Another quick update, because i just love you all lol:)
I was going to update this last night, but due to a malfunction with my internet...i couldn't do it:(
But here it is now! Enjoy!
"He what?"
Ginny and Hermione were sitting outside a café having lunch together. After Hermione arrived in a state looking as if she had been crying, Ginny was immediately concerned for her friend, after asking what was wrong it all came into place.
"He wouldn't tell me what was worrying him," Hermione said with a melancholy voice. She was playing with the side salad on the plate in front of her with her fork. Moving the piece of lettuce side to side, up and down as if in a trance.
Ginny watched her friend play with the lettuce sadly. She knew how bad her brother's temper could be at times, and by the looks of it, Hermione had been on the receiving end of a very bad Weasley temper. She knew that it must be quite hard for Ron to be working on the same case that might threaten Hermione's life, but she felt that there was no need to treat Hermione that way. Hermione had a sad expression on her face, and she could see that Hermione's eyes were glistening with tears.
"I'm sure he didn't mean to yell at you, maybe he had a stressful time at work?" Ginny offered in defence of her older brother, although she didn't know why she bothered sometimes.
"What? After about an hour of being there? I don't think so. And another thing! He wouldn't tell me why he was home so early!" Hermione said with an annoyed tone, trying to cover up how hurt she was inside, but nothing fooled Ginny. She could see that her friend was clearly upset by all of this. "I just don't understand why he wouldn't tell me. I thought he was able to come to me, I thought we told each other everything" Hermione said as tears threatened to fall from her glossy eyes.
Ginny placed her hand over Hermione's sympathetically. She smiled at Hermione, receiving an attempted smile back. "Hermione, my brother can be such an idiot sometimes its hard to believe he made it as far as he did! He was probably just stressed out about the case," Ginny said reassuringly to her crying friend. She squeezed Hermione's hand to give her the extra comfort and was surprised to see a genuine smile on Hermione's face.
"Thanks Gin'" Hermione said as she wiped her tears away from her face with a napkin "What would I do without you?"
"You would have probably killed my brother right about now" Ginny joked, Hermione just simply laughed at the thought. Ginny was glad that Hermione had cheered up, for now at least. She knew that Hermione just had to face Ron later on tonight and she thanked Merlin that she wasn't going to be there.
"Shall we head off? I have to be back at work in ten minutes" Hermione said as she stood up from her chair, placing her tear soaked napkin on her half-empty plate.
"Sure, I have to be back around about that time anyway" Ginny replied as she stood from her chair and grabbed her bag and jacket.
They both went inside to pay for their lunch and afterwards departed in their different directions to work.
Hermione was sitting at her desk at quarter to five, still not intending to move from it. She didn't want to admit it, but she was in fact avoiding going home. She knew Ron would be there, probably waiting for her to come home but somehow she didn't want to face him.
'Oh for Merlin's sake Hermione! You're being stupid' Hermione shook her conscience off, trying to concentrate on the piece of parchment in front of her, but it didn't work. All she could think about was Ron, and how much she loved him 'Warts and all', so to speak.
'Stupid prat! Even when we have been fighting I can't seem to get him out of my head! I can't even concentrate on my work, which is meant to be a distraction!' Hermione thought, though wondering what she was still doing at work if she wasn't actually 'working'.
Sighing, Hermione mentally cursed herself for thinking about that very person she wanted to avoid.
Harry sighed as he walked into the flat that he shared with Ginny. It had been a very long day for the young Auror, and he was just about ready to collapse before Ginny came and greeted him.
"Hey" She said before giving him a kiss on the lips.
"Hi" He said with a tired expression
"How was work?" Ginny asked curiously as she went back to the kitchen to finish the dinner.
Harry sighed "Not good"
Ginny turned around and for the first time since he walked through the door did she notice his expression. He looked worn out, physically and mentally and the look in his eyes told Ginny that he wasn't bringing home good news.
"W…What is it?" Ginny asked, with a now worried expression"
"The Aurors found something at the victims house, and its not good" Harry said, his eyes becoming glossy.
"Harry, what is it?" Ginny asked, knowing that it must be something major to have this type of effect on Harry.
"They found a list…Made by the Death Eaters" Harry began, not wanting to continue with what he was going to say.
"A list…Oh Harry please tell me…" Ginny began but was interrupted by Harry, who seemed to be in some sort of trance.
"H…Hermione was on that list…"Harry said as tears fell down his face.
Ginny gasped in shock "Hermione? No! No! It can't be! Please tell me your not serious!"
"I wish I wasn't serious, but I saw her name printed on that list," Harry said solemnly.
"Well it explains Ron's behaviour" Ginny muttered under her breath, whether she meant Harry to hear or not was a different matter.
"What? Did Ron shout at you too?"
"No, but he shouted at Hermione, made her quite upset"
"What did she say?" Harry asked curiously
"She said something about Ron not telling her what was making him so upset"
"What?" Harry said, with an annoyed tone "So she doesn't know about her name being on the list?"
"Not that I know of, no" Ginny said apologetically.
"How could he be so stupid? What is he thinking not telling her?" Harry said, feeling the anger bubble up inside of him.
Ginny sighed, "Maybe he doesn't want to tell her because if he tells her it would be confirming it for him, that Hermione is really in danger"
Harry let out a frustrated huff "But no matter whether Ron accepts it or not, it doesn't change anything! Hermione is still in danger no matter what! And it's my fault that she is!"
Ginny was confused "What do you mean it's your fault?"
Harry sighed, "Its nothing, don't worry about it" He said as he walked away.
Ginny was not one to back down, and this situation was certainly no different.
"Don't give me that 'nothing' crap Harry, it doesn't work" Ginny snapped causing Harry to turn round and face her again "What do you mean its your fault?"
"It was something Ron said, it doesn't matter" Harry said with a simple shrug of the shoulders.
"What did my prat of a brother say now?" Ginny demanded as she held her hands up in frustration.
"He blamed me for Hermione being on the list…" Harry said in a low, depressed voice. He sat down on the sofa and starred mindlessly on the floor. "Maybe he's right, I mean Hermione wouldn't be on the list if she hadn't know me"
Ginny was shocked at what she was hearing. Surely he didn't believe that it was his fault? She was shocked that her brother, of all people would say anything like that to him. She made a mental note to have a word with her brother when she next saw him.
She moved across and sat next to Harry. She noticed his glum expression and tears that were forming in his green eyes. "Oh Harry! I'm sure he didn't mean it, but it doesn't excuse what he said. You don't really think you're to blame?"
Harry sighed, "I don't know, I mean she is my best friend and I don't want to see her in harms way, but I can't help feeling that I am the one putting her there"
"You knowing her has got nothing to do with it and you know it! Those other victims didn't know you personally? This attacks aren't directly aimed at you, otherwise they would have got to Hermione a long time ago" Ginny tried to reassure him, but she knew that it would take a lot to get him to see the truth.
"I know that! Hermione is my best friend, Gin'! I just can't help but think that I am putting her in danger because of who she is. She is a known muggle-born because I made her known. If she weren't friends with me then she wouldn't have been on that list!" Harry said with an annoyed tone, but it wasn't directed at Ginny, it was mainly directed at himself.
Ginny hated seeing him like this, just one word of blame from someone could set Harry off like this "Its not your fault! No matter what my brother said! He doesn't blame you, he was just upset and stressed with everything that is going on. Although it does not excuse what he said. Harry, Hermione may have been on the list even if she wasn't friends with you. She is your best friend, please don't regret that. Whether she is in danger or not isn't the issue here, its you," Ginny explained which caused Harry to look up at her in confusion.
"You know exactly what I mean Harry, so don't look at me like you don't. Every time someone remotely blames you for something you go into this spiral of self-doubt that takes you a long time to get over. You are setting yourself up for a big fall, which one-day you may not recover from. Listen to me Harry. You need to accept who you are on the inside, yes you defeated Voldermort, yes you saved the magically world from him, but that is not who you are. You need to stop thinking like 'the-boy-who-lived' or 'the-boy-who-saved-us' and start thinking about Harry Potter. You cannot and will not be able to control everything that goes on in the world; it is impossible to say the least. You need to accept the fact that not everything that happens is your fault or in fact Harry Potter related! You need to understand this Harry, because otherwise you will be setting yourself up for a big fall, which will do you, and everyone no good"
"Thanks Gin'" Harry said with a grateful smile, but his facial expression soon changed to confused as he squinted his nose "Do you smell something burning?"
Ginny's eyes widened in horror "Shit! The dinner!" She exclaimed as she ran to the kitchen area and took the burning pan off the hob. The steam that had built up over the time it was left alone hid her, and the sauce she was making had turned into a burnt brown colour. She coughed, trying to get the excess steam out of her lungs and sighed at the ruined dinner.
"Harry?" She called from the kitchen area.
"Yes Gin'?"
"Can you order a pizza?"
Hermione took a deep breath before opening the door to the flat she shared with Ron. She slowly opened it to see Ron sitting grumpily on the sofa, staring at a blank television. She sighed, 'great, he's still in a foal mood'.
Ron turned round after hearing Hermione come through the door. He gave her a light smile, which unfortunately wasn't returned. He sighed as he stood up and walked towards Hermione, who was currently in the kitchen making herself a drink.
"Hermione?" He said softly, obviously having clamed down from earlier and feeling bad about the argument earlier.
She looked up from her mug of tea to see Ron opposite her wearing an apologetic expression on his face. "Yes?"
"Can we talk?" Ron said in a soft tone
"I thought we already were" Hermione simply replied turning around from Ron not wanting to face him at this moment in time.
"Yeah…" Ron said quietly "Hermione?"
"Yes Ron?" She said in a firm tone that made him flinch
"I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that" He said quickly "I was just…stressed"
"Stressed? About what?" Hermione asked with a curious air in her voice
"It's…nothing" Ron knew that he should tell her about the list, she had a right to know, but he didn't want to scare her and he especially didn't want to be the one to tell her.
"Oh really?" She said with a slightly annoyed tone as she placed her mug in the sink ready to be washed up "It certainly didn't sound like nothing"
"Hermione…" Ron began, but was suddenly lost for words
"I thought so," Hermione said quietly as she brushed past Ron and made her way to the sofa.
Ron was confused "What do you mean?" He asked, following Hermione to the sofa.
Hermione looked at him, with a sad expression on her face "If you don't want to tell me, I understand; I really do. But I thought we were able to tell each other what was bothering us"
"Hermione I am able to talk to you about what is bothering me" Ron said reassuringly "But I just can't tell you about today"
"Why?" Hermione asked, feeling a little annoyed.
"Damn it Hermione! Do you have to turn this into another argument?" Ron exclaimed feeling slightly frustrated.
"Me? You're the one who isn't telling me anything!"
"Because I don't want to tell you! Because I just can't!" Ron exclaimed loudly causing her to flinch. She stood up from the sofa and walked away to the nearby window, looking outside at the busy streets and watching the people walk by.
"I'm scared, you know?" Hermione said with a melancholy voice that startled Ron.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked, worry clear in his tone. He knew exactly why Hermione was scared, but he felt that she needed to say it.
Hermione sucked on her lower lip, a nervous habit of hers as she looked at Ron.
"I'm scared, scared of what might happen" She said in a low voice
Ron knew that he was right in not telling her the important piece of information that he has been struggling to deal with since this morning. Hermione was already in a state of worry and fear for her life as it is, let alone when she finds out that she is in fact a target. Hermione would be a lot happier, in his eye if she didn't know.
Ron said nothing, he didn't know what to say to her. Instead he walked over to her and embraced her in a comforting hug. She gladly accepted, but as she came into touch with his warm body, she couldn't contain her tears anymore. She let them flow freely, crying into his shoulders and soaking his shirt.
Ron felt her sobbing, and stroked her hair to comfort her. "Hey, don't cry. I promise I will do anything I can to protect you, no matter what I won't let anything bad happen to you. I won't let them lay a finger on you, I promise" Ron said soothingly.
Hermione pulled away, and smiled at Ron before kissing him passionately on the lips.
Awww this is sweet:) I will try not to update this again until my other fics have been written and updated, but i may not be able to help myself lol:)
Anyway let me know what you think! Review:) Make me happy:)
(Hands out chocolate chip cookies and other various sweets and cakes)
Helen:)