'Oh, no, that's not fair,' she protested, feeling her face burning.
'Come on, answer the question. Why do you love me?'
Hermione felt the words spilling out of her mouth uncontrollably. 'I love you because-'
And then Harry's hand was over her mouth. She heard him say
'Finite incantatum,' and felt the pain behind her ribcage vanish.
She glanced up and saw Harry looking down at her, not smiling any more, but not angry either. 'I'm sorry,' he said, taking his hand away from her mouth. 'That was unfair.'
'I deserved it,' she said. 'And a lot more than that.'
'Did it hurt?'
She set her jaw. 'It doesn't matter. Nothing matters except that you believe me. Do you believe me?'
He nodded. 'Yeah, I do, I actually do.' He reached out and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on top of her head. She could smell the familiar smell of soap, and the cold night air caught in his clothes. 'As long as you really think there's a counterspell…'
She tilted her chin up and looked at him determinedly. 'I have to.'
'I know.'
'Harry, I…'
But she couldn't find the words to express what she wanted to say, the importance and the seriousness of how very much she loved him. So she reached up and put her hands on his shoulders, pulled him towards her and kissed him — tentatively at first, since she had rarely kissed him before, usually she waited to be kissed — and then with greater urgency, standing up on tip-toe to get as close to him as possible. She felt his hands slide down to her waist, and then he had lifted her up and she was sitting on the desk and he was kissing her back, kissing her so hard it almost hurt. She felt him push her back until she was nearly lying down on the desk, felt his hands slide up to work the buttons free on her cardigan sweater —
Crash!
Hermione jumped at the sudden explosive shattering noise, nearly falling off the desk in her astonishment. 'What was that?' she breathed against Harry's shoulder. 'Was that some kind of… Magid thing?'
She felt Harry laugh softly. 'Not exactly,' he said, propping himself up on his elbows and looking down at her. 'You knocked a paperweight off the desk.'
'Oh,' said Hermione, turning pink. 'I guess I got a little overenthusiastic. Sorry.'
'I have that effect on women,' said Harry, looking modest.
'You certainly have that effect on me.'
Harry blushed. That was the difference between him and Draco, Hermione thought, not critically, but with interest. Draco wouldn't have blushed.
'That wasn't even my best effort,' Harry said.
'Is that a fact,' replied Hermione. She reached out and gently removed his glasses, placing them carefully on the side of the desk.
Then she hooked her arm around the back of his neck and pulled him down to her. 'Let's see your best effort, then, shall we?'
Narcissa shut the door of the library hurriedly and turned to face the Weasley parents, Ron, and Ginny, who were all looking at her with polite curiosity.
'Er,' she said. 'I think it's best if we come back in a bit.'
'Is Harry not there?' asked Mrs. Weasley, pink with motherly concern. 'I wanted to see him — '
'They're talking,' said Narcissa, stepping away from the doorway and starting to walk down the hall. 'Best to give them a bit of privacy.' She glanced back and saw the Weasley parents following her, looking curious. 'They had a bit of an argument,' Narcissa explained. 'You know how teenage couples are. They fight, they make up — best to let them talk it over and we can come back later and see how they've made out.'
She heard a snort of laughter from behind them that was most likely Ron, and felt her cheeks turn pink. Oh, dear, she thought. That didn't come out right at all.
'How long do we have?' the smoky form of Dumbledore asked Snape, looking politely curious.
'The potion should allow you to speak with us for about ten minutes,' said Snape tersely. 'Maybe a few more than that. And it can only be used once.'
Sirius could have sworn he saw Dumbledore's eyes twinkle. 'Then we had better get started.'
'Headmaster,' Sirius asked, urgently. 'Do you know who attacked you?'
'A very powerful dark wizard,' said Dumbledore. 'Not, I suspect, Voldemort.'
'Do you think it was Slytherin?' asked Sirius, conscious of the incredulous look that Snape darted towards him, and the even more incredulous look on his face when Dumbledore said:
'It could well have been. So little is factually known about Slytherin, it is hard to say. Our assailant was hooded, disguised as a Dementor.
He was certainly very powerful, although I do believe I could have held him off if it had not been for Cornelius trying to play the hero.' Dumbledore's voice was regretful. 'Poor Cornelius.'
'He was a fool,' hissed Snape. 'And he nearly got you killed, Headmaster.'
'Now, Severus,' said Dumbledore admonishingly, and Snape subsided. 'I did not see the wizard's face,' Dumbledore continued.
'Not that it would matter, since he is surely capable of disguising himself, and besides, no one but Draco or
