I know I've let Harry sit for far too long, so I'm sorry if you have to go back and read a few chapters over to remember where we left our intrepid hero. I promise to channel him a bit more often in the weeks to come to finish up his story they way I'd always planned it. (And no more nights with snifters of port for me, bad things happen, like threesomes).

Enjoy

Merick

Chapter Forty-Nine

When I picked my jaw up off the floor, and managed to close eyes than had become as wide as a squirrel's caught in a car's headlamps all I could do was stammer, and try to quash the queasy feeling rising in my stomach. Hermione was my best mate, she knew everything about me, or had known everything about me up until the start of this past term when I'd backed away from her and Ron to try to give them the space to work on their own relationship. Well, okay, maybe it had started before that, when I had left The Burrow to go and work at 12 G for the summer. Had it really been that many months that I had walled myself off from my friends? Had I just taken for granted that our friendships would survive anything? Even me?

The sick feeling began to permeate through my body. I hadn't ever meant to deceive her, or really anyone for that matter. I'd always known I'd tell her, eventually. It just had never occurred to me that she'd figure it out on her own; though it right well should have. Hermione was the smartest person I knew, bar none, and she'd seen me with Draco on that horrible day he'd gotten the letter from his mother about his sister Delphinia. She and Professor Sinistra had seen him collapse into my arms, and they had seen me hold him there, and they had left us alone in the Owlery without asking a single question. But it seemed as if the time for that question had finally come. I'd never even asked her how much Professor Sinistra had told her. I guess I'd been avoiding it, like so many other things I'd avoided dealing with since coming back to school.

"When were you going to tell me Harry?" She repeated her question as I sat, drowning in my thoughts.

"I'm sorry Hermione." My voice wasn't strong at all, and neither was my spirit despite my easy admission to Daniel only a day earlier.

"What are you sorry about Harry?"

"Not confiding in you sooner Hermione, I know I promised I'd explain, and I should have. I just didn't know what the right words would be for you."

"You don't need the right words Harry, just the truth." She did have a way to get to the heart of things that girl.

"I'm in love with Draco." I couldn't even look her in the eye when I said it, and just stared down at the floor.

"Why would you be afraid to tell me Harry?"

"I didn't want you to hate me Hermione, you're my best mate."

"You thought I would hate you for being in love with a man?" She sounded so disappointed in me just then.

"No, not exactly. I didn't want you to hate me for being in love with someone who tormented us for so many years. I just didn't want to take the chance that I'd lose you I guess. I didn't want you to see me differently, I didn't want our friendship to change." I kind of surprised myself with the way the wisdom and the truth spilled out so easily.

"Harry." She put her hand out on my knee and gave me a little smile, lips pursed together. "You will never be anyone else to me but my friend; more than my friend. No matter who you love."

I'd had enough of tears and fought them back feeling their sting in my eyes.

"All that matters to me is that you are happy." She continued.

"I am."

"Good."

"Are you going to tell Ron?"

"Did you want me to?"

Okay, I was a coward, no problem admitting that right then. It was one thing telling Daniel, we were sharing a secret, another to tell Mel, she had been part of a secret life where I could have been anything, and even Hermione, she was more than my friend, as she had said. Though we'd never been intimate we'd been much more. Stuck in that horrible tent, fighting to survive, we were in each other's heads, each other's souls more deeply than any two people alive. But telling Ron, well, I just knew I couldn't do that. Not that I thought he'd be mad at me, well, I hoped he wouldn't be since I'd dated his sister and all, but I just didn't know if he could handle that kind of shake-up in his universe.

"Yes, can you tell him, when you're away, so it has some time to sink in before he sees me again?"

She laughed at me, which made me laugh a bit too, and at that point Ron and Draco joined us, now bored with the stalemates at chess, and looking for more company.

"I will Harry." She said to me cryptically, as light of heart as if nothing had happened between us, ignoring the odd look from Ron.

"Thanks Hermione." And I reached across the couch to give her a hug, holding her a bit longer than I probably needed to, but it felt so good to share my secret with her finally.

"Come on." Ron practically whined. "Let's go find something to do."

"Apparently Mr. Weasley doesn't feel like losing again." Draco said with a sarcastic smile.

"Hey! I can beat you any day." Ron was actually right, he was a demon at Wizard's chess, but the banter was so nice to hear. I wanted us all to be friends.

"Why don't we go see a Muggle movie?" Hermione suggested, an idea, which went over very well. So we bundled ourselves up in winter Muggle wear and headed out to the cinema for a show.

With Ron and I flanking Hermione, and Draco to my other side we watched a ridiculous 'road trip' movie, and in the dark of the theatre I was able to reach out for Draco's hand, and spend the almost two hours holding it, and stroking his palm, teasing us both. I even dared to let my hand delve into his lap once, just for a moment, which earned me a similar action of his hand sliding up my leg. Movies were certainly a great deal of fun.

Even the walk back home was amusing, Ron repeating all the best lines from the movie; Hermione shaking her head at him, and Draco and I just watching them both, with raised eyebrows. The trip was a little chilly, but upon arriving home we found that Kreacher had Spanish coffees waiting for everyone and we retired back to the living room to drink, and laugh some more, and just enjoy the fact that we had nothing else we needed to do but that.

"Ron and I are going to get an early start in the morning on our trip." Hermione announced as we were all finally slowing down for the night. I knew they first had to go to Diagon Alley to use the PortKey to Paris, and I didn't really blame them for wanting to have as many days as possible in that city. Not only because they'd be alone, but because they'd have a chance to just be tourists, not grail knights as we had been before, darting around the country on our Horcrux quest. Being able to see the sights of a great city such as that sounded so exciting.

"Don't you two worry about getting up early to see us off, we'll try to sneak out quietly so we don't wake you."

"Well I guess we'll see you back at school then next week?" I offered.

"Absolutely." She answered back, and stood to drag Ron off to bed. There was no real need for goodbyes, we'd be seeing them again in a few days, and so we didn't say any. Draco and I just watched them head upstairs, and listened to the door closing before finally letting our guards down, and pulling together for a brief kiss.

"What do you want to do tomorrow Draco?"

"I don't know, hadn't really thought about it." He smiled, "fool around with you I guess, sleep in, eat some rich food and drink some expensive alcohol. That sounds good."

I didn't disagree, it sounded really good, and smiling myself, I stood and offered him my hand, to take him to bed as well.

Funny how innocent plans can get all messed up isn't it?