Revelations

Chapter 5: Commencement

The trees began to look familiar, a little too familiar for Harry. He had to restrain himself from stopping the car and running all the way back to Grimmauld Place. Besides, it was far too late. He could see Hogwarts shimmering in the distance, with the four banners flashing in the wind.

Harry sighed. Lets get this over with.

Ron talked the entire journey towards the school. Apparently all of the Weasleys were going to be there. They all Portkeyed or Flooed in from all corners of the globe. Harry strained to imagine what they'd look like now, older, with families. As Ron told it, George and Fred had made a small fortune in their business, bought their father a car, and their mother some new pots, still mindful of Harry's help and told him that they would pay him back as soon as they saw him. Charlie had become a professor at Dumstrang, teaching dragon wrangling. He had two children, and his wife was also teaching there. Ron said he hardly ever saw Charlie, though, truth be told, he never really saw Charlie that often before either. Percy was still working in the Ministry after Fudge left. Arthur was elected Minister of Magic and Percy begrudgingly worked under his father. They had a falling out a decade back, and things were never really the same, according to Ron. And Molly Weasley was still the same, fiery and fiercely protective of all her offspring.

Harry realized he would definitely see McGonagall. She was Headmistress after all. Albus Dumbledore stepped down from the position after Harry's last year, after the fall of Voldemort. Harry guessed that he, like himself, was probably tired of the whole saving the world thing. He'd probably seen more than Harry could imagine, and now, would be getting ready to take a nice relaxing vacation from all that. The last time Harry heard anything about Dumbledore was about seven years ago, when he announced that he was finished with the whole business and leaving to go visit shirpas in the Himalayans. It was all over the papers. McGonagall was surprised at the resignation, but admitted that she was never one to question Albus Dumbledore. So far, she had done just as well as Dumbledore had in his position.

Harry wondered which of his classmates he might encounter again. Lots of alumni sent their children back to Hogwarts to study, and he wouldn't be surprised if he shook a few old friends' hands. Maybe Dean would be there, and Seamus, and definitely Neville - he was never one to miss a party. Harry smiled. Maybe all the Gryffindors would be there. He remembered Cho. All the Ravenclaws, and all the Hufflepuffs.

And the Slytherins.

.......................................

"WHAT?" Ron screamed across the library as Harry told him the news.

The entire reading room jumped and glared at them. Harry pressed his palm into the red-haired boy's frantic face across from him and told him to be quiet!

Ron stared at Harry, his face pale and bewildered.

Then, out of the blue, Ron began to laugh.

"Hahaha, that's...that's...a hoot Harry...hahaha...our Hermione...with Draco Malfoy...hahahahahaha...where... haha...why...haha...why would you ever believe that...hahahahahahhaha," he retorted, a tear slowly creeping out of his eyes.

Harry slowly let Ron's words sink in and realized that it was quite stupid. Hermione, their Hermione, dating Malfoy - it was quite insane. Malfoy had grown taller, bigger, and more brooding than he ever had been before. Apparently that was all it took for Malfoy to become the Slytherin It boy for the year. But even if Hermione had lost her mind and fell into lust after Malfoy, which would never happen, Harry reasoned, he doubted the white-haired devil would give her the time of day. To him, she would always be inferior. It was impossible. How could he believe such a thing? Ron did not hear anything about it, but then again, he had been following the Ravenclaw girl Jenny for a few weeks now and he hardly noticed his own two feet, much less what other people were doing with their lives. So this was a surprise to Ron as well. Upon hearing Ron's roaring laughter, Harry began to feel more settled than before.

Harry began to laugh too.

Suddenly a brown head poked out of a shelf of books a little ways behind them.

"I KNEW it was the two of you," hissed Hermione, "How do you expect people to study with the two of you laughing out loud and screaming like a banshee!"

Harry laughed even louder, enticing new glares around the library.

"WHAT is so funny?"

Ron wiped his eyes with his robe and stuttered, "Harry...Harry...Harry thought he overheard that you were seeing...seeing...get this... Malfoy." Ron resolved into a new fit of giggles, with their classmates peering at the three of them.

Harry looked up apologetically at Hermione and whispered, "I'm sorry. I really thought I overheard that you and Dra...." He stopped.

Hermione's face had reddened and her eyes were glisten over with both anger and humiliation. Her breathing was rapid and Harry could almost hear her heart racing beneath her robes.

"So..." Harry squeaked out, "it's true then."

Ron's laughter stopped abruptly, and stared at Hermione for a full minute before he screeched, "WHAT!"

.............................................

The night before their trip, Harry and Ron stayed up in the parlor while Jenny and Allen went to bed. They reminisced about school, family and what had happened with all the people they once knew. Ron laughed uproariously at the fact that Neville became a detective or that he was married to Morian, the popular beauty in their school days. Harry found out that Oliver Wood had gone on to coach a new Quidditch team after his victorious win in the finals against the Whirlwinds. Colin Creevy had become a photographer for the Prophet and was currently writing an autobiography and Parvati Patil became a fashion designer.

They talked of everything from the Ministry to Dumbledore, except what had happened their last year. Ron seemed to be just as happy and stubborn to stay away from the topic as Hermione was to seeing him.

Throughout the conversation Harry strained himself to remember why it was that the three of them left Hogwarts on such bad terms. It seemed that his brain kept that memory under lock and key, a key that Harry himself did not seem to possess. Strangely enough, every time Harry gave up trying to decipher his own forgetfulness, deep deep down in his heart, there came a sigh of relief.

...........................................

Ron followed Hermione as she furiously stormed out of the library. She was nearly in tears, and Ron was so angry and set on catching up to Hermione that his feet had a hard time keeping up with the rest of his body. Harry, without really know what to do, simply followed both of his best friends.

"Woman! Are you out of your MIND? What are you doing?" Ron yelled after Hermione.

"You know, I don't think this was any of YOUR BLOODY business," Hermione retorted.

"OF COURSE it's my business. He's insane, ugly and stupid. WHAT ARE YOU DOING with HIM?"

"He's NOT insane ugly or stupid. He's quite nice and sensitive if YOU'D ONLY TALK TO HIM."

At this point both stopped moving abruptly, nearly bumping Harry down a flight of stairs.

"Nice? SENSI... THIS is MALFOY, not some wittle ickle BUNNY! I'M NOT GOING TO TALK TO HIM, you know why? Because he's INSANE! Not to mention mean spirited, a bully and a hatred of mudbloods!"

Hermione snapped back to face Ron.

"DON'T call me that."

"I wasn't calling you that. I was simply saying that Malfoy calls you that all the time, rem...."

"I remember! But that was the past. He was simply under his father's influence, the influence of his silly righteous family. They are a horrible bunch, and he realizes that now. He wants to change! AND HE HAS!"Hermione yelped.

"His father is in AZKABAN! His whole family is nearly there. Why...?"

Hermione cut him off. "Because we are in love! You couldn't possibly understand that Ronald Weasley."

Ron and Harry stood dumbfounded once again.

"Lov...Lo...L...LOVE?" Ron sputtered out, his voice a full octave higher than before.

"Yes, ask Ginny if you don't...." Hermione quickly shut her mouth, realizing she just made an unfortunate mistake.

"GINNY KNOWS? Tell me for the love of MERLIN she doesn't approve!"

Hermione looked lost in her own fury. "OF COURSE SHE DOES. AND SHE THINKS ITS BRILLIANT, especially with Andrew Unge...." Her lips snapped shut again. Harry could see her mentally kicking herself for those last words.

"Wait...what? HERMIONE! WHAT ABOUT GINNY?" Ron ground out the words threw his teeth. He looked ready to shake Hermione until the words would tumble out of her.

Hermione looked at him with a glint of fear in her eyes. She looked at Harry for aid and Harry was about to put a stop to Ron's curiosity when Ron shoved a hand against Harry's chest, pushing him away. Hermione hesitated, swallowed, and tried to pick her words carefully. She tried to speak with a nonchalant air, even though her voice wavered noticeably.

"She's seeing Andrew Ungarwood. We met him and Malfoy at the party, and I introduced them... and since then, it's been...brilliant." Hermione stood, blatantly afraid of Ron's reaction.

Harry's mouth fell open. Andrew Ungarwood was another child of another dark wizarding family that had come to Hogwarts their fourth year. He made a name for himself their sixth, marking his territory as "best friend" to Malfoy, leader of Crabbe and Goyle. If anyone were worse than Malfoy, it would be Ungarwood.

Ron looked about ready to slug something. Harry hoped it wasn't Hermione.

"Look, if nothing else, she's having a good time, Andy (ANDY? Harry gulped) is treating her extremely well, as Malfoy to me. They are both extremely sweet and unrelentingly romantic. (Romantic? Harry's head was spinning) I thoroughly enjoy their company and the relationships are coming along fabulously. It truly helps the whole Gryffindor - Slytherin camaraderie, the four of us getting along. And why are you so closed minded about them both? Just because their families are not the greatest bunch, doesn't mean that they aren't. Look at Siri..." Hermione stopped. Sirius was still a touchy subject at best and she flinted a look at Harry's brooding eyes. So she swallowed that unhappy subject and, unfortunately, stumbled into a thought that enabled the apocalypse.

"I mean, look at yours...," gesturing to Ron. She would have continued if not for the look on Ron's face. It literally sucked the breathe out of her. Hermione kicked herself for a third time.

Ron glared. "What do you mean...MINE?"

Hermione stuttered and looked extremely troubled. "I...I just mean that your family isn't the most...well...typical. But I love them a thousand times over anyw...."

Ron snapped. "Don't you lecture me on MY FAMILY Hermione Granger. I admit that you are better at me in Potions, in school, maybe even in making stupid friends. BUT DON'T EVER act as if you know my family better than I do. HOW DARE you COMPARE my family with the likes of Malfoy's or Ungarwood's? They are nothing but murderers and criminals, in the worst way. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree Hermione. I would have thought that you'd be smarter than this, after everything that you have witnessed Harry go through, but I guess I was wrong. How are you so naïve, so STUPID in thinking that families like their CARE about other people's lives, much less camaraderie with people like you? HOW DARE you drag my SISTER into this...this SUICIDE. All for what? TO MAKE YOURSELF SLEEP BETTER AT NIGHT, thinking that maybe damn Voldemort HAS A HEART!" With that, Ron stormed off.

Harry and Hermione stood unmoving, with only their breathing disrupting the deafening silence that followed the irrevocable monologue of Ron. Harry was so stunned, first at the fact that Ron had just screamed "Voldemort" across the hall, a name that before, even uttered in whispers, had made Ron jump. Second, he couldn't believe that the argument between Ron and Hermione had actually happened.

Flabbergasted, Harry turned his fearful green eyes onto Hermione, who instinctively turned and ran in the opposite direction.