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Chapter Forty-Eight

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Harry sat at the table, flipping through the pages of his text. It was his free period, and he was spending it in the library, trying to catch up on some of his studies, seeing as he couldn't spend this time with Ginny… who was in class at the current moment. But his plan to catch up on his studies had quickly been abandoned in favour of reading notes from the 'Half Blood Prince'.

The sudden bang of heavy textbooks hitting the table next to him startled him from his search. He looked up to see Hermione, staring at him with a very disapproving look. "Still looking through the Half-Blood Prince's book?"

Harry rolled his eyes at her, and resumed his search through the pages of texts. "Yes, Mione. But don't worry, I'm not looking for anything that you would disapprove of. I'm just looking for the potion recipe for a Dreamless Sleep potion."

At this, Hermione visibly softened as she sat in the open chair next to him. "Still having nightmares?"

Harry stopped his perusal of the text as he closed his eyes and nodded, tiredly.

"Are they normal nightmares? Or-Or is it Voldemort?" She whispered the last part, and Harry looked all around them to make sure that no one was listening in on their conversation.

He turned his attention back to Hermione and minutely shook his head. "Nothing like that, and no, it's not 'normal' nightmares, either."

His tone implied that he didn't much want to expand further on the subject, but Hermione - being the person she is - became even more insistent.

"What are they about, then?"

Harry looked up at her again, exasperated.

"I don't want to talk about it, Mione. It-It, oh, never mind." Harry closed his book, telling himself that he would look later for the potion recipe.

Hermione sighed dejectedly. "I'm sorry I pushed. I don't mean to…"

Harry hummed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her bite her lip. "I can brew the potion for you, if you like. You've got enough on your plate as it is…"

Harry looked over to her, surprised. "Really?"

Hermione smiled softly and nodded, seemingly pleased that she had managed to get him out of his sour mood.

"That-That would be great, Mione. I would really appreciate it."

Hermione nodded and took his hand that rested on the desk in hers, squeezing it tight. "Of course. And Harry…?"

Harry tilted his head quizzically, indicating that he was listening.

"You… You know that Ron and I, we will always be here for you to talk to. I know that we are a couple now, and things may get weird or awkward. But… I guess I just don't want the friendship between all of us to change, despite that. We used to tell each other everything. I know that you are entitled to your own secrets, but I just want you to know that you don't have to keep them from us."

Harry turned his whole body towards her in his chair, visibly surprised. "Of course, Hermione. I never thought anything different. Even though things are changing, and we are all growing up, I still see you and Ron as the two people that have stuck by me though it all… especially at the most difficult times."

In fact, this conversation reminded him that he needed to have a private conversation with both Ron and Hermione later...

Tears of happiness started to well in Hermione's eyes and she gathered Harry into her arms. "Oh Harry… I feel the same. And I know for a fact that Ron does too. You've made our lives quite the adventure, haven't you? Before, I couldn't even imagine getting into all the trouble that you've gotten us into!"

Harry laughed, good-naturedly, as he pulled away. "I don't find trouble, trouble always finds me."

Laughing as well, Hermione replied, "Truer words have never been spoken, Mr. Potter."

Harry grinned over at her for a mere moment, before his expression darkened and became quite serious as he remembered the next adventure he was bound to go on, soon…

"Hermione…" Harry started, his voice level and cautious. "Speaking of secrets, I need to talk to you and Ron about something really important."

Hermione's eyes got really wide as she took in the severity of the situation through Harry's demeanor.

"What is it?" She whispered, her voice strained.

Harry looked all around, seeing a few students several feet away, before he turned his eyes back to her and minutely shook his head. "Not here."

Hermione nodded, looking quite serious. "Later?"

Harry nodded, his eyes going down to stare a hole into his potions' book.

"Where?" Hermione pressed, starting to catch on to the fact that she should be acting casual, as well.

"Tonight. The 'Come and Go' room." He answered.

Of those who knew of the Room of Requirement, few knew of it by that name.

Hermione nodded, and they fell into silence. Hermione's thoughts full of curiosity and expectations for the worst, and Harry's filled with the burden of what was to come.

…...

Ron stood, pacing back and forth so much to the point where Harry thought for a fact that he would wear a hole in the carpet floor of the Room of Requirement.

Ron paused his pacing, looked over at Harry with a desperate sort of look in his eyes. "And you're sure that he split his soul seven times?"

Harry sighed. It was the fourth time Ron had asked him this since Harry had finished telling them about the horcruxes. Harry was used to this sort of reaction from his two best friends. They usually questioned every detail about whatever problem it was that Harry told them before they would finally come to accept it.

"Yes, Ron," Harry stated once again. "That's what Dumbledore said."

"But how do you know for sure?"

Harry turned towards Hermione, who had voiced the question from the chair by the fireplace. It was the first thing that she had said since before Harry told them everything, and Harry couldn't help but notice how pale her face was at the moment.

"We saw it in Slughorn's memory. He wanted to create seven of them…"

Hermione's wide, fearful eyes turned sceptical as her eyebrows furrowed. "But why? Why seven?"

Harry scoffed slightly as he leaned back in his own chair. "Hermione, you know as well as anyone that seven is a magical number."

As they had been speaking, Ron had started to pace once again, his thumb up to his mouth as he chewed absentmindedly on the nail - a strategic craze to the gleam of his eyes as he thought.

Harry went back to watching the both of them as they worked through the monumental information that Harry had just told them.

When Ron suddenly spun on the spot, facing Harry with an accusatory expression on his face. "You didn't tell Ginny, did you?" He demanded, his face getting flushed.

"Yes, er," The sudden mention of Ginny's name had caught Harry off guard. "I mean, no… I didn't. I - well, just want her to stay safe."

Ron eyed him up and down, before he nodded once in approval. "Good."

"How is that good?" Hermione said, as she sat forward in an agitated manner. "You shouldn't be keeping secrets from Ginny, Harry."

Harry scowled at her, feeling a sort of red heat start to blossom in his chest. "You know what else isn't good? Telling Ginny about the horcruxes, which causes Ginny to get motivated and put herself right in the middle of things."

Hermione frowned right back at him, crossing her arms. It seems that she had gotten over her fear of the horcruxes in favour of trying to tell Harry her opinion of him as a boyfriend. "I think that it's Ginny's decision on whether or not she wants to get involved, not yours."

Harry raised one eyebrow at her as he crossed his own arms. "But what good will that do, anyways? She'll have the trace on her for another year and a half."

This seemed to do the trick, as his answer stunned Hermione into silence for a beat. "I… I hadn't thought of that… But-"

"No buts, Hermione." Harry interrupted, a fierce, protective gleam in his eyes. "If you tell her anything about the horcruxes, then I'll have a hard time forgiving you. Especially if Ginny got hurt because of it."

It looked for a moment that Hermione was going to argue against this. She opened and closed her mouth several times, but no contradiction against Harry ever passed her lips. Hermione's shoulders sagged in defeat, and in a small voice, said, "Alright, then… I won't tell her."

Ron stepped closer to Hermione, sitting on the arm rest of the couch and put a comforting arm around her shoulder, squeezing her close. And though Ron agreed with Harry on the matter, he still sent Harry a peeved look at upsetting Hermione.

Harry winced slightly under the blaring look, remembering how unnecessarily harsh his words were.

"Sorry, Mione…"

Hermione sighed. "No, it's alright. I didn't think about the trace before. But it makes sense for why you want Ginny out of the fight."

They were all silent after that. Each stuck in their own thoughts of horcruxes, the oncoming war, Ginny, their other friends and families…

"So…" Ron finally spoke up to the quiet room, causing both Harry and Hermione to jump. "What's the plan then?"

Harry looked at him confused, so Ron sighed and explained further. "You know…? What's the plan to destroying these horcrux things so we can defeat You-Know-Who?"

Awareness touched Harry's eyes for a moment, once he figured out what Ron had been asking, before he shrugged. "Dumbledore is working out a plan."

Both Ron and Hermione sighed in relief at that, and Harry couldn't blame them.

So long as they had Dumbledore on their side, everything would be alright.

…..

When Harry finally opened his eyes to the dim, morning light glowing through the Gryffindor tower window, he had simply laid there in mindless bliss - his mind not yet receptive and trying to process his newfound wakefulness.

Before awareness caught up to him, and with a start, he realized that he actually slept past dawn!

Harry sat up, racking his mind to remember whether he had a nightmare the night before or not, and was beaming when he discovered that he hadn't!

Harry grinned as a sudden tightness in his chest loosened in relief. Perhaps, it was over and done with.

But that wasn't the only thing for him to be excited about that Saturday morning.

Today, was a Hogsmeade day. And he was officially going to take Ginny on their very first date together.

And Merlin, if he wasn't bloody excited by the fact!

The only other date that he had gone on was the disastrous date that he had with Cho to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop... And his date with Ginny was bound to go much better than that.

He was already sure that Ginny wouldn't want to go to Madam Puddifoot's, so it was already better in just that simple regard, as far as Harry was concerned.

And besides that, he and Ginny got on way better than he had Cho ever did.

Ginny was his best friend, who just so happened to also be the love of his life.

He was certain that by the end of the day, Harry would have a stomach cramp from all of the laughter the day was sure to bring.

Perhaps, they could even find a private place to have a good snog.

A randy grin stretched across his face as he got up to get ready for the day.

…

"Would you stop fidgeting?" Ron said as Harry once again ran a hand through his mussed up hair. "You're making me nervous…"

Harry paused, with his fingers still in his hair, before he lowered his arm altogether. "I'm not nervous. Just anxious, I guess."

They were waiting in line at the Hogwarts front gate for Ginny and Hermione to show up. They had promised that they would wait in line for a carriage for all of them to share. But Harry was adamant that once they got to Hogsmeade, that both pairs would split their ways. He had promised Ginny a date where they got to be alone, and he was keen on delivering on that promise. Especially since he already felt so guilty for keeping secrets from her...

"Yeah, alright." Ron said, dismissively as a gust of cold December wind blew past them, causing both of them to shiver violently. "The girls better hurry up before we have to give up our place in line…"

Harry shivered again as he pulled his red Gryffindor scarf further up his neck. "Yeah, I wonder what's keeping the-"

"Wait," Ron interrupted as he pointed towards the two figures in the crowd of scattered students loitering about. "Here they come now."

Harry turned to where he was pointing, and as soon as he saw her, he lost his breath.

Merlin, she looked so magnificent. Even bundled up the way she was.

She was wearing an old, green, moth-eaten looking winter cloak with a dark, grey winter hat. Her tendrils of red waves blew with the chilly wind, which caused Ginny to shiver violently, but Harry had never seen someone who looked so cold look so hot at the same time.

His prick in his trousers twitched with interest as he saw her approach towards him with a wide smile on her lips.

Suddenly, he didn't feel so cold anymore.

Ginny ran the rest of the way towards Harry, and he opened his arms as she ran into them. "Harry!" She exclaimed, excitedly.

Harry caught her easily and chuckled along with her giggles as he held her. He pulled back his head to look down at her for a mere moment, taking a bit of time to admire the brightness in her warm, chocolate eyes, before he leaned his face down to meet hers.

Their lips connected and immediately ignited in a dance of moving flesh. But before Harry could even deepen the kiss by getting their tongues involved, a rude and violent sounding cough caused them to jump a part.

"Oy!" Ron exclaimed, as he glared at the two of them. "I may approve of the two of you being together, but that doesn't mean that I fancy watching the two of you snog!"

A redness crept onto Harry's cheeks. In all honesty, as soon as he had seen Ginny, he had forgotten that Ron was even there…

But Ginny didn't seem at all bothered, grasping tighter to her hold on Harry's arm as she smirked haughtily at her brother. "Who said you had to watch, ickle Ronnikins?"

Ron's face became very red as he worked himself up for an argument, but was stopped by Hermione's approach next to him. She grabbed his hand in hers and leant up on her tiptoes to gently kiss his exposed cheek, before she pulled back with a wide smile.

Ron instantly melted. An involuntary grin stretched across his lips as he looked down at her.

"Would yeh vermin quit yeh lollygagging before I ban yeh from leaving at all?!"

All four of them jumped, and turned to towards the gates to see that the group in front of them had already left on a carriage, and it was their turn at the front of the line.

Filch, who had been the one who had yelled and was currently glaring at them, beckoned them forward impatiently.

They all rushed forward, not wanting to get banished from Hogsmeade for the day. Or, risk having to walk the entire secret tunnel to Honeydukes instead of a quick carriage ride.

As they approached, Filch eyed them all, Ron and Ginny specifically, with a suspicious glare.

"Weasleys." He spat as he eyed the two of them with disdain. Both Ron and Ginny looked at one another and Harry could tell that they were trying very hard not to roll their eyes. "What illegal items do the two of yous got for me to confiscate, hmmm? Any Whizzing Whizzbees on yeh?"

Ron, who failed in his attempt at rolling his eyes, replied in an annoyed tone, "We haven't got anything on us."

"Yeah," Ginny piped up from beside him as she crossed her arms in the same manner. "Honestly, Ron and I aren't Fred and George. Just because we share the same blood and last name, doesn't make us pranksters."

Filch sneered at her, looking as though he didn't believe a word that passed through her lips. "Be that as it may, I still need to pat yeh down to search yeh."

Harry's eyes widened at hearing these words, his face heating with righteous fury. And without even thinking about it, he had his wand out and pointed directly in between Filch's eyes.

Filch looked cross-eyed, fearfully, at Harry's wand as he put his hands up in surrender.

"Touch her, and you'll live to regret it." Harry threatened with a level glare.

Filch scowled fearfully. "I meant no offense, I did, Potter…"

Harry narrowed his gaze, scrutinizing whether he was telling him the truth or not, when he felt a gentle hand on his arm. He turned his attention down to find Ginny.

"Come on, Harry, the carriage is here… and he isn't worth the trouble."

Harry looked beyond Ginny to see that she was right. The carriage had pulled up in front of the gate and was waiting patiently for them.

Harry held his wand up for another moment longer before he dropped his arm with a begrudged sigh. "Alright, then."

He let Ginny lead him over to the carriage where they got in behind Ron and Hermione.

Once they settled in and closed the door, Hermione immediately started in on him. "You shouldn't have done that, Harry. You could get in trouble now and get detention!"

Harry shrugged, unbothered by the prospect of a detention as he threw an arm around Ginny's shoulders and pulled her close into his side. "Well, if I do, then it was well worth it."

He looked down at Ginny to find that she was smiling up at him pridefully. Harry beamed down at her.

"But-"

"Come off it, Hermione," Ginny suddenly said, as she turned to look at their studious friend. "You didn't really want Filch's grimy hands all over me, did you?"

Hermione looked as though she were about to go onto a passionate lecture before Ginny's words caught up with her. "Well, no…"

Ron reached over and grabbed Hermione's hand, reassuringly. "Mione, if Harry hadn't done something right then, I was about to pull my wand out on Filch, too. I don't want people touching my sister…"

Then Ron looked over at Harry and grinned mockingly. "That goes for you too, mate. Get your Potter germs off of my baby sister."

Ginny made an indigent sound, but Harry merely laughed. "Fine, mate." Then he indicated with a nod of his head to where Ron was holding Hermione's hand. "You first."

They all laughed as Ron's face coloured spectacularly at that as he resolutely kept holding onto Hermione's hand.

….

They had arrived at Hogsmeade after talking about lighter subject matters. But as soon as the carriage arrived, Harry made sure to say goodbye to his two best mates before he made his way away from them with his hand firmly clasped with Ginny's.

"So, where to first?" Harry asked her as they walked down the crowded street full of Hogwarts students. He squeezed her hand as he looked down at her with a grin. "Zonko's? Honeydukes?"

But Ginny didn't answer right away. Instead she stopped in the middle of the street and Harry stopped walking as well when he felt the tug on his hand.

"I've got a confession to make…" Ginny said, somehow looking both contrite and mischievous at the same time.

Harry looked at her, alarmed, and Ginny laughed, as it was probably evident on his face.

"Filch wasn't too off his knocker in his assumptions about me…" Ginny said carefully, as she dug into her pockets and produced a violet, velvet bag that was tied shut on the top by braided rope. On the bag, were printed yellow words that stated:

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Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Presents,

Foggy Filter Flakes

Just One Dash and Sparkle of Foggy Filter Flakes Causes the User (Or Victim, Depending On How You Look At It) to Lose Their Filter, Making it So They Blurt Out Any Opinion They Have - Both the Good and the Extraordinarily Terrible.

Side Effects May Include...

Horrendous Gas That Smells Like Week-Old, Moldy Cheese.

Excessive Overgrowth of Toenails.

And/Or Sporadic Bursts of Random Singing.

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After Harry finished reading the print on the bag, he turned wide, flabbergasted eyes up to his mischievous girlfriend.

"Why you devious, little minx!" Harry exclaimed, finally starting to laugh. "And you had the gall to act all innocent with Filch! I swear that sometimes, you are worse - or better, depending on how you look at it - than the twins will ever be! Because you always manage to get away scott-free!"

"But of course! I am a professional." Ginny stated with a confident grin.

Harry laughed as he reached down to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "What are you planning to do with it?"

"Well, I thought that could be decided by the two of us…" Ginny said as she played distractedly with the buttons on his winter cloak. "You know, to make sure that we loosen up a bit so that we aren't so ruddy nervous for our date, and all. So, since I came up with the idea, I'll leave it up to you who you want to be our victim. Malfoy, perhaps?"

Hmmm… It was tempting, but as Harry thought on it a bit more...

"No," Harry said, finally, "Most definitely your dorm mate. You never got her back for the article, and this seems innocent enough to just teach her a lesson."

Ginny looked surprised for a moment, before a sly smile graced her lips. "You mean Meyetta?"

Harry nodded.

Ginny laughed, snickering a little. "She'll be disappointed to know that you can never seem to remember her name."

Harry gave her a perplexed look, but Ginny merely shook her head as her duplicitous grin only grew. "I like your way of thinking, Mr. Potter. I knew there was a reason why I still keep you around."

"Really? That's the reason, huh? And here I thought you were with me for my fame and fortune, Miss. Weasley." Harry quipped.

"On the contrary, Mr. Potter," Ginny retorted quite saucily, "I'm with you exclusively because of your sexy arse-"

She cut off as she realized what it was that just came out of her mouth, the redness on her cheeks quickly spreading up to her hairline. Harry stared at her with his mouth wide open before a teasing grin automatically replaced it. "Reallllly…?"

"Drop it, Harry."

"Oh, no. I want to hear more about what you think of my arse. Sexy, you say?"

Ginny hit his arm, before covering her face in mortification. "Harry…!" She whined in complaint, his name muffled from beneath her hands.

Chuckling, Harry reached forward and attempted at pulling her hands from her face. Ginny pulled against his coaxing touch, shaking her head as she groaned in her embarrassment.

"Hey, if it helps, I think that you have a sexy arse, too…" Harry admitted, a twinge of shyness creeping into his tone.

Ginny lowered her hands slightly, so that her eyes were showing, before she lowered them all together. "R-Really?"

Harry nodded, smiling at her bashfully as he reached forward to clasp her hand and threaded their fingers together. "Yeah."

Her eyes suddenly turned skeptical as she looked up at him pointedly. "I don't believe you. You could just be saying that to make me feel better about royally embarrassing myself…"

Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Really, Gin? You want me to go into detail about how I have to actively keep my eyes from staring at, not only your arse, but your chest as well?"

"W-What?"

Harry swallowed thickly, his thumb rubbing small circles over the back of her hand. "I don't know if you happened to notice, Gin, but I am a bloke. A bloke who happens to have a really attractive girlfriend."

Ginny stared at him, open-mouthed in her shock. Not saying a word.