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Chapter Fifteen

"Can you believe we're almost done with all of this?"

Ron and Harry looked up from the common room couch and smiled curiously at Hermione. She had just walked into the common room and had plopped down heavily at the seat next to them. Ron glanced over to her and smiled. She was undeniably beautiful. Her brown hair had been pulled back into a loose braid and Ron had never seen her look so content. Upon their return from the mansion (the Dark Mark had worked exactly how Ron had anticipated—not ten minutes after Ron had conjured it above the castle, McGonagall and a horde of Aurors had burst into the room) all three of them had gone to the infirmary and Madam Pompfrey had been quick to heal the surprisingly few wounds that they had acquired. The real healing however had come when the trio had returned to the common room—and had been attacked by Lavender and Parvati who had staged a full on makeover for the trio. If there had been any dirt or twigs left in Hermione's hair by the end of the attack, Ron would have been surprised. He would have been surprised if anything had been left in her hair at all. It wasn't just physical healing that the trio went though upon their return though. As was the norm, they had not been in the common room ten minutes and had managed to tell the story dozens of times to the awestruck Gryffindors. They managed to leave out the details of the love potion, not to mention the spontaneous embraces and kisses between Ron and Hermione, but the story still had a certain shock-effect to it.

"What do you mean we're almost done?" Harry asked, leaning back into the chair. Despite his penchant for adventure, he fully enjoyed the periods of relaxation that fell in between the action. Hermione shrugged, drawing her knees to her chest.

"You know—we'll graduate in a few weeks, and then what? We'll go out, have our jobs; we won't have school to keep us close. I mean, I've been reading up on it and statistics show that people who were close all through school drifted apart once they had graduated." Ron laughed.

"Statistics also say that nearly everyone who Voldemort comes into contact with gets killed—when have we ever been ones to follow statistics?" He asked, draping his arm casually around Hermione's shoulder. She rested her head on his shoulder and shrugged. Despite the fact that they had been having these close type of moments (not to mention even closer moments) in the past few weeks, it never failed to make both Hermione and Ron's hearts flip with satisfaction.

"Believe me Hermione—there's no way you'll be able to get rid of the two of us." Harry said with a laugh and despite her worries, Hermione had to smile. That probably wasn't very likely. At the rate we're going we'll still be searching for horocruxes and battling Voldemort until we're old a decrepit, Hermione thought to herself. She suppressed a laugh at the vision of the three of them fighting Voldemort, walkers and canes in tow.

"I suppose you're right," Hermione admitted, her earlier feelings of anxiety settling down in her chest. Ron nodded in agreement.

"Plus, I think mum would die if you two didn't continue to spend all your free time at the Burrow." He piped in with a laugh, his hand gently massaging Hermione's shoulder. She felt so good snuggled into him; the warmth of her body combining with his own. He still couldn't get over the fact that they were together now and that he could hold her or hug her whenever he wanted. It was what he had been after for years and finally—finally—it had come true.

Ron remembered how nervous he had been when McGonagall took them back to Hogwarts. It wasn't so much the fact that he knew they were going to be in loads of trouble (they weren't) or the fact that he knew McGonagall would probably expel them before they could graduate (she didn't), but more the fear that once they were in the infirmary, the love potion would no doubt be lifted and Hermione would go back to her old self again. Now that they had heard the details of the potion Ron was sure that they would be able to cure it or at least suppress it somehow. He had fretted all night, tossing and turning on the uncomfortable cot until Hermione had appeared suddenly at his bedside.

"Ron are you awake?" She had asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She had been keenly aware that Harry was one bed away and clearly she had no intention of waking him. Ron had nodded and sat up slightly, his face bathed in the moonlight. She had bit her lip then, as if thinking something over in her head. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened tonight in the tower."

"What about it?" Ron had asked then, careful to monitor his tone so that she wouldn't be able to recognize the eagerness in it.

"Well, you know what Lucius and I said about how the love potion left you because it realized that you had feelings for me? How it was looking for another host and ended up choosing me?" Ron nodded but Hermione hadn't seemed to notice. She continued on. "Well, I didn't realize it then because we were all worried about dying and stuff, but I think that the spell left me too, looking for another suitable host." At this Ron hadn't been able to mask his surprise. He had nearly jumped straight off of the cot, but had managed to contain himself in the knick of time.

"What do you mean? Why weren't you a suitable host?" Ron had pressed dumbly, trying to appear innocent about what Hermione was saying. Inwardly he was brimming with questions. Does she love me? Is this real? How can I tell whether or not this is really her or the spell? Is the spell really gone? He had wondered excitedly, waiting for Hermione's answer. She was silent for a long time, so quiet that Ron wondered if she had fallen asleep right there at the side of his bed. Finally though, she had spoken, her voice solemn in the darkness.

"Because my feelings for you were genuine—just like your feelings were for me." Although it had been what Ron had anticipated her saying he was still surprised by the declaration. He had smiled nervously, hoping she meant what he wanted her to mean.

"So—the spell is gone? Everything is," Ron had paused, choking slightly over the last word, "real?"

"Yes." It had been exactly what Ron wanted to hear. He had reached out then, catching Hermione's chin in the darkness, and even though they had been having impromptu kisses for quite some time, that had been the first time that it felt completely valid.

"Ron—what do you think?" Hermione's prodding tones brought Ron back from his reveries. He stared down at her with a contented grin.

"About what?" He asked, blushing slightly when Harry and Hermione laughed.

"About what we've been talking about for the past ten minutes!" Hermione crowed brightly, craning her neck to look up at Ron. He smiled down at her and shrugged innocently. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What do you think about us—all of us—staying at the Burrow for a while? At least until Harry's house is finished that is. I have a feeling your mum will be more than happy to let us." Ron nodded enthusiastically. Not only would Hermione be staying with him the entire summer but then when they all moved into Godric's Hollow as well.

"I think mum would be insulted otherwise," Ron assured them. Harry smiled and stared teasingly at the couple to his right.

"Except I doubt that she'll let us bunk too close anymore," he laughed and even in the firelight the redness that rose in Ron and Hermione's cheeks was prominent.

"Yeah—I wouldn't be surprised if you end up in a bunk right next to mum and dad," Ron admitted and Hermione's face flamed.

"Yeah, me and Ginny," Hermione cast a quick glance at Harry's startled face and rushed to cover her error, "Oh honestly, it's not like Ron and I can't contain ourselves," she said, the embarrassment in her tone blatant. Ron shrugged.

"Well, you did have a certain tendency to throw yourself at me on that little adventure of ours," he joked, giving Hermione's shoulder a loving squeeze. She cocked an eyebrow at him and smiled.

"I never saw you fighting me off," she added, sitting up and fixing him with an accusatory stare. Ron merely shrugged. Harry laughed along with his friends.

"Like I said before—I wouldn't be surprised if you and Ginny were under constant supervision." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh Gods, it won't be that bad I'm sure," she said, turning her gaze back to the fire. She remembered all of the times that they had strategized and planned different adventures in this dorm. She knew that like everything else in Hogwarts, it would be hard to leave it.

"Don't worry Hermione—once we move in with Harry we'll have plenty of time to make up what we missed out on at the Burrow." Hermione felt her face flame again as she reached out, playfully smacking at Ron's arm. He laughed.

"If you two continue to be so sappy then I might take back my offer to have you live with me at all," Harry warned jokingly. He glanced at the clock. "We better get down to the Great Hall or else we're going to miss dinner completely." He said. They had to be the only Gryffindors left in the entire dormitory. Everyone else had gone down long ago. Hermione and Ron stood reluctantly, struggling to snap out of the tranquil state that the fire had lulled them into. Harry followed suit, stretching out his legs carefully before meeting up with Ron and Hermione. He couldn't help looking at them with a smile; they had both waited so long for this that it was only fair that they should have ended up together. He only hoped that Ron would be just as happy for him and Ginny. Ifwe ever manage to tell him that is, Harry thought to himself with a guilty smile. But the time for that would come later. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy the moment with his two best friends. Not to mention that I fancy graduating with all of my limbs, Harry thought with a nervous laugh. Heglanced around the common room one last time and hurried out to catch up withHermione and Ron.Together, the three of them walked down to their last meal at Hogwarts. Despite everything that they had been through the past seven years and all the things that they had done, nothing had changed. Some things never do.

END


Dedications:

First and foremost I would like to dedicate this story to my best friend Terra who had the brilliant idea for it in the first place. I know that you didn't want this to be a dictatorship where you told me what to write and I'm so thankful that you let me totally do my own thing, even though I totally ended up warping your idea in the process. I hope you liked how it turned out anyway. Secondly, I would like to dedicate this to all of the reviewers (I'm not going to name everyone, but you know who you are) who really helped me with this by adding comments and ideas and places that I needed to clarify. Without all of you I would not have had ANY motivation and there would be no way that I would have finished this. Lastly, I would like to dedicate this to my friendsfor dealing with all ofmy absentmindedness and me bouncing all my ideas and stuff off of you guys even when you had no clue what I was talking about. Sometimes the best thing to do is just smile and nod. Thank you all!