Harry decided that his next course of action would be to pay a visit to Godric’s Hollow. This was supposed to have been the starting point of his journey, but once the locket had been discovered, Harry had pushed Godric’s Hollow to the very back of his mind.
He, Ron and Hermione made the decision not to leave until after Hermione’s eighteenth birthday, giving them all a much-needed break. Once that had been settled, Harry’s first order of business had been asking Ron and Hermione why they had thought he was a Horcrux.
They were both extremely sorry for not talking to him about it in the first place, but Ron did show Harry the rather interesting notebook that he found in Regulus’ house. All throughout the notebook there were drawings and clippings from other books discussing instances when part of a human soul is encased in another living person.
Hermione told Harry that she was sure that this meant that there was a very good possibility that Harry was one Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes. Harry countered this rather easily by telling her and Ron what Dumbledore had said, and they all agreed that there was really no way that Harry could be a Horcrux.
This did not fully explain, however, why Regulus had a notebook filled with references to someone, Voldemort of course, using people as Horcruxes, but Harry pushed this thought from his mind.
Harry was also told, by Lupin, that Draco and his mother had left Grimmauld Place, with Lucius’ body. According to Lupin, there was no news of their whereabouts and Harry was quite sure that this meant they were now on the run from Lord Voldemort.
The Order received more troubling news the following week, when the Daily Prophet reported a mass Muggle killing in Worcestershire that claimed nearly sixty Muggles, as well as seven Aurors who had gone to put an end to the attack. The Prophet went on to report that the Ministry of Magic, who suspected werewolf involvement in the attack, would soon be releasing a pamphlet on what to do if you encounter fully transformed werewolf. Harry did agree, however, that Lupin’s advice on that matter was much simpler than any advice the Prophet would give… run.
Perhaps the most painful moment of the past month had been on the first of September, when Ginny left to return to Hogwarts.
Harry wasn’t able to accompany her to King’s Cross Station, but she did give him a very public “good-bye” that Ron did not particularly enjoy witnessing.
* * *
Harry awoke early on the day before Hermione’s birthday to the whispers of Ginny’s voice, coming from his pocket. He groggily reached in and pulled out her picture, which was staring up at him excitedly.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” she whispered.
“No, I was awake,” he lied, suppressing a yawn.
“Liar “ but I’m not complaining,” she said with a smile. “How was your night?”
“It was fine. Ron and Hermione had another row. Something about Crookshanks eating Ron’s belt “ I don’t know “ I went up to the library once they started to argue,” Harry answered, rolling his eyes for effect.
He made his way away out of his room and down the stairs to the empty kitchen.
“Of course,” replied Ginny with a small sigh. “Things haven’t been too good on this end, either. Professor Flitwick was attacked by a Death Eater in Hogsmeade last night.”
“What?” cried Harry, as Ginny nodded. “How could that have happened?”
“No one knows. I overheard McGonagall telling Professor Slughorn that she thinks it may have been Snape,” she answered. “From what I heard, she thinks that he’s the only Death Eater who would know how to get past the defences. Hopefully they won’t cancel the Hogsmeade trip this weekend.”
“Be careful,” Harry said, automatically.
“You be careful,” Ginny said in much the same voice, “and stop being so bossy,” she added with a smile. “You leave for Godric’s Hollow in two days, don’t you?”
“Yeah “ hopefully we’ll be able to find some sort of clue there, and maybe… well… maybe I’ll be able to see my parents' grave,” Harry answered, shifting his feet uncomfortably.
Ginny didn’t say anything for a moment while she let Harry move past the awkward silence.
“I’ll talk to you before you leave, ok?” she finally said.
“Absolutely.”
“Alright, I have to go. Be careful, Harry. I love you.”
“I love you too,” he answered and her face faded from view.
“How sweet, Fred… young Harry here is in love with our little Ginny,” said George’s loud voice, as he and his brother walked into the kitchen.
“I can’t wait to tell Mum that Harry loves Ginny,” said Fred, almost screaming the last bit.
“Shhh! Keep it down!” whispered Harry, now staring uncomfortably at the floor.
“We’re just teasing you, Harry,” said George, clapping Harry on the shoulder.
“But you best not cross her, mate, she might kill you,” Fred added.
“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Harry replied, now smiling. “Why are you two up so early anyway?”
Almost the moment he asked, he heard two more sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. He turned to see the same set of incredibly beautiful girls that had been at the Burrow the first night he had arrived there coming down the stairs.
“You never saw us,” whispered Fred, giving Harry a quick wink as he and George each took one of the girls’ arms and strode out of the house.
Harry smiled to himself, and then suddenly realized that the twins had brought two strangers into the Order of the Phoenix’s Headquarters. Harry went to reach for a cup of coffee and saw a note on the counter. It read:
They’re Order members… relax, Harry. With much love, Fred and George.
“Oh, they’re good,” he said to himself, crumpling up the letter and sitting back down to enjoy his coffee in silence.
Harry sat by himself for a good while until he heard footsteps coming down the stairs once more. He looked up, expecting to see Mr. or Mrs. Weasley but, surprisingly, it was Ron who turned into the kitchen.
“I thought you’d be down here,” he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.
Harry handed him a cup of coffee and Ron mustered a small grunt that Harry took as “thanks.” They sat in silence for a few minutes before Ron spoke.
“What did you get Hermione for her birthday?”
Harry sat there for a moment, his brow furrowed. What did I get Hermione?
“Oh, right, I got her this huge box of sweets that I think she might like. Chocolate Frogs and Liquorice Wands and stuff like that. Why?”
Ron didn’t say anything and shrugged his shoulders.
They sat in silence for a few more minutes until, coincidentally, the next person to come walking down the stairs was Hermione.
She greeted both Harry and Ron warmly and poured herself a cup of coffee. Harry noticed a long roll of parchment, folded neatly, in her left hand, but he didn’t say anything. Harry had a feeling that he knew what it was and he hoped that Ron wouldn’t notice. Sadly, Ron did.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to her hand.
“Oh this… um, just a letter from Viktor,” she answered, her face turning a light shade of pink.
“What did he have to say?”
“Not much, he just wanted to wish me a happy birthday and to give… to give me a present.”
“Oh, what did… er, what did he get you?” asked Ron, his voice growing a bit louder and more accusatory.
“Why does it matter?” Hermione responded defensively.
“Because I don’t trust him.”
“And why is that, Ron?”
“I just don’t trust him “ he went to Durmstrang and… and he tried to kill Harry in the maze!”
“First of all, he was under the Imperius Curse and secondly, what does it matter if he went to Durmstrang?” she asked, sounding exasperated.
Harry was glancing between his two friends with a worried look on his face. He desperately wanted to stop this but he didn’t seem able to.
“Gee, I don’t know… their Headmaster only turned out to be a Death Eater!” Ron retorted acidly. “I wouldn’t open whatever Vicky sent you!”
“For your information, Won-Won, I already did… and I loved it!” she responded, showing Harry and Ron her wrist, which now glistened with a beautiful gold chain.
Ron’s mouthed dropped open as he stared at the nearly priceless piece of jewellery on Hermione’s hand. He tried to say something, but no words came from his mouth.
Hermione turned quickly and hurried back up the stairs without another word to Harry or Ron.
“She’s gone bloody mental, don’t you think?” asked Ron, looking at Harry with a confused expression on his face.
Harry, though he didn’t say it, thought that this time Ron might be the mental one.
* * *
The rest of the day was not a good one for Ron or Hermione. Whenever Hermione passed Ron, she would turn the other way and pretend that he didn’t exist. On the other side, Ron defiantly stood by what he said about Krum and whenever Hermione passed he would mutter things under his breath such as ‘I’m right’ or ‘don’t know what you’re talking about’.
Finally, after it was becoming unbearable, Harry felt he should try to talk to one of them. He figured he would have a better chance with Hermione, so, while Ron was busy taking a shower, he made his way over to Hermione’s room and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” she answered.
Harry opened the door and saw her sitting on her bed with, naturally, a book in her lap.
“Hey,” he said quietly, walking over to her bed, “can I sit down?”
“Oh, Harry, of course you can, I’m not mad at you,” she said, sounding slightly annoyed but also giving him a small smile.
“Well, then, who else could you possibly be mad at?” he asked with a small smile, figuring he should start off slowly.
“He’s extremely annoying, has bright hair and sounds like a dying horse when he’s sleeping,” she answered sarcastically.
“But Hermione, why would you be mad at Ginny’s Pygmy Puff?”
“Very funny, Harry.”
Harry didn’t say anything and merely waited patiently to see whether or not she wanted to talk. She gave him a look, then said, “Well alright, if you’re going to be a pest about it… he’s just so… difficult. He’s so stubborn, it’s like trying to argue with “”
“Yourself,” Harry offered.
Hermione looked taken aback and almost jumped at this. It was rather obvious, to Harry anyway, that while Ron and Hermione had many differences, they were also somewhat alike. Harry knew from experience that, if you ever got in an argument with either of them, there wasn’t a good chance of you winning it.
“Well… I… I never really… well,” Hermione stammered, trying to figure out so way to respond to what Harry said.
Harry, on the other hand, felt he had made the point he was trying to make.
“Come on, I think dinner’s ready.”
* * *
It seemed that Hermione had lowered her level of annoyance with Ron, but sadly, he did not return the favour.
“Can you please pass the butter, Harry?” he asked.
The butter was sitting directly in front of Hermione, but it was quite evident that he didn’t want to talk to her. Harry obliged while Hermione glared at Ron with a look that hovered between contempt and disgust.
Tonks seemed to have noticed the friction between them as well, because she quickly tried to get the conversation going in other directions.
“How does it feel to be almost eighteen, Hermione?” she asked, trying her best not to make the question sound dumb.
Hermione smiled at her and muttered, “Fine.”
“You know, when I was eighteen I dated this one absolutely gorgeous guy who” “ she saw Lupin’s raised eyebrows and quickly changed course “ “who was an absolute git and a right bit ugly to boot.”
Lupin smiled at her and turned back towards his meal. Tonks instantly changed her nose to resemble Lupin’s and mimicked the exact same eyebrow raise and facial expression that he had just made, earning a quick laugh from everyone at the table.
For the most part, they ate peacefully together, Ron even asked Hermione to pass him the pitcher of pumpkin juice, which was a start, Harry thought. Before long, Harry, Ron and Hermione finished their dinners and trooped upstairs to their bedrooms.
“Goodnight,” Harry said, walking into his bedroom.
“Night, Hermione,” called Ron, following Harry.
“Goodnight… Harry,” she answered, taking extra care to emphasize ‘Harry’.
Ron stopped walking for a second and then sped up without a backward glance.
“She thinks she’s so smart,” said Ron angrily as he climbed into his bed. “And the way she said, Harry, it was like she wanted me to turn around and argue with her. She’s just like…”
“You,” Harry said, smiling to himself.
What he got from Ron was very similar to what he got from Hermione.
“What? That’s completely… not… anything that… I… she.”
“Reckon you were a bit of a git?” Harry asked, crawled into his bed.
“Yeah, a bit,” Ron agreed.
“Are you gonna tell Hermione that you were wrong?”
“Absolutely not.”
Some things never change.
* * *
Harry awoke later than he normally did the next morning and looked over to see Ron’s empty bed. He looked at it, puzzled, for a moment then shrugged and got to his feet.
Harry made his way into the kitchen where he found Mrs. Weasley and Hermione enjoying a small breakfast.
“Harry, dear,” called Mrs. Weasley, standing up and grabbing a plate, “sit down, have a spot of breakfast.”
Harry didn’t need to be told twice and he sat down next to Hermione as Mrs. Weasley pushed generous amounts of bacon, sausage and fried eggs onto his plate.
“Thanks, Mrs. Weasley,” he said, talking a bite of the sausage, “oh, this is delicious.”
“Bless your heart, dear,” she answered and sat back down on the other side of Hermione.
“Where’s Ron?” Harry asked, after swallowing a large portion of the eggs.
Hermione made a noise that sounded like a cross between a grunt and a snarl.
“He went into work early this morning with Tonks,” Mrs. Weasley answered, “he was acting rather odd, now that you mention it, but he said that if he was going to be an Auror he should probably see what its like.”
Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise but said nothing.
“Ooo, here’s the Prophet,” said Hermione excitedly as a black owl entered the kitchen carrying a newspaper tied tightly around its leg.
She untied it, placed a few coins in the pouch, and opened the paper. There, on the front page, was a massive photograph of the Malfoy family and a large article underneath that read:
“Goodness,” Hermione whispered, holding her hand over her mouth. “If the Aurors don’t find Draco before Voldemort does…” Her voice trailed off.
Harry felt another pang of pity towards Draco and, as much as he hated him, he could not help feeling sorry for him. He was now alone and on the run, probably from the likes of Fenrir Greyback. Harry shuddered at this thought and tried to put it out of his mind.
He and Hermione finished their breakfast, thanked Mrs. Weasley profusely, and then retreated to the library, where they spent the afternoon searching the shelves once more. Hermione was sure that somewhere she could find some historical information on either Helga Hufflepuff or Rowena Ravenclaw.
“It’s no use, Hermione,” called an exasperated Harry, some hours after lunch, from the top of the ladder. “There’s nothing up here.”
“Keep looking, Harry,” she called.
Harry grunted and moved down the rows, reading the tiny print on the spines of the books.
“You’re lucky it’s your birthday, Hermione,” he said, giving her a small smile that she returned.
Before long, Mrs. Weasley’s voice rang up the staircase calling them for dinner.
“Have we been up here that long?” asked Hermione, sounding shocked, “I had no idea.”
“Yeah, me either,” said Harry sarcastically, but not loud enough for Hermione to hear.
They made their way down into the kitchen where they were met with a large banner with the words HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERMIONE emblazoned across it.
Hermione was greeted by all the Weasleys, Lupin, Tonks, and Mad-Eye Moody. Hermione thanked everyone profusely, except for Ron, whom she pushed right by when he tried to greet her.
Ron stalked off over to the table where he sat down. Harry walked over to where he was sitting and sat down next to him.
“Hey, mate, how was the Auror Office?” asked Harry.
Ron was silent for a moment before he answered.
“What… oh, sorry, hey, Harry, yeah the Auror Office was fine.”
Harry looked at him quizzically, but did not say anything.
Soon, everyone had meandered towards the table, where they all sat down and began to eat the feast that Mrs. Weasley had prepared.
“Wow! He sent you that, Hermione? It’s gorgeous,” exclaimed Tonks, admiring Hermione’s gold bracelet with wide eyes.
Ron refused to meet Harry’s gaze and stared fixedly at his dinner, a scowl plastered across his face.
After everyone had finished with their dinner, Mrs. Weasley led Hermione into the sitting room where a heap of presents was awaiting her.
“Oh, you didn’t have to get me all of this,” she said to everyone, her cheeks growing a light shade of pink.
She sat down on the nearest chair and began opening the presents that each person handed her. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given her a new Phoenix Feather Quill, Tonks and Ginny had pitched in and bought Hermione assorted hair care products together. Ginny also sent Hermione a card. Bill and Charlie had given her a photo that they had taken of her, Harry and Ron at the beginning of the summer. Lupin gave her a huge assortment of maps and guides to wizarding England which he explained would be very helpful on their quest, and surprisingly enough, Fred and George had each given her a beautiful set of robes that, according to them, had many enchantments placed on it, including one that would repel weak curses.
Harry gave her his present and she hugged him and stood up to collect everything she had gotten.
“Thank you so much,” she said to everyone gathered around. “I really didn’t need all of this.”
Everyone else stood up and made to go back into the kitchen but they all froze at the sound of Ron’s voice.
“Er… Hermione,” said Ron, uncertainly, standing up and growing as red as Harry had ever seen him. “I got you something.”
He reached into a bag that he had hidden at his feet and pulled out a large rectangular present. He walked the short distance to Hermione and held it out for her. Hermione seemed incapable of speech.
She took the heavy package and sat down before opening it.
“Oh, Ron!” she said, gasping as she opened her present.
Harry could see the front cover of a very large book that read: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7. “I love it.”
Never in his wildest dream could Harry understand why anyone would want a spell book for their birthday, but that was Hermione.
“He got her a school book?” Fred muttered quietly enough so that neither Ron nor Hermione could hear. Mrs. Weasley shot him an angry look, then turned back to Ron and Hermione, and Harry was sure he saw her wipe a small tear from her cheek.
“I just felt bad, you know,” Ron continued uncertainly, “that you won’t be able to learn spells and do all the stuff, you know, that… that you wanted to do, but this way I guess, maybe, you might be able to.”
“You remembered what I said,” Hermione whispered in a disbelieving tone, “Oh, Ron.”
“I know it’s not as nice as your bracelet but…”
“It’s so much better,” Hermione said, and she wrapped her arms around Ron’s neck and hugged him as tears streamed down her face.
Ron looked torn between shock and absolute joy. She finally lifted her head off his shoulder and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek that earned a snicker from each Fred and George. Ron turned towards them and made a rude hand gesture that earned him a reproachful look from Mrs. Weasley.
* * *
Harry and Ron said goodnight to Hermione once they reached the upstairs landing and, this time, Hermione said goodnight to Ron in return.
Harry and Ron walked into their room and climbed into their beds before Harry said anything.
“You didn’t really go to the Auror Office, did you?” he asked.
“Yes, I did, but only so Tonks could help me pick out something for Hermione,” Ron answered, and Harry was sure that he was blushing.
“How much did that cost you?”
“All my gold… which wasn’t a lot but I’d been saving it for ages, mind you. ‘Night, Harry.”
Harry smiled to himself knowing that, no matter how it may appear, Ron’s heart would always belong to Hermione “ now, getting Ron to admit that to her might be asking a little much.
“‘Night, Ron.”