text version/Dustjacket by Kookie
Title: Universus Amor
Author: Devin
Email: franny122004@gmail.com
Website: http://dancing-through-life.com/
Rating: PG-13
Category: SAR
Keywords: R/Hr, H/G (very mild, you'll barely
notice it)
Spoilers: Goblet of Fire
Summary: The rest of their seventh year is
anything but boring. *Sequel to Hottie of
Hogwarts*
Disclaimer: JKR gets full credit for every
character and setting in this story, I had nothing
to do with those. (Are you shocked? No? Darn!)
Author's Note: You don't have to have read Hottie
but it's highly recommended ;). Thanks to Hermione
Weasley, Dessi, and Emma for being my awesome
betas!
An odd feeling had fallen over the school at a
time when there should have been nothing but
celebration.
Harry had done it. He'd defeated Voldemort and
this time there wasn't any doubt. They'd even
found the Dark Lord's body, if you could truly
call that body made by so many others' sacrifices
his.
No one, save the dynamic trio, actually knew what
happened, a few people knew bits and pieces, and
everyone suspected that Dumbledore guessed at the
rest.
A party had raged on for hours after the three had
transported back by portkey right into the middle
of the Quidditch Field. They had been quite a
sight.
Hermione, being the best off, was holding on to
the key and Ron. She was holding on to Ron because
his left arm was broken and with his right he was
trying to support Harry, who was unconscious and
half dead after his ordeal.
Once a week had passed, however, the reality of
all of those who had been lost set in. As the days
went by, more families seemed to have been torn
apart. A dark cloud settled over the school and
the heroes who could bring them out from under it
were in the hospital wing.
***
Hermione sat by Ron's bedside silently, having run
out of one-sided conversations to have over the
week. Looking back on it she wasn't sure how she
had missed the wound that would have bled
profusely had his hair not absorbed some of it.
She had been so scared when he had looked up at
her with such relief, knowing that it was all
over, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head
as he passed out.
She had tried to rouse him from his sudden sleep
but to no effect. So she sat there as part of a
strange chain, hoping that someone would notice
the sparks she had sent up.
Luckily it only took 10 minutes for half the
faculty to come running to the pitch.
Ron and Harry were both levitated to the hospital
wing but Hermione refused to be, preferring that
professor McGonogal help her walk there.
So now she sat here, between he two best friends
who seemed to refuse to wake.
Madame Pomfrey had tried to explain that there was
nothing she could do. That sometimes the body just
needs to rest and recuperate.
Hermione sighed and shifted in her seat. "You
can't leave me guys."
***
Ron was exhausted. He had spent all the time since
he'd been here keeping Harry from going towards
the white light. Fortunately there didn't seem to
be any magic in this in-between and Ron had the
height and weight advantage.
"You can't leave me guys," they heard Hermione's
voice say.
Ron got Harry in a chokehold and screamed at him,
"Do you hear her?" Harry stopped struggling for a
moment so he repeated his question, a little
gentler this time. "Do you hear her?" Harry nodded
reluctantly. "She doesn't want us to leave and we
both know that isn't a two-way portal. Now I know
you want to see your parents but you're not the
only one who has family on that side. Don't you
think I want to see Percy?" he spat defensively.
"But it's not time yet and the only way you're
getting through is by dragging me with you. I
should warn you though, I will hate you for
eternity for taking me away from Hermione too soon
and for breaking my sister's heart."
Harry stopped struggling completely now but still
looked undecided. He stared at the white portal
and then back at Ron. "It's not time yet, is it?"
he asked in a tone somewhere between resignation
and understanding.
It was the most Harry had said since they arrived
and it caused Ron to release a breath he hadn't
realized he'd been holding. He shook his head in
response, "No, it isn't."
Harry sighed sadly, "Okay," and with that one
simple word they began to walk back. Harry looked
behind them several times and Ron was afraid he
would have to try and catch him before he made a
break towards the light.
As they got closer to a different portal, the one
they had been hearing Hermione's voice emanating
from, it got harder and harder to move forward, as
if walking through sand.
When they finally reached the end they looked out
through the swirling vortex and saw a much bigger
drop than they anticipated and almost moved away.
But, after a split-second of indecision, both, not
saying a word, held their breath and jumped at the
same time.
***
Hermione wasn't sure what else to do. Defeated and
ready to give up for the night she started to head
to her own bed on the other side of Ron's when she
heard a collective gasp and both boys sat straight
up in their beds.
At first neither realized where they were but as
if by some sixth sense Ron's eyes were drawn
immediately to Hermione's.
He gave her a small grin, the biggest one he could
manage through the fog in his brain. "Hey Hermy."
She expected him to pass out again, judging by the
sheer exhaustion that was etched on his face, but
he didn't. He just kept looking her in the eyes
and when his gaze turned questioning she realized
she hadn't spoken yet.
Quickly deciding to remedy that, she walked over
to him and socked him in the arm. He didn't even
wince, which seemed to infuriate her more, so she
repeated the action several more times. "Don't
ever do that to me again."
Needing a way to pacify her before she broke his
newly healed arm he reached out on her next swing
and caught her wrist. "Hermione, I'm okay, you're
okay, and," he stopped here to glance over at
Harry and seeing that he was awake too continued,
"Harry's okay. It's over."
"It really is, isn't it?" They both turned at
Harry's question but only Ron recognized the
similarity to the one he'd asked earlier.
Ron wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist pulling
her to sit on his bed next to him, she leaned her
head on his shoulder and he answered, "Yeah, yeah
it is."
They started laughing, a sort of desperate laugh
of relief. They laughed until they cried and cried
until they laughed again.
Hermione was the first to fall asleep but both
boys weren't far behind. As Ron began to drift off
he heard Harry say, "Hey, Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
Ron smiled. "Anytime." He felt Hermione burrow
deeper into his embrace so he tightened his arms
around her. "Hey, Harry?"
"Yeah?"
He looked down at the crown of Hermione's head and
said, "Thanks."
Both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.
***
The next day they had a parade of visitors who had
finally convinced Madame Pomfrey to let them in.
The first was Ginny who immediately ran to Harry
and began hugging the life out of him while giving
him pretty much the same lecture as Hermione had
given Ron but added that she couldn't believe he'd
left her behind.
Harry looked like he couldn't take much more guilt
while she was describing how worried she'd been so
Ron decided to intervene by saying, "Hey, your
brother made it back too, you know."
He found it rather amusing that she did appear to
just have noticed that he and Hermione were in the
room. Her enthusiastic response did, at least
partially, make up for the fact that she hadn't
noticed.
Visitor upon visitor came in, some leaving sooner
than others, except for Ginny, who didn't leave
until six, when Madame Pomfrey forced her to.
***
The next day they were released and people swarmed
to them almost immediately. Sometimes each of them
separately but mostly only when they were all
together, wanting to get the whole story. It took
them forever to get anywhere but luckily classes
had been canceled for a week because the teachers
didn't think they were going to get any work out
of the students.
The only safe haven they found was in their
respective dorms, so, needless to say, this was
where most of their free time was spent.
The day after they were released from the hospital
wing Professor McGonogal came to tell them that
Dumbledore wanted to speak to the three of them.
They'd been dreading this moment because they knew
this would be a tell-all meeting. They walked
rather slowly behind their teacher and looked like
they were heading to their deaths.
"Sugar Quill," McGonogal said and the teenagers
trudged up the newly shown stairway. They paused
at the door but knowing that they couldn't put it
off anymore Harry reached out and opened it.
Dumbledore looked up when they walked in. They
were amazed by the drastic change in his
appearance. His face seemed to have lost some of
the years it had gained throughout the war, the
sparkle in his eyes, which had never completely
disappeared, seemed heightened, and the warm smile
that was a mixture of pride and possibly
amusement, probably at their expressions, altered
some of their nervousness. "Sit," he commanded and
gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.
They did as told, Hermione taking the middle chair
with Ron on her right and Harry on her left.
Dumbledore smiled kindly at them but the air of
seriousness around him was unmistakable. "I must
begin by telling you how impressed I am with all
of you. You accomplished something many feared
could never be done. I know that it must have been
traumatic for you but I must ask you to relay that
night's events. Once you have told me I will try
to limit the number of times you will have to
repeat it."
This was good news but the relief this brought
seemed overshadowed by the memories of that night.
However, they knew the same thing they knew before
entering the office, it couldn't be put this off
anymore.
The beginning was the best place to start.
"Originally they set out to find Harry but when
the Death Eaters couldn't find him they went after
who was rumored to be his secret keeper,
Hermione." Ron paused here trying to gather his
thoughts. "You know the town we were staying in
for the seventh year trip? Well we were walking
through it and..."
Hermione decided to take up the story. "They
surrounded us, we didn't even see them coming.
Neville and Dean were with us but the Death Eater
snuck up on us so quickly that they were able to
stun them almost immediately. There were just too
many of them."
She shuddered at the memory of all those hooded
figures but Ron took her hand and squeezed it
supportively and continued. "We managed to break
through their circle and started to try and get
back to the inn but they started appararating in
front of us in pairs. We overpowered some of them
but the third couple decided they'd had enough.
They hit both of us with the cruciatus curse. It
was like being thrown in a fire or having someone
remove every muscle in your body one by one. Both
of us were close to passing out from the pain when
the others showed up and stopped them."
"The man in charge, I'm pretty sure it was Malfoy,
turned the curse on the two Death Eaters and
yelled at them. They'd been ordered not to hurt
us. He walked over to us and checked on how badly
damaged we were. I think he was trying to appear
affectionate and trustworthy, something else he
was probably ordered to do, but it just came off
as strained and cold.
"They'd held the curse for so long that we were
both limp and unable to do anything but we could
still hear and see everything that was going on.
Malfoy ordered MacNair and Crabbe to pick us up.
Crabbe asked why they needed Ron when they knew I
was the secret keeper. Malfoy's only response was
because it was what their master wanted."
Ron interrupted their narrative to ask a question
that had been bugging him. "Why did they think
Hermione was Harry's secret keeper?"
Hermione stiffened at his question. She looked up
and met Dumbledore's eyes for the first time since
she had sat down. He gave her a look of
understanding and smiled slightly. "I believe Miss
Granger and Miss Weasley are responsible for that
particular rumor." Both boys' heads whipped toward
Hermione but were saved the trouble of asking for
an explanation by Dumbledore, who continued, "They
casually mentioned, when they knew that young Mr.
Malfoy would hear it, that she was Harry's secret
keeper. Do I guess correctly Miss Granger?"
She nodded but Ron still looked like he wanted to
know why.
"We had to, Ron. You were obviously the person
Harry would pick. They would have come after you
and I had to at least try and protect you," she
told him, her voice practically pleading with him
to understand.
"So you decided that they should go after you
instead," he retorted through gritted teeth.
His response angered her so when she answered it
was in a snapping voice. "I couldn't deal with the
possibility that I might have to visit your grave
or worse St. Mungo's and look into you eyes and
not see you in them, just some hollow shell, for
the rest of our lives. I needed to save you."
"So you decided to condemn me to the possibility
of having to visit you in one of those places?
Great plan!"
"Can you honestly say that if our roles were
reversed you wouldn't have done the same thing?"
He was stubbornly quiet for a minute even though
they all knew his answer. "No."
She looked away and said sadly, "It's not like it
worked anyway."
Dumbledore remained silent at this statement but
Harry couldn't. "What do you mean?"
A tear ran down her cheek but she quickly wiped it
away, no one commented but Hermione tightened her
hold on Ron's hand. "A lot of things happened
before you showed up, Harry."
"Vol... Voldemort hadn't wanted us hurt because he
had other plans. He wanted us to join him." Once
again the room rang with silence after such a
simple statement.
"Why?"
"Harry," Dumbledore said quietly, "you know why."
Harry nodded and swallowed harshly. "And what did
you tell him when he made his generous offer?"
Ron smiled but it was humorless. "Well we told him
where he could shove it."
"I bet he loved that," Harry commented with a
derisive snort.
"Strangely enough he didn't," Ron said in much the
same voice Harry had just used. "We could tell he
was angry but outwardly he remained calm. He told
us that was fine with him, that they had other
ways of getting what they wanted."
Hermione and Ron looked at each other, trying to
decide who would tell the next part. Hermione went
on. "They tied me to a chair and I felt someone
walk up behind me. Ron's eyes widened and he began
to struggle against the Death Eaters holding him
but he couldn't speak because they had put a
silencing charm on him. Then, Voldemort told
Wormtail, who apparently was the person behind me,
to make sure I watched and before I could even
contemplate what was going to happen they stated
to... to..."
"At first they just used the crusiatus curse but
then they must have gotten tired of it because
they decided they needed to try something else."
"I watched as MacNair came up behind him and took
his right arm in his hands but Ron was struggling
still so Goyle hit him across the back of his
head. Ron lost his balance and stopped struggling
slightly. MacNair twisted Ron's arm and I could
hear the bones breaking but that wasn't the only
thing I heard. I could hear *his* voice in my
head."
"Voldemort's?"
Hermione nodded and when Dumbledore didn't
question further she continued. "He kept repeating
for me to tell him where Harry was and I told him
I couldn't. MacNair twisted Ron's arm around
further and I tried to turn my head away so I
didn't have to see the bones that were starting to
look like the skin wasn't going to hold them much
longer but he yelled for Wormtail to keep my head
forward."
"That's when Harry showed up."
Harry paled slightly as he realized that it was
his turn to take up the story. "Well, I had been
forced into hiding because of a rumor that
Voldemort was going to try and kidnap me," he said
bitterly but at Dumbledore's raised eyebrow he
relented, "but Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had been
owling me everyday. All of a sudden they stopped
coming and then I got a letter from you telling me
that Hermione and Ron had been captured but not to
do anything because you had it under control. I
guess I didn't listen," he said almost bashfully.
"I tried to apparate but the closest I could get
was 3 miles away. It took me 20 or 30 minutes to
get there without being detected; I had to duck
out of sight a couple times. I actually made it in
the house but hadn't quite figured on how many
guards there would be. I almost made it in the
room before I got ambushed. They took me to where
Voldemort was holding Ron and Hermione. They
pushed me onto the floor next to Ron and then had
Wormtail bring Hermione over."
"They all started taunting us, using baby talk,
pulling on our hair or clothes and commenting on
them until Voldemort signaled for them to stop. I
swear he didn't do more than wave his hand, like a
conductor of a band." Hermione paused, not knowing
how to continue since the next part was a blur.
Ron saw her plight so he continued the story.
"Voldemort told the Death Eaters to give us back
our wands and to stand us up. He said if we were
going to pretend to be adults then we would die
like adults. It was all just a flurry of activity
after that. The Death Eaters started attacking us
and we fought back. We'd taken about half of them
out, I don't think we actually killed any of them,
when he got bored and yelled at them to stop. He
said they would pay later for disappointing him
but that he had to take care of 'Potter' once and
for all."
"He told me to step forward. At first I didn't, I
just stared him down but he wouldn't have any of
that. He pointed his wand at Hermione and again
told me to step forward. I didn't see it but Ron
must have stepped in front of her because
Voldemort said it didn't matter which 'sidekick'
he killed first.
"I stepped forward and took a dueling position but
he laughed harshly. He told me that he was shocked
I didn't remember that we couldn't kill each other
with our wands. I'd been hoping he'd forgotten
that, although I knew that technically that wasn't
true. If we cast spells against each other at the
same time it wouldn't work. Voldemort must have
known it too because when I moved to put down my
wand, as he indicated we both would do, he raised
his and used the killing curse but I'd been
expecting that so I threw up a blocking spell."
"Their wands locked the same way Harry told us
they had before. We were trapped inside the web
forming from their wands with them. The beads that
had formed were staying firmly in the middle of
the beam connecting the two wands but you could
tell both were exerting a lot of energy to get
them to the other's side."
"Slowly they began to move away from Harry.
Figures began to exit Voldemort's wand. Percy,"
Ron paused, swallowing a lump that had formed in
his throat, "was the first but then dozens more
followed until Harry's parents were there. Then
something weird happened. Hermione and I locked
hands and began saying a spell but I don't think I
ever knew what we were saying. It just sort of
happened."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "I have no idea what
we were saying but suddenly everything turned cold
except for one thing. These lights had shot out of
both of our bodies and had gone to form a sphere
over Harry's head. Then all of Voldemort's victims
were... sucked into it somehow. The sphere just
kept getting larger and brighter. Harry's parents
were the last to go into it. When they were added
it was so bright that everyone had to shield their
eyes. The sphere hung there for a second before
going into Harry and he started glowing just as
brightly as the sphere had."
"I felt this soothing warmth spread throughout my
entire body but almost as quickly as it had come
it was leaving through my wand hand. It went
across the connection but the closer it got to
Voldemort the more it turned from a blinding white
to a blood red. It went into him and he started
screaming in agony but I knew I still couldn't
break the connection. My scar felt like it was
trying to tear itself from my forehead."
"The screaming lasted a minute, maybe two, before
both dropped. The light left Voldemort and the
cold went away."
"The Death Eaters, who we had completely forgotten
about, attacked as soon as the net dropped. Ron
yelled for me to make a portkey as he tried to
hold some of them back."
"And that was it. We took the portkey back here
and were in the hospital unconscious for a week."
"Um, may I ask you something sir?" Hermione asked
tentatively. Dumbledore nodded encouragingly.
"What spell did we cast?" All three looked at
Dumbledore expectantly, waiting for an answer.
He smiled kindly at them. "First, I must ask you a
couple questions. Did the sphere continually
brighten and at the same rate as each victim was
added?"
"It always got brighter but by how much varied."
"And when was it the brightest?"
"When Harry's parents entered it."
"Harry, do you remember what I told you was the
one thing Voldemort couldn't understand?"
Harry nodded, "Love."
Understanding lit Hermione's face. "We couldn't
have... Professor?"
"It would seem that you did."
"What?" Ron and Harry asked.
"I believe that you preformed the universus amor
charm."
"What does that do?"
"It takes all the love felt towards a person and
literally gives all of it to that person, if for
just a brief period of time. It's only been
accomplished twice before this."
"How did we perform it without ever learning it?"
"That, I'm afraid, I cannot tell you."
***
One Week Later
Professor Tyler was exiting her classroom after
the last class of the day. Muggle Studies had
seemed boring even to her after the events of the
last couple weeks but, as Professor Dumbledore had
said, they had to go back to their old routines.
She was just locking up her classroom when a
redheaded young man, who she recognized as Ronald
Weasley, walked up to her, ignoring the giggles of
a couple girls as he past their admiring gazes.
"Professor?"
"Yes Mr. Weasley?"
"I need to know about a certain muggle tradition,"
he said casting a nervous look around. "Can I ask
you about it?"
"Of course," she said and reopened her classroom
and followed him in.
***
2 Days Later
"Harry, I'm telling you, I'm worried about him."
"And I'm telling you," Harry answered
exasperatedly, "there's nothing to worry about."
"The only way you would know that is if you knew
what was going on!" When he didn't meet her eyes
she knew she'd hit the nail on the head. "You
know?"
Harry was saved from answering by Ron coming into
the common room. "Hermy, stop yelling at Harry,
it's bad for his hearing," he playfully chastised
but only succeed in transferring her death glare
onto him. Harry took the opportunity, after giving
Ron a 'good luck' look, to leave.
"Ronald Bilius Weasley," she said, not even
noticing him cringe at the use of his middle name
and look around to see that there weren't that
many people to hear it, "you will tell me right
now what you and Harry are up to and why you have
been keeping me out of the loop."
"Hermione, nothing is going on. What makes you
think there is?"
"You're kidding me right?" He shook his head and
she groaned in frustration. "You honestly expect
me to believe that nothing is going on? When
you've been sending owls home constantly the last
few days? When you had Harry pull some stupid
diversion tactic yesterday when we were in
Hogsmead? Or when you continually have this stupid
secretive smile on your face?"
"Ha! I have an answer to one of those," he said
proudly and used one of his more disarming grins.
"I've been sending owls home constantly because my
mom threatened to send a howler if I didn't write
her daily to let her know I was still alive."
"And the diversion tactic and smile?" she asked
still not convinced that there wasn't something
going on.
"Hermy," he said affectionately, "I can't tell you
that, it's a secret." Before she could argue
further with him he leaned down and kissed her
thoroughly. When he pulled away he grinned down at
her. "Come on, we need to go to the library, I
don't get our potions essay."
Hermione groaned but let herself be dragged out of
the common room. "If you think you're off the hook
you're sorely mistaken. And why on earth isn't
your potion essay done already? You've had 3 days
to do it."
***
2 Weeks Later
Hermione looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She'd put her hair up in a bun, the same way she
had for the last ball that had been held at
Hogwarts, and she was wearing a little make-up,
since Parvati and Lavender had insisted that she
at least wear some. She went through her mental
checklist and found that she was indeed ready.
She walked down the stairs to the common room and
saw Ron sitting on the couch looking over a letter
as he waited for her. She cleared her throat and
his head snapped in her direction. His mouth fell
open slightly but he quickly shut it again, she
took this as a good sign.
"Wow."
A giggle escaped her lips. "Back at you."
"You ready?" he asked after he stood up and walked
over to her.
She took the arm he offered her and nodded. They
walked down to the Great Hall together, like they
should have the last time.
***
The only thing note worthy about the ball was it's
lack of anything note worthy. Everyone had a good
time, everyone danced except for a couple of wall
flowers who hadn't wanted to come but their
friends had insisted. Teachers had to break a few
couples apart that were dancing to closely for a
school dance but that was the only controversy.
All of the Gryffindor seventh years, and some
younger students who had been asked by seventh
years, trudged up to Gryffindor Tower completely
exhausted.
At the foot of the stairs Ron and Harry said
goodnight to Hermione and Ginny and then headed up
to their dorm where Neville, Seamus, and Dean were
already fast asleep and snoring at different
volume levels.
"You didn't talk to her about it did you?"
"I told you Harry, I'll talk to her about it at
graduation."
***
3 Days Later (2 Days Until Graduation)
Ron had butterflies in his stomach and didn't know
how to get rid of them. Graduation was coming too
fast. 'This is just perfect. Trust me to take the
day I've been looking forward to for seven years
and make it even more stressful than it has to
be.'
Families were showing up tomorrow so they could be
there for the ceremony that would be held early
the next day. His parents and all of his brothers
were going to be here around noon. Hermione's
parents were coming on the Hogwarts express around
nine and she was tearing her hair out trying to
make sure that everything was impeccable when they
arrived. Even Harry had someone coming, though
thank Merlin the Dursleys had turned down the
invitation. Lupin would be there around the same
time as the Weasleys.
Ron was about to go try and find something to keep
himself occupied and his thoughts away from the
next couple of days when Hermione came bursting
into his room. She didn't say anything but barely
made it into his arms before she started crying.
He held her for a few minutes not saying anything
even though he was utterly confused. Eventually
her sobs turned to hiccupping sniffles. He pulled
back slightly and wiped her eyes.
"What's going on?"
"We're graduating."
He waited for her to explain further but she
didn't. "And you'll miss the homework?"
She punched him in the arm, "No you git."
"Then what, Hermione? You're going to have to help
me out here at least a little."
A single tear streamed down her face but she
didn't notice or bother to wipe it away. "I'm
never going to see you or Harry again."
"What?" he asked a little louder than he meant to.
"You heard me Ron."
"Oh I heard you but what I want to know is where
you came up with a daft idea like that?"
"Everyone says that they're going to keep in touch
after graduation but no one ever does. Life gets
in the way and people drift apart."
Ron shook his head in disbelief and cupped her
face in his hands, stroking her cheeks with his
thumbs. "Do you have any idea how sure I am that
will not happen to us?" He kissed her forehead,
both cheeks, and then her mouth. He whispered
against her lips, "I love you and I was going to
wait until after graduation to ask you this but I
think you need to hear this now."
He walked over to his nightstand and pulled out
something that she couldn't decipher from where
she was sitting. He walked back and kneeled in
front of her. Her breath hitched as she realized
what was happening and she couldn't stop the tears
from flowing again.
"I had this whole big speech planned, I even
research muggle traditions for it, but it doesn't
seem to fit anymore so I'm just going to just ask
you," as he said this he open the box in his hand.
Hermione's heart stopped and then started to speed
up when she saw it contained a ring. Not just a
ring, the ring. "Will you marry me?"
She stared in shock at the ring. "How did you..."
"When I owled your parents to tell them what I was
planning on asking you they sent me this story
that you had written when you were ten where most
of the story was devoted to describing the ring.
It made knowing what kind of ring to get you a lot
easier. But um... Hermione?" he asked, still
waiting for an answer.
"Yes."
"Yes?"
She laughed and a smile split her face and she
nodded. A matching smile appeared on his face as
he slipped the ring on her finger. She pulled him
into a kiss and whispered in the same way he had
to her, "I love you too."
***
Next Day (Parents Arrive, 1 Day Until Graduation)
Hermione ran all the way back to Gryffindor Tower
after making sure that her parents were settled
in. She didn't say hello to Neville or Ginny as
they called after her. She made it into the common
room and found Ron and Harry sitting on the couch
playing chess.
"We... can't... tell... my parents... yet," she
huffed out.
Both boys looked at her oddly. "Why not? It's
hardly a secret, I already owled them asking about
it, remember?"
"I know but they just told me they have big new
and I don't want to steal their thunder."
"Hermy, we can't not tell them. Then we wouldn't
be able to tell my parents either and then when
they all find out they'll skin us alive for not
telling them right away."
"Actually, no one thought you were going to pop
the question until graduation," Harry chimed in.
"You could give them a day for their news and then
act like Ron asked you when he meant to."
"How did they not see your finger?"
"I had my hands in my pockets."
"Oh great. Now if you can just keep them like that
for the next 24 hours everything should be fine."
Hermione tossed a pillow at Ron's head as she
walked behind the couch but he ducked and it got
Harry in the face instead.
***
Graduation Day
The Great Hall was filled with seventh years and
their families. The house tables had been removed
and now there were chairs for each person. The
staff table had also been removed and had been
replaced with a stage set up.
Dumbledore stepped forward and said, "I will not
bore you with a speech because today that is not
my job. Normally you would hear three speeches.
One from the Head Girl, one from the Head Boy, and
one from the valedictorian but seeing as the Head
Girl and valedictorian are the same person we will
not ask her to make two speeches." This earned
various volumes of chuckling from the crowd. "Once
they have delivered their speeches the diplomas
will be handed out by your Heads of House."
Cheers resounded through the hall at the mere
mention of diplomas and then the ceremony began.
***
Ron walked out onto the school grounds and looked
around. He spotted Hermione sitting on a rock near
the lake and walked over to her as quietly as he
could trying not to break the spell of
concentration she was obviously under.
"So my parents told me their big new," Hermione
said quietly. Her eyes never left the lake so Ron
wasn't sure how she knew he was coming but he
decided not to question it.
"Yeah? What was it?"
"My mum's pregnant." He couldn't tell if she was
happy or saddened by this news so he remained
silent. "I'm going to be a big sister," she said
more to herself than to him.
"That's a good thing, right?"
"I don't know. It's just kind of one more thing
that reminds me I'm not a little kid anymore."
"Hermy," he said affectionately and with a slight
twinge of humor in his voice, "we haven't been
kids since we were thirteen."
She snorted, "Oh really?"
"Oh come on. How many kids do you know that have
to face off a convict, a werewolf, and a murderer
in one night?"
"That is a very select group."
He tugged on her arm until she hopped off the rock
and he started leading her back toward the castle.
"So should we talk to our parents separately or
together?"
"Together," she said and they both knew she meant
more than the talk.
The End
Author's Note: Wow, you actually made it through
this? Thanks! It was a lot longer than I intended
it to be but I pretty much got everything in there
I wanted to cover for this one. So next I'm
thinking either a sequel to this or a prequel to
Hottie. How they got together or life after
Hogwarts? If you have an opinion please tell me!
:D Oh! If anyone was curious 'Universus Amor' is
Latin for combined love.
