The Christmas holidays had come and gone once again. There they were, back at King's Cross about to head back to school. As Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were getting closer towards the train, Hermione stopped in her tracks. The other three turned around, looking worried.
"Hermione?" Harry said.
"What is it?" Ron added.
She was looking at the ground. "Um…Ron, could I have a word with you before I head off?"
"Um…sure." Ron said nervously.
Hermione passed a worried glance over at Ginny who gave her a nod of encouragement. She walked with Ron over to a corner of the platform and looked up at him.
"What is it, Hermione? What's wrong?"
"Look…what I'm about to talk about probably isn't even an appropriate thing to talk about now, or here, but I don't want it to wait any longer because it's worrying me."
Ron took hold of Hermione's shoulders. "Look at me. You can talk to me about anything; at any time."
"Alright…I'm just going to come right out and say it. Ron, are you happy in our relationship? I mean absolutely happy?"
"Hermione…what are you on about? Of course I'm happy. I love you, don't you know that?"
"I know, it's just I'm afraid that…"
"Afraid that what?"
"I'm just afraid that…something might be missing; or that I'm not giving you my all or one hundred percent effort."
"I don't think I understand…what could be missing?"
She looked at him, conveying her point.
"Oh…" he said. "What a minute now. You think I need that to be happy with you? Hermione you know better than that. How did this even come about?"
She looked ashamed. "I don't know…I was just thinking about it and I thought that if that's what you wanted…and I wasn't ready yet you might-"
"Leave you? Is that what you thought?" He hugged her deeply. "I would never do that. You're my world. Can I tell you a secret?"
"Absolutely."
"I know most guys would say that's all they want, but to be honest with you, I'm…I'm not ready either."
Hermione looked at him quickly. "Really?"
"Really. I was actually getting worried about the same things as you. Like, that you wanted that and I wasn't going to give it to you…but now…I'm just so glad we talked about this. You're not weirded out by me, are you?"
Hermione grinned and kissed him. "Of course not. I love you so much. I guess I should get going now." She began to walk toward the train, then looked back at Ron. "Thank you so much, Ron."
Ron smiled. "No, thank you. Have a good rest of the year."
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Back on the train, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, Hannah, and Luna greeted each other excitedly and got a compartment together. They sat and talked all the way until the train left the station until they realized Dean and Seamus had yet to arrive.
"Where do you suppose they are?" Luna asked curiously.
"Surely they didn't miss the train." Neville assured them.
"They might just be sitting with someone else. I'm sure they'll find us eventually." Ginny told them with a smile.
They went on with their business.
A couple of hours passed when a knock came at their compartment door. Everyone recognized the boy as seventh year Ravenclaw, and one of Luna's close house friends, Joey Forthworth. He poked his head through the door.
"Sorry…didn't mean to interrupt. I just came here to ask you a question, Luna."
"Of course. What is it, Joey?"
"I was going to see if I could borrow your latest copy of the Quibbler. My parents don't let me read it at home. So, I read it here." He smiled.
"Sure! Here you are." She handed it to him with a grin.
"Thanks!" He had just stepped out of the compartment when his eyes got noticeably (by everyone) wider. "Whoa…what happened to you, Seamus?"
Everyone looked quickly and saw Dean and Seamus walking toward the compartment.
"Long story." Seamus said bluntly. Joey walked away gracefully and Seamus and Dean joined their friends, sitting down quietly.
When everyone else got a good look at Seamus, they noticed right away that he had a huge left black eye. He wasn't speaking and neither was Dean.
"What the bloody hell happened to you!?" Ginny said loudly.
"Seamus, are you alright?" Hermione added quickly.
Everyone shared the same worried look on their face.
"That's the reason I didn't want to come sit with you lot. I knew you'd be asking questions." Seamus told them. He turned to Dean. "You said it wasn't noticeable."
"I'd say we have a right to know, Shay." Neville told him, with a stern look. "We're just worried is all."
Come on," Luna said, gently taking the boy's hand. "Tell us won't you?"
Seamus took a deep breath.
"Alright…alright. During the holidays I hadn't seen Dean in about a week, so we were going to meet up and hang out for a bit. When we got to talking about it, we decided the holidays were a perfect time to…you know…tell our parents. So, on Christmas day I had Dean come over. We were going to tell my parents, then tell his mum and sister. My parents didn't think it strange that Dean was over…he always used to come over in the past. After all the activities of the morning were over, we sat my parents down….and…and told them." Seamus stopped talking. Dean comforted him and urged him to continue. "We…we told them that Dean and I were together and they…they went mad. I mean mad. I honestly wasn't expecting it to get that bad." A small tear slid down his cheek. "At first they were just yelling. I thought they would calm down eventually…but they didn't. They only got worse. I tried to explain myself and talk them down…but they kept saying things like, I was a disgrace, I was sick, I was an embarrassment, and that I wasn't right in the head. It got to a point to they were screaming at both of us. I figured me mum would be a little more understanding. I mean, she's a bloody wizard after all. Then they tried to 'get some sense into me'. They said if I kick Dean out, then they would forget this ever happened, but I could do it. So, the screaming match continued until…I guess until…they couldn't take it anymore. My father got so….so mad that he…he punched me; without any hesitation or regret in his eyes. Dean helped me up. I looked at my parents…and my father said, 'If you're like this, you're no son of mine.' He walked away. I turned to my mum…and…and pleaded. Do you know what she said to me? She said, 'Leave….and don't ever bother coming back." Seamus dropped his face into his hands and began to quietly sob. Dean hugged his arm around him tightly, and then continued the story.
"After we gathered up all of Seamus' things, we went to my house. It was the complete opposite reaction. My mum and sister were happy…happy for us; so supportive. So, since Seamus couldn't go back to his house, he stayed with me for the rest of the holidays."
Everyone looked at them with sadness in their eyes. One by one, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, Hannah, and Neville left their seats and all hugged the two boys, not letting go.
"We're sorry this happened," Hermione whispered. "You have us now, never forget that. Our group will always be a family."