SERENDIPITY

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I created.

CHAPTER 3-IT ALL COMES OUT IN THE WASH-I HOPE

Harry hadn't realized until that very moment, as he was racing as fast as he could away from the burrow, how much Ron had grown and with that his ability to take longer strides.  As he ran Harry noticed that the few stray droplets that had first begun to fall upon his leaving the burrow had now turned into a slight drizzle, wetting him to the bone almost as well as the sweat that built up as he tried to catch up to his best friend.  When Harry finally located Ron his legs ached from the pace that he had taken through the underbrush.  He found Ron in a hollow of sorts, with a large uprooted tree at one end and an almost natural coliseum in miniature with a large rock at the other end.  Ron stood at one end near the roots of the uprooted tree, again and again punching it with his right fist.

"Ron," Harry exclaimed in between huffs of breath as his lungs burned from the effort before he was finally able to slide down the side of the depression and keep from landing in what looked like a pit of mud.

"Don't say it Harry…just don't say it," Ron called back quickly to Harry even though he kept his gaze firmly locked onto the tree in front of him, seemingly determined to keep punching and punching until either the tree or his hand broke, whichever came first.

"Say what Ron…," Harry asked, confused to a point at what exactly was happening in front of him coupled with Ron's current state of mind.

"That I'm the biggest git in the bloody world and now Hermione will probably never speak to me again…face it mate…she hates me," Ron replied with a nervous and somewhat schizophrenic tone to his voice as he half turned around and Harry caught site of a deranged smile on his face.

"Ron…Ron stop, I mean it…stop," Harry cried out with a scared feeling in the pit of his stomach as he lurched forward and was soon forced to summon up every single ounce of strength left in his body to pull and drag Ron away from the tree.  When he was finally able to get Ron far enough away from the tree Harry's breath caught in his throat as he looked down at Ron's right hand.  Each and every knuckle seemed to be split completely open, blood running down his fingers before dripping off of each fingertip onto the wet grass below.  "Bloody hell…," Harry mumbled in awe and worry as he stared for a moment at Ron's condition before Ron's empty voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Why Harry, what good will it do…after how I was to her in there she'll never want to listen to a single word I have to say…I was so stupid…bloody…," Ron interjected with an abrupt scowl on his face before he spun around on his heel and was about to slam his fist back into the rock as hard as he could when a sound from above caught him off guard.

"Well what do we have here…the famous Harry Potter and his muggle loving best friend…," A mocking voice snickered from a perch on top of the rock before Ron and Harry stumbled frantically away from the boulder as fast as they could through the mud, with Ron finally realizing how badly injured his right hand was as it slipped out from under him and he went down hard face first into the mud.

"Ron," Harry cried with a frantic look of shock on his face as he reached out and maniacally began to drag and pull Ron back away from the boulder just as three figures silently floated down from the boulder.  Ron's breath caught in his throat as his gaze fell onto the forms of those that were now only feet away, aiming their wands directly at he and Harry.  Ron didn't have to hear them speak to know full well who they were.  Stalking towards them, with hideous masking covering their twisted grins of glee, was Lucius Malfoy and two other Death Eaters.  Almost to the point of passing out Ron fumbled through his pockets in search of his wand, only to late coming to the realization that he had left it back in his room, with Harry's lying comfortably on the cot on the other side of the room.

"Fleur was here all summer," Hermione asked, her voice full of concern and worry, as she paced around the living room, almost in a dreamlike state.

"Y…yeah, she kind of just showed up one morning looking like death warmed over, she wouldn't tell us why she was here…only that whenever anyone brought up Bill's name she'd start to cry," Ginny replied cautiously, hoping that her words wouldn't prompt Hermione to fly off into the beginnings of a row like the ones that she regularly had with Ron, often over the most trivial of matters.

"But I thought that she and Bill, well the twins said that…," Hermione mumbled back softly as he brain was working furiously at that moment and the words were getting pretty jumbled up in her head. Ginny nodded her head in agreement for a few seconds before answering.

"For months all that we got from Bill was one glowing letter after another about how much fun he was having working for Gringotts and helping Fleur with her English, but ever since Fleur showed up on our doorstep we haven't heard anything from Bill, except that he's gone back to Egypt and doesn't want to talk about it," Ginny answered sadly as she tried to hold back the tears at the memory of the look on her mothers face as she had read Bill's letter explaining it all only weeks before.

"But why come here…I mean Fleur only barely knows Bill, she met Ron and Harry only briefly two years ago during the Triwizard Tournament, why would she come here," Hermione openly pondered as she impatiently wiped away a couple of tears and pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table.

"I'm not sure, Bill probably talked her ear off about the burrow so when she left Gringotts she probably could only think to come here…Ron could tell you more though, those two spent most of the summer together, after every one of your letters from Bulgaria he'd start to throw a fit but Fleur would drag him back up to his room and shut the door behind them and put a locking and silencing charm on it, we wouldn't see either again for a few hours, but Ron would always have calmed down when we saw him again, actually now that you mention it he'd look a little to smug for his own good…if you know what I mean," Ginny answered softly with a sincere smile on her face before she realized how much she had said and blushed deeply, a Weasley family trait, before turning away and fixing her gaze on a point on the far wall.

"If I know what…," Hermione mumbled softly before her eyes grew wider than Ron's had when he had opened the door and saw Fleur standing there.  Before Ginny could say anything more Hermione's eyes shrunk in anger and she nearly flung the chair across the room in anger as she bolted back up to her feet and began to storm out of the burrow.

"Wait, Hermione what do you…oh no…Hermione," Ginny began to question with a confused look on her face before her eyes wide in shock and surprise she realized what conclusion Hermione had come to and started to race out of the burrow after her, only to stop suddenly right at the door by a loud popping sound as Lupin and Tonks apparated to the burrow, materializing in the doorway, with Tonks looking over her shoulder, her hair a deep red and waist length, while Lupin gazed down and intently began to study the youngest member of the Weasley family.

"Is something wrong Ginny," Lupin asked with a concerned expression on his face as he started to kneel down before Tonks jumped in.

"Uh…guys, not to break up the happy little q and a session that you two are having but where's Hermione going in such a huff, it's going to be a full blown gale out there in a few minutes, shouldn't she be upstairs trying to get Ron and Harry to actually study for once," Tonks interjected with a confused and concerned frown on her face as she turned back to face Lupin and Ginny.

"She's going to throttle Ron if we don't hurry, Ron and Hermione had an epic row before he stormed out with Harry hot on his heels…but," Ginny began with an almost frantic pace before at the mention of Harry's whereabouts Lupin turned instantly pale and glanced almost painfully back out into the rain before returning to look down at Ginny.  "But before he left Harry said something stupid…he said that Ron and Fleur had been…well you know…all summer…but it's not true, right," Ginny stammered out her question, hoping that Lupin and Tonks would be able to shed some more light on the matter or if nothing else disprove her fears that Harry had only added to and her earlier feelings about what Fleur and Ron had been doing up in his rooms all of those times.  But her hopes were all but crushed when Lupin swallowed hard and looked very uncomfortable all of a sudden and Tonks flushed almost as deeply red as Ginny had only moments before.  "But that…that would mean that…that they…ew…," Ginny nearly whispered out in disbelief as she took a couple of steps back before she scrunched her face up in disgust and angrily shook her head.

"Sorry I didn't tell you Ginny, but we swore that we wouldn't tell anyone about them…," Tonks began softly to try to placate her almost mirror image in miniature before Ginny did the unexpected and angrily forced her way between the two, taking off in a dead sprint out of the burrow and after Hermione, with a declaration hanging in the wind behind her, "I'm going to kill that bloody git!"

Truth be told Hermione wasn't exactly positive where she was going, only that she was being driven forward on almost pure anger at Ron.  As she went she began to dream up possible horrible things to do to Ron when she found him on top of exactly what she would say to him.  She fully expected to give him the tongue lashing of a lifetime before finally letting him have it with one stunning spell or another.  "How could he…with Fleur," Her almost fully heartbroken mind kept screaming over and over again before she was forced to stop and bend over a bit in an effort to try to catch her breath, her lungs burning from the effort.  Even her scar was giving her fits at that moment.  After panting heavily for a few moments she straightened back up and continued to run in the direction that she had last seen Harry running.  To her credit she hadn't been at the burrow long enough to lay her wand down anywhere and so she very nearly pulled a muscle in her haste to arm herself in preparation to confront Ron.  She had just passed through a creek, getting her shoes and socks accidentally completely soaked, and through the first line of trees when she heard the first of many very loud cracking sounds.  Only half glancing up she nearly tripped over her own feet when to her at first confusion and then later horror at the sight of first one and then many trees exploding into an enormous shower of splinters that rained down the ground below.

For a few fleeting moments Hermione stood frozen in shock at the sight being unveiled in front of her.  Her clouded memory furiously stormed through every single spell that she could think of that would be causing that type of destruction and why it would be used, and so close to the burrow of all places. Hesitantly she began to take a few awkward steps forward before something caught her eye in the distance.  At first she thought that she had merely been mistaken at what she thought that she saw, but a second later there was no mistake.  Out of a thick row of bushes tore two figures, with the one in front limping badly, acting as if the devil himself were behind them.  The two figures did their best to scramble across the open field, heading directly for where Hermione was standing, acting as if they did not see her.  As they grew closer Hermione's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Ron hobbling forward as fast as he could with Harry behind him, seemingly pushing him along in a blind panic.  "Harry what…," Hermione began to demand with a furious scowl on her face before there was an explosion that ripped apart the line of bushes that Harry and Ron had only just previously tore out of.

"Run…," Harry exclaimed with as frantic of a look of sheer terror on his face as Hermione had ever seen before Ron's hand snaked out and grabbed her by the arm.

"Harry what…Ron let go of my…," Hermione protested angrily with a firm scowl on her face before the reasons that Ron and Harry were in such a panic became infinitely visible as three figures popped into being out of thin air a mere twenty feet from where Ron was valiantly struggling to drag Hermione after him while hobbling painfully on his wounded leg.  Hermione very nearly choked on her own words before she abruptly quit her protests and spun on her heel and slipped an arm around Ron's waist as the two then staggered together away from their pursuers.

"Leaving so soon you filthy mudblood," Lucius shouted with a sinister sneer on his face behind the vile Death Eater mask before he whipped out his wand and aimed it directly into the middle of Ron's back.  Time almost seemed to stand infinitely still to Hermione as she could tell that behind the mask Lucius Malfoy was in the midst of casting a spell, most likely a killing curse.

"Ron look…," Hermione started to shout with a terrified look of panic on her face before a bright light shot out of the end of Lucius' wand and flew like a bolt of lightning towards them.  In that instant time and reality themselves seemed to stop following their normal rules and operate independently of each other, at least that was how Hermione would explain the events that happened next over the years.  Not being able to watch the outcome Hermione closed her eyes and spun into Ron, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and throwing herself to the ground, hoping to pull Ron down with her and avoid the curse altogether.  But the slippery ground, and Ron's sudden jerk to one side at her sudden action, did little good but make sure that the curse hit Ron square in the back.  The last thing that Hermione remembered before blacking out was a searing pain and the high scream of someone in extreme pain.

"I don't understand it, they should both be dead, I heard Lucius say the words myself, it was a killing curse…I just don't understand it," Lupin announced with an irritated, scared, somewhat relieved, and nervous scowl on his face as he paced back and forth in the Weasley's kitchen.

"You sure you heard him right Lupin, I mean I was there to…and he did have that ugly as dirt mask on…maybe you heard wrong," Tonks offered up with an optimistic but weak smile on her face as she pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down backwards on it, resting her chin on the top of the back of the chair.

"I'm sure that he heard correctly Tonks, but we should really discuss all of this later, Fudge has dispatched several Aurors to stand guard around the clock here at the burrow, I assure you we are all quite safe for the time being," Dumbledore said softly with a tired look on his face before he stopped and pushed his half moon spectacles back up his nose and turned to watch Hagrid stoke the fire in the hearth up a bit more, much to a shivering Ginny's delight.

"Are you sure Albus, this is most troubling news, if they dare to attack this brazenly then…," McGonagall uttered with a nervous twitching of her upper lip before she picked her tea cup up off of the table and took a shaky sip.

"Then what horrors will they dare to enact next…I do not know, and that is what troubles me most, the unknown," Dumbledore interrupted with a deep in though frown on his face as he continued to watch Ginny shiver from afar.

"Yeah…w…well, they can just go to hell, the whole bloody lot of…," Ginny began to exclaim with a very angry scowl on her face before her mother stepped in. 

"Ginerva Weasley…," Mrs. Weasley screeched loudly as she stormed into the living room and glared down at her one and only daughter, arms crossed and her feet set firmly.

"Sorry mum," Ginny mumbled with a scared smile on her face as she cowered down a bit further into her blanket and looked across the ground floor towards Tonks, who looked about as put out as Ginny felt.

"But none of this explains why Ron and Hermione aren't dead, that curse hit them both, I reckon Harry only got grazed by the spell and that was enough to knock him out cold, but those two…," Lupin interjected with a very worried and confused scowl on his face as he scrunched up his eyebrows in thought and stared up through the burrows ceiling towards the room where Ron and Hermione slept soundly.

"One would assume that it would be quite obvious would it not Remus," Dumbledore stated with a soft chuckle and a wink sent first at McGonagall and then at Lupin.

" 'ere now…what's this all about," Hagrid asked with a confused look on his face as he gently sat down on the couch next to Ginny and threw his coat around her shoulders, almost causing her to disappear completely beneath the garment.

"Hagrid, I believe that what Albus is referring to is the very same reason that allowed one Mr. Harry Potter to survive the killing curse that Voldemort cast upon him," McGonagall answered with a half smirk on her face before Molly spun around on her heel and glared straight across the living room and then the table at McGonagall.

"What reason are you talking about," Molly demanded with a furious scowl on her face as she took a couple of steps forwards towards the kitchen table but stopped when Dumbledore calmly stepped in front of her and politely held up his hands.

"Ye don't mean Albus…not those two, but they row all the bloody time, it's their favorite sport it is, even more so than Quidditch, and that's a bloody crime," Hagrid exclaimed with a sudden look of shock on his face as he very nearly fell off of the couch in shock at the thought of it all.

"Either someone tells me right now what you're all saying about my Ronnie or…," Molly howled with a very angry and stern scowl on her face as she turned back from glaring at Hagrid and Ginny to now focus her glare on Dumbledore.

"Isn't it obvious Molly…," Tonks began with a dreamy smile on her face before she sighed and seemed to fade out into a happy memory.

"Isn't what obvious…Albus, I'm warning you…," Molly countered with a near furious expression on her face as her ears were beginning to turn red and Ginny was about to dive fully under the collar of Hagrid's coat when Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Settle down Molly, the secret that has eluded you and our esteemed Mr. Remus Lupin is that it appears with quite the amount of certainty and clarity that our young Mr. Ronald Weasley and Ms. Hermione Granger…are in love," Dumbledore recited, as if by memory, as he calmly and politely smiled over at Molly, all the while his eyes twinkling like newborn stars.

END OF CHAPTER 3