FOR GRANTED

Chapter 4. Discussions!

Harry and Ron went downstairs to have some dinner. Remus Lupin had arrived while they were with Hermione. He greeted both boys with a smile saying "hope you guys are not that agitated now that Hermione is back (at which they both grinned broadly)…how is she doing?" "She is resting; mum's gone to help her change!" Replied Ron. "So where were you Remus?" asked Harry.

"Well after we got the news about Hermione, Tonks left for St. Mungos along with Moody, who mind you is still busy with ministry, about the whole attack and that is why Arthur just left too… I had to go get some information…"

"what sort of information..?" asked Harry, "I went and met with another werewolf – apparently I am not to be trusted anymore with the entire clan but I have some of them on my side now, with Snape gone we have no one to warn us of upcoming attacks or anything of the sort so I tried my luck incase something of the sort happens again…" Replied Lupin and then continued after a pause – "Harry you do know that you have to be taken back to the Dursleys right? We think you should be taken there as soon as possible? "

"Yes I know, Dumbledore told me about it…I well … "he looked at Ron to see if now is a good time to tell them about the plan they had but Ron stopped him with a look! Harry continued... "I well was wondering when are you planning to take me back?"

"You will be taken after a day or two because there are certain things that needs to be discussed with you and Moody is the right person for it…and Burrow seems to be the best place for that", Remus told Harry.

Harry looked at Remus with a worried look, he knew they all wanted information…information that Harry only shared with Dumbledore and didn't want to share with anyone else well ofcourse apart from Hermione and Ron. Remus then excused himself and left the burrow.

Ginny was talking to Gabrielle, when Ron asked her where Fred and George were. "They are in their room with Oliver…" replied Ginny.

"What are they doing?" Ron asked again.

"You know Fred and George…"; she was soon interrupted by the three boys, "what's this I hear Ginny, you talking about us…" George never completed the sentence because Oliver started asking Harry about Hermione…

"How's Hermione doing Harry? I didn't remember her name but once I told the healers who she was i.e. your girlfriend they immediately knew the right people to contact …" to his annoyance he too was rudely interrupted by Ginny,

"Well she is not Harry's girlfriend, she is just his friends", everyone turned towards her,

"Oh I am sorry I always thought …" Oliver started but was once again interrupted by Ginny,

"You thought wrong!"

"Hey! Ginny hold your breath and no need to take that tone with Oliver, what's wrong with you seriously?" George said.

"Oh it's ok! George, I am sorry for getting all this wrong. I guess I just heard it from someone, anyway I am glad she is alive and will recover soon, and you take care of her Harry"

Ron quickly said, "WE WILL…we both will, she is after all our best friend" – it seemed he wanted to tell everyone that Hermione is his friend too and not Harry's only. They all sat down…Gabrielle came and sat next to Ron, who blushed over this and gave her a smile.

Harry broke the silence "so what are you doing in London, don't you have quidditch matches? How did you find Hermione?"

"Oh! I am on a break and the quidditch matches are not taking place because of You know who's return so I am just working with ministry and was over at quidditch supplies checking out brooms…with the way things are; even that guy is planning to close his business down! (Pause) Ummm he was – I mean the owner of the shop was telling me about how his sales were going down and all…that's when Hermione landed in the store room of his shop, some brooms broke her fall, we immediately took our wands out thinking there was some intruder but only discovered her lying there struggling to get up. I immediately recognized her … can't forget her face, to this day I remember how grateful I had been when she put that charm on your glasses … (Oliver said this with amusement and big smile on his face) ummm … and well the rest you know." And then another silence took place…Oliver started talking again;

"and yeah Harry I am sorry about the mix up, I must've made things awkward for you guys. I just thought you guys were together well I think everyone thought so…b'coz you were always together and…" once again Ginny huffed her annoyance by rolling her eyes and groaning loudly.

"Why would anyone think that? Harry, Hermione and I are always together, it's not like it's only two of them!" said Ron.

Oliver clearly felt extremely awkward over this and started off saying, "yeah you are right … I just misunderstood, it's not a big deal I think. I mean Prof. McGonagall called off the game during my sixth year because Hermione was petrified and only asked Harry to join her so she could inform him so we just assumed, well when I say us … I mean the team ... ask George and Fred… and then her coming for Harry's aid during my last year…Fred George please …" pleaded Oliver, because right now Ginny along with Ron and it seemed Harry too were throwing daggers at Oliver with their eyes…Fred and George both were red in their faces and told everyone to shut up since it was not a big deal.

This seemed to have done the work but then Gabrielle spoke in her sweet melodious voice…"oh you are so right! Even that reporter during the triwizard published those snaps and articles about Harry and Hermione".

Ginny got really annoyed now "Well those were all lies, gossips, and why is everyone soo keen on discussing Hermione and Harry's love life when there is not any and for the record Harry and I are together so if you don't mind please give it a REST, besides Hermione during that year had been busy snogging Krum so seriously…"

Everyone was just shocked and staring at her, Harry opened his mouth to say something but then decided not to embarrass Ginny in front of everyone besides he still had a soft spot for Ginny. The environment was quite chilly so he didn't want Weasleys on his bad side right then as well.

"Sooo… I think I better go now, its late… it was nice meeting you all and you Harry, you have always been my favorite seeker during the seven years I spent" saying this Oliver got up, Fred and George also got up "I guess we better leave too".

"Oh! And btw Harry I forgot to Congratulate you on becoming the Captain, Fred told me about it" – "Thanks", replied Harry and shook hands with Oliver.

The three of them left, leaving Harry, Ron, Ginny and Gabrielle behind. Fleur came down after sometime asking if Bill was back…, Harry and Ron who were not aware of Bill leaving the burrow, looked questioningly at Ginny, who told Fleur that Bill's not back yet, turned towards Ron and told him that Bill left before Dad and that they were with Hermione when this took place. Fleur came and kissed her sister on her forehead,"hey kid why don't you sleep in my bedroom, Bill can sleep on the couch, and I just figured Hermione is in Ginny's room sooo there won't be any…"

"Oh it's ok Fleur! Mum shifted Hermione in Ron's room and put a sleeping bag on the floor for either Harry or Ron to sleep on…so Gabrielle can bunk with me" told Ginny.

"Ok then, Good night everyone! I wish things had not turned out this way, sure spoiled the most special day of my life…" with this said, Fleur went upstairs. "Why didn't mum put a sleeping bag in your room?" Ron asked,

"Because my room is smaller than yours and doesn't have space for a sleeping bag, trust me I tried to convince her but she was just determined".

"OK well Good night both of you", said Ron, Harry followed Ron without saying anything to Ginny or Gabrielle. Both of them changed in to their pajamas in bathroom (one at a time). They entered the room very quietly, Hermione seemed to be sleeping. Ron took the sleeping bag and let Harry take the other bed.

Harry couldn't fall asleep, he was thinking about way too many things, the prophecy, Hermione, horcruxes, Hermione again, Snape's betrayal, Ginny's strange attitude and yet Hermione again, he was tossing and turning, and then of all the things, he thought about DA, then the Dursley's, then Godric Hollow, Sirius etc…his mind was just not at peace so he finally gave up trying to sleep and got out of the bed. He turned towards Hermione, her back was towards him, he went a little ahead, had no clue what he was doing – that's when he saw Hermione turning towards him, Harry? She whispered –"Yeah?" with that he moved towards her till he was standing right next to her, Hermione silently told him to sit on the bed by patting the space next to her. Once he sat down Hermione whispered again with worried tone, "what's wrong? Nightmares? Is Voldermort trying to do something? "

Harry smiled; because of the dark Hermione couldn't see. "How can you worry about something else when you are so badly injured…", But was cut off with her cold fingers on his lips…

"shhh! This is nothing Harry, it's not like I am dying besides I asked you first?" Harry was still a bit disturbed with her cold fingers, she is so cold, she must be feeling really weak…, he got hold of her hands and pressed them a little with his hands gently in order to warm her hands up, a gesture that seemed quite strange to her and he couldn't see the surprised look on Hermione's face,

"Yes Hermione I couldn't sleep and its not because of nightmares, for that I need to sleep first… I was just thinking about so many things…" – he looked in Ron's direction, it was quite dark to actually see him but he knew exactly where Ron's sleeping bag was. "By the way what are you doing up? I thought you went off to sleep!"

"Well I did but then got up…have been up for quite sometime. Was just thinking whether I made a mistake…"

Harry immediately interrupted her a bit louder than before…"Mistake … you didn't make any mistake…it was a sudden attack…"

Hermione chuckled at this and cut him off…"let me finish...I was wondering if I made a mistake when I refused dinner, you see I am kind of feeling hungry now".

Harry laughed over this as well and blushed, "I'll get you something to eat" with that he got up…but Hermione stopped him, "forget it Harry, it is too dark".

"No, its ok! Be back in a minute…" with that he got up and silently made his way downstairs…he did stumble a little but managed all the same. He got some left over bread and soup for her. She ate her food in dark exchanging small talk with Harry, they were not really talking about anything serious, he told her about what Oliver thought about both of them and they exchanged a small joke over that! "Imagine Rita Skeeter has more followers than the Dark Lord"…they finally got tired and went off to sleep!

p.s. You all will find out soon about reason behind Ginny's behavior. Plus she just annoyed me in 6th book.