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Chapter 9

Sirius held back a sigh as more sound came from the room on the other side of the suite. Sometime yesterday afternoon Remus and Harry had disappeared and hadn't been seen since. Snape had tossed a snapped "What do you think they're doing, Black!" at him before he had gone into their shared bedroom. Having spent the rest of the day waiting for his friend and godson to appear, he had stewed in his own thoughts.

Finally Snape came out and ordered dinner, ignoring Sirius for the most part.

Only when the food came did Sirius get off the sofa. He knew he was sulking, but.... He had suggested this vacation for all three of them to be able to relax with each other, without the threat of anything hanging over them. Having Snape along hadn't been as bad as he thought it was, and actually had distracted him from what was going on.

Now it was time for breakfast, and Sirius was getting worried. While he had been trying to fall asleep, he'd come to the revelation that both of them had been ready for the next step in their relationship, and Sirius didn't figure into it. A part of him was jealous about the attention they paid to each other even as the rest of him scolded for thinking such thoughts.

Sitting across from Snape as they dug into breakfast, his eyes kept on looking towards the door to Remus and Harry's room, and while he was impatient for them to come out, he wasn't sure what his reaction would be. Should he tease them or just leave them alone?

"You think too loud, Black," Snape said, the first words he'd uttered this morning. "They'll come out when they're ready."

Sirius eyed him thoughtfully. He wondered just when Snape had taken the time to get over his hatred for both Remus and Harry enough to not care one way or the other about their relationship. It was intriguing, and if there was one thing Sirius couldn't stand, it was an unsolved mystery. One of these days he'd find out just how the Potions Master thought.

The door opened across from where Sirius was sitting, giving him the perfect spot to see Remus and Harry step out of their room. While both of them were smiling broadly, neither of them were acting any differently than they had been the rest of the time they had been here on the island. Seeing that, Sirius decided he would act just like he had yesterday morning and the days before that – tease them a little and then discuss what they were going to do for the day.

"Sleep well?" he asked. He was rewarded by a slight flush on both of their cheeks. Sirius pretended he didn't see them as he refilled his plate. "So, what did you want to do today?"

Harry sat down next to Sirius and poured a cup of coffee, handing it to Remus as the older man seated himself next to him. "There's that restaurant on the other side that you were saying you wanted to go to, Sirius. We could make a day out of it, if we cruise around that area."

Remus nodded. "What do you think, Severus?"

Sirius watched as Snape considered the idea. Looking at him, he thought that Snape seemed tired today, more so than he usually was.

Just as he was about to suggest they do something else, Snape nodded. "It sounds good." Sirius was surprised, but didn't let it show as he continued to eat. As they discussed their plans, he vowed to himself that he would make sure Snape didn't exhaust himself. Even if he was up to it mentally, his body hadn't quite adapted to half of it being out of commission.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry sat heavily on the couch, dropping the bags he had been carrying most of the day. All four of them had found the day quite enjoyable, but now it was late in the evening and all he wanted to do was go to bed. He wasn't sure if he was up to doing anything with Remus beyond cuddling, but he was ready to retire for the night.

Sirius dragged himself over to the couch and plopped down next to his godson, propping his feet up on the low table. "That was fun," he said in a tired voice.

Harry nodded, not willing to put forth the effort to vocally answer.

Remus entered the common lounge in the suite, coming from Sirius and Snape's room. He had gone in there with Snape to help the other man put his purchase away. Harry watched as his lover puttered around the room, gathering together all the bags and then separating them according to whose they were, wondering where he had gotten this last burst of energy.

"Remy," Sirius called to him. "Why don't you sit down? We can do that in the morning."

Remus shook his head. Harry saw that he had an odd look on his face, as if he wasn't sure what was happening. "I don't know. Something's not right."

Harry frowned. He thought he had been imagining that feeling all day, and had dismissed it as being excited about what they had been doing. But halfway through dinner something had really felt wrong. His thoughts, however, had been distracted by the waiter stopping by to see if they would want dessert and hadn't thought of it since. Now that Remus had brought it up, the feeling was getting worse.

Not sure of what it was, all three spent the next hour speculating what it could be. Finally they gave up and went to bed. They had two more days to enjoy their stay, and they wanted to make sure they were rested enough for it.

The next morning he woke up to a smiling Remus, his hand holding a card.

"What's this?" he asked as he sat up, the sheet falling to his waist.

Remus didn't answer, choosing to look at Harry's bare chest.

"Remy?"

The older man pulled his eyes to Harry's and he could read lust there. "Happy Birthday, Harry."

Harry grinned. "I've never had a present like this before," he said slyly, opening the card.

Remus shuffled sideways, moving to sit side by side with Harry as he read the card.

"Happy Birthday, indeed," Harry said as he tossed the card to the floor and pulled Remus down onto the bed, ignoring the owls lined up on the windowsill.

******

Hedwig flew in the window, just as they were piling their luggage together for the journey home. There was a large bundle tied to her leg, and she seemed quite anxious. Frowning, Remus watched as Harry pulled it off her leg and starting reading.

"Fuck!" Harry's shout startled the other three in the room.

Remus walked over to him and looked over his shoulder. The top parchment he held was a letter from Ron, but under it he could see a news clipping from The Daily Prophet. His eyes scanned the letter, and pretty soon an expletive left his mouth.

"What is it, Remy?" Sirius asked.

Harry looked up from the letter and handed it to Remus so that he could finish reading.

"Hermione's...." he stated in a dull voice.

Remus lifted his eyes from the parchment to find that Harry's face had paled and he was swaying slightly. "Harry?"

Sirius was next to the younger man in an instant, guiding him towards one of the large chairs that were opposite the couch.

"What does it say, Lupin?" Snape asked as he watched the other two.

Remus looked over the article briefly before handing it to Snape. "According to Ron's letter, Hermione broke off the engagement after Ron told her about his brother Charlie."

"What did that particular Weasley have to do with this?" Snape wanted to know.

"Charlie's been seeing that Eric guy for a year," Harry supplied, his voice fairly monotone. "We were talking before Ron and Hermione... announced their engagement." He gave a mad sort of laugh that worried Remus. "I guess Ron doesn't have to choose anymore."

"Choose?" Sirius looked a little confused.

Remus answered. "Ron told Harry that Hermione was making him choose between her and Harry."

Snape sucked in a breath, but Remus was certain he was the only one to notice. A small part of him wondered if Snape wasn't of the same persuasion as the rest of them but dismissed it. Snape had never dated anybody when they were in school, and he couldn't remember anybody talking about Snape in a romantic sense – that frankly scared him.

Harry pulled out the clipping from The Daily Prophet. He quickly scanned it before handing it to Snape. "Hermione chose a – quite vocal way of breaking up with Ron."

"Didn't she blow up after the graduation ceremony about Harry's getting the Transfiguration position?" Sirius asked. Remus remembered the reaction she'd had to that, and at first didn't think that it fit into her breaking off her engagement with Ron. Then, thinking about it, he realized that there was a quite similar reaction to both of the incidents. Once the rest of the students had left the day after the graduation party, Harry and he had gone over it, trying to figure out what had been Hermione's problem. It looked like it just wasn't because she was jealous, more like she was....

"I think she's scared." Harry said. "Ron and I talked about it, and we both thought that she was just being scared. But this..." he pointed to the clipping in Snape's hands and the letter Remus still held. "It's gone far beyond that. I don't think she's taken the time to look at everything like she usually does. I don't think that she wants to see what's really going on."

He had finished reading the article and there was a faint sneer, reminiscent of the Shrieking Shack. Remus saw that he was disturbed by this event, but wanted to get all the facts before he really started to think about fixing it.

"I agree with Potter." Snape finally handed the article to Sirius. "She's never been one to not look at something from every angle. Whatever is driving her to do this is fairly deeply ingrained in her. If there is one thing about Granger, it is her open-mindedness, aside from her intolerance of the Slytherins."

Remus watched as Hedwig flew over and perched on Harry's shoulders. The younger man softly stroked her white feathers for a minute before he spoke. "Her mother mentioned that she spent a lot of time in church last summer, and from everything the Dursleys ever said about this, I'd say she probably feels the same way. The only person I saw react even close to this was Simon Moon of Ravenclaw when he realized Colin liked him last year." Harry sent a smile to Remus, as the older man held back laughter when he remembered *that* occasion.

Sirius nodded as he looked up from the letter. "Judging by the way she's acting now, I'm glad you didn't tell her anything before."

"I agree," Remus added softly. He looked at Harry's eyes and they were shuttered and knew that he was trying to hide his reactions. Again he cursed the Durleys for bringing him up the way they did. This was a learned behavior, because both his parents had been very open. And even though he liked Harry's sense of independence when it came to thinking, it was hard to get around his emotional walls sometimes. This quite obvious break between his best friends could be devastating.

Snape broke the short silence that had fallen. "We can't do anything about this now, so we might as well get back to Hogwarts."

Remus hid his smile as his snapped comment. It was good to see that not everything about his former classmate had changed after the accident. Pulling Harry out of the chair, he led the younger man into their room and gave him a quick hug. "Let's wait a couple of days before we try anything, okay?"

Harry nodded dumbly, trying to burrow into Remus' chest even further. "I didn't want this to happen."

Remus felt him shudder slightly before he pulled away. A pang went through him as he saw Harry's face. His eyes, though, were filled with both anger and sadness. Giving a soft kiss to the scar on Harry's forehead, Remus looked around the room to make sure they hadn't left anything. "Ready?"

His lover gave a soft grin. "I wish we didn't have to leave, but Ron...."

Nodding, Remus pulled Harry into another hug. "I know."

"Come on you two!" Sirius yelled at them from the lounge of their suite. "Stop being all mushy and get going!"

Remus smiled as Harry shook his head in exasperation. "Will he ever grow up?"

Remus shook his head. "I doubt it. Now, let's go. I already have plans for next summer and this place."

Harry gave Remus a decidedly lustful grin. "I hope so."

******

Ron had shown up the day after they got back. Sirius and Snape were deep into making potions, squabbling madly over the best way to prepare them, leaving Harry and Remus to bring Ron up to date on what they were doing. That suited Harry just fine, as he had the feeling that Ron still felt intimidated by Snape's presence, even if he had invited the man to his engagement party.

The red head looked like he hadn't slept in a week. Considering that's almost how long ago Hermione had ended their engagement, Harry was pretty certain that it had been hard for Ron to get any sleep at all.

Harry sat next to Remus as they ate dinner in the Great Hall that night, wishing he could tell his friend that everything would blow over quickly, but knew better than to say it. He had the feeling that this would drag out for quite a while, since it would be pretty hard to get in touch with Hermione at her parents' house. In the meantime, he would have Ron do something that would occupy his mind. Ron would be working half days at his brothers' shop in Hogsmeade, giving him plenty of time to come up to the castle each day from the village.

At the same time as trying to keep Ron's mind occupied and off his fight with Hermione – he definitely needed some breathing space, Harry was also planning his lessons. Thankful that Remus was there for him to ask questions, Harry found that he was really starting to look forward to teaching come September. Each night the two of them would look over things that would be needed for the coming year, both for their classes and the students of Gryffindor. Once they were done with that, they hid themselves away from the rest of the castle in Remus' rooms.

That was the best part of the day for Harry. It didn't matter if they cuddled or made love. Being with Remus was *good*. It calmed Harry. Well, most of the time – he didn't mind getting riled up by Remus. He certainly didn't mind *that*. Harry felt his cheeks flush and hurriedly left the hall before he embarrassed himself, ignoring the sniggers coming from Sirius.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Remus was in a meeting with Sprout and the other Head of Houses, leaving Harry and Ron alone two weeks later. The red head still looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep in the time he'd been back to Hogsmeade and the castle, and Harry was starting to get worried. Nothing had been heard from Hermione, and the one chance Harry had managed to get a hold of a phone had netted nothing as well. He'd talked to her mother for quite a while, and what Mrs. Granger had told him made him very concerned.

Harry hadn't wanted to tell Ron that Hermione had never shown up to her parents' house like she told Ron she was heading for. Ron would be hopeless in such a Muggle setting – especially since he couldn't pronounce half the words correctly. After listening to him rant about it for quite a while, Harry had managed to convince Ron that it wouldn't be the best if he went looking for her. If he didn't happen upon her, she probably wouldn't talk to him right away. Ron had finally relented when he realized that Harry was right about Hermione being stubborn enough to not talk to him.

Instead, Harry had alerted Seamus to the situation, and his friend had set off for Hermione's house, as Seamus' father was Muggle, so he at least knew what could be happening. Besides, Seamus was one of the few people that Harry knew he could trust to put in an effort, even if he'd alerted a few people in the Ministry to her disappearance (excepting Arthur and Percy). His former roommate would be joining Ron when Auror training started in October, and in the meantime he was glad for the rescue from boredom.

He was worried about her disappearance – it told him that something was terribly wrong, and made him feel guilty for being mad at her for wanting to throw away seven years of friendship.

Beside him, Ron was getting restless. They had been sorting through the replies of new first years and returning students, but it was coming to the point where nothing could hold his friend's attention for very long before it wandered back to Hermione. Harry was wondering just what he could do to shock his friend into doing something other than moping when he realized he hadn't gone to see Draco yet. Today was his normal day, and he usually went after dinner, but two hours ahead of schedule wouldn't hurt.

"Ron," Harry said as he stood up. "I have something to show you."

Ron looked up; his eyes dull with dampened emotions. "What?"

Harry shook his head as he pulled on Ron's arm. "We're going to the hospital wing for something."

Ron took a step back as soon as he stood up. "If this is about a sleeping potion, I'm not taking one," he stated emphatically.

Sighing, Harry gave him a look. "No. This isn't about that. I just thought there might be something there that can help you through this," he held up his hand when Ron opened his mouth. "No, it's not a potion. You'll also be helping somebody else at the same time."

Ron was quiet for a minute. Harry could tell by the look on his face that he was debating whether it was worth the effort for him to go with Harry or not. Finally he nodded and Harry dragged him down the hallways before he had a chance to rethink the idea.

Once at the hospital wing, Harry waved at Poppy as she left her office. He knew that she was busy preparing the potions that she could, slowly restocking the ones that could sit for the next school year. She looked surprised when she saw Ron behind him, though she nodded the unasked question Harry directed at her.

"What is this place?" Ron asked as Harry led him to a small room down the hall from the main infirmary. "You never came here."

Harry shook his head. "I come here every week, at least for the last year and a half."

Ron still looked a little lost.

Suppressing a sigh, Harry pushed the door to Draco's room and headed to his usual seat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ron's shock.

"But... he's dead!" Ron exclaimed, the freckles on his face standing out on his pale skin.

Harry shook his head. "No, Ron. He's in a coma."

The red head dropped heavily into the chair close to Harry's. "I thought... Who else knows about this?"

"All the staff," Harry told him. "I've been coming here since this happened, and only missed last summer and those two weeks I was recovering from fighting old Voldie."

"But..." Ron was at a loss for words. Harry could tell he didn't know what to think.

"The Ministry let everyone think that Draco died in the attack to protect him from Voldemort and the Death Eaters," Harry said as he picked up Draco's hand. "Now it's up to Draco whether he wakes up or not. He's safe here."

"So..." Ron said slowly. "What will everyone think when he wakes up? What about Malfoy Mansion?"

Harry shook his head. "Draco told me he didn't want the mansion, and besides, the Ministry seized it the week before the attack. I doubt they would let Draco have it back. There were some pretty nasty things there, and I don't think he would want the reminders he'd find there."

Ron didn't say anything for a while, and Harry was content to just sit there. Draco's hand was as warm, which Poppy said that he was healthy. Harry took that as a sign that Draco was trying to come back, but he tried to keep a realistic edge to his hope. As the weeks passed, it was harder to think that his friend would ever wake up.

"What do you do, Harry?"

Harry jumped, startled at the break in the silence. Throwing Ron a smile, he shrugged. "I talk to him. Sometimes I help Poppy turn him or give him potions if he's sick."

"He is sick, isn't he?"

Shaking his head, Harry looked back at Draco's serene face. "No. But every once in a while he'll catch a cold. Poppy said that's because he's in a dormant state and his immune system isn't as strong as it was before."

"Oh." Ron looked at Harry with a confused look on his face. "So, how will this help me?"

Harry gave a soft smile. "Try talking to him."

Ron gave him a dubious look. "He can't hear me."

Sighing, Harry shot Ron an exasperated glance. "He can hear you. It's just he won't respond – not until he makes up his mind one way or the other." Harry's voice dropped down into a lower octave. "Even if you talk about the most consequential things – like the weather or the latest Quidditch game – it's good. Poppy wants him to remember that there are people here that care for him."

"I – I don't know, Harry," Ron said. "I don't know if I could do it. I can't just forget all the insults he's tossed at me over the years."

Harry stood up and towered over Ron, who shrunk down in the chair. "He changed, Ron! Don't you remember that he was willing to give his own life to protect Gryffindors, not to mention his own housemates on Christmas? He's not that boy that insulted you on the train first year!" Harry threw a concerned look at Draco, who lay unmoving like always and his voice softened. "Draco is a friend, Ron. And if he ever does wake up, I would like it if you could get along." Looking at Ron, he saw a thoughtful look cross his friend's face. "Now, why don't you just talk to him. I’m going to check up on Remy. His meeting should be just about over."

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