Disclaimer: I in no way own any of the cannon characters or places in this fic. They all are from the ingenious mind of one JK Rowling. And if they were mine don't you think I'd be selling this to the public and making money off it instead of writing it and posting it here on this non-profit site? There I made my point. So don't sue me 'cause I only have about 58 cents to my name.

A/N: Hey all this is my very first slash fic. Don't worry though I have a really good idea about exactly what I want to happen and I know I can write this. I hope you all enjoy it and constructive criticism is very welcome along with just regular reviews. I really wanna know what you all think about this fic. Also, no flames please. If you don't like slash then don't read it, no one's forcing you to so don't take it out on me thank you. Now on with the story.

Chapter 1

The Case of the Missing Ferret.

"Why so quiet Harry?" Hermione asked.
Harry, who had been staring intently out the window as the Hogwarts Express made its way toward Hogsmead, turned to his bushy-haired companion and replied, "I'm just thinking about things."
"Oh?" Her expression darkened as she continued, "About Sirius?"
Harry nodded slowly before smiling at his friend's worried expression. "Don't worry Herms. If I need to talk about it, you'll be the first person I go to. I just miss him's all."
Hermione watched him for a moment longer before nodding, a small smile on her face.

She and Ron had, indeed, insisted that Harry talk about what had happened at the ministry shortly before summer holidays had started. There decision had been made for them when Harry arrived at the Weasley's on the 31 of July--a week and a half after she had, and Harry's own birthday-- extremely depressed. His time spent with the Dursley's had somehow managed to convince him that he had been solely to blame for what had happened to Sirius as well as everyone else's injuries. It had taken days of repeated conversation in order for Ron and herself to make him understand that it was not his fault. Yet, at times, she worried that, deep down, he still blamed himself.
She turned toward the door to their compartment when she heard it open and smiled as her boyfriend of two weeks walked in. "Ron."
"Hey Mione," Ron replied, taking her hand in his own and sitting down beside her. He turned toward Harry and said, "So…we're both here, what did you need to tell us?"
Hermione turned to look at Harry, who was now pulling nervously at his sleeve. "What is it Harry?"
"Well," he began, "first I want you to please understand that, no matter what, I'm still the same person you've known since first year and I never want anything to change between any of us. You guys will always be like my brother and sister." He stopped and looked up into their curious faces as he searched for the best way to phrase what he was about to say.
"Harry," Hermione said with a smile. "Of course nothing's going to change between us. You should know that nothing you could do or say would ever be able to make us like you any less. You don't need to worry about that."
"Yeah mate. We'd stand by you through anything," Ron said. "You know that...So what's got you so worried? It's not like you've killed anyone or anything." Ron's face suddenly grew nervous as he continued, "You didn't right?"
"No, Ron," Harry said with a laugh, "I haven't killed anyone."
"Oh...good. I was afraid we'd have to start planning an Azkaban escape for you or something. That's just too much work with term startin and all." He looked at Harry's shocked face and continued, "We wouldn't let you rot in Azkaban, mate. Besides if you killed someone it'd either be Voldemort, ferret-boy, or some Death Eater scum just like them and none of those deaths deserve time spent there."

"Ron," Hermione said, squeezing his hand slightly. "You've managed to get slightly off track." She turned to her other companion with a smile and continued, "Now, what was it that you wanted to tell us, Harry?"
Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, who was staring were watching him with near-matching looked of curiosity on their faces. He sat quietly for a moment before deciding to just say it straight out, "I don't want either of you to get the wrong idea but, I realized earlier this summer that...well...I'm gay."
"I knew it!" Hermione exclaimed.
"How?" was all that Harry could manage to say.
"It was obvious really. The only girl that you ever showed interest in was Cho and that was more of an obsession than an actual attraction really. I mean, you got it into your head somehow that she was pretty and that you needed to be with her to be like everyone else. And then there's also the fact that I've caught you staring at a few select guys in classes and at meals when you thought that we were all too busy to notice." Ron opened his mouth to comment and she quickly added, "And, no Ron. I haven't seen him stare at you like that once. The only time he stares at you is when you say something completely stupid and, even then, it's as though he sees you as a brother."

"A sometimes annoyingly dense brother," Harry cut in. "But a brother none the less.
"What?!" Ron said punching his best friend lightly in the shoulder. "I'm not good enough for you Harry?"
Harry laughed and turned to Ron. He hadn't been very worried about the way she would react to the news. She always looked at things logically. He had really been nervous about Ron's reaction but was quite pleased, as well as baffled, by it. "You're fine with this Ron?"
"Of course I am," Ron replied. "I think Mione told me once that muggles tend to throw a fit about homosexuality. I think it was when she was trying to discuss some book she was reading this summer or something. Anyway it's not frowned upon here at all."

"It's not very common Harry," Hermione commented after Ron had finished. "However, wizards seem to be extremely open-minded about things. It's not really surprising when you watch the reactions of some muggles when any type of magic is mentioned."
"I didn't know that."
"Well of course not. Otherwise you wouldn't have been so worried about telling us in the first place."
All three friends turned toward the door as an elderly witch opened it and said, "Anything off the trolley dears?"
Minutes later Harry and Ron had a small pile of candied goodies stacked in their laps, while Hermione merely bought a pumpkin pasty, and were laughing comfortably with each other as they ate.

"Is he in here?" a high-pitched voice said from the doorway.
"Is who here Parkinson," Hermione asked as she turned toward the doorway where Pansy Parkinson was standing, the bulky forms of Crabbe and Goyle flanking her.
"Malfoy," Pansy's voice was dripping venom as she spoke the name.
"Why would he be in here? He wasn't even at the prefect meeting you know that?"
"Yes, well I wouldn't be surprised if he had forfeited that position as well."
"Well, what made you think we'd want ferret-face in here with us, Parkinson?" Ron asked angrily.
"Let's see, a Mudblood, a blood traitor and the half-blood savior. Yep seems like just the place he'd fit in to me."
Ron and Hermione were immediately out of their seats and had their wands pointed at the trio in the doorway.
"As you can see," Harry, who was still seated next to the window stated, "he is not in here. Now if you have no other business here then leave. Your kind is not welcome here. Hence Malfoy is not present."
Pansy glared over at the boy for a moment before turning to Crabbe and Goyle and leading them out of the compartment.

"That was a little odd," Hermione said as she sat back down. "I wonder where Malfoy could be. I'd thought he'd just skipped the prefect meeting to lay around with his little Slytherin followers. But...if the Slytherins don't know where he is..."
"Apparently that wasn't the case," Harry replied calmly. "He's probably just hiding out somewhere else on the train."
"Maybe somebody did us a favor and killed him. I mean someone's bound to get fed up with the sadistic little ferret sometime. Maybe he tried to pick on the wrong person sometime this summer."
"I doubt that," Harry replied thoughtfully.

"Besides," Hermione cut in, "Malfoy may be an annoying and sarcastic bully, but even he hasn't done anything to us to deserve to die. My guess is that he probably got his father to get him out of his prefect duties and didn't want to spend the entire ride listening to the annoyingly high pitch intonations of Pansy Parkinson."

"I still say someone probably got sick of the little bastard," Ron mumbled quietly.

Hermione smiled at her boyfriend and shook her head slightly before turning back to the book that lay nearly forgotten on her lap.

"Well then," Ron said, taking a bite of a chocolate frog, "it seems we have a mystery on our hands." He sat up a little straighter and deepened his voice slightly as he slipped into the roll of a Muggle detective he had seen on the Television Hermione had shown him on his visit to meet her parents. "I dub this The Case of the Missing Ferret."

Hermione laughed lightly before patting Ron lovingly on the cheek and stating, "No more Sherlock Holmes for you."

A/N: Well there's chapter one. It's not really as long as I wanted but I kinda ran out of things to say in it. Oh well. The next chapter will be coming at ya next Tuesday. I really hope you liked this chapter too by the way. Oh and could someone tell me what a beta is? I'd really like to know and if anyone would like to be mine just tell me in a review. Thanks. Anyway review and tell me what you think or if there's anything I can do to make it better. oh and if you liked this feel free to read any of my other stories. Yes shameful advertising on my part. O well. anyway REVIEW!!

Talk to ya Tuesday. Kaydera

A/N 2nd edition: Hey it's me again. I know that this chapter didn't really get too much longer but the conversations were about to become slightly forced so I decided to just drop it. I think I did fix all my little blunders, including getting rid of Fred and George...I can't believe I forgot that little detail...I love Fred and George. Anyway, let me know what you think of the few slight changes and, if you're new to the fic, thank you so much for reading, please review!!!

Love much Kaydera