Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione wasn't paying him any attention. She was glaring daggers at Gabrielle. "I asked you a question. What do you think you are doing here?"
Gabrielle straightened and returned the glare. Icily, she replied, "I don't see how it's any of your business what Harry and I are doing up here together. In fact…"
"Hey, we weren't doing anything tog…" protested Harry. Both girls barely spared him a brief glance before they returned to their stare down.
"Apparently, as a transfer student you have a few misperceptions about how things work here at Hogwarts. It would be my pleasure to help straighten you out on a few things. First of all, Harry and I are a couple…" began Hermione.
"Oh, really?" snorted Gabrielle. "He wasn't acting like that a minute ago."
"Second of all, I am the Head Girl. In fact, it was Randall here that suggested that we check the Tower tonight at about ten." Hermione paused and glanced at a short, skinny prefect from Hufflepuff who had just climbed up the ladder. "Randall, do you remember who tipped you off earlier today?"
Randall looked nervously from Hermione to Gabrielle, nearly withering under their intense stares.
"Yes, please tell us Randall," whispered Gabrielle softly and batted her eyelashes.
"Stop that," warned Hermione.
"What?" pleaded Gabrielle innocently.
"You know what I'm talking about." She then turned to the Hufflepuff prefect. "Who was it Randall?"
"I…I don't remember his name, but he was from Ravenclaw," stuttered the nervous prefect.
"Didn't you think it was suspicious that someone knew exactly when somebody else was sneaking off to the Astronomy tower, and then went to a prefect about it? How often does a student ever rat out another student like that, especially when they're both from the same house? Have you ever had that happen before?"
"Uhh, I didn't really think about it at the time, but yeah, it was kind of strange."
"But not so strange if someone wanted to be caught," explained Hermione.
"What?" echoed Harry and Randall.
"What are you talking about? You're crazy! Who in their right mind would want to get caught on the Astronomy tower kissing their…" exclaimed Gabrielle.
"You did," snapped Hermione. "You somehow lured Harry here, then had one of your admirers tip off one of the prefects who would be on patrol tonight. You knew I would be on patrol tonight as well, and somehow timed it so that when we came up to inspect the tower, I would catch you kissing Harry…"
"So that blue light was your signal that Hermione and Randall were coming up the stairs," muttered Harry. "You had it set on the stairs below the trapdoor-that's why I didn't detect it."
"And you thought that if I caught you kissing Harry that we would break up and you could step in and…" continued Hermione.
"Well, if Harry changes his mind about you, and believe me, I think he has, then I…"said Gabrielle confidently.
"That's enough," growled Harry in a low voice. "Gabrielle, if you really thought that you could stage all of this to somehow split us up and make me fall in love with you, then you are sadly mistaken."
At his tone, Gabrielle backed up a step. "But, Harry, I…I thought that you felt the same…"
"No. I love Hermione. And nothing will ever change that."
Gabrielle took a step forward and looked up at Harry softly, her hands reaching for him. "But Harry, I'm sure if we just had a chance to get to know each other better, away from…" As Gabrielle approached Harry, she raised her hand to caress his cheek and glanced sideways at Hermione.
"NO!" snarled Harry as he backed up a step. "And if you ever try and use your veela charms on me again, I will make you one very sorry witch," threatened Harry in a low, harsh voice.
Gabrielle backed up a step from Harry, her eyes wide with fear.
"I think we're done here," stated Hermione coldly. "Why don't you two head back down, I'd like a word with Gabrielle alone."
Gabrielle now looked at Hermione nervously, struggling to hide the growing fear in her eyes.
As Harry turned to follow Randall down the ladder, he turned to Hermione. "Mione, I'm…"
"There's no need to apologize, Harry. I know you'd never betray me."
"Well, I shouldn't have been fooled by her veela charms. I should have…"
"Don't worry, Harry. I trust you. I don't think either of us realized how powerful a veela's charm could be, especially if she focused it on one person. Actually, I should have realized it when I saw the effects of those veela on an entire stadium of spectators, or her effect on nearly every male in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. I'm sure I've read something about it…"
"Uhh, you're not going to hex her are you Mione?" asked Harry, smiling as Hermione's thoughts raced through her head trying to analyze the situation.
"No, though I really want to in the worst way. We're just going to have a little chat. Don't bother waiting for us. I'll see you tomorrow morning for our workout with Saldar."
"Mione?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"Thanks. Thanks for trusting me and not jumping to
conclusions."
"Of course."
"I love you."
"I love you, too. Now go."
Motioning for Randall to go first, Harry looked back at Hermione and Gabrielle as he began climbing down the ladder. The last words he heard before the trapdoor shut above his head were, "Come here Gabrielle. There are a few more things I need to explain to you…"
---
The next morning at breakfast, in between mouthfuls of sausage, Ron drew attention to the arrival of Gabrielle in the hall.
"Squa dobbt phoo bo ghoud, dub bee?"
"Try swallowing your food first, you revolting Neanderthal," suggested Hermione.
Ignoring Hermione's insult, Ron swallowed and then belched before replying. "She doesn't look too good, does she?" With his head, he nodded in Gabrielle's direction. "I wonder what's wrong with her?"
Harry and Hermione both glanced up and sure enough, Gabrielle appeared visibly deflated. There was no bounce in her step, and she was not glancing around flirtatiously like normal as she walked slowly to the Ravenclaw table. When she glanced up at the Gryffindor table and caught the gaze of the three Gryffindors briefly, she quickly ducked her head again.
"What on earth did you do to her, Mione?"
"Nothing, Harry. We just had a little chat, you know, to sort of clear the air between us."
"Uhh, you'll let me know if I ever get dangerously close to receiving one of those little chats, won't you Mione?"
"Of course, Harry." She smiled and Harry dug into his plate of eggs while Ron continued to stare over at Gabrielle. He only stopped looking when the first owls came flying in, bringing the students' mail.
A beautiful eagle owl came flying in and dropped four matching envelopes in front of Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione.
"They're from George, or Fred, or both," explained Ginny. "That's their new owl."
"He's beautiful," commented Hermione, stroking his feathers softly.
"They named him Budkis," sniggered Ginny.
"Well, at least they didn't send us Howlers," commented Ron with evident relief. "I was expecting them to try and do something to us after what we did to their shop yesterday."
"Well why don't you open your letter first, Ron," suggested Harry.
"Well, I'd rather not. Why don't you…" he started but all four envelopes began opening themselves on the table.
A loud voice boomed from Hermione's envelope, quickly drowning out the other conversations in the Great Hall as all of the students turned to watch. Even the professors stopped talking to look at the Gryffindor table.
"Well done, well done. So the four young mischief makers-in-training think they're ready for the big game, do they? The modified model dragon you left in our store was brilliant. Needless to say, we were very surprised and somewhat alarmed to discover a twenty foot dragon waiting inside our shop when we visited it last night after Dad's ceremony. And when he opened his mouth and began burning down our shop, we were very shocked indeed. But the best part was when the dragon actually charged Fred and I, and then swallowed us whole. We found the entire experience very realistic. As we sat there in its belly trying to find the right spell to free us from the illusion, we were visited by the creative muse of mischief-we call her Minny, after our favorite teacher-and we finally escaped with a number of new ideas. We would like to thank the four of you for a most enjoyable and what we expect will be a very profitable experience."
Fred's voice then continued. "The dragon prank was so impressive that we decided to preserve it so that all interested Hogwart's students can face a dragon on their next visit to our shop at Hogsmeade. Replay the part of St. George and save Britain and the fair maiden from the dragon. Visit his cave below our store and look for treasure in the dragon's lair. But don't get caught or he'll fry you for dinner. Or just stop by to sit on his back and take a picture. Amaze your friends and family back home. The possibilities are endless!
Finally, we would like to provide a live demonstration of our latest product, a new line of personal letters that we are calling the Yowlers. They will be on sale to the public shortly at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. And there will be a special discount for the first fifty students who buy a box. Enjoy the show!"
George's voice then announced, "Having trouble letting that special someone know that you care? Send a Love Yowler!"
The letter in front of Ron folded itself into a huge pair of lips and began kissing Ron on his face, his head, and his ears while he swatted at it helplessly. The Hall burst into laughter. Finally, he caught it and ripped it to shreds, glaring around at everyone in the hall while his ears burned red with embarrassment.
"Have a friend that's always running late or sleeping in? Send an Alarm Yowler!"
Ginny's letter folded itself into an alarm clock and began ringing very loudly and very shrilly, causing all of the Gryffindors to put their hands over their ears until Ginny was able to catch it between her hands and crumple it up.
"Have a teacher or other prefect that is too strict, giving too many homework assignments or detentions? Send a Hulk Yowler! Don't worry, they're untraceable! They'll never know who sent it!"
Hermione's letter stood up from the table in the form of a little green man with huge muscles for a six inch frame. He then began dancing around the table yelling, "Hulk no like homework! Hulk smash! Hulk no like rules! Hulk smash!" and picked up her spoon and began smashing grapes, oranges, and bananas in a fruit bowl with the large spoon. As students dodged from the juice and bits of fruit that were flying everywhere, Hermione smiled as she reached down to take the spoon back and it screamed, "Hulk no like teachers! Hulk smash!" and smacked her thumb right on the knuckle.
"Oww!" Her eyes flashed and she reached over for her Arithmancy book and picked it up with both hands.
"Hulk no like books! Hulk smaaaa!" His shout of defiance finally petered out as Hermione smashed the book down on top of him. She then looked up at the students who were still giggling. Harry and the other Gryffindors quickly tried to wipe the grins off of their faces.
"If I get another one of these, believe me, I will trace it back to the original sender," she threatened in a convincing tone of voice.
George's voice broke the silence. "Have someone you just need to get even with? Send a Monster Yowler! Available in giant, Dementor, troll, goblin, elf, dwarf, vampire, and DRAGON!"
Harry's letter reformed into a paper mache dragon and flew off the table. It circled the room several times and then began divebombing the Slytherin table and launching small puffs of flame, causing many of them to duck and hide under the table. As the crowd laughed, it circled and headed back towards the Gryffindors. As it approached Harry, it opened its mouth as if it were going to breathe fire again. Harry whipped out his wand and calmly announced "Aqueas." A jet of water hit the flying dragon as a small flame erupted from its mouth. The dragon melted into a soggy lump of parchment and crashed into the floor with a loud glop.
Harry glanced up at the professors' table and noticed that most were laughing, along with most of the hall. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he slowly stood.
"Now that Gryffindor has saved Hogwarts from the Weasley twins, perhaps we can finish our breakfast." Most of the students began laughing even harder, except for the Slytherins who were still embarrassed.
--
Chatting with Ron and Hermione as they waited with the other students of the DADA class for Snape to arrive, Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and he spun around quickly, his wand leaping into his fist.
Malfoy's eyes widened slightly but he did not flinch as he stared calmly at the wands held by the three friends aimed at him. Instead he raised his hands slowly and nodded slightly. "I only came over to uhh…apologize to Granger for last week. I…I'm sorry." He then turned on his heel and walked away stiffly.
Harry and Hermione just looked at each other while Ron sported a wide smile. "That must have just killed him to do that. I'll bet Snape made him do it. He probably thinks he'll get his precious little prefect badge back, huh? Uhh, Harry, Hermione? Are you listening?"
"Well, he said it. And part of him was very sincere, but part of him, I don't know. It's like he's hiding something. Something's wrong, Harry, but I'm not sure what it is."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, my telepathic ability is not too different from using Legilimins, only it's more natural, more subtle. But I still cannot really read a person's mind-it's more like being able to sense their most obvious feelings and hearing the main thought or idea they happen to be concentrating on at one moment. Then it's a combination of putting together these different clues to try and understand what they're really thinking. With people like Snape or Dumbledore, it's very difficult to even hear their surface thoughts, because they're very accomplished at Occlumency. Not impossible, but difficult."
"So what's the problem?"
"Well, I'm having a hard time making sense of anything that Malfoy is thinking right now. Either he's become very powerful in Occlumency in the last couple of weeks or…"
"Or that isn't Draco?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Or it could be that he's had some sort of mental breakdown, maybe he's cracked with everything that's been happening to his parents-I don't know."
After a moment, Harry replied, "Well, it's not our assassin friend, though I didn't really think it was. It would be pretty tough impersonating a student at a magic school. It could be someone using a Polyjuice potion I suppose-we can watch him for the next two hours, he would have to take a sip of something before class was over. But if he has gone mental, we'll need to keep a really close eye on him."
"I'll tell Ron and a few others to keep a close eye on him throughout the class."
"Yeah, well either way, if he tries anything funny today, crazy or not, I will blast him through a wall. I don't care what Snape says."
"You just worry about getting through the duels today, Harry. I'm sure Snape has something nasty in store after Monday. And especially since there wasn't anything he could do to us in class on Tuesday."
As Hermione finished, Snape strode through the door and his face broke into a humourless grin, one that closely resembled that of a cat who had just captured a rat. A cat that was looking forward to toying with his helpless prey.
"Excellent! The dream team could fit our class into their overly hectic schedule today. No meetings with the Ministry today, hmm? Good. The three of you can take your places inside the dueling chamber. Get comfortable, you're going to be there awhile."
Ron glanced quickly at Harry and Hermione for a moment, but saw nothing but steely determination in their gazes. He followed them onto the platform as Snape began calling out the names of their opponents. Throughout the long, grueling class, Draco did not drink or eat anything. There was no hint whatsoever to either Hermione or Harry that it was someone using Polyjuice potion to impersonate Draco.
---
After Quidditch practice that night, Harry stopped by the library looking for Hermione and quickly spotted Hermione scribbling furiously over at one edge of the table. There was nobody within ten feet of her. Grinning, he silently crept over to surprise her and then froze at her furious glare.
"The room wasn't enough, was it? You had to replace my school scrolls with some of the specialty parchments from the twins' store?"
Harry stepped back with puzzlement on his face. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh don't act like you don't know, Harry. I have to rewrite both essays I turned in today, and I have to check the other ones I worked on over the weekend for tomorrow as well."
"Why?"
Hermione stood up and took a menacing step closer to Harry. "Because after I turned them in to my Professors today, the parchments rewrote my essays into several rhyming, but rather rude, limericks. Luckily, McGonagall and Flitwick gave me two days to rewrite them-they believed me when I told them it must have been some sort of prank. How could you do something like this, Harry?"
"But I didn't. I didn't," pleaded Harry. "Look at me." Harry waited until Hermione looked up at him. "I know how much your schoolwork means to you. I would never do something like that. I swear to you, Hermione, I didn't do it."
Hermione looked at him and nodded slowly. "I believe you, Harry."
"I'm sure there must be some way to reverse the effects."
"Well, I haven't found it."
"Well, let me see your old essay." Harry read the rhymes and chuckled and then stopped at Hermione's glare. He then tried several counterspells to remove the charm without luck. He then flicked his wand at the stack of parchments and pulled out all the ones that glowed a light yellow. "I'll be back in a minute, Mione," and he disappeared. Ten minutes later, he returned with a smile on his face. "I managed to convince Fred to remove the enchantment. You won't need to rewrite the essays."
Hermione was busy looking over her returned essays.
"The parchments weren't supposed to completely erase what you wrote, they were only supposed to change some of the wording and add a few rhymes. Apparently, it's a product they're still working on."
"So why are they selling it?"
"They're not. Either Ginny or Ron must have taken some when we were at their store yesterday." They looked at each other for a moment and then both said "Ginny," together.
Hermione got a cold glint in her eye and whispered, "What if we…" Two hours later, their plans made and their homework finished, they returned to the common room.
As they entered, Ron and Neville came running up to Harry and then paused as they saw Hermione.
"What's the matter?"
"Our room, Harry. It's uhh…all pink and frilly."
"And it has little teddy bears and coloured balloons and valentine pillows everywhere," added Neville. "And we can't get rid of any of it. And we can't find any of our stuff, Harry."
Hermione chuckled.
"What are you laughing at?" demanded Ron.
"Isn't it obvious?" retorted Hermione as she headed towards her room. "Oh, by the way, Harry, once you find your stuff again I would make sure I thoroughly checked everything you own for jinxes, especially your books and clothing. Good night boys," she finished rather cheerfully and disappeared through the tapestry into her room.
"But Hermione! I didn't switch the scrolls…" but stopped as she disappeared from sight.
All three heard Hermione's voice from her room drift back towards them. "Three words, Potter. Quidditch themed bedroom."
Sighing, Harry turned away and walked towards the stairs. "Come on then, let's see what she's done to our room."
"What are you worried about Harry? You shouldn't have any problem undoing one of Hermione's spells," insisted Neville, almost as if he were trying to convince himself.
"I hope not," muttered Harry.
---
Friday morning at breakfast, five bleary-eyed, seventh-year Gryffindor boys slowly ate their breakfast.
"Have a good night's sleep boys?" laughed Ginny, who quickly dodged a piece of toast thrown her way by her cranky brother.
Hermione snuck up behind Harry and while giving him a hug whispered in his ear, "Sleep well Harry?"
Moving over to give her a spot to sit down, he replied sullenly. "Not particularly. It only took me ten minutes to restore the room to its proper state. But it took me most of the night to finish checking all of my books and clothes."
"And he kept us up all night while he did it," complained Dean Thomas.
"Poor boys," chuckled Lavender.
"And you didn't even do anything to my books!" complained Harry.
"Well of course not. You should know I would never do anything to harm a book," laughed Hermione.
"Then why did you tell me to…oh, never mind! But I can't believe you actually used those spells on my robes! Would you have really let me wear those in public?" asked Harry.
"What did she do to them?" asked Ron.
Harry noticed Ginny looking on curiously as well, with a slight smile on her face. His face reddening, Harry glared at both of the Weasleys. "Never mind," he snapped.
---
Later that evening, dirty and sore, Harry was wolfing down his dinner after another grueling day of training with Samuel. Ron was next to him, still complaining about sore muscles from dueling the day before. Hermione kept rubbing a sore shoulder as well while she finished off her plate. Ginny seemed annoyingly happy as she bounced over to the trio telling them to hurry up and finish or they'd be late for practice. Ron quickly told her where she could go and Hermionie glanced up quickly.
"I think I'll come and watch, too," she volunteered.
"Yeah, you should. Harry's been bragging about some new moves he'd like to show you," teased Ginny.
Hermione just smiled. Ginny left, followed a few minutes later by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hermione found a spot in the stands, whistling happily to herself while the players went and got their gear and changed into their practice uniforms.
When they came back on the field, everyone mounted their brooms and began flying around the pitch while Ron started barking orders. "Where's Gin? Get out here and get into formation. We don't have all night to practice!"
Ginny came running out of the changing rooms carrying her broom. She glared at her brother and mounted her broom. She and Ron then stared in amazement as the broom flew off without her. It then shot skyward rapidly, then dove into a series of huge loops while it barrel rolled. Everyone else stopped to watch in shock. It lapped the field several times, then arched high again before diving again towards Ginny and Ron. Their eyes widened as the broom burst into flame and plummeted earthward like a fiery comet. The last burning embers hit the ground a few feet in front of the siblings as they watched in amazement.
"What the bloody hell was that?!" exclaimed Ron.
"My broom!" shrieked Ginny. "But that's imp…" Her head snapped sideways as she heard laughter. On the side of the field, Hermione's hands were in front of her face, trying to quiet her chuckles. Harry had been hovering nearby, but was laughing so hard that he fell off of his broom. Hermione went to help him up while Ginny stalked over angrily, with Ron close behind.
"How could you!" she shrieked.
Catching his breath, Harry chortled, "Oh relax, Gin, your broom is behind Mione on the bench."
"Besides, your broom has too many protective spells to jinx it like that," added Hermione. "We transfigured one of the school mops. You should have seen your faces!" And both Hermione and Harry began laughing again.
"Well, if you two are done wasting our practice time teasing my sister, then…"
"This was payback," answered Hermione. "Gin knows what I'm talking about."
"Fine," snapped Ginny, "so are we even now?"
"Afraid not, Gin. I still owe you one," replied Hermione with a smile.
"This was my prank. Gin, you should know by now that if you mess with one of us, you mess with both of us," added Harry.
"But don't worry, I won't make you wait long," smiled Hermione mischievously.
"Fine," snapped a red-faced Ron, "can we get back to practice now? Assuming you two are done, that is…"
Harry winked at Hermione, grabbed Ginny's broom and climbed out of the stadium seats with both brooms back onto the field.
"Here you go Gin," he replied with a wide smile. "That was a nice try, trying to frame me for the joking scrolls."
She glared at him for a moment, then smiled widely. "I didn't think you'd figure it out that quickly. I thought you two would go at it a bit longer. And I have to admit, that was a pretty good one Potter." Then her face went deadly serious. "But don't ever mess with my broom again."
Harry smiled and nodded as he mounted his broom and swung into the sky. Practice went much more smoothly afterwards.
---
Harry and Hermione had nearly finished breakfast when Ginny arrived at breakfast Saturday morning. Harry was laughing at something Ron had said as Ginny put some salt and pepper on her eggs. As she bit into her eggs, there was a muffled explosion and everyone at the Gryffindor table looked up in shock.
"Uhh, Gin…Your hair, it's, uhh, I think it's on fire," stammered Ron. Ginny's long red curls were dancing and waving in a flame of fire encircling her head. The silence along the Gryffindor table wase slowly replaced by chuckles and laughter, led by Harry and Hermione. Holding a spoon and gazing at her reflection, Ginny started laughing too.
Glancing at Hermione, she chuckled. "Wicked, Hermione. You've got to teach me the spell for this one."
Harry and Hermione paused for a minute, then began laughing harder. Ron simply rolled his eyes and muttered, "You're nutters, the whole lot of you!" as he shoved another mouthful of pancakes into his mouth.
Ginny was the center of attention in the Great Hall as other students came to marvel at the latest prank that had been played. Finishing their breakfast, Harry and Hermione slipped off to the library to do some research on Atlantis. Harry had explained to Hermione that Samuel was gone for the weekend on some sort of special project, so he had offered to help Hermione track down useful books in the library. They took a short break for lunch and Hermione returned to the library while Harry went to Quidditch practice. Apparently Ginny thought the flaming hair spell was very amusing, it was still whipping her red hair around when she showed up for practice. Harry and the rest of the team laughed all through practice, she looked like a miniature comet as she glided around the Quidditch pitch.
After dinner, Harry returned to the library with Hermione. Tired from searching through stacks of dusty tomes, Harry and Hermione discussed the possibility of restarting the DA club. Hermione suggested that they hold it after Quidditch practices on Mondays and Wednesdays. Harry wasn't too keen on adding more things on two very busy days, but Hermione convinced him that many of the students could use some extra help reviewing for Snape's DADA classes. Sensing Harry's reluctance, Hermione volunteered to plan the meetings and organize the practice sessions, and Harry happily accepted the extra help.
Sitting together on their favorite couch in the Gryffindor common room later that evening, Harry thought about how busy he was and how many challenges he and Hermione still faced, but, looking over at her radiant face reflecting the light of the fire, he knew he wouldn't wish for anything else. He closed his eyes contentedly and pulled Hermione a little closer as he relaxed.
--
Two weeks later, Harry and Hermione were heading to a special DA meeting they had scheduled for that evening. They passed the door three times, and then entered. Oddly, there was nobody there yet. Hermione checked her watch, thinking maybe they were early. They were, but only by two minutes.
"Where is everybody?" she asked, not noticing Harry's smile.
"I dunno," came the reply. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to a rolled scroll on one of the side tables. He stood by her as she read it softly.
"You are invited to a birthday party…" There was a disorienting sensation and then she reappeared in a large room with soft couches, chairs and music playing on an elaborate stereo system. A split second later, Harry appeared right beside her.
"Harry! You can't just portkey me to your house. What is going…"
Shouts of "Surprise!" and "Happy Birthday!" rang throughout Harry's parlor as students jumped into view.
Gryffindors and DA members swarmed around her giving her hugs and wishing her a happy birthday.
"Mum! Dad!" she shrieked and ran over to give her parents huge hugs.
Harry wandered over to say hello to Mrs. Weasley. "This was a wonderful idea, Harry. There's plenty of food in the kitchen. I still can't believe Dumbledore gave you permission to have a party here for Hermione."
"Yeah, uhh, I better go say hi to her folks. I'll catch up with you later Molly. Thanks again for all the help."
Harry walked over quickly and chatted with them for awhile with Hermione. They were both very grateful for Harry's invitation, as was Hermione. It had been a long time since they had been together for her birthday. While they talked, many of the students were either dancing or eating from one of the tables groaning under huge plates of food. It looked like Ron was doing both.
Dobby's knees were shaking as he carried a massive birthday cake above his head and everybody broke into song. Hermione blew out all the candles and Harry cut the cake and started passing out slices. Then Hermione opened her presents. She was very happy with a three volume set on advanced Arithmancy by Miriana Podgewick that her Gryffindor classmates had pooled their money together to purchase for her. The DA members had bought her an undetectable wand holster made of dragonhide. In an envelope from her parents she found two tickets to Rome.
"We thought you and Harry might like to take another trip with us over vacation." They both got very happy hugs from Hermione. There were several more nice presents from the Weasleys and finally, a large box from Harry. She opened it and pulled out a backpack. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Harry. Laughter broke out around the room.
"Nice one, Harry!" "What a romantic!" "Smooth, Harry, real smooth," and other less helpful comments erupted from the crowd.
"It's a bag like my pouch. I had the twins make it for you. No more carrying around forty pounds of books on your back. Now you just reach in and pull out whatever book you might need."
"Thanks, Harry!" and she wrapped him up in a huge hug.
"And there might be another small gift later," he added and winked.
They had some more cake, and then they went out to dance with many of their friends. She laid her head on his shoulder as they danced to a slow, romantic song. "Thank you Harry. This is the best birthday I've ever had."
"Good. I'm glad." Then they just danced, enjoying the music, the company, and their time together.
Several songs later, Hermione spoke again. "Umm, Harry? Shouldn't people be getting back? We don't want them to get caught after hours by the prefects doing rounds."
"Oh, that's not a problem. Both of the prefects on duty are here tonight."
"Harry! I can't believe you! You're going to get half the school thrown into detention!"
"Don't worry, Hermione. Just enjoy your party. I'll send everyone back to Hogwarts soon."
Half an hour later, Harry announced it was time for everyone to head home. Harry arranged several portkeys to take the students back to their separate common rooms. Hermione watched in amazement as he created them.
"I thought Hogwart's defensive wards blocked the use of portkeys inside the walls? How did you…"
"They do. I've simply added a countercharm to the portkey to bypass the defensive wards."
"But how…"
"Well, I was worried that Voldemort might try something like that last year, so I made a very close study of the defensive wards last year. You can use a portkey to get into Hogwarts-but you can't portkey in or out with a wand and you have to use the correct charm to bypass the wards, which I happened to discover."
"You never cease to amaze me, Harry."
"Wait until you see your other present."
Several of the Weasleys stayed with Harry and Hermione to help clean up which didn't take long.
Hermione and Harry thanked the Weasley's and Dobby for all of their help and said their final goodbyes to the Grangers.
Hermione loaded her gifts into her backpack, and with Ron and Ginny, portkeyed back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry teleported there a moment later and gave Hermione her wand back.
"Good night guys," said Harry.
"What? I'm not tired yet, I thought we'd hang out…"
"No, we're both tired. Come on Ron," insisted Ginny, tugging on his arm.
"Oh, right, right," and he winked at Harry. "Have fun kids. Don't stay up too late." Harry rolled his eyes and Hermione blushed.
When they were alone in the common room, Harry pulled out two small boxes and pulled off the lids. Hermione gasped in delight at the beautiful heart pendant she saw and reached for it.
"Wait. Don't touch it just yet-it's not finished yet."
Hermione looked at him with a quizzical expression.
"This," stated Harry, tapping the box with the pendant, "is for you. This one," he pointed to the box that had a simple diamond stud earring, "is for me." Seeing her confused look he continued. "Let me finish explaining. You've seen the Weasley's clock, right?" At her nod he continued. "Now that clock has a very complex set of spells, some very powerful magic went into the creation of that artifact. The spells I have put on these are powerful, but not nearly as complicated. The first spell is a type of monitoring spell. It will basically tell you about the general physical condition of the person wearing the other piece of jewelry. Basically, as long as your necklace stays warm, you'll always know that I'm OK. If it ever goes cold, well… And the same goes for my earring. But you have to finish casting the spell on the earring, and I need to finish the spell for your necklace-otherwise they won't work. The second spell will act as a homing beacon if we should ever get separated, helping us to find each other again."
"Harry! This is wonderful! How did you…"
"Creating these items was a special research project I have been working on with Flitwick. I hope you like the necklace…"
"Harry, I love it. How do we finish the spell?
"Just do what I do," instructed Harry, pulling out his wand and picking up the necklace. "Decerno salus."
"Decerno salus." repeated Hermione holding her wand and Harry's earring.
Harry then put the necklace around Hermione's neck and clasped it.
"Umm, Harry. Why did you choose an earring instead of something like a ring?"
"Well, Hunt told me that sometimes magical rings can interfere with wand use, they can affect the spells you cast sometimes. He said that wasn't a very good thing for an Auror, even if it is a very rare occurrence."
"I've never heard of that," admitted Hermione.
"Really? I'll have to be sure and write that down then." He lifted a finger and started spelling flaming letters in midair. "Hermione Granger did not know that…oww" he finished as Hermione punched him in the arm.
"And besides, Bill convinced me it would be pretty cool. I'm not so sure so I put a cloaking charm on it so that people won't be able to see it or detect its magical properties. Yours has a cloaking charm as well."
"But I want people to see it."
"That's what I thought so the cloaking just conceals its magical properties."
"Well, would you like me to pierce your ear for you then?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"I said do you want me to pierce your ear for you? How do you think the earring is going to stay in?"
"Uhh-a sticking charm?"
"Don't be silly. Sit still-this won't hurt very much."
"What?!"
Hermione deftly grabbed Harry's ear and placed her wand tip on his earlobe. "Percutio."
"OWW!"
"I thought you were tough?"
"I thought you said it wouldn't hurt very much."
"It wouldn't have-if you were tough."
"Whatever. Just put the earring in for me then or is that going to hurt as well?"
"Nope, the hard part is all done." Hermione quickly fastened the ear stud and then stepped back to admire her handiwork. But it disappeared as soon as her hands left the earring.
"Look, there's one other thing about your pendant." He reached forward and grabbed the pendant and opened a tiny clasp. When the heart opened, Hermione could see a three dimensional image of her and Harry holding hands, laughing, and then giving each other a kiss. "I got one of Colin's wizard pictures and tweaked it a little. Do you like it?"
In response, Hermione simply kissed him. Later, as they sat their soaking in the warmth of the fire on the couch, Harry spoke.
"Mione, have you ever heard of Artemis Dumbledore?"
"Artemis Dumbledore? A relative of Dumbledore?"
"I don't know. I think so."
"Why do you ask?"
"Last Monday, while I was on a training exercise with Hunt on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, I saw Dumbledore, dressed all in black, visiting a small graveyard just outside of town."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And Professor McGonagall was there too. And she was dressed in black too."
"Really?"
"Yes. They were only there for a few minutes. They left some flowers by a small gravestone and then left."
"And the name on the headstone was Artemis Dumbledore?"
"Yeah. She died Sept 14, 1944."
"Was there a birthdate?"
"1906. May 15th, 1906. She was thirty-eight."
"I know he has a brother-I didn't know he had a sister."
"But why did McGonagall go with him?"
"I suppose she could have gone with him for comfort, but…I don't know. What made you think of this?"
"Ahh. Well, I sometimes wish I had something from my parents besides old pictures and a vault at Gringott's. Everything they had was destroyed-I don't have anything else left of them. I don't even know where they're buried, or if they were. That's partly why I got you the heart locket. I want you to always have something to remember me by in case…well, in case…"
"Oh Harry, don't talk like that. We have years and years to spend together. I'm not going to let anyone take you away from me. You're going to be stuck with me for a very long time, Mr. Potter." She then leaned closer and kissed Harry lovingly.
Several minutes later, Harry leaned his forehead against Hermione's and whispered. "Happy birthday, love."
"Thank you, Harry. For everything." She gave him a final kiss and then walked to her room as Harry watched from the couch before climbing the stairs to his own room.
--
Harry cheerfully sat down next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table the next morning. Ron was already halfway through his first plate of pancakes and eggs as he pulled a pitcher of juice towards him and topped off his glass.
"Bwant sub, Bin?" he asked as he lifted the pitcher towards his sister.
"No thanks, Ron. And finish chewing before you talk, nobody's going to steal your food."
Ignoring her, he then stretched the pitcher towards Neville, who was sitting across the table from Gin with his eyes down. "Wabbat ju, Nibble?"
Neville simply shook his head.
"Berry?" Gulp. "Hermione? You guys want any of this juice?"
Harry had an odd expression on his face as Hermione lifted her half-empty glass.
"You don't want the juice, Hermione."
"What?"
"Trust me."
"Uhh, no thanks Ron. I'm fine."
"Good. More for me." They all resumed their breakfast. About five minutes later, there were a number of exclamations that burst out along the tables.
Harry looked up to see many of the older students clapping hands to their faces and pointing at each other. At first it appeared that there must have been some widespread outbreak of allergic reactions to something the students were eating in the Hall. On closer inspection he noticed that all the red rashes were actually in the form of a pair of lips on people's cheeks and lips. He noticed Hermione looking around in shock and then glanced at Ron, who was still eating. Then he noticed that not only were their several pairs of lips on his friend's face, but that there was a set of initials next to each set. And Ron's face had several different sets of initials. He caught Hermione's eye and flicked his glance towards Ron.
A wide smile crossed her face. A scary smile, not a happy smile. "So Ron, I guess you had a really good time at the party last night, huh?" she asked.
Ron looked up and nodded while he finished chewing.
"Would LB and PP agree?"
Ron's face froze and he blanched slightly.
"Would that be Lavender and Padma? Or was it Parvati?
"And who is JN?" asked Ginny innocently.
"I don't know what you're talking about," insisted a pale Ron.
"No? Well, they might," suggested Harry, nodding in the direction of Lavender Brown and the Patil twins. All three had gotten out of their seats and were walking very angrily in their direction. Both Lavender and Padma had lip prints with the initials RW next to them on their faces.
"Ronald Weasley!" they shouted in unison as Ron stood hastily and looked around for an escape. Their voices rang out over the din of several other rather heated discussions that were breaking out throughout the hall. At the Hufflepuff table, one of the girls from DA stood up and glared at Ron as well. Ron's head whipped back and forth between the four enraged girls and he ran for the doors, with the four girls only several steps behind.
Harry watched and sighed, "Poor Ron. I hope he survives."
"Poor Ron?!" snorted Hermione and Ginny in disgust.
"Looks like he's going to get exactly what he deserves, if he's been leading all three of them on, as well as Cho Chang," declared Ginny.
"Maybe he'll learn an important lesson, if they don't kill him first," finished Hermione.
"Poor Ron," repeated Harry. Ginny and Hermione just rolled their eyes and finished watching the rest of the fireworks in the Great Hall.
A few minutes later, Harry turned to Ginny and asked, "So I guess the twins finally worked out the kinks in the Kiss'n'Tell powder, huh Gin?"
"Gosh Harry, I have no idea what you're talking about," smiled Gin as she finished her bite of bacon. Neville snorted.
"She hasn't pulled you into her little web has she, Neville?" asked Harry.
Neville shook his head no, but still refused to make eye contact. Harry chuckled.
"Do I need to remind you that she's a Weasley? And quite possibly, the most dangerous one of all?"
Neville raised his head and looked directly at Harry and smiled. "I don't mind. Besides, she's only dangerous to those who cross her."
Harry sat back and chuckled, then finished his breakfast, careful to avoid the juice.
--
Harry finally found Ron later that afternoon flying laps on the Quidditch field and managed to convince him to come in for the night. They made small talk as they made their way back to the castle.
As they walked through the outer gate, Harry asked Ron, "Rough day, huh?"
"Yeah. That's an understatement. None of them want anything to do with me again. After they finished screaming, they wouldn't even listen to my side. I tell you what, Harry, if I ever find out who pulled that…" promised Ron as he smacked a large fist loudly into his open palm.
"What?!" asked Harry. "Are you upset because of what you did or that you got caught?"
"What do you mean what I did? I didn't do anything wrong!"
"What?! Apparently you've been leading on four different girls, making each of them think you like them!"
"I do like them. I like them all. Let me tell you, Harry, that Lavender. Wow! She can really…"
"Shut up Ron. I don't want to hear about it."
"What's the matter with you Harry? Why so self righteous all of a sudden? Oh, let me guess. Saint Hermione has forbidden you from…"
"Leave Hermione out of this. She's got nothing to do with it."
"Whatever…"
"I'm talking about what you've been doing to all those girls, playing with their feelings and…Don't you feel the least bit guilty?"
"No. Why should I? None of them would have given me the time of day a year ago-I was always in your shadow. But now, now I've done stuff on my own. I'm a prefect. I'm the Quidditch captain. I fought in the war-I've got the scars to prove it. I'm not just your sidekick anymore. And if that's the reason they're willing to go out with me, then fine. But doesn't that make them just as shallow as you're accusing me of being? If they're just going out with me because I'm the Quidditch captain or I've got some cool scar from the war, how does that make them better than me?"
Harry just looked at him, unsure how to answer. Ron turned and stomped off while Harry tried to catch up.
"I don't need someone else to lecture me, Harry. I get all I need from Mum and Hermione."
"Ron, I'm not trying to lecture you or tell you what to…"
"And what are you two doing out here? What are you doing with my sister?" snapped Ron as he and Harry almost ran over Neville and Ginny, who were walking down the steps from the main doors of the castle.
"It's none of your business Ron," snapped an irate Ginny.
"Well, I'm your brother and I'm making it my business. I don't want anyone treating my little sister"
"like you treat your girlfriends?" retorted Ginny, her hands on her hips.
"That's enough!" threatened Ron and took a step closer to the pair on the steps. "We're talking about you, not me!"
Neville stepped forward, putting himself between Ron and Ginny. "It's alright Ginny," he started.
"Neville, you don't have to leave just because my brother is acting like a complete idiot!" fumed Ginny.
"That's not what I meant." Neville then turned and looked directly at Ron, then stepped down a step so that they were on the same level. Harry noticed that Neville looked taller, more formidable somehow, even though he was still an inch or two shorter than Ron. "Ginny and I were just going to go for a walk around the lake. I would never do anything that might hurt or upset your sister in any way, Ron. She's one of my best friends. If that's not good enough for you, then that's your problem, not mine. Come on Gin, let's go." Neville turned to Gin and lightly grasped her elbow, pulling her forward. She seemed a little shocked by Neville's actions.
"See you later Harry," added Neville as he and Ginny walked by on their way to the lake.
Ron stood still, clenching and unclenching his fists as he watched the two of them walk off.
As he turned to enter the castle, Harry spoke to the retreating back of Ron, "If Lavender or Padma were your sister, would you want someone to treat them like you have?"
Ron kept walking as he growled his response over his shoulder. "Shut up Potter. I'm done talking about this."
-->