A Single Moment

"How’s it going?” Harry asked, shutting the door to the practice room behind him.

“Terrible,” Lavender snapped. She was tired, sweaty, and felt profoundly uncomfortable after two days of Ginny attacking her mind with Legilimency; there were some things in her memory she really didn’t want anyone knowing, although Ginny hadn’t reacted to anything, or mentioned any memories at all. Plus, she was sore all over from the countless times she’d fallen to the floor. “Can’t I just learn Legilimency and skip Occlumency? I don’t think Professor Trelawney is going to try to read my thoughts!”

“Maybe not, but once you have a hint of the memory in your head you’ll need some protection to keep people from realizing,” Harry pointed out, walking over to the two girls. “Besides, Legilimency and Occlumency go hand in hand; I found out the hard way that it’s easier to learn them if you’re working on both at once.”

“But I’m just not making any progress!” Lavender complained, very aware of how whiny she sounded and not really caring.

“Yes you are,” Ginny retorted, frowning at Lavender. “You almost threw me off completely an hour ago!”

“Really?” Harry asked, surprised. “That’s pretty good, Lavender – it took me a lot longer before I could do that.”

“Well, you had a lousy teacher, didn’t you,” Lavender muttered.

“Yeah, Snape taught Occlumency the same way he taught Potions and Defense: badly. Are you saying Ginny’s a good teacher?” Harry asked with a smirk.

Lavender smiled a bit as Ginny blushed. “Yeah, she’s pretty good. I think I get the theory now, the book Hermione gave me didn’t really explain it very well…but practicing has helped loads, even if my head does feel like it has a bunch of holes in it.”

“With something like this, the best way to learn is really to practice,” Harry agreed, drawing his wand. “Ready to try it against me?”

“Er…”Lavender hesitated nervously. Harry was quite good at Legilimency and Occlumency now, and everyone knew he’d been the best at Hogwarts in Defense Against the Dark Arts. “I’m not sure…”

“We’ll try your Legilimency first,” Harry suggested. “See if you can get anything from me.”

Lavender glanced at Ginny, who nodded encouragingly and backed away to give them room. Lavender straightened up; “Right,” she said, raising her wand. “Ready?”

“Don’t ask if I’m ready,” Harry corrected. “You’re not going to tell Professor Trelawney ahead of time what you’re-”

“Legilimens!” Lavender incanted, and was suddenly struck by a clear image – Harry, his forehead racked with pain, peering through his tears at the blank-eyed corpse of Cedric Diggory. She stared in horror for a moment before a wrench thrust her out of the memory; she found herself on her knees, while Harry was still standing – barely. “Wh- wh-” she stammered.

“You broke right through my defenses,” Harry told her, sounding a bit shaky. “I wasn’t completely ready, but neither would anyone else be. I need to practice some more, I guess. That was very, very good, Lavender.”

Harry was clearly trying to be nonchalant, but Lavender couldn’t just let go what she’d seen. “D-do you th-think about that a lot?” she asked weakly.

Harry stared blankly at her for a moment. “It’s never far from my mind,” he said finally. “Uh…maybe we should wait on testing your Occlumency so you have time to calm down a bit.”

Lavender gaped at Harry; so she could calm down? He was the one with the image of a dead student’s blank stare in the back of his mind all the time! And Diggory wasn’t the only person Harry had seen die… “No,” she said, scrambling back to her feet. “I want to try now.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Lavender insisted, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly to help her focus, like Ginny had shown her. She carefully concentrated until her emotions settled, and she felt a ‘distance’ from the rest of the world. “All right,” she said. “Do it.”

“ Legilimens!”

It was Sixth Year, and Lavender was letting Ron put his hand up her shirt… she was nine, sobbing and begging her father not to put down the sick old kneazle she’d raised from a cub… First Year, she and Parvati were teasing Hermione viciously, making her cry… No, no, NO! Get out of my MIND!

Lavender felt the spell break, and abruptly was back in the practice room. Somehow she’d managed to remain standing, but Harry had fallen on his arse, and was shaking his head while Ginny kneeled next to him concernedly. “Did- did I do it?” Lavender asked hopefully.

“Yeah, you did,” Harry confirmed as Ginny helped him up. “You managed to push me out. Good job, Ginny’s the only other person to manage that with me so far.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You still have a ways to go,” Harry told her. “I did get through, and I waited until you were ready; ideally you’ll be able to stop me getting anything at all, eventually. But when you pushed me out it was so forceful it had a physical reaction. Considering you only started trying Occlumency two days ago, that’s really good.”

“Will I be ready in just two weeks?” Parvati asked skeptically. “It’s not a lot of time, and I don’t want to hurt Professor Trelawney!”

“I think-” Harry started, but paused, when there was a furious pounding on the door. “What in Merlin’s name-?” Harry jogged over to the door and pulled it open, and Lee darted in, wide-eyed and out of breath. “Lee? What’s wrong?”

“Harry- in the shop-” Lee gasped. “Hermione’s parents! They’re demanding to see her, making a big scene- I think they know that she was Cursed-”

“Oh, hell,” Harry gasped. “Quick, run back, and you and Fred and George stall them, any way you can!” Lee nodded and ran back out of the room and headed for the stairs. “Ginny, Lavender, come on, we’ll need help-”

“What’s the big deal?” Lavender asked breathlessly as she followed Harry and Ginny upstairs to the bedrooms. “Hermione can just go see her parents and tell them she’s fine…”

“Hermione’s parents think she’s living above Fred and George’s shop, remember?” Ginny said quickly. “They can’t just have a chat in the middle of the shop, the Grangers will want to see where she’s staying!”

“Plus I’ll bet they’ll want a few words in private about her suddenly being engaged to Ron when they didn’t even know about Ron and Hermione dating,” Harry added.

“What difference does that make?” Lavender said angrily as they reached Ron and Hermione’s room. “Hermione’s of age!”

“It’ll look suspicious if Hermione isn’t living where she told her parents she’d be,” Ginny said. “They’ll be suspicious enough about Hermione’s quick engagement.”

Lavender, is Parvati here today?” Harry asked quickly.

“Er- yes, she should be in our room…”

“Go get her and come back here right away,” Harry ordered.

Looking completely bewildered, Lavender ran off. Harry knocked hard on the door; after a few seconds Ron opened it. “Er…hey, what’s up?” he asked.

Harry and Ginny manhandled Ron inside and Harry quickly explained to him and Hermione what was going on; Hermione looked shocked, and a bit frightened. “Oh no! I have to get over to Fred and George’s flat, right away!”

Ron and Hermione, at least, immediately understood Harry’s concerns. They, Harry and Ginny quickly cast a number of spells to collect Hermione’s belongings, and shrink and lighten them for easy transport. Lavender arrived with Parvati and they watched in mounting confusion. In only about two minutes, Hermione’s room was almost completely bare; only the bed remained. “We can transform one of the beds over there,” Hermione insisted, sounding completely flustered.

Ron scooped up Hermione and the six of them headed down the stairs until they reached the kitchen fireplace. “I’ll go over first to see if it’s okay,” Ginny said quickly. She grabbed a small handful of Floo powder from the mantel and tossed it into the fireplace. “Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes!” she shouted, and disappeared in a roar of green flame.

Harry explained what was going on to Parvati. “I want you two to help us set up the room,” he explained. “We need to make it look lived-in…like Hermione and Ron have been living there together for months. And we have to do it as quickly as possible, got it?”

The girls nodded their understanding just as Ginny came shooting out of the fire. “Fred and George are sweet-talking your parents,” she said to Hermione, “but it’s not going to last long. The back room is clear, we can Apparate to outside the flat from there.”

They wasted no time in Flooing to the back room of the shop; Hermione clung tightly to Ron since her lack of strength made her unable to ‘guide’ where she was going. However, the moment they were on their feet again she Apparated herself and Ron to the second-floor landing outside the twins’ flat. “Whoa,” Ron said in shock. “Did you mean to do that?”

“Not- not exactly,” Hermione responded, a bit perplexed. “I meant to Apparate, and just as I was doing it I realized that you needed to be there when I arrived…”

They didn’t have time to dwell on the odd occurrence. The raised voices of Hermione’s parents could be heard even from the landing. Ginny had surreptitiously gotten the key from Fred and let them all in. Harry glanced around quickly, and then pointed. “That’s the spare bedroom,” he said. “We’ll use that one.”

It was a miracle that they managed to arrange the room without someone getting badly hurt; Harry was Enlarging the room at the same time Ginny and Hermione were restoring the furniture and belongings to their original state, and Ron, Lavender and Parvati were sorting what would go where. Just as Harry finished the Enlargement Ron managed to drop a bookcase on his foot; Harry Levitated the bookcase and Ginny stopped what she was doing long enough to cast a Healing Charm on Ron’s foot.

In two minutes and forty seconds Lavender and Parvati were putting the last touches on some details; Parvati was rearranging some of Hermione’s books so it looked like they were rifled through more frequently, and Lavender was tossing a few of Ron’s shirts about. Hermione watched from atop the recently-Enlarged bed, Harry and Ron beside it, staying out of Lavender and Parvati’s way. Ginny was casting a few quick Charms on Hermione, making he appear less flustered. “Looks about right,” Ron said critically once Parvati and Lavender were finished.

“What about a Cannons poster?” Lavender suggested, slightly out of breath.

“No time, it’s been too long already!” Harry said. “Hermione, how do you want to-?”

“Just bring them up,” Hermione said tensely, clutching Ron’s arm. “And all of you, please stay, all right?”

“Even us?” Parvati asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Hermione confirmed with a nod. “The Curse I was hit with will seem less significant if my parents find me chatting happily with friends.”

Lavender looked pleasantly surprised at Hermione’s calling her a friend. “Plus, your getting engaged won’t look like you’re just going with what Ron says if you’re clearly holding your own with all of us,” Harry added. “Good thinking. Ginny, will you go get the Grangers? Say you were just about to come up here and join us when you heard them shouting.”

“Right,” Ginny said, and left without hesitation. The others arranged themselves so it seemed like they’d been there for a while. Ron seated himself behind Hermione so she could lean back against his chest. Parvati and Lavender sat cross-legged at the end of the bed. Harry sat on a comfy chair next to the bed, with a matching chair beside him as though he were anticipating Ginny’s arrival.

They were all silent for a moment. “Er- listen,” Harry said to Ron finally, “I was thinking…maybe it would be a good idea if- if we sort of let slip to Hermione’s parents that you’d, um, come into a bunch of money. Maybe they’d be happier if they know you can provide for Hermione…?”

Ron glared at Harry. “I can’t though,” he said sharply. “Not yet anyway. But I won’t lie about it.”

“Ron,” Hermione said softly, “I think Harry is trying to tell you that you can now.”

Harry nodded; “You can call it an early wedding present-”

Ron’s glare grew more intense. “Forget it. I’m not taking your money!”

“Stop being so sensitive about being poor, will you?” Harry said hotly. “I’ve never cared about your family not having money and I’m not about to start! You already have access to Sirius’ vault, what difference does it make if the money’s in your name? If you won’t take it then I’ll offer the same thing to Hermione, and I bet she’ll accept it!”

“I will,” Hermione agreed instantly, winking at Parvati and Lavender, who tried not to smirk.

Ron scowled at Harry, but finally dropped his eyes. “Oh, fine,” he grumbled. “But I’ll never hear the end of it from Fred and George.”

“Fred and George only got their shop off the ground thanks to me giving them my Tri-Wizard Tournament winnings,” Harry pointed out. “They’ve got nothing to get on you about.”

“Besides, what, may I ask, is wrong with accepting a gift from a friend?” Hermione asked Ron. “Your friends happen to be worth ten thousand times more than your brothers’ friends, and not just in money. That’s something for you to be proud of.”

Harry and Ron both blushed. “Yeah, all right,” Ron grumbled, trying not to look too pleased. “Er…what do we have to do?”

“Come with me and Ginny to Gringott's later today,” Harry said with a smile, “and we’ll get it set up.”