Soul Searching/End Game
EG Chapter 5 - Birthday Treat
By Chem Prof
Chapter 5, Birthday Treat
September 12
Hermione accompanied Harry again to his Friday meeting with Viktor. It seemed that all of the girls in the DA were interested in having exercise clothing like she and Ginny had worn, and had asked her to buy some for them. She stayed in the control center only long enough to say hi to Viktor and to talk with Mrs. Creevey for a bit, then told Harry to meet her at Harvey Nichols when he was finished.
This week Viktor introduced Harry to Major Thompson, whose son was a fourth year Gryffindor, and who was currently on leave from the army so that he could aid their cause. He and Viktor had been discussing battle tactics and quickly filled Harry in on their conversation.
The major’s biggest worry was that the Death Eaters would catch on to what they were doing and set an ambush. Viktor was planning to adjust his tactics accordingly, sending in some scouts along with the first pair of house elves, and having them apparate in further away from the attack site. Their response time would be cut down, but if they could spot the ambush they could turn the tables.
Next the discussion turned to weapons and tactics that could be used against other dark creatures. The twins, with Hagrid’s help, had finished a prototype of a crossbow that would shoot wooden spears for use against vampires. The trick would be to get troops armed with these weapons to the site of vampire attacks in time to counterattack.
Giants were another problem entirely. Viktor had been receiving reports from the continent about Voldemort’s recruiting efforts among them, and he was expecting an attack in about a month’s time. The good news was that not very many of the large creatures had joined the dark forces. Viktor estimated about a dozen or so. Harry decided that the DA would need to begin training to fight against giants right away.
At this point Major Thompson produced a brochure about a weapon he thought would be useful. It was a MILAN shoulder fired antitank missile, and its shaped charge armour piercing projectile could take out a large tank. They had been widely used by the British army and others, but had been replaced a few years ago by a different model. Even so, there were thousands still stockpiled in Britain and across Europe.
The problem was how to obtain some. He informed them that anything could be had from the black market arms trade for a high enough price, but he would be risking his career and prison time if it were discovered that he was involved. He hastened to add, however, that it was a risk that he was prepared to take. Harry thought a minute, then turned to Remus.
“Didn’t you tell me that Kingsley had some kind of assignment in the muggle government?”
“That’s right. I’m not sure of the details, but he’s some sort of personal assistant to the Prime Minister.” The major’s eyes lit up. If he had access to the Prime Minister, he could easily get authorization to requisition a load of these launchers and replacement rockets from his military base. It was also possible that they could bring some of Viktor’s men in for training.
He cautioned them that the men would have to be able to pass for muggles. Harry nodded and told Viktor not to bother with any purebloods, recalling Ron’s experience from the summer. With any luck they would find a few muggleborns in his strike force, or they could recruit some specifically for this mission.
When they were finished Harry went back into the control room and visited briefly with all of the personnel on duty, thanking them for their help. After asking Viktor to say hi to Fleur for him, he and Remus returned to the arrival/departure floor and parted company.
-ooOoo-
It didn’t take Harry too long to find Hermione in the store. He couldn’t resist a smile at seeing her loaded down with all kinds of styles and colors of stretch tank tops. She returned him a smirk and immediately dumped an armful of the brief garments on him and went back to the racks to look at more. Just as he had last week, Harry frequently suggested some of the skimpier styles.
After Hermione’s third glare he shut up and contented himself with visualizing Lavender, Susan, or Daphne in some of the tops. After a while Hermione noticed his dazed expression and whacked him on the back of the head. Harry slumped guiltily in his chair rubbing his head and thought ruefully that having a mental connection with Hermione wasn’t always an advantage.
-ooOoo-
The two head students returned in time for lunch, and as they walked into the Great Hall they thought it strange that so many of the older students were looking at them and grinning.
“Do I have something on my face?” whispered Hermione. Harry assured her that she did not, and realized that she was right – the students were looking at her, not him. As they sat down at a table with some fourth years (Harry was trying to see if he could recognize Major Thompson’s son) two of them giggled and looked quickly away. Harry and Hermione turned perplexed faces to each other and shrugged.
“Harry!” Ron called out, approaching with nearly all of the seventh year Gryffindors trailing after. “Hermy! How have you been?” Hermione’s eyes darkened as she shot Ron a killing glare, but the rest of the Gryffindors burst into laughter. Glancing around, Harry noticed most of the sixth and seventh years from the other houses joining in.
“OK, guys,” he said, standing up and getting between Ron and Hermione before she could hex him. “What’s this all about?”
“Oh, we ran into a friend of yours today in Care of Magical Creatures.” Harry was as perplexed as ever but Hermione buried her head in her hands and groaned.
Ron’s grin was as wide as ever as he continued. “Hagrid brought his brother to class today. You know him? Big guy named Grawp?” A fresh wave of laughter elicited another groan from Hermione. Harry was fighting to keep a smile from his face as he realized what was coming next. “It seems that he was anxious to see one student in particular, but he couldn’t seem to find her. With each class that Hagrid taught this morning he kept looking around and saying “Where Hermy? Where Hermy?”
Everyone but Hermione seemed to find this uproariously funny. Finally Ginny broke through the crowd surrounding their table and gave her a hug in consolation. Hermione looked up sheepishly; fortunately Harry had managed to fight off the grin by then and shrugged at her in sympathy. Then she sat up and glared again at Dean and Seamus, who were standing across from her and calling out things like “Hermy, will you sit with me? Hermy, do you think you can take a look at this?”
Without warning her wand flicked twice and suddenly Dean and Seamus no longer had mouths. Within seconds most of the students had decided that the whole topic wasn’t really that funny anymore and stumbled over themselves returning to their seats. Neville joined Ginny at Hermione’s side and patted her on the back nervously before sitting down on the other side of Ginny, carefully keeping his distance. Ron somehow managed to make himself smaller than Harry as he stayed behind his friend, out of range of his other friend.
Now Harry decided it was all right to laugh and when Hermione turned her glare on him he merely smiled back at her and gestured across the table where Dean and Seamus had terrified looks on their faces and were making little moaning noises. Finally a grin broke out on Hermione’s face and Harry put his arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. At length everyone settled down and had a laugh and went on with lunch. Seamus and Dean – eventually – got their mouths back.
-ooOoo-
The next week was a busy one for Harry. The full moon was on Tuesday, so Harry had to teach all of the Defense classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It was also the week they started the new DA. They decided to hold the organizational meetings in groups, with sixth and seventh years on Monday, fourth and fifth years on Tuesday, and the younger years on Wednesday. On Thursday the ‘elite’ DA, as it was to become known, met again.
They spent the first part of the meeting reviewing their notes on the abilities of the new students, and sorting them into beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups. It was decided that Ron, Hermione, Ernie, and Padma would be the primary instructors for the advanced group, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Hannah would take the intermediate group, and Colin, Justin, Susan, and Anthony Goldstein the beginners. As they had promised McGonagall, Harry would spend time with all of the groups, and would determine when someone was ready to move up to another group.
The last half hour of the meeting was spent reviewing dodging and falling. Of course, this gave the girls a chance to use the new exercise outfits Hermione had picked up for them. As he watched the chaos this caused, Harry decided that it was a good thing they weren’t attempting to learn anything new this week, and that falling down was about as much as some of the pureblood males could manage. Some of these outfits were nearly as effective as a stunning spell!
Of course, it was his job to circulate and watch everyone closely and to give pointers when necessary. He pretended not to notice the glares being sent his way by Ginny and Hermione as he paused occasionally to appreciate the form being displayed by some of the witches during their evasive maneuvers.
When everyone else had gone, Harry noticed Hermione and Ginny waiting for him with annoyed looks on their faces. Ron and Neville, deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, were hanging back, letting Harry get out of this one on his own. Gryffindor courage only went so far, after all. Harry, however, plunged right in.
“I’ve completed my study,” he announced cheerfully as he approached the two females. This took them by surprise and whatever they had been about to say was temporarily forgotten as they waited for him to continue. “After careful examination of all the evidence I have concluded that the two of you look better in those outfits than any other girl in the class.” He watched as several expressions flickered over each of their faces at these words. Ginny ended with a shy smile while Hermione dropped her head and just shook it, chuckling slightly.
“Nice one, Potter,” she said in reluctant admiration. “I guess spells aren’t the only thing you’re good at dodging.” Beyond the two girls Neville silently applauded, but Ron had a puzzled look on his face.
“Are you kidding, mate? Did you see Susan? And Daphne, wow!” His eyes took on a faraway look, which unfortunately ended rather abruptly when his sister reached up and smacked him. The rest of them burst out laughing and Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward his best friend. With all the changes that had happened in their lives and relationships during the past three months it was nice to see that Ron could still be good old clueless Ron sometimes. He decided to let his friend off the hook.
“Honestly, Ron,” he began, deliberately mimicking Hermione. “Haven’t you noticed yet what type of girls I’m attracted to? Look at who I’ve dated.” He began to check them off on his fingers. “Let’s see, Parvati, Cho, Ginny, Hermione.” Hermione’s eyes widened at being included on that list, and Ginny’s eyebrows raised as well, but she just nudged the older girl and gave her a little grin, realizing that Harry was winding her brother up a little. “What do they have in common?” Ron’s perplexed look remained and Harry grinned. “They’re all pretty, all smaller then me, and all have nice slender figures. And they’re smarter than me as well,” he added, and he smiled and put an arm around each girl’s waist and gave them both hugs.
Neville nodded in agreement but Ron just shook his head muttering one of his favorite expressions. “Mental.” This got the rest of them laughing again as the five friends exited the room and happily returned to their dorms.
-ooOoo-
Because of all of the time spent on Defense lessons and with the DA, Harry didn’t have any time to hang out with his friends or go to any of the quidditch practices that week. Ron assured him that it was OK, and that he and Ginny were carefully checking out the other players. They needed two beaters and two chasers from the other three houses.
It bothered Harry that he wasn’t spending as much time with Ron this year, and he resolved to try to do something about that one of these weeks. But there was one more pressing problem that needed attention this week on top of everything else. Hermione’s eighteenth birthday was on Friday and he wanted to do something special for her this year.
An idea had been developing in his mind since the beginning of the month, and he had enlisted the help of Viktor after Hermione had left the previous Friday. This week the mirror that the twins had made for him to communicate with his Bulgarian friend was coming in very handy. He had also obtained the assistance of one of the Hogwarts house elves that Dobby had introduced him to. By Thursday everything was set, and the final piece dropped into place when Hedwig arrived that evening with a most special package.
-ooOoo-
September 19
Hermione was having her favorite dream. Harry had once more joined her during the night, but this time he was sitting with her, holding her in his arms. His eyes were locked with hers and she could see that he was as much in love with her as she was with him. She shivered as his fingers traced up her bare arms and across her shoulders and neck, eventually stroking her cheek. One finger dropped back to her shoulder and hooked under the strap of her camisole and began slowly pulling it down her arm as he leaned in, his lips inches from hers. She closed her eyes and leaned forward to meet him, her lips parting in anticipation.
Hermione. Wake up. Harry slowly faded away and Hermione groaned. She lay in bed catching her breath, but refused to open her eyes yet, trying to hold on to the vision as long as possible. Hermione. Wake up. The voice came again and she suddenly realized that it was not out loud but in her head. Hermione. Wake up. It was not demanding but a friendly, soothing voice gently calling to her. Then she realized. It was Harry’s voice in her mind. He had finally managed to send her specific words!
‘Harry?’ she thought back. But the voice was now silent. Then she heard footsteps followed by a knock on her door. “Hermione? Did you get that?”
Hermione jumped from her bed, grabbing her dressing gown and rushing towards her door. “Harry, you did it! I heard you in my head!” She opened the door to find him fully dressed and grinning at her like mad. He grabbed her into a big hug and whirled her around once before dropping her back to her feet. His eyes were sparkling with excitement.
“Harry birthday, Hermione,” he said, stepping back. It was only then that Hermione noticed that he had decorated their common area. There were balloons and streamers and a sign magically floating above their sofa with twinkling lights spelling out ‘Happy 18th Birthday Hermione!’ In front of the sofa a table had been set up with a full spread of her favorite breakfast foods.
Tears in her eyes at Harry’s thoughtfulness, Hermione turned back to him and returned his hug, holding him with her head buried in his shoulder until she managed to compose herself. This was such a sweet torture, having the man she loved treat her like this and being unable to show him just how she felt.
They sat down together on the sofa, with Harry calmly deflecting all of her protests that he didn’t have to do this, then accepting her heartfelt gratitude. Hermione decided to risk another hug and kissed him on the cheek before beginning her breakfast. Everything was so wonderful and she was in ecstasy sitting here on her birthday sharing this moment with Harry. Just as she was thinking that things couldn’t possibly get any better Harry pulled out a small wrapped box.
Nervously, he handed it to her and stammered, “Um, I had this made especially for you. I hope you like it.”
Excitedly she tore open the wrapper to find a jewelry box. Questioning brown eyes locked on his and he tried to explain. “I wanted to get you something special, that would say something significant about what we’ve been through together. It’s … well just open it and I’ll explain.”
Hermione opened the box to find a beautiful silver charm bracelet with about half a dozen charms attached. “Oh Harry, it’s gorgeous,” she gasped. Harry scooted closer as she picked it up to admire it.
“When I first got the idea for this bracelet I wanted to find charms that would have some meaning to them. Then I thought of getting one to commemorate each year we’ve known each other.” He carefully picked up one of the charms and brought it closer to them.
“This one’s a troll. I guess it’s not too hard to figure that one out,” he grinned. She smiled back at him in agreement. When she was twelve she had thought that had been the most romantic thing she could imagine – Harry Potter jumping on a troll’s back to save her life. From that moment she had determined to make him part of her life. Eventually she had come to realize what he perhaps had not, that he had saved her life in another way that day. It had led to the beginning of the closest friendships she would ever have.
After giving her a moment to examine the troll and sort through her thoughts, Harry selected the second charm. It looked like a large snake. “This one is supposed to represent the basilisk from second year. I know you weren’t with me when I killed it, but I do remember how we worked together to solve the mystery, and you were the one who finally figured out what it was.” Hermione found herself becoming too choked up to respond, and was only able to smile at him and nod.
“At that point I realized that I had two magical creatures, so I tried to follow that pattern for the rest. The one for third year is a hippogriff. I guess I could have picked something else, like a dog for Sirius or a wolf for Remus, but this was something that was just the two of us – freeing Buckbeak and riding him together.” He paused a moment and continued. “It may sound silly but riding him with you holding on to me was …” he trailed off and looked at her again.
She suddenly had a lump in her throat. That ride was burned forever in her memory – how scared she had been initially and how it had changed into a feeling of being safe as she wrapped her arms around him. How she was finally able to open her eyes and was even calmed down enough by his presence that she could pull out her wand and unlock the window of the room where Sirius was being held. His eyes were still on her and she could feel how close he was to her right now. For a brief instant she thought he was going to kiss her. She shivered and the spell was broken. He put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it as though to warm her and then looked down quickly.
“For fourth year I picked out a dragon,” he said, fingering the next charm. “This was the easiest one of all – after the troll of course.”
“Why not a mermaid?” She thought she knew but she was interested in his explanation. She guessed that it was because he didn’t want to remember the second task as much since she had been with Viktor then.
“Because for the first task and the time before it you were the only one who believed in me. It seemed like it was just you and me against the whole world. From the day after my name came out of the goblet when you brought me the toast up until the day of the task, you never doubted me, never left me. And you never stopped trying to help me, even staying up all night to help me learn the summoning charm. Getting past that dragon was as much of a team effort as anything we’ve ever done together … Are you OK?”
Hermione was just sitting back with tears streaming down her face, even though her eyes were sparkling and she was smiling brightly. Not able to resist the nervous look that had crept onto his face, she leaned forward and grabbed and hugged him as hard as she could.
“Oh, Harry. How do you expect me to keep from crying when you keep saying such nice things about me?” He didn’t really have an answer for that so he just kept hugging her. Although he had once been panicked whenever confronted by a crying girl, the way to deal with them was one of the things he had learned this past summer. It was simple really. You just hugged them. He held her until he could feel her starting to calm down, then pulled back and smiled again.
“Are you ready for the rest?” Her eyes still glistening slightly, she smiled back and nodded. This time she laid her head back against his chest, turning it to the side so she could see the locket and he kept one arm around her.
“The one for fifth year is a thestral.” She nodded. He didn’t have to explain that either. She found herself wishing that she had ridden behind him on that ride also. That had easily been the scariest thing she had ever done. If she had had him to hold on to it would have been so much better. And maybe they could have talked about what they were doing, planned a bit. Maybe … But it did no good to dwell on the ‘what if’s’ of life. At any rate, that ride and the battle that ensued had marked another turning point in their lives. It had been the first time they had faced combat together and worked as a team. And held their own. She shook off these thoughts. It was still her birthday and there were more charms to go.
She looked back at the bracelet and noticed there was an empty space after the thestral, and there were two more charms on the other side. “The other two charms are an owl and a cat. I didn’t want Hedwig or Crookshanks mad at me if I got all of these creatures but didn’t remember them,” he joked. Then he got serious. “I … I couldn’t really think of one for sixth year. I thought maybe we could figure out one together.”
Hermione thought about the bracelet and what he was showing with it. Everything on it was symbolic, not just of the year but of something about their relationship. She remembered sadly that they hadn’t really had much of a relationship sixth year, and there really wasn’t much to commemorate. Then it came to her.
“For sixth year it should be a book.” She could see he was puzzled. “For the potions book. For the Half Blood Prince.” He winced and shook his head.
“But that book was terrible. It practically ruined our relationship,” he objected.
“No, we let it ruin our relationship. That’s what I want to remember about that year. Remember it so that we don’t let something like that happen again. By remembering what that year was like it will help us make sure we never allow anything, no matter what it is, come between us again.”
This time Harry had a few tears in his eyes. He nodded and pulled her into another hug, and suddenly all the feelings she had for him welled up in her again. “Harry, I don’t ever want to lose you again. I couldn’t bear it.” And then, for one of the few times in her life, Hermione let her emotions take over. Without thinking about what she was doing she pulled his head down and kissed him. And not a friendly kiss either but a hard, passionate kiss.
And he kissed her back.
But after a few seconds her rational side managed to regain control and she jumped up, terrified at the implications of what she had just done. “Oh … oh, I’m … I’m sorry,” she began stammering. “I didn’t … I mean …”
But Harry just stood there breathing heavily, with a startled look that gradually faded into one that was thoughtful, yet slightly nervous. “No, no, that’s OK. That’s OK. I … I enjoyed it. But it’s OK because it’s your birthday, right? It’s your birthday and that makes it OK. Like on my birthday Luna and Fleur kissed me like that, remember?” He began to pace back and forth, repeating the argument to himself.
Hermione relaxed in relief. If he wanted to rationalize it like that it was fine with her. She reached out and caught his arm to stop his pacing and nodded to him and gave a reassuring smile, letting him know he was right, then sat down and picked the bracelet back up. Not only was it beautiful, but now that he had explained what it meant it was the most precious thing she owned. She couldn’t imagine a better birthday present from him. Well, maybe an engagement ring but she knew that was never going to happen.
Her mind went back to the kiss, wondering if she would ever get a chance to kiss him like that again. It had been so wonderful, immediately moving to the top of the scorecard they had been joking about on the first day of classes. But she knew she might never get another kiss like that from him so she would just have to remember that one. She wished she had a pensieve. But maybe, next birthday? That was so long away. What about Christmas? Oh, she had to get a grip on herself, she was acting like a love-struck schoolgirl! But she couldn’t help wondering – if not Harry, would there ever be another man who would ever kiss her like that?
Harry’s burst of nervous activity had died down. During that period he had cleaned away all of the dishes and finally he joined her back on the sofa. He smiled at her and decided to lighten the mood.
“So, what else would you like for your birthday?” Hermione was brought back from her ponderings with a start. She hadn’t even noticed him sit down. She started to object that he had already done too much and certainly didn’t need to give her anything else. But then he caught her by surprise yet again.
“How about a back rub?” Hermione’s eyes glazed over. How did he know how much she loved back rubs? Her mind drifted back to the one he had given her last month by her parents’ pool. It had been heavenly.
Even though she didn’t say anything, Harry could tell by the expression on her face what her answer was. He had remembered how much she had enjoyed the last massage he had given her and thought she would probably enjoy another one. He scooted back on the sofa and had her sit in front him on the front edge. Pulling her dressing gown down to her waist to expose her camisole pajama top, he began massaging her neck, then worked his way down to the tops of her shoulders, but the camisole’s straps were in the way.
“Will this stay up if I slide the straps off?” Hermione was snapped out of the dreamy state she had already entered and turned and smiled at him, shaking her head. Then she thought a moment and slid the straps down her arms, raising her hands to the top of her chest to hold the garment in place. As his hands kneaded the tops of her shoulders and moved down her back to her shoulder blades she closed her eyes again. This was sheer bliss.
“Hermione?” She jerked back into consciousness once more and noted the strained tone of his voice. “Your hands are slipping.” She looked down to see that her hands and the top she was holding had slid down almost all the way off of her breasts, leaving them nearly completely exposed. She could feel Harry behind her, his hands down to the middle of her back but carefully leaning back to avoid the temptation of looking over her shoulder. She could just imagine how red he was, and briefly considered teasing him by pretending to turn around. She quickly banished that thought. Why would she want to do anything that might make him stop this wonderful massage? She pulled the top back up and thought a moment.
“Get up and turn around.”
Obediently, Harry stood and faced the other way. Quickly Hermione pulled the camisole top off completely and laid it on the sofa, then lay down on top of it. “OK, ready,” she called back over her shoulder. Harry grinned at her practical solution to the problem and crawled up behind her, in much the same position as he had been in for the massage during the summer, and began to massage her now completely bare back. Once more she closed her eyes.
Just before she drifted off to sleep she thought she felt a soft kiss on her shoulder and a whisper in her ear. ‘I love you Hermione.’ But it was probably just the dream again. Smiling in anticipation, she allowed herself to relax and enjoy her favorite dream.
-ooOoo-
Hermione awoke to find herself alone in the common room of the Heads suite, lying on the sofa topless. Crookshanks was lying beside her staring at her. She got the distinct impression that he was telling her that now it was his turn to get his back rubbed. It took her a moment to recall exactly how she had come to be in this position. The still flashing sign above her and the balloons and streamers were big clues. Next she spotted the bracelet still lying on the table in front of the sofa and smiled. Trying to remember what had been a dream and what hadn’t, she sat up and pulled her camisole pajama top back on. Then she noticed a note on the table.
Gone running. It’s your birthday so you get the day off. See you at breakfast. Hope you had a pleasant dream. It looked like it; you never stopped smiling.
Hermione laughed out loud, thinking about the situation. What would anyone say if they knew that she had been lying on the sofa of their common room topless, and her ‘boyfriend’ had just walked away without doing anything in the least bit improper? Well, as long as you didn’t count giving her the most wonderful feeling that she ever had in her life. She carefully put the bracelet around her wrist and went back into her room to get dressed.
-ooOoo-
Hermione was still smiling when she entered the Great Hall. She supposed that Ron and Ginny hadn’t come back yet from running with Harry, and grimaced inwardly at the thought of the ribbing she was going to get for skipping her morning exercise. She joined Luna, Padma, and Hannah at one of the tables. It was only a matter of seconds before they spotted her bracelet.
The rest of the breakfast period was never ending succession of squeals as it seemed half of the girls at Hogwarts wanted to come up and see her bracelet. Her closest friends understood the symbolism of some of the charms, with Luna being the only one who knew about the thestrals, but no one got them all. Hermione just gave them a mysterious smile when they asked. She was perfectly happy to keep it that way, with Ron and Ginny the only ones besides her and Harry who would understand all of the charms, and even they might not realize all of the significance that Harry had intended.
Eventually Ron and Ginny came in and immediately demanded to see the charm bracelet. They had persuaded Harry to tell them what he had given her while they were out running. Ginny shuddered when she realized that the snake was a basilisk. That was not a memory she would have chosen for a charm bracelet. Ron thought that the charm for third year should have been a Firebolt, and first thought that the dragon stood for Norbert. Ginny immediately figured out Hedwig and Crookshanks and thought that they were cute.
Ron then handed Hermione a present that was from both him and Ginny. She opened it to find a lovely new set of multicolored quills and fancy parchment and she thanked them happily, giving them both hugs. Ginny pointed out mischievously that they had given her extra red ones for grading transfiguration homework, which elicited groans from everyone else at the table.
When Harry finally came in he was the subject of a large number of admiring glances from the girls, along with many sighs. Few of them could imagine having a boyfriend do something so romantic. This led to a number of envious looks from the more perceptive guys.
-ooOoo-
Ginny was trying hard not to be jealous. It wasn’t so bad until all the girls had started going on and on about how romantic it was. It was hard not to compare Hermione’s bracelet with her birthday present. There was not much romance in a Firebolt. She berated herself for thinking that. Harry wasn’t officially her boyfriend, so he could hardly give her a romantic present. And the Firebolt had probably cost ten times as much as that bracelet. And Hermione had been his best friend for six years. She was entitled to something nice. If Ginny could just keep telling herself all of these things she would be all right. Once again she cursed the whole situation that was keeping her and Harry apart.
After breakfast Ginny headed off to Care of Magical Creatures, and to her surprise Hermione joined her. The older witch explained that she wanted to talk to Hagrid and Grawp, and Ginny teased her a little about her giant friend. Hermione just took it in stride today. Nothing could spoil the good mood she was in. Ginny noticed that Hermione still hadn’t stopped smiling. The girl was positively glowing, for goodness sakes. It was almost like she was in love.
Ginny stopped abruptly in horror. No, it couldn’t be. Hermione turned to look at her curiously and she managed to force a neutral expression to her face and begin walking again. She didn’t hear a word of the rest of the conversation as Hermione told her what they were going to ask Grawp to do for them, and hardly heard anything about the Magical Creatures lesson that followed.
Hermione in love with Harry? That would ruin everything! How could Hermione do this to her? Not that she could blame her for falling in love with Harry. Who wouldn’t? He was so wonderful! She was frankly surprised that it hadn’t already happened. Everyone knew that the two of them were perfect together. Ginny was actually getting tired of hearing it. Every time she heard yet another student commenting on how wonderful it was that the Head Boy and Girl had finally got together she wanted to scream, “We were perfect together too!”
What about Harry? Was he in love with Hermione too? No, he couldn’t be. Ginny tried to relax. She told herself that there was no way Harry would be sneaking out with her every week if he were in love with someone else. He was much too honorable for that. Honor was something you could always count on with Harry.
Ginny realized the peril of her situation. She wasn’t concerned about being able to compete with any other girl at Hogwarts for Harry’s affection. Cho had not been a serious threat. She was all wrong for Harry. But Hermione was the one she had always worried about. Harry could easily fall in love with her. She had been a little surprised that it hadn’t already happened. It was obvious during the summer after the Tri Wizard Tournament that Hermione had developed strong feelings for Harry. But over the course of the following year nothing had happened between them, as he had been stupidly hung up on Cho.
Fortunately for Ginny, Hermione for some reason turned her attention to her berk of a brother last summer. She didn’t really understand why – all he ever did was say stupid things to hurt her feelings. Ginny had been the loyal friend many times, consoling Hermione and reassuring her that he probably really did like her, and eventually he would get a clue. But now that possibility had ended, and apparently Hermione’s thoughts were back on Harry.
She forced herself to look at the situation calmly. Hermione was just as loyal as Harry was. So much so that she could have been in Hufflepuff. (Ginny was temporarily distracted by the thought that Hermione was also brilliant enough for Ravenclaw and ambitious and cunning enough for Slytherin but pushed that aside.) Even if Hermione were in love with Harry, she would never go after him while he was with Ginny. She just needed to stick with what she was doing and he would be in love with her by Christmas.
She also realized that it would be a mistake to try to win Harry by attacking Hermione. While she may have been able to get away with that last year when the two of them weren’t getting along that well, it would never work now that they were so close. Forced to choose between Ginny and Hermione, she knew that Harry might very well choose his longtime friend. Besides, Hermione was her best female friend. Would she really want to sacrifice that friendship over a boy, even Harry? And Ginny might have been reading the whole situation wrong. It was possible that Hermione wasn’t really in love with him! By the time her morning classes ended Ginny had calmed considerably.
-ooOoo-
By lunchtime everyone in the castle had heard that it was the Head Girl’s birthday, and there was a steady stream of well-wishers coming by her table. Many of the younger students that she had taken time to befriend brought her hastily made cards. For her the highlight was when Carolyn came over with Laura and Kristin. The Gryffindors had made her a card and the Ravenclaw presented her with a book, Dragonflight. It was the first in a series called The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey that all three of them had read and enjoyed. This was a fantasy series that she had heard about but not got around to reading yet and she thanked the girls profusely.
In turn they also wanted to see the bracelet and Kristin boldly asked her to explain all of the charms. Hermione just smiled as she had been doing all day and gave Harry a hug while telling them that it was something that had a private meaning between the two of them. She did point out the charms for Crookshanks and Hedwig and told them what all of the other creatures were and the girls were satisfied with that.
Hermione’s eyes followed as the three of them left excitedly. She was sure that Carolyn would be headed directly to the library to try to find out the significance of the creatures on the bracelet. But there were things that you couldn’t learn in a library. You had to experience them.
Life wasn’t all about books and cleverness. There were more important things. Things like friendship and bravery and … she looked back at Harry … and love.
Ginny sat at the next table and endured all of this graciously. How could she complain about Harry being a sweet, caring friend? It was one of the reasons she was in love with him after all. And Hermione deserved this happiness for everything she had done for both of them. Neville, who had been keeping an eye on his ‘girlfriend’s’ reaction all day gave her a hug and reassured her. After all, he knew quite well what it was like to be in love with a person who was with someone else.
-ooOoo-
“Ginny?”
“Hmm?” Ginny raised her head slightly from where it was snuggled into Harry’s shoulder.
“Thank you for the way you acted yesterday.”
Ginny’s eyes widened and she swallowed hard, staring into the fire. “Um, what do you mean?”
“Thanks for being so understanding of all the attention I was paying to Hermione yesterday. I imagine it wasn’t that much fun for you.”
“Oh. It was … no problem really. I understood, it being her birthday and all.”
“And thanks for being willing to put our date off until tonight so I could spend her birthday with her. She really appreciated it, too.” Harry had taken Hermione out to dinner in Hogsmeade, and she had also been able to call her parents on her cell phone. She had been so excited to hear their voices, and they had talked for more than an hour.
“That’s all right, Harry. I know how much you care for her.”
“I care a lot for you too, Gin.”
Ginny raised her head so that she was looking directly into Harry’s eyes. “I know.” She leaned forward and caught his lips with hers into a long, slow, gentle kiss, then contentedly returned her head to its original location on his shoulder. Right where it belonged.
-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-
Some may be wondering why there isn’t more happening in the war. The war is still going on, but it’s not Harry’s fight right now. Fighting the war is Krum’s job, although Harry checks in with him
regularly about how it’s going. Unless the Death Eaters attack Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, Harry isn’t going to be involved. Everyone has their job to do and Harry’s is preparing, both himself and the
DA.
It was the same way in Book 6, where Harry wasn’t involved until Hogwarts was attacked. Pretty much the only reference to the fighting in that book was checking the Daily Prophet to see who died.
I find that rather morbid.