A/N: As promised, here's the new chapter up earlier than the last one! Just to let you all know, this story is completely written and tops out at about 30,000 words.
Please enjoy!
Chapter 6 - The Hag, The Jesters, and The Princess
Hannah Abbot sat across from her boyfriend of four months at the fanciest restaurant in the Wizarding World, Incendio, examining her perfectly manicured nails.
Hannah had been a somewhat quiet, shy girl in her days at Hogwarts. She only hung out with members of her house and it was her personal mission to be nice to everybody she met and knew as long as they didn't show open animosity towards her. And, of course, like the rest of the school, she had had a crush on Harry Potter.
But she didn't like him because he was rich and famous. She wasn't even the slightest bit attracted to him until 6th year, when all of the quidditch had paid off and given him a nice body. Throw in the messy hair and an aura of niceness and he was her dream man.
And in April he had asked her out to the very restaurant they were sitting in now.
She had accepted his invitation, of course, and was awed by the amount of admiration that Harry received. After that, it all went downhill (or uphill, in her eyes).
The night after the date, a reporter from the Daily Prophet came and interviewed her about herself and her date with Harry. The article was featured in the paper the very next day and random witches and wizards in the streets greeted her and questioned her.
At first she was frightened and hesitant about all the attention she was receiving, but Harry assured her that she would be fine and she trusted him. She gradually became used to being famous and, over a bit more time, came to crave it. But she hadn't hit rock-bottom yet.
It actually happened the next day, when Hannah was searching Harry's office for his misplaced glasses. She came across his reports and peeked inside. What she saw nearly made her heart stop. He was worth over 150 million galleons (approximately 1.25 billion U.S. dollars). At this point, Hannah was officially in love with Harry Potter's fame and money.
She felt that she definitely deserved to spend his money-putting up with his brat twin daughters, always snooping around and looking at her suspiciously, was a severe trial on her patience (and in her mind, her health).
At least the two were Hogwarts age now and could leave her and Harry's wallet alone. Now that Harry wasn't bogged down at home watching the two nuisances (he claimed that he loved them and enjoyed spending time with them, but Hannah knew better, for who would want to spend time with banes of her existence?) it meant that she could also be more freely out and about, and she planned to use that privilege wisely. In fact, she already had a spa treatment and shopping spree completely planned out for tomorrow. She was planning the final details in her head as she pretended to listen to Harry talk about those bloody girls again, going on about how wonderful they were.
"I can't believe that they're actually eleven and attending Hogwarts!" Harry said enthusiastically.
"Mmhmm," Hannah mumbled.
"I also don't know…was I… was I too hard on them for their punishments?" asked Harry nervously. "I mean, suspension is a pretty big deal just for disrupting class."
"Yeah," said Hannah, her mind silently debating on whether she should go with three-inch heels or four.
"But I'm sure they won't do it again," said Harry, still obviously a bit concerned. "They're good girls, they just made a mistake and now they know better."
"Mmm," Hannah mumbled again. She had decided on the four-inch heels, but now she was trying to choose the right color. Red or black?
Harry calmed down a bit and said, "They told me to keep this a secret, but…they're both trying out for the quidditch team," Harry said, obviously pleased.
"Wow," said Hannah, who was basing her responses solely on the tone of Harry's voice. The black would look better with her altered dress robes, but the red would look sexy with her halter top.
"So what do you think? You think they'll make it?" Harry asked, unable to contain his excitement stemming from the joys of watching his children grow up.
Then Hannah's mind solved the problem. "Both!" she exclaimed. He was worth over 150 million galleons-buying both would be no problem at all!
"I think so too," said Harry. "Raven is a bit more aggressive than Jade, but Jade definitely has her finer skills mastered better." Harry's eyes clouded over a bit and he went into a state of mind similar to that of his girlfriend. "I wonder what they're doing right now."
***GMAC***
Raven and Jade were sitting in the Gryffindor Common room with their best friends. Scorpius Malfoy, who received a long letter from his father after he was sorted into Gryffindor stating that he still loved him even though he was a part of, in Draco's eyes, the worst house in Hogwarts, had his father's regal looks along with his platinum-blond hair, but seemed to be less cunning and more stubborn and hard-headed. And Teddy Lupin was the master prankster of the group-being a metamorphmagus definitely had its advantages.
The four had decided on day one of the school year that they were going to be the best pranksters in the whole school. It helped that three of them were descended from the original group. They hadn't quite done anything yet, but they were definitely planning to.
That is, until the conversation that Raven and Jade had had with Professor Granger that day in detention. The twins had been surprised when they learned the finer details of their dad's and professor's falling out, and they had decided to make both of them see the light and get over themselves (and get rid of Hannah Abbot, of course).
Raven and Jade knew that they were going to need help though, and they knew just who to rely on.
"Alright, I officialy call this meeting of the Marauders open," Raven said from her chair in the circle they had made.
Scorpius snorted. "That was lame, Raven. We're a group of four, not a group of four hundred."
Raven balled her hands into fists. "I was just making it official! I thought someone should."
As Scorpius went on a rant, Jade and Teddy caught each other's eye at the same time and rolled their eyes simultaneously. Every day it was like this.
Scorpius instantly became friends with Raven and Jade the first time they met when they were nine, but seemed to like contradicting everything Raven said. Teddy had just joined the group on the train to school but already seemed to fit nicely, adding another coolheaded member to balance out the two hotheaded ones.
"And why are we calling them meetings?" asked Scorpius. "It seems kind of weird that we're now calling the time we hang out 'meetings.'"
Raven made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat. "I'm not calling them meetings, you git. I'm calling this one a meeting because we actually have something important to talk about."
"Oh we do, do we?" Scorpius asked rhetorically. "And just what is so important that we have to call this a meeting?"
"I'm getting to that," bit out Raven through clenched teeth. "If you'd shut your big mouth for two seconds, then you'd hear it."
Teddy cut off Scorpius before he could respond. "Go on then, Raven, tell us what it is!"
"Well, it's a really long story, but basically…me and Jade's dad and Professor Granger are in love with each other," Raven said simply.
"Ewww," said Scorpius. "Your dad's in love with one of our professors!"
Raven just sighed and moved on. "My point is that they aren't friends anymore and don't know that the other loves them. Professor Granger might know now, but our dad certainly doesn't," Raven finished, obviously thinking that her point was made.
This time, though, Teddy had a question. "So…well…are you saying that you're going to do something about it?"
"Actually," said Jade, "we're going to do something about it. Because…well…we need your help and we want to make our daddy happy."
"What about Hannah?" Scorpius teased.
Raven just sighed again. Scorpius knew full well what Raven and Jade's views on Hannah were, and quite frankly, he shared them.
"So what do you guys say?" asked Jade. "Will you help us?"
"Of course," said Teddy. "You guys are my friends."
Jade and Raven smiled at him. Scorpius frowned. "I don't know. This love stuff seems kind of lame to me."
Raven looked over at Jade and smirked just the smallest bit. "Well, if you can't do it…"
"I never said I couldn't do it," said Scorpius, temper rising again. "I just said that it's lame."
"Well I think that's just an excuse," said Raven, challenging him.
Scorpius glared at Raven, returning her challenge, then finally said, "Fine. I'll prove it to you. I'll do it." He smirked. "This is going to be a piece of cake."
As Scorpius sat there smirking, the other three shared a secret grin. They could do it if they all worked together.
"So," said Teddy. "What's the plan?"
Raven blanched and looked at Jade, who was looking back at her with the same expression on her face. "Er…well…we don't exactly have one yet."
"Then we'll come up with one!" said Scorpius triumphantly. "Each member's task for this week is to come up with at least one plan." When no objections were raised, he continued. "I now call this meeting officialy to a close!"
Raven winced. "Wow, you were right, Scorpius, that did sound pretty lame."
"Shut up," Scorpius snapped.
***GMAC***
Hermione lay in bed with a cup of tea on her nightstand, relishing in the warmth of the blanket on her lap as she attempted to read a book.
Unfortunately, her mind was on overdrive and she couldn't help dissecting the conversation between her and Harry's twins during their detention earlier that day.
Was what they said true? Could Harry really still be in love with her?
She desperately wanted the answer to be yes and her heart said yes, but her brain was giving her a resounding no.
For how could Harry still be in love with her after what happened that night? And then there was the three years of not seeing each other-that definitely had to have had a negative effect on their relationship.
Plus, he was now dating someone. Hannah Abbot, to be precise.
Hermione hadn't dated once since she broke up with Ron because she knew that her heart belonged to Harry. Yet Harry was dating. Was that just another thing to add to her list of why Harry was no longer in love with her?
Probably.
But then again, if Harry thought that there was absolutely zero chance of being with her, then it would make sense that he moved on. Hermione knew she would never do that because she was so stubborn that she would never admit defeat no matter the odds, but Harry was a bit less stubborn (but only by a little).
Wait a second, thought Hermione. That's exactly what I'm doing now though, isn't it? I'm admitting defeat! I never admit defeat! What's happening to me?
If only she could show her seventh years how confusing love was, then they would be grateful for the relative ease of their NEWTs.
Hermione put out the torch and snuggled under the blankets, pulling them all the way up to her chin. When she closed her eyes she saw Harry's face, and she spoke out loud:
"I swear, Harry, that I will tell you how I feel, no matter the consequences."
Because that's what he had done with her, right? It only seemed fitting that she do the same.
And then it was all up to him. It was all up to how he would answer.
Her deepest desire was for him to rejoice and kiss her and tell her that he never stopped loving her. A smile graced her lips as she fell asleep thinking this.
She had a nightmare that night. Right before she woke up, nightmare-Harry said, "I'm sorry Hermione, but I'm in love and always have been in love with Hannah."
A/N: Okay, so I wrote this while I was half-asleep. I hope it isn't complete crap. I mostly just built towards the main plot of the story, so I think I'm okay.
I did push up Teddy's birthday a year and Scorpius's numerous years. All that means is that Draco had his kid right after his seventh year of Hogwarts.
As usual, please leave a Review, they really mean a lot to me!