A.N- Hey everyone whose reading this. Sorry for taking too long to update. Am busy with college admissions. (sucks, yea I know)
Anyway thanks are in order especially to my Beta. You know who you are! She is the one that stops this from becoming a train wreck! Thank you!
Those of you who are reading this, could you please, please, please review. If you don't like the fic, then tell me why you don't like it. And if you do, can you tell me that you do, please!
If you want some Draco Hermione action, you don't have to wait long. They're coming closer to meeting each other. They will meet in the chapter after the next one. Just think of these chapters as the prelude to the whole story.
Two hours later Hermione was tingling with excitement and it was because the meeting went much better than expected. She thought that the senior members would find flaws in her plan and Ron's line of attack. Surprisingly no one pointed out an error and even more surprising… well more on the flattering side really; the older people actually liked them! The meeting was very serious indeed. Her information merged with Ron's strategic mind gave quite a promising plan.
They had decided that Ron and Hermione should go but the Order had been adamant that Harry should not. This resulted in lots of arguing especially from Harry.
'Listen, I know you are all worried about me, and I am really grateful, but I can handle my self perfectly well. I know I need to be kept safe so I can battle Voldemort. But that does not mean that I need to sit at home knitting, while my friends are out there risking their neck for us. I'm supposed to help defeat Voldemort and finding the horcruxes, then destroying them is part of the agenda. I can't kill Voldemort without the annihilation of the horcruxes. Dumbledore wanted me to do this. Why else would he have told me about them? By not letting me go you are disrespecting Dumbledore!'
Hermione felt that the last part was bit melodramatic, but it was the truth. And slowly the Order saw it that way too. After what seemed like an age, Remus (who was the unofficial leader) finally gave his assent.
Her joyous smile faded and was replaced by a grim one full of anticipation. It would be by no means easy but it was possible. The plan was simple enough. They had to go to Drygan Fawr in Wales, find where the hidden entrance was and go inside to retrieve the spell. Simple, HA! It would be a wonder if they got there in one piece. The death eaters would pounce on them the moment they came into the open. They had to be very careful.
If something didn't go according to plan… 'No' Hermione thought to herself. ' everything will go perfectly.'
She had told Ron where the location was and it was up to him, how they were going to get there. They had to maintain a very low profile. Disguises were crucial to the outcome of their mission. These three had been in the press way more then they would have liked to be. Not counting the fact that they had already encountered the death eaters before. They needed pseudonyms as well as charms to alter their physical attributes.
Harry's scar was the obvious place to start. It had to be covered; Ginny helped by telling them that they can just use dollops of her foundation, something which she had a lot of. Harry had gracefully declined the offer. It just didn't appeal to him. Hermione laughed while remembering the panicked look on Harry's face. That was when they had decided on using a charm to hide the scar.
Hermione on the other hand, had to do something about her personality. She wouldn't really be looked over twice, since she looked pretty ordinary, but her intelligence more than made up for it. She had the horrible task of not showing off any of her talents. This was a big deal for Hermione. How was she going to survive?
Her friends had told her to keep her mouth shut at all times and only to open it when alone or in an emergency. She was still rather angry at them for thinking that she couldn't live without spouting off her knowledge 24/7, even if it was true. But she was going to prove them wrong. Oh yes she was!
She didn't want to turn into some bimbo, who only worries about themselves, but her thirst for proving herself to her friends was far too strong. She had argued about what her intelligence had to do with the disguise. Her only answers were that it was just an added precaution.
'I mean being a muggleborn, the death eaters would mark you as their prey anyway. Not to mention that you are one of my best friends, who has helped me in thwarting Voldemort. They know your personality since you're practically famous for it, so you need to mellow it down a bit. We don't need another risk. Better safe than sorry, Mione'
'It's silly though,' she said more to herself then anyone else, 'what good will it do?'
'It will do a great deal of good,' the wise voice of Remus was heard.
'And how exactly is that?' she said rather haughtily.
'Hermione, you have changed physically since the death eaters saw you last. You may have to do something else to alter your looks slightly, but you're different enough as it is. Imagine seeing someone you thought bore a resemblance to someone you knew, but even then couldn't be sure if it was that person or not. The first thing would be to see how they act. If a death eater walked past you, while you were… grasping books here and there, they would match those actions with a face and voila. They would find you to be Hermione Granger!'
'That's true,' Hermione mused silently to herself.
Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. She knew she had changed physically. She had managed to tame down her hair, but it still wasn't how she wanted it to be. It crackled with electricity whenever she was excited or extremely angry. She had grown a few inches taller, though not as tall as Harry or Ron. Her face had matured and was no stranger to all the worries present in the world. The premature lines on her face proved that. Her eyes were as brown as always. Other than that, she wasn't that different.
'I supposed it wouldn't hurt anything except my pride, and it would be for our best interests.' In the end she agreed earning a sigh of relief from Order.
But looking onto other important matters at hand, she focused her attention on Ron.
His trademark ginger hair had to be dealt with. It would be a dead giveaway if anyone saw a flash of bright red hair as it was the identifying feature of the Weasley family. People didn't have to recognize that it was specifically Ron to want to kill him, because any member of the family was wanted dead by Voldemort.
They were now discussing possible hair colours.
'WHAT! NO WAY AM I DYING IT BLONDE. I'LL LOOK LIKE… LIKE…' Ron in his tirade couldn't even finish the sentence.
'Malfoy?' supplied Hermione.
There was a collective shudder. It wasn't just from disgust for Ron looking like Draco Malfoy but of anger; which still hadn't dissipated. This anger was the outcome of many years of taunting, teasing and bullying on both parties' part. But the main reason why this schoolyard tension had increased was because of the younger Malfoy's role in the assassination of Albus Dumbledore. There was no possible way that they could forget it.
Harry sometimes wondered what Draco Malfoy would be doing now. Would he be running away from Voldemort because in the end, he couldn't kill Dumbledore? Or would he still be in the death eater circle? He sometimes felt sorry for him. Had he been part of the killing of someone else, Harry would not have beeen so hard on him. He understood that Voldemort was threatening him, the fate of his family rested on his shoulders.
But Dumbledore was very close to Harry's heart. His rational side told him not to blame Malfoy for what he did, but who exactly listens to their rational side nowadays? He still harboured anger against him as did perhaps most of the wizarding community.
He shook his head trying to remove these thoughts. Time was too precious; he couldn't waste it by thinking of Malfoy.
Back to the matter at hand. They had to disguise themselves to avoid detection by unwanted people. It was probably a long shot that the death eaters would recognize them due to a mass of dead keratin, and someone's behaviour, but still there was a chance and that was something the trio were not willing to take.
They were ready! It had been three days since the meeting and now they were finally on their way. It had been a day of tears especially on Molly Weasley's part. The two children who she had come to think of as her own along with Ron were now all grown up! Here they were, going away to save the wizarding world. To rid them of the scum that had come to call itself Lord Voldemort. The older members were very sad to see them leave. They were wishing for their youth back so they could go instead but fate hadn't put this task in their hands for nothing. It was common knowledge that these three teens were the best for the job.
The trio spent their last night with Ginny, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George. Fleur had gone to bed early, because she had migraine. Percy was not there, even though he apologized to his family about his rash decisions. He was welcomed back to the family, not necessarily with open arms however was brought back nonetheless but he was definitely NOT part of the Order. No matter how much Molly had protested on his behalf, the Order was not willing to take such a person, who had swayed from their path. He had to redeem himself in their eyes and as of yet, Percy hadn't done that.
Ginny and Harry went off alone to talk privately. Charlie and Bill gave him a warning glare. Harry chuckled to himself. The two had been going out for nearly four months and still, Bill and Charlie were apprehensive about her dating. The only thing that kept them from lunging at the boy who was dating their youngest and only sister, was the fact that she was with Harry Potter. No ordinary boy. A person who knew, not only how to protect himself but others too. They knew he would do all he could to not let any harm befall Ginny.
Walking away to her bedroom, Harry thought it was safe to finally talk to her. He steeled himself. He knew what he was about to say wasn't going to fare well with Ginny. He had told her at Dumbledore's funeral and she didn't listen to him. Harry had given her ample time to think about it and thought that it was now or never. He liked her a lot, and didn't want to see her get hurt emotionally or physically. He was doing this for her benefit.
'Ginny' he whispered.
'Harry, don't! I know what you're going to say.'
Harry forced himself to hide the smile, which was about to form itself on his lips. Four months only, and already Ginny knew him so well.
'Don't you dare even think of breaking up with me Harry Potter!' she hissed.
'Ginny, I don't want to see you get hurt. I like you a lot and if Voldemort finds out, think of what he's going to do to you.' he said pleadingly.
'Harry, I'm sixteen!'
'What's that got to do with anything?' he asked looking puzzled.
'Phff…I know what I'm getting into if I go out with you. I'm not a child. I know what could happen. I know I can get killed, tortured, or held captive among other less glamorous outcomes.' She said while looking over to Harry whose face hardened with every utterance of her words.
'But Harry, while Voldemort is still at large, that's the possible fate of everyone in this world. It's true that now they might want me more than before, but that's the case with quite a lot of people.'
Harry opened his mouth, but Ginny's glare shut him up almost immediately.
'Harry. I can look after myself and I want to be with you, the whole way. I can't bear the thought of you telling me to stay out of trouble while you go play with fire yourself.'
Seeing Harry's downcast face, she slipped her hands into his. 'I want to be with you Harry.' She murmured softly.
Harry was full of inner turmoil. Deep in his heart, he didn't want to let Ginny go. He felt selfish in saying this but he wanted her to always be with him. But he couldn't put her in any sort of risk. Imagine if he came back one day and saw Ginny sprawled on the floor, not moving. He shuddered at the thought. He already lost most of the people he loved; he couldn't afford giving her the same fate.
He couldn't even tell her where he was going tomorrow or what it was that he was planning to do. She obviously knew that Harry had to kill Voldemort and that it was going to be a hard journey, but she didn't know anything about the horcruxes and Harry planned on keeping it that way. He didn't want to put her in any more danger. But seeing Ginny looking at him with the blue eyes he grew to love, he just fell and gave in, so that he could be with her.
His selfish side won.
'Ginny, listen. I really want to be with you too, but it's going to be hard. You know that I'm going away tomorrow.' He received an affirmative nod.
'I might be gone for a long time. We won't be able to have a proper relationship anyway. We can't keep in touch by owl because they're traceable. If you really want to be with me you're going to have to wait and… I don't know how long it might take.'
'I'm willing to wait Harry.'
He couldn't speak. There was something blocking his throat. His heart welled up with emotion. It was lucky that this moment was very precious and words weren't needed to see the amount of love between these two beings. Their arms encircled each other. Ginny's face rested on his chest and she inhaled his scent, comforting herself with Harry's closeness.
When Harry could finally speak, he murmured 'thank you.'
This was the position in which Hermione found them. She had come to call them downstairs. She smiled at what she saw. Her heart went out to them. She longed to have someone like that. She had never felt jealous before but now she envied Ginny. It's not that she liked Harry like that of course, because they shared a bond like that of siblings.
She envied how calm Ginny was. How Ginny had someone she could lean on. Hermione wondered when she would be able to have someone like that. She would probably never have the chance to have someone like that now. She was in the war and there was a probability that she would not come back …alive.
A tear slowly made its way down her face. The tear didn't symbolize fear of death rather; it was for not being able to experience everything she had wanted. There was a minor thing going on with Ron and her but it stopped a while ago. They realized that they fought way too often for a stable relationship and were better off friends.
She knew it was very sappy but couldn't help thinking 'where's my Prince Charming?'
Little did Hermione know that with each passing day, she was coming closer and closer to the meeting with her intended.
Getting herself together, she cleared her throat to get Harry's attention. He looked around at the sudden interruption. Seeing Hermione, he blushed and smiled. Ginny let go but kept his hand in her grasp. They walked hand in hand with Hermione in the lead.
No one spoke. The silence wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest, it was actually rather soothing. One by one everyone began to leave for bed. Until it was just Harry, Ron and Hermione left besides the dwindling fire place. They looked at each other.
Their friendship had come a long way since the meeting with the troll in their first year at Hogwarts. It had gone through its fair share of ups and downs, and was now incredibly strong.
Nothing could break it!
A.N- hope you liked. Ginny/ harry fluff, don't they make such a cute couple! They're so kawaii!
Were getting there. The next chappie focuses on our favourite slytherin, Draco!
Once again, review ppl. Don't make me beg… no I wont… don't make me…
FINE! ( Throws hands up in defeat) Please, please, please, please review!
Until next time, Ciao!
A.N number two! I was reading this story on and then… I saw quite a few glaringly obvious mistakes, which somehow I missed. So I cleared it up. Sorry! Whatever I corrected doesn't actually effect the story, but being the perfectionist that I am, I have to make everything.. well… perfect.
Sorry again!