The world of Harry Potter and its characters belong to JKR. I do not support JKR. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Trans people are people.

Chapter 8: Broken Hearts

They had just finished the last D.A meeting before the holiday break. Cho was a bit disappointed to not have learned to see that Cedric had yet to show up to another meeting. Ever since he'd become a Champion it was becoming exceedingly difficult to get a moment alone between the two of them, she knew how apparently difficult the training was, she even saw some bruises on Ron Weasley's face in the mornings that he would try to hide with the hood of his robes.

Luna Lovegood, who Cho had always been on formal terms in unlike the rest of their house, would come to dinner waving her wand under the table while muttering a spell again and again, she looked incredibly serious and the daydreaming look that always overtook her face seemed to be gone and replaced now with a face similar to Roger Davies's during any Quidditch Match. It was unsettling to see someone who she saw as perpetually cheerful so unlike herself.

Daphne Greengrass was the odd one out, she heard almost nothing about the younger Slytherin other than the fact she was in Harry's year and was apparently quite smart, second only behind Hermione. She had always kept quiet ever since she arrived at Hogwarts never bringing any sort of attention to herself. To say Cho had been surprised she had been chosen would be an understatement, she was of course one of the best students in her year, but nothing that Cho could say outstanding compared to Harry or Hermione.

And now there was nothing discernible that anyone could say about her behavior, she would finish her classes, go to wherever she went by the lake, disappear with her founder and appear the next morning at breakfast as if nothing had happened.

She understood that Cedric had now a burden of responsibilities, on top of being a Champion again, he was also the new Head Boy and the Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. She understood, but she also wanted to snog her boyfriend, especially when he got all rough on her.

Lately, Cedric had gotten this more primal side of him during their private time, snogging the daylights out of her and leaving her very much dazed and quite happy. He held her waist close to him, he bit her lower lip almost hard for it to bleed, he whispered possessive sweet nothings into her ear while his hands seemed to roam more and more south. To everyone else he was sweet and innocent Cedric Diggory, and she liked it that way.

Now, she was walking through the halls of Hogwarts heading towards the Ravenclaw Tower to pack for the holidays. She had planned to invite Cedric, but she hadn't found the time or place to do so. As she made a list in her mind about every little thing she might have missed she bumped into some as she rounded the corner, she fell on her bum and as she looked up to see who she had run into she came face to face with her boyfriend.

He looked spent, just like he did after his Quidditch training with the team, he had sweat all over him, he breathed heavily as he looked down at Cho. His normally well combed hair was in disarray, his eyes sparkled when they met with Cho's, he had some Quidditch gloves on, but she knew that Hufflepuff had practice tomorrow. The corners of his mouth lifted as he saw Cho. Wordlessly, he picked up his girlfriend and took her hand leading them inside the castle into an empty classroom. Cedric casted a Silencing Charm and a Locking Charm on the door.

Cho's heart was beating faster than she'd cared to admit, as Cedric turned around and walked towards her, he looked like a predator approaching its meal. His grey vibrant eyes had darkened considerably, he walked so close to Cho she felt as if he was about to suffocate her with his mere presence, they were inches apart when Cedric put his hands on her waist trailing them slowly and reverently, before pulling her flushed to him. His lips crushed to hers, his hands went up to her nape where he held her head with his hands.

His fingers slipped to her hair where he gripped it in a painfully pleasing way, he pulled it back bringing her neck to his view where he started peppering it with open-mouthed kisses, bites, and licks. He lavished all of her neck completely with his mouth, she knew that she'd end up with a neck full of love bites, but at the time she couldn't have cared less. Cedric's mouth descended further and further down as he peppered kisses across her collarbones, before he put his hand on Cho's cardigan. He looked up at her, his eyes asking for permission, but she was so far gone she could only nod.

Cedric surprised Cho by putting his hands on her waist and effortlessly lifting her off the ground and on to the professor's table. He took off her cardigan and her jumper leaving her in her pink bra, Cedric started kissing her breasts, his hands were on her stomach as he licked her right nipple through her bra. His hands began moving upwards before grabbing Cho's breasts, she couldn't help but moan at the feeling of his hands on her mounds.

He took off her bra revealing her breast to him, he wasted no time in licking her nipple once more, sucking on it, biting it, everything that he could've done. He moved to her other breast, leaving a trail of spit behind. It felt good, she felt hot all over and he had barely begun to touch her. Every whimper coming out of her mouth seemed to spur him on.

'Yes,' Cho thought. 'Yes Ced, more. More!' her train of thought was derailed when his tongue came back to her mouth as she tasted gingerbread on his tongue from the feast a few hours ago.

"Ced?" she said, but Cedric only seemed to pay attention to her mouth. "Ced… Ced I love you…"

The moment those words came out of her mouth she regretted it, Cedric's hands dropped from her breast and his mouth instantly left her lips. He stared down at her with a pale expression, his eyebrows furrowed, but his eyes were completely wide, as if she'd just told him the most horrible thing he could ever hear. He gulped and she could see his Adam's apple bobbing. Embarrassment suddenly took over as she covered herself while Cedric suddenly noticed this and had the decency of looking away.

A tension fell in the room and neither of them spoke, an awkward silence filled the space between them, but the awkwardness compared to the hurt Cho felt as she hastily put on her clothes. She could handle the embarrassment considering she had been handling it throughout the term as student after student tried to get the best out of her by insulting Cedric. And at that moment she wanted nothing more than to hear it again, because that was certainly better than this.

"I–" Cho started, trying very hard not to cry, but what was there to say? "I think I'm going to leave–"

"You don't have to," Cedric cut her off as he fully turned around looking at her. "I– I mean…" but even he looked clueless as to what to do.

"What do you want, Cedric?" she asked, and when she didn't get an answer she asked him once more, earring a shrug of shoulders from him, somehow that was worse than the complete silence that had engulfed them moments. The sight irked her for some reason and the next thing she knew she had wiped off the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes and she looked at her boyfriend dead in the eye.

"What. Do you. Want. Cedric?" She spoke slowly, trying her hardest to control herself. When she got no response from him once more, something inside her wanted to punch that handsome face of his. She walked up to him, all thoughts of embarrassment gone, now replaced by an unrelenting feeling of hurt.

"Do you– do you not love me?" Cho said, her voice quivering. "If that's the case I won't mention it again I promise Cedri–"

"It's not that I–" he cut her off again, this time he looked more annoyed than anything else. It was weird, she had never seen Cedric act this way. Confused and angry. She had seen him scared when he would refuse to show it to anyone else, nervous for an upcoming match or last year before the Second and Third Task. But, Cho was sure that she had never seen Cedric confused while angry.

"Blimey, I mean," he said while looking at Cho. "I think I love you… You know... Sometimes."

"Sometimes?!" she shrieked, her anger getting the best of her.

"Yeah sometimes," replied Cedric, his voice rising as well. "When you're not acting like an overprotective mother loving you is actually something feasible." She scoffed out a humourless laugh at that.

"Overprotective mother?!" she all but bellowed. "When have I ever–"

"How about this summer?" he interrupted. "I got a daily letter from you EVERY. SINGLE. DAY! Do you know how overbearing you can be?!"

"Well I'm sorry that I was worried about my boyfriend! And how could I not be overbearing?! You didn't contact me all summer! I thought the worst at night! I thought that somehow You-Know-Who had gotten to you!"

"See?!" he said and for a second he looked down right deranged. "That! You're always bringing up what happened last year! Why can't you just move on from it like everyone else did?!"

Cho stopped herself from responding at seeing his face, behind the rage and fake anger she had heard his voice break and could see his grey eyes getting wet. His chest was heaving and his expression could only be described as painful. At that moment, for a very brief second she didn't know what to do. Should she hug him? Tell him that it's okay, that it was fine that he wasn't ready to move on. Should she slap him? Tell him not to be ridiculous and that no one had moved on, when in fact she was pretty sure most people were. But, the moment passed because the next moment Cedric was wiping her eyes and turning around.

"I don't know anymore," he said in a voice so quiet she almost didn't hear him. "When we're together in public and you make sure that I'm okay it feels nice sometimes… But sometimes it feels awful, because it reminds me that I'm not alright, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be…" Cho didn't dare say anything, even if she did she had no idea what to say.

"But then, when we're alone… When you let me touch you… When you let me possess you like I've never done with anyone else… When touching you makes me feel like bliss… I feel… better I guess," he said and he took a shuddering breath. "And then, I don't. I feel guilty and disgusting… And I wonder if it is because I love you so much, or because I don't at all."

Cho felt something excruciatingly painful inside her chest, tears were flowing down her cheeks and her head felt dizzy. She bit back a whimper that was threatening to escape her throat which for some reason started feeling constricting. She sniffed back and wiped her tears on the sleeve of her cardigan. So her boyfriend, the first boy she had ever loved, was either ashamed of what they did as a couple in private because he loved her… Or because he was using her… Either way the revelation pierced through her heart.

"Cedric… Look at me…" Cedric complied, turning around and facing Cho before his sad grey eyes settled on hers. She saw guilt, shame, and hurt all wrapped into one, but not a sign of what she knew she'd see if he felt the same. There wasn't an ounce of love in his eyes. "I think… I think it's for the best if you… If we… don't see each other anymore…" She saw Cedric look away and gulped as his eyes became wet again.

"Yeah," he said, his voice strained and constricted. "Yeah, it… It makes sense…" Cedric walked towards her and embraced her in his arms, for a second she wanted to take it all back. To tell him how stupid she was for even suggesting that, but she knew this was for the best of not only her, but him. She cried onto his chest and felt her hair get wet, most probably by his tears. They didn't let each other go for a while basking in each other's presence for the last time.

But it had to end, and Cedric pulled himself away from Cho. She looked up at him through a teary-eyed vision, seeing her state Cedric took her chin between his fingers and laid a chaste and gentle kiss on her lips. And just like before a tweak of weakness yearned to deepen the kiss, to slide her tongue through his lips so that it may dance with his, but by the time she'd even considered the idea Cedric was already walking away from her.

And she could only look as the boy that she loved left the classroom, and her as well. She walked back to the Ravenclaw Tower, determined to not let a single tear drop from her face, until she arrived at her dorm room where she saw the Christmas gift that she had gotten Cedric. She opened the box and saw the snitch shaped locket, she opened the locket seeing the picture of the two of them dancing happily at the Yule Ball. Cho couldn't help but look into Cedric's eyes, and her heart broke when she recognized the innocent love that was held in those gorgeous grey orbs.

Percy was writing down his work report for the Minister, he'd been doing so for the last months or so ever since he'd been assigned as the new High Inquisitor. It was a tiring job seeing as the Minister could only rely on him to be a primary source regarding Dumbledore and Harry for the time being. It was worth it, or at least that's what he told himself.

When he told himself that he would help Ron, he hadn't been playing around, he fully intended to get Ron as far away from Hogwarts if he had to. However, Minister Fudge wasn't making the task any easier. When Percy had brought up the subject in one of his letters the response from Fudge had been less than satisfactory.

...I'm sorry to hear about your brother Mr. Weasley, but I'm afraid that for the moments making an aggressive move while Dumbledore is in charge would certainly be what Dumbledore wants. I'm sure that once we uncover the lies that he and Potter are spewing we'll be able to help your young brother Rupert…

He didn't know what had angered Percy more, the fact that the MInister would rather save face and still be seen as the "good guy" in his little war with Dumbledore, or the fact that he had seemingly forgotten his younger brother's name when he probably had the bloody letter at hand. He has never been one to use crude language, not even when provoked, but when he got that letter he was more than ready to let out a string of curse words that would make even Ronald blush.

And when Percy had persisted in his next letter saying that his brother could end up in danger because of his lack of action, the Minister had told him off, saying that there were far more important things to deal with than the hypothetical endangerment of a single student.

'That "single student" is my brother you stubborn buffoon,' Percy thought back when he got Fudge's letter back. 'Dumbledore was all but ready to shut down the school back in my last year for Harry.'

He rubbed his tired eyes that morning, he still didn't have a way to figure out how to properly help Ron without the Ministry's permission. But still, Percy was sure that in no time he would get Fudge's permission to step in and stop this madness for once. When he finished writing his letter, he tied it to Hermes's leg and sent him to the Minister's office. As he sat down he heard a tapping at his window, he thought perhaps something had gone wrong with Hermes, but he saw an unknown owl tapping on his window.

He opened the window as he took the letter from the owl he opened it seeing the St. Mungo's logo staring right back at him, his eyebrows shot up into his forehead and he swallowed down a lump that had stuck itself in his throat. With a trembling grasp he rolled out the letter as he read each word determined not to miss a single letter.

Dear Mr. Percy Weasley,

We are sorry to inform you that your father Arthur Weasley was transferred to the Ward for Creature-Induced Injuries at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies at 12:14 a.m. the 19th of December of 1995. Healer Hippocrates Smethwyck is the official healer in charge of your father's recovery.

As a member of the Weasley family and the main contact for emergencies of Arthur Weasley it is our obligation to inform you of your father's condition and that visiting hours start at 9 in the morning and end at 5 in the afternoon. If you wish to visit, be sure to consult his exact whereabouts at the front desk when entering St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies.

Your father is in stable condition and will be ready to leave in a couple of days. Know that we are the best healing facility in all of Britain for magical injuries and that your father is in good hands. We sincerely hope for his full recovery before the holidays begin.

Best regards and Happy Christmas,
Official Staff member of the Department of Patient Relationships and Loved Ones
Audrey Alysnes.

As Percy finished reading he let out a sigh of relief as his eyes ran over the same sentence over and over again. "Your father is in stable condition". They probably forgot to mention that he would rather stay there than to face his son again. The fight Percy had with his father months ago was still rattling inside his brain. Words that hurt the both of them, calling his father… What he called him.

He doesn't really remember how it went down after that, it was all a blur, it's a constant battle in his brain where one side wants to go and apologize, ask for their forgiveness, while the other just won't let it go, because he has let it go far too many times. When the twins made fun of him for his prefect badge, or his Head Boy badge, or when they caught him playing Head Boy when he was 8 years old. He took a deep breath to calm himself, grabbed his coat to leave his temporary office at Hogwarts and headed off to St. Mungo's.

As he whispered at the mannequin and entered the hospital a sense of dread, he hadn't really seen or talked to his father in months. The closest he had gotten was during Harry's trial back during the summer before the start of the school year. As he got the directions from a mediwitch at the front desk he walked through every corridor and hall, his heart beating ruthlessly inside his chest.

He got to the ward, stepping inside the large room where he could see other patients, but after taking no more than a couple of steps he was faced with the image of his father arguing with his mother. Bill was looking at them amusedly, looking tall and proud at the sight of the quarreling couple. Percy imagined himself between them rolling his eyes at his father's usual antics. But, the fantasy ended far too soon as Bill turned his head and noticed Percy gazing at the three of them.

"Percy?" said his older brother, gaining the attention of their parents, his tone wasn't aggressive, more questioning or confused. His mother's scolding look turned to one of sadness at the sight of him, her eyes started to become wet and her lip seemed to quiver. His father's expression was far more different, his eyes became serious and his naive and innocent look which he usually displayed to appease Percy's mother was gone.

"P-Percy?" said his mother, her voice shaking, but he didn't turn to look, his eyes simply stared back at his father.

"St. Mungo's sent me a letter regarding your… condition," he said, before clearing his throat trying very hard to get rid of the lump that was forming in his throat. "I'm apparently your emergency contact."

"Oh," that's all his father said as he cleared his throat and looked at Bill, and Percy noticed how his gaze softened at the sight of his eldest son. "I suppose I forgot to change it to you Bill… I just thought..." He looked back at Percy, and the softened look had completely disappeared. "When you started working at the Ministry, I thought that having you as my emergency contact would be prudent, but don't worry… I'll be sure to change it back to your mother…"

Percy looked at his father as his words hit him, and he swallowed down the lump that made him feel as if he was choking on nothing. He nodded his head as he turned around and walked away, ignoring his mother's quiet pleas to stay. He wouldn't let them see him like this, he wouldn't let them see him be affected by their words. Without noticing Percy's cheeks had moistened with his tears. And just before he left the ward stood in his place, determined to keep his voice as neutral as possible.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll talk to the Department of Patient Relationships and Loved Ones, I'll make sure they don't contact me whenever you get hurt."

And with that he left, leaving his family behind as he felt their eyes staring back at him. He walked back to the front desk and asked where the Department of Patient Relationships and Loved Ones, or DPRLO for short, was. He followed the instructions and found himself in front of a door with the symbol of a family cuddling together, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes and knocked twice before being answered.

When the door slightly opened Percy expected a single thing to happen, he expected a mediwitch or mediwizard to attend him. And it did, except the mediwitch was perhaps one of the most peculiar, but attractive women he had ever seen. She reminded him of Tonks, a student in his older brother Charlie's year who was known to wear very extravagant and rebellious looks, pink short hair, dark make-up, piercings, rock t-shirts. Had he not known what Tonks looked like he might've guessed she started working at St. Mungo's.

She had dark brown hair that reached her shoulders, but the ends had a purple color. She had a piercing on her lower lip as well as one on her eyebrow, and a couple more on her ears. She wore black lipstick and dark eyeshadow that made her gorgeous amber eyes pop out. Her green robes, although the same as any other mediwitch, looked great on her. She was short, shorter than Penny had been when he had dated her, that however was not surprising seeing as he came from a family of tall ginger giants.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was sweet and did not fit her appearance at all; he expected a sort of nasal voice that a teenager would have, but Percy had to remind himself that this was a woman. A very, very attractive woman. After a couple of seconds he took notice of the fact that she had asked him a question, he straightened up, closed his mouth which had been hung open and cleared her throat.

"I-I'm here t-to… Uhmmmm… I'm…" Blimey! Why couldn't he speak? Why did he choose this exact moment to turn back to his awkward teenage self? And was his voice squeaking? "I-I was mailed this letter, b-but I'm no longer my father's emergency contact," he said as he handed the letter to the mediwitch in front of him. He saw as she rolled out the letter and her eyes moved as she read, her smile suddenly formed one of the most attractive smiles he had ever seen.

"Well you're in luck, Percy," she said. "I'm Audrey Alysnes, the mediwitch in charge of your father's emergency contact."

Audrey. It was quite a beautiful name if he could say so himself. Not a very common one in the wizarding world, but a beautiful name nonetheless.

"Come on in," she said as she walked back inside the office. Percy swallowed down his fear and puffed out his chest for no apparent reason as he stepped in the office. There were desks across the room with several people writing letters, stamping on permits and documents, as well as wrapping up gifts and toys. As they stopped by a wall with many cabinets she turned to look at him and he did his best to not blush under her gaze.

"May you state your father's full name please?" she said.

"Arthur Weasley," he responded. Audrey looked through several cabinets before landing on one that had the letters A and B. She opened and out came what could've been about 10 meters of files and papers. She went through some of them with her fingers, and he was just now noticing how her fingernails looked sharp like cat's and were as black as the night sky. For some reason Percy felt his pants tighten.

"Here it is," she said, pulling out a file. "Arthur Weasley," she opened the file and looked through it before landing on what she was looking for. She took out a quill and dipped it in some ink that was by a table. She made a line. And looked back at him. "Who would your father want to replace you with?"

"My mother," he responded, she looked at him before letting out a cute laugh, and Percy realized he had to give out a name. "M-Molly Weasley."

She wrote down what he could only guess was his mother's name and put the file back in the drawer. She closed the cabinet drawer, and turned to look at him.

"Well," she said. "That's all, if you don't mind me I have to go back to work."

"Wait!" he said suddenly, the word had escaped his mouth before he could stop himself. And his hand had gone and snatched her wrist.

"Yes?" she questioned, as she looked at his hand latching on to her wrist, Percy noticed it too and released his hold on her.

"Y-you don't have to g-go yet do you?"

"Well," she said calmly. "I have a lot of documents, permits and all sorts of rubbish to sign, write or deliver."

"Do you think you'd have some time for a-a drink perhaps?" he said, gathering all his inner Gryffindor courage.

"As I said," she continued, but he could notice the hint of a smile on her expression. "I have a lot of work to do, I'm sorry perhaps anoth–"

"It's not like you're a real mediwitch," Percy had murmured, he and his big mouth had done it again and refused to listen to him. His widened eyes settled on her face, the hint of a smile gone now replaced with what looked like anger.

"Excuse me?"

"I-I'm sorry I–"

"Oh you're going to be sorry," this was not going like Percy had planned in his head. "I'll have you know I'm as much of a mediwitch as any other healer in this hospital, and I'll be damned if some four-eyed ginger broomstick is going to tell me what I am and what I'm not." She glared daggers at him and he couldn't help but feel disappointment course through him. He had messed it up, because of course he had. His shoulders sagged and he was sure he looked pathetic.

"I'm sorry," he said looking into her amber eyes. "In no way did I mean to offend you, but I now see how I have been rude to your profession. I'll leave you alone. Again… I'm sorry," he said before walking towards the exit of the office, he could feel the stares of other workers in the back of his head. Just before his hand touched the door knob he heard Audrey's voice talk coming closer.

"Oi," she said, walking closer to him. "What you said was incredibly rude," he opened his mouth to apologize again, but she held up her hand and continued. "However, you can make up your very rude assumption with something else."

"Sure," said Percy, shrugging his shoulders.

"Very well," she said smiling. "You'll have to buy me dinner."

Percy's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. He started sputtering, but his brains seemed to have malfunctioned.

"Nothing too cheap, but nothing too expensive either. I like beef and noodles. And my shift ends at 7, so you have three hours to plan something."

She opened the door behind him and he walked back automatically, she winked at him before closing the door leaving a blushing Percy to stare back at the door. He gulped before checking his watch.

"Oh blimey!" he cursed as he made his way quickly out of St. Mungo's. "Where the bloody hell do I buy steak? How do I cook steak?!"

Hermione had finished unpacking her things and had put them in order across her shared room in Grimmauld Place the night before. She had really been excited to go skiing with her parents, well, she had been excited to spend time with her parents, skiing just wasn't the thing she had in mind when she thought of a holiday break at home. Still, she'd been missing her parents, with everything that had been going on she felt as if something as unimportant as a ski trip would be a rare occurrence in the coming years.

She was happily dreaming away in her bed when she heard a loud noise that managed to wake her up. She stood upright in her bed looking around and noticing Ginny was still awake. She looked at the alarm clock just to see it was 6 in the morning. She really shouldn't be surprised, Grimmauld Place was an ancient dark home, one that even Sirius found repulsive after all those years with the Dementors. She was planning to head back to bed, but as she turned and turned she couldn't help get back to sleep.

She walked out of her room, her socks making a lot less noise than her trainers would as she walked down the stairs. She looked for the source of the noise just to find the light of the kitchen shining through its slightly opened door. She walked closer and peeked through the entrance just to find it empty, however she could hear some grunting. Confused, she completely opened the door and walked in.

She continued to look around, perhaps Kreacher had tripped over something in particular? She looked down at the floor to find the source of what had probably woken her up, but it wasn't Kreacher.

On the floor was Ron doing push-ups, he still had his dark red tank top and his flannel pyjamas pants on. However, they did little to nothing to stop his exercise, she wondered to herself why on Earth was Ron up this early in the morning. Why was he doing push-ups? Why did she keep staring?

She could see the changes that Quidditch brought, and perhaps some of that mysterious training with Godric Gryffindor he refused to talk about with anyone. His arms which would normally be on the thinner side had become stockier, from her point of view his shoulders seemed broader and she could see his muscles through his tank top. Even his forearms looked far more impressive than they did last year, of course she could only see half of them ever since he started wearing those wraps.

Ever since he started wearing them both Harry and Hermione had tried to get him to talk about them. Why were they so dirty? Why did they have blood? Why did he never take them off? He only said it was Champion Training and that it wasn't allowed to be discussed with anyone.

She would've continued to stay in her head as she stared at a panting, sweating, training Ron – Blimey, that was quite an attractive image – but Ron decided to stop at that moment. At the sight of her he seemed slightly startled, before giving her one of his lopsided grins.

"Hey Hermione," he said, still panting, walking to the cupboard. "What are you doing down here so early?" He poured himself a glass of water and quickly downed it.

"Well," Hermione said, trying very hard to ignore how much the sight of Ron like this was affecting her. "I was sleeping when I heard a noise, it woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep."

Ron suddenly looked embarrassed and he quickly looked down at his feet, his ears going that adorable red they always turned since they were eleven.

"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "That might've been me. I kind of tripped on a chair when I came inside the kitchen."

"Why are you inside the kitchen so early?" she asked, Ron merely shrugged off.

"I'm up at this hour anyway, so I reckoned why not have an early breakfast." Hermione nodded, seeing the logic in his argument.

Now that he had stood up he managed to stand up, she noticed how he had somehow grown taller in the past month he'd been training. His hair had grown a bit longer as well, he usually kept it short, but it wasn't a bad look for him. She shook her head, scared that she might've been caught staring and when she focused back on his face he could see him with a pensive look on his face, only that look seemed to be directed at her, she blushed under his gaze until he seemed to notice what he had been doing.

Both of them were blushing now, and Ron cleared his throat before going through one of the cupboards in the kitchen. He grabbed a small blue box and held it in his large hands.

"I was planning on giving this to you once you woke up," he said, his gaze solely on the box. "But, seeing as you're awake now."

He extended his arm with the box in his arm silently asking Hermione to take it. She took it and where the tips of fingers touched her palm it seemed as if it was temporarily torched with a scorching heat. A good type of heat. She took the small box and opened it as she saw a bottle of perfume, with a card attached to it.

To my best friend who's a GIRL. I didn't just take notice
 –Love, Ron

She couldn't help, but laugh. As she looked up at Ron, who had a hopeful expression on his face. She was reminded yet again of why she had fallen so hard for the boy in front of her, just like a few months ago when Malfoy had called her that awful word and Ron had come to her defense without question, it had reminded her so much of second year, and she was sure the little twelve year old Hermione would be blushing to the roots of her hair.

She put the perfume aside and put her arms around his neck, he seemed momentarily shocked before he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

"You're welcome," he whispered back. They stayed that way, neither of them moving, when whispered again in the shell of her ear. "Happy Christmas, Hermione."

"Happy Christmas, Ron," and with all the courage she had planted a kiss on his cheek before disentangling herself from him and going back to her room along with her gift. She didn't turn to look, but had she done so she would've been proud at the fact she had managed to make Ron's face look like a tomato, just to be horrified when his eyes would glow an amber colour, his canine teeth to grow sharp, and the back of his throat to glow, like it had done so a few nights ago.