Well, you finish your degree and think that you have nothing to do, and then you find out you've got a portfolio to organise and a degree show to do a presentation board for! Shocking really! lol
Anyway another chapter for you all, I'm sorry if you think it's dragging a bit but I don't think it's as simple as they know how to wake Ron up so lets charge in there and do it. Plus if you think I'm evil about making you wait ages for something to happen I'll happily point you in the direction of people who are sooooooooooo much more evil than me! ;) Back to the chapter, I love writing fighting between Hermione and Harry, dunno why I just do! Please let me know what you think.
Step ;)
Chapter 33
Harry turned his head slowly towards Ginny and stared at her.
'What?' she asked at the look on his face.
'I'm sorry, I thought you just suggested bringing him here first, but you wouldn't say anything like that, would you Gin?'
'It's not that bad a suggestion,' Hermione said, backing Ginny up, 'in fact it's probably the best thing to do.'
'Have you both gone insane?' Harry asked standing up as he did so.
Ginny rolled her eyes and glanced at Hermione, she in turn sighed loudly at Harry's reaction.
'Oh Harry stop being an arse and calm down!' Hermione said moving so she was sat forward on the edge of the sofa.
Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione's comments but before he could protest at the name-calling she carried on.
'What's wrong with bringing him here for all of thirty seconds whilst he puts the cloak on and then apparates to the hospital? What's he going to do? Have a go at the décor? Tell us we should have gone with another colour for the curtains?'
'I…Well he could…he…I don't TRUST HIM, and I HATE the idea of him being in MY HOUSE!'
'Believe me Harry, I'm not too keen on the idea either but what else can we do? It was you who told me to look at the bigger picture the other night, now practice what you preach and do the same bloody thing!'
'I AM looking at the bigger picture, what happens if we bring him here, therefore practically tattooing our address on his forehead, and then he lets it slip to one of his Death Eater pals? We're not exactly flavour of the month with them are we?'
'That's a risk I'm willing to take, not that I think it is a risk because he said he'd tell the Ministry where the rest of them were and he's hardly going to be on speaking terms with them after he's sold them out is he?'
'That's a risk you're willing to take?' he asked, not believing what he had just heard Hermione say.
'Yes it is,' she replied quietly but firmly.
'You're willing to risk your own safety, my safety and Ginny's safety for the sake of…'
'Of what Harry? For the sake of waking up the person I love more than anyone in the world? For the sake of bringing back a son, a brother and a best friend back to the land of the living where he deserves to be? Yes I damn well would risk it.'
'OK, I think this has gone on for long enough!' Ginny said moving to stand between the two arguing friends. 'Harry I know this is really hard for you but unless you can think of anything else – which doesn't involve Knockturn Alley – then I suggest you get used to the idea. Hermione, I know you want to wake Ron up more than anything in the world, we all do, but Harry has a point. I know you think Malfoy's changed and I half believe it myself, but we still have to be extremely careful in the way we deal with him.'
Hermione and Harry looked at the floor, knowing they had both been put in their place by Ginny, but they both scowled, as they believed their point had been most important.
'Now apologise to each other and wipe those scowls off your faces, we still have to think up a plan and tell Malfoy.'
'Sorry,' mumbled Harry.
'I'm sorry,' Hermione said in the same tone.
'Oh at least try and sound like you mean it!' Ginny snapped, irritated by the two of them.
Hermione sighed and raised her head, looking Harry in the eye.
'I'm sorry Harry, really I am. I didn't mean to sound like I didn't care about anything but waking Ron up; of course I care about our safety. I'm sorry.'
'Apology accepted,' he said, 'and I'm sorry too. I'll learn not to let my petty annoyances get in the way of the real issue, and once we've got this place a bit more protected then I'll let him through the door, so to speak. I promise.'
'Thank you,' she replied with a smile, 'apology accepted.'
'Good.'
'Well I'm glad that's over. Now, what are we going to do?'
'Hang on, why don't you Side-Along-Apparate him here so he doesn't know where he's going?'
'Will that work – him not knowing where he's going?' Ginny asked.
'I'm not sure, I think it would normally, but I don't know with Malfoy.'
'Why don't we make the house unplottable?' Hermione asked.
'It already is,' Harry replied.
'It is?' Hermione asked, slightly shocked.
'Yeah, the Ministry insisted when we moved in. I couldn't be bothered to argue the point. It saved us having to do it, like now for instance.'
'Oh, well I suppose that's a good thing.'
They fell silent, trying to think of anything else that could help.
'Couldn't we charm the house so it doesn't look like itself?'
'I don't know how to,' Hermione said, 'I've seen it done but I don't know the incantation, and if we're doing this tomorrow then I doubt we'll have the time to master the spell, I think it's quite a hard piece of magic to perform.'
'Oh.'
'Look, I'm sure we're making this far too complicated for ourselves,' Harry said as he started to get frustrated with their lack of solutions to the problem. 'We just need somewhere secluded to meet him so we can give him the cloak and then apparate to St. Mungo's. If he was spotted around Hogsmeade then we shouldn't go there obviously, but there must be somewhere we can meet up.'
'We could always let him suggest a place. I know that's a bit risky, but I doubt he'll want to go anywhere too drastic. It saves us getting frustrated and annoyed because we can't think of anywhere,' Hermione suggested.
'I like the sound of that,' Ginny replied.
'It can't hurt to ask him, we can always tell him to think of somewhere else if we don't like what he says,' said Harry.
'Exactly,' Hermione said.
'Right I suppose we'd better change the coin,' Ginny prompted.
'Ok,' Hermione said, picking it up off the table,' so we need to tell him eleven o'clock tomorrow at St. Mungo's, but tell him we have to meet him somewhere else first to give him the invisibility cloak…oh, and then we have to tell him to suggest somewhere to meet.'
'Are you asking him what his wand core is?' Ginny asked.
'How much information do you think I can get on a coin edge?' she replied with a smile.
'Fair enough.'
After thinking hard for a minute Hermione managed to transfigure the message into the metal. She had to drop the occasional vowel like Malfoy had done earlier but it was still legible, just.
'And now we wait,' she said.
'And now we wait,' Ginny repeated.
'Er…Hermione, weren't you supposed to phone your mum back, like half an hour ago?'
Hermione's eyes widened.
'Oh Merlin, she is not going to be happy!'
Harry and Ginny smiled and left Hermione alone in the lounge to make her phone call. Hermione dialled her old home phone number and waited for a reply.
'Hello,' she heard her mum say in her ear.
'Mum it's me, sorry it took so long to phone you back, things took longer than I expected.'
'What were you doing Hermione, I was starting to get worried.'
'We just had some stuff to sort out, it's nothing really.'
'"Nothing" doesn't tend to take half an hour to sort out Hermione!'
'Mum, I'm really sorry but I can't tell you at the moment, I swear as soon as I can I will do, but I can't risk anything for the sake of a few days. I'll try and tell you a bit more later on but I can't now. I'm sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.'
'No Hermione, it's not. I thought you could tell me anything.'
'Mum please don't say that, of course I know I can tell you anything and I said I'll try and do so this afternoon. You'll understand why I can't when I tell you it all eventually, because I will tell you eventually. I promise.'
'Nothing bad is about to happen is it Hermione? You aren't putting yourself in danger again are you?'
'No mum I'm not. I swear, I'm fine and I will be fine. If everything goes to plan then I will tell you everything tomorrow night.'
'You promise me you will.'
'Yes, I promise.'
'Ok then, I suppose I'll have to be happy with that. So are you definitely coming round this afternoon, I have to know how many to cook for, for tea.'
'Are you making a Sunday roast?'
'Yes I am.'
'In which case how can I refuse, of course I'll be there. I can endure an afternoon of Rachel if I get to eat your Sunday dinner!'
Jan laughed. Hermione smiled but then remembered how her mum was about to tell her something about her imaginary university life in their earlier conversation.
'Mum what exactly have you told Rachel and Aunty Christine about my pretend university life?'
'Ah well…I might have been…a bit over-elaborate about what you've been involved in over the past year.'
Hermione closed her eyes, knowing her acting skills were going to have to be exceptional to meet her mum's lies.
'What did you tell them?' she asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
'Well I might have said that you were asked to become a member of the Student's Union committee in your first term because you got to know the President and she was highly impressed with your views and issues you had with student life.'
'Mum! How am I supposed to know what to say when Aunty Christine asks me about the committee? I haven't got a clue about how many people there are; I don't know what happens at their meetings, and I haven't a clue about how you would go about changing any issues that arose!'
'Well, you'll have got all that information before you joined the committee because you write in the student newspaper on a weekly basis.'
'You have got to be kidding. What in God's name would I have to write about?'
'Being on the Hockey team.'
'The HOCKY TEAM? Mum! When have I EVER had an interest in SPORT?'
'Don't shout Hermione, there's no need.'
'I think I have every reason to shout! Next you'll be telling me I run the whole sodding university!'
'Oh stop being ridiculous Hermione, the only reason I said those things is because Christine was going on and on about how brilliant a time Rachel was having, and how she was becoming so involved in University life. I wanted to tell her exactly what you've been doing for the past nine years and how proud of you I am for doing everything you've been doing but I couldn't, so I told her what I thought the equivalent could be in our world.'
Hermione fell silent and smiled. She knew her mum was proud of her and knew how much her Aunty Christine liked to show off about Rachel. So she could hardly blame her mum for trying to stand up for Hermione.
'Thanks mum; I understand why you did it. You know I could always perform a charm on them to make them think I've told them everything already.'
'I don't think that will be necessary Hermione, we'll do this the hard way.'
'Ah well, if you insist!'
'I do,' Jan replied.
'Ok, so what time shall I come round?'
'How about two-ish?'
'That sounds fine.'
'I'll see you then, Hermione.'
'Ok, see you later mum.'
'Love you.' Her mum said for the second time that morning.
'I love you too mum. Bye.'
Hermione dropped the phone on the sofa next to her and sighed. She heard movement behind her in the kitchen.
'Harry?' she asked.
'Yeah?' he replied.
'How many people are there on a hockey team?'
