" intoned Ron while snapping his fingers. This earned him a weird look from Harry and Hermione. "Well," he mumbled, "I heard that's what American girls say when they're trying to be supportive of one another, you know? Next Hermione should say 'Oh yes she dih-id.' And then I would say, "Oh, hold my weave grrr."

Thinking that his friend had gone slightly nutters, Harry asked, "Okay, but what does it mean?"

Ron shrugged. "I haven't the foggiest. I was just trying to relate to Hermione as a girl would."

"Um, thanks Ron." There was an awkward pause. "Well, Lavender's comment made me really mad so I told her that she was dead wrong. She then told me to 'prove it.' I said, 'Why should I?' That made her think for a moment. She then said, 'I bet you that you can't get laid before the end of next school year.' So I said 'What's in it for me?' 'Well,' she said, clearly stalling. She then looked down at my notes. 'You like Arithmancy, right?' I was thrown by the subject change, but I told her that yes, it was my favorite subject.

"'Okay,' she went on 'so you know that my family owns Arithmantic Computations and Permutations Inc.?' I nodded my head slowly. 'Well, if you win the bet, then I will guarantee you an apprenticeship as soon as you graduate from Hogwarts.' Man, after she said that I was practically salivating. Do you know how hard those are to come by?" At the blank expressions on the faces of her two friends, Hermione continued.

"Well, they're very hard to come by. I was ready to agree to the bet right then and there. But then I thought to ask something. I said, 'If I lose, what do you get?' She smiled one of the creepiest smiles that I have ever seen. She then said real quietly, 'Ron Weasley's virginity."

Ron gasped and it was Harry's turn to bust up laughing.

"You said no, right?" asked Ron in a choked voice.

"Weeeeel," wheedled Hermione. "It was really too good of a deal to pass up. I agreed to the bet and Lavender and I sealed it with our wands."

"So Hermione," Harry gasped out between peals of laughter. "Have you won the bet yet?"

"Er, therein lies the problem Harry. I've decided that it really isn't worth it to lose my virginity when I'm not ready," here she blushed scarlet, "so that's what I've been doing recently; researching ways to break a magical bet without losing it."

"But Hermione," said a very white Ron, "you can't break a magical bet without losing it."

"So I've discovered," replied Hermione as she reached into her bag and hefted out a very large, very old looking book entitled "Magical Bets or Magical Beatings: A History of Wizardkind's Simplest Form of Gambling." The two boys gaped at the book.

"Where'd you get a thing like that?" Harry asked conversationally.

Hermione smiled slightly. "The library. They really do have a book on everything."

"Ahh, I see." Harry smiled back at her.

"Excuse me for a minute." Ron waved a hand at himself to get their attention. "I appear to be the only one with something to really lose here. I can't believe you Hermione! You're supposed to be the sensible one. How could you do this to me?"

"I wasn't thinking clearly. Lavender's offer was just—I mean, it's what I've always wanted!"
"Hermione, I don't think you understand. My virginity is not…fodder for bets! It's not some award to be won. I, er, I mean that that would be the case…that is if I still even had my virginity…" he trailed off, intercepting the look shared by his two best friends. "What? Is it so hard to believe—"

"Yes!" Harry and Hermione yelled at once. "Ron," Harry continued, "we're your best mates. Don't you think we would know if….you had…um…lost your ability to touch unicorns?."

Ron sighed. "I suppose so."

"Ron, I apologize, I'm really sorry!" cried Hermione

"I may not be happy about it," he replied, "but I suppose I can understand the allure of the apprenticeship. I mean," he quickly added, "I suppose I can understand its allure for you."

"So then," Harry said bringing them back on topic. "What are we going to do about this whole mess?"

"There's only one thing we can do," Ron stated firmly.

"What's that?" asked Harry.

"Get Hermione laid."