Chapter 9: Off The Hogwarts Express

"You, my friend... are in for a world of hurt..."

The first thing that Harry saw when Ron stepped off the train and onto the platform was the mischievous grin which Ron no doubt had meant to taunt him with. Harry could respond with nothing but a simple roll of the eyes, deciding it would make his life that much easier to let Ron get his fill of laughing at him right now instead of going to the bother of coming up with an appropriate comeback.

Waiting for Ron to get this out of his system, Harry asked, "Where's Hermione?"

Ron's grin just widened as he gestured back towards the door. "She's com-"

But before he could even finish the sentence, Hermione emerged, coming slowly down the passageway and stopping at Ron's side. Ron looked at her, as if expecting her to say something, then turned back to Harry.

Harry, for his part, braced himself for the inevitable.

It was difficult to read her face, not only because she was giving him such a passive look, but because Ron had begun to snicker once again, making Harry all the more nervous. Harry resisted the urge to shoot Ron a death glare and instead, kept his eyes on Hermione, waiting for her to say something--anything.

Suddenly, he blurted out,"I'm sorry, Hermione," deciding a preemptive strike would be most prudent in this situation. After all, she would probably have to think twice about killing him if he apologized first. "Really I am--and I swear, it'll never happen again..."

She looked at him for a few tense moments, not saying a word. Then, much to his relief--and Ron's surprise--she broke into a smile, pulling him into a tight embrace that caught him so off-guard, he nearly stumbled.

"Oh, you silly git," she said. "I forgive you!!"

"Hey!" Ron said, looking not unlike he had just been betrayed. "What happened to, don't think I'm going to let him get away with that?"

Hermione giggled. "I guess he's entitled to one mistake." She turned back to Harry. "But don't you ever forget my birthday again, Harry Potter, or I swear I'll never speak to you again!"

"Absolutely, Miss Granger." He gave her a mock salute. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned into Ron, who automatically slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her even closer to him. Harry smiled, watching them; he was glad to see that things seemed far less tense than they had been when he'd seen the two of them a few weeks ago. He hoped that whatever it was, they had worked through it.

Even if something else was surely bound to come along and keep things interesting for the both of them, he thought with a smile.

"So," Ron said, "where's that sister of mine, anyway? Couldn't be bothered to meet at the station, could she?"

"She had promised to meet Colin for lunch..." Harry tried his best to say Colin's name with as little annoyance as possible, but he was sure it had come out with some disdain anyway. "He'd been on assignment for the Prophet all week, and he just got back today."

Ron rolled his eyes. "I see," he said. "Boyfriend more important than flesh and blood. I understand."

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione nudged him hard in the ribs. "Give her a break, would you? I think it's sweet that she's going to welcome him home like that..."

Apparently, Ron didn't agree much, but he kept quiet all the same.

Hoping to change the subject to any other one than Ginny, Harry interrupted. "So, you two up for a bite to eat, then?"

"Yeah, I'm starved!" Ron said.

Hermione just smiled knowingly at Harry and mouthed, while Ron was busy gathering their bags and hoisting the straps onto his shoulders, he just ate on the train...

"How 'bout The Three Broomsticks, mate? I sure have missed that place. And I could sure do with some of that butterbeer..."

Harry hesitated. Ginny and Colin would surely be there. Not that this should have bothered him. It shouldn�t of course--he knew that--yet strangely, it did, and for the life of him, he couldn�t really figure out why. Colin was a nice enough fellow, he supposed. If he really had to be honest with himself, he would have to admit that, even if Colin did have the nasty habit of getting on Harry�s nerves. And Ginny certainly seemed happy enough with him. Didn�t she? Of course, it wasn�t any of his business really.

Still, he would have much rather preferred taking Ron and Hermione elsewhere for lunch--anywhere else.

But Ron had already begun to walk off, leading the way into the village. Harry looked over at Hermione, who merely shrugged at him, then caught up to Ron, and so at last he decided to follow the both of them without another word.

He was grateful that they were far too busy reminiscing over old sights along the way to notice his silence; they would have brought it up instantly under normal circumstances, and it would have made for some awkward moments as Harry tried to think of a good excuse as to why he didn�t really feel like visiting this particular old haunt. At least not today, and certainly not at that very moment.

Truth was, he hadn�t even been able to think of a good explanation for it to give himself.

"Oh, Ron, look who it is!!"

Harry forced himself out of his reverie to look in the direction in which Hermione was pointing.

"Hagrid!!"

The half-giant must have heard her, for he stopped, his hand still curled around the doorknob to The Three Broomsticks as he turned around to look for the owner of the voice, and then his face cracked into an enormous grin.

"Hermione? Well I'll be... And Ron, too! Blimey, what're yeh two doin' here?" He let out a jolly laugh and lumbered over to them. "Harry, you din' tell me they'd be visitin', or I'd've sent yeh a proper invitation ter my humble abode..."

"We told him not to tell you, Hagrid," Ron said. "We wanted to surprise you!"

Hagrid's massive shoulders shook in laughter. "Well, surprise me, yeh did, Ron!" He slapped him on the back, and Ron managed to stifle a cough despite the impact. "Look at yeh... Reckon yeh've gotten even taller since I saw yeh last, eh? And filled out, too... Guess it's all that trainin' yeh do as an Auror..."

Ron smiled sheepishly.

"Bin readin' the Prophet, o' course," he went on. "Yeh've made quite a name for yourself, haven't yeh?"

"I've been pretty lucky, I guess," Ron said, clearly flattered, but not quite used to getting this much praise heaped on him.

"Don't listen to him, Hagrid," Harry said. "He caught over one hundred thirty-seven dark wizards in his first year, not to mention all the monsters he's had to battle..."

Ron's face went from pink to scarlet.

"Oh, I can believe it," Hagrid said. "This boy's made o' tough stuff, I always said. Bin that way since I firs' met 'im, he has. And that Malfoy character sure could attest to that, could'n' he?" He smiled again, shaking his head as he looked at them. "It's sure good ter see yeh two..."

"It�s so good to see you, too," Hermione said. "It�s been amazing being back here..."

"Hey, why don�t you join us, Hagrid?"

"Yeh sure?"

Ron nodded. "Of course! You were headed in there anyway, weren�t you? Let�s make a group of it, for old time�s sake..."

"Yeh sure?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course! We've love to catch up with you. Two years may not seem like a long time, but so much has happened."

Hagrid beamed, his beetle-eyes disappearing into a smile. "Well, yer on, then."

They walked into The Three Broomsticks, greeted instantly by the strong scent of butterbeer, and the din of boisterous patrons. For that short time outside, Harry had actually forgotten why he hadn't wanted to come here in the first place, until he turned his head and remembered instantly.

There they were, Ginny and Colin, sitting in a booth in the back corner of the room. From far away, he could see the familiar red hair, which she had swept up in a loose knot at the nape of her neck. His stomach gave an odd flutter at the sight of her, which he chose to ignore.

Until Hagrid had to ruin the attempt.

"Hey, Ron," he said, "Isn't that yer sister over there?"

So much for pretending they weren't here, Harry thought.

Ron squinted. "Yeah, that is her..." He started to walk in their direction. "Well good, she and Colin can join us-"

"Oh no, you don't!" Hermione tugged on his arm, pulling him back towards her.

"What?"

"Come on, they're having a nice romantic meal," she said. "Leave her be, for now... We can go see her later, after she's had a chance to spend some time with him."

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Harry heard Ron say under his breath.

Harry couldn't really blame him for the comment; at the moment, he felt strangely annoyed at Hermione too.

"Right then, this'll do," Hagrid said, pointing to a table that had just been cleared by one of the barmaids.

"It's been ages since I've been in here," Ron said, still looking around, as if to soak in the familiar surroundings. "Is Madam Rosmerta still running this place?"

Hagrid shook his head. "Retired last year," he said. "Her son's runnin' the place now."

"Oh... And Honeydukes--that's still around, right?"

Any attempt at subtlety on Ron�s part was completely lost on Harry and Hermione, and they both let out simultaneous laughs, earning them both annoyed glances from Ron.

"Yeah, that's still around," Hagrid said. "Fact, it's even bigger now than it was when yeh left school..."

Ron's eyebrows arched almost instantly. "Really," he said. "Interesting..."

"So, yeh two have a lot to catch me up on. Ron, I know all about yeh and your heroics--what about yeh, Hermione? I heard yeh went on to work at the Ministry, did yeh?"

"Yes, in the Muggle-Wizard Relations Department. Ron's dad started that a few years ago, and he convinced Nigel Grey to hire me right out of school."

Hagrid smiled. "Well, I always knew yeh'd make somethin' o' yourself, Hermione. I said ter Dumbledore, I says, 'That Hermione Granger, she'll be somethin' special, she will...'"

Harry was barely registering any of the conversation, nor did he pay much attention when the barmaid took their orders and brought their food. Every so often, he'd crane his neck ever so slightly to look around the several tables between theirs and Ginny's booth, hoping neither Ron, nor Hermione, nor Hagrid would notice. Ginny and Colin seemed to be oblivious to everyone around them. They seemed to be deep in conversation about something, but they were much too far away for Harry to pick up their voices or even read their lips.

What am I doing, he thought, catching himself. My best friends are here, and I'm sneaking looks at... He shook his head. No, I'm not doing this.

"Harry, what is it?" Hermione whispered. Ron and Hagrid were too busy talking about the monsters Ron had fought as an Auror to hear her, for which Harry was grateful; the last thing he wanted was for them to be concerned about him as well.

"What d'you mean?"

"You just seem awfully quiet, that's all... Is everything all right?"

Leave it to Hermione to notice something.

"Yeah, everything's okay."

"You sure?"

Harry laughed softly, in spite of himself. "I'm sure."

She squeezed his hand, a gesture he appreciated, though he couldn't tell her why.

Hagrid began to laugh again, causing their table to shake. "Yer jokin'! He finally did it?"

"Who finally did what?"

"I was telling him about Seamus and Lavender getting married, love," Ron said.

"I never would've thought it," Hagrid said. "All those years, it seemed like yeh two would be the first ter get married, not those two..."

Hermione smiled, a smile that would have probably looked perfectly normal to a complete stranger, but that Harry recognized as one she used only when she was trying to cover up something she was upset about. He looked over at Ron, who had a similar smile on his face, and even without asking, he knew instantly that a raw nerve had been struck by Hagrid's words.

"When are yeh two going ter make it official, eh?"

Something told Harry it was the wrong question to ask, and if it wasn�t the wrong question, it was certainly the wrong time to ask it.

Ron's face had reddened considerably in the span of only a few minutes, and he seemed to be thinking hard of a proper response, which Hermione must have noticed.

"Oh, Hagrid," she said softly, "now you've put us on the spot..."

"Ah, what're yeh waitin' for, everyone knows yeh two were made for each other--we all saw it from the beginnin', 'specially after Ron here found himself belchin' slugs for yeh..." He nudged Harry. "Isn't that right, Harry?"

Harry nodded, watching Ron's and Hermione's faces very carefully.

Ron looked as if he had finally thought of what to say, but never did get the chance to say it.

"Hey, wasn't anyone going to tell me my brother and his girlfriend had arrived?"

"Ginny!" Ron shot up from his chair and embraced her immediately. "I wanted to come over and ask you and Colin to join us, but, er... well, it looked like you two were having a romantic lunch, and... I was advised not to interfere."

She laughed and turned to Hermione. "That your doing?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course."

"Thanks for giving him that advice, then..."

Harry looked around, trying to be as subtle about it as he could be, but she seemed to be by herself now; Colin seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"So where's that boyfriend of yours, anyway?" Ron said, apparently thinking the same thing as Harry. "Didn't want to be around your big brother, did he?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ron..."

"Couldn't come here for a proper hello?"

"He had to go back to the paper. Honestly, Ron, you can be such a prat sometimes, you know that?"

"Look, I'm your big brother," he said. "It's part of my job description."

"I'll keep that in mind. So, when are you going to be gracing Harry's students with your presence, anyway?"

"Blimey, I forgot!" He turned to Harry. "We're not late, are we?"

Harry glanced at his watch, and when he looked back up, he noticed that Ginny had been watching him. "Er... no," he said, consciously making himself look at Ron. "We�ve still got about an hour and a half--but we should start heading back. I wanted to get some things ready first before the first class."

"Right..."

"I should be headin' back myself," Hagrid said, patting his stomach. "But I expect ter see yeh both again before yeh leave, hear?"

"You bet, Hagrid..."

"Oh, Hermione, wait," Ginny said. "Would you mind if we talked for a bit? I've got some time before my next class... We could stay here for a little longer..."

Hermione looked back at Ron. "Go on," she said softly. Whatever had just happened a few moments ago, there seemed to be a silent understanding between them now. "I'll walk back later with Ginny..."

She reached up and took his hand, giving it a small squeeze, as if in reassurance that they were okay. Ron smiled and nodded.

"I'll talk to you later," he said to Ginny, kissing her on the cheek. "You ready, Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry said, taking one last look at Ginny and Hermione before he followed Ron out the door, "right behind you..."

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