Tie Your Heart at Night to Mine, Love
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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The Daily Prophet read "Umbridge advocates severe punishment to…" but Hermione cut her reading short as she wrapped her family china with the newspaper, causing the crumpled amphibious face of the former Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission to contort in outrage as it lay underneath a Muggle soup bowl.
It was, in a sense, a cathartic experience. And Harry had made sure to buy extra copies.
The trip to her parents' house had been his idea. Between worrying about Remus, who was undergoing his transformation, and mulling over the unresolved situation with Ron, who had chosen to sulk at the Burrow, Hermione's sleep never came and the tossing in bed grew into an overwhelming need to vent her distress. That's when the pacing started. But the old house did creak, and the only two other inhabitants of Number 12 Grimmauld Place – at least until the welcoming party the following day – descended the stairs and banged on Hermione's door.
Hermione started at the sound and her gaze strayed from the floor pattern of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's old headquarters room to the window. Dawn had already sneaked its way into the sky and she had missed it, despite the eerie, preternatural feel of utter silence coupled with nothing more than a gleam of light that betrayed its arrival. Muffled calls followed given her lack of response, and Hermione hurried to the door.
Just outside the doorframe, and leaning against it, stood Ginny, with Harry at her left side. The girl's hair stuck up in the back of her head and a pang of guilt coursed through Hermione at the sight of her red-rimmed eyes. Harry, on the other hand, looked less disheveled, a normalcy reserved only to those whose hair was naturally messy, yet something about him had seemed off.
"I'm sorry," Hermione had said with a grimace.
Ginny shook her head sideways with a slur, "Y'okay?"
"Yes. No. I will be," Hermione stopped and let out a breath, "I'm sorry, I just can't sleep."
"Then let's not," Harry offered, and when Ginny glared at him through already heavy eyelids he added, "Just the two of us, I mean."
"No, Harry, thank you. You should get some sleep."
"It's fine, let's talk. Or why don't we go over to your house? We can pack, box and tag absolutely everything if you want," he suggested, sounding almost…ecstatic. The alacrity in his voice was not unlike the one from the time he had gulped half a vial of Felix Felicis, "We'll get you busy for the day and then afterward you can drink your sorrows—ouch!" Ginny interrupted him with a pinch, "What? It's a party!"
The redhead looked too tired to form a coherent retort. Instead, she sighed an unintelligible word before she stepped around Hermione, shuffled her way to the bed and sprawled herself on top of the covers.
Hermione stepped out of the room, pulling the door behind her, "Harry, are… are you alright?"
"Yes. Yes, everything's fine. We're all going to live together, that's all."
Hermione twisted her hands together, "We've been doing that for some time now, sort of."
"But this is different, you know?" he said and surveyed the corridor, "This is home. It's not a refuge anymore, not a vacation from life with the Dursley's or a hiding place from Voldemort. It's just home."
Hermione hadn't quite known what to say. The smile she offered Harry felt wobbly even to her, so she pulled him close and embraced him. She understood him then, on a basic, raw level where that somewhat nonsensical feeling of being homeless yet not technically houseless was anything but trivial. And the void it represented could at times swallow you whole.
In the end, she agreed to his suggestion. That was, after all, a day for fresh starts – for some more than for others.
Hermione had steered clear from her parent's living room nonetheless but ventured for second inside their bedroom. Nothing had remained there; still the emptiness was less nauseating than the image of the back of that brown couch. Just as Harry promised, though, all the cataloging, organizing, and packing had kept her busy for the day.
They had finished going through the kitchen and the spare room, and Harry had fetched some of the things from the living room before they went back to Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
The entrance hall was filled with all sorts of plants, signifying Neville's arrival. But the only person there was Luna, wearing a dark-blue blouse, ochre pants and a green root around her brown boot. Oddly enough, the root was not one of her peculiar accessories.
"Luna, don't move. I believe there's a shrivelfig climbing you," Hermione said, with the same tone one would use to warn about a spider, and then lowered the box in her arms to reach for her wand. Despite its lack of poisonous proprieties, shrivelfigs were known for their aggressive roots, and that particular one seemed dissatisfied with her current vase.
Harry had mimic her and they already had their hands around their wands when Luna answered, "It's okay, she likes me."
"She?" Hermione cried.
"I think she hasn't been named yet. There's no need for wands."
Harry cleared his throat, his gaze shifting between the plant and the witch, "Luna, do you think she would… mind if you came up with a name later? I think everyone is already here."
"Oh, it's time for the party!" Luna beamed. Hermione didn't think Luna's eyes could open any wider, yet they seemed to have done so for a second, just before she crouched next to the plant, "I'll have to go now."
Slowly, almost hesitantly, the shrivelfig root disentangled itself from Luna's leg and shrank back into the vase.
"That's—" Hermione whispered.
"It's Luna," Harry whispered back.
They were to gather in the drawing room, yet the pillow fight started long before it. Ginny initiated it by catching an off-guard and a rather self-conscious Neville, as she invaded his room before he had a chance to slip into his pajamas shirt. Luna had covered for Hermione as she escaped Harry's blow, and they all ran once Neville showed up to settle the score. It was Hermione the first to break the rules, though – she flicked her wand and not only doubled their arsenal but set a pillow storm against the outnumbered boys' team.
Neville whacked Luna as she made her way to the drawing room, a stroke Ginny avenged. She jumped from the third step and threw the pillow mid-air like she would throw a quaffle, hitting her intended target as she made a soft landing on a pillowed couch in the first-floor hallway.
Once the war came to an end with no victors and plenty of floating feathers, they moved on to dinner. Snacks, muggle or otherwise, were served in their own packages, accompanied by pumpkin juice as they sat atop a sea of pillows and settled house arrangements.
Given the fact that no one, except for Buckbeak, had ever wanted to set foot, let alone sleep, in the same room once occupied by Walburga and Orion Black, her second-cousin-slash-husband, the master bedroom became a storage of sorts as the attic was to be converted into a greenhouse.
Ron would remain on the second floor, in the same bedroom he and Harry had shared before. Neville took Hermione and Ginny's old room on the first floor, whereas Hermione and Luna would both be on the third floor – Hermione where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had stayed, and Luna in Fred and George's room, leaving the middle one as a spare.
As for Ginny, her official bedroom was Regulus' and nothing else was to be said about that.
Hermione sat straight and put on a mock-Prefect tone. "Now that we've settled things, we should make a toast."
Ginny summoned a bottle of Firewhisky and they filled their glasses, spilling some over the pillows. To Hermione's surprise, Luna raised her glass first. She studied the amber liquid against the light for a moment before returning her gaze to them, "To friends."
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A/N: Here's the new chapter! I'm not satisfied with it, but I added, cut, and rewrote it way too many times and it was time to move forward. Let me know your thoughts!
Oh, and a special thanks to Thelittlegreenbook for pointing out some spelling mistakes I made last chapter. If you spot any, don't hesitate to tell me.
I hope you enjoyed!
Hocus Pocus Pops to…
My reviewers: Hotmamantx, Crossy70, Sampdoria, Caleb66, IrishIris, Thelittlegreenbook, and SimplyIsabelleS.
To xrisa12, Saddelyx, cornchips, tabbiecat1982, Bookgirl21, turnym, bookworm191, Themis Artemis Gaia, Ingridie, and Paige Adriana for adding the story to their favorites.
And to Maltin, A Brighter Darkness, milocachica, aehm, LoganRiley, kristenb15, xrisa12, Emmaline Wood, nannalily, Isis-Lupin, Saddelyx, anthraquinblue, turnym, Themis Artemis Gaia, ange lumiere, Sophie-B96, Sugarplumplum, Paige adriana, MadiconMan for following the story.
Thank you all! Please review :)