Believe that Magic Works (8/10) - R/Hr - R
Title: Believe that Magic Works (8/10)
Author: shocolate
Pairing: Ron/Hermione
Words: 4100
Rating: R
Written for sugarandginger’s Definitive Ron/Hermione Year Seven Novella Challenge
As the Trio set off on their search for the Horcruxes, Ron finally accepts that he wants to look after his two best friends in completely different ways
Chapter 8 : Secret Army
****
When we returned to Grimmauld Place, my mum was waiting for us. "Where have you been?" she demanded, grabbing me the second we Apparated in.
"What's wrong, Mum?" I asked, trying to fight her off. "We're fine, honestly."
"Then why haven't you been updating your coin?" Mum said.
"Oh," Hermione said, looking surprised. "Didn't the updates work? That's interesting; could that be just because of the distance, or because of the anti-Apparition wards at the borders?"
"Distance? Where were you?" Mum asked.
"Romania?" I said tentatively. "With Charlie?"
She looked furious. "And Charlie didn't think off telling me you were OK?"
"We did the coin thing!" I said, defensively. "How were we supposed to know it wasn't working?"
I knew she wouldn't be distracted by anything I said, so I pushed Harry forward and she caught sight of his burns.
"Harry!" she gasped, pushing him into a chair. "What happened?"
"Nothing," he protested as she grasped his chin and tipped his face to the side to examine him. "A slight run-in with a dragon, but Charlie healed the burn, it's much better, really."
"But what on earth were you doing out there, anyway? What were you doing with a dragon?" she looked very tired and baffled.
"We needed to burn something, Mrs Weasley," Hermione explained. "We needed a very hot flame to destroy something and Charlie helped us out."
"Destroy something?" Mum asked weakly, sinking into a chair. "I wish you'd tell us what you're up to, I really do."
Harry reached into a pocket and brought out the ruined sapphires. Mum's eyes were like saucers when she saw them. "What on earth…"
"They were Rowena Ravenclaw's," Hermione said sadly. "It's such a shame we had to destroy them."
"Oh, my goodness," Mum murmured. "And Remus said you destroyed a locket…"
"Yes, Mum," I said. "Slytherin's locket."
"Oh. Ronnie. What on earth. I…"
Well, it's not often that she's speechless.
oOoOo
And so, we were alone.
Amidst all the goodbyes to Charlie, the dragons and Krum, amidst Mum's tears, we hadn't had a chance to think of what we'd done.
"Tea," Hermione said.
We sat at the kitchen table while the kettle boiled.
"Well," Harry said.
"Yeah," I said.
"What now?" Hermione asked.
Tea," said Harry firmly.
She smiled fondly at him. "Yes, but Harry…"
"You know what I want to do next?" he interrupted.
"Not here, mate, ladies present," I teased.
Hermione tutted. "I preferred it when you were protecting me from your depravity," she complained.
Harry glared at me. "No, Ron," he said. "I want you two to spend a few days like a normal couple. I want to go to Hogsmeade and see Ginny. I want to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch match next week. I want to be normal for just a little while. Is that awfully selfish?"
"Oh, Harry, not at all," said Hermione, putting her hand on his arm.
"It's not as if we know what to do next, anyway," I said.
"We kill the snake," Harry said bleakly.
I snorted. "And what research can she possibly do to track down a snake?" I asked.
"Not the snake, Ron," she said. "The snake will be with Voldemort."
"Oh, well," I shrugged. "He's probably on the Floo network - fancy Flooing over and catching them unprepared?"
Harry dropped his face into his hands. "Stop it," he mumbled. "Not now, please. This is it, isn't it? This is where I go after him."
"Look, firstly, it's where we go after him," I said, rather more confidently than I felt.
"And, secondly," said Hermione, "this is where it could take years to run him to ground, or smoke him out, or whatever. And I am going to make sure you live normally in the meantime."
Which is exactly what we tried to do.
There was just one change.
Harry moved his things into an empty bedroom. I sat on my bed and watched him carry stuff back and forth. "Should I ask what's going on?" I asked.
Harry smirked at me. "I just don't want you and Hermione tiptoeing around the house at night," he said. "I have my own room. It's not my business if she sleeps in here."
I smiled down at my hands and nodded.
From then on, Hermione slept in my arms.
Remarkably innocently; we didn't go any further than we already had - I just needed to know she was safe. She needed to know I was there.
Hermione carried on reading, but that was normal for her. I think a lot of her reading was of NEWT textbooks, and my heart ached for her and I wondered if she was thinking of returning to school for the last term. And then I worried about her going anywhere without me.
She read everything on You Know Who she could lay her hands on. If she stayed at Grimmauld Place, I usually Flooed over to the Burrow to help my mum out with whatever chores she needed doing.
If Hermione wanted to use the Hogwarts' library, I went with. Always. I was getting a bit paranoid about letting her out of my sight.
Harry usually came up to Hogwarts with us, and I know he and Remus were badgering Kingsley as to the last known whereabouts of You Know Who.
He had had to tell Remus that the way was now clear, that he'd be able to move on You Know Who as soon as they had a sighting.
There were no sightings; no news. Remus got no information from the werewolves since Fenrir had seen him at the school last year. And, well, we'd lost our other 'spy' when he killed Professor Dumbledore, hadn't we?
But we had a normal few weeks.
We went up to the school to see Ginny play against Hufflepuff. Ginny was rather keen for us both to play, but we thought it wasn't a very good idea.
Except that Harry got a bit glum, wondering if maybe it would draw You Know Who out of hiding if he was to put himself on a broomstick a hundred feet up in the air.
Our team was not great. The keeper made me wince repeatedly and we were well behind when Ginny took the Snitch to win the game. We even dropped in on the celebrations afterwards, but it was a bit awkward, although I couldn't put my finger on why.
I wandered up the stairs to the seventh year boys' dorm, the room I'd lived in for six years, feeling a bit lost.
Everyone was down at the party and I sat on my old bed in the empty room and felt miserable.
I started at a noise as the door opened, but it was Harry, Hermione and Ginny and I relaxed and nodded hello.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, coming to sit on my bed. Hermione was on my bed. And I know that Hermione slept in my bed every night, but that was my grown-up bed - this was the bed where I had fantasised about her for so long.
"I dunno," I said. "It just felt awkward downstairs."
"Yeah," said Harry. "It's horrible. This is the place I think of as home, but it felt weird tonight. Everyone was so… polite."
"Well," said Ginny slowly, sitting beside him on his bed. "It's because you're sort of grown-ups now, isn't it?"
I raised my eyebrows at her. "What?"
"Well, you've left school, you're fighting Dark Wizards… it felt a bit awkward letting down our hair when we had adults at our party."
Harry looked as stunned as I felt.
"We're the ones spoiling the party?" I demanded. "Because we're adults?"
"Yup," Ginny confirmed, leaning against Harry and enjoying my indignation.
"We're not adults," I complained.
"I think we are," Harry said slowly.
"Nuh-uh," I said stubbornly. "If I was an adult, I wouldn't be this excited about having Hermione on my bed!" And I pulled her down on top of me.
"Let me go, you big idiot," she said, not struggling very hard. "What'll Harry and Ginny think?"
There was a click as the door closed. "Harry and Ginny aren't here," I said, kissing her. "Humour me, Hermione."
"Humour you?" she squeaked, as I flipped her over, pressing her into the mattress.
"Do you know the fantasies I've had about you in this bed, Hermione?" I asked, unbuttoning her shirt. "Please? We won't get another chance - look how good I was to you in the library."
She giggled. "Yes, you were very good," she whispered. "What would you like as a reward?"
I cupped her breast. "You know," I murmured, aware that my ears were flushing and that she was watching me closely. "It's always been my job to teach you and Harry how to live in the Wizarding World."
"Yes," she said, softly.
"Well," I said, fiddling with the bra strap. "I just thought you might give some thought to taking this off. Try seeing what it's like to live as a witch." I raised my eyes to hers as we both flushed.
"Oh, yes," she breathed.
She rolled onto her side and I slipped my arms around her, fumbling with the opening at the back until she was laughing into my shoulder.
"Don't laugh at a bloke, Hermione," I said, one arm hooked over her shoulder, her head on my arm, the other arm pulling her against me as she giggled and I tried to work out what held it together.
I flopped onto my back. "I give up," I sighed dramatically. "We can't have sex tonight."
She snorted. "We can't have sex tonight, anyway," she pointed out. "Not in your dorm." But she sat up and, reaching behind her, undid her bra.
I know my eyes bugged out of my head as she let it fall and I reached for her.
And I know I would cheerfully have killed Harry, but for the fact that only You Know Who could do it, when he knocked loudly on the door and cracked it open to announce that the party was winding down and people were on their way up to bed.
oOoOo
The weeks passed, with no clue as to You Know Who's whereabouts.
Hermione had arranged with Professor McGonagall to be allowed to take her theory NEWT papers and Harry was climbing the walls.
Hermione was up at the school one afternoon and Harry and I were mooching about down by the lake.
"This could take years," Harry complained, not for the first time.
"I know, mate," I said, kicking at a fallen log and turning it over. "We've taken nearly a year to get this far, but what else can we do?"
"I dunno," he sighed. "We'll have no qualifications, are we supposed to just put our lives on hold until he comes out of hiding?"
"Hmmm?" I said, not really listening, as all sorts of dreadful things had scuttled for safety when I turned the log over, and I was making sure a large spider was well out of sight.
Harry said something else I didn't catch, and I turned to him, frowning. "What was that?" I asked.
He hissed something at me, or rather, at a small brown snake with zigzags down its back.
"Harry!" I shouted and he looked round at me.
"What?" he demanded.
"Look at me when you're talking to me, will you?"
"Why?"
"Because I don't speak Parseltongue?" I smirked.
He looked back at the snake, which ignored him studiously and slithered back under the log.
"Was I speaking Parseltongue?" he asked. "Because I was looking at the snake, but I was talking to you. I was apologising for ruining you life - the poor snake must have thought I'd lost my marbles."
I laughed. "You have not ruined my life, and do snakes even care how humans behave?" I asked.
"No idea," he said.
"You should ask one," I suggested. "It's a waste of such a wonderful talent if you don't find out more about your little snaky friends…"
I trailed off as our eyes met.
"Ron!" he breathed, clutching my arm tightly. "Snakes!"
"You can't just ask them if they've seen You Know Who," I objected. "They probably don't care what humans get up to."
"Yeah, but I'm sure stories about Nagini would spread in the… the snake community," he sniggered. "My little friend down there is as big as they get in Britain."
We stared at each other.
"And, um, Wormtail tracked him down in Albania by talking to the rats, didn't he?" Harry said cautiously, but I was beyond being upset about my ex-pet.
"Let's do it!" I said. "But don't tell Hermione. We'll surprise her when your troops report back to us."
Harry laughed. "OK, then," he said, and went and knelt by the fallen log.
After a bit of hissing, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, the little snake poked her head out again and hissed back.
Harry seemed to have been having quite an interesting conversation with her and her snippy little hisses punctuated his long, deeper explanations.
I was idly wondering if his Parseltongue voice had broken, as I hadn't heard him speak it since he was twelve, and I was trying to forget my What Did You Know Who Do With The Bit He Ripped Out Of Harry theories, when Harry stood up and brushed off his leafy trousers.
"She's gonna ask around," he said and I laughed. "Just why is my life so funny to you, Weasley?" he demanded.
I sniggered.
"She hasn't heard about a Great Snake," he said, with as much dignity as possible. "But she thinks that all Little Snakes for miles around will be aware of Nagini, and will be afraid of her. I promised to come back here every Two Sundowns and wait for her to have news."
"Did you know you pronounce your capital letters when you're talking about Her?" I teased.
"Shut up, Ron," he complained. "This is going to work, I can feel it."
"Not to burst your bubble," I said tentatively. "But you do realise what her news is going to sound like, don't you? 'Great Snake lives with Snake Face in Great Man-Nest on Hill' - that'll narrow it down."
Harry mock glared at me. "I told her the snakes are going to have to try and describe the place for stupid humans," he said, stalking me.
"I'm just saying," I said, backing away. "Your new little girlfriend is being very helpful, but…"
My words and a lungful of air were knocked out of me as he tackled me to the ground. I had always been able to defeat Harry when we wrestled, using my greater height, weight and number of siblings to my advantage, but this time he pinned me to the ground and I was trying to twist free when an "ahem!" stopped us dead.
It was Ginny and Hermione, of course. "Good thing the Wizarding World is safe in their hands, right?" said Ginny.
We untangled and got to our feet, deciding to take the teasing, rather than tell them about our Snake Army. We didn't want to disappoint them, if nothing came of it, and, besides, I rather liked it when Hermione smirked at me like that.
oOoOo
So we took Hermione up to school every day and Harry waited for his scout to have news. He didn't lose heart as the weeks passed, and at least it was something to distract us from Hermione's melt down over her exams.
On the evening after her last exam we went to the Three Broomsticks to celebrate. Hermione was a little gloomy as we waited in a private room for Harry to arrive. "But no matter how well I've done, Ron, it's only the theory papers, and…"
"Well, you can get a job doing research," I interrupted, trying to cheer her up.
She opened her mouth to complain, but the door burst open and Harry flew in, his eyes wide and sparkling and a huge smile on his face. We stood up, rushing to meet him and he picked Hermione up and spun her round.
"What on earth?" she gasped as he flung her aside and tried to lift me off my feet, too.
"Harry!" I shouted. "What has happened?"
"News!" he crowed.
"No!" I cried and Hermione looked back and forth between us.
"What has happened?" Hermione begged. "Has the Order found out…"
"Nope," Harry grinned.
"Then what?"
"Harry has a Secret Army," I explained. "They have been scouring the country for You Know Who, and now, apparently, he has had news."
"A…a secret…" she looked completely baffled, and I was having the best time.
"Snakes," I replied, grinning at her.
"What?" she gasped.
"Harry has had snakes on the look out for Nagini," I said airily.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded, whirling on him.
"We didn't want you to know until it worked," he admitted. "Which, it has, by the way."
"Well?" I demanded.
He laughed. "You were right, Ron," he said. "It practically was 'Great Snake lives with Snake Face in Great Man-Nest on Hill'."
"Well," I spluttered. "What use is that?"
"Because the snakes in the area say he has been there before, and that there is a legend in the area that there was a nest of men on the other side of the valley who could speak to snakes."
"The Gaunts," Hermione breathed.
"He's at the house in Little Hangleton?" I said. "But the Order keeps an eye on the house, don't they?"
"Not all the time," Harry shrugged. "And I trust the snakes better. They say no one dares go near the big house, now that Nagini is back."
"No one?" Hermione asked.
"No snakes," I corrected and she laughed, slightly hysterically.
"I cannot believe that that worked," she complained. "An army of snakes? But what if it's a trap? What if the snakes are working for Voldemort?"
"Doesn't matter," said Harry firmly. "I'm going after him, whether it's a trap or not. I have the advantage on him, anyway. He thinks I'm going to attack him. I can't wait to see his reaction when I kill his snake."
"Yeah, can't wait," I muttered.
He looked very serious. "Ron," he said.
"We're coming with you," I interrupted.
"But," he said.
"We're coming with you," Hermione insisted and he deflated. "When do we go?" she asked, bravely lifting her chin.
"In the morning," he said quietly.
I swallowed hard and nodded at him, not trusting my voice.
"And tonight?" Hermione asked.
Harry looked at us and his eyes almost glowed. "I'm going back up to the school," he said. "I have to see Ginny."
"Are you going to tell her?" Hermione asked gently.
"I think I have to," Harry said slowly. "She deserves to know. I can't not tell her I'm saying goodbye."
"Oh, Harry," she said.
"And you two," he interrupted.
"You are not saying goodbye to us," I said. "If you go straight there, without coming back for us, I will never forgive you."
"I'll come for you," he promised. "I want you to go home and spend the night together."
"Harry?" I spluttered. "That's not actually your decision to make, mate."
Hermione glared at me and Harry shook his head.
"I'm not giving you detailed instructions," he said. "And I don't want a detailed report. But I want you to have this time together. In case."
Hermione nodded and turned to pick up her bag and cloak. "See you tomorrow," she whispered and kissed him on the cheek. "And I'll see you at home," she said to me in a husky voice and she Disapparated.
"Wow," Harry said.
"Harry," I complained. "You really can't tell people to shag their girlfriends."
We looked at each other steadily.
This could be the last time we were alone together.
After seven years of being closer than brothers.
I opened my arms and he flung himself into them and we hugged fiercely.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too," I muttered, my face in his hair.
He laughed shakily. "You know," he said, looking up at me slightly wild-eyed. "I've never said that before, to anyone."
"Wow," I said, letting go, but holding him at arms length to look at his face. "Not even Ginny?"
"I'm going to tell her, tonight," he explained, flushing slightly. "But… it seemed important to tell you first. You're the first person I ever loved. And tell Hermione, OK?"
"That you love me?" I teased and he shoved me away
"That I love her, too. That I wouldn't be here without her, without the two of you."
"Tell her yourself after you've killed Snake Face," I said and he laughed and hugged me again.
"Really, Ron, tomorrow will…"
"I know," I interrupted. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."
And I Disapparated.
oOoOo
I arrived in my bedroom at Grimmauld Place to find Hermione sitting on my bed, pleating her skirt between her fingers. She looked up at me with huge tear-filled eyes and I swept her up in my arms.
I sat on my bed and rocked her as she cried. Eventually she sniffled to a halt and wiped her eyes and nose on my jumper.
"Tell me," I whispered.
She made a very snotty and inelegant noise. "Everything Ron," she spluttered. "Tomorrow…"
"Tomorrow will be fine, don't think about it," I interrupted.
"Don't think about it?" she gasped. "We're going off to face Voldemort tomorrow, Ron."
"And will thinking about it help?" I asked.
"Well, there might be something we can still come up with that'll help," she said helplessly.
"Don't think about it," I said firmly.
She snorted.
"I have a message for you, from Harry," I said.
"A message?" she asked, looking up at me and sniffing.
"He loves you," I said and she burst into tears again. "Hey, he loves me, too," I protested.
"Oh, Ron, tell me you didn't make jokes about it?" she said as she cried into my chest.
"Well," I said.
"Oh, Ron," she wailed.
"I told him I loved him, too, and then I made jokes about it."
"Oh, well," she sniffed. "I suppose that is the best I could hope for."
"Look, he didn't dare say it to your face - he left me to face the tears," I pointed out. "He wanted the jokes, honestly."
She snuffled and burrowed against me.
"Hermione?" I murmured.
"Hmmm?"
"What about tonight?" I asked her.
"What about tonight?" she echoed.
"Are you crying about tonight at all?" I asked, stroking her hair. "'Cos you know we won't do anything you don't want to."
"I do want to," she said, looking up at me. "What else are we waiting for?"
"Tomorrow," I said.
She glared. "What happened to 'don't think about it'?" she said indignantly.
"Yeah," I said. "Don't think about tomorrow, let's think about tomorrow night."
"What on earth…"
"I don't think Harry's right," I interrupted. "Yes, we should be together tonight, but we should wait until it's over to be together."
She tutted. "What sort of eighteen-year-old boy are you?" she demanded and I got angry.
I was trying to be sensitive here.
"I'm trying to be sensitive here," I complained. "I don't want to screw you just in case you die."
"Oh," she said.
"Oh," I echoed.
"That's very sweet," she said. "Sort of."
"What d'you mean 'sort of'?" I demanded.
"Well, we've been doing 'stuff' already. It's not as if we're pure as the driven snow…"
"You've been doing stuff, you mean," I said. "I'm still pure. Maybe tonight it should be your turn?"
She flushed. "Ron!" she whispered.
"Tit for tat," I leered.
"I don't want to see your 'tat', Ron," she laughed.
I lay back on my bed.
"So," I said. "Come here and teach me what to do."
"Excuse me?" she asked, as I pulled her down beside me.
"Well, you've always taught me how to do things," I pointed out, sliding my hand under her skirt. "I'm not confident with my wrist movement here, Hermione," I smirked, as my fingers slipped inside her knickers. "Should I be using more of a swish or a flick?"
She gasped. "Ronald Weasley, you are utterly depraved!"
"And you love it," I said, pulling her closer and stroking her.
She burrowed closer, her face against my neck and reached for my hand, showing me what to do.
Which was the hottest thing ever.
I gasped as she moved my fingers faster and faster and then groaned aloud as she made an impatient noise and held my hand still and started rubbing against it.
Damn. I wish I could tell Harry how hot my girlfriend was.
I'd have to get him seriously drunk after he killed You Know Who and tell him how Hermione completely lost it and fell apart in my arms as she came.
oOoOo
Author: shocolate
Pairing: Ron/Hermione
Words: 4100
Rating: R
Written for sugarandginger’s Definitive Ron/Hermione Year Seven Novella Challenge
As the Trio set off on their search for the Horcruxes, Ron finally accepts that he wants to look after his two best friends in completely different ways
Chapter 8 : Secret Army
****
When we returned to Grimmauld Place, my mum was waiting for us. "Where have you been?" she demanded, grabbing me the second we Apparated in.
"What's wrong, Mum?" I asked, trying to fight her off. "We're fine, honestly."
"Then why haven't you been updating your coin?" Mum said.
"Oh," Hermione said, looking surprised. "Didn't the updates work? That's interesting; could that be just because of the distance, or because of the anti-Apparition wards at the borders?"
"Distance? Where were you?" Mum asked.
"Romania?" I said tentatively. "With Charlie?"
She looked furious. "And Charlie didn't think off telling me you were OK?"
"We did the coin thing!" I said, defensively. "How were we supposed to know it wasn't working?"
I knew she wouldn't be distracted by anything I said, so I pushed Harry forward and she caught sight of his burns.
"Harry!" she gasped, pushing him into a chair. "What happened?"
"Nothing," he protested as she grasped his chin and tipped his face to the side to examine him. "A slight run-in with a dragon, but Charlie healed the burn, it's much better, really."
"But what on earth were you doing out there, anyway? What were you doing with a dragon?" she looked very tired and baffled.
"We needed to burn something, Mrs Weasley," Hermione explained. "We needed a very hot flame to destroy something and Charlie helped us out."
"Destroy something?" Mum asked weakly, sinking into a chair. "I wish you'd tell us what you're up to, I really do."
Harry reached into a pocket and brought out the ruined sapphires. Mum's eyes were like saucers when she saw them. "What on earth…"
"They were Rowena Ravenclaw's," Hermione said sadly. "It's such a shame we had to destroy them."
"Oh, my goodness," Mum murmured. "And Remus said you destroyed a locket…"
"Yes, Mum," I said. "Slytherin's locket."
"Oh. Ronnie. What on earth. I…"
Well, it's not often that she's speechless.
oOoOo
And so, we were alone.
Amidst all the goodbyes to Charlie, the dragons and Krum, amidst Mum's tears, we hadn't had a chance to think of what we'd done.
"Tea," Hermione said.
We sat at the kitchen table while the kettle boiled.
"Well," Harry said.
"Yeah," I said.
"What now?" Hermione asked.
Tea," said Harry firmly.
She smiled fondly at him. "Yes, but Harry…"
"You know what I want to do next?" he interrupted.
"Not here, mate, ladies present," I teased.
Hermione tutted. "I preferred it when you were protecting me from your depravity," she complained.
Harry glared at me. "No, Ron," he said. "I want you two to spend a few days like a normal couple. I want to go to Hogsmeade and see Ginny. I want to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch match next week. I want to be normal for just a little while. Is that awfully selfish?"
"Oh, Harry, not at all," said Hermione, putting her hand on his arm.
"It's not as if we know what to do next, anyway," I said.
"We kill the snake," Harry said bleakly.
I snorted. "And what research can she possibly do to track down a snake?" I asked.
"Not the snake, Ron," she said. "The snake will be with Voldemort."
"Oh, well," I shrugged. "He's probably on the Floo network - fancy Flooing over and catching them unprepared?"
Harry dropped his face into his hands. "Stop it," he mumbled. "Not now, please. This is it, isn't it? This is where I go after him."
"Look, firstly, it's where we go after him," I said, rather more confidently than I felt.
"And, secondly," said Hermione, "this is where it could take years to run him to ground, or smoke him out, or whatever. And I am going to make sure you live normally in the meantime."
Which is exactly what we tried to do.
There was just one change.
Harry moved his things into an empty bedroom. I sat on my bed and watched him carry stuff back and forth. "Should I ask what's going on?" I asked.
Harry smirked at me. "I just don't want you and Hermione tiptoeing around the house at night," he said. "I have my own room. It's not my business if she sleeps in here."
I smiled down at my hands and nodded.
From then on, Hermione slept in my arms.
Remarkably innocently; we didn't go any further than we already had - I just needed to know she was safe. She needed to know I was there.
Hermione carried on reading, but that was normal for her. I think a lot of her reading was of NEWT textbooks, and my heart ached for her and I wondered if she was thinking of returning to school for the last term. And then I worried about her going anywhere without me.
She read everything on You Know Who she could lay her hands on. If she stayed at Grimmauld Place, I usually Flooed over to the Burrow to help my mum out with whatever chores she needed doing.
If Hermione wanted to use the Hogwarts' library, I went with. Always. I was getting a bit paranoid about letting her out of my sight.
Harry usually came up to Hogwarts with us, and I know he and Remus were badgering Kingsley as to the last known whereabouts of You Know Who.
He had had to tell Remus that the way was now clear, that he'd be able to move on You Know Who as soon as they had a sighting.
There were no sightings; no news. Remus got no information from the werewolves since Fenrir had seen him at the school last year. And, well, we'd lost our other 'spy' when he killed Professor Dumbledore, hadn't we?
But we had a normal few weeks.
We went up to the school to see Ginny play against Hufflepuff. Ginny was rather keen for us both to play, but we thought it wasn't a very good idea.
Except that Harry got a bit glum, wondering if maybe it would draw You Know Who out of hiding if he was to put himself on a broomstick a hundred feet up in the air.
Our team was not great. The keeper made me wince repeatedly and we were well behind when Ginny took the Snitch to win the game. We even dropped in on the celebrations afterwards, but it was a bit awkward, although I couldn't put my finger on why.
I wandered up the stairs to the seventh year boys' dorm, the room I'd lived in for six years, feeling a bit lost.
Everyone was down at the party and I sat on my old bed in the empty room and felt miserable.
I started at a noise as the door opened, but it was Harry, Hermione and Ginny and I relaxed and nodded hello.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, coming to sit on my bed. Hermione was on my bed. And I know that Hermione slept in my bed every night, but that was my grown-up bed - this was the bed where I had fantasised about her for so long.
"I dunno," I said. "It just felt awkward downstairs."
"Yeah," said Harry. "It's horrible. This is the place I think of as home, but it felt weird tonight. Everyone was so… polite."
"Well," said Ginny slowly, sitting beside him on his bed. "It's because you're sort of grown-ups now, isn't it?"
I raised my eyebrows at her. "What?"
"Well, you've left school, you're fighting Dark Wizards… it felt a bit awkward letting down our hair when we had adults at our party."
Harry looked as stunned as I felt.
"We're the ones spoiling the party?" I demanded. "Because we're adults?"
"Yup," Ginny confirmed, leaning against Harry and enjoying my indignation.
"We're not adults," I complained.
"I think we are," Harry said slowly.
"Nuh-uh," I said stubbornly. "If I was an adult, I wouldn't be this excited about having Hermione on my bed!" And I pulled her down on top of me.
"Let me go, you big idiot," she said, not struggling very hard. "What'll Harry and Ginny think?"
There was a click as the door closed. "Harry and Ginny aren't here," I said, kissing her. "Humour me, Hermione."
"Humour you?" she squeaked, as I flipped her over, pressing her into the mattress.
"Do you know the fantasies I've had about you in this bed, Hermione?" I asked, unbuttoning her shirt. "Please? We won't get another chance - look how good I was to you in the library."
She giggled. "Yes, you were very good," she whispered. "What would you like as a reward?"
I cupped her breast. "You know," I murmured, aware that my ears were flushing and that she was watching me closely. "It's always been my job to teach you and Harry how to live in the Wizarding World."
"Yes," she said, softly.
"Well," I said, fiddling with the bra strap. "I just thought you might give some thought to taking this off. Try seeing what it's like to live as a witch." I raised my eyes to hers as we both flushed.
"Oh, yes," she breathed.
She rolled onto her side and I slipped my arms around her, fumbling with the opening at the back until she was laughing into my shoulder.
"Don't laugh at a bloke, Hermione," I said, one arm hooked over her shoulder, her head on my arm, the other arm pulling her against me as she giggled and I tried to work out what held it together.
I flopped onto my back. "I give up," I sighed dramatically. "We can't have sex tonight."
She snorted. "We can't have sex tonight, anyway," she pointed out. "Not in your dorm." But she sat up and, reaching behind her, undid her bra.
I know my eyes bugged out of my head as she let it fall and I reached for her.
And I know I would cheerfully have killed Harry, but for the fact that only You Know Who could do it, when he knocked loudly on the door and cracked it open to announce that the party was winding down and people were on their way up to bed.
oOoOo
The weeks passed, with no clue as to You Know Who's whereabouts.
Hermione had arranged with Professor McGonagall to be allowed to take her theory NEWT papers and Harry was climbing the walls.
Hermione was up at the school one afternoon and Harry and I were mooching about down by the lake.
"This could take years," Harry complained, not for the first time.
"I know, mate," I said, kicking at a fallen log and turning it over. "We've taken nearly a year to get this far, but what else can we do?"
"I dunno," he sighed. "We'll have no qualifications, are we supposed to just put our lives on hold until he comes out of hiding?"
"Hmmm?" I said, not really listening, as all sorts of dreadful things had scuttled for safety when I turned the log over, and I was making sure a large spider was well out of sight.
Harry said something else I didn't catch, and I turned to him, frowning. "What was that?" I asked.
He hissed something at me, or rather, at a small brown snake with zigzags down its back.
"Harry!" I shouted and he looked round at me.
"What?" he demanded.
"Look at me when you're talking to me, will you?"
"Why?"
"Because I don't speak Parseltongue?" I smirked.
He looked back at the snake, which ignored him studiously and slithered back under the log.
"Was I speaking Parseltongue?" he asked. "Because I was looking at the snake, but I was talking to you. I was apologising for ruining you life - the poor snake must have thought I'd lost my marbles."
I laughed. "You have not ruined my life, and do snakes even care how humans behave?" I asked.
"No idea," he said.
"You should ask one," I suggested. "It's a waste of such a wonderful talent if you don't find out more about your little snaky friends…"
I trailed off as our eyes met.
"Ron!" he breathed, clutching my arm tightly. "Snakes!"
"You can't just ask them if they've seen You Know Who," I objected. "They probably don't care what humans get up to."
"Yeah, but I'm sure stories about Nagini would spread in the… the snake community," he sniggered. "My little friend down there is as big as they get in Britain."
We stared at each other.
"And, um, Wormtail tracked him down in Albania by talking to the rats, didn't he?" Harry said cautiously, but I was beyond being upset about my ex-pet.
"Let's do it!" I said. "But don't tell Hermione. We'll surprise her when your troops report back to us."
Harry laughed. "OK, then," he said, and went and knelt by the fallen log.
After a bit of hissing, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, the little snake poked her head out again and hissed back.
Harry seemed to have been having quite an interesting conversation with her and her snippy little hisses punctuated his long, deeper explanations.
I was idly wondering if his Parseltongue voice had broken, as I hadn't heard him speak it since he was twelve, and I was trying to forget my What Did You Know Who Do With The Bit He Ripped Out Of Harry theories, when Harry stood up and brushed off his leafy trousers.
"She's gonna ask around," he said and I laughed. "Just why is my life so funny to you, Weasley?" he demanded.
I sniggered.
"She hasn't heard about a Great Snake," he said, with as much dignity as possible. "But she thinks that all Little Snakes for miles around will be aware of Nagini, and will be afraid of her. I promised to come back here every Two Sundowns and wait for her to have news."
"Did you know you pronounce your capital letters when you're talking about Her?" I teased.
"Shut up, Ron," he complained. "This is going to work, I can feel it."
"Not to burst your bubble," I said tentatively. "But you do realise what her news is going to sound like, don't you? 'Great Snake lives with Snake Face in Great Man-Nest on Hill' - that'll narrow it down."
Harry mock glared at me. "I told her the snakes are going to have to try and describe the place for stupid humans," he said, stalking me.
"I'm just saying," I said, backing away. "Your new little girlfriend is being very helpful, but…"
My words and a lungful of air were knocked out of me as he tackled me to the ground. I had always been able to defeat Harry when we wrestled, using my greater height, weight and number of siblings to my advantage, but this time he pinned me to the ground and I was trying to twist free when an "ahem!" stopped us dead.
It was Ginny and Hermione, of course. "Good thing the Wizarding World is safe in their hands, right?" said Ginny.
We untangled and got to our feet, deciding to take the teasing, rather than tell them about our Snake Army. We didn't want to disappoint them, if nothing came of it, and, besides, I rather liked it when Hermione smirked at me like that.
oOoOo
So we took Hermione up to school every day and Harry waited for his scout to have news. He didn't lose heart as the weeks passed, and at least it was something to distract us from Hermione's melt down over her exams.
On the evening after her last exam we went to the Three Broomsticks to celebrate. Hermione was a little gloomy as we waited in a private room for Harry to arrive. "But no matter how well I've done, Ron, it's only the theory papers, and…"
"Well, you can get a job doing research," I interrupted, trying to cheer her up.
She opened her mouth to complain, but the door burst open and Harry flew in, his eyes wide and sparkling and a huge smile on his face. We stood up, rushing to meet him and he picked Hermione up and spun her round.
"What on earth?" she gasped as he flung her aside and tried to lift me off my feet, too.
"Harry!" I shouted. "What has happened?"
"News!" he crowed.
"No!" I cried and Hermione looked back and forth between us.
"What has happened?" Hermione begged. "Has the Order found out…"
"Nope," Harry grinned.
"Then what?"
"Harry has a Secret Army," I explained. "They have been scouring the country for You Know Who, and now, apparently, he has had news."
"A…a secret…" she looked completely baffled, and I was having the best time.
"Snakes," I replied, grinning at her.
"What?" she gasped.
"Harry has had snakes on the look out for Nagini," I said airily.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded, whirling on him.
"We didn't want you to know until it worked," he admitted. "Which, it has, by the way."
"Well?" I demanded.
He laughed. "You were right, Ron," he said. "It practically was 'Great Snake lives with Snake Face in Great Man-Nest on Hill'."
"Well," I spluttered. "What use is that?"
"Because the snakes in the area say he has been there before, and that there is a legend in the area that there was a nest of men on the other side of the valley who could speak to snakes."
"The Gaunts," Hermione breathed.
"He's at the house in Little Hangleton?" I said. "But the Order keeps an eye on the house, don't they?"
"Not all the time," Harry shrugged. "And I trust the snakes better. They say no one dares go near the big house, now that Nagini is back."
"No one?" Hermione asked.
"No snakes," I corrected and she laughed, slightly hysterically.
"I cannot believe that that worked," she complained. "An army of snakes? But what if it's a trap? What if the snakes are working for Voldemort?"
"Doesn't matter," said Harry firmly. "I'm going after him, whether it's a trap or not. I have the advantage on him, anyway. He thinks I'm going to attack him. I can't wait to see his reaction when I kill his snake."
"Yeah, can't wait," I muttered.
He looked very serious. "Ron," he said.
"We're coming with you," I interrupted.
"But," he said.
"We're coming with you," Hermione insisted and he deflated. "When do we go?" she asked, bravely lifting her chin.
"In the morning," he said quietly.
I swallowed hard and nodded at him, not trusting my voice.
"And tonight?" Hermione asked.
Harry looked at us and his eyes almost glowed. "I'm going back up to the school," he said. "I have to see Ginny."
"Are you going to tell her?" Hermione asked gently.
"I think I have to," Harry said slowly. "She deserves to know. I can't not tell her I'm saying goodbye."
"Oh, Harry," she said.
"And you two," he interrupted.
"You are not saying goodbye to us," I said. "If you go straight there, without coming back for us, I will never forgive you."
"I'll come for you," he promised. "I want you to go home and spend the night together."
"Harry?" I spluttered. "That's not actually your decision to make, mate."
Hermione glared at me and Harry shook his head.
"I'm not giving you detailed instructions," he said. "And I don't want a detailed report. But I want you to have this time together. In case."
Hermione nodded and turned to pick up her bag and cloak. "See you tomorrow," she whispered and kissed him on the cheek. "And I'll see you at home," she said to me in a husky voice and she Disapparated.
"Wow," Harry said.
"Harry," I complained. "You really can't tell people to shag their girlfriends."
We looked at each other steadily.
This could be the last time we were alone together.
After seven years of being closer than brothers.
I opened my arms and he flung himself into them and we hugged fiercely.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too," I muttered, my face in his hair.
He laughed shakily. "You know," he said, looking up at me slightly wild-eyed. "I've never said that before, to anyone."
"Wow," I said, letting go, but holding him at arms length to look at his face. "Not even Ginny?"
"I'm going to tell her, tonight," he explained, flushing slightly. "But… it seemed important to tell you first. You're the first person I ever loved. And tell Hermione, OK?"
"That you love me?" I teased and he shoved me away
"That I love her, too. That I wouldn't be here without her, without the two of you."
"Tell her yourself after you've killed Snake Face," I said and he laughed and hugged me again.
"Really, Ron, tomorrow will…"
"I know," I interrupted. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."
And I Disapparated.
oOoOo
I arrived in my bedroom at Grimmauld Place to find Hermione sitting on my bed, pleating her skirt between her fingers. She looked up at me with huge tear-filled eyes and I swept her up in my arms.
I sat on my bed and rocked her as she cried. Eventually she sniffled to a halt and wiped her eyes and nose on my jumper.
"Tell me," I whispered.
She made a very snotty and inelegant noise. "Everything Ron," she spluttered. "Tomorrow…"
"Tomorrow will be fine, don't think about it," I interrupted.
"Don't think about it?" she gasped. "We're going off to face Voldemort tomorrow, Ron."
"And will thinking about it help?" I asked.
"Well, there might be something we can still come up with that'll help," she said helplessly.
"Don't think about it," I said firmly.
She snorted.
"I have a message for you, from Harry," I said.
"A message?" she asked, looking up at me and sniffing.
"He loves you," I said and she burst into tears again. "Hey, he loves me, too," I protested.
"Oh, Ron, tell me you didn't make jokes about it?" she said as she cried into my chest.
"Well," I said.
"Oh, Ron," she wailed.
"I told him I loved him, too, and then I made jokes about it."
"Oh, well," she sniffed. "I suppose that is the best I could hope for."
"Look, he didn't dare say it to your face - he left me to face the tears," I pointed out. "He wanted the jokes, honestly."
She snuffled and burrowed against me.
"Hermione?" I murmured.
"Hmmm?"
"What about tonight?" I asked her.
"What about tonight?" she echoed.
"Are you crying about tonight at all?" I asked, stroking her hair. "'Cos you know we won't do anything you don't want to."
"I do want to," she said, looking up at me. "What else are we waiting for?"
"Tomorrow," I said.
She glared. "What happened to 'don't think about it'?" she said indignantly.
"Yeah," I said. "Don't think about tomorrow, let's think about tomorrow night."
"What on earth…"
"I don't think Harry's right," I interrupted. "Yes, we should be together tonight, but we should wait until it's over to be together."
She tutted. "What sort of eighteen-year-old boy are you?" she demanded and I got angry.
I was trying to be sensitive here.
"I'm trying to be sensitive here," I complained. "I don't want to screw you just in case you die."
"Oh," she said.
"Oh," I echoed.
"That's very sweet," she said. "Sort of."
"What d'you mean 'sort of'?" I demanded.
"Well, we've been doing 'stuff' already. It's not as if we're pure as the driven snow…"
"You've been doing stuff, you mean," I said. "I'm still pure. Maybe tonight it should be your turn?"
She flushed. "Ron!" she whispered.
"Tit for tat," I leered.
"I don't want to see your 'tat', Ron," she laughed.
I lay back on my bed.
"So," I said. "Come here and teach me what to do."
"Excuse me?" she asked, as I pulled her down beside me.
"Well, you've always taught me how to do things," I pointed out, sliding my hand under her skirt. "I'm not confident with my wrist movement here, Hermione," I smirked, as my fingers slipped inside her knickers. "Should I be using more of a swish or a flick?"
She gasped. "Ronald Weasley, you are utterly depraved!"
"And you love it," I said, pulling her closer and stroking her.
She burrowed closer, her face against my neck and reached for my hand, showing me what to do.
Which was the hottest thing ever.
I gasped as she moved my fingers faster and faster and then groaned aloud as she made an impatient noise and held my hand still and started rubbing against it.
Damn. I wish I could tell Harry how hot my girlfriend was.
I'd have to get him seriously drunk after he killed You Know Who and tell him how Hermione completely lost it and fell apart in my arms as she came.
oOoOo