A/N: Thank you so much to all of those who have left reviews, I appreciate it a lot. This chap is kind of funny and sweet, but most importantly it's bringer us closer to Christmas which is very important...
Chapter 26: The Talk
It was the last day of the term, and Ron and Hermione were still not talking. Ron had apparently still not said he was sorry, and Hermione was growing more upset with each passing day; due to her stubbornness, however, she still refused to say anything to him.
“It looks like I’ll be staying here for Christmas after all,” she said to Harry at lunch that day.
“Hermione, will you just come to the Burrow...you can hang out with Ginny...”
“It’s probably too late to ask if I can stay...”
“Have you met the Weasleys, Hermione? If they knew that you were going to be here all Christmas alone, they’d probably come to get you themselves...”
“You might be right, Harry... but I don’t think I’ll bother. I’ll just stay and do my schoolwork...” she said, rather miserably.
“Suit yourself...” Harry said, getting up. He wasn’t going to let Hermione spend the holidays holed up in the library reading about dragon’s blood; he made his way up to the Owlery. When he got there, he pulled out parchment and ink and scribbled a quick letter to Mrs. Weasley.
Dear Mrs. Weasley,
Hermione has to stay at school for the holidays because her mum and dad will be out of the country. Everyone else we know is going home, so she’ll be alone. I told her to ask if she could stay at the Burrow, but she won’t because she and Ron have had a fight. It’s stupid really, and they’ll probably be over it in a few days “ and I don’t want Hermione to have to spend the holidays alone just because of it, especially since it will probably only make things worse between her and Ron. Anyway I was just writing to ask if it was alright if Hermione comes to the Burrow with us, because she won’t come unless it’s alright with you, and she won’t ask herself. Please write back as soon as possible, because we’ll be leaving tomorrow at noon.
Thanks,
Harry
He found Hedwig, and tied the letter to her leg “ stroked her feathers and said that she should get it to the Weasleys quick, because it was important. Hedwig gave a soft, reassuring hoot, and took off, flying gracefully over the grounds. Harry picked his bag up and went back downstairs for Transfiguration. He entered McGonagall’s classroom to see Ron and Hermione were already there, sitting on opposite sides of the room. Harry sighed in exasperation and took a seat away from the two of them, next to Neville.
“Harry,” Neville said. “I know that you don’t want to choose between your friends, but I’d rather you not sit next to me,” he said seriously.
“Why not?”
“I don’t enjoy having bits of my face transfigured into birds...” he broke into a grin.
Harry laughed; he sneaked a glance at both Ron and Hermione. Neither looked angry; they actually both looked really miserable. They stayed like that all class. Hermione didn’t even manage to transfigure Parvati into a mouse until the end of the period, and then the mouse ran around giggling incessantly. It wasn’t up to Hermione’s usual standards. Parvati had managed to transfigure Hermione, who just sat squeaking sadly and looking in the direction of the bright red mouse scuttering along Seamus’s desk. When Ron was released from his mouse form, he hadn’t even attempted to transfigure Seamus “ he just tapped him a few times with his wand while staring off into the space around Hermione. Harry had never seen anything more depressing in his life.
That evening at dinner, Hedwig came swooping down to Harry with a letter from Mrs. Weasley. He untied the parchment from her leg quickly, and began to read it.
Dear Harry,
Tell Hermione that if she doesn’t arrive at King’s Cross with you Ron, and Ginny “ I’m going to send Arthur to bring her to the Burrow personally. And tell Ron to apologize for whatever stupid thing he’s done to upset her.
Much love, Molly Weasley
Harry laughed and showed the letter to Hermione.
“You wrote to Mrs. Weasley?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah, now you have no choice but to come with us,” he said, grinning. “Well, I suppose I better deliver the message to Ron as well “ and you should pack for tomorrow.”
Ron had already left dinner, so Harry went to find him in the common room; Hermione went with him to go pack her things. Ron was sitting across from the fireplace writing an essay on Human-Rodent Transfiguration that he been assigned due to his lackluster attempts that day in class.
“I got a letter from your mum today,” he said casually.
“What about?”
“It was quite short, but she told me to tell you to apologize for whatever it is you’ve done to upset Hermione...”
“I already apologized...” he said glumly. “Hermione didn’t accept it.”
“What? Why not?”
“Apparently it wasn’t sincere enough.”
“How did you do it?”
“Well, I didn’t really look her in the eye. Actually I really apologized to the floor, instead of to her. And I kind of mumbled ‘sorry’. It seemed to upset her even more.”
“Were you dropped on your head as a child, mate? I s’pose it wouldn’t make a difference though - I mean, I had a killing curse shot at mine, and I’m nowhere near as clueless as you...”
“I resent that statement.”
“Yeah, whatever. Apologize again “ and make sure it’s sincere. I’ve gotta go, I have plans with Katie,” With that he left Ron to contemplate how he was going to get himself out of his predicament, and he met Katie, who was waiting for him at the portrait hole.
“Ready to go?’ she asked.
“Yeah,” They left for the Room of Requirement; it had become quite a popular hangout for all of the students who had been in the DA. They entered the room “ it had a shelf filled with bottles of butterbeer and a variety of sweets, and a big Gryffindor colored couch. Katie grabbed a Chocolate Frog off the shelf and sat down on the couch.
“My mum and dad said that’s it’s okay for me to go to the Weasleys’ for New Year’s.”
“Yeah? That’s great.” Harry said, opening a bottle of butterbeer and taking a sip.
“I was wondering if you’d meet me in Diagon Alley on the 20th...” Katie continued.
“Sure...why the 20th though?"
“Because it’s our three month anniversary...”
“Oh...yeah.”
“So I’ll be at The Leaky Cauldron at around three...”
“I’ll meet you there.”
Inwardly, Harry was terrified. Was a three-month anniversary supposed to signify something important? Would he be expected to dress nice? Was he supposed to get her a present? Then he remembered, to his immense relief “ he would be spending the next few days in a house with Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley “ surely they would be able to help him through it.
“Harry?” Katie said, pulling him from his thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“Um.. I was just wondering... how , exactly, do you feel about me?”
Harry suddenly became very aware how many walls their were in the room, and how very far away the door was.
“Er...what do you mean?”
“You know...”
“I like you...if that’s what you mean”
“And that’s it? After almost three months, you only like me?”
“Um... no of course not...I “ er...”
Katie was looking at him expectantly. Harry swallowed hard and thought about exactly what the answer to this question was “ how could she just spring this on him out of nowhere? Finally, he knew what to tell her, he let out a deep breath.
“Look Katie, I really care about you. Remember in October, when you were taken by Lucius and Bellatrix and I told you I was attacked by the dementors.?”
She nodded.
“It was the worst dementor attack I’d ever had, probably because they’re were so many “ and I had images of Sirius dying, and the pain of Voldemort being inside of...I felt weak and cold. Anyway “ I never told you this before, but the happy thought I used to make my Patronus was you. The thought of you made a Patronus that was strong enough to drive away all of the dementors.
Katie smiled and Harry felt a wave of relief sweep over him; clearly, this had satisfied her question.
“I care about you, too.”
“Er...thank you.”
Katie laughed.
“We should probably get going, it’s 10 o’clock. And I don’t have my cloak.”
“Alright, then.”
They made their way back to the common room as quietly as possible, through the Fat Lady (“Lion’s Winter”) and into the common room. Harry kissed Katie good night, and then went upstairs. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling “ much of it was definitely relief “ but he also thought he felt somewhat blissful as well, and at the same time frightened. He couldn’t pinpoint the emotion, but whatever it was “ it carried him into peaceful dreams of flying above the Forbidden Forest on his firebolt with Katie, while Prongs, his Patronus, rode alongside them serenely before disappearing into the crystal night.