Hermione and Viktor sat at the booth in The Three Broomsticks. They were enjoying the quiet before they were joined by Hermione's friends. Neville and Padma would be joining them sometime in the afternoon. And Harry and Ron would invariable show up once Ron managed to convince Harry that Malfoy wasn't worth tailing anymore.
Hermione shook that thought from her mind. She wasn't responsible for keeping Harry from doing something he might regret later. That was Ron's job for the day. She could do it tomorrow.
"Vhat is vorrying you?" Viktor asked.
Hermione smiled weakly. "Just Harry."
"I think he vill always vorry you."
Hermione knew that Viktor was right. She would always worry about Harry, for as long as she was alive. He had a bad habit of getting in the middle of things, even if it wasn't always his fault. Especially if it wasn't his fault.
She was just glad that Ron cared enough about Harry to see to it that he didn't do something horribly irresponsible. And Sirius. Maybe Hermione should write to him about Harry.
She squeezed Viktor's hand. She would have plenty of time to write Sirius later. Right then, she had time to spend with her fiancé, and she was going to do just that. Not spend all her time with him thinking about other things.
They talked until Malfoy walked past their booth. He looked paler than normal. His hair was even disheveled which was odd for him. He didn't even give them so much as a glance.
Harry slid into the booth across from the couple. He was joined by Ron, who sat down much slower than Harry.
"Where do you get that kind of energy from?" Ron asked.
Harry shrugged. "I guess running away from Dudley's friends has its perks."
Hermione filed that statement away for her letter to Sirius. She was pretty sure that Dudley was Harry's cousin. And what he had just said meant that him staying at the Dursley's house was not a good idea.
"We meeting up already?" Neville asked.
"Not exactly," Ron said. "Malfoy walked in. And Harry's been tailing him all day. It's really tiring."
"I would have thought that with all the quidditch training you two do, you'd be able to keep up with him," Padma said.
"Harry is a seeker," Viktor said. "He chases the snitch. Must be able to go faster than the other seeker. But Ron could probably fly for longer, just not as fast."
"The ones who train the hardest are the chasers," Hermione added.
"Of course you would know that," Ron said. "Just how many practices have you been to?"
Hermione looked up at the ceiling, not even vaguely trying to recall. "Far too many to count. Besides, I was a little preoccupied with other things."
She looked at Viktor, a light blush coating her cheeks. She didn't even have to say anything. All her friends knew that she was besotted. And aside from a little light teasing, that would have happened no matter who she was dating, they didn't mind.
"So any clue what Malfoy's been up to?" Neville asked.
Harry shook his head. "Followed him the entire day, under the cloak of course. Not a thing. He seems to be brooding for no reason."
"His father was thrown in jail over the summer when the Death Eaters tried to steal something from the ministry," Padma said. "He has a right to be upset."
"And if You-Know-Who is upset, then who knows what's happened. Draco must be scared," Neville added.
"Can we talk about something else?" Ron asked. "I don't want to hear about Draco Malfoy until next week."
He knew that Harry was likely to rant about Malfoy within the next hour. They all knew that. Harry was obsessed. And no one could figure out why. But Harry was like a dog with a bone and there was nothing anyone could do to get him to drop it.
"How about the charms assignment?" Padma asked. Everyone was taking charms.
Harry groaned. "I thought we weren't supposed to worry about homework while we were at Hogsmeade."
Ron snorted a laugh. "We're friends with Padma Patil and Hermione Granger. If you think that you're ever going to get away with ignoring your homework you must be crazy."
"You're supposed to be on my side," Harry said. "You haven't done the charms work either."
"No. But if we let them talk long enough I might get enough ideas to be able to do it quickly once we get back to the castle."
"Or you could do what I do and do it before we come," Neville said. "Padma and Hermione would be more than happy to help you get it done early."
"Much better than if you leave it to the last minute," Padma said.
Hermione chuckled softly. She had spent a lot of time with Harry and Ron. If there was one thing that she had learnt over the years, it was that they would do just about anything to get out of doing their homework. Often that meant putting it off until the last possible minute.
She felt Viktor squeeze her leg. He knew how much it irritated her when they asked for help mostly just because they had put stuff off for too long. He might not have to deal with papers and assignments, but he would listen to her talk for hours about anything. And he had listened to hours of her grumbling about boys who put off doing their homework.
"Oh no," Ron said.
"What?" Hermione turned around to see Ginny sitting next to Dean Thomas.
"She's not allowed to do that," Ron said. He moved to stand up.
"What do you think you're doing?" Padma said.
"They're not even snogging," Neville said.
"They'd better not be," Ron said.
"Sit down," Hermione said. "How would you feel if I snogged Viktor?"
"Ew." Harry scrunched up his face. "You can't do that. You're like parents."
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"He means that it's one thing to know about, but another thing to see," Padma said. "We all know you and Viktor have kissed, but we don't like to think about it. Although, I think it's mostly because Harry's not dating anyone."
Katie Bell walked past them, a confused Leanne following her closely.
"Okay, is it just me or does something feel off about Katie?" Neville asked.
"It's not just you," Harry said.
They all hurried out of the pub to find Katie and Leanne arguing over a package. It tore open, and something sparkly brushed Katie's uncovered wrist before falling to the ground. She screamed in pain, and started floating.
"Malfoy," Harry muttered under his breath.
A/N: I finally wrote another chapter. Yay! Sorry for taking so long. Life has been hectic. I have a job interview in the morning. If I get it, things might be a little less crazy. But I hope you guys like this.