hogwartsexpressed | CLOSED: The WORST Double Date to Date (for: coreofdragonheart)

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CLOSED: The WORST Double Date to Date (for: coreofdragonheart)

Harry walked into the private dining room that Hermione had requested for their use that evening. He took a moment to search and take down any eavesdropping instruments he could locate and knew Hermione would or had done the same already. He didn't want this to get out to the public if they could at all help it. He had spent most of the day putting his Aurors through their paces and had perhaps had been a bit too hard on them but honestly, it wasn't any worse than what they could possibly face outside the walls of the Ministry. It was at that time that he regretted, again, that he hadn't sought further education and training from the ICW.

Once he was content knowing he'd taken down anything that could listen in on them, he cast his own set of privacy charms around the room that would allow their guests and waiter/waitress to enter but would not be able to listen in. He turned to look at Hermione and gave her a smile. Spending the evening talking with her and having dinner had probably been one of the best nights he's had in a long time. It had infuriated him to know Ron had been an even bigger arse in regard to Hermione's parents after the war. What gave him the right?

"Are you ready," he asked, walking over to her and watching her face closely.

He'd taken the potion already today and was glad that his intelligent and beautiful best friend had found something that would work. Harry loathed that they'd been treated this way after all they'd done for the Weasley family.

Ginny would be getting off work momentarily and getting cleaned up before she made her way to the restaurant. Ron... well he didn't give a rats arse. He was looking forward to knowing just how much the man knew.

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"Do you know what I think it is? Everyone protected him. Molly did. Dumbledore did in giving him to us, in setting us up to be there for him. Everything has told him he deserves what he wants. We didn't have that. Draco didn't have it either. He was coddled and we played into it, not knowing better. And when he learned he was being given the world, he didn't get insulted by it, he leaned into it," she says, sounding so angry and disgusted.

She speaks openly to Harry and in front of Kreacher because she trusts them. Right now they're the only ones that she trust wholly and fully. She wants to trust Ginny but she's still not certain of that either, but she's trying.

About to ask for cake as well as Kreacher vanishes and then smiling widely when the cake is left with two forks.

"Thank you, Kreacher. I'm glad you're part of my home," she says, pausing though when she realizes what she has said. "I mean, it's the home I'm living in and..." She glances at Harry. "It's the only place that's felt like home," she admits.

Harry considered that and how it confirmed what his initial thoughts were on the fact of the matter. "I had considered the very same thing," he said with a nod. "He was sheltered and didn't have to grow up and wanted everything that he was promised and given, as though it were his right to have it. Our friendship, your... affection," he said as though it had a bitter taste in his mouth. It was disgusting the level of entitlement the boy had.

He was glad she still trusted and felt as though she can be open with him - he'd want nothing more than for her to feel that way with him. He would do everything he could to keep her from feeling otherwise around him. Harry chuckled at the large piece of cake and two forks. "Thanks, Kreacher," he said and slid his arm from her so he could grab the plate and two forks, handing them to her before pouring them each a glass of wine.

Harry could feel his heart race when she admitted that this was her home. He couldn't remember a time when something said made him so happy - other than Ginny admitting that she'd likely not have married him if given a choice. "I'm really glad that you feel that way," he said and held out a glass for her. "Because it's your home as long as you need it or want it."

She nods. "Peter Pan, though he'd never know what that meant," she points out. "It's often odd to think about that he is the epitome of something he'll never understand. In the original, when the lost boys got too old to be boys, he murdered them. I worry we're facing quite the same," she admits.

"We've outgrown him, have no need for him anymore, and I worry he'll lash out and do something about it," she points out. "We'll have to be cautious of that. More than that if he doesn't, she will."

Molly was deadly. She'd known that before but not to the extent they had to be careful now.

Harry moving away, even to get the cake and wine, leaves her feeling cold, wanting him near her again. It was wrong, and she had no way of knowing if he felt the same way she does, but she can wish for that connection anyway. She needs him now, more than ever, just as her friend, near her, in her life.

Taking the glass, she smiles at him. It's genuine even if she's worn and upset. "Good. I plan on moving in tomorrow," she says suddenly, wincing. "I mean... I know it's okay but it's okay?"

He chuckled at the reference. He had loved to read as a child. It was something he had to keep hidden and only do in primary away from the Dursley's. "Why should they know anything about it - it's beneath them," he asked with a roll of his eyes. Harry nodded and looked at her. "We'll be as careful as we can," he told her. "If he doesn't lash out, she will," he agreed.

Harry didn't like moving away from her anymore than she did. He leaned back with his glass and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "It's more than okay. In fact, I insist... if that helps," he said with a grin. "I wouldn't want you anywhere else."

"We will take this a day at a time, okay? But no matter what, you have me."

"We're better at defensive magic than he is. It's really only Molly we have to be cautious about." She sighs. "I hope Arthur wasn't part of this. I rather liked him," she says with a shake of her head because there's just so much in her life she's losing and not sure what to think about it.

Her heart races at those words, lighting up. Between those words and that kiss, she feels herself acting like, well, a schoolgirl. Which makes sense since it's the last time she's felt these emotions for him.

"Good. I'll get some things tomorrow, and let the Ministry know to contact me directly and not through the family. When we talk to them about the misuse of magic."

"We're better at magic period than he is," Harry said with a snort, giving her a look. "But you're right, Molly is the one that we need to look out for and be more cautious about." His feelings toward the patriarch were mixed, honestly. If he had been aware of what his wife was doing and didn't attempt to stop her, he was just as much at blame as she was. "We'll have to just see how much he knew of his wife's extracurricular activities. On the one hand, if he knew about it then he's just as much at fault as she is because he allowed it to continue without trying to stop her. If he didn't, and considering how much time he spends at the ministry or tinkering with muggle items, then..."

Harry paused because to be honest, the situation simply infuriated him. There was no excuse to their manipulations of Hermione and his lives. None whatsoever.

Now that the cure had run its course through him, Harry could very well admit that he found the witch next to him absolutely beautiful and would have (and wanted to) date her... see where it went. He remembered at the end of their third year, where he started to crush on her.

"They shouldn't be contacting you through the family anyway if it's for you directly. But this world is very backwards still, isn't it," he asked rhetorically. He picked up a fork and took a bite of the lemon cake that he sat on his lap. Sharing a drink and a piece of cake with Hermione was definitely the best part of his day so far.

It's not funny but Hermione smirks at that. Because it's true. There is no magic that Ron can do they can't handle or correct. If she's honest, sometimes she's not sure he even has magic of his own really.

"How close can one get to being a squib and not actually be one? I mean, I would say it's the number of children but then there's Ginny and she disproves that, doesn't she?"

At least they have her in this and it's nice to know someone in this is on their side. She worries what's going to happen when they go to the ministry. That they'll be fighting against the belief that a pureblood family is somehow always right. Even the Weasleys despite how they're looked upon.

But even if they won't listen to Hermione, there's Harry. The Boy that Lived. It's going to be fine. She hopes. Merlin's Beard, she hopes.

She snorts, rolling her eyes at that. "To some in the Ministry, even now, I'm still Muggle born. That means something to them and it's not a good thing. It's their games and sometimes they will look to the family rather than to me."

She was one of the best witches of any generation and still, even after how she fought in the war, they still saw her as a muggle. Or just barely one step above muggle.

"How is it that I did all I have and I'm still a muggle born?"

Harry tilted his head and hummed thoughtfully. "It's something we must write down and study at another time because I would be curious to know the answer," he said with a smirk. "The rest of his family are bright and talented... Molly did a number on him by coddling and spoiling the boy." Which really, he thought, was Ron's biggest downfall. He may have magic skill but the man didn't do anything with it, he simply relied on others to do for him.

He knew that what she said was true. It was unfortunate and downright disgusting but that was, unfortunately, the nature of the beast. It was going on his 'things he would work toward changing' list.

"It's disgusting," Harry responded lowly. "Despite that you were the most integral part of the bloody war and I would have surely died several times without you..." He exhaled and shook his head. "They're a bunch of pureblood snobs whose heads are so far up their own arses that they can't see straight."

"They really are. The twins are brilliant," she says, wincing. "You know what I mean. Ginny is better than most of them, and Percy even makes Ron look positively dense," she says, shaking her head. "How did anyone believe I loved him of my own free will? Honestly?"

God but that just disgusts her to think about. He was fine as a friend but as the man she spent her life with? No.

Hermione can't help but laugh at that, glad for having Harry at her side as she reaches out, patting his cheek. "Oh, Darling, you never would have made it past your first year," she admits, winking at him, a bit drunk and a lot cheeky. "They are all so lucky I liked you a lot," she says, hating that those words feel like so much more. More that she's not sure is right to put on Harry right now. Not with what all he's dealing with as well.

"Isn't that the truth though. I had hoped by the time my kids were old enough to go to school it would be better but..." It's one thing the love potion hadn't taken from her but she realizes now that despite it all, some of the Weasleys might well still see her that way. Molly and her husband included.

Harry chuckled and gave her an amused look. "I know what you mean," he agreed with a nod and stayed quiet for a minute. "People... especially in our age group, thought that 'fighting all the time like cats and dogs' was the way you two flirted." He paused as a thought came to him and groaned with a laugh. "I just remembered Draco telling me when we were working together that he fully expected the two of us to end up together. Not with the Weasley's. Because of the potion, I told him he was mad." But Draco hadn't been. Harry had cared about this woman sitting next to him, sharing a piece of cake and a bottle of wine. Had cared and still cared more than he should at this moment, he was sure.

He gave her an affronted look. "They're lucky? No, I'm lucky you liked me so much," he said with a laugh, shaking his head. "But, I like to think we both saved each other over the years - me with my magic skill," he teased her before continuing, "and you with your brilliance and magic." He was just on this end of drunk and very sassy.

"Well, if we ever get the chance, that is something we will change. Can even start making the changes now. I mean... not literally now but you know." Harry picked up his fork again and took another bite of the lemon cake.

She can't help but laugh, shaking her head. "I wonder who else saw it, besides Draco, who were surprised about us ending up with those we did. Because I know several people have said things about never seeing me and Ron, but..."

But she had brushed it off as being different, of opposites attracting. Not that she had realized why she didn't see what others did. Now though she sees it. Even if she was on Harry's side of things where it wasn't his wife actually turning on him, she can see how odd it is. But for Harry for one reasons.

"I never thought you and Ginny should end up together. Even when I thought I loved Ron. Because you aren't who I saw her with," she says with a laugh. She leans in, resting her brow to his.

"I am very lucky," she says, believing that. "I've always been very lucky to know you. And we'll start changing things. Definitely. Let's not let anyone end up like us."

"Probably more than we expect," Harry admitted with a chuckle. He watched her and sat the cake aside for the moment before wrapping his arm around her shoulders again, bringing her in close. He liked this. Like feeling her close by.

Harry had always chucked it up to opposites and school yard teasing. But he really hadn't known what a 'typical' relationship looked like. He'd seen the Dursley's of course and despite their 'normal thank you very much' attitude, they weren't very normal.

"Looking back on it? I never thought we'd end up or should end up together either." He rest his brow against her's and exhaled a soft breath. "I'm not sure who I really saw her ending up with but it wasn't me."

He smiled, happy to know that she felt she was lucky as well. "Agreed. I'd say we're both damn lucky and we will not let anyone else end up like we did." No one deserved that. Whether it was the alcohol, the cake... the night, he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "Thank you, Hermione."

"Wonder how many of them thought at the very least, that I had gone daft? I mean, you and Ginny is a good and powerful match," she notes with a sharp smile. "She's beautiful, smart, powerful, and a quidditch star. At least they likely wondered what she saw in you,' Hermione teases, sounding a lot more like herself than she's likely to have sounded all evening.

"But Ron? I mean... really? Everyone just accepted that was natural?"

Because none of it feels that way to her. Not in the least.

"I really... I need Fleur to love Bill. I will destroy Molly with my bare hands if she did that to Bill after all he's been through. " There's an anger in her voice that can't be denied. Bad enough it happened to them, but Bill deserved everything that he and his wife seem to be. He deserves to be happy.

Sighing though at that kiss, aching to kiss him again. "You're welcome. I just want you to have the life you want, Harry. You deserve that as well," she says, hesitant a moment and then she leans in, unable to help herself, kissing him. She feels drunk with the sensation as much as the alcohol, and it is everything she's ever wanted since she was in control of her own desires.

Harry chuckled and brought her in closer to him, knowing this was hard despite their joking and teasing on the matter. Their whole lives had been flipped upside down in more ways than one and they were left trying to pick up what strands they could. Although, ultimately, Harry knew it was for the best they knew now rather than later but all the same, it wasn't what he wanted for his best friend. "The brightest witch of our age marrying a man like Ron? Probably thought those test scores were just a fluke," he said giving her a teasing look. "Now wondering what Ginny could potentially see in me? Fair, very fair question," he said with a laugh.

It didn't feel or seem natural at all now that he had clear eyes to look at the situation rationally. How far back did the manipulation start? He could only truly guess and feared it was from Molly Weasley's words at the train station.

He exhaled a soft breath and nodded in agreement. "I really hope they were not part of Molly's manipulations. Ron says they weren't under our very own truth seat but still..."

Harry wanted to know that Fleur and Bill were happy and obscenely in love. They deserved that much after all they had been through.

He smiled, glad that she hadn't responded negatively to the kiss. Not that he truly thought she would but he didn't want to push too much or do anything she didn't want. The fact that she sighed and then kissed him again made his heart soar. Her words though - her words were everything especially now knowing how much of his life had continued to be manipulated by outside forces. "Thank you," he said again as he kissed her once more, bringing her in closer. Because really, there were no other words other than 'thank you'. Thank you for being a constant best friend. Thank you for being so brilliant and finding the cure to their unknown problem. Thank you for being here right now with him. There was... so much to thank her for. And for giving him back his life free of that manipulative family.

"I hope they thought he was just a slacker and not that I cheated," she says, but it's the wizarding world and she has two strikes against her. One because of her gender, and one for not being pureblood. They likely would believe the worst of her.

She makes a face. "How could she not? I mean, there's a lot to be seen in you. You're smart, handsome, brave, talented," she says, realizing how much she's going on and trying to stop herself but it's been years since she's thought like this and now the words are all just coming out.

"But still, Ron is scum and knew about this and thought nothing wrong with it so who can trust a single damn thing that comes out of his mouth?"

There's so much bitterness in her tones then, revealing just how upset she is, even if she's working to try and get past it all, because they're fixing it. It doesn't make it hurt any less though.

"You're welcome. Though we do owe Cheryl. She was the one that thought I was obviously not under a spell and so used me for her sample," she says, realizing she hasn't told her yet that her charm does work, they just didn't know it then.

"Oh, they definitely thought he was a slacker from people I've talked to. They often wondered how you and I even put up with him," Harry said with a mused look. But it was true, despite knowing how often Ron slacked on nearly everything, Hermione was often given the short end of the stick simply because of her blood status and gender.

Harry's smile grew wider as she spoke about him. "Well Ms. Granger, I didn't know you thought of me like that," he said, though his tone was light, he was very pleased to hear her say all of that about him.

Without an answer, Harry just gathered her in his arms and just held her close. "He will get his, Hermione. I promise you," he says, his tone firm, pressing a kiss to her head. It was absolutely unforgivable what the Weasley family did to them.

"We'll buy her a fruit basket or a nice bottle of liquor... whatever she wants," Harry said, thankful to this woman who gave them back their lives despite knowing it or not.

"Oh well, now we know how. We know it's because of spellcraft," she says, bitterness in her tones. She knows it's going to be a very long time before she's not bitter over that reality. Over spending years on years being drugged by someone she had trusted and cared about as family.

"Yeah well, I was scared to say it to you," she admits. "And then I forgot how I felt," she whispers, realizing how deep those emotions were and how much she can still feel them.

"Just don't risk yourself. Let the law handle it. Let the public. I don't want you being hurt by this, don't let them turn this around on you," she says, truly meaning it. She needs him safe and well.

"I want her to know how well it worked, and offer her any help we can. We might be able to help others as well." Who knows how common this is, after all.

Harry watches her facial expressions as she spoke. It would undoubtedly take a very long time before they got over this (if ever) but at least they had one another. For that, Harry was grateful. "Now we know and now... we can plot," he says with a small smile. "Plot for a much better life than we have now. Make them all envious." His tone took on a teasing sound but in all honesty, he did want that. Especially with her.

"I know," he says, softer and just holds her closer to him with a soft sigh. He had felt the same way, scared to tell her how he had felt and then forgetting he had felt it at all.

Harry looked at her, trying to go for shocked. "Hermione Granger, me? Harry Potter? Risk himself? I will have you know, I stopped doing that for nearly everyone after the war," he said with a teasing look. But in all honesty, he hadn't and they both knew that. He was, if anything, even more willing to risk himself to help those who needed it the most. In this case though, he would have to let it be and let the law handle it.

He nodded in agreement. "I agree. Do you want to send her a letter? Or let her know when you go back to work?"

"If by plot you mean plot to ruin his life? Oh trust me, I am all for that," she says, smirking because she is in fact plotting for just that. Learning he had known for so long and gone along with it, aided his mother in what she had done, and she is out for blood now and she's not hiding that from Harry.

Because she might tell him not to risk himself and to let the law handle it but she's not going to do the same. She knows she is going to jump on his and ensure he doesn't do this to the next women. Or worse, come after her. She's prepared for that as well.

"Have you really? I mean, really Potter?" Smirking as she asks it that way, narrowing her eyes and giving him a hard, dark look. "Do you think I, of all people, is going to believe that? Really?"

Because nope, she doesn't.

"When I get back. By then she might have figured it out if the paper picks up what we're going to report tomorrow.

Harry blinked as though shocked. "I am absolutely shocked Ms. Granger that you would say that," he said with a chuckle, before smirking. He was not at all surprised and honestly, he felt much the same way. He would like to say he would leave it up to the law, especially if that's what it ultimately came down to, but truth was, he would do everything he could to make Ron Weasley and Molly Weasley's lives a living nightmare.

"No, not at all and I should hope you wouldn't believe it," he said and watched her face. She was absolutely bloody brilliant and gorgeous. Especially when she was riled up like this. Not that he liked that she was but that it was a good look on her regardless.

He nodded in agreement. "Agreed. I am very much looking forward to reporting all of this tomorrow," he said with a dark smirk. Perhaps he was still a bit drunk and a lot angry but all things considered, he was okay with what he was feeling. This need for revenge on both their parts and Ginny's.

"Oh, if you're shocked by that then you will not even believe what I'm going to say once I get before the Ministry," she says, smiling so wickedly, already plotting the things she wants to do, the things she's going to say to them about the Weasley family. At least two of them. She is going to ruin them, and hopes the good members of their family come out on top.

They'll make sure of that as well.

"I don't, and I know that we're in that together as well. We have a fight before us, and we know we can handle it, and there's things we'll be able to fix. We have the freedom now to do that."

Hermione cups Harry's face, leaning in and kissing him tenderly as if she's just learned this amazing new thing in life and she can't help herself.

"I guess we should probably sleep off all this alcohol," she says, her fingers still stroking ovre his cheek.

"Oh now you must tell me," he said, the wine and the cake already forgotten for the time being and he held her closer to him. "So that I can assist you as much as I possibly can." Not that he wouldn't anyway but he really wanted to know what she was planning. That and so he could know just how much he could say that would help her plans.

Harry grinned. "We absolutely have a fight ahead of us but if there's one thing history has told me is that between the two of us? We're a force to be reckoned with," he said, leaning into her touch. He smiled when Hermione kissed him and let out a soft breath before kissing her back, tightening his hold on her gently.

"I suppose we should," he said, his voice soft as he lifted a hand to her cheek, sliding his thumb over the soft skin. "We do have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Even as he said it though, he leaned in and kissed her softly, simply enjoying this feeling of her close to him.

"Oh I plan on telling them everything we have about the Weasleys and this spell. All that Ron admitted today. I plan to let them know it was planned and since we were kids, and all they took from us and then..." And then the part that will be the worst since it is likely to catch trouble for them. "And that Dumbledore gave us away like we were chattel for his plans," she says.

Still he is a legend to most but she's not letting this go. They've been quiet a long time about what he had done to them, on this she won't be.

"I hope you're okay with me bringing that up." Because it will be bringing up things about Harry as well, and he is the only person she is willing and eager to protect right now.

Kissing him back, making no move to head out to try and get some sleep. No, not when she finally has this chance for kissing him, something she wants to linger on, to keep kissing him as long as she can.

Harry nodded at the plans she was laying out and smirked. "Oh I am absolutely okay with you bringing that up and had every plan to do the same, now that I know how deep and how long it had been played," he agreed.

"We will have some resistance, plenty still see him as some sort of second coming of Merlin." There was one thing to be certain of, now that Harry was fully aware, he wouldn't rest until things changed. Thankfully, because wizards live for much longer than muggles, they had a lot of time on their hands.

He smiled when neither of them moved and slowly deepened the kiss. He didn't notice the soft pops of the cake and wine disappearing back to the kitchen. His entire attention was on the woman right there next to him and his lips on hers.

"Him dying as he did means they aren't going to want to hear what we're saying. They have lied about so much, Harry, and they're going to want to keep lying and the truth? I'm done with it. I'm done with all of the bullshit and the lies," she says, feeling so charged with the truth and with wanting to make things better. For themselves, and for others.

Her whole life she's missed this without ever knowing she could have it. Missed the chances she should have had. Missed being with him as if that is what she's longed for her entire life and only just now remembered existed in the world.

Cupping his cheeks with both hands, no longer teasing and playing and just enjoying the one good thing she's been kept from for so long, and how much it promises moving on with her life.

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I'm going to think of a nickname Harry can call Hermione that Ron wouldn't have. HAH

Mione is close to mine, or a magical or mystical name?

Probably Mione - I've also seen Mi! He just doesn't want to use something that Ron probably has! :D

Ron wouldn't have the imagination to call her anything but her name ;)

LOLOL Good point!

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