Chapter Two- The Society of the Defense of True Magic Beings

At the Ministry's cafeteria

"So let me get this straight," Luna said as she put her sandwich down. "This some kind of society formed by freaks who think that magical creatures are useless?"

"They are not freaks," Harry said. "They are very powerful dark wizards, Luna."

"Well, they cannot be worse than Voldemort and Stephanie Navitek, right?" Neville said as Luna returned her attention to her sandwich.

"I can't assure you that," Harry sighed as he poked at his salad. "I'm not hungry at all."

"Now, that's weird," a voice said behind him. "You are always hungry, Potter."

Harry grinned as Ron sat with them. "What are you doing here at the Ministry, Ron?" Harry asked, while Ron took a fry from Neville's plate.

"I came to pay my girlfriend a visit," Ron grinned. "And what are you doing here, Harry? Weren't you supposed to be at Russia fighting dark forces or something?"

"No, I got stuck here thanks to your dear brother," Harry grimaced. "And that's a lot worse than fighting dark forces, Ronald."

"Yeah, Percy can be a big pain in the neck," Ron admitted. "But the good thing is that you can attend my wedding, mate! I'm so glad that you will be there."

Harry said nothing and Luna glanced at him. "So, who's going to be your best man?" Neville asked Ron.

"I wanted it to be Harry," Ron said. "But Mum insisted that it should be Percy, the world's greatest git."

"So I'll guess that I will be your best man in your next wedding," Harry said dryly and Ron burst out laughing.

"I'll consider your suggestion," Ron chuckled. "Anyway, I have to hit the road. Tomorrow I have a big game."

"Oh yeah! You're playing against Pride of Portee, right?" Neville said excitedly. "I'm going to the match with Luna."

"Good for you," Ron said cheerfully. "By the way, Harry… I gave Hermione an extra ticket for you. So I hope you can get a little time off from work and go to the match."

"I'll try, Ron," Harry said as Ron stood up and walked away. Harry stabbed his salad viciously and Luna sighed loudly.

"Hey," she said softly. "Everything will be fine."

"Maybe Hermione will dump him before the wedding," Neville said wearily as he munched on a fry.

"Great, did you tell your boyfriend?" Harry snapped at Luna.

"He's not my boyfriend," Luna retorted. "And no, I didn't tell him anything! Neville?"

Luna and Harry glared at Neville, who shrugged. "It's obvious," Neville explained. "Besides, I doubt that the wedding will happen."

"Why?" Harry frowned.

"I don't know, I just feel it," Neville said. "Now, if you excuse me, I have some things to do before the meeting, Harry."

Harry nodded and watched Neville walked away. "Do you think he likes me?" Luna asked out of the blue.

"Who? Ron?" Harry mocked,

"Ha, ha, ha," Luna said sarcastically. "You know who I am talking about."

"Yeah, I think Neville likes you," Harry said. "He invited you to a Quidditch match, didn't he?"

"It's nice to know that you consider a Quidditch match a date," Luna snorted. "Really sensitive."

Luna and Harry picked up their lunch trays and Luna hit Harry playfully in the arm. "That means you are having a date tomorrow if Hermione invites you to the game," Luna said.

Harry sighed and said nothing.

Later, at Harry's office

Harry was looking through some papers Percy had sent him, feeling more and more worried while he read.

It all came from some information the Ministry from an anonymous source. There were a lot of pages torn from a old looking book.

We, the Society of the Defense of True Magic Beings (SDTMB) swear solemnly to protect the dignity of wizards and witches by exterminating magical creatures and people who protect them. Finding this creatures non-worthy to possess magic, we, the SDTMB, will rip the magic out of them.

Harry was severely shaken by the whole rip the magic out of them part. The page became all blurry and ink-stained after that, so he read on. Another excerpt said:

The perfection of our goal can only be achieved by obtaining the Star of Darkness-

Harry frowned. The page was all stained, and he didn't find out what the Star of Darkness was for. He flipped all through the other pages and saw constant references to the Star.

"Well, one thing is obvious," Harry muttered to himself. "I need to find out what this wretched star thing does."

There was a soft knock at the door and Harry sighed. "Come in."

It was a very timid-looking Hermione, and she was carrying a small envelope in her hands. "Hi, Harry."

Harry's heart seemed to stop beating at the sight of her. His stomach lurched and he tried hard not to look nervous. The last time he had seen Hermione they had kissed.

"Hi," Harry said, putting the papers in his briefcase. "I'm off to a meeting, so…"

"So you didn't go to Russia," Hermione said.

"No," Harry said awkwardly. "Um…"

They remained silent for what seemed hours until Harry decided to speak. "Er, I saw Ron today."

"Oh, yes," Hermione said, not looking at him. "Well, that's why, um, why I came for. Here's your ticket."

Hermione handed out the envelope and Harry reached for it, his hand touching Hermione's. Time seemed to stop as they looked into each other's eyes, trying hard to repress all the feelings that were inside them, their hearts beating painfully at the thought that they were not going to be together forever.

Harry took Hermione's hand in his and pulled her close to him. Hermione tilted her head and her breath teased Harry's lips. Harry looked into her brown eyes and realized that he couldn't lose her. That he would be the stupidest man on Earth if he allowed her to marry Ron.

He kissed her gently, like if it was the very first time he did this. Like if Cho, Ginny and Raven had never existed and this was the first time he kissed a girl. Hermione returned the kiss with infinite trust and put her arms around Harry's neck.

"Leave…him…" Harry said between kisses.

"He will understand, right?" Hermione said as she drew away.

"He has to," Harry said as he kissed her again. They embraced each other tightly, afraid to let go.

Finally, Hermione drew away, her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Harry," she sighed. "We are just fooling ourselves."

Harry hugged her, and placed his chin on the top of her head. "We should fool ourselves more often," he said and Hermione smile sadly.

"I… should have admitted my feelings before," Harry said. "If I hadn't been so blind…"

"I know exactly how you feel," Hermione sighed. She raised her head and kissed Harry again.

"I love you so much," Harry said.

"I love you too, Harry," Hermione said, a tear running down her cheek.

A/N: I love H/hr! They are just perfect! I mean, do you imagine this scene between Ron and Hermione without Ron ruining it? With R/Hr I just imagine selfish snogging! Well, maybe I'm wrong, and R/hr shippers must hate this comment, but this is the way I feel, and I can't help it. H/HR forever! If we don't have canon, who cares? We still have fanon! (and the movies, lol, if you know what I mean)