A/N Hello All! I’m moving along quickly with these chapters in getting them typed. That makes me happy. I hope to have this finished by the end of the school year but I’m only halfway through so, I’ll have to be on the ball!
JKR owns Harry Potter. The only profit I get is my own amusement.
That day was truly one of Harry’s happiest Christmas’s. He had Ginny back and Ron and Hermione were talking to him again. All around him was good cheer and not even Malfoy’s jeering from the Slytherin table could dispel the warmth of the feast that night.
As Harry and Ginny sat opposite Ron and Hermione, Harry looked bewildered. Ginny noticed and leaned over to whisper, “Is everything alright?”
“Did I miss something?” he whispered back, gesturing to Ron and Hermione who were sitting very close and giggling.
“Yes,” Ginny said. “You missed a lot.” Seeing a strange look on his face, she asked with concern, “You don’t mind do you? That they’re…” she trailed off.
“What? Of course not!” Harry protested. “What makes you think that would bother me?”
“I don’t know,” Ginny hedged, then catching the look on Harry’s face said, “Oh, alright. You three have been a group, a trio for years. This could change it all.”
“Change what?” Hermione asked, listening in.
“Nothing,” Harry said slowly. “Have you all realized that we’re growing up? In a few years, this will all be gone. Hogwarts will be behind us forever and we’ll be starting out new again.”
“But we’ll always have each other,” Ron said. “That won’t change.”
“But what if it does?” Harry said. “Everything is so uncertain right now. Who knows what will happen?”
“Harry,” Hermione said carefully. “What’s bothering you?”
“I-I can’t tell you here. But I want to!” he added quickly, before they could interrupt. “I need to,” he corrected himself. “Go to the Room of Requirement at 9:00 tonight. I need to tell you something.”
Ron and Hermione nodded and began to eat again. Looking into Harry’s eyes, Ginny smiled comfortingly and reached under the table to grasp his hand.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At 8:55, Ginny and Harry stood outside the Room of Requirement.
“What will this do to them?” Harry said mournfully.
“They’ll be fine,” Ginny assured him. “Don’t underestimate them. Hermione and Ron are strong.”
“How can you know that?”
Ginny’s brown eyes bored into Harry’s. “I know it. I can feel it.”
Harry took her hand and drew her close.
“Trust me, Harry,” she whispered as his lips closed over hers.
Hearing footsteps behind them, the two quickly pulled away. Ron and Hermione turned a corner and strode into sight.
“What’s this all about?” Ron asked. “We’re going to get in trouble. It’s almost nine. If we’re caught…”
“I’m sorry,” Harry interrupted. “But there’s something you need to know.” Ginny smiled at him and squeezed his hand.
Opening the door to the Room of Requirement, a flood of memories rushed to Harry. I discovered that the room had vanished…Good thinking. It’s often infested with nargles…I really like you Harry…What are you waiting for? Run!…You need to tell your friends the truth…the truth…truth.
Harry closed his eyes against the voices, opening them again when his nerves were stilled. Inside, there was a little fire surrounded by four squashy armchairs, two on either side. As his friends walked in, Ginny gave him a reassuring look. “It’ll be fine,” she whispered before taking her seat.
Shutting the door, Harry said softly, “I’ve been putting this off too long.”
“What?” asked Hermione nervously.
“Do you remember the prophecy?”
Ron nodded. “Of course we do. How could we forget?”
“Neville told us that it had broken,” Hermione added.
“It did break,” Harry said. “But, I did get to hear it.”
Over the next half hour, he explained everything. He told them every detail, including Neville’s part in it. When he had finally finished, he sat down in the chair by Ginny who gripped his hand tightly. Silence fell on the room and it was several minutes before anyone could speak.
“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Ron asked in a hushed tone.
“I don’t know,” said Harry. “I guess I was afraid of how you’d react.”
Wiping her eyes, Hermione said, “We’re your best friends Harry. You should know we’ll always be here for you.” Beside her, Ron nodded emphatically.
“How do you know?” Harry questioned. “We’re growing up! We’re separating from each other even now!” he said, indicating Ron and Hermione. They looked at each other. “You and Ron, me and Ginny. Every year we grow further apart. It’s not that we want it to happen but it is! How do we even know if we’ll all survive the war?”
“Harry-”
“We don’t!” Harry cried, silencing Hermione. “We don’t,” he repeated, slightly calmer. “Any one of us could be killed and at what price? Could we in turn be expected to kill?”
“You’re right,” Ron said quietly. “None of us knows what’s going to happen.”
“But,” Hermione said. “What we do know is that we can stick to each other and there for each other.”
“Forever,” Ginny added. “As long as we have that, we’ll always be together.”
“I have an idea,” Hermione said, suddenly. “It’s a muggle tradition, and kind of childish but…”
“What is it?” Ron asked.
“Become blood brothers,” she said, then catching Ginny’s eyes, added, “And sisters.”
Harry smiled. “I’d like that,” he said.
“How do you do it?” asked Ginny curiously.
“You take a knife and cut your right palm. Then you press your palm together so the blood mingles,” Hermione explained.
“What does it do?”
“It binds you,” Harry said. “No matter what, we’d always be connected through our blood.”
“So,” Hermione said briskly. “Are we all in?”
As Ron and Ginny nodded, Harry asked, “Do we have a knife?” No sooner had the words left his mouth, then one appeared on the mantle. Hermione went to pick it up. Turning it over, they noticed that the hilt was brass, and a lion’s head was carved into it.
“I guess I’ll go first,” she said.
Gritting her teeth, she drew the knife across her palm, then passed it to Harry who likewise cut his and passed it on to Ron and Ginny. They alternately pressed their palms against each other. When Harry and Ginny’s hands made contact, an electric jolt seemed to pass through them. Harry pulled his hand quickly back, observing his fingertips as Ginny did the same. Slowly he extended his hand palm up, and hers met it.
“Nothing can break us,” he whispered. Ginny smiled.
“Nothing.”
A/N If you all haven’t noticed, I have this bizarre love for firelight scenes, so bear with me. So, the truth is finally out about Harry. With all the importance of blood in the HP world, I wanted to do the blood brothers/sisters (to be politically correct) scene. Not my favorite of my chapters but hopefully it did the job. IMPORTANT!!! With this chapter, I am not encouraging the mixing of body fluids with other people or animals(hey, some people are just weird). It's not a safe practice, and I only put it in again, with the importance of blood ties in the HP world. Thanks.
No spoiler this time. I guess I can give you a break. Besides, what's coming soon is worse. Don't kill me when it happens. Speaking of killing, all you people who are reviewing, ignore this. WHY AREN'T YOU NON REVIEWERS REVIEWING??? ESPECIALLY A CERTAIN SOMEONE WHO IS A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF MINE THAT SITS NEXT TO ME TO READ THIS ALL THE TIME. THIS MEANS YOU!!!
Thanks for letting me have a moment to freak. Sheesh. You get one review and suddenly, you want everyone to review. I'm cool.