Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: No longer written as a tribute to the world J.K. Rowling has created, but as a tribute to the coupling we always have admired and hoped for. But the original characters still belong to mentioned person and not to me… therefore no money is being made on this.

Author's notes:

I cannot offer a valid excuse for all the months it took to finish this chapter - it's unforgivable. The only thing I have to say to my defence is that at the beginning of this year, my brother moved out. So I've been spending a lot of time to help him move and refurnish my apartment to my liking, so the Fanfic got into a low-priority rate. Furthermore, this chapter was a little boring to me - the hospital-part in the beginning was very difficult to write down - there was so much I wanted included and I had trouble to fit them in.

The Half Blood Prince took its toll as well - what a major disappointment! But it is thanks to you readers who encouraged me to go on that made this chapter possible. Do take note on my new disclaimer - I'm not that fond of Rowling anymore, and unfortunately I have no hope of any Harry/Hermione coupling in book seven. Seems more likely to me that Harry will die at the end - but that is something we still have to see.

Unless I say otherwise - HBP is completely ignored by me, (except for the use of some spells and lessons); so from now on I'm only writing AU…

On with the story… (Finally…)

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Harry and Hermione had to remain in the infirmary for another couple of days in a secluded corner that was screened off - Madam Pomfrey had felt the need to put up a special ward to prevent bad microbes or bacteria to reach them as both teens were for the time being more sensitive to such things. Thanks to their blood-loss, their immune systems were currently not at its peak, and that was why both of them were in quarantine.
Neither teen was that much troubled by it, as they had the company of each-other - now that they knew how they felt for the other, they bid their time with catching up on what they had missed. That meant that after the matron had checked on them, Harry would slip into Hermione's bed to share some cuddling and kisses to then simply rest in each-others arms. They still had to keep quiet though, as Professor Snape was lying in another bed on the other side of the screen, recovering from his injuries the Vampire had caused by stabbing him with the wooden stick Snape had intended to use on the undead. They had a very high suspicion that the Potions-master would not approve of any misbehaviour should he happen to hear what they were doing.

At first no visitors were allowed except for one teacher at the time, and not before Madam Pomfrey had cast a sterilizing-charm over them. Headmaster Dumbledore was not a frequent visitor, but that was because he was busy with clearing up the left-behind mess the Vampire had caused. Professor McGonagall had not stopped by either so the one who kept them up-to-date on what was going on was tiny Professor Flitwick - Harry suspected that it mostly was because the Charms-teacher wanted to question Hermione on everything she had managed to do with the Wand-link charm that she had performed all by herself, and Hermione was very happy to answer all his questions.
So it was a surprise for both of them when one day their friends came in through the door. Later they heard that Dumbledore had managed to talk Madam Pomfrey into bending the rules a bit - claiming that Harry and Hermione's recovery would improve slightly if they were granted a happy visit, and the matron had reluctantly agreed.

'Hey! You guys are supposed to be resting!' Ron mock scolded as he came in, grinning like a fool.
'We are resting.' Hermione said casually but not without a smile as she put down her book. 'I happen to find reading the Encyclopaedia of Magical Remedies a very relaxing past time, and Harry cools out by polishing his newly repaired Broomstick that Professor Flitwick brought in this morning.'
'That's definitely the Hermione we used to know!' Ron said with a grin to Ginny and Luna who came in close behind him.
'Oh, what a relief! It's so great to have you back!' Ginny exclaimed as she rushed past her brother and threw her arms around the older girl. Ron settled with shaking Harry's hand.
'Hey, could someone give me a hand with this stuff?' Neville half stumbled inside, being quite unbalanced carrying a large stack of different sorts of goods.
'My goodness, what's with all that candy?' Hermione gasped loudly. 'Are you planning to kill us with a massive sugar-rush?'

'They're your 'get-well' gifts - I think about every student in school save for our fellow Sixth-year Slytherins has contributed to this pile.' Neville explained after having been relieved of his burden. 'There are two more stacks waiting in the Gryffindor-tower.'
Harry snickered at Hermione who looked aghast. 'Couldn't they have thought up something more original? I'd be fine with a bunch of cards!' she said.
'You got cards. There are plenty tied to the gifts.' Ron said. 'We just couldn't deliver them because Madam Pomfrey wouldn't accept visitors save for the staff until now.'
'Why didn't anyone just buy flowers then? Madam Pomfrey would have taken them through her consulting-room.' Hermione argued.
'Oh no, I told everybody that it would be a bad idea to buy flowers.' Luna said. 'They're always infested with Monkwick lice, and patients should always avoid those because the lice will make you stay sick longer than otherwise.'
'Oh, brother!' Hermione sighed and rolling her eyes while Harry, Ginny and Neville burst out in laughter.

'Well, good thing that you got these sweets then?' Ron said brightly. 'They're not infested with any lice.'
'Won't do us any good, Ron.' Harry said. 'Although it seems that we're finally allowed to have visits from you, Madam Pomfrey is still having us on a strict diet to not cause any trouble because of our blood-loss. We're not allowed to eat any sweets yet.'
'Oh!' said Ron looking slightly taken aback. 'Well, if you don't mind, I'll just help myself.' he said and grabbed a Chocolate Frog from the pile.
'Yeah, like you did for the past days back in the tower!' Ginny scolded. 'Don't you think I noticed how often you 'helped yourself' while you thought everyone else was looking in the other direction?'
Ron looked like that he'd just been caught with his hand stuck down into the Cookie-jar. Everyone had a good laugh at his expression.
'That's the Ron we all know.' Harry said happily.
'Don't I know it?' Ginny answered. 'It's great, isn't it? Everything's almost back to normal.'
'I think 'amazing' is the more proper word.' Hermione said. 'We have all been acting weird lately under the influence of… well, you know of whom I'm talking about.' Hermione had shuddered a bit. 'So what's happening out there in the school?'

'Well, it's been five days now since Vlad Malfoy was destroyed.' Neville began.
'Yeah, but there are still students who are walking around like they just woken up from a very long sleep.' Ginny said seriously. 'I can't blame them actually; it was like suddenly having been pulled out from a dark hole that none of us even knew we were in - and many of us are still catching up what we have done under that influence during this year…'
'Many things done unintentionally.' Neville said. 'Susan Bones have been flirting with the Slytherin Claude Pinehammer since Valentine's - somehow she had forgotten that she hates the guy until recently.'
'And many has gotten bad marks in subjects that they're usually good at.' added Ginny.
'Like Malfoy in Potions.' Harry said.
'But you seemed to have managed to escape unaffected, Harry?' Neville said.
'Actually I didn't, not until Christmas.' Harry explained. 'My new… err… 'crush' on Cho wasn't supposed to last as long as it did.'

'Strangely enough I benefited more from that mind-manipulation.' Neville continued. 'It took away some of my self-doubts, otherwise I'd probably never managed to build up the courage to ask Ginny out.' He made a point by gently laying an arm around Ginny's shoulders and she flashed him a smile as she leaned into the embrace. Ron looked a bit putout but remained quiet.
'I honestly don't think the Vampire had anything to do with that, Neville.' Hermione said. 'You've always been brave, otherwise the Sorting-hat would never had put you in Gryffindor.'
'Thankfully we don't have to put up with Ginny's 'Mother-like' attitude anymore.' Ron said. 'It was quite spooky how much she acted like our Mother this year.'
Ginny turned to her brother. 'Do you really think so? Think again, my brother. 'Like Mother, like Daughter' - don't think for a minute that you're safe.' Ron looked nervous.
'What about you, Luna? How were you affected?' Harry asked.
'I don't know.' She answered vaguely while examining her necklace made of Butterbeer corks. 'No one bothers to look twice at me to tell if I've changed behaviour or not. If I have acted more loony than usual it was most likely to be expected to anyone else.' Luna had delivered this as if was the most natural thing in the world, and Harry realised that it most likely was for her. It wasn't the first time he felt sorry for this girl.

'One of those who was strongly affected on the other hand was probably me - I got so depressed and unsecured that I thought I would never be happy again.' Hermione said.
'I doubt Professor Malfoy caused you that.' Ginny said. 'Sounds to me like he boosted your already existing heart-ache.' The girl looked strangely at Harry as she said this.
'Well…' Harry began as he realised what Ginny meant with the look. 'Hopefully Hermione shouldn't have any more problems with heart-aches - not now when she knows how I feel about her.'
'What do you mean by that?' Neville asked.
'Oh, so you two are finally together?' It was more like a statement from Luna than a question.
'Are you?' Ginny shined up. Hermione blushed and confirmed it with a nod. There were some squeals and congratulations after that.
'Too bad it didn't happen earlier, it would have spared us some uncomfortable problems.' Harry said.
'Just another thing to blame the Vampire for.' Ron said cheerfully. 'Otherwise I would never have sent that letter when I said that I was certain that that Hermione and I were a couple.'

Harry, Hermione and Ginny glared sternly at Ron as he said this.
'That was before we even met Professor Malfoy!' Hermione pointed out with her arms crossed over her chest. Ron propped his fist into his mouth as he realised that it was true.
'I did think that Ron had been a little too big-mouthed this year.' Harry said, more as a joke.
'More than usual I would say.' Ginny added, but with no pun intended. 'And it doesn't seem that he has completely recovered yet.'
'Anyway, I heard that Dumbledore managed to clear Professor Sprout of her charges.' Ron quickly said to change the subject. 'She'll be back as soon as the school is ready to resume the teachings - which means that we don't have to put up with that mental git Tulip anymore.'
'Thank goodness for small wonders!' Ginny exclaimed.
'I thought he was okay.' Neville said quietly as he had been the only one who had gotten along with him.

'I hope it means that Hagrid will soon be back too.' Harry said hopefully.
'But what about Professor McGonagall?' Hermione asked. 'We haven't heard a word about her.'
'That's because she's not here anymore.' Hermione looked almost horror-stricken of Ginny's words. 'What I meant was that Dumbledore has given her the rest of the term off - the responsibility on her shoulders this year was too much for her. After all - four students and one teacher was lost under her temporary post as Headmistress. That can make anyone crack.'
'So we got no more Transfiguration this year?' Hermione looked very disappointed.
'We don't know. Maybe we'll get a replacement.' Ginny shrugged.

There wasn't much more conversation after that before Madam Pomfrey sent the four visitors out - and that was because Professor Snape, who rested in the other end of the wing, had complained to the Matron that the students' chatter disturbed his needed peace.

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The following days passed slowly for Harry and Hermione. Even though they had gone quite ahead with their self-studies, (Harry followed along with Hermione with this as he had nothing better to do), the time in a hospital-bed began to feel quite frustrating after a while. Yet there were some happy moments: Hagrid returned to school after his exile within the Forbidden Forest and went straight to visit them after he was finished at Professor Dumbledore's. Hagrid explained that he would resume his teachings although officially he was under probation - but Dumbledore had understood his actions of bringing his half-brother Grawp with him for safety. Dumbledore had managed to convince the authorities that Grawp was not responsible for Lucas Pamir's death, and promised to take measures to keep Grawp someplace safe for all parties where Hagrid could work with his plan to civilize him. Naturally Hagrid couldn't stop praising Dumbledore for all this, and he swore to the teens that he would never go behind the Headmasters back again. The teens were happy for Hagrid's sake of course, but none of them gave voice that Hagrid's plan to civilize Grawp was probably futile.

Finally on a Saturday afternoon the weekend before school would resume they were finally released. (Snape had been released two days earlier.) There were still to be regular health-checks and Harry was forbidden to play Quidditch for the rest of the term, but both of them were happy to be out and free. They expected the Gryffindor-house would be quite surprised to see them when they entered the tower - but the surprise was on them.
'WELCOME BACK!' every Gryffindor shouted as they climbed in through the entrance. Harry and Hermione were met with applause, and their eyes caught sight of the huge banister that stretched from one wall to the other that said:

WELCOME BACK
HARRY AND HERMIONE,
THE VAMPIRE-SLAYERS

It had never hit the two of them that their actions of destroying Vladislav Malfoy would deem them as heroes, but that was what almost the entire school considered them to be, and that's why the Gryffindor's had prepared a party to celebrate their return from an almost certain death. Before they could utter a word, they were both brought to the armchairs closest to the hearth, seats that deliberately had been saved for them. It seemed like every Gryffindor was present in the Common room to celebrate them, with one addition: Luna Lovegood was also there as a guest with a special permissions-pass from Dumbledore.
Hermione barely had time to take her seat before an orange blur threw itself upon her lap.
'Oh, Crookshanks!' she exclaimed happily as she hugged her cat to her chest.
'All right - now that our guests of honour is here… Break out the Butterbeer!' Ron said loudly, and almost everybody cheered.

'Err… this party is sanctioned by the staff, I hope?' Hermione asked suspiciously.
'Off course it is, how else would Luna be permitted to be here?' Ron said as he passed two Butterbeers to the 'guests'. 'C'mon, don't be such a spoilsport, Hermione. The school won't start again until Monday, so forget about your Prefect-status for a while. We haven't had much reason to celebrate lately.'
Harry watched Hermione surrender, but he understood her position. After all: she wasn't much of a party-person.
'And now let us propose a toast for Harry and Hermione: the Vampire-slayers!' Ron called.
'CHEERS!' Everybody said. Harry and Hermione felt uncomfortable, but none seemed to notice that.
'And another toast for them, as they also have become a couple.' Ron called out again.
There was a mixed chorus this time: 'Aaaaw! CHEERS! Congratulations!!' In the background there also was some gasps from mostly girls who had secret hopes of trying to get the famous Boy-Who-Lived for themselves. The praised couple turned red in their respective faces.

'And… a toast for Vlad Malfoy…' Ron continued.
'HUH??' said everybody in surprise.
'…as he hopefully is roasting in hell at this moment!'
Everybody laughed. Everybody except Hermione. Harry could almost swear that he felt her disapproval at Ron's proposed toast, since the real, original Vladislav Malfoy was not responsible for his deeds as an undead. Harry understood that this was beginning to go too far, so he himself stood up and cleared his throat to get everybody's attention.
'I would like to propose a toast… to the memories of the five people who fell victims to the Vampire. To Lucas Pamir, Daniel Cody, Cho Chang, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Professor Firenze. After all, we should never forget about them, as they have been ripped away from friends and family. May Merlin have mercy on their souls!'
'To the memory of the five.' Hermione said, seconding Harry's proposed toast. She could not stand up since she still had a cat on her knees.
'To the five!' Everybody said subdued, embarrassment was evident on their faces. They all felt guilty to celebrate like this when five people at Hogwarts had lost their lives, and that was the effect Harry had wanted. Ron didn't call up any more proposals of toast after that.

The party went on with music playing from a wireless. Some were dancing; some were complaining that there was only Butterbeer to drink, as it was not strong enough for 'effect'. Some discussed to sneak out to grab some Firewhiskey, but neither Hermione nor Ginny would have that. Otherwise most people only talked between themselves on how everything had progressed from the recent events, and of theories on what other consequences they may yet still have to see.
'…I'm seriously considering to have a talk with Professor Flitwick about obliviating a selective memory from my mind.' Ginny said to Hermione as she sat on Neville's lap. 'I can still see you lying there in your bed… l-looking dead. It was a real shock.'
'It's never advisable to have your mind obliviated so long after it happened…' Hermione said, comfortably leaned into Harry's embrace while she petted Crookshanks who still was laid on his human's lap. He had refused to move during this whole time since she got back. 'But I understand that it must've looked scary - and I'm sorry to have caused you that shock.'

'You have nothing to be sorry for!' Harry objected. 'It is we who are to be sorry who left you to that terrible destiny!'
Crookshanks let out a sound that reminded them of some sort of a snort.
'I think the cat seconds you on that.' Neville said with half a laugh.
'Didn't we agree on leaving that behind us, Harry?' Hermione asked.
'I'm sorry - but I will forever feel guilt for it. I wish that we had been there instead of going to the Slytherin house like we did.'
'Although it was wrong and all that, it turned out to be necessary.' Hermione argued. 'You couldn't have known that… that… it was going to a-attack me that night.'

'Crookshanks knew.' Neville said. 'I suppose that's why he came into our dormitory that night to call for us - only neither Harry nor Ron were there. So we are at fault as well as we didn't understand that Crookshanks wanted our help. Instead Seamus stupefied him and…'
'WHAT?!' Hermione shot up from her seat, causing Crookshanks to slip off her lap much to his disapproval. But Hermione took no notice of it as she fasted her glare at a startled Seamus Finnigan.
'You… stupefied my cat??' she questioned with an accusing finger. Seamus turned white as a sheet, dropped his Butterbeer and fled the Common Room in panic. Hermione followed him in anger.
'I'm glad I'm not in his shoes.' Dean said.
'I told him that he was going to be in deep shit when she'd found out.' Ron said.

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Nobody knew exactly what Hermione had done to Seamus, but he stayed as far away from her as he possibly could after that, looking extremely nervous, as he had to be in the same classroom as her. School was resumed on that Monday as it was said, and they still had Transfiguration even though Professor McGonagall was relieved of duties. The only difference was that the entire population of sixth years from the four houses now had it at the same time, so there was a large crowd that sat waiting in a different classroom that was bigger. They still had no idea on who was going to teach them.
'It must be Professor Flitwick.' Hannah Abboth suggested. 'Charms and Transfiguration can't be that much different.'
'Could be… if it weren't for that that Professor Flitwick now has Charms for the Third-years.' Sally-Ann Perks said.
'Whoever it is, he'd better hurry up.' Draco Malfoy muttered. 'I've got better things to do than sitting here doing nothing!'

'Don't let him hear it, but for once I have to agree with that creep.' Ron whispered to Harry.
'Then read.' Hermione said. 'It's always good to know the incantations ahead.'
'I learn better with practical studies!' Ron protested.
'And you've had almost two weeks of free time to do some practical studies - but I suppose you did nothing of the sort, did you?' Hermione threw Ron a stern glare.
'Hey. I was recovering from a mind-manipulation!' Ron argued.
'And Harry and I were recovering from Blood-loss, but that didn't stop us from studying!'
Harry rolled his eyes - but yet he supposed that he should be grateful that things definitely was back to normal between the two of them. Maybe.
'Good morning everyone.'
Ron's and Hermione's arguing stopped, as did every conversation in the classroom as every student watched surprised at the newcomer. Their teacher was none other than Professor Dumbledore.

'It has been quite some time since I last sat behind a teacher's desk,' Professor Dumbledore said with twinkling eyes as he paced up to the front of the room. '…but hopefully I shouldn't be that rusty. Surely anyone of you knew that I taught Transfiguration here before I became Headmaster?'
Harry knew that. He had seen it in Tom Riddle's diary in a memory of an event that had taken place 50 years earlier.
'As I doubt anyone has failed to notice: we are a very large group today. I am unfortunately a busy man, so I can only schedule seven lessons a week - one lesson for each year. I hope that it won't be of any problem for you? Well then… I've read in Professor McGonagall's notes that you've recently covered the art of transfiguring furniture into living animals - it is now time for you to conjure objects out of thin air. That's why I want you to start with conjuring up some new seats for yourselves.' And then Dumbledore surprised everybody with a flick of his wand; and every chair in the classroom disappeared, making almost everybody suddenly drop on their respective buttocks. Ignoring scolding and mutterings from some students, the Headmaster demonstrated the required action that would take to materialise a chair out of thin air. Some students began to protest.

'There's some cheating involved here! It's impossible to do that!' Draco Malfoy argued. Crabbe and Goyle nodded in agreement.
'You think I cheat Mr. Malfoy?' Dumbledore asked with a cheerful tone, but there was a warning-like stern reflected in his eyes. 'Why do you think it is impossible?'
'Because air is as good as nothing but a gas that we breath! There's nothing in it that we can make into anything else! I say that you simply are showing us a chair that was invisible.'
Everybody looked at Draco with shock. How dared that arrogant teenager accuse one of the greatest wizards in history of cheating? But the Headmaster only smiled.
'Well, you're wrong.' Hermione spoke up. 'The air isn't empty as you think it is…'
'No one asked you, Mudblood!' Draco snapped. That was something he was about to regret.
'SILENCE!!' Dumbledore suddenly roared, staring at the Slytherin with his face creased with the same kind of anger he showed when Barty Crouch Junior had been exposed impersonating Alastor Moody in Harry's Fourth year. Draco stumbled back into the desk behind him in fear, and several other students cringed as well.

'I did not put up with Tom Riddle's gang terrorizing Muggleborns when he attended here, and I will certainly not put up with it now!!' Dumbledore snarled in an intimidating voice. 'There will be detention for you, Mr Malfoy.' Draco, who was completely white in his face, did not protest in any way.
'Now Miss Granger, please continue.' Dumbledore said, now calm again.
'As I said, the air isn't empty. It is filled with natural particles that are called Aerosols. Mainly they're salt-crystals spread from our oceans, but they can also be rock-dust or spores. They're so tiny that we do not notice them as we breath. As for the air itself, it is composed from two different gases: Hydrogen and Oxygen. There's also Carbon Monoxide, which we don't breathe as it would poison us, and small amounts of Carbon Dioxide which is a necessary gas for our plant-life. My point is that we are to tap into the Aerosols and gases and use those to conjure the object of our desire. You can call it an extension of our Element-classes since we used the water in the air to give to our plants that we grew here - the principal is the same, we are only to use a different source for a different task.'

'I can see how it was you accomplished grades that exceeded 100 percent in your OWLs.' Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes. 'You are quite correct. Ten Points to Gryffindor.'
'Rock-dust? Gases? Spores??' Ron gasped, looking terrified. 'And we breath those everyday?? Great Merlin!' he cried and put his hands over his nose as to attempt to filter away the particles.
'Well, that won't do you any good.' Hermione said with a smile. 'You'll only inhale the bacteria in your hands instead, and those are more unhealthy than the particles - especially considering where you like to put your hands and neglect to wash them.'
'Aargh!' Ron cried and quickly removed his hands.
'As Miss Granger has so generously explained to all of us, you are to transfigure the said particles into chairs in the manner I demonstrated to you. Does anyone care to try? Hopefully everybody would be willing to of course.'

Everyone started to try to repeat Dumbledore's feat now that they knew what they were supposed to do - but none of them managed to conjure even a piece of a wooden peg, and they started to feel a bit disgruntled as the lesson neared its end because of that.
'Please don't fret, it is tough to accomplish such a task…' Dumbledore said in a soothing tone. 'But really, if you're willing to put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. Have that in your mind.'
There was something in Dumbledore's tone that filled most of the students with a feeling of reassurance, so although about everybody had failed to do the task, they didn't feel so down about it as the lesson were over, even though they had been given homework to practice on it.

Ron still looked sick as they went to their next lesson - but as they parted with the other houses, Harry heard some of the Ravenclaws muttering among themselves:
'Gryffindor were the only one's who got points this time… and I've heard that the Headmaster was actually not so generous with giving them when he was a teacher.'
'Don't understand what that Sorting Hat was thinking… she should have been in our house. We would have won the House-cup those last years with her brains.'
Obviously Hermione had also heard them, because she was beaming.
'Well, I'm certainly happy that the Sorting Hat put you with us rather than Ravenclaw.' Harry said to Hermione, putting a hand at the small of her back.
'You and me both.' She said happily.

Later that week would prove to be a nasty surprise for the students. Somehow everybody had forgotten that after Vladislav Malfoy had been destroyed, they no longer had a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. So as they sat down waiting for the lesson to begin, they had some difficulty to conceal their shock as Severus Snape stepped in through the door with a smuglike grin in his face. The Slytherins cheered while Neville turned white. He had thought that he wouldn't have to put up anymore with the dreaded Potions-teacher after he had failed to accomplish the required grades to be accepted into his lessons.
'I really ought to start with deducting points from your Houses for failing to recognise a Dark Being as one actually stood infront of you for almost a year…' he started to say with his silky voice. 'But fortunately for you, I'm in a good mood today.'
Everybody knew that he was - being the teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts had always been Snape's ultimate goal.
Hermione was almost certain that she could sense Harry wanting to retort with saying that Snape sure didn't recognise the Dark Being either, so for precaution she put a hand on his arm under the table, signalling him to stay calm. She actually felt a tension evaporate slightly from Harry when she did that.

'Although that I can't deny that my latest predecessor did his job and taught you the many important things that you need to know about the Dark Arts, and actually made you catch up this year after you've been behind for so long… there's still much left to learn. And Merlin help you if you fail to pay attention in this class, because you'll certainly won't get any from me if you find yourselves in a delicate situation in the future. I will only deliver these teachings once!'
Snape made a swish with his wand at the blackboard, where white letters appeared.
'"None-Verbal Magic". Your greatest advantage in a duel against any adversary is if you can throw a spell at him without saying the incantation out loud, and therefore your foe will not be able to counter your attack until it's too late. It takes a focused mind to throw spells without blabbering but using willpower only - therefore…' Snape swept his gaze over the whole classroom, finally landing on Ron and Neville who happened to sit next to each other today. '…I expect that this will unfortunately be a lot of work cut out for me, considering that this class is full of… Dunderheads!' Snape finished with disgust in his voice. Draco Malfoy smirked. Neville turned pink while Ron became red in his face but said nothing. Harry also became red, so Hermione once again had to hold him back under the table.
The rest of the year wouldn't be that pleasant after all.

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It was a subdued and yet aggravated bunch sixth-year Gryffindors that sat down at dinner that afternoon. Everyone had been so happy not having anymore to do with Snape as almost none of them were in Potions anymore - but now having to endure him in Defence Against the Dark Arts was a bit of a returning nightmare for many of them. It was the worst for Neville, who had always feared the greasy-haired Professor. Only Harry and Hermione refrained from complaining about it during the meal, and they were the ones who had to have Snape in both DADA and Potions. Instead they sat quietly and tried to enjoy their meal.
Hermione jumped a bit in surprise as an owl landed on her plate and stretched out its leg where a small package and letter was attached.
'Who'd send you a package at this time of the day?' Harry asked her. She didn't answer him; she just untied the burden from the owl, offered it a piece of bacon from Harry's plate and read the letter. Harry saw her wrinkle her forehead as she skimmed it through, and then she slowly shook her head while a small smile played on her lips.

'How typical them.' She said vaguely and pocketed the small parcel without opening it and then handed Harry the letter. He displayed the same reaction as Hermione when he was done reading.
'Very typical, yet I can't say I'm surprised.' He said amused.
'What was that?' Ron asked.
'Nothing of importance, I'll fill you in later.' Hermione waved it off. 'Anyway, are you set for our Prefect-round?'
'What, now? I'm still eating!' Ron said with a scandalous look. Surely you had the right to fill your stomach properly before going off to Prefect-rounds?
'Yeah, I expected nothing less from you.' She said, but strangely enough she didn't look so disappointed with him. Instead she turned to Harry. 'I know that it's a bit unusual, but would you do me the honour of escorting me through my rounds? I want to get it done as soon as possible so that I can get started with my homework, and it's so boring to go alone.' She delivered this with an almost singsong voice and she even batted her eyelashes at him, which was an unusual behaviour for her.

Harry cooked an eyebrow in confusion, but he got up from his seat to join her and they walked off.
'What's with her?' Ron asked his sister as he watched the pair disappear.
'Well… I suppose she's a little bit apprehensive still to walk through the dark corridors alone after what happened to her - she has gone through quite a traumatic experience after all.' But even Ginny was a little bit confused.
'I understand that, but bringing a non-Prefect on a Prefect-round…? Why didn't she ask you?'
'He is her boy-friend…' Ginny shrugged. 'Maybe they'd like to catch on some you-know-what together…'
'Hermione wouldn't do that!' Ron said a little bit loudly. 'It's against the rules, and Hermione always sets examples to rules whenever she can.'
'Still… after a traumatic experience…' Ginny shrugged again.

A few meters away, at another table, another student who had overheard the Weasley-siblings exchange of words and had seen Potter and Granger walk off rose from his seat. Draco Malfoy also suspected that the pair had gone off for some private quality time, (the very though almost made him vomit), and he thought that if he could catch them red-handed, he could report them and hopefully that would earn them detention - maybe even revoke Granger's Prefect badge… that would really make Draco's day.
'Where are you going, Draco?' Pansy Parkinson asked. 'Do you want me to come along?'
'No, stay put and finish your dinner. I'm not going to do anything special.' He lied. He was not about to share the honour of catching Potter and his Mudblood with anyone else.

To his annoyance, Draco didn't find them at once. He had expected them to hide in the Room of Requirement, but it was empty - and it didn't look like they would show up there either. Obviously Granger were true to her word that she was going to do her patrol first, so the Slytherin had to follow Hermione's usual route if he was to find the two of them.
He did manage to find them, just as he was running out of patience and ready to give up. Potter and Granger were hiding in Firenze's forest-Classroom that was no longer used after the Centaur's demise - and to his luck, (and disgust), the two of them indeed seemed to be engaged in a snogging-session. As Draco peeked inside, he saw Potter's back; with his head were bent downward and a couple of arms wrapped around his neck. And no shoulders could hide Granger's thick mass of hair although the rest of her was blocked by the other's body. Delighted of his chance to report them for foul behaviour in the school premises, Draco went inside and closed the door with a loud bang to make them aware of his presence.

'Well, well, well… what do we have here?' he asked with a tone full of glee. 'Snogging in an empty classroom? That's against the rules!'
Potter's body remained still - he didn't turn around. Granger's arms on the other hand unwrapped themselves from the other's neck and dropped between them. The girl's eyes could now be seen looking over the released shoulder, fixing on the intruder. The eyes squinted at him in annoyance.
'Ho ho, Granger - you've done it now.' Draco continued, ignoring the angry stare. 'You who are a Prefect and all should know better than to sneak off into classrooms and engage into sexual activities. Were you perhaps planning on jumping his bones while you were here? Too bad you didn't, you've would have been in worse trouble then than you are now - on the other hand, maybe that was lucky for me. I might have suffered a heart-attack if I happened to see that!'
The 'captured' teens still didn't move, but the girl's eyes flashed in even more anger.
'But of course, the staff doesn't know that.' Draco went on. 'I can tell them that I caught you with Potter's pants down! Yes, it will be my word against yours, but how can you deny that you are in here in the first place? It's not an improbable thought from where I'm standing. Oh, the two of you are going to get it now - when I turn you in…'

'And what makes you think that that I'm going to let you turn us in?' Hermione then asked.
'It is my duty as a Prefect!' Draco said in a mocking tone. 'I'm going to have your badge, Mudblood!'
'Not if I have you first!' Hermione retorted.
'What do you mean by that?' Draco asked suspiciously. 'Are you planning to attack me, perhaps obliviate my mind to make me forget what I've seen? Do you really dare do that? Such things could expel you from the school, Granger, and that would be the death of you, wouldn't it?'
'There are things that are so much worse than death…' Hermione said and finally stepped around Harry's body, baring her teeth in anger.
Draco jumped back in fright when he saw her teeth - her corner-teeth were elongated - It was the teeth of a Vampire! And there were blood on them! Now Potter also turned around - there was blood trailing down from his mouth and over his throat… and he looked strangely subdued.

'What? You… you are…' Draco gasped, white in his face. Then he turned around and rushed for the door to make an escape.
'Colloportus!' Hermione shouted, and Draco found the door to be locked.
'Your Uncle did manage to bite me two times…' he then heard Hermione say behind him and he turned around to see her approach him in a slow pace, fangs bared and bloodied. '…I was as good as drained of blood. Perhaps it was enough, what do you think?'
'Don't come near me!' Draco screamed, his face full of terror. He whipped out his wand in panic, which caused Hermione to let out a small laugh.
'Ha ha ha… Have you forgotten that Vampires are impervious to magic?' She grabbed Draco's wrists and held them of her way.
'No! Get off me!' Draco cried.
'You know, I'm thinking of starting myself a harem… Harry's the first. Would you like to be next?' Hermione grinned at him. 'Surely you wouldn't pass up that kind of offer? After all, Vampires are immortal. You can be too…' She opened her mouth widely and reached for his neck with her fangs.

'Nonononono NOOOOOO!!!' In his panicked mode he managed to push Hermione off him. 'Alohomora, Alohomora!!' he cried in a high-pitched voice, pointing his wand at the door-handle. It unlocked, and Draco threw open the door and escaped with a scream. He rushed aimlessly through the corridors, still screaming, which caused people he passed to look after him in bewilderment.
'Impedimenta!'
Draco's run was suddenly halted, and he came face to face with Severus Snape.
'What in the name of Salazar Slytherin are you doing?' Snape demanded.
'P-p-professor… G-g-g-granger… She… she… she… P-potter… Th-th-they… they…' Draco stammered.
'Get a hold of yourself!' Snape barked to him. 'Now, what about Granger and Potter?'
'She's a Vampire!' Draco gasped in a high-pitched voice. 'She bit Potter!'
'What? Mr. Malfoy, don't be stupid…'
'She is!! I saw them!! She had fangs, Potter's throat was all bloody… and she was about to bite me too!!'
'Granger was saved from becoming a Vampire…' Snape said.
'But my Uncle had as good as drained her of her blood!!' Draco insisted. 'Professor, I saw her bite Potter… now he will become one too!!'

'Who bit me? And what will I become?' Harry Potter's voice was suddenly heard. He and Hermione came up to them, hand in hand.
'Aaargh!' Draco screamed and hid behind the Professor.
'What is this silly episode with Mr. Malfoy claiming that you are a Vampire and that he saw you bite Potter?' Snape questioned Hermione.
'Well… I have a confession to make…' Hermione said, looking a bit embarrassed. 'I guess I went a bit too far with the joke…'
'Joke?' Snape asked suspiciously.
'Joke?' Draco looked out from Snape's back.
Hermione dug out something from her pocket and held it up. It was a pair of fake teeth, with fangs. 'I got this by mail not even an hour ago… It's a present from Fred and George Weasley, their latest joke-product based on this latest history. It's typical of them to choose me to be the first to try them, considering what almost happened to me… The magic with these is that these tiny fangs are magically filled with two litres of strawberry jam - when placed in your mouth, you suck on them to make the jam come out, and that's gives the impression of the blood…'

'Very funny!' Snape snorted irritably.
'But… the blood on Potter's face and throat…?' Draco asked, now looking angry.
'Well… it got a bit messy…' Harry said, now also looking embarrassed.
'They only work when placed inside a mouth…' Hermione explained, looking even more red. 'Harry wanted a taste too, so when he used his tongue to…'
'I don't want to know!' Snape snarled, looking at them with distaste. He stuck out his hand. 'Give me those! Now!' Hermione gave him the teeth. 'Think you're funny, do you?' Snape said angrily.
'No.' Hermione said. 'It wasn't even meant to be a joke on Draco, but when he came in there and cornered us, I got a bit miffed. It became a spontaneous thought to joke with him at that moment, but it got a bit out of hand…'
'You… You…' Draco was looking furious, because he realized that he had been humiliated.
'And that little joke will cost Gryffindor Fifty points and earn you deten…' Snape started to say calmly, but Hermione interrupted him.

'I'm sorry Professor, but you can't punish us for this.'
'And why can't I that, Miss Granger?' Snape asked in his silkiest voice.
'Because I'm under medical orders to make jokes.'
'What are you talking about?' Snape questioned, no longer using his silky voice. Hermione fished out a folded parchment from her inner pocket and handed it to the Professor.
'This is a medical form written by Madam Pomfrey, which states that I'm under therapy after my traumatic experience.' She explained. 'It means that I actually am encouraged to make jokes, in order to resume a normal life and forget about what has happened to me.'
Snape looked at the parchment as if he expected it to be a forgery, but to his displeasure he found it to be genuine.
'Very well… no detention then.' He grumbled. 'But there will still be Fifty points for your lack of discipline, because you obviously slipped away from your duties to engage yourselves in a disapproved activity within the school. You know well that acts of… love… is forbidden here during school-hours…'

'Actually Sir, I've got exemption of that.' Hermione said with her hands behind her back, looking innocent.
'Exemption?' Snape questioned again.
'You find it under paragraph three in that parchment - I'm actually encouraged to engage myself into activities of love in order to recover from my traumatic experience.'
Snape found to his displeasure that that also was true - he started to look angry now. 'There will still be Forty points from Gryffindor for neglecting your Prefect duties to engage yourself in such disgusting activity!' he snarled.
'But I didn't neglect them.' Hermione said calmly. 'My round is finished - the day's checklist is filled and signed. I engaged myself in that activity afterwards…'
'All right!' Snape now growled. 'Then that's Thirty points for taking advantage of Mr. Malfoy's temporary lack of mind!'
'Professor…?' Draco objected.
'Shut up!' Snape barked at him.
'I said I was sorry, but it's not entirely my fault that Draco fell for the joke.' Hermione said. 'After all, I hinted from the start that it was all a joke when I locked the door. Had I been a real Vampire, I wouldn't have been able to do that… Dumbledore did explain to everybody last week that Vampires do not have the ability to do magic, didn't he?'

'Twenty points then!' Snape now roared loudly, losing his temper completely. 'But another ten points are taken because Potter was in on it!' Snape turned on his heel and was about to walk away when he caught sight of Draco. 'And twenty points will be taken from Slytherin because you fell for that stupid trick and for your lack of attention!' And then he stomped away in anger, leaving a shocked Slytherin behind. Draco composed himself and glared evilly at the Gryffindors…
'You'll pay for this!' Draco snarled. 'Mark my words - you're going to get it for this…!' And then he also left.
'Did what I thought happened really happened?' Harry asked as soon as they were alone. 'Did Snape really take less points than he had intended from us?'
'Wonders never cease to happen.' Hermione said. 'Unless it was an echo of the mind-influence from the Vampire that still affects his mind.'
'Must be, since he also took points from his own house - on Malfoy's behalf too.'
'Malfoy's got himself to blame - he had no reason to go after us.'
'He usually don't in any case… guess we will have to watch our backs anyway.'
'He's just a pestering insect… After the events of his Uncle, he can't scare me any… any…' Hermione couldn't go on, because she suddenly started to shiver.

'Are you all right?' Harry asked worried for her.
'Yeah, I… I will be…' she said weakly. 'I'm sorry. It will take quite some time to get over it… It was just so… horrible t-to almost become a… a…' She lost her voice and Harry was quick to envelope her into a hug. She sobbed a bit into his shoulder before she managed to calm down. 'Some brave Gryffindor I am…' she mumbled as she detangled herself from him.
'Hermione, don't be sorry. It's natural to react like this after what you've been through. And furthermore: you are brave - you're brave enough to go on, despite what has happened. And you make me proud because of that.'
Hermione managed a weak smile of the encouragement Harry gave her. 'But do you think it will be enough next time I face a Boggart?' She asked him quietly. 'It will present itself before me in the shape of a Vampire; there's no doubt of that. Do you think that I will be able to hold it together?'
'There's no doubt of that.' Harry said with a smile, using her words.
'I love you, Harry.' She said, going back into the embrace.
'And I love you, Hermione.' Harry answered before he kissed her.

Author's notes:

Although this chapter might feel a little short and uneventful, I feel that this is a good place to stop. The next chapter will be the last - but it will not be an epilogue anymore, it will be too large for that. I still have one week of holiday left from my job - unfortunately that is no guarantee for when the last chapter will be done. I'm still scheduled to help my mother at her cottage, so I don't have a lot of free time as I like…

But don't loose hope… it will be finished. (I just hope that I can keep that promise this time…)

See ya.