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Hermione Full of Grace	By : AdamantEve Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 13378 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
SPECIAL
THANKS to my beta reader Aurabolt!

Standard
disclaimers apply.

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Chapter Four � Risking the Dragon

In which Ron saves the
day for everybody� mostly.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Ron supposed his date might forgive him for showing up
late.

When he met Natalya Vasik-Lalovic, she seemed like the sweetest, most
accommodating woman ever to wear a plunging neckline, and it certainly seemed
she had a big heart if she had been so willing to kiss before the first
date. So maybe she wouldn�t mind waiting
a bit.

He had no intention of sticking around to watch Hermione �have fun�. He merely
had to drop in, possibly give a high and hello to Hermione and whoever it was
she was with, and hurry on his way. He figured that would make Harry happy
enough.

He emerged from the bushes and onto one of the many park
walkways, gaining the attention of a few passersby but no more than their
briefly curious glances. Lots of strange people in London.
To them, he was just one of them.

The lights on the park were very dim, particularly deeper
in; easy to hide almost anything in the shadows, but towards the outer edges of
the park, lights from the streetcars and commercial establishments lit its
surroundings. He could�ve sworn he aimed
to apparate a little farther from where he stood,
hoping he could avoid getting found out by Harry. Honestly, were his apparating
skills that bad? It was very weird,
anyway. Splinching
himself, yes, but appearing in the wrong spot?
It was almost as if some warding had been done�

He turned a bit and could see in the direction of the
supposed Art Gallery.

Now� if only he could avoid bumping into Harry
altogether.

Bump!

Too late.

Harry�s face hovered above the ground, the rest of him
covered by the invisibility cloak. �Took you long enough. You had a minute left before I went
on ahead and decided you were being an arse. Good thing I put up wards. You were so
trying to apparate elsewhere so I wouldn�t find you!�

So he did ward the area. I KNEW it, Ron
thought grimly.

He rolled his eyes.
�Look here, Harry, unlike someone I know, I have a life. There is a very beautiful, long-legged
Russian dooshyenka waiting for me in a
restaurant who had expressed a desire to get right to pudding��

�Go tell your little wand that it�s not going to be doing
any magic tonight, hmm�kay?�

�Little!�

�Ron, shut it!
There are dozens of those types of women for you from now until
the foreseeable future and there�s only one Hermione. Now are you going to be a prat
about this or are you going to help me?�

Well then now he had no choice but to do it, did
he? Because there�s
only one Hermione and hundreds of Natalyas.
Ron sighed. �Fine
then! Let�s go and get this over
with!�

Harry spread-open the invisibility
cloak. Ron grimaced and ducked in with him.

As they scrunched tighter to fit in the cloak, Ron stepped
on Harry�s foot. Harry made no complaint
since it was his idea to get under the cloak together in the first place.

�Harry, you do realize that we haven�t tried to fit under
this thing since seventh year,� said Ron.
�And we�ve grown since then, too.
Now, it�s impossible! We�re both
too big.�

�We�ll manage.
Hermione and I fit fine.�

�That�s because you can put your arms around her and she�s
tiny. I don�t want you putting your arms
around me, and I sure as hell am not going
to put my arms around you.�

�I�m not excited by the prospect either. Got any ideas?�

Ron frowned. He
should�ve known Harry would rush into this without any kind of foresight. �Blimey, Harry! This is your mission! I thought you had everything figured out!�

�I did, but honestly Ron, I kind of� hadn�t counted on you
showing up.�

Ron shot him a dry look.
�Thanks a bloody lot for the vote of confidence.�

Harry ignored the sarcasm.
�Well, I don�t usually have a Plan A and a Plan
B like Hermione does, you see.�

�Right.
You just
jump all the way to Plan Rush-In-And-Get-In-Trouble,� Ron said with a roll of
his eyes. �I doubt Hermione would be
accommodating enough to plan her own stake-out, you know.�

�Stop being snarky and try to
help me figure this out. Since we�re
both in agreement that Hermione usually comes up with the best plans, what
would she do in this situation?�

�Probably chew my head off��

Harry shot him a glare.

�And then cast a charm,� finished Ron as he raised his
eyebrow.

They fell silent, thinking.

Ron easily grew frustrated. Were they that dependent on Hermione that
they couldn�t think for themselves?

Harry�s eyes widened momentarily and he began to
mutter. �Can�t believe
we didn�t think of this sooner.�
He plucked his wand from his sleeve and aimed it at the cloak. �Dilato
apto!�

The cloak expanded considerably, and when Harry held it
up, it was large enough to fit them both comfortably.

Ron couldn�t help but grin. �Brilliant!
Can you do that with food, too?�

�You can, but the spell is temporary, so the food�ll shrink when it�s inside you and doesn�t make much
of a difference in making you full.
Spell�s too complicated to stay permanent. S�all about
visualizing threads and patterns expanding��

�Oh.� That was
disappointing. He should have known
there was something difficult about the spell, seeing as Harry had to use his
wand for it.

But Ron also found himself appreciating the fact that
Harry�s eyes hadn�t rolled at the question.
That was the thing about two blokes being best friends; there was a
mutual understanding when it came to their perceptions of food, women and
cleaning habits. Food was an essential
(therefore all efforts to get them in large quantities must be undertaken:
coupons are a must); women were a luxury (expensive, but you want them anyway)
and cleaning habits were�well�moderate to bad without need of explanation. Harry had probably tried the expanding spell
on the food himself.

They ducked under the cloak and headed towards the
street. Reaching the edge of the park,
they walked out of it through the gates and stopped at the light with the rest
of the pedestrians.

Ron scanned the shops on the other side of the street,
hoping to catch a glimpse of the Gallery
of Contemporary (Magical) Art. Of
course, it was likely �Magical� wasn�t visible to muggles,
and usually, wizarding establishments amongst muggle haunts weren�t so easy to spot, but this
establishment was. In fact, it was quite
an eye-catcher, but not gaudily so.

�There,� said Ron, pointing to a brightly lit
establishment with a glass fa�ade and a golden, glowing marquee sheltering its
red-carpeted sidewalk. There were
elegantly dressed muggles everywhere crowding the
entrance, and if there was a wizard in the crowd, they were dressed to fit
in.

�D�you see
Hermione anywhere?� asked Harry.

�Not from here, no.�

The pedestrian light signaled their turn and they crossed
the lane, scurrying away from the crowd as they did so. There was a line at the elegantly set door
and a well-dressed lady was checking names off a list. On both sides of her stood
two brawny men wearing expensive suits.
They were there to drive away those who weren�t on the list but insisted
on it nevertheless.

Ron let his eyes linger on the line. He rather thought Muggles
were a peculiar if not absolutely mental lot, but their women sure carried
their little dresses well.

Harry brought out his wand and balanced it on his open
palm. �Intendo Hermione!�

The wand swiveled to the left of them, its tip glowing
softly. Harry began to walk, wand still
on hand as he followed its silent directions.

It still amazed Ron, the spells Harry had learned to use
over the months training as an auror. It often made Ron wonder why the spells
hadn�t been taught to them in school.
�That�s wicked, Harry. You have
to teach me that spell!�

�You�ll need to learn Occlumency
first. Thought shielding required.�

�Oh.� Second time
he�d said it that night.

They found themselves being led to the tiny alley at the
side of the building. It was dark, damp
and unaccommodating. Ron began to feel
his stomach squeezing within itself in anxiety.
What the hell was Hermione doing way back here? Had someone dragged her to the back to rob
her, maybe? Or worse, do unthinkable
things to her?

He was beginning to feel real panic creeping up his spine
when Harry clapped him on the chest to stop them both in their tracks.

There was Hermione, her back to them. A smartly dressed woman and an oppressively
big man in a suit were escorting her up a low ramp that looked like it had been
newly installed.

�Dreadfully sorry we didn�t catch you earlier, Ms.
Granger,� said the woman in a breathless, flustered tone. �I was horrified when Jasper here told me
you�d been standing in line for the longest time! It�s such a crowd out there and practically
impossible to get in within half the hour.�

�Oh, but I�d just gotten there when you found me, really,�
said Hermione, sounding somewhat flustered herself. �I wouldn�t have minded going through the
regular way, either. You�re being too
kind��

�Oh, no, no, Ms. Granger!
Please! It�s bad enough that we
didn�t send the limo to pick you up from your home��

�But I didn�t know myself if I would be here. This is� rather a spur of the moment thing��

�We should�ve sent the limo anyway.� The woman turned to the door and took out
what looked like a wand. �Alohomora.�

The large lock slowly shrieked open.

�Wizards who look like muggles!�
hissed Ron. �The lot
of them! I bet those folks at the
front are wizards, too.�

�Quiet, Ron!�

Harry urged them forward and they hurried towards the
platform.

Ron, in his hurry, promptly kicked a stray tin can right
across the ground. He swore Harry wanted
to murder him if the look on Harry�s face was any indication.

Hermione and the lady gave a yelp.

�Goodness!� cried Hermione.

The man called Jasper tutted. �Those rats are getting bigger by the year,�
he said in a throaty, gasping voice, like he had something stuck in his cheeks.

Hermione was looking right where Harry and Ron were
standing. She seemed more alarmed than
suspicious. �I-I don�t think that was a
rat��

�We�re in Muggle London. They�re everywhere around here,� said the
lady. �Come along, now.�

They finally slipped through the door.

Harry was scowling.
�Oh, fantastic job, Ron. Why
don�t we just tell her we�re following her?�

�It�s not my fault
these muggles leave their trash lying around!�

Harry sighed.
�Let�s just go.�

They climbed the stairs and Harry pointed his wand at the
huge lever. �Alohomora.�

Nothing happened.
Ron began to worry, but Harry didn�t look the least bit perturbed.

�Must be charm sensitive,� said Harry. He dropped to one knee, checked the lock and
muttered something under his breath. His
wand sent out a small stream of energy but the lock stayed benign.

Ron nudged him.
�What are you doing?�

�I�m checking to see if the lock�s cursed or charmed so
that it doesn�t backfire at us when I destroy it.�

�Oh, do they teach you breaking and entering in Auror-school, as well?�

�Among other things.�

�Why don�t we just apparate
inside?�

�Too noisy.�

�Right.�

�I think there are wards around, though there doesn�t seem
to be any anti-apparition ones. The
wards are probably artwork focused. This
should be easy�� Harry pointed his wand
again. He took a moment to focus before
speaking the spell. �Amoveo signum.�

The lever shuddered.

Harry grabbed Ron and pulled both of them back just when
the door flew wide open and banged loudly against the railing.

Ron panicked. �Are
you mad?�

�Shhhh! Let�s go!�

A soft beeping sound pulsed somewhere along the entryway
and Ron was almost afraid something was going to explode. He saw it happen in Muggle
movies all the time. There was a beeping
sound before the bomb went off and blew you to bits.

Harry hustled them through the door and he led them down
the hall. They pressed their backs
against the wall as the cloak shrouded them.

There were footsteps from around the corner and two
moderately sized men in suits walked right past them. They weren�t as beefy looking as Jasper and
his two brothers at the front, but they were tall and formidable in their own
right. They had wires plugged into their
ears, their crew-cuts doing nothing to hide it.
If they were wizards, they would have their wands out. They were muggles.

�Looks like the lock�s out,� said
one of them, flipping the lever as it swung uselessly from its knob. There was a large bolt aside from the knob,
and the bolt had been melted right through, like Harry had used a lava-hot
knife to cut through it.

Ron tried not to think about what Harry was capable of
when it came to protecting Hermione. Gave him the willies.

�What the hell did this?� asked the suit�s companion. He sounded utterly mystified.

Harry and Ron hurried away. The lock wasn�t their problem.

They emerged from the back entrance into a busy muggle kitchen where cooks were putting together tiny
portions of food and pouring wine for waiters to take out to the guests. Nobody seemed to be using wands. Ron suppressed the urge to grab a hand full
of treats as they went.

They wove through the chefs and saw Hermione with her
escorts just about pushing through the kitchen doors.

Ron suddenly felt Harry�s grip on his arm, pulling him
forward.

�Grip any harder and you just might successfully cut the
flow of blood, Potter.�

�Sorry.� Harry let
him go.

They managed to get behind a waiter who was just leaving
the kitchen and realized that Hermione had stopped a mere few feet away from
them. Jasper was gone, but the lady was
still with her, smiling and gesturing to the wonderful gallery floor.

�The pieces of art are individually protected by
anti-theft spells,� said the lady. �Many
of our artists like putting their own twist to their hexes and the gallery
doesn�t mind, as that ups the value of the artwork. At any rate, we opted not to ward the gallery
against apparitions so that willing wizard customers can come and go as they
please. We do, however, put up
anti-apparition wards when we close up.
No sense in tempting wayward wizards to come and try, after all. As you will find out, a lot of the art was
inspired by the post-war high. You might find quite a few in tribute
to your friend, Mr. Potter.�

Ron grinned, nudging Harry. Harry didn�t look like he cared.

Sometimes, Ron wondered if Harry even liked all the
publicity. Probably
not.

�Oh, that doesn�t surprise me,� said Hermione. �I�m sure Harry was and continues to be an
inspiration to a lot of people. He�s
going to be an auror, you know. Best one ever, I�m sure. He conjured a Patronus
when he was just thirteen. Strong enough to stave off a dozen Dementors,
too. Did you know that?�

Ron watched Harry�s face.
His cheek gave the slightest twitch, but a blush was spreading over
it. Whether it was from sheer
embarrassment or the pleasure of hearing Hermione say something nice about him,
Ron couldn�t tell.

�Really?
Fascinating.� said the lady, sounding about as interested as Ron was
when it came to Elf Rights.

Hermione frowned slightly.

�And Mr. Weasley?
He�ll be an auror, too?�

�No, but he�s going to be the best manager the Chudley Cannons ever had.
You just wait and see, Ms. Northanger.
He�ll bring them right to the Quidditch World
Cup and finally win it for them.�

Now Ron felt really bad
for ditching her.

�A shame neither of them were able to make it here. They both sound fabulous.�

�Yes.� There was a snarky hint to Hermione�s tone.

Ron couldn�t tell if it was on account of them getting on
her case for her dress or because the lady was dripping with bullshit.

�Oh!� yelped Ms. Northanger. �Here comes Mr. Athanasius!�

Harry made a sinister sound, like a bulldog, maybe. Ron inched as far away from him as much as
the cloak allowed.

Hermione�s eyes fixated on the man that was approaching
her.

He looked like he stepped out of the pages of a fashion
magazine. Everything from his
platinum-blonde hair down to his expensive leather shoes was the epitome of
perfect grooming and style.

Ron didn�t know much about muggle
fashion, but even he could tell this man was rich, magnetic and
intelligent.

He caught a glimpse of an arm holster, much like
Harry�s. It peeked from the cuff of his thousand-galleon
suit. It was enough to tell them that the man at least took his wand dueling
seriously. Most wizards liked to keep
their wands in their breast pockets, but the best duelers kept their wands in
their sleeves.

�Ms. Granger,� said Lysander Athanasius in a voice that sounded like he could blow honey
through his nose. �I am so pleased to
see you.�

�It�s a pleasure to be here.� She extended her hand for a shake. He took it but brought it to his lips for a
perfect hand-kiss; the sort that wasn�t smarmy but lingered enough to be full
of promise.

Smooth, thought
Ron.

�Who the fuck
does that these days?� muttered Harry.

Not smooth,
Harry. Try not to sound so jealous.

Hermione looked flustered all over again.

Ms. Northanger smiled.
�Mr. Athanasius, I was just telling��

�Thank you, Samantha, you did a splendid job. That will be all,� said Lysander,
his gaze never wavering from Hermione�s face.

Ms. Northanger paused, as if to absorb the dismissal
before smiling and whispering her excuses to leave.

Hermione pulled her gaze away from him and took back her
hand, shifting her clutch-bag in it. She
tried to speak to Samantha Northanger but Lysander
reclaimed her hand and looped it over his arm.

�I don�t imagine Samantha had a lot of interesting things
to say,� he said.

Hermione frowned, trying to pull away from him. �Well, that�s not very nice of you.�

He laughed, keeping her hand firmly on his arm. �No, but
it�s the truth. I wager she used the
word �fascinating� or �fabulous� at least once during your conversation and she
sounded neither fascinated nor fabbed.�

Hermione stopped pulling away, a stubborn pout threatening
to settle on her lips.

�I hired her for her efficiency,� said Lysander,
unaffected. �Not her conversational
skills. Now, let me show you the art on
display. Champagne?
It�s Blason Ros� by Perrier-Jou�t. The best from France.
I read in your Wizard�s Compendium
interview that you have been to France many times, yes?�

�Y-Yes� Blason Ros� is one
of my favorite champagnes��

�I�m not surprised.
Champagne connoisseurs always have it on their list of top tens.� He began to speak to her in French, and she
answered back in the same language, as if dazed by the sound of his voice. They walked the gallery as he gestured to the
paintings on display.

Ron sighed, shaking his head. Now he barely understood a thing.

It hardly mattered, anyway. Hermione didn�t look like she was in any
particular distress, and even if she was, all she had to do was make a scene
and all the people in the gallery would secure her safety.

Her eyes, which had been wary at first, had began to
acquire that brilliant glow. If she
looked attractive a few minutes ago, she was mesmerizing now. Lysander, whatever
kind of person he was, was bringing out the best in her. She was his work of art that evening, and he
was enjoying his success.

The guy was polite, if excessively flirty, but Ron found
that the look of mixed admiration and desire he gave Hermione rubbed him the
wrong way. He was beginning to feel a strange
crawling under his skin, like he wanted to smack the look from off the git�s face.

Lysander placed his hand right on the
small of Hermione�s back, his thumb rubbing her spine delicately. She didn�t seem to mind in the least.

Ron stifled a growl and glanced at Harry briefly,
wondering what his friend was thinking in light of the situation.

�Look at him,� hissed Harry. �He knows what he�s doing.�

Ron nodded, a slight grin forming on his face. �Should we
jump him, then?� He was kidding, of course.

�No. He really
hasn�t crossed any lines yet. If we jump
him now, Hermione�ll have every reason to take his
side in the matter and give us a hard time of it. We�ll wait.�

Harry was serious.
Ron didn�t think he should making anymore
stupid jokes.

�Oh, this piece is lovely,� gushed
Hermione in English, stopping to stare at a painting bright with red but dark
with deep orange fire. It was a painting
of a flying Chinese dragon. A man rode
its back, the smoke from his pipe building a pathway through the sky. The dragon seemed to be following this pathway
quite happily.

Lysander seemed pleased. �It�s called �Riding the Dragon�. It�s
about��

�Opium addiction.
That�s what they called getting high in the late eighteen hundreds. Opium came into London from China, and muggles
associate China with the twelve animals of the
Chinese Lunar calendar, particularly the Tiger and the��

�Dragon,� Lysander finished for
her. He was grinning, like he was
terribly impressed. �I bet you were always
the first one to raise your hand in class when a professor asked a question.�

Hermione reddened.
�I�m sorry. It�s a bad habit of
mine. In grammar school they called me
Know It All Ninny; as in Hermio-Ninny.�

Ron arched an eyebrow.
He never knew she had that nickname.
She never told them.

Lysander chuckled, leaning closer to
her. �Don�t apologize. I think it�s brilliant. People are too quick to dismiss intelligence,
especially in a woman. Not me. I think intelligent women never grow uninteresting,
and I think the more intelligent they are, the sexier they can be, and Ms.
Granger� your intelligence overwhelms me in the extreme.�

His hand on her back moved up in a feathery caress as he
pulled away from her. It seemed so much
like a casual gesture, because he was using that same hand now to indicate
another art piece, but the light contact, however fleeting, did not go
unnoticed. Hermione�s breath caught
visibly before she let it out slowly between her lips.

Ron�s eyes widened in astonishment.
The man was affecting her! He
really was!

The damn playboy�s trying to do her in!

He turned to Harry and was about to point out just that
when he realized Harry knew it even better than he did. The tip of Harry�s wand was beginning to
glow, and his green eyes flashed murder.

Uh oh, thought Ron. His
best friend was going to lose it and was going to lose it bad. Was it for love? Maybe. Was it jealousy? Totally possible.
But was it worth losing Hermione�s confidence for it?

No bloody way.

You�ll thank me for this later, Harry.

He grabbed Harry by the wrist and with all the focus he
could muster apparated them both out of the gallery
as softly as he could manage and back
into the park.

000000000000000000000

Hermione heard the pop; not loud, but distinct. So did Lysander and
every muggle-dressed wizard in the room.

They all turned at the sound of it and wondered who in the
world had dared to apparate in the middle of a
gallery filled with Muggles. No answers were forthcoming as there was no
sign of a wizard appearing anywhere.

The Muggles seemed just as
curious but weren�t very concerned.
There seemed to be nothing amiss, after all.

She had an unsettling thought flitting in her head but she
shook it away, refusing to believe it.
She could�ve sworn that crack reminded her of Ron�s disapparation,
but not quite. There was something
distinctly different about it, which obviously meant it wasn�t him at all.

No, it couldn�t be
him. He doesn�t know where I am and he
wouldn�t do such a ridiculous thing, especially not if he has a date to occupy
his evening�

She frowned and shut her mind to it. She wasn�t going to think about either of
them tonight. Tonight, she was going to
have fun.

Her eyes roved back to Lysander. He was shifting his gaze between his security
people, ordering them with the intensity of his violet eyes to find out what
was going on. There was no doubt about
it; it had been a wizard.

Hermione understood the stakes. It was the establishment owner�s
responsibility to uphold the Statute of Secrecy, especially if the business
catered to wizards and muggles alike. Failure to comply with the statute could
amount to fees, increased taxes, premiums and at the very worse, Ministry
Lock-down. It was bad for business.

Lysander turned to her and smiled. �Well, that was odd, wasn�t it?�

�Quite.�

�I dare say that�s the most interesting it�s going to get
around here. I have an idea, Ms.
Granger. I was thinking we leave this
place so we can go somewhere more� stimulating.
Get the blood pumping.�

Hermione didn�t know whether to slap him or slap
herself. Is he joking? She tried not to look too affected. �I�m not sure I understand, Lysander.�

He chuckled. �Do you like to dance, Ms. Granger?�

Oh.

�I do, actually.�

�Then lets. Come along, then!� He gently took her hand and began to lead her
to the front door.

�B-But,� she held back a
bit. �This is your gallery, and it�s opening night!
Won�t they look for you?�

�My Gallery Director is far
more important tonight than I am. The
gallery won�t miss me.� He looked around
briefly then flicked his fingers at someone.

Samantha Northanger approached
him. He told her to fetch the limo and she nodded, unhooking a short-wave radio from her hip and
speaking into it.

Hermione felt Lysander�s hand on her back again and she shuddered. His touch was firm, and warm. She blinked rapidly, desperately trying to
repress the naughty thoughts forcing their way into her mind.

He had been doing that to her
all night; had been making her think things that no proper English-woman should
be thinking; or more particularly: things that Hermione Granger shouldn�t
be thinking, but it was like it couldn�t be helped, and it didn�t make things
easier in the least that when he looked at her, she felt like she was desired. She had never had that before. Not with any of the men she had dated. It was like a drug; she got high from it, and
she found herself becoming more animated; thinking faster; feeling more
vibrant.

It had to be her confidence. He made her feel beautiful through his eyes,
his words and his touch.

Oh, what a
temptation this man is! she thought before telling herself that she was being an
absolute air-head.

His purple gaze met hers and he smiled, touching her
chin briefly as if he were terribly fond of her. �How can you be so intelligent yet look so
innocent at the same time? Drives me
mad��

She blinked, her face growing incredibly warm. Well, she might know the answer to that, but
she wasn�t about to tell him.

It was embarrassing to be the oldest virgin she
knew. Even Harry, the seeker�as in
�Seeker of Meaningful Relationships��, hadn�t exactly remained celibate in the
name of that golden snitch called Love.

She couldn�t blame Harry, really. Even she would�ve found it laughable
if the greatest hero of their age hadn�t gotten any action for his
efforts. The least witches could do was
show him their appreciation.

Didn�t mean she wasn�t jealous of them, though.

Damn slags.

She couldn�t help the thread of her thoughts, and
she couldn�t help feeling a bit nervous about where Lysander
was taking her as they stepped out in the sidewalk, probably to wait for his
so-called limo.

�Lysander, where are you
taking me?� She didn�t care if she sounded distrustful. There were very few people she trusted in the
world, and fewer still she trusted unconditionally. Since her parents died, the number of people
she completely trusted had been narrowed down to two: Harry and Ron. They could be pushing her off a cliff and
she�d still have total faith in them.

He must have seen the mistrust. He smiled slightly, as if to forgive her for
it instantly. �There is a club at the
other side of town; purely muggle. Tonight�s salsa night.�

�S-Salsa?�

�You don�t like salsa?�

�It�s not like I don�t like it� just that�I�m not
sure I can��

�Of course you can.
I will lead; all you have to do is follow.�

See, I�m not
very good at letting anyone lead me, is what she wanted to say. The only person she ever allowed to lead her
was Harry, and those were mostly life and death situations. But she supposed it wouldn�t be all that bad
to let someone lead her on the dance floor.

After all, it was just a salsa, right?

000000000000000000

Harry wrenched himself away from Ron the moment they
cracked into the park. He tore the
invisibility cloak right off and checked himself for any missing parts. He had all his fingers, and his shoes
certainly looked whole, so his toes were likely there. He checked his crotch and all troops were in place.
He breathed a sigh of relief before turning on Ron with a frown.

�Are you mad? You could�ve splinched
parts of us! You could�ve splinched us together!�

Ron, having just finished checking his own family
jewels, was checking his eyebrows.
�Well, I didn�t! So shut it,
alright? I swear, Harry, sometimes you
can be bossier than she is!�

Harry sighed and looked across the street from the
park to the gallery. He wanted to run
back in there and beat the living flobberworms out of
Lysander Athanasius, and he
would�ve, if Ron hadn�t apparated them both.

As much as he wanted to yell at Ron for risking them
both to his questionable apparating skills, Ron had
called it right. Harry had lost it in
there and Hermione would�ve�he didn�t even want to think about how angry she
could have been. She�d probably hex them
both with boils and banish them to Siberia butt-naked,
or worse, she�d never speak to them again (or at least in the next two weeks,
which would feel just as horrible.)

�We can�t leave her in there with him,� he said.

Ron sighed.
�Honestly, Harry, do you think Hermione will fall for a bloke like that?
He�s so��

�Rich? Handsome? Intellectually her equal?� Harry was getting frustrated at how Ron
wasn�t getting the picture.

�I was going for corny, smarmy and anal, but I
suppose now that you mentioned all those, I�ll just sound jealous of his money,
good looks and brains.�

Harry sighed, watching the gallery from behind the
shadow of trees. He and Ron could run
back in there, he supposed, but the risk would be too great. He knew their disapparating
had created enough of a disturbance. He
just hoped Hermione hadn�t recognized the sound of it.

He was just about to tell Ron they should head on
back there under the cloak when he saw Hermione and Lysander
emerge from the gallery.

Oh, shite, they�re
ditching the joint!

�Harry!
Crapper, I think they�re leaving!�

�I know!�

�Where the hell are they going?�

�Oh, like I�d know that!�

Harry grabbed Ron by the collar and he threw the
cloak over them. He apparated them both from the park to a relatively isolated
and dark alley on the other side of the street. The noise of the traffic and the busy crowd
of people somewhat masked the noise of the spell, but he knew it was still
audible, particularly to those who happened to be nearby.

There were a few yelps, but nothing that caused
widespread panic.

Ron muttered curses, but Harry ignored him as he
maneuvered them through the throng.

Harry could see Hermione being ushered into a
limousine with Lysander climbing in with her. Harry panicked and was just about to fire an
exploding charm at the car�s tire when Ron held him by the wrist.

�Don�t!� Ron
hissed.

The door was shut and the car drove off, leaving
them watching from the curb.

Harry wondered if punching Ron would attract too
much attention.

Ron gripped his arm more firmly and dragged him back
to the dark alley where they could remove themselves from the invisibility
cloak without notice.

�It�s over, Harry.�

Ron�s words made Harry sick, if only at the sheer
truth of it. He turned his ill-feelings
at a garbage bin, kicking it with such a degree of force that it rang loudly
through the alley and scared all the cockroaches in it silly.

�I just�� he tried to explain. �There�s something
wrong with that man, Ron!�

Ron sighed.
�There�s a pub just another block from here. Let�s talk about this over a whiskey or two.
How �bout that?�

�No. We can
get into the gallery, actually. Ask for
Ms. Northanger and tell her we lost our invitation. She�ll let us in! She knows us!
And then we can ask her where Hermione and Athanasius
ran off to��

�Harry!� Ron cried. �Let her go.�

Let her go�

Harry couldn�t.
He had been trying, since he realized his feelings for her, to do just
that, but he couldn�t. �Let�s just ask
Ms. Northanger��

�And if Ms. Northanger tells us, Hermione will find
out from her�through Athanasius�that we were snooping
around. D�you realize how angry she�d be?
How hurt? You do know that we�re the only two
people Hermione trusts, don�t you, Harry?�

Harry scowled.
�I know that, Ron. And it�s not
like we�re betraying her trust! We�re
looking out for her��

�Oh, there�s no doubt about it; she�ll always trust us, but what�ll hurt her is that we didn�t trust her. Think about it, Harry.
Why are we even here? You afraid she�ll put out for this git?�

�Hell, no!�

Ron snorted.
�That�s right. You should�ve
thought of that before you dragged us both out here.�

�It�s not�� He cut himself
off, sighing. He suddenly wasn�t sure
about his reasons, anymore. �I think
maybe I�ll take you up on that offer of whiskey, Ron. But I�d rather take it at the Leaky Cauldron,
if you don�t mind. Familiar faces� you
know?�

Ron clapped Harry�s shoulder consolingly. �Let�s go then. Sooner we talk this out, the better, because
Potter, have I got a lot of things to ask you.�

Harry cringed.
Shite. I
think he knows.
- 4
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Hermione Full of Grace

Chapter Four � Risking the Dragon