Chapter 16 - Clarification

"You know who's after me?" Hermione asked, instinctively reaching for Neville's hand.

"Not yet," Draco said. "But I do finally have the complete breakdown of all the substances used on that parchment and Potter's team are combing through the evidence for comparisons. We should have their preliminary findings within an hour."

Neville tugged her into his arms as she buried her face into his chest. He pressed his lips into her hair and whispered, "See. I told you. It'll all be over soon, love."

Draco beamed at this public display of affection. "So - you two. An official thing now?"

Neville tightened his grip on Hermione and glared at him. "Yeah. You got a problem with that?"

"Problem? Me? Not at all. I'm ecstatic because now I get to do this..." Draco thrust his hand towards Harry. "Pay up, Potter."

Hermione turned to confront her friend, who was desperately gesturing at Draco to shut up. "Pay up? You've been wagering on my love life?!"

Harry stammered then blurted, "So was Malfoy! Why aren't you mad at him?"

"Because he's a self-absorbed prat! I expect this sort of behavior from him!"

"Wish I could be offended by that but since she's right..." Draco waved his still extended hand in Harry's direction. "Pay up. Ten Galleons."

"Hold on," Hermione snapped. "What exactly was the wager?"

"I said the pair of you'd realize how you felt about each other before we apprehended someone. Potter insisted it would be after."

"And what give either of you the idea that we had feelings in the first place?"

"Because we are living, breathing human beings with eyes, Granger. Really all it took. Hell, I sussed it out that first day in the lab." Draco looked terribly disappointed in her then returned his attention back to Harry. "Come on then."

Harry grudgingly dropped the proper amount of coins in Draco's outstretched hand and mumbled something rude about the other man's parentage, which didn't faze Draco in the slightest.

"Care to go double or nothing on a wedding date?" the blonde wizard offered.

Hermione pointed her wand at him again. "Watch it, Malfoy."

Draco raised his hands in surrender. "I'm kidding. Just trying to defuse the tension."

She turned towards the window as Draco shook his head and mouthed "NOT kidding" to Harry.

"I can see your reflection in the glass, ferret," said Hermione.

"I knew that," lied Draco, shoving the coins in his pocket. "I was just checking to see how your situational awareness skills were progressing. Well done, Granger. Ten points to bloody Gryffindor."

In an effort to change the subject and save himself from additional hexes, Harry politely asked if Hermione would lift some of her recent wards long enough for him to check in and see if there was any progress on the analysis. He was gone less than a minute and when he returned there was an odd look on his face.

"Malfoy, come with me. I need your opinion on something."

"What? What is it?" asked Hermione.

"I can't say just yet. Give us a little time and hopefully we'll have some answers for you." Harry gave her a quick hug then did the same for Neville, taking the opportunity to whisper, "Keep her here and lock this place down tight, got it?"

Neville gave a discrete nod. He stepped back as Harry and Draco apparated away, then immediately began casting additional protective wards.

"What are those for?"

"Just a precautionary measure. If they're closing in on someone it might make that person nervous enough to try something desperate. Can't be too careful."

Hermione could tell there was more to it than that but decided not to press him on the subject. Instead she cast a few spells of her own then asked, "So - Did you mean what you said before?"

"About what?"

"What you said to Draco. About us being an official 'thing'."

Neville nodded. "Yeah. I suppose I could have worded that better and I ought to have gotten your input first but I certainly meant what I said."

Hermione took his hand and pulled him toward the divan. "Would you like my input now?"

Neville smiled as she took a seat and tugged him down next to her. "Absolutely."

She swung her legs over his so she was sitting in his lap then reached up and pressed her lips gently against his. "I agree whole heartedly."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that," said Neville, stroking her cheek and kissing her eyelids and the tip of her nose before moving to her lips.

Hermione kissed him back then whispered, "May I ask about something else you said earlier?"

"Certainly. What is it?"

"When you said you'd always been in love with me."

"Damn. Thought that part went past you." Neville ducked his head and blushed. "But yeah, on some level I've had feelings for you from the very beginning. I didn't always realize what those feelings were or how to label them but they were always there in some way. I mean, despite what Snape claimed, I didn't sit near you in every class just so you could whisper the answers to me."

"So when you asked me to the ball..."

"It was as more than a friend."

"But after I'd told you I'd already accepted Viktor's invitation, you said..."

"Of course I said it was just as friends. I'd just been turned down by a girl I had a mad crush on. A bloke has his pride."

"Then why did you agree to the dance practices?"

"It was better than nothing. I may not have been your official escort to the ball but at least I got to dance with you."

She ran a finger down the front of his shirt. "You know, if I hadn't already agreed to go with Viktor then I would have gone with you."

"As a friend."

She sighed. "Yes. As a friend. Looking back it would seem that Ronald wasn't the only one who missed what was right in front of them. I suppose I owe him an apology now."

"It's okay. I was easy to overlook."

"But you see, that's the thing. I - I must have had some sort of feelings for you back then as well, except I never realized it - at least not until we were at Kew Gardens."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You know how the aroma of Amortentia reveals the things you find most attractive, even if you don't acknowledge it or are unaware of your fondness for them, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So when we brewed the potion that day in class it smelled like three things to me - mint toothpaste, new parchment...and freshly mown grass."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You sure you weren't just harboring a secret passion for lawn maintenance?"

"I don't think so." She shook her head and pulled him into another kiss. They snogged for a long time before she sat back and said, "Dance with me."

"What?"

"You heard me." She swung her legs off him and stood, hand extended. "This ordeal will be over soon. Let's celebrate. Dance with me."

Neville stood and smiled. "I'd love to."

He flicked his wand towards an old radio sitting in the corner and Celestina Warbuck's voice came floating out as he drew Hermione into his arms.

"I promise that I'll try not to assault your toes the way I did poor Ginny's at the ball."

Hermione giggled then gazed fondly at him as they swayed to the music. "You know, Harry used to watch the map almost constantly while we were on the run. He saw you and Ginny together a lot. He got more than a little jealous."

"Harry Potter?! Jealous of me?!" Neville snorted. "Now I know you've gone round the twist."

"Why is that so difficult to believe?"

"For a whole list of reasons, most notably the fact that we both know Ginny Weasley has only loved one person in her entire life and it certainly wasn't me."

"She was your date to the Yule Ball."

"Only because my first choice turned me down." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Besides, it was her idea, not mine."

"Really?"

Neville nodded. "She didn't want to be the only Weasley at the school not in attendance. She marched up to me, asked if I had a date yet then told me what time to pick her up. She said, 'If ickle Ronniekins can get a date then I bloody well can too.' "

Hermione laughed then blushed. "Sorry. I shouldn't make fun of Ron like that."

"Make fun of him all you like. The way he treated you that night, he deserves to have the mickey taken."

"Heard about that, did you?"

"Unfortunately not until after the fact or I'd have laid into him right then and there. It wasn't until we were back in our rooms that I found out what happened. You'll be happy to know that all of us berated him for being an idiot."

He spun her in time with the music then gathered her back in his arms.

"Thank you," she smiled. "While Ron and I buried that hatchet a long time ago, it's still nice to think that people cared."

Neville stopped dancing and cupped her face in his hands. "I cared. I always cared."

"I know," she said, taking hold of his shirt and tugging him towards her. "I'm just sorry I didn't realize it sooner."

"We've got now. That's all that matters." He kissed her deeply, lifting her off her feet and digging his hands in her hair.

They stood, lost in the moment and in each other until they were interrupted by a loud banging noise at the door and Harry's voice calling, "Guys? Let us in."

They broke apart and Neville muttered, "Merlin's beard. Once this is done you and I are developing an anti-interruption spell."

"Agreed. We'll make a fortune selling it to parents of small children and friends of Harry Potter."

They laughed as they made their way to the front hallway but the merriment stopped as soon as they opened the door and saw the looks on Harry and Draco's faces.

"Harry - what it is it? What's wrong?" Hermione tried to sound calm. It didn't work.

Harry took a deep breath. "We've got news and I'm sorry, Hermione but... It's bad. Really bad."