Harry Potter and the Legend of Imlach

Chapter 8

Harry was woken up by his wife tickling him. It was still very early and he was glad they had some time to play around before heading back to classes. They were both feeling back to normal and they joined Hermione and Ron for breakfast.

"Harry, boy, am I glad to see you! I was worried sick. We have our first game this week against Slytherin and I was afraid you were not going to better. Where have you been?"

Harry had to smile. Ron was taking this team captain thing seriously and he was doing a good job.

"Don't worry Ron I have no desire to miss that game."

"Yeah, well I just don't want something to come up if you know what I mean."

"I know all too well what you mean."

They all finished and walked into McGonagall's class. During the lesson Harry could not help but notice that McGonagall kept looking over at him and he figured he would stay a minute after class. Moira told him she would stay too. She had been a concerned about how they were going to tell them, and she was worried about seeing Professor Snape this afternoon, but she was glad they knew the story. They stayed in the room until all of the other students had left and then walked up to her desk. As they did McGonagall took the book from a drawer in her desk and handed it to Harry. Harry gave it Moira and she put it in her bag.

"Well, I am not sure what to say."

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"What is there to say, really? Nothing is going to change what is."

"That may be true, but I would never have imagined this."

She looked over to Moira and smiled.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Moira Imlach Potter. I am pleased to know why you are so quite, I was afraid you were shy or something."

"Not her, shy is one thing she is not."

"Well, you'd best be off to class I do not want to make you two late for your next class."

"Thank you."

They walked out into the hall and Harry's whole being filled with anger when he was sure he saw someone running away. He was sure that someone was Malfoy. He was worried that he might have heard something, but doubted it. Worse case scenario, he saw them holding hands. He was sure the teasing and hateful comments were just around the corner. He looked over at Moira and could not help but smile. She really cared less and he was grateful to have such a wonderful wife.

"Ron, really you must quite stressing yourself over things you can not control."

Hermione was already feeling the stress of game day and there was still days left to go.

"She is right Ron, calm down."

Harry was just teasing him, but it was funny to see him so stressed about the game. The four of them were making there way down to the dungeon for potions. They pasted Malfoy and his brood, which was larger than normal; obviously he was holding a crowd with what he had to say. They walked past them and the group broke out in laughter. Harry could feel the resentment building up in him. They could tease him all they wanted he was use to that, if fact that was normal to him now, but when it came to his wife he was going to draw the line. Moira knew it was pointless to try and do anything, but she could feel the anger in Harry she grabbed Harry's hand and turned around.

"Is there something you would like to say to our faces?"

Harry was surprised to hear his own voice; his wife was sure full of talents. Ron and Hermione stood beside them for moral support. Malfoy stepped forward a little too proudly for Harry's liking.

"So I was right, there is something going on between you two."

Harry almost laughed.

"Is that all this is about, well that took long enough for your pea brain to figure out."

Malfoy stood there dumbfounded at the obvious confession. Harry put his arm around Moira's middle turned her around and walked toward the classroom. Harry heard the group laughing, but at least this time they weren't laughing at him. He couldn't help but smile. He was not even sure how they had managed to keep it a secret this long. He felt a little relieved now that it was out, but he was sure that would bring troubles of its own in time.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts as professor Snape came crashing into the room with his usual tenacity. The lesson was as miserable as usual and Harry was glad when it was over. Somehow Gryffindor managed to lose five points without doing anything wrong. He smiled at his wife as he left the room wishing her good luck. She stayed in her seat until most of the class was gone and then moved up to Professor Snape's desk. He was writing and seemed to ignore her. She took the book from her bag and placed it on his desk.

"What is that?"

"It is a very detailed book about the Legend of Imlach. It will fill in all the blanks and tell you many things you do not know. It has quite a lot about my grandmother in there. I think you will find that quite interesting."

Professor Snape was seething inside trying to fight two very opposing feelings. He was amazed every time he heard her voice float across his mind, and yet he disliked her husband so much. He sighed and picked up the book.

"Have you tried the potion yet?"

"No, we see no need to until we have to."

"That seems logical. I need to show you how to make it, come."

Professor Snape walked her though the last ingredients. They had been so close. It was simply getting the right order and quantities.

"Well done Professor."

Professor Snape could not help but smile. It was one of the few times she had ever seen him smile.

"You should smile more often Professor Snape; it is very becoming to you. I can almost see the real you."

Professor Snape was all of a sudden very nervous and self-conscious.

"Uh... I suggest you try that potion out. It has been almost a week since the last meeting was called and it rarely goes much longer than that."

"I will propose it. Read the book and get it back to me please."

Professor Snape looked back at his desk where the book was sitting.

"I will."

"Thanks professor."

"Anytime, it has been a pleasure working with a student as talented as you, even if you are in Gryffindor House."

"Actually I have no idea which house I am in. I am in that one because that is the one Harry is in."

"They never sorted you." Snape snorted

"No, it would have just made things more complicated if we were in different houses."

"I can understand that, but it still would be interesting to know."

"Maybe someday, we will see."

Professor Snape poured the new potion into a bottle and handed it to her. She thanked him again, picked up her bag and left the room. Professor Snape walked over to the desk sat down, picked up the book and started reading.

________

Moira rolled over and laughed, Harry just shook his head. He had told her why he had trouble sleeping.

"Why, why is it so funny?"

"It's a Quidditch match Harry, that's why."

"What, am I not allowed to be nervous for a Quidditch game, and it's against Slytherin too."

She laughed again only harder and Harry was still confused.

"I don't get it."

He rolled over grabbed her and rolled them both up in the blankets.

"Tell me why it's so funny."

He said as he tickled her to make her laugh even harder.

"Stop it I already can't breathe."

"Then tell me."

He was uncovering her face from the blankets. As he did so Harry looked into her eyes and she took him through a flood of memories and experiences he had in his own life. All of his flying experiences really. From his first flying lesson and ending with them flying just a little while back, when they were chasing the snitch together. Harry closed his eyes and tried to understand why this explained his nervousness. His wife laughed again.

"UUUGGGHH.... I don't get it."

Moira slugged him and got out of the tangled mess. She was hurrying to get ready.

"You are going to make us both late. You might be too nervous to eat, but I am not."

Harry ran down the stairs and almost all the way to the great hall. He slowed, as the traffic was getting heavier. When he found Moira and Hermione eating together he looked around.

"Where's Ron?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"It appears that he was more nervous than you."

Harry looked at Moira who was making a physical effort not to laugh. Harry looked at the ceiling and shook his head.

"Where is he?"

"He is the training room I believe. I think he believes if he lifts a few more weights it will help him win. I think he is using up so much energy being nervous that by the time the game gets here he is going to be exhausted."

"I'll see what I can do Hermione."

Harry leaned over and took a sausage and some toast from Moira's plate. She slapped his hand and looked at him with a look like she was pretending to be offended. Harry laughed and gave her a peck on the cheek and then turned and hurried out of the hall to go find Ron before class.

"I can't believe he did that," Hermonie said.

"I know he should get his own plate."

"Not that, look."

Moira looked in the direction Hermione indicated with her eyes and saw that a good portion of the school had either witnessed the small display of affection or was now being informed of it by another student who had. Moira was not sure what to do, so she turned to Hermione and shrugged.

"What they think is of no importance to me," Moira said shortly.

"Okay, that's fine, but what if it gets back to you-know-who."

"In the end he will know anyway, so what difference does it make?"

"It could make a lot of difference," Hermione said authoritatively.

"That is a possibility, but I am as sick of pretending as Harry is. It is not like there are not a thousand couples around here."

"True, but none of them are Harry Potter's girlfriend."

"Neither am I. I am his wife."

Sabine had also seen the public display. She was a little shocked by it, but more intrigued. She had not idea that their relationship was to that point. Apparently, this "arm candy" had an addictive chemical and "Boy Wonder" was not immune to it. Then before she could stop it, her thoughts shifted and something ached inside her as she reflected briefly on last night's fantastic display of public indecency that she had participated in. She pushed the incident out of her head for the moment. She did not want to think about it right now. She decided rather to concentrate on her eggs and half eaten toast.

Draco was stunned, but not necessarily to surprised. He had just entered the Great Hall, when he looked up and saw Harry and Moira's little love exchange. He unknowingly looked over at the Slytherin table and spotted Sabine. He noticed she was also looked at Moira, flushed and then looked at her plate. Was she blushing? He looked closer, but it had already vanished and she looked like her normal self again.

"So you said Harry was nervous. What did you do to try and help him?" Hermione asked.

"I just tried to remind him what an excellent flyer he was and all the wonderful things he can do with a broom, but he still didn't get it. He kept asking me why I was laughing."

"Laughing?" Hermione was puzzled

"I thought it was hilariously ridiculous that he was even nervous."

"I've never heard you laugh."

"You don't want to; remember you are not even hearing me talk now."

"Oh, yeah, I forget about that."

"I guess I have gotten better at it then."

"What exactly would happen if I hear your voice?"

"I've never been on that end, ask Sirius. He has heard me laugh."

They looked around the Gryffindor table. The whole Quidditch team was missing.

"I guess the nervousness was unanimous," Hermione said as he looked for a second time.

Moira nodded in agreement.

"I don't think any of then would have gotten anything out of breakfast anyway. Better they are together then here torturing us," Hermonie said.

"True."

"Um... I have a question, sort of a guy question." Hermonie ventured.

"Well, go ahead ask it. I can't promise much." Moira said as she took another bite.

"How do you know when a guy really likes you in....a.... romantic sort of way?"

"By guy, I am safe to assume you are talking about Ron."

Hermione just nodded.

"Well, you have know him since you came here. Has he ever showed any interest in anyone else?" Moira asked.

"Well, no, but that doesn't mean he likes me."

"And it doesn't mean he doesn't. Has he told you that he likes you in round about sort of ways?" Moira asked again.

"Sometimes I think so, but we have been such good friends for so many years that it could just be that and.... ugh I don't know."

Hermione slumped back in her chair, and Moira smiled.

"Well, I will ask Harry if he has heard anything from Ron, but beyond that I am not sure I can be much help."

"But your," Hermione looked around, "married, certainly that has to help you."

"Understand men...NO. Remember Harry married me before I had even seen him. He at least got to see me before he woke me up. I have spent the majority of my waking life in a mountain. I have had very little experience in this matter. It is just a good thing Harry and I are telepathic, it does make communication easier and it has helped us out more than I can imagine."

"Harry's telepathic."

"Of course, I thought you knew. He has talked to you before."

"Yes, but I assumed he was talking with your help."

"He is not as practiced as I am and this takes some serious practice, but Harry is more telepathic then I am. Although I have trouble convincing him of that."

_______________

Draco sped up as he followed Sabine. She didn't seem to notice that he was tailing her. She slowed as she arrived at the Library doors and swung them open. When he opened the doors to follow her in, he couldn't find her at first. She was not seated in any of the tables in the main seating area. He began to methodically look through each row between bookshelves to see if she was there and slowed as he reached the last row. He slowly turned the corner with a smirk on his face that all too clearly said, 'you can run, but you can't hide', however, it disappeared quickly at the sight of the vacant row. She was not there! Then where was she? He turned and headed back the way he'd come looking again into the rows of empty space between bookshelves.

Sabine's heart was racing. He was following her again! When she had entered the Library, she had seen his reflection in the glass of a nearby picture she had glanced at. When the doors had closed, she rushed to a row and leaned her back against the bookshelf on the other side, so Draco would not see her. She tried to slow her breathing and tried to peek around the corner unnoticed. She just caught a glimpse of him headed to the next row and she didn't think that he'd seen her peek around the corner. With any luck, he would just leave when he didn't find her this time.

Draco walked slowly to the next row. Gottcha! He saw her out of the corner of his eye as he headed to the next row, but he paused. She would expect him to keep going, but instead he turned around and headed down the row towards her. When he reached her she was peeking around the other side of the bookshelf, no doubt looking for him. He tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped so hard turning swiftly toward him looking as pale as a ghost.

"Whom are you hiding from, my dear?" His cool confidence was soothing and unnerving at the same time.

"I was not hiding from anyone! What do you want, Draco?" She breathlessly stammered.

He leaned in closer to her pressing her against the bookcase, since she had no other place to go. His gaze floated over her whole figure and he smiled. Seeing the look on his face, however, she quickly changed her shocked expression to a more determined one and he quickly remembered that he was there to talk to her this time. He pushed his animal feelings aside and his expression changed to a more business like approach.

"I merely wanted to talk about us and last night." Draco tried to sound casual about it.

"I-I don't want to talk about it." Sabine whispered and finished a little more adamantly, "I don't want anything to do with this or you."

Draco stiffened and grew angry. He didn't like this anymore than she did, but she was his whether either of them liked it, and they both knew that. It was just how things were done in their society and to try and go up against that was suicide.

"Listen, my dear, we are in this together and like it or not, we will be together!" He whispered back at her urgently and cold, but softened a little. This was not how he wanted this conversation to be going. "I didn't mean for what happened last night to happen," he paused, "but I am glad it did happen. I like you and I think you like me. Remember the fun we were having this summer?"

Sabine hated to admit it, but before she returned to Hogwarts, she had actually looked forward to seeing and spending time with Draco. He had grown on her a little. They had a lot in common actually and she loved the way he thought sometimes. He could be bloody brilliant if he put his mind to it! So why then had she changed her mind? Why did she shy away from him? She looked at him doubtfully and replied, "Yes, Draco, I remember. I am just not ready for this yet! I still want to have some fun before I have to devote my adult life to you!"

Draco leaned in again, only closer this time; his face was only inches from hers. "We could have fun together," he whispered but she hadn't pulled back when he had leaned in. Taking advantage of how close he was, he closed the gap between them and kissed her softly.

Sabine's pulse raced as he kissed her. She felt like she was on fire and the room began to spin. She was alive with electricity. Unlike last night, when he kissed her, this kiss was filled with something other than hunger for physical satisfaction. It was tender and sweet. She had just begun to return his kiss, when he stopped suddenly.

Draco wasn't sure why he'd stopped, but it felt right and he pulled away. He stared at her for a brief moment a little amused. Her eyes were still closed and she looked a little stunned, but she quickly gained her composure and opened her eyes, blushing under his stare.

Class seemed to drag, probably because everyone wanted to get to the field, and finally, after what seemed like an eternity, class was out. Hermione and Moira were making their way to the field when Moira stopped short.

"Come on, we need to get back to the castle. I have to get something."

Moira almost ran as she quickly made her way to their room. Since everyone was gone to the game she didn't even slow down as she took Hermione's hand and pulled her through the wall in their room.

"So this where you live. I've always wondered."

Hermione looked around the room. It was nice and reflected the couple's personalities. She noticed the cats coming toward her and started to worry. Moira gave then a quick glance as she was pulled something out of a drawer. They stopped, but still starred at her. Hermione only had a second more to look as her hand was pulled again and they went running back out to the Quidditch field. Hermione was sure she was going to die before they reached it and made the mental note to work harder about getting in shape. She noticed they were running around to the backside of the field where the teams would be. They nearly ran into Professor Dumbledore and Snape. They quickly pushed into a small room.

"Wait here." was all Dumbledore said. The girls collapsed on the floor in an effort to regain their breath. Moira looked down at the bottles and closed her eyes.

Dumbledore walked into the locker room. Ron and just finished his first pep talk and had done a wonderful job. He was sure they were going to win. The team stood up to get ready to go to the field. Ron's mouth dropped Dumbledore was standing at the door.

"I am going to have to borrow Harry for a few minutes."

Harry felt like he had been shot. He knew instantly what this was about.

"But he is our seeker..."

Dumbledore's hand went up.

"I am sorry, we do not have time...just start the game he will join when we are finished."

"You mean play without a seeker."

"Don't worry it won't take too long."

Harry was already out the door and Dumbledore closed it.

He escorted Harry to the medical room and opened the door. He was not surprised to see Moira and Snape, but he was surprised to see Hermione. Dumbledore went over to Hermione and started explaining the spell she would need to do. Harry sat his broom by the door and went over to Moira. Snape stayed in the corner. He helped her up and took the bottles from her hand. He glanced over at Snape his expression did not change, he simply meet his stare. Dumbledore stood Hermione in her place and took his. Snape slowly joined them. Moira took Harry's hand and they took their place in the middle of the circle.

Moira took the bottles. Harry was not going to let her get hurt. He took a bottle from her and drank a gulp so quickly she didn't have time to protest. It felt like fire, ice, pain he didn't know what. He felt like he was going to fall, like he was not whole. Then it hit him they needed to drink at the same time, once they were together. Moira got it at once and drank the other half. He put his arms around her and tried to concentrate. It worked. They took a sigh of relief.

"So it worked." Snape snapped.

"We will find that out when we are done, but we should not drink it until we are together. We learned that this time. We won't make that mistake again. Let's get to work."

Hermione noticed their lips were not moving and then she looked over and Snape and realized that he must know everything. She was shocked.

"Just start chanting." Snape snapped again as he regained his composure from the small conversation.

Hermonie did as she was told. Harry and Moira closed their eyes and started concentrating and trying to focus. When they felt all was in order they took a step toward Snape. He held out his arm. The mark was lighter than before. They reached out and touched it concentrating on the goal in mind. The pain in Harry's forehead was instant and he saw the meeting already started.

"How did they know, which one of you here is going to die for his treachery."

Voldemort was mad, he was beyond angry. Harry had never felt such hate and a desire to kill before.

"I will kill you all, if you do not tell me."

He looked around the circle. Everyone's head was down. No one was saying anything.

"Malfoy speak."

"I do not know how they knew, my Lord. I am thy faithful servant. I did nothing to jeopardize this, nor did I tell anyone of our plans."

He went around the whole circle. Some where not as well spoken, but all said they had done exactly as they were told. Harry and Moira could feel the angry rising and his patience failing.

"Then how did they know?!"

He took one last look around the circle.

"Get out of here. All of you before I decide you are all lying and kill you all."

With that they bowed and backed away until they all vanished with a pop. Voldemort was breathing heavy as he thought.

"If no one told then how, someone must have put a memory charm on one of them after having taken a truth cerium. I will have to visit each of them and see."

Harry and Moira knew it was not safe to stay after the other people were gone knowing it might be possible for Voldemort to sense their presence. So they left.

Harry and Moira stood up. The three stopped chanting. They took a deep breath. Now came the moment of truth. Harry stepped forward. Nothing happened. He stepped forward again. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Moira standing there. He could not believe it. He took her in his arms and gave her the biggest hug possible he did not want to let her go. Then he stared kissing every part other face and hugging her again. He kept saying over and over in her head. I a so glad you are okay. I cannot believe it worked so well. It was finally Dumbledore who walked over to the door picked up Harry's broom and tapped on the door that brought them back to the reality that they were not alone.

"Oh, sorry, well... um...Umm...uh, the potion worked."

"Obviously." He said as he held up the broom.

"Oh, yeah, the game."

"He turned and gave Moira on last good long hard kiss and then grabbed the broom from Dumbledore. They all followed him as he ran down the hall to the open field beyond. As they watched him run he held out the broom in front of him. It was hard for Moira to tell when he stopped running and when he started flying. A fleeting thought crossed Moira's head, she wondered if he needed that broom to fly. The crowd erupted into a loud roar when Harry hit the field. Moira closed her eyes and wanted to be with him. Dumbledore put his hand on her shoulder.

"So are you going to tell us what happened?"

"He was very mad that his plans to attack were stopped. He was sure someone in his group was a traitor."

She was glad they were all standing behind her. Talking to them in their head it was impossible not to feel some of their emotion. She could feel the shame and fear coming from Snape. She knew that he knew he was doing the right thing, but he knew full well he was that traitor.

"Obviously, no one confessed. He was livid and sent them all away. He is going to visit them one by one to make sure that none of them have been given a truth cerium and a memory charm. That is all."

"Very well, thank you. Go enjoy the game."

Hermione was quickly pushing and pulling her way to their seat.

Gryffindor was down by 60 points. Although they had not had a seeker they had been told by Ron to make sure Malfoy did not get that snitch. They had to give up a few scoring opportunities to make sure that did not happen. The game had been going on for twenty minutes and the score was 100 to 40. With Harry now on the field the Gryffindor team had received a shot of adrenaline, but it was a disappointment to the Slytherin team. Still they had gained a lot of points that would help them toward the house cup and it was time to start doing something about that.

Harry was quick to find Malfoy.

"Where have you been Harry? Worried you couldn't handle me?"

"Not in the slightest, just had to take care of some business."

Harry was pleased as the team quickly started putting some of their practice moves into action. Ron was the best wizard's chess player he had ever known and he quickly learned how to adapt that method of thinking to the team. In five minutes the game was close 100 to 80. They had scored four unanswered goals and the Slytherin team was starting to show its true colors. He needed to find the snitch before someone on team ended up hurt. He also could not deny this feeling of energy in him that he just wanted to let go. He was sure it was a left over feeling from the union, but was not sure what would happen if he got into a serious chase with the snitch. Malfoy was not far away as always. He looked back down at the field.

Ron had the quaffle was moving through the field in tight formation with the other two chasers one on either side. A bludger was coming their way and the chaser on his right had to dive to miss being hit by it. The Slytherin chaser came up hard behind Ron trying to push him and make him lose his balance he passed the quaffle off to the other chaser and pushed the Slytherin player away. Harry was watching when he noticed a flicker of light over by the goal post. Harry's heart raced the snitch.

It looked as if Harry had been shot out of a gun. There was no way Malfoy was ever going to catch up. Harry was a blur as he twisted and turn dove and soared. The players had their work cut out of them just staying out of his way. The blulgers hit his direction could not even keep up with him. This snitch was going crazy and seemed to have a mind of its own. It didn't matter if he had never seen a snitch do this he had one thought on his mind, catch that snitch. He was not going to lose it. He was getting closer he lifted his hands off of the broom, something he had perfect over the years was the ability to fly the broom with his legs and by shifting his weight, it was always tricky, but today it seemed natural. He held his hands out. Just a little further. The snitch shifted directions again and he skillfully moved with it. It was just an inch away, a little further. He grabbed it. He got it. He stopped and held his fist in the air. A cheer went up that could have been hear for miles. The whistle blew. Gryffindor had won 250 to 100.

Harry was reeling and he felt the power seething out of him. He closed is eyes; he wanted Moira to feel how this felt when it was in a real game.

"Oh my gosh Harry, fly around the field again, don't let anyone touch you until you calm down."

Harry was just about to fly down, but took her advice and urged the team to one more victory flyby. They were more than willing. He took his wife's advice and forced himself to calm down. Most of the school, except the Slytherin team of course, was on the field by the time the team landed. It took only a few minutes for Harry to find Moira in the crowd. He picked her up and gave her a bid hug. Ron was being congratulated left and right, but he was looking for someone. Finally he saw Moira and Hermione pushing their way through the crowd. He watched as Harry picked up Moira and swung her around.

I can do that. Ron decided. He walked over to Hermione and picked her up in the biggest hug and sat her back down.

"Did you see that, we won?" Ron yelled so Hermonie could hear him over the crowd.

"Yes, I did, you did great." Hermonie yelled back, with a smile.

Moira could not believe what she just saw. She had to whisper something to her.

"Hermione, don't look at me. Do you realize what he just did? Don't be so excited to tell him what you saw. Look at what he just did. Let him celebrate and then tell him later. Yes, my answer has changed. I think he is most interested in you...romantically."

Hermione just stared. Ron was still holding one of her hands as he accepted other congratulations. Slowly the crowd made its way up to the castle. It was late by the time they got up to the commons room. They party continued there for sometime. Moira slipped out as quietly as she could. When Harry realized she was gone he closed his eyes.

"You know where I am, why don't you come join me?"

"You're not on the team; it is not going to be easy for me to get away."

"I am sure I can make it worth your effort."

It still took Harry nearly twenty minutes to get out of the common room without being seen, but he did it. No one was in the room so he simply jumped on his bed and walked through the wall. When he did it felt like he had been slapped with the most wonderful feeling.

"Oh, do that again."

"Do what."

"You know what."

"Do I?"

He opened his eyes to find his wife right in front of him. He looked into her eyes and felt the power welling up inside of him again just like he had on the field.

"What is happening? Is this some kind of side effect from the potion?"

"I don't think so, I don't feel it. I think you have just learned how to tap into something inside you, that you never knew was there before."

She ran her hands up his arms and she felt his power in her touch. It energized her. He had often felt that she had this effect on him. It made him happy to see he could have the same effect on her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He could still feel the power coming from somewhere deep inside him. He looked into her eyes and kissed her like never before. He felt the passion in his kiss returned and still kissing her he guided her over to the bed. He wanted this time to last forever; he wanted forever to be like this. He looked into her eyes.

"It will be."

He loved the way her voice filled him with warmth and seemed to pull even more power from somewhere inside him. He picked her up and placed her gently on the bed. He ran his hand gently across and down her face. He traced her lips and gently bent to kiss them. She welcomed his kiss and he paused to enjoy it. She ran her lips gently over his neck and up to his ear.

"I love you Harry Potter."

"Not as much as I love you."

Harry lied awake in bed long after Moira had fallen asleep. She was sleeping on his chest and he was playing with a strand of her hair. He listened and could still hear the party going on downstairs. He looked over at the clock. It was almost two. He was sure McGonagall would put a stop to it soon. He wondered if Hermione had been able to talk to Ron yet. He doubted it. He was glad tomorrow was Saturday. He was looking forward to sleeping in, it had been a long day and he was sure it would hit him soon. He pulled Moira in a bit closer and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled and kissed his chest where her head was resting.

"There party is just about over McGonagall will not let it go past two, she never does. I think it is her limit."

Moira laughed and started running her hand long Harry's chest. He just closed his eyes and enjoyed her touch. He was starting to drift into a daydream.

"Harry."

"Yeah."

"What do you think made the difference today? What made you able to find that power within you?"

Harry looked down at her; all he saw was the top of her head. He put his arm around her and turned so he could look into her eyes.

"I don't know the answer Harry. You will not find it here."

Harry closed his eyes and kissed her and he willed the power he had felt before to be there. It came as if it had been called. He sat up and took Moira into his arms. He did not understand it. What had changed? He leaned back and looked into her eyes.

"I do not know the answer, if I come up with it I will let you know, but I like it."

"Me too."

She leaned forward and kissed him again.

It was a good thing they were not part of McGonagall's party. She was downstairs breaking up the festivities. Hermione had tried to be patient, but it was getting late. McGonagall came in and sure enough it was too late.

"Alright everyone, I am glad we won, but this is just the first game you acting like we have already won the house cup."

"With a team like this there is no way we can lose."

Gary a sixth year was getting many approvals from his classmates.

"Did you see how the team worked together?"

A forth year was beaming as if he had been on the team.

"Oh, and Harry coming in late was a bloody brilliant strategy. It made the whole thing twice as impressive. Harry has never flown like that before."

The house prefect, Paul, was as proud of his team as anyone.

"Be that as it may, it is still time for bed. Talk about it tomorrow. Go to bed."

She said that last sentence as if it were the end of the world and all of them started heading for the stairs. Hermione caught up with Ron and pulled him back into a corner.

"We need to talk. Wait here until everyone is gone."

Without realizing it Hermione had backed herself as far as possible into the corner and pulled Ron as close as possible to hide them both behind the drapes. She became aware of just how close they were and started to regret what she had done. She just hoped he could not feel how nervous she was. After what seemed like forever, but was actually just a few minutes the common room was empty and Ron stepped out from behind the curtain.

"Okay, they are all gone, what is it."

Hermione found a chair in a corner and whispered.

"You will not believe what I saw today."

"You saw the best Quidditch game Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Before that."

"Before that?"

Ron was confused and sat down on the floor in front of her.

"I was there Ron."

"Where?"

"When Dumbledore came and got Harry from the locker room. I was with Moira, and Snape, waiting for them."

"Snape."

"Yeah."

"You'd better start from the beginning and tell me the whole story."

Hermione did just that and how Moira had answered so many questions, both during the game and party. When it was over, Ron was stunned. He just sat there and stared at her. He could not believe it.

"One person, they were one person."

"Yes and no, but more yes than no. I don't think we can understand it."

"Yeah, that's an understatement."

"They left the party way early; I had to keep making excuses for Harry."

"I think they went to have a party of their own, they are married you know."

"Oh, yeah."

Ron looked up at Hermione and had a sudden desire to kiss her. It took all of his self-control to stay sitting on the floor. He cleared his throat.

"It is past four we had better get to bed."

"I suppose, it is late, but I really don't want to sleep."

"Hermione you are practically asleep in that chair."

"I know, but I can't help wonder."

"Wonder about what."

"What it must be like."

"Out with it, it is too late and I am too tired, please."

"Don't you wonder?"

"Wonder what?"

"To be so in tune with someone, so in love with someone that you could simply step into them."

Ron looked at Hermione. She was still sitting in the chair her head leaned back. She was practically asleep. She had been talking to him with her eyes closed for the last while. Ron looked at her in a new light. Could she possibly been telling him she was interested. They had been friends since they were first years. Ron was sure that somewhere in his forth year he feel in love with her. He just had never been able to find away to tell her. When Harry started spending less time with them after Christmas last year he was thrilled by all the time they had spent together. Now seemed the perfect moment to tell her, but he was just not sure how to tell her. If she did not feel the same way it would mess everything up. He sat there watching her pondering what to do for what seemed like forever.

"Hermione, I love you."

He whispered it, but there was no reply, he looked up. He reached up and touched her knee. No response. It figures. She was asleep. Perfect way to do things. He looked around and noticed the clock said it was four thirty. No wonder she had fallen asleep it had taken him a half hour to get up the nerve to say something. He stood up and waited for the pain in his legs to stop. He had no even noticed they had fallen asleep. He looked around and could think of nothing else to do so he carefully picked her up. He carried her up the stairs. He had never gone in the girls rooms before, but he knew they were set up like the guys and she had hold her how the rooms where arranged when they were trying to figure out the sleeping arrangements Harry and Moira had. He turned sideways and opened the door. He was easily able to find her bed. He balanced her carefully in one arm and on his knee and turn down the covers. The gently laid her down and took her shoes off and left them on the floor. He pulled the covers over her. He looked at her in the dim light and then bent over and kissed her forehead.

Draco was furious about the Gryffindor win. He should have caught the snitch before Harry had the change to join the game! He fumed. He couldn't bear to rethink about the way the whole team had taken a "Victory lap" around the Quidditch Pitch. The only thing that gave him any comfort was seeing Sabine's face in the crowd. She seemed preoccupied, but smiled as he passed. He hoped that he smile meant she had reconsidered being with him, not because she had to, but because she wanted to. He stalked back to his dormitories. He had a feeling sleep would elude him tonight.

Sabine woke the next morning early and rolled over in bed. She was still pondering what she had witnessed the day at the Quidditch match. She had still been watching Harry and Moira's moves closely, trying to determine just what kind of relationship they really had. Something told her that information would be useful in the future. She was running late to the Quidditch match and had nearly been run over by Moira and Hermione running at a terrific speed to the Quidditch pitch. Apparently they were bigger fans of Quidditch, she had originally thought. She continued her pace to pitch as well and as she was half way across the grounds, she looked up and noticed the two girls head off behind the pitch instead of where you would normally enter. Her curiosity was peaked, and she hurried her quickened her pace a little headed in the same direction as Hermione and Moira. She ducked behind some trees just behind the tree line and continued in the same direction only hidden now, until a little brick building came into view. She waited there a minute to see who would exit from the little shack. Had she hurried a little faster, she would have seen Harry, Moira and Hermione exit the little building, but just as she had reached the building, the three of them had just entered the pitch. She waited patiently, wanting to know what those two were up to. However, she was not prepared to see Dumbledore exiting a small building deeply in conversation with Snape about something. Sabine had not even known that little building was there, but shrugged it off. It was probably a gardening shack. What interested her now was why were Dumbledore and Snape exiting such a building in such serious moods and engrossed in conversation? She highly doubted it had anything to do with gardening. After they had gone out of sight, she exited the trees and also entered the Quidditch pitch, finding her seat with her friends that they had saved for her.

Quidditch was not her favorite thing in the world, but she did enjoy it when her house played and was among the loudest of their supporters. She was in such a good mood, that she had smiled at Draco as he passed. She was still unsure about what to do with that situation. She contemplated a little more about him and then decided it was time she got up and got ready. She would think about it more later.