Magic Never Dies (Harmione)

Chapter 18

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Harry woke to the sense of something moving close by. Hermione was curled warmly against him, ruling her at least right out... and it would have been her he most preferred; none of the alternatives that immediately broached his sleep-stunned brain were really all that appealing.

He reached behind his head for his wand and pointed, tracking the sound. His eyes at last made out an indeterminate form moving within the relentless dark, but as he prepared to hex whatever it was, he heard the sound of a boot connecting solidly with rock and a stifled "bloody, bloody bloody hell."

"Merlin, Ron," he whispered in relief. "Quit creeping around. I almost hexed your stones off."

He heard a grumbled lumos minima and the tip of Ron's wand glowed faintly, bobbing up and down as he hopped and cursed. Harry blinked into the light and met Ron's eyes; he saw Ron take in Hermione's satiated sprawl on his chest and drop his foot to raise the wand with quick strangled sound.

"Er, sorry, Harry, I hate to do this now and all, but there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Something that really, really can't wait until morning, right?" Harry asked tiredly.

"Well, yeah." Ron said. "Sorry. I really think you'll want to know."

"Before I move, it's not you forgot the words to a certain charm or anything, something I can tell you all warm and comfortable right here?"

"Right, look, just get your randy arse up will you? Whatever fire you and Hermione had to go put out is your own business; I'm not going to do... that on a first date or anything," Ron growled.

Harry sighed, squirmed free of the comfort of Hermione's entangling limbs and began scrambling about for his clothes. She made a soft murmur of protest and curled tighter into herself in reaction to losing his warmth and his heart seemed to physically contract within his chest. This had better be good.

"Ron, is it even possible to have a first date with Luna? She's probably two steps ahead of you already," he whispered.

"Probably not," admitted Ron, shielding the light from Hermione's eyes but lowering it so Harry could pull on his jeans and shove his feet into boots. As he pulled his sweatshirt over his head he heard, "Lavender was always two steps ahead of me. Luna's ten, at least. She's just far nicer about it."

Harry started to follow Ron out of the back cavern but paused; he hoped he'd be returning quickly, but didn't like the idea of leaving Hermione alone to wake in the pitch dark. He turned and swiftly made his way back to where she lay, drawing the cloak more closely around her and murmuring a warming charm. He found her wand and placed it closer, within easy reach. Last of all, he found a small fist-sized stone and closed his fingers around it, focusing hard on what he wanted; a combination of a simple charm to make the stone give off a comforting glow and another to make a corresponding pebble grow warm in his pocket if she woke and touched it. He opened his fingers to the pale, greenish glow of success and set it down within easy reach, brushing her forehead with his lips as he did. He rose from his crouch and turned to catch up with Ron only to find him waiting and watching.

"That was nice... er, nice thing to do, Harry," Ron mumbled as he turned and led the way. Harry said nothing, but grinned to himself in the darkness. Ron taking a fancy to Luna had the potential to take all kinds of heat off of him.