When one door closes... - Part 1

Harry felt as if all the air had been compressed from his lungs. "Oh," he replied in a choked voice.

Ron fell silent again, as if waiting for Harry to say something more. When Harry didn't respond, he said, "You broke up with her, didn't you?"

Harry took a deep, shuddering breath. "Yeah," he replied, bracing himself in case Ron leaped upon him.

Ron sighed heavily. "I think you made the right choice," he said. "It would be too dangerous for her to come with us. You'll have a lot to make up to her when this is over, though."

To say he was surprised was a massive understatement. Still, he steeled himself for what he was about to say. "I didn't ask her to wait for me, Ron. We have no idea how long this is going to take, or if I'll even be around when it's finished."

"Don't talk like that, Harry," Ron said fiercely. "Of course you will. And she'll wait."

Ron fell silent again, and this time it was Harry who waited for him to say more. Finally, realizing that Ron wasn't going to add anything to that statement, Harry couldn't contain his curiosity. He wished he could control that hope that flared within his heart, but he couldn't. He didn't even know how to begin to try.

"How do you know?" he asked tentatively.

"She told me to take care of you," Ron said. "As if that isn't what I always do," he added with a snort.

Harry hastily swiped his eyes with the back of his hand. She does care.

"Thanks, Ron," he said, hating how gruff his voice sounded. He rolled back over on his side and listened to the sounds of insects flying outside the open window, his mind running over pleasant memories of the all-too-brief time he'd spent with Ginny.

Ron's voice once again broke the silence of the room.

"Of course, after this is all over, if you ever break her heart again, I'll have to beat you senseless."

Harry grinned into his pillow. "You could try."

"Don't think I won't."

"Night, Ron."

"Night, Harry."

The next morning, Harry was awakened by the sound of Ron's snoring, which was causing the entire room to shake. Combined with Dudley's snores coming from the room next door, it sounded as if a battle of the bands was taking place.

Harry sniggered.

Uncle Vernon must be loving this. Of course, he snored fairly loudly himself, so maybe he was missing it. The door to Harry's bedroom creaked open, and a disgruntled Hermione stuck her face inside.

"Does he always snore that loudly?" she asked testily.

"Pretty much," Harry replied, grinning. He pulled the covers up closely to his bare chest, suddenly becoming aware of his state of undress. "Er, what are you doing in here, Hermione?"

Hermione's cheeks turned pink, as if she just realized what she'd done. He noticed her gaze remained fixed on Ron's bare chest as he lay uncovered on his bed, his arms flung open wide.

"Hermione," Harry repeated.

She started. "Oh! I mean, erm…I just couldn't sleep with all that racket. I'm going to Apparate into Diagon Alley and pick up some books at Flourish and Blotts that might help us with our search. I'll get some breakfast while I'm out. Try and wake Sleeping Beauty there; we've got loads to do when I get back."

Hermione had, thankfully, thought to bring sandwiches and snacks with her when she'd arrived yesterday, and they'd feasted in Harry's room. He was grateful that she'd offered to get breakfast and relieved him of the duty of having to explain that the Dursleys wouldn't be feeding them.