Chapter 60

"If you know what's good for you, you'll clear out," Ron warned the boys hanging out at the foot of the girls' stairwell as he scurried to the bottom. "McGonagall looks to be in rare form tonight and she's coming back down. It's too late for me," he said miserably, locking eyes with Harry and shaking his head sadly. "But you can still save yourself if you make a run for it now."

"You let her see you?" Harry asked in disbelief. "Why didn't you hide or something?"

"Where?"

"I don't know," Harry replied. "In her bed, under it, behind it even."

"I wasn't anywhere near a bed," Ron shot back.

"Well somewhere else then," Harry countered. "You must have realized something was up when the stairs stopped shrieking. Obviously we didn't shut them off, so it had to be..."

"I couldn't hear the stairs once I was in Hermione's room."

"That must have been some loud shouting," one of the fifth year boys leaned forward and said to a friend, who nodded his head in agreement.

"So you actually made it into their bedroom?" Neville asked, using an awed tone of voice. "There weren't any...extra security measures once you make it upstairs? I always assumed there'd be other barriers, you know, that the stairs were just the first in a series. But you actually made in inside a girl's dorm room. Wow."

"How'd you do it?" someone asked.

"Yeah, what's the trick?"

"Did you put a hover charm on your shoes so they wouldn't actually touch the steps," a seventh year asked curiously. "Because I've considered doing that myself. Just didn't have the bollocks to test it."

"Way to go, Weasley," another chap said as he clapped Ron on the shoulder in a congratulatory manner.

"What were they wearing?" Seamus inquired, but his excitement waned a bit when Ron's head snapped around and the red head's expression changed from disbelief to annoyance. "All right," the young Irishman backtracked a bit when Ron's eyes narrowed. "You don't have to tell us what Hermione sleeps in, just the others. Did you see anything lacy or see-through?"

But before Ron even had a chance to open his mouth, the words, "BED! NOW!" were barked out behind them and the boys jumped to it. "Except for you, Weasley," Professor McGonagall added when Ron attempted to scurry off with the rest of them.

DAMN! he swore in his head, giving Harry a fleeting look before spinning around to face the music.

"Wait," McGonagall ordered, walking right past Ron and up the boys' staircase to ensure that her command was carried out. The last thing she wanted was half the male population in the tower lingering around the hallway eavesdropping in hopes of learning how to beat the stairs themselves.

Once she was sure that the boys had, in fact, gone to their rooms, she marched back down, shut the door at the bottom of the boys' stairwell, and cast a silencing charm on it with a quick flick of her wand.

"Explain yourself," she demanded, slipping her wand back into the pocket of her tartan dressing gown and fixing Ron with a disapproving look.

"Um," he sputtered as he tried to think of something to say. "Er..." he mumbled, shifting uncomfortable and glancing over his shoulders at the open doorway of the girls' stairwell.

"Miss Granger is not coming down to help you," McGonagall stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest when Ron's eyes returned to her. "So you may as well stop stalling and explain how it is that you managed to get up those stairs."

"I don't know," Ron groaned miserably, saying the first thing that popped into his mind. "Honest, Professor, I really don't know. They just didn't work."

"Nonsense," McGonagall argued. "I've been teaching here for nearly forty years, Mr. Weasley and in all that time, not once have those stairs malfunctioned. Now what spell did you use?"

"I didn't use any spells," Ron insisted. "I didn't do anything."

Fortunately for Ron, playing stupid wasn't just an act he was putting on. He couldn't have explained it, even if he'd wanted to, because he really didn't know and that made it easy for him to stick to his story. Even threatening him with detention didn't help jog his memory the way Professor McGonagall had hoped it would, it did however get the excuses flowing. Or one excuse to be more precise, as the fact that he was a prefect was the only explanation Ron could come up with on such sort notice and even he didn't buy it. He'd been a prefect the year before and the stairs hadn't allowed him up then, so why would they now?

In the end, McGonagall decided that if Ron couldn't, or wouldn't, explain what it was that he'd done, than he'd just have to show her. So she dragged him over to the foot of the girls' stairwell and insisted that he climb back up to the top in her presence, assuming that he'd either set off the alarm, or reveal his method. Regrettably, it didn't exactly work out that way.

"You must have done something to yourself then," McGonagall stated, the third time she watched Ron reach the pinnacle of the stone steps without triggering any sort of response.

"I did not," he insisted, spinning around and looking down at the common room. "It's not my fault the stupid stairs don't work," he grumbled under his breath as he marched back down. "It's not like I broke them," he stated a bit louder. "I didn't do anything to them." Even if I'd wanted to, I didn't have time. "I heard about the fight and ran up to stop it and that's..."

"Even if they are malfunctioning," McGonagall cut in, despite the fact she still wasn't entirely convinced that they were, "you know full well that you aren't allowed up there, so you had no business climbing those stairs in the first place."

"But Professor," Ron objected. "I was just trying to..."

"I repeat," McGonagall stated in an adamant tone of voice, "there is NO reason for YOU to be up there.

"But..."

"Ten points will be deducted from Gryffindor," she continued, raising her voice above Ron's, "in addition to the five points Miss Granger and Miss Patil have each lost. And to ensure that it doesn't slip your mind or happen again, you will be receiving..."

"Not another detention," Ron whined, clearly feeling hard done by. "I didn't even do anything this time."

"You were caught in the girls' dormitory, were you not?"

"But Professor, the only reason I went up there in the first place was to break up the fight and..."

"That is why we have female prefects, Mr. Weasley. That is their responsibility," McGonagall stated with a stern look, "not yours. Surely you must have noticed that your sister, a prefect, was, in fact, on her way to handle the situation herself. I understand that you feel you have a responsibility to look after your friends," she added, softening her demeanor a bit, "and as admirable as that is, your protective tendencies towards Miss Granger don't give you cause to go up those stairs. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Mr. Weasley? Just because you can, at this particular moment in time, does not mean you will. You are not to go up those stairs again for any reason. End of discussion. And I will be taking this matter to Professor Dumbledore in the morning," she added, as she made for the portrait hole, "so you can rest assured that whatever the problem is, it will be rectified immediately."

"Yes, Professor," Ron replied rotely, no longer caring about her punishment now that there was the possibility of an even worse fate looming on the horizon. The question was, would the Head Master actually contact his mother or would the detention suffice? He'd gladly do three if that's what it took to keep his mum in the dark, because she wouldn't care about his reasons for going up those steps anymore than McGonagall had. All she'd care about was the fact that he'd broken yet another rule and managed to land himself in hot water again.

BREAK . BREAK

Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't deem it necessary to contact Mrs. Weasley about her son's excursion into the girls' dorm. Nor did he seem all that worried about mending the charms on the staircases. In fact, he didn't seem to be concerned at all when McGonagall told him about what had happened. The only reaction she got out of him was mild surprise, followed by altogether too much amusement for her liking.

"Mr. Weasley made it into the girls' dormitory?" Professor Dumbledore asked from behind the desk in his office, glancing up at the head of Gryffindor House with considerable interest. "You don't say?" he added, his eyes twinkling as the smallest trace of a smile touched his lips. "How extraordinary."

"It most certainly is not," McGonagall retorted in a disapproving tone of voice, when his smile widened. "This is not a matter to be taken lightly."

"A bit sooner than I would have expected," Dumbledore muttered, more to himself than for her benefit, "but what's done is done and..." I see no reason to worry about it as of yet. It may even be for the best.

"You expected this to happen?"

"Come now, Minerva," Dumbledore replied lightheartedly. "The male population of Hogwarts has been trying to come up with a means of getting past those stairs since... well, since the school was established and the charms were put in place, I'd imagine. I, myself, gave it a shot or two in my youth," he added with a chuckle.

"Really, Albus, this is serious," McGonagall argued. "If there is an actual problem with the stairwell in Gryffindor Tower, it is only a matter of time before the other dormitories are similarly affected."

"I don't think we need worry about that. I'm sure it is just a small glitch," Professor Dumbledore replied, knowing full well that it was Ron and not the charms on the staircase that had been altered.

The young prefect might have unwittingly stumbled across one of the more obscure loopholes in the magic that had been set in place to safeguard the virtue of the female students, but even if he knew why it was he'd been allowed to pass, which was highly unlikely, he wasn't going to reveal his secret marriage to anyone. His new wife had very wisely insisted that they keep all knowledge of the Coupling Potion, and what she planned on using it for, under wraps. He had to give them credit; they'd done a remarkable job of it so far. Apparently they'd even managed to successfully brew the potion and take it without his realizing that things had progressed that far. If Hermione hadn't made the mistake of revealing her plan to Ron in the boys' bedroom at Grimmauld Place, which just so happened to be connected to his office via a painting, he'd be in the same position Professor McGonagall was in, uninformed, anxious, and highly suspicious.

Unfortunately for McGonagall, the Head Master decided not to clue her in just yet. He saw no reason to have anyone else interfering while the newlyweds tried to acclimate and cope with the effects of the potion. It was bound to be difficult enough on them simply having their own emotions surging through one another, they didn't need the emotional turmoil of anyone else, say an over protective mother or a concerned professor, thrown in mix. What they needed now was time and the opportunity to adjust. They had to work out the kinks on their own, because learning through experience was the only way they'd become efficient at using the bond they'd forged to their advantage. Yes, time was what they needed. Time and a little practice.

"Gum drop?" he asked, grabbing a small plate of brightly colored Muggle candies off the corner of his desk and offering them to McGonagall, who gaped at him.

"Pardon?" she asked, more than a little surprised to find herself being put off by the Head Master. It was quite obvious to her that he knew more than he was saying. Not only was he not surprised that Weasley had somehow managed to get into the girls' dormitory, he wasn't the slightest bit concerned about it. Something was definitely up, and Dumbledore obviously knew what it was. Then again, he did seem to know pretty much everything that happened within the walls of his school and he usually had a perfectly reasonable explanation for keeping people in the dark about certain occurrences. Those people didn't often include her however.

"Gum drop?" Dumbledore repeated, holding the plate of sweets a little higher. "They really are quite good. Very well," he added, setting the plate back down on his desk and standing up when she failed to retrieve one. "Although one or two won't ruin your appetite," he added, grabbing a candy off the plate himself and popping it in his mouth. "Shall we go down to breakfast then?" he asked, sweeping his arm out in front of himself and pointing at the door leading out of his office. "After you."

BREAK . BREAK

"You've been enjoying yourself far too much this morning," Hermione leaned forward and whispered in Ron's ear as he held the doorway of the Transfiguration classroom open for her and Harry walked through it.

"What do you mean?" he asked, feigning ignorance, as Seamus and Neville pushed past Hermione, who had come to a dead stop in front of them, so they could follow Harry inside to take their regular seats.

"All the attention," Hermione said quietly. "Did you really think I wasn't going to notice just because I wasn't there? It started even before you came downstairs this morning. And the more everyone pesters you about it, the more you eat it up. I know, because I can feel it."

"Where were you anyway?" Ron asked, genuinely curious. "We checked the library after we finished eating and you weren't there."

"I was with your sister," Hermione informed him, albeit reluctantly. She didn't really want to tell Ron how upset Ginny was just yet, because it was likely to upset him as well. It would be better to wait until Ginny had a chance to work through her feelings somewhat and come to terms with what she saw. Besides, it was a completely different issue and she wanted to stay focused on the one she was trying to press home.

"Why?" Ron asked, looking at her suspiciously now that he realized she was feeling apprehensive and didn't want to talk about it.

"Because she needed someone to talk to about a few things," Hermione whispered back. "But that's not the point. The point is, this whole situation is turning into fourth year all over again. Pretty soon you'll be making up outlandish stories about how you got upstairs and then you'll get all smug, even though none of it is true, and I don't like it, so knock it off."

"You don't like it," Ron scoffed, "Of course you don't. It's taking the attention off you and that whole mess you started with Parvati," he added, as he stepped back into the corridor with her and let the door swing shut. "No one's talking about that now, are they?"

"You take that back."

"I will not," Ron replied. "It's the truth and we both know it."

"I'm not the one that needs the attention of everyone in school focused on me to feel validated," she snapped. It was a low blow and Hermione knew it. She felt bad the instant the words left her mouth, but Ron had put her on the defensive, mostly because she knew he was right to a certain extent, and when she was on the defense she had a tendency to lash out and draw blood in return because it was a good way to sidetrack her opponent.

"No, you just want every girl in Hogwarts to think dating Harry is tantamount to suicide via Dark Wizard," Ron countered, unwilling to let her comment distract him because it was what she wanted. "Harry is going to go ballistic when he finds out about that."

"I take it you haven't told him then?" Hermione said, feeling uneasy all over again for an entirely different reason. The truth was, part of the reason she'd been so eager to go to breakfast early with Ginny was because she, too, wanted to avoid Harry. She'd assumed that he probably knew most of what happened in the girls' dorm by now and that, coupled with the whole Hogsmeade ban and her role in it, was bound to have his dander up. She'd hoped that by giving him a little space and showing up just before classes started, she'd only have to contend with the silent treatment and not a full on, in your face, confrontation. Not just yet anyway.

"Hell no, I haven't told him," Ron replied. "And I'm not going to either. You are."

"Why would I do that?" Hermione asked. If he didn't know yet that meant she still had time to come up with a plan. She might even be able to explain to him why this whole Parvati thing was a bad idea before she admitted what she'd told her roommates and he blew up at her.

"Because if you don't tell him, Parvati will," Ron informed her. "Who would you rather he hears it from?"

"You."

"Nuh uh," Ron said, shaking his head back and forth. "You dug your own hole," he added. "I already got a detention trying to pull you back before you fell in it. Now that you have, I'm not jumping in after you. No way. If I tell Harry for you, he'll think I agree with what you did and then he'll be hacked off at both of us. "

"You got a detention?" Hermione asked, unwittingly sending the guilt she was feeling straight at Ron. "I didn't know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for..."

"You didn't ask me to come up there," he said, letting her off the hook when he could have easily kept her squirming. "I did that all on my own, so stop feeling guilty already."

"I really am sorry, Ron," Hermione said. "I don't know how things got messed up so quickly. I just...she insulted me... she insulted both of us actually and it got out of hand, but... she's not right for him. You agree with me on that much, I know you do. I felt it."

"It's what Harry thinks that's important," he reminded her. "He's going to do what he wants to do. Ok, so I'd prefer it if he picked someone... better," he confessed, realizing there was no point denying it, as she already knew the truth. "Someone that can... well you know," he said, instead of finishing the statement he'd been about to make. "Do I think he's going to find what we have together with her? Probably not," he admitted.

Absolutely not, he corrected in his head. No way in hell two people that are that high maintenance are going to be able to cope with one another. Harry needs someone who is easy going and can make him laugh, but still knows when to knock the sails out from under him and bring him crashing back to earth.

"But if she's who he wants," Ron continued out loud for Hermione's benefit, "then she is right for him, at least right now. Whether we approve or not is beside the point and scaring the hell out of every girl in this school, just because you think they're unsuitable, isn't going to do him any good. He needs to have a little fun in his life. "

"Which one are you exactly?" she retorted. "The pot or the kettle? What is your strategy for dealing with anyone that happens to show the slightest bit of romantic interest in your sister?"

"That's different," Ron insisted.

"Of course it is," Hermione retorted, rolling her eyes. "The pot doesn't think he's black."

For a moment she considered mentioning the fact that Ginny had a date for Hogsmeade, not only to prove her point, but because it was the perfect opportunity to reveal the information. If, or more precisely when, he freaked out about it, she could use his own argument against him. Ginny deserved to have a little fun too, after all. But then she changed her mind. David seemed like a nice enough bloke from what Hermione knew and she didn't want to set Ron on him for no reason, especially considering they'd be seeing him tonight at their weekly prefect meeting. Ginny wasn't serious about him anyway. He was just the transitional guy, someone she was more or less going out with just to prove to herself that she could move on and have fun with someone other than Harry. Hermione actually felt kind of sorry for him in a way, which is why she'd warned Ginny not to drag it out too long if it looked like he might be developing feelings for her that she couldn't reciprocate.

"I'm serious, Hermione," Ron pressed on. "Harry has already lost far too much. That monster is slowly taking away everyone that he cares about. First his parents, then Sirius, and now with the attacks on the Muggle-borns...it's no coincidence that happened on his birthday. He wanted Harry to know it was personal. He wanted him to blame himself. He can't get to all of us just yet, but he can stick it to Harry in other ways. He can't make us abandon Harry, but if he can make Harry fear for our safety, he might just pull away from us on his own and do You-Know-Who's job for him. If he isolates himself, he'll be vulnerable and we can't let that happen. Don't you see," Ron continued his rant. "This is just one more thing that twisted sod is trying to take away from him, only this time there is someone else right in front of him that he can blame. Ultimately it's You-Know-Who's fault, but you're the one Harry is going to hold accountable if you don't watch what you say and do a little damage control. And the first step to that is telling him what you said to Parvati and why, so come on," he said, reaching for the door again.

"Now?" Hermione asked, jerking her hand out of his when he grabbed it.

"No," he replied, when he sensed her panic. "You obviously can't tell him something like that in the middle of Transfigurations. Maybe during Charms," he joked to lighten the situation a bit. "I'll just have Neville hit him with a wayward Cheering Charm and then you can have at it. Seriously though," he said, grabbing her hand again and tugging her along behind him as he entered the room. "You should probably do it during the lunch break. Hey!" he snapped, his attention now completely focused on the girls that had taken their normal spots to Harry's left. "Those seats are spoken for," he said rudely to Parvati and Lavender. "We've only been sitting there for the past six years, so move it."

There, Ron thought contentedly, when the girls glared at him and moved to their normal table behind the trio, where they proceeded to whisper, no doubt about how rude he was, as they unpacked their bags. That ought to keep her from ratting Hermione out before lunch. If she can't talk to him in private, she can't squeal.

BREAK . BREAK

"Ready?" Ron asked Hermione quietly, as the rest of the class packed their notes away after their Double Transfiguration class had ended.

"Can't I do it once the afternoon classes are over?" she said softly.

"Do what?" Harry said, unsure whether or not he ought to be asking. What if the two of them were talking about some private lunchtime encounter they had planned?

"Hermione has something she needs to tell you," Ron replied.

"It can wait," she insisted, focusing her attention on her rucksack when Harry's expression changed from curious to wary.

"No it can't," Ron countered. "Because unlike some people, you insisted on taking Herbology, which means your afternoon classes don't actually let out the same time as ours. You need to do it now."

"If it's about Hogsmeade," Harry said, his attention jumping from Hermione, to Ron, and back to Hermione again. "I already..."

"It's not," she sighed as she stood up. "Well, it is in a way but... can we discuss this somewhere else?" she asked, glancing over at Professor McGonagall, who had been watching the three of them rather closely throughout their lesson.

"What have you done now?" Harry asked, his green eyes narrowing a bit behind his glasses as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"No, she's right," Ron said, glancing at McGonagall from the corner of his eye as Harry bristled. "Let's take our stuff back up the common room," he suggested

"Well, it could have been worse," Ron said to Hermione, as the two of them watched Harry storm away from them and through the portrait hole twenty minutes later.

"How?" she asked, sinking down into a chair and running one hand through her hair in frustration.

"Um... he could be hacked off at me too," he offered. "No seriously," he added, when she shot him a reproachful look. "At least this way I can slowly bring him around, because you know, he'll still be talking to me and all."

"Ron," Hermione groaned, feeling worse than ever. "You aren't helping."

"Well, not yet," he replied. "I've got to give him a chance to cool off first, don't I?"

"I meant me," she sighed.

"Well obviously I'm still going to be talking to you," he replied, purposely being thick to lighten the mood up a bit. "You're my wife," he added quietly, sitting down on the arm of her chair. "It's expected. Come on, love," he said, chucking softly when she attempted to shove him off her chair in retaliation for his comment. "We may as well go get something to eat before Charms."

"Do you think we should bring..." she started to say, looking at the book bag Harry had left sitting in the middle of the common room, as she took the hand Ron was offering and allowed him to pull her up.

"No," he replied, before she even had a chance to finish. "I doubt he'll even show up," he added, grabbing her bag off the floor and slinging it over his shoulder with his own. "Just take extra good notes," he said, taking her hand in his again, "and I'll make sure he gets them later."

"Thank you," Hermione said, as she allowed Ron to pull her towards the portrait hole. "For staying with me while I... for looking out for me."

"That's my job, isn't it? I mean it's expected," he replied, surprising Hermione by reacting to her appreciation with embarrassment.

"That's not why you do it," she said astutely.

"I know," he said awkwardly, as the two of them stepped into the corridor. "Come on," he added, tugging her towards the stairs.

"Why are you embarrassed?" Hermione asked, biting back a small smile when she saw his ears redden when she pointed out what he was feeling.

"I guess I'm just not used to you being... appreciative," he finally admitted. "I mean, I'm not used to feelings it. It's just... odd. It's like I'm grateful to myself all of a sudden and that's just... wrong."

"Sorry," she said, despite the fact they both knew that she wasn't. "I can try feeling something else. How's that?"

"Oh great," Ron chuckled, but he was unable to contain his smile. "Just remember it's your fault when I get a big swelled head from loving myself, so no fair telling me off."

BREAK . BREAK

Author's Notes:

Yes, I know this chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but on the plus side, it didn't take two weeks to get. :-) The thing is, my computer hasn't been working properly for a while now, and it's finally reached a point where I'm going to have to bite the bullet and have someone look it over. If the problems are minor, he might be able to fix them at my house. I know I have a lot of spyware though, some of which I am unable to remove myself... grumble grumble... and the darn thing is slow as molasses when I'm online. I've been warned by various people that a lot of it comes from the pop up adds at sites like FFnet, so if/ when I get the problem fixed, I may stop posting this story there to prevent the same thing from happening all over again.

Those of you reading the story at FFnet, should can also find an edited down version at Harry Potter Fanfiction dot com.

It may be that the repair guy will need to take my computer back to his workshop for a good cleaning/ debugging and if that happens I have no idea how long he'll have it. But if he has it there, that means I won't have access to it, which means I can't write. So I thought it was probably better to get a shorter chapter up BEFORE I hand it over. (No idea when that will actually happen though. You know those repair guys, they NEVER show up when they say they will). Who knows, it may even be more cost effective to get a whole new computer (which I admit, is the option I am leaning towards at the moment), in which case I can start working on Chap 61 on that. It all depends on when the repair guys gets out here, what he says, etc. But I don't want to hand my computer over in the middle of a chapter, nor do I want to get a new one and hook it all up when I have a chapter in progress still stored on the old one. So posting a shorter chapter now, rather than a longer one later, seemed like the best overall option.

Now back to the story.

As many of you correctly surmised, the reason Ron could get into the girls' dorm is because he's now a married man. Obviously the stairs can't prevent all males from entering. Not all Heads of House are female, for instance. Snape, is Head of Slytherin House, but there has to be loopholes in the magic that would allow him to access the girls' dormitories if an emergency situation arose.

The way I worked it out was that the stairwells would not only be triggered by a member of the opposite sex trying to get up, but more importantly, by the intent of that person. Most teenage boys trying to get into the girl's rooms would be up to no good, which would immediately trigger the safeguards. Even if all they wanted to do was talk to a girl, deep down they would know they weren't supposed to be up there, which again, would trigger the safety measures. So I'm assuming that the intentions of the person trying to gain access are as important, if not more important, than their gender.

The fact that Ron is now married to one of the girls in the off limits area blurred the line enough to allow him to pass. It also helped that he wasn't really thinking when he ran up there. But now that he is married, he should be able to gain access to his wife, because his intentions are perfectly honorable where she is concerned. That doesn't mean he has complete and total access to the girls' dorms though. He can't just walk up there and barge into any girl's room he likes. If he tried to do that, his intentions would no longer be honorable and he wouldn't be allowed to pass. He can only get up there to see Hermione, and even then, he can only enter a room that she is in.