Revelations

Chapter 4: Hogwarts

The castle coughed and groaned with the arrival of the new people. The dark crevices shielded themselves from the light streaming in the open windows that had not been touched in years. It seemed like a living thing, straining to rid itself of parasites. Harry had, to his great surprise, enjoyed the visit. He carried on great conversations with Ron, anecdotes with Jenny, and even Allen proved to be quite adorable. Harry persuaded the family to stay with him instead of going into Hogsmeade to find adequate lodgings. The only person he had not seen in almost three days was Hermione. Harry had planned on telling Ron about Hermione as soon as he got a chance, except every time Harry tried to bring up the topic, Ron all of a sudden needed to check on Allen, or Jenny, or some other reason to leave the room. Harry tried to convince Hermione to stop hiding but Hermione resisted, giving no specific reason as to why she was avoiding them. To his annoyance, she simply retreated to attic and only came down when she was sure no one else was around. Harry simply could not remember what had happened to make her so stubborn against seeing Ron. It began to frustrate and anger him so much that he could not make his three friends get together in one place when they were so close to a reunion. Finally, Harry simply gave up and decided to leave things as is, hoping that either one of them would change their mind before the visit was over.

Harry wished he could remember just why they were fighting so that he may mediate the three of them back together. But the memories eluded him, like ghosts running from the light.

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The first few weeks of school passed uneventfully, in fact, it was quite boring. Since the return of Voldemort, in his fifth year, Dumbledore and the teachers have gone to extreme measures to ensure the safety of their students, from warding spells to threatening warnings to certain students and their certain need for adventures. At first, the boy hated the rules and regulations, straining against what he saw as almost his captors. But then Harry was forced to face Voldemort once again in his sixth year as well as the summer in between, grew appreciative of the protective armor that Dumbledore confined him to. Harry constantly carried with him the unsightly burden of the idea that perhaps if he weren't so hotheaded as a child, certain people would still be alive today. Therefore, as he matured, he grew more cautious and less stubborn.

Hermione, on the other hand, grew in the opposite direction. Her new look found her circles of friends beyond Ron and Harry, and she was often gone for the better part of the day with them. She began faltering in classes, receiving, for once, a less than perfect score on a particularly difficult Potions exam, much to the delight of Ron and Harry, who have never received anything anywhere near perfect in Snape's class. Boys followed her, and tried to gain her attention. She transcended all the house differences within a month, making friends in Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, even Slytherin. For a couple of month, Draco Malfoy couldn't even look at her without squirming. Hermione welcomed the attention, telling Ron and Harry that this is just what Hogwarts needed, someone to help the houses come together as one, instead of competing. Ron angered her by saying that the competition was the best part. She fired back that she had been invited to a Slytherin party the next night, and instead of bringing Ron, as she had said, she was taking Ginny. Ron fumed for a day, knowing that his chance at talking to the pretty Slytherin Head Girl was shot.

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The next day, Harry, Ron, Jenny, and Allen drove silently through the woods to Hogwarts to attend the festivities. Harry welcomed the idea of driving there instead of Portkey since he wanted to gradually absorb the outside world, instead of being suddenly pulled into it. Besides, he never did like the feeling of the Portkeys. Hermione refused to come in the same car, saying that Ron had little to no idea that she was even here and he didn't need to. Harry pleaded with her for the last time to try to get along with Ron for just a few days, but she adamantly refused, but told Harry that she might go later, just for the festivities. After all, she knew where the nearest Portkey was and could easily transport herself there, thank-you-very-much. Harry shook his head and complied, watching her as she ascended the stairs.

As they drove, Harry began to search his brain for a recent memory of the Weasleys, especially the older kids. Bill, Ron's oldest brother, was most difficult in recalling. All he could remember was meeting him at the Quidditch game, him with the long ponytail and fang earring. He didn't know he had a daughter. Ron explained that Bill had met this woman while working for Gringotts and she had a young daughter, Emily. When they married, Bill adopted Emily as his own and they've been quite happy, along with two new additions to the family, Charlie and Laura. Emily was chosen to go to Hogwarts and have done quite well for herself, Head Girl her last year and president of several clubs. She hoped now to go into Gringotts as well, or something like that. They were all very proud. Harry asked about the earring; Ron laughed.

"No, no, he took it off. Made it into a necklace I think, for Mum. But she doesn't quite fancy it as much as he thinks she does."

Harry had not intended on going to the Graduation. The mixing of the past and the present would have been too much. But Ron had insisted, nearly begging. So now, they were in a car, heading towards the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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It was during Christmas when Harry found out. Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, working on the last of his homework. But his eyes were tired and his heart was simply not there. He had broken up with Cho Chang for the last time, he decided; it was just too much work. He and Cho had been dating for a year, but the fights were getting out of hand and the happy times were few and far between. Christmas would be a nice little break for both of them. He had hesitantly told her this but she did not argue. He guessed that she had been thinking the same thing for a while now too. He rubbed his eyes and looked out into the lazy afternoon grazing in the Quidditch field.

"Well, that is unusual. Isn't he always calling her the worst of names?" Some one whispered from upstairs.

"I know...but I guess Hermione just won him over."

Harry perked up hearing his friend's name and became far too curious for his own good about what was going on in the Girl's Dormitory. Who's "him"? A professor? Or another student? A boy? Hermione had a boyfriend? Harry was overcome with emotions. Happiness for the fact that finally Hermione was dating, and protectiveness for Hermione's well being. He needed to know, and in an instant grabbed his invisibility cloak from his trunk and ran up the stairs to the Girl's Dorms. A few seconds later he regretted that choice as the charmed stairs became one giant slide and he slid right back to where he started, bruising every bone in his body.

A girl's head peered out from the door and yelled, "WHO'S THERE!?"

Harry stifled his groans back into his throat.

Two girls emerged from the doorway to the dorms and waved their wands against a lever at the top. The stone slide became stairs again and they proceeded to walk down them. They looked around in the common room in confusion, since the cloak was still securely bound to Harry.

"Oh well, they must have left."

"Maybe it was Draco Dahhling trying to see his Punkin." The girls left in a fit of giggles.

Draco Daahling? Please. Harry slowly crawled up and dusted himself off. Malfoy referred to as a darling was like Dudley being referred to as being slightly plump. Who was Malfoy seeing? Who's this Punkin...?

The knowledge dawned on Harry and before he could think of how to tell Ron, he was out the door.