Chapter Nine
The second weekend in the month of March brought with it two important events. The first was Ginny and Katie's wedding. Harry wanted nothing but happiness for Ginny and Katie, but if it had been anyone else, Harry would have feigned illness on the day of the wedding. There was nothing that Harry wanted less right now than to spend a day surrounded by the Weasleys.
Harry's letter to The Quibbler had fractured the Weasleys in a way that Harry had never seen from them before. When Harry had sent the letter to Fred and George, he had done so more as a warning than anything else. He had never expected them to sign it. Even Ron hadn't signed it.
It was their signatures on the letter more than anything else that had exposed a vein in the heart of the Weasley family. Percy had immediately and loudly disowned Harry and his brothers and encouraged everyone at the Ministry and the Wizengamot to ignore them. While Percy couldn't get Harry or Hermione fired, he had retaliated against his brothers, ordering Cho Chang be demoted from her position, stating that she had obviously been influenced by his brothers.
Thus far, Arthur had been silent on the matter, although Harry suspected that Arthur supported Percy far less than his son expected. Ron hadn't explicitly stated his opinion one way or the other, other than to tell Harry that he was disappointed that he and Percy hadn't been able to work things out.
Percy's biggest supporter, of course, was Molly. While she hadn't yet reached out to Harry, he imagined that the wedding would be a perfect place to corner him. Would she ask him to recant his letter? Would she tell him how disappointed she was in him? Would she secretly admit that she knew her son was a poor Minister of Magic? Harry personally doubted that the last one would happen without Arthur's intervention, but at this point anything was possible.
The second important event was less planned and more damaging. A snowstorm the likes of which hadn't been seen in more than two decades swept across the British Isles, blanketing some parts of the islands in more than a meter of snow over a two day period. Many of the streets in London, Dublin, and Glasgow were covered for days at a time. Even Diagon Alley, which was normally easily cleared up using magic, was largely closed for most of the week due to the sheer volume of snow that needed to be removed.
Thankfully, Ginny and Katie had decided on an indoor wedding to be held at The Eagle's Nest, the ancestral home of Rowena Ravenclaw, which had been turned into one of the largest venues in all of England, which they would need since Ginny and Katie had invited almost everyone they knew to the wedding. Based on what Harry had heard from Ginny, if they had gone to school with them or if they had worked with them at any point, an invitation had been sent out.
"We're paying for the biggest castle not named Hogwarts in the entire country," Ginny had told him. "We might as well get our money's worth."
Harry couldn't disagree, although it did mean that he would be forced to socialize with dozens of people that he didn't want to talk to. Of course, the list of people that he did want to talk to was fairly limited at this point, so Harry supposed that it was more his fault than anyone else's.
On the Thursday night before the wedding, Harry and Hermione were working late at Potter Manor once again when Hermione walked across the room and took a seat in one of the chairs next to his desk. She said nothing. Instead, she simply sat and watched Harry work. For a few minutes, Harry tolerated her strange behavior, but eventually, he couldn't take it any longer.
"Is there something I can do for you?" Harry asked. He knew Hermione better than almost anyone and the look on her face told him that she needed a favor.
"I don't have a date for Ginny's wedding."
"Pardon me?" Harry asked.
Hermione sighed. "I don't have a date for Ginny's wedding. I asked Ron if he would be willing to go with me, but he made it sound like he was taking Susan Bones."
"Why do you need a date?" Harry asked. "Just go by yourself."
"That's not how weddings work. You can't go to a wedding alone. Then you just end up standing around by yourself, looking stupid."
"I find it highly unlikely that anyone is going to mistake you for being stupid," Harry replied warmly.
"I said looking stupid, not being stupid," Hermione answered. "Listen, half of our friends are dating someone, married, or engaged. I'm not dating anyone and you're...in a complicated place with Parvati."
"That's underselling it a bit," Harry murmured.
Over the last few weeks, Harry and Parvati had gone out for drinks twice and dinner once. None of them had been what Harry would call fun. The first time, they had found a small Muggle bar on the outskirts of London, somewhere quiet where they could go and be alone. Harry had arrived early and found a spot at the far end of the bar for the two of them.
Parvati eventually showed up, fifteen minutes late. When she walked in, it was obvious that she had been working up until a few moments earlier. Her hair was a mess and she had ink marks on the back of her left hand, a surefire sign that she had been taking notes on something.
"Hey," Harry said as Parvati sat down.
"Hi," Parvati replied.
"Working late?" Harry asked, not knowing what else to say.
"Always," Parvati said as she waved down the bartender and ordered a whiskey. The bartender turned to Harry and asked for his order. Harry, who only really knew what firewhiskey he liked, ordered the same as Parvati and hoped that he would like it.
"So what were you working on?" Harry asked.
"Dolohov," Parvati replied. "There's been another sighting."
"Really? Where?" Harry asked, trying to sound interested. Harry spent almost every hour of every day researching the various techniques and fields of study that Voldemort seemed interested in. After a long week, the last thing that he wanted was to keep talking about Death Eaters when he was ostensibly supposed to be on a date. However, he knew that was what Parvati wanted to talk about.
As far as he could tell, it was the only thing that he wanted to talk about. He wasn't hypocritical enough to condemn her for her obsession (he had enough issues with his own), but he had to admit that talking about Death Eaters outside of work wasn't really what he was looking for in a relationship.
"Just outside of Dublin," Parvati replied. "We think that's one of the locations where the council meets. Ron and I are going to go up there next week and see if we can't get eyes on him."
"So that you can bring him in, right?"
"Yes, Harry, so that we can bring him in," Parvati snapped. "I may want him dead, but I'm not going to just attack him on sight."
"That's not what I hear from the other Aurors."
"Really? Remind me, how is Ezekiel Greengrass doing these days?" Parvati snarled.
Point well taken.
"He deserves what punishment he gets for what he did to me...to my family," Parvati said, trying to calm herself down. "But I'm not just going to murder him. That's not the kind of person I am."
"No one thinks that the person they are until they're given the opportunity."
Parvati gave Harry a strange look out of the corner of her eye.
"Really? Have you been given the opportunity?"
Harry already knew where this conversation was going to lead and he didn't like it one bit.
"Leave it alone, Parvati."
"Leave what alone?" questioned Parvati. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to leave alone."
"Neither does anyone else. Dumbledore knows. Fleurs knows and that's only because they were with me."
"Ron and Hermione don't know?" Parvati said and Harry could hear the tone of accusation in her voice.
"They...know some of it," Harry said. It was as close to the truth as he could get. He had lied to them, but what they knew was more or less the truth of where he had been and what he was doing. There were just certain elements that Harry had...altered.
"But you won't tell me anything?" Parvati snapped back.
"I didn't want to tell them," Harry admitted. "I don't want to tell anyone."
"Because you don't trust anyone."
"Because I'm embarrassed!" Harry finally shouted, getting the attention of everyone in the bar. Harry took three deep breaths, trying his best to center himself. Once everyone had gone back to their drinks, Harry explained.
"I spent years of my life training for this, for hunting and killing Voldemort. I spent just as much time hunting him down and when I did, I failed. I failed and people died."
Parvati sat silently for a moment.
"You can't blame yourself for that, Harry."
Harry chuckled to himself. "Really? How's that working for you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Your vendetta against Dolohov. It's as much about blame as it is about revenge."
"And how would you know that?" Parvati demanded.
"Because I see it when I look in the mirror."
Needless to say, it had not been the most positive second first date. They had met for drinks one other time and dinner as well, but they spent most of that time avoiding talking about Voldemort or Dolohov. Instead, they sat in silence, uncertain of what to talk about. That had been two weeks ago and they hadn't spoken outside of work since then.
"Is Parvati going to the wedding?" Hermione asked, snapping Harry away from his thoughts.
"No. She was one of the few people who declined their invitation."
"Then there's no problem with you going with me," Hermione replied. "We can go together. You can keep Ginny from trying to set me up with her cousins and I can keep Molly from trying to convince you to be nice to Percy."
"You really think she'll do that?" Harry asked.
"I'm amazed she hasn't done it already."
"Well, then we're definitely going together," Harry said, before hastily adding: "Just so we're clear, this isn't a date."
"Of course it's not a date," Hermione replied. "It's a defense mechanism."
"Good."
"Great."
"You know this whole thing would be so much easier if Percy wasn't a Weasley," Harry pointed out. "I know that if he hadn't been Arthur and Molly's son, I would have tried to bury him years ago."
"I know. I always thought that Percy was going to do a good job," Hermione admitted. "He wasn't my first choice, but I had always assumed that his intelligence would have won out eventually."
"Clearly not."
"Clearly," Hermione replied. Finally, with the weight of asking Harry on a "not-date" date abated, she seemed to relax just a bit. "Do you ever think you'll be the Minister of Magic?"
"I'm sure that people will try and push me in that direction," Harry said. "I just can't imagine a universe where I want the job. It's not like it will matter much anyway."
"Why not?" Hermione asked. "You're intelligent, quite capable, and, when properly motivated, capable of playing the game at a high level."
"But I don't want to play the game. I do it now because it helps me to get what I need. If I can ever get to a point where I can put Voldemort behind me, then I'm walking away from the Ministry permanently. I'll help where I can, but I have no real interest in running things. Thankfully, you're going to be the Minister of Magic for the next thirty years, so I won't have to worry about it."
Hermione glanced at Harry apprehensively.
"Do you really think I would make a good Minister?"
"Are you serious?"
Hermione nodded. "We both know that intelligence doesn't always lead to success. In school, I was compared against a group of children and told that I was exceptional. Now, I'm compared to hundreds of people, all of whom have heard about me since I was fourteen years old and all of whom want a chance to knock me down a peg."
"That's not true," Harry said.
Hermione responded with a glare.
"I know that I haven't been here consistently, but at the very least, not everyone wants to knock you down a peg," Harry replied. "You know that most members of The Legion know just how capable you are. More importantly, we know that you didn't get to be the greatest witch of our age simply by being smart. You worked your ass off. You studied day and night, probably twice as much as Ron and I combined. I'm certain that you're doing the same at the Ministry and when the time comes, you'll get the support you need."
Harry almost considered asking her if she was intending to throw her name in the ring if Percy was removed, but he decided against it. It was late and they both needed to be at the Ministry early the following morning for an update with Tonks and Amelia. The last thing they needed was to show up half-asleep because Harry and Hermione had spent the evening imagining her first one hundred days as Minister of Magic.
The rest of the work week (what was left of it anyway) flew by and soon enough, Harry and Hermione, dressed in a black tux and a silver dress respectively, Apparated from Potter Manor to The Eagle's Nest. When they landed in the approved zone, Harry's eyes immediately floated up to the top of the tower. The castle itself wasn't very tall. In most places, it was only two or three stories tall. But in the centuries before Hogwarts' creation, the Ravenclaws had been a Muggle family and some of those defenses carried over when they transitioned to be an almost entirely magical clan.
Most importantly, the castle had a massive tower in order to provide a watch on the plains and mountains that surrounded it. It must have been almost forty stories high, much higher than any part of Hogwarts, which meant that a person standing on the spire could see for miles in any direction. Fifteen hundred years ago, it would have been helpful for spotting an invading army at a distance.
Now, it was just a nice conversation piece.
Thankfully, the wedding wasn't taking place in the tower but in the ballroom at its base. The ballroom itself was very similar to the one in Harry's own home with one notable exception: everything in The Eagle's Nest was lined in silver. That combined with the high ceilings gave you the feeling that you were in a cave, diamonds shining all around you.
As expected, when Harry and Hermione arrived together, there was a general reaction from the room. Almost immediately, Harry could see several members of The Legion and the Gryffindor Quidditch team turn to each other, no doubt gossiping about Harry and Hermione arriving together. Harry knew that this was bound to happen. There was no way that Harry and Hermione could show up anywhere together without causing a fuss, but showing up to a wedding as each other's date (even if it wasn't a date) was something that was going to seriously cause the rumor mill to go into overdrive.
Thankfully, Harry and Hermione had been assigned seats in relative safety between Ron and Fred with Susan and Alicia on either side of them. The ballroom had been set up more like an amphitheatre than a church with wide arching rows around a circular stage in the front of the room. However, there was still a center aisle and just across from it, Harry could see Percy talking loudly to his girlfriend, Thea. Percy was rather pointedly ignoring both Harry and Hermione, which was the way that Harry would have preferred the rest of the evening to go.
Unfortunately, Molly Weasley was not ignoring them and the moment they sat down, Harry could see her repeatedly glancing their direction out of the corner of his eye. As much as he loved Molly, he knew that he was not looking forward to whatever kind of intervention she was planning on enacting later. Harry was certain that Arthur (and likely Bill and Tonks) had warned Molly about getting in between Harry and Percy, especially at Ginny's wedding, but the look on her face suggested that she was going to ignore their warnings.
As expected, the service was beautiful. While the wedding itself was massive, the ceremony itself was quite short. Since Ginny and Katie shared a number of friends from school, they had decided against having anyone join them at the altar, putting the focus of the day squarely on the two of them. They both wore gold, although their dresses couldn't have been more different. While Ginny's dress stretched to the floor, it was relatively simple with a single gold strap over her left shoulder (along with some magic) keeping everything in place. On the other hand, Katie's dress looked like something out of a Muggle fairy tale. It also reached the floor, but it spread out wide with a train that followed her everywhere she went.
They both looked beautiful and despite the stress of being so close to Percy and Molly, Harry was glad that he was there. He was also glad that he had Hermione there as his buffer, because the moment the ceremony ended, they were practically accosted by several members of the Legion, each of them asking if Harry and Hermione were an item now. Thankfully, Hermione shut down those rumors before they could get any more traction just as dinner was announced.
Over the next few hours, Harry and Hermione sat with Fred and Alicia along with George and Cho, reminiscing about Ginny and Katie with Fred and George spending the better part of an hour regaling Cho and Alicia with the story of how Harry had first come to The Burrow and his first real meeting with Ginny the following morning. In truth, the story was more about Fred and George flying the borrowed Ford Angila than anything else, but no one at the table seemed to mind.
After dinner, a string quartet suddenly appeared. It was at this moment that Molly Weasley made her move. As everyone slowly began to migrate to the dance floor, Molly suddenly appeared behind Harry and Hermione.
"Hello!" Molly said warmly. "Thank you both for coming."
Harry had spent more time at The Burrow than any place in the world other than Hogwarts. He had practically lived there for the better part of three summers. His shared room with Ron was just above Ginny's. They had played Quidditch together in the grove, helped to degnome the garden, and, most importantly, she had been with Harry when they had escaped Voldemort. Ginny had been by his side during one of the most important parts of his life and the same was true for Hermione.
There was no question that they were going to come to Ginny's wedding and Molly knew it, which meant that she was deflecting what she really wanted to say.
"Of course," Harry said plainly as the others left the table. "Would you like to sit down?"
"Actually, Hermione, would you mind if I had a moment with Harry?"
Hermione smiled nervously at Molly. "Sure, I'll be back in-"
"Molly, whatever you're going to say to me, you can say it in front of Hermione," Harry said curtly. Molly looked at Harry, surprise written all across her face. Harry had never called Molly by her first name to her face before. But, in Harry's defense, she had never given him a reason to do so. But by going out of her way to get in the middle of the feud between Harry and Percy, she was putting herself in a position where Harry could no longer look at her as Percy's mother.
She was an adult and so was he.
"Of course," Molly said as she sat down next on Harry's left, opposite Hermione on his right. As she sat, Harry noticed a certain amount of uncertainty on face. Whether that was because she was unsure of what she was going to say or worried about Harry's frankness, Harry couldn't be sure.
"Harry, I'll get right to the point. Arthur and I would like to ask you to stop this little tiff with Percy."
Harry almost laughed. Only someone like Molly, someone who he respected but was also hopelessly biased towards her own family, could call a public relations war between the country's most famous person and its Minister of Magic a "little tiff." Still, Harry managed to compose himself but just barely.
"If Arthur wanted to ask me to stop, then why isn't he here?" Harry asked.
"Well, Arthur's busy, so I just thought that I would take care of it."
"I think we both know that's not true."
"Harry, dear, Arthur is handling some father of the bride business-"
"No, he's not," Harry said. "He's standing right there, talking with Amelia Bones, staring at us, no doubt wondering what exactly you're saying."
Harry wasn't lying. His eyesight wasn't great, but he could still see Arthur from across the room. He couldn't read the expression on his face, but he doubted that Arthur would be pleased by what was happening.
"Molly, I appreciate that you want to stand up for Percy. I do."
"No, you don't," Molly said, her voice suddenly changed as if being caught in her lie had suddenly revealed a new, darker side of Molly Weasley. To be fair, Harry had always known that Molly had a bit of a dark side to her.
It just hadn't been directed towards him before.
"You don't have children. You don't know what it's like to want to protect your children," Molly said shortly. "I am well aware of the fact that Percy isn't the best man in the world. I know that he hasn't been the best Minister of Magic. But he's my son and I will do whatever I can to protect him."
"Percy doesn't need protection from me," Harry replied. "I don't want to harm him. I just want him to find a job he's better suited to."
"You know that if he's removed as Minister of Magic in this way, he won't find another job for years."
"You mean if he's removed by me?" Harry countered.
"I do," Molly admitted. "You're you, Harry, and I know that you know that. Losing like this against you would ruin him. It would ruin us."
"What do you mean by us?" Hermione suddenly asked.
Despite the fact that she hadn't wanted Hermione to be present, Molly had somehow forgot that Hermione was listening just over his shoulder. In response to Hermione's question, she sat and stared for a moment before plastering a large, fake smile across her face.
"All of us, of course. It's never good for a Ministry to go through something like this."
While Molly wasn't wrong, Harry knew that Hermione had been onto something with her question. Molly loved Harry and Hermione, but that wasn't what she meant.
"You think of me as a son, right?" Harry asked.
"Of course!"
"What about Hermione? Do you think of her as a daughter?"
"You know I do," Molly replied, although Harry noticed that she said it with far less enthusiasm this time.
"Then why would you support anyone who was going to make your daughter a second-class citizen, even if they were your own son?" Harry said coldly. "Because that's what your spineless son was prepared to do before we stopped him."
"That legislation was never going to pass."
"It would have if Percy would have signed it."
"Percy never would have signed something as horrid as that," Molly said, although Harry saw that her eyes didn't exactly meet his as she spoke.
"Did he tell you that?" Harry asked. "Because if he did, then he lied to you. If he didn't and you're just guessing, then, Molly, you're lying to yourself. You didn't support Fudge for a minute. Even when Percy went to work for the man, I remember you stating your allegiances very clearly. But now that your son has become Fudge, you're suddenly willing to compromise? You should be ashamed of yourself."
Harry stood suddenly and looked down at Molly, who stared back at him. She was clearly surprised that Harry dared to speak back to her in such a blunt manner.
"You know who has never turned her back on me? Ever? You know who has stood by me, even as I've been away, even as I kept secrets, and probably became a complete pain in the ass? Hermione. While Percy was busy claiming that I was a paranoid looney, Hermione was helping me prepare for the upcoming war. While Percy was supporting a man that claimed that Voldemort was gone, Hermione was working with me to come up with the DA. Hermione has been a constant in my life since I was eleven. Percy spent three years pretending to be my friend only to throw me under the bus when it was politically convenient for him."
Harry noticed that as he spoke, the other guests were starting to notice the small tiff in the corner between Harry and Molly. Taking a breath, Harry controlled himself and brought both his volume and his temper down.
"Percy Weasley is a weak man. He's not the kind of man that I'm willing to follow and he didn't used to be the kind of man that you were willing to follow either. Hermione Granger is the best person and the best witch I know and anyone that's willing to sign something that will make her a lesser class of wizard doesn't deserve to clean the Minister's shoes."
Harry turned to Hermione and held out his hand to her. Nervously, well aware of the fact that everyone was looking at her, she took it. Hermione's hand in his, Harry turned back to Molly.
"Tell Ginny that we're sorry that we had to leave so soon. And tell Percy that I won't rest until he's cleaning the bathrooms at Hogwarts."
Hand in hand, Harry and Hermione walked past a stunned Molly Weasley and through the silent crowd. They had just about reached the edge of the room when Harry heard his name. Normally, he wouldn't have turned around, but it's rude to ignore the bride on her big day.
Harry turned back to see Ginny racing towards him.
"Are you leaving?" Ginny asked.
"I don't want to be a distraction," Harry replied.
"Was it that bad?"
"Don't worry about it," Harry said. "I want you to enjoy your day."
"I would enjoy my day with my friends here."
"And we would love to be here," Hermione interjected. "But, our presence is clearly causing some...friction among members of your family."
"My family could use some friction," Ginny growled. "Fine. But Katie and I are coming over for dinner when we get back from Turkey."
"Turkey?" Hermione asked.
"Katie's always found Istanbul fascinating," Ginny said as she turned and looked at her wife across the room who was entertaining her former Quidditch teammates. "Who am I to deny her?"
Harry smiled. "I'm happy for you, Gin. I'm just sorry that this whole thing with Percy went down when it did."
"Yeah, well, my dear brother could use a beating every so often. If it wasn't you, it would be someone else."
Harry sighed. "But it is me."
"Yeah, it is," Ginny replied solemnly. "You'll be around for dinner?"
"We'll make it work," Harry agreed. Ginny stepped forward and hugged Harry and then Hermione. Then, she waved both of them off.
"Get out of here. I have to go scold my mother."
"Go easy on her," Hermione said. "Harry gave her more than enough grief."
"I bet she deserved it."
"That she did," Harry said and with that, Harry and Hermione turned and left. Moments later, they Disapparated from The Eagle's Nest, landing back in the ballroom of Potter Manor. For a moment, they stood there in silence. There was a stark contrast between the ballroom they had just left, which was immaculate and decorated for a party, and the one they landed in, which had a partially collapsed ceiling and large piles of broken stone everywhere.
"We could fix this," Hermione said softly, her voice echoing around the room eerily.
"We could," Harry replied.
Hermione squeezed Harry's hand. "Do you want to?"
Years ago, what seemed like a lifetime ago, Harry had purchased Potter Manor with the intention of it being a safe space, a place where he could be protected from Voldemort and the Death Eaters. And then, almost immediately, that illusion of safety was destroyed during Bill and Tonks' wedding. A brief gap in security was all it took for that mirage to come tumbling down. No one may have died, but it immediately proved just how pathetic his idea of security had been.
Harry had told himself that he hadn't fixed Potter Manor out of nothing more than laziness. He knew that he could have fixed it, but he just didn't want to. But the truth was that he had left it as a reminder of just how unsafe he was, how any sense of security was just a dream to mask the reality that there was no place where Voldemort couldn't get to him if he had the right supports in place.
What he really wanted to do was tear the place down and build new but Harry wasn't quite powerful enough to destroy an entire castle on his own. Even with Hermione, it would take the two of them days to take a castle down to rubble.
But he could easily repair it. In fact, it would only take a few minutes. Harry knew that there was probably something profound about that, something about it being easier to heal than to destroy, but he was too tired to come up with something clever. He'd spent more than half of his life in a war that he didn't start. Now, he was involved in a domestic dispute with his adopted family over their politics.
Everything about it was exhausting. So, rather than try and make some grand statement, Harry simply nodded. In the end, it was fitting that it was Hermione who was the one standing beside him when he finally fixed his home. She was the one that had always been there. The only time that she hadn't been was when she'd been Petrified in the Hospital Wing and even then, she had been the one to solve the puzzle of The Chamber of Secrets.
It took a little more than an hour to restore Potter Manor to its former glory. Even for two people as powerful as Harry and Hermione, it was difficult work. This was more than just fixing his glasses or repairing a torn bag. This was hundreds of pounds of stone being worked back together in a way that technically defied every scientific law that the Muggles had ever known. But that was the nature of magic. While it had limits, it did things that should have been impossible.
Together, at just after midnight, they put the last boulder back in its place. Exhausted and sweaty, Harry conjured a couch for the two of them to practically fall into. Then, for quite awhile, they just sat there. Neither of them spoke, although they both could have said something. If there was a person in the world that Harry could just sit and enjoy silence with, it was Hermione Granger.
As they sat, Harry thought about how they had come to this place. Harry now found himself at odds with part of the only family that he'd ever know. Normally, Harry would have been upset, but he knew that he had made his decision for good reasons. As much as it was political, it was also personal. If there was something that he could do to support Hermione, he would do it. She'd been doing the same for him.
He might have loved the Weasleys, but he loved Hermione more.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Hermione, whose head had suddenly fallen onto his shoulder, spoke. Her voice was soft, barely audible even though her mouth was only inches from his ear.
"Harry, how are things with Parvati?"
Harry knew the answer to that question, but he didn't want to say it. If he said it, then it became real. Fleur had reminded him of the photo that he carried of her, the one that he had looked at every day while he had been away. But he knew that things were different; she was different, he was different. Just as he wasn't the same person that led The Legion through Voldemort's fortress, Parvati wasn't the same person that he had bid farewell to all those years ago.
"I don't recognize who she is anymore," Harry admitted.
"Well, we don't recognize you either," Hermione pointed out. "You're different, but that doesn't change how we feel about you."
"That's because you're not dating me," said Harry. "I'm still your friend. I'll always be your friend for as long as you'll have me, but we both know that's not the same as the person that you're supposed to come back to."
"I know," Hermione said. "Things have been hard for you both. But you'll figure it out."
"We could. But do I even want to?"
Hermione looked at Harry, surprise evident on her face.
"Are you serious?"
"Even after her parents' murder, she was such a light person. That doesn't sound right, but it's the right word. She just...she made everything brighter. She made things seem a little less heavy."
"She was happy," said Hermione.
"She was," Harry replied. "Now, she's heavy. Everything is serious. We can't joke about anything anymore."
"That sounds like someone else I know," Hermione replied. Harry could sense the sarcasm from a mile away.
"Maybe that's the point. I changed. She changed. Back when we started dating, we were still kids. For a while, everything seemed distant. The war, Voldemort, all of it. But all of the sudden, it was all there, right on top of us, crushing us. That's part of why I left. I knew that I needed to get better and the weight of being here was just too much."
"You could have told us," Hermione pointed out. "You could have told us that you were struggling with everything. We would have helped. You know we would have."
"I know, but you couldn't, even if you wanted to help. I needed to go away. If I had been here, I would have been distracted. I would have wanted life to go on the way it had been before The Battle of Hogwarts. If I had done that, Voldemort would have won already. I'd have been an easy target and he would have killed me and you and everyone that I love. The war would be over."
"I know that I played a part in why Parvati is the way she is. I know that when she finally realized, really realized just what had happened to her, I was gone. I wasn't here for her when she really needed me and I'm going to have to live with that for the rest of my life. I hope that she finds peace one day. I hope that Dolohov gets the justice that she deserves and I hope that gives her some sense of closure."
"But you don't love her anymore."
Harry shook his head. "I'll always love her. But she needs someone like she was for me, someone who will make the room a little brighter, someone who will ease the burden of the weight that she carries. I just...can't be that person. Not right now and maybe not ever."
As Harry said that, he felt as if two hippogriffs which had previously been unknowingly standing on each of his shoulders suddenly flew away. He had spent months hiding from the truth that things had changed. Harry had always felt responsible for his friends and he had included Parvati in that. But the truth was that he was only responsible for his own happiness.
He wasn't happy trying to be with Parvati. He wanted nothing but her happiness, but he now knew that he couldn't be the person responsible for it.
A smile crossed his face. However, when he turned to Hermione, he noticed that she was looking up at him, a look in his eyes that he had never seen from her before. She looked...aggressive, for lack of a better word. Her eyes stared into his with an intensity that made Harry shy away.
Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed him.
Hermione Granger kissed him.
When she pulled away, Harry became distinctly aware of the fact that he hadn't moved at all. There had been no reaction. She had kissed him and he had allowed himself to be kissed, but he hadn't actually kissed her back. The weight of her warm lips lingered over his.
What the hell had just happened?
Just as Harry was trying to collect his thoughts, that's when Hermione leaned in again. Only this time, she didn't just lean in. She also threw her leg over his. Before Harry could even realize what was happening, Hermione was in his lap, her lips on his.
Again, he did nothing. When Hermione pulled away, she took hold of his jaw and glared at him.
"Stop thinking, Harry. I haven't had sex in months and you are as stressed as any person I've ever met. I'm going to kiss you again. If you act like a dead sturgeon for a third time, I'm going home and we'll pretend this never happened. But that's up to you, okay?"
Hermione didn't give him a chance to respond. Instead, she leaned forward and this time, Harry moved. He leaned up, his lips meeting hers, and in a second, they were on fire. Harry's hands found the smooth skin of Hermione's legs before they wandered up under her dress to her back, pulling her closer to him.
She was right. As usual, Hermione Granger was right. He was stressed. For a moment, he considered what this was going to do to their friendship. And then, as Hermione's hand went to his belt buckle, that moment passed. Only a second later, his pants were around his ankles along with Hermione's panties.
Slowly, Hermione lowered herself onto him, groaning softly as she took him inside her. For a moment, they sat there, connected in a way that they had never been before, her face so close he could feel her breath on his face.
Once Hermione had gotten used to him, she put her hands on either side of his head, gripping the couch behind him as she slowly lifted herself back up. Hermione was, more often than not, a cautious person. This was not one of those times. Harry had expected her to go slow, to take some time getting used to the fact that he was inside her.
But, Harry hadn't considered the fact that Hermione had clearly been planning this. The moment her thigh touched his legs, she suddenly lifted herself back up and then threw herself back down. With that, the tone was set and Hermione rocked up and down, her ass bouncing against the tops of his legs as she rode him.
As she fucked him.
Harry's hands found her hips and he gripped on tight as she rode him. As expected, he didn't last long and only a few seconds later, Harry could feel himself ready to burst. Harry tried to push Hermione off him, but she resisted.
"I took a potion earlier," Hermione said, her voice ragged. "Now, fuck me."
Normally, Harry didn't like taking orders, but there was absolutely no chance that he was going to fail to follow that order. In a single motion, Harry lifted Hermione off his lap before he dropped her unceremoniously into a prone position on the couch. Harry tore off his shirt before he leaned forward and slid Hermione's dress up over her head, leaving her naked on the couch.
While Harry couldn't see everything, he saw enough for the time being. Laying on top of her, Harry roughly entered Hermione from behind and, as ordered, fucked her. It took only another few seconds for Harry to cum, but he had orders and he intended to follow them. Although he wanted nothing more than to ride out his orgasm, he kept thrusting. It took a couple more minutes but combined with Harry's furious trusting and Hermione's own nimble fingers, Hermione came, almost grunting in ecstasy as her body tensed underneath him.
Feeling Hermione's body come down underneath him, Harry could hardly believe what had just happened. In fact, he couldn't believe what had just happened.
He had just slept with his best friend.
No, he hadn't slept with her. That implied some sort of romantic inclination. Regardless of how they felt about each other, that was not was this was. This was...stress relief, sex as therapy. He'd done that once with a random South African witch during his travels and he had felt terrible about it then.
This wasn't some random woman, though. This was Hermione, his best friend since he'd been eleven.
While Harry sat there and immediately started contemplating what this meant for the two of them, Hermione grabbed her wand and cleaned both of them up before she threw on her dress and panties. Then, she leaned over to Harry, who still sat naked on the couch, and kissed him.
"Stop thinking," Hermione said. "I'll owl you in the morning."
And with that, she was gone.