~Chapter 15~

Harry dragged himself down the stairs an hour than he usually woke up. His still damp black hair, due to a quick shower, was combed back. He was wearing a white button down and dark jeans.

If it wasn't for the glamour charms, everyone would be able to see the dark circles around his eyes. He had cried himself to a restless sleep last night and his head was pounding so much that not even the shower could hide his pain.

He had drank a pepper up potion to avoid any unwanted questions, though he felt they started to wear off faster than usual. 'Must be the stress..' He thought before he plastered on a smile.

"Mornin'." He greeted everyone, sat down next to Hermione and started filling his plate with almost everything on the table. After his horrible night, he was surprisingly starving.

"You okay?" Hermione asked, "You slept in late." She had a worried look upon her face, her usually bright chocolate brown eyes were dark and looked like she had a thousand questions she was holding back. Harry almost swore she could see past his charms.

"I'm fine 'Mione." He lied after a moment, "Just was up studying and lost track of time."

She didn't look satisfied but before she could prod more, Mrs. Weasley bustled into the kitchen.

"Alright! Now that everyone one is here, I have something for you all!" Mrs. Weasley suddenly announced, getting everyone's attention. She was holding a stack of letters.

"Our Hogwarts letters!" Ginny exclaimed happily, tearing hers open as soon as Mrs. Weasley handed it to her.

Their conversation forgotten, He watched Hermione do the same as he went back to eating. Waiting til he was done eating to open his.

"Oh my goodness!" Hermione exclaimed, Harry grasped his wand as he turned to look at her. Ready to fight but he then noticed her happy and surprised face which confused him. He looked down at her hands, he saw a shiny, gold and maroon badge with "GRANGER" etched into it.

"Merlin's beard!" George exclaimed.

"Hermione made prefect!" Fred boasted.

"CONGRATS!" They happily shouted, reaching over and patting her shoulder.

"I knew they would make you prefect!" Ginny stated as she went over to give her a quick hug.

"Of course! She is the best one for the job!" Ron stated, trying to get brownie points with her which irked Harry but he let it slide. He was right, Hermione deserved this.

After everyone thanked her and went back to their conversations, he leaned over and whispered tenderly in her ear, "I am so proud of you! You will do brilliantly!"

She tried to hide her blush behind her Hogwarts letter but whispered a thanks back to him, making him smile.

'I hope this will keep her occupied... I don't want her to worry about me when she has a lot on her plate..' He thought to himself as he went back to his almost empty plate.

He listened as everyone gushed over Hermione and the Weasley parents seemed to be in a deep discussion over how to get everyone their school supplies.

He let his eyes wander as he took another helping of eggs. Taking notice that Sirius was just picking at his food, looking in deep thought.

'I wonder if he had a restless night too..' He wondered briefly but once his father's best friend caught him staring as smile covered his face but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Harry returned the smile but he wondered if he should ask him what's wrong but before he could Sirius excused himself from the table and quickly left.

He frowned and let out a defeated sigh as he took his late bite of food. 'I will speak to him later.'

With nothing else to do, he reached for his letter.

He noticed it felt a bit heavy. 'Must be a busy year.' He thought as he ripped open the envelope, suddenly a similar badge fell into his palm. "POTTER" was etched into it.

Clearly surprised, he looked over at his letter.

'Dear Mr. Potter,

We are please to announce that you have been selected to serve as prefect for Gryffandor House. Your school record shows that you have exceptional quick thinking in stressful situations, the ability to lead others, and the bravery Gryffandors have long been known for.

We are certain that you will continue to be a model for your peers and you will take your new responsibilities seriously. Enclosed with this letter is your Prefect Badge, this should be worn on your school robes at all times. Congratulations!

Note: Be sure to attend the all hands meeting during your train ride on September 1st, compartment G. This years Head Boy and Head Girl will designate Prefect schedules at that time.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall'

As he finished reading, he noticed his school list behind it.

'Prefect?!' He shouted inwardly. He could feel panic but also satisfaction going through his body.

"I wonder who the other prefect will be." Ginny said, getting Harry's attention.

"It's going to be me of course!" Ron stated, as he started opening his letter.

Disappointment washed over his face much to Harry's amusement. As he opened his letter, it was his usual school list as well as an additional letter stating he had to repeat year 4 potions instead of taking an elective this year. "Bloody hell..." He muttered as he handed the letter to his mother who looked at him disappointingly.

"Bet it's going to be Dean, he is really smart." George said continued on, clearly not caring his little brother was upset. 'It's his own fault anyway.' Harry thought, shaking his head then returned his attention to the others.

"No bloody way, my money is on Neville, he is accident prone but McGonagall has a soft spot for him." Fred argued.

As he sat there watching everyone take a guess as to who got the second Prefect spot, Harry felt Hermione nudge him.

He smiled and turned to give her his undivided attention, her smirk taking him by surprise. "When are you going to tell them you made Prefect?" She whispered.

He chuckled in surprise. "Nothing gets passed you huh?" He replied quietly.

"Well it is still in your hand." She pointed out.

He looked down opening his hand to see the glimmering badge. 'I wonder if they would be proud..' He mused, not noticing Mrs. Weasley coming up behind him.

"Harry dear, if you hand me your list, I will have Arthu-OH MY!" Mrs. Weasley suddenly gasped, noticing the Prefect badge in Harry's hand, and catching everyone's attention.

"You made Prefect! My goodness! I am so proud of you!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed and wrapped Harry in a tight hug.

"WOAH! Nice Harry!" The twins congratulated him with big thumbs up.

"Who would have thought! Guess you more studious than you've let on." Ginny teased, getting a mock scowl from Harry.

"Oh this is wonderful! We'll have to have a mini party the night before you kids leave!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed happily as she took his school list and left the kitchen, closely followed by Mr. Weasley.

"Oh! Mrs. Weasley!" Harry tried to get her attention, disappearing after her and leaving his badge with Hermione.

-111-

Everyone went back to eating and side conversations, that is till Ron got everyone's attention.

"How is it that Harry freaking Potter gets everything basically handed to him?" He grumbled as he stabbed his eggs with his fork.

"Oh? Is Ronnikins jealous?" Fred teased with a baby voice.

"Ronnie, baby, sweetie, it's okay! We know you have better things to do than be a Prefect." George teased just the same.

"Yeah, like passing 4th year potions." Ginny joked and that started a round of laughs from everyone one except Hermione, who was glaring at Ron while he was getting red with anger.

"Oi shut it!" He yelled at them. "Can't you see how unfair it is, Dean or even Seamus should be Prefect. Not bloody Harry Potter."

"Damn Ron, that's cold." George frowned, Fred nodding in a agreement.

"Ronald, we both know Dean would be a nervous wreck as a Prefect." Hermione began, her tone matching that of McGonagall's. "As for Seamus, that unbearable oaf can't go a day without mucking up a simple spell! It would be like working along side a bomb all day!" She scoffed, getting up. "Harry deserves this, after so many years of having to deal with the You-Know-Who he deserves a normal year. He is the best one for the position." She finished, looking at everyone in the room. Ginny and the twins nodded in agreement. Ron, however, looked ready to explode.

"No one asked him to do anything he has gotten us into. He wanted to know what was in the 3rd floor corridor, he wanted to know who was petrifying muggle borns, he wanted to find Sirius Black, he put his name in the bloody cup! He did all that and dragged us into it!" Ron shouted, slowly getting up from his seat, and meeting Hermione's glare.

"No one asked you to help him, Ronald!" Hermione pointed out, "Not that it matters now, You-Know-Who is back and Harry needs people by his side that he can trust and you were one of those people!

Ron scoffed, "The Dark Lord is not back!" He looked around him to see if anyone agreed but it was the opposite, everyone shook their heads at him. "Oh bloody hell! Dumbledore said himself, the maze will make them feel, do and see things that aren't true! Cedric died in the tournament more than likely because he got in a duel with Harry!" Ron exclaimed.

Everyone in the room gasped. "You don't honestly think Harry killed Cedric?!" Hermione shouted in disbelieve.

"Of course I do! All everyone saw was Harry hold Cedric's dead body, crying his eyes out!" Ron spat. "No Dark Lord, just a boy that always enjoys the spot light!"

"I knew you were thick headed but this is going to far Ronald!" Hermione shouted and turned to leave the room but not before saying. "Ronald Weasley, you are a fucking arsehole."

She disappeared before he could even think of a comeback.

-111-

"Mrs. Weasley!" Harry called out, running towards her as she was handing Mr. Weasley the school lists.

"What's wrong dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked worrying, her husband looking at Harry with the same level of worry.

"Hermione and I getting out school items ourselves, I have to meet up with my financial adviser anyway." He stated, putting his hand out towards Mr. Weasley. "Can I have our school lists, please?"

He tried to be as polite as possible since he knew this was catching them off guard.

"I don't-" Mrs. Weasley started to object before being cut off by Mr. Weasley. "Just be safe, I don't want Dumbledore to worry." He stated and handed Harry the school lists for him and Hermione.

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley almost shouted, "We can't! He will be-"

"Just fine, Molly." The Weasley father cut her off once more. "He is emancipated, he can do as he wishes. Plus, Hermione is, in all technicalities, Lady Potter."

Mrs. Weasley was red in the face from frustration but gave up any objections. Her Husband bid both her and Harry goodbye and disapperated with a soft crack.

Harry didn't want to leave Mrs. Weasley all upset so he assured Mrs. Weasley that everything would be fine and he would make sure to be back before lunch. But before he could walk back to the kitchen, an angry looking Hermione burst out of door leading there.

When he noticed him and Mrs. Weasley looking at her surprised and concerned, she was practically glowing in anger.

"Mrs. Weasley, I swear your youngest son has either too much jealousy to fit his body or he has been potioned!" Hermione complained with both anger and worry. "He has been nothing but rude to Harry and being an insufferable arse hole and I will not stand for it anymore! You need to set him straight! Everyone in there will agree with what I just said!" She finished her accusation, grabbing Harry's hand and dragged him up the stairs. Leaving a concerned Molly Weasley behind.

Once in his room, Hermione seem more calm but was still cursing Ron's name under her breath.

"Do I want to know what happened?" Harry asked cautiously, handing her her school list.

"No." She growled, snatching the list from his hand. A look of confusion taking over her angry expression.

"I thought Arthur was taking care of getting our supplies." She more stated than asked.

Harry nodded as he grabbed his money pouch and made sure his wand was in his sleeve. "He was, but I told them we needed to leave to visit Effie anyway so there was no need to bother him with our supplies."

Hermione let out a small "oh" as she watched him pull out the locket from his secure trunk.

He laughed inwardly at her slight surprise despite the locket's effects and started to shrug on a black casual blazer.

"So are you going to stand there or are we gonna go?" He teased, watching her cheeks flush before running out of his room to grab her things.

His smile left him as he watched her leave. He went over to the mirror and quickly made sure his glamour charms where still good for another hour or so before following her down.

-111-

Their trip to Gringotts was actually quite fast, Effie had called in Elder Silver in once Harry and Hermione showed her the Locket. They saw him take care of Horcrux in the same way as the one he had inside his head minus the screaming.

Once that was done, they had informed him that they did indeed find another Horcrux within the vaults of the Lestranges's and it had been dealt with. Elder Silver even showed him the shattered Cup of Helga Hufflepuff. It made Harry feel very relieved, knowing that they had the upper hand for once made it easier to breath, at least for now.

After that knowledge, Effie informed Harry that she had yet to hear from the Daily Prophet but would owl him when they did answer his threat.

Once they converted some pounds for galleons for Hermione, they made their way through the Alley.

They were currently in Flourish and Blotts, Harry was really just aimlessly walking around, his school books in hand, hoping he would at least find something interesting to skim over while Hermione was on a mission to not only purchase school but extra "light reading" material. Which made Harry chuckle inwardly as he knew that Hermione's version on "light reading" meant tomes with 400 pages or more.

He walked around another bookcase to see his bushy haired friend muttering to herself as she scanned the shelves. She already had a a large pile next to her and Harry thought it was probably time to let her know that they should get going.

"Hermione," He whispered, "I think we should check out before you purchase the entire store." He teased causing her cheeks to flush bright pink.

She looked down at her pile of books and she had the tact to look embarrassed. "Maybe you're right.." She mumbled as she put five small tomes away.

He chuckled softly but helped her with the stack of books she was going to and went over to the check out desk.

"Ah! I see you found a bit to read Ms. Granger." The cashier teased, making Harry chuckle more and Hermione to blush hard after mumbling a "yes."

While she rummaged with her money pouch, Harry had the cashier scan his books too and handed him the galleons for the entire purchase of their books.

"Such a chivalrous young man! He is a keeper Ms. Granger!" the cashier gushed, making Harry blush slightly as he took their bagged books from him. Hermione was so surprised that he had paid for everything that she didn't even say anything til they were out the door.

"Harry James Potter! Why would you do that?!" Hermione screeched causing Harry to laugh a bit but was ready brace himself in case she swatted him.

"I could have bought them myself!" She huffed and took one of the shopping bags from him.

"I am perfectly aware but I felt like it." He simply replied, giving her a sly smirk and not giving her time to reply as he walked to the next shop on their list.

-111-

And that is how most of their shopping went, Harry would always make sure he already had his money in hand before she did and paid for their purchases. Always saying the same thing, that he felt like buying it for her much to Hermione's protests

They had stopped by at the ice cream parlor, Hermione still a bit miffed that he was not letting her spend her money, looking over the menu for something sweet.

"I am paying for our ice cream. No excuses." She said firmly over the menu, while giving him a stern glare

He laughed softly at her determination but nodded his agreement to stop the silly glare she was giving him.

"Can't a bloke take a beautiful witch on a shopping spree without getting threaten these days huh?" He remarked, catching Hermione off guard and blushing utterly red but she didn't say anything.

After ordering and begrudging letting Hermione pay, he noticed how she seemed to be choosing her next words.

"Is everything okay Harry?" she suddenly uttered catching him by surprised.

'She must be seeing past my charms...' He quickly guessed and knew there was no way around her questions now.

With a long sigh he canceled the charms so she could see his tired face, she didn't gasp but her face became more worried.

"I haven't been sleeping well since the end of last term." He explained reluctantly.

Hermione was about to ask why but stop short when the waitress came by and dropped their sundaes. Once she was gone, Harry cast some privacy and silencing charms then indicated that she could ask with a nod of his head.

"Is it cause of Cedric?" She asked, reaching out her hand to cover his on the table.

Harry seemed to have a lump stuck in his throat and nodded instead. They were quiet for a moment, Harry was mostly picking at his sweet treat while Hermione took a small nibble at the mint chocolate side of hers.

She seemed to be letting him be for moment then gave his hand a soft squeeze. "I can't say I understand what your feeling. I don't think anyone can unless they were there that night.." She started softly, "But, I want to be there for you, if you'll let me." She confessed, gazing at him with caring eyes. "I want you to know that I will always be there for you and will listen if that's all you need. I won't judge you. I won't turn you away."

Harry gave her a thankful smile, he felt his chest get warm with the kindness she was expressing. The grief and anger for his cause for Cedric's death didn't leave him completely but he was able to feel lighter knowing she was there and would not leave him.

"I care about you too much to see you suffer." She expressed, giving his hand another squeeze.

The lump in his throat seemed to melt at her words and the courage he kept squashing down the last few weeks seemed to be building back up. "Hermione, there something I need to tell you." He suddenly said, catching her by surprise.

She leaned closer, wondering what was so important but she was left in suspense with his next words. "But not here. Can you meet me in my room tonight?"

-111-

AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry for the cliff hanger but I need to keep you on your toes!

I noticed some reviews since updating this story a couple of hours ago of people not liking that I decided to change the course of the story. (Also I am sorry that you keep seeing Chapter 14 as they only one on here, I deleted/edited some chapters).

**When I say I don't like that it's become a fluff piece is because I want my characters to be believable. I want them to have hardships and issues like any human. Yeah, they are magical and Harry has a lot of power in his hands but I want him to struggle a bit. I want him to feel the same feelings anyone with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders would otherwise I think it makes the story dull.

That does not mean however that I won't have them get together. I want Harry to have Hermione in his life and vise versa but I want it to start a be slow and grow as they go through the motions. I will still add fluff here and there but I have to have the dark themes in there too.

I am just starting Chapter 16 but I don't know when I will post it, just be on the look out!

Thank you for those still following this story! Much love and thanks!