Chapter 35 – Truth in Omission

Harry exited the carriage into the brisk February cold. He couldn't for the life of him, fathom as why someone thought that a Hogsmeade trip now, during the dead of winter would be an excellent idea. Though, the more he thought about it, he guessed it did make some sense, given what the date was a few days ago.

Every year, Hogwarts set up a Hogsmeade weekend right around Valentine's Day, the perfect opportunity for the many couples that roamed the halls to celebrate their relationship together away from the old castle. Valentines were exchanged throughout Breakfast, the halls of the castle and the streets of Hogsmeade were all decorated for the holiday, and it seemed that Madam Puddifoot's shop got a large amount of extra business due to the holiday.

Despite the cheery mood that the rest of the castle seemed to be in, Harry couldn't help but feel a little somber on this day. All it did was remind him of the continued rift that existed between himself and his girlfriend. Though, him and Fleur had kissed and made up, quite literally in fact, he couldn't help but feel that something was still off in their relationship.

She seemed happy and cheerful enough when she knew that he was around, but a few times either when she didn't realize he was near or when she didn't realize that he noticed, he saw her looking at him or staring off with a reflective look on her face. Reflective was one way to describe it, but Harry felt that there was maybe something else to it, determination, remorse? Was she still upset over what had happened? Either way, to the untrained eye, their relationship looked as fine as ever but it was obvious to him and he felt that she noticed too, that there was still some tension in their relationship.

Deciding to try and fight past their recent awkwardness, Harry asked Fleur if she wanted to have lunch at the Three Broomsticks with him, which she happily nodded yes to, but Harry noticed that her face returned to its previous state right afterwards. He hoped that their date today would help their relationship get back to how it used to be.

Once both of his feet were back on solid ground, he looked to his left and saw Ron and Hermione exit from the other side of the carriage, their own date planned for today as well. They all stopped for a moment, nothing was said as the companionable silence from the carriage ride continued, though a bit more awkward now. Now that his best friends were about to head to Madam Puddifoot's for their date, the absence of Harry's own date became more conspicuous.

Fleur had some extra studying to do for some of her exams that were coming up, at least that's what she claimed. Harry had a feeling that she was simply coming up with an excuse, which only exemplified their recent troubles more.

He got a wave from an oblivious Ron and a sad smile from Hermione, before the pair of them left him to his own devices. Deciding that he would rather not just wander around the village by himself, he decided to go to the Three Broomsticks and wait until Fleur showed up.

If Hermione could say that she was honestly enjoying her and Ron's date she would, but even though it was only partially true. The date itself was fine, after having a lovely lunch at Madam Puddifoot's, they went to the book store in town where Hermione got a few books, before walking around the village a bit before they were supposed to meet Harry and Fleur at the Three Broomsticks.

But Hermione couldn't help but feel that some things were off about the whole day. She felt that the atmosphere in Puddifoot's left a little to be desired. The whole place was decorated garishly and the place was filled with kissing couples. It was almost painfully obvious that this was Ron's intention, get her around so many couples openly displaying their affection so that either of them would hopefully drum up the courage to take that leap forward. The only issue was that Hermione didn't feel the need to flaunt her and Ron's relationship for everyone to see, but truthfully, she wasn't comfortable with such a brazen display, but it also seemed that Ron couldn't talk himself up to it either, making the whole deal incredibly awkward despite everything else.

The book store was also nice enough but it was walking around before and after that that was awkward. On the way there, Ron voice his confusion in why she would choose to use their time away from the school to buy new books and made it painfully clear that this wasn't his first choice for a place for their date. She tried telling him that their O.W.L. year was one of the most important years they'd have but also tried to explain that there was more to reading beyond studying for exams, though the concept seemed to go over his head.

Afterwards during their walk, they fell back into silence, though long gone was the companionable silence of the carriage ride from the school, forcing Hermione to wonder if this was how their relationship would always be. Hermione was well aware of the philosophical differences between the two of them before they entered their relationship, but she had hoped that they would overcome them. It was true that they were more civil now than they were before, but they still had disagreements from time to time, and when they did, she could tell that Ron was holding back from what he really wanted to say. Not that she was any better, most of the time she had to forcibly calm herself to keep from either storming off or lashing out in anger.

As they were about to enter the establishment, Ron grabbed ahold of her arm and directed her away from the entrance, a serious expression on his face. Hermione was perplexed by this but allowed him to direct her, despite some worry nagging at the back of her mind. The day had gone reasonably well, but she couldn't fight back the feeling that Ron had noticed the awkwardness as well, causing a dozen different scenarios tor ace through her mind, from him confronting her about it to calling off their relationship.

It turned out, her fears were unfounded.

"Before we go in there, I just wanted to let you know that I've had a great time today."

The authenticity of Ron's statement forced an embarrassed smile onto her face. She considered his eyes to try and see if any trace of the doubt that she had was reflected in his blue eyes but found none. Maybe she was analyzing the day too much, they were ins till in the early stages of their relationship after all.

"I had a great time too," came her reply, as she tried to keep the hesitation out of her voice. She continued to stare at him as Ron raised a hand and placed it on her cheek before he began to lean in closer. Sensing what was happening, Hermione found the courage to reciprocate the motion until their lips met.

The first thought that crossed her mind was that it was nice. She wracked her brain for a better word to describe it, but if she was honest, nice was all she could say about it. There was no fireworks, no fire burning inside her, or any other clichés that she had heard about, it simply…was. Still, they held it for another moment before they parted.

She opened her eyes and saw that Ron had yet to open his own, his faced scrunched up in confusion for a second before he too opened his eyes. Looking at him, she tried to give him a reassuring smile, though she was sure that her own confusion was present on her face, as he gave her own in return, though she saw something in his eyes that she hadn't noticed before.

Before the moment got any more awkward, she grabbed Ron's hand and pulled him into the Three Broomsticks. She scanned the tables looking for the third member of the trio, and found him sitting with Fleur towards the back of the room. Both looked a little glum before they noticed Her approached and put on a brave face, worrying her slightly. What happened between them while they were gone?

Fleur entered the diner and combed the crowd for her boyfriend. When she found him, he was sitting off on the outskirts of the room, obviously trying to keep the attention away from him, sitting there alone, without his girlfriend.

She felt bad about showing up late. It was true that she needed extra study time for her N.E.W.T.s, she hadn't lied about that. However, that wasn't the whole reason that she decided to postpone their date. In truth, she was about to drop a bombshell on their relationship, and she only hoped that Harry would understand. She was able to approach the table without Harry even noticing she was there. Obviously, recent events have been plaguing his mind as it had been her.

"'Arry?"

"Fleur!" He jumped at the sound of his name being called, the startled look on his face was so endearing, that she nearly doubted the decision that she had made in the last few days.

She sat down, and the awkwardness that had been a staple in their relationship as of late took over. The silence was over powering, which somehow managed to cut through all the noise of the groups that surrounded them. It was Fleur who decided to cut through the tension first.

"What did Dumbledore want wiz you a few nights ago?"

Harry was at first startled by the question but quickly recovered. "He asked me to come with him to retrieve some information on 'you know what'," he leaned forward and whispered that part, and Fleur caught on to what he was talking about; Dumbledore was looking for Horcruxes.

"What were you looking for?"

"Well you know how in addition to the dueling training with him and the training with Remus, Dumbledore was showing me memories right?" At the nod of her head he continued, "Well, he believed that one of the ones he had was tampered with, so we went to the source. He said the man's name was Slughorn and he used to teach Potions at Hogwarts."

"Did 'e give you ze real memory?"

"He resisted at first, claiming that the memory contained all he knew. That's when Dumbledore introduced me. Slughorn went on about how he knew my parents and how he would love to get to know me. I told him that if he was truly sorry about my parent's death, he would help us win this fight. He still fought for a bit but eventually us gave us what we were looking for."

"And?" She was dying to know if there were any more pieces of Voldemort's soul lying around.

"Voldemort wanted to spit his soul into 7 pieces. There's the diary, the locket, the diadem, plus the piece that he still has, meaning that there are still three more out there. Dumbledore says he wants me to go with him once he finds another one."

"Seven pieces. 'Ow can someone do such a zing?" Harry shrugged, he couldn't comprehend it either. Still, it was a step forward knowing how many Horcruxes were left, albeit a small one.

When the conversation ended, they returned to the silence. It started to get to Fleur that their once easy and care-free relationship had taken such a hit that, she started to get jittery until she couldn't take it anymore.

"'Arry…" her voice was so soft that she worried that he wouldn't have heard her, but it appears that her tone of voice that what she was saying was important.

"I want to say I'm sorry again for 'ow I acted during the 'olidays, I shouldn't 'ave reacted zat way."

"It wasn't your fault Fleur. I wasn't open about things. You just didn't know."

"That's the point 'Arry. I didn't know. Zere's so much zat I don't know about you and you about me."

"I don't understand."

Fleur stood up and moved to sit right next to Harry, clasping his hands within her own. "We got togezzer so quickly after being friends, zat we barely had time to truly get to know each ozzer."

"What are you trying to say Fleur?" The look of horror on his face as he probably realized where this conversation almost convinced her to not go further with it, but she knew that she needed to stay strong.

"I zink we need to try and be friends before we try to a couple again."

Harry's head dropped in defeat as the reality of the situation finally crashed into him. "So we're breaking up?"

"Non, just take a break from being in a relationship. That way we can truly get to know on anozzer before possibly trying zis again. You 'ave to admit, the last few weeks 'ave been 'ard, non?"

Harry sighed as he couldn't find any fault in what she was saying. "I guess you're right, we have been distant lately." He looked at her, the sadness still present in his eyes, yet it seemed to have dulled a little, but in a way that made him appear even more vulnerable. "This is all so sudden Fleur. I need time to process this. You can't expect me to do this immediately after calling it off, can you?" Though, she was disappointed by this, she really couldn't blame him. She had been more distant in the list week than she had been since they returned to school and then to spring this on him suddenly must come as a shock.

She retook her seat across the table from Harry, but still maintained the connection of their hands. He gave her a small smile, which she readily returned, hoping to make him feel that every would work out in the end.

Before any further conversation could be started, she noticed that Ron and Hermione had entered the Three Broomsticks and were looking for them. It seemed that Harry noticed too, straightening himself to appear as if everything was as it had been, though Fleur could tell it was a little forced. She dreaded having to tell Ron and Hermione about their break up, but knew that Harry wouldn't allow for them to abandon her. As the pair made their way over to the table, Fleur chanced another glance at Harry, and couldn't help but hope that everything worked out in the end and that her decision wasn't another big mistake on her part.

AN: So it's been a while since my last update but I hope this chapter will suffice. I added the bit about Slughorn simply because I felt it needed to happen but I didn't want to dedicate a portion of the chapter to it and have it feel out of place with the rest of it.

Some people might not like how I ended Harry and Fleur's relationship, but this was another of the earliest plot points I came up with for this story. I'm finding myself, not wanting to make extremely long stories anymore so I'm a little out of my element now. I know that this story isn't the best but it's my first story so I'm dedicated to finishing it, despite any of its shortcomings.

Lastly, we're approaching the home stretch of this story. We're going to moving a bit faster forward so that I can finish this story, within the next 10 – 15 chapters. Hope that you guys still enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it.

As always, thanks for reading!