A/N: Here it is-the next installment! Please Enjoy!
Chapter 7 - Finished Before it Started
Throughout the week of Raven and Jade's detentions, they spent the time talking about Harry. The girls found it interesting to hear their dad's stories from a different point of view and Hermione enjoyed hearing about Harry's last three years with the girls. Although the twins were different in several aspects once you got to know them, they really were just like Harry.
Jade was Harry's quiet and reserved side, like when he first came to Hogwarts or when it came to asking a girl to the Yule Ball.
Raven, on the other hand, was Harry's bold side. She seemed to like to lead and act without thinking more often than Jade. Raven reminded Hermione of Harry leading the DA or leading their small group in the ministry battle.
Hermione found herself a little sad when the girls' detentions were over because she found their company much more enjoyable than grading papers or reading. It was like talking to two little female Harrys.
On Friday, she sent them off with a, "Feel free to pop in any time if you wish to speak about anything!"
Little did she know, the girls were just as sad to see their detentions end.
They found her fascinating and looked up to her as a female role model-she was much better than Hannah Abbot-because she was intelligent and witty, much like themselves.
As they left Hermione's classroom Friday afternoon, the twins looked at each other and simultaneously said, "We have to get them together."
Their dad and Hermione had to get together and it had to happen now. But first, they needed a way to get Hannah Abbot out of the picture. They knew that it would be more difficult to get Hannah to break up with their dad than it would to make their dad break up with Hannah, so they would focus on him. But for that they needed a plan.
Therefore, on Saturday at noon, another meeting of the Marauders was called to order. "Okay," said Raven, "Jade and I both have plans to get rid of Hannah Abbot, do you?"
"Wait," said Scorpius, "I thought we were getting your dad and Professor Granger together."
"We are," replied Raven. "But to do that we have to get Hannah out of the way first."
"Well why didn't you tell me that?" demanded Scorpius. "I don't have a plan to get rid of Hannah!"
"We thought it was obvious!" exclaimed Raven. "Teddy, you knew we would have to get rid of Hannah first, right?"
"Of course. It's simple logic and pretty obvious," he said with a sly grin at Scorpius.
"Haha, very funny," said Scorpius while rolling his eyes. "Alright then, what are your plans?"
Teddy went first saying, "Well, from what you said, it's obvious that Hannah only wants your dad's money, correct?" Raven and Jade both nodded. "What if you just told your dad to try restricting Hannah's access to his Gringott's account?"
"He wouldn't do that," said Jade.
"Well, he'll listen to you two, won't he?" Without waiting for a response, Teddy plowed on. "What if you told him that he should try restricting her access to see if she truly loves him? If she freaks out and goes crazy, then it'll become obvious that she's only in it for the money!"
"Hmm," said Raven. "That might work, but I think I like my plan better."
"What is it then?" asked Scorpius.
"I'm thinking that we should get a muggle recording device and record Hannah saying that she isn't in love with our dad," said Raven.
"But Raven," said Jade. "We would have to wait for Christmas break at the earliest to pull that off!"
Raven opened her mouth to object, then deflated. "You're right. I guess we'll keep that one in reserve if it hasn't happened by then. What have you got, Jade?"
"I say we contact Rita Skeeter-you know, Raven, the horrible woman Professor Granger told us about?-and give her some dirt on Hannah, anonymously of course," said Jade. "She loves to dish the dirt on famous people-I don't think she'll be able to resist."
"My father told me about Rita Skeeter," said Scorpius. "She sounds horrible."
"So is it agreed then?" asked Teddy.
"I think it is," said Raven. "I'll just go get a piece of parchment and a pen and we'll get to writing."
At that moment an owl flew into the room, and Raven and Jade recognized it as their dad's, a spotted owl named Bird (Raven and Jade didn't find this as funny as their dad did). Raven and Jade looked at each other questioningly-they had gotten the previous letter from their dad in the morning like everyone else. Jade stood up and grabbed the letter and Bird stayed, cleaning his feathers.
Jade sat back down in the chair and opened the letter, and as she read more her eyes got wider, until she finally held out the letter to Raven and let her head fall back on the chair. "Read it out loud," she said.
Raven Read,
"Dear Raven and Jade,
"How are you? I've missed you both so much, and I'm glad to hear you apologized and haven't gotten in trouble again. I'm sending this letter to you outside of the normal owl post because I wanted you to be able to think and talk to each other after I ask you this question.
"As you know, Hannah and I really like each other. I actually love her. With your permission, I would like to ask her for her hand in marriage next weekend. You two mean more to me than anything else in the world, and I'm more worried about your happiness than mine, so I'd like your opinion on the matter.
"Always remember that I love both of you,
Dad."
The group sat in a stunned silence for a while as they digested this shocking information. It was finally broken when Scorpius asked, "What are you going to do."
Raven and Jade glanced at each other and said. "We'll tell him we're happy for him and hope it goes well. She seems to make him happy."
"So we're giving up?" asked Teddy incredulously.
"Of course not," said Raven mischievously. "She may seem to make him happy now, but it will just hurt even more if he finds out the truth after their married. The only difference now is that we have to do this quickly and we have to make double sure that we do this anonymously."
"Right," said Scorpius determinedly. "Let's do it."
The two twins both stared at Scorpius and simultaneously burst out laughing. "What?" inquired Scorpius. "What's so funny?"
"You," said Jade. "I thought you said that all this love stuff was boring."
Scorpius examined his nails like he didn't care about anything at the moment. "It is. I was just acting so it looked like I really wanted to do it…for your benefit, you know?"
"Right," said Teddy.
"Whatever," said Raven before going back to boss mode. "Scorpius, go grab me some parchment and a quill and ink so we can write this letter to Rita Skeeter!"
"Why do I have to do it?" asked Scorpius.
"Because you didn't come up with a proper plan, that's why," said Raven and the other two laughed.
Scorpius grumbled the whole way up the boys' staircase and was still grumbling when he got back. "There," he said as he shoved the items into Raven's hands.
"Thank you Scorpius," replied Raven sweetly. Then she got serious again. "Alright then." She dipped the quill in the ink and poised it over the parchment. "Dear Rita Skeeter…"
***GMAC***
It was dinner on Saturday and Hermione had just finished her delicious pudding. As she got up from the staff table, Raven and Jade approached her. "Professor Granger, can we talk to you in private please?"
"Absolutely," replied Hermione and followed them out of the Great Hall, unsure what this was all about.
They went into the first classroom they found and went in, locking the door behind him. "What is all the secrecy about, you two?" asked Professor Granger of her two favorite students (not that she would tell anybody that, of course).
"It's horrible! Our daddy's going to propose to Hannah!" Jade exclaimed.
Hermione felt her heart stop beating and a lump formed in her throat. She felt tears begin to fill up her eyes, and she sat down hard on the desk behind her.
"Jade!" exclaimed Raven. "I told you not to tell her like that! Look what you did to her!"
"Sorry!" replied Jade. "I couldn't help myself!"
"Professor Granger," said Raven, "You have to tell our dad how you feel. If he just knew that you loved him…"
Hermione sighed, looking down at her hands. "No," she said. "No, Harry is almost as stubborn as I am. No matter what he says he harbors resentment towards me somewhere, even if he does love me. He'll go through with it no matter what."
"No he won't," said Jade. "Because we're going to break them up!"
"Jade, will you stop talking!" Raven shouted.
"Why would you break them up?" Hermione asked sadly. "Harry's obviously happy."
"Well I don't think he'd be happy if he knew Hannah was a gold digger, would he?" asked Raven. "My point is that Hannah doesn't truly love him and you do. I think he deserves to have someone who truly loves him."
"I'm telling you, it's not going to work," said Hermione.
Raven crossed her arms. "You leave that to us, Professor Granger. You just work on preparing yourself to tell him how you really feel when the opportunity presents itself, alright?" she asked stubbornly.
Hermione couldn't help but smile. Considering the fact that these two were Harry's replicas, she was pretty sure that they would get the job done, especially because they had made her a promise. Harry never broke his promises.
"Okay then, we'll see you on Monday," said Raven, dragging her sister with her towards the door.
"Bye, Professor Granger," said Jade.
"Don't forget to practice turning your needles into matches!" Hermione reminded them as the door closed behind them. Then Hermione shook her head at herself. She really was always in teacher mode.
Hermione, who didn't feel like talking to anybody, disillusioned herself before heading back to her room.
With no preamble at all, she unceremoniously threw herself onto the bed and began sobbing. She sobbed and sobbed, staining her pillow and sheets.
Because despite the promise the girls made, and now that the small rush at having a plan was gone, Hermione couldn't find it in herself to be optimistic.
***GMAC***
Harry looked down at the ring in his hand. It was pretty simple, with a gold band and one diamond because he didn't like to spend too much money or show it off. He planned on asking her the question next Saturday, when they went to Incendio again.
Harry had his doubts, of course. They hadn't been going out for long. She may not be in love with him yet. Despite what he told his girls, he wasn't sure that he was completely in love with her yet, but he knew that he was going to be if he gave it some time.
The problem was that it was impossible to devote one's heart to someone completely when it was still in love with another. Harry chuckled as he looked down at the ring. He had been expecting to be asking Hermione for her hand in marriage on day. Not even six months ago did he even dream that he would be asking Hannah Abbot.
Harry's main fear was that he was rushing things. But to be perfectly honest, he thought that this was the perfect way to get Hermione out of his head and out of his heart.
He was tired of pining for Hermione, and he just wanted it to be over. If he finally solved the issue of his love life it would be one less thing to worry about.
He hoped that Raven and Jade would be for the marriage. If they didn't want it to happen he wouldn't do it, though. He would hold off on the proposal and let the two most important ladies in his life get to know Hannah better, and ask only when he got the okay from them.
Sighing out of an odd combination of worry and happiness, Harry hid the ring under his bed and got under the blankets with his (hopefully) soon-to-be fiancée.
A/N: Ooh, and the plot thickens.
I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please leave me a Review, they really mean a lot to me!