Hindsight

The Final Reunion

The three weeks between early December and the end of term passed quietly and peacefully for Harry and Hermione. Once or twice every week, they would meet with Ginny, Neville, and Luna in the Room of Requirement to continue their combat training. They were making progress at an impressively rapid pace, Harry thought. They had mastered Disarming and Stunning in one evening each, and their Shield Charms were impressive as well. Neville was certainly performing a lot better with his new wand, and Hermione, too, seemed to grow into her temporary wand a little.

Neither Harry nor Hermione had been bothered by anyone in the past few weeks, aside from some girls who had hoped to score Harry as a Yule Ball date. Harry responded by simply taking Hermione's hand or pecking her on the cheek. Their hopes were quickly dashed. A few even ran off crying, which Harry felt rather bad about.

Neville had, at Harry's subtle suggestion, asked Luna to the Ball. He could not help but smile whenever he saw Luna skipping around the halls, happy as could be. Ginny, meanwhile, had been asked by Dean Thomas. Harry had played the part of the 'big brother' that Ron was supposed to play, and lightly hinted that Dean would find it quite uncomfortable to sit for a few weeks if he got word that Dean did something rude to Ginny. Ron, meanwhile, had dealt with the situation by loudly berating his sister for daring to have an interest in boys. Ginny responded by hexing him with a spell that Harry had taught her before storming off.

Ron had failed to find a date for the ball, and coped with it by loudly grumbling to anyone who would listen – that is, no one. Finally, Harry had enough and put him out of his misery by asking Lavender to the Ball for him.

Aside from the scramble for Yule Ball dates, the three weeks were quite tranquil. Ron was as moody as ever, of course, but aside from shooting glares at Harry or Hermione – or both – in class or grumbling loudly whenever he saw them together, kissing or cuddling on an armchair, he was pretty harmless. Draco Malfoy, too, had made no more attempts at confrontation. Sirius had written to them a week after their last meeting, telling them how Malfoy, or rather, No-Name's mother had come to him and begged him for his forgiveness and reacceptance, swearing a magical vow of loyalty to him. Harry supposed that No-Name's better behaviour might just be a side effect of the changes his mother was going through.

What worried Harry and Hermione the most, though, was Dumbledore. Harry had not heard one word from him since the day he tried to stop them from going to Sirius's hearing at the Ministry. Knowing what they now knew about what Harry's scar really had been, they did not trust that Dumbledore's silence was simply benign disinterest. It meant that he was plotting something. Something to do with Harry.

They would be staying at Hogwarts over Christmas Holidays because of the Yule Ball, of course, but given their magically of-age status, Harry had something else planned.

'Hermione? Would you like to go see your parents over the holidays?' he asked her one evening while they were sitting together in the Room of Requirement after a training session with Ginny, Neville, and Luna.

'But aren't we staying here for the Ball?' she turned to him and asked, evidently confused.

'We're magically of-age, remember?' Harry reminded her, 'And we know how to apparate. We can go anywhere.'

Harry had half expected her to give him a telling-off for his blatant suggestion to break the rules. Thankfully, she did not do that. Instead, her face lit up with a beaming smile.

'I'd love to! I haven't seen them in…well…to them, they've just seen me the past summer, but…'

'I understand,' Harry said quietly, 'I think we should see them and tell them the whole story. I think they need to know. Especially why their seemingly fifteen-year-old daughter is married to a seemingly fourteen-year-old boy.'