Chapter 23 - I just can't get a break, can't I?
*** January 5th, King's Cross***
"Harry!" a voice yelled over the din of the platform. Said boy had only just enough time to turn around as a red streak tackled him and engulfed him in a hug.
"Oh, Harry; I was so afraid, I though you would die and I never..." Ginny rambled between hiccups, tears streaming from her eyes as the distraught girl emptied her soul from all the pent-up stress and then, in old Weasley tradition, ended up doing something stupid. With a loud sob, she grabbed Harry's head and kissed him on the lips.
In her defence, it was a kiss like those among siblings. Okay, it was a bit more than that, but she immediately realized her blunder. As if she had kissed a spider, Ginny jumped away from Harry, who hadn't even fully registered what happened to him, yet, because it all happened so fast.
At once, Ginny turned to Hermione, her eyes wide in panic.
"I'm sorry, Hermione! You must believe me, I didn't mean to, it's not like you think, it was just a kiss - no not a real kiss, just like with a brother - I meant... I'm not interested in Harry, at all - he's not my type!" she rushed to say, while the colour of her face went into overdrive, approaching the color of her hair.
Embarrassed, she suddenly turned around again. " It's not that you look bad - I didn't mean that as an insult, Harry, you have to believe me! It's just that you are like a brother to me. It's just all this stress and my mother and..." Ginny continued rambling apologies as she talked herself into an apoplectic frenzy.
She finally stopped as she realized that everybody, from Hermione to her parents to Remus, Tonks and Harry were in tears from laughing at her hilariously awkward behaviour. Tonks was currently laughing and hiccuping into Remus's shoulder, her hair changing colour one streak at a time at every hiccup. Groaning, Ginny turned around to hide her scarlet red face, only to see the twins rolling around on the ground, laughing so hard that they were only squeaking in high tones while pointing at her.
She wanted to reducto herself when she noticed that some students and their parents on the platform had joined the laughter.
"ARRRGH! Just kill me and get it over with, would you!" she moaned as she hid her face in her hands, but was distracted as two hands spun her around and hugged her. Ginny buried her head into the still laughing Hermione's shoulder and hoped that this furious blush wouldn't cause any lasting damage to her face as she let herself be calmed down by her still best friend.
ooOOoo
"That was so embarrassing," Ginny huffed as she dropped into her spot in the compartment Luna and Neville had saved them.
"From our point of view at the window, it was rather funny," was Neville's way to let the world know that he found it was time to pass on to the next great adventure. Ginny certainly looked like she would grant him his wish, and she was reaching for her wand already.
"Neville, that was stupid. And not very nice, on top of that - how do you think we could spend good times if she transfigures you into an Arboreodecapus?" Luna told her boyfriend off with a stern demeanour. Being Luna, the effect was destroyed within seconds as she grew pensive. "Although, their tentacles are nearly as dexterous as your fingers, so I might have fun anyway. So go ahead, Ginny," she happily told them, ignoring the blush of her boyfriend and the gapes of the others.
"Neville, you dog!" Hermione grinned at the sputtering boy as she waggled her finger at him.
"It's always the quiet ones," Harry remarked with a slight elbow in Hermione's side as he reached out and took the wand from the still stunned Ginny's fingers.
"Pax! No hexing among friends," Harry said, holding onto the wand so Ginny couldn't cash the voucher so freely given. "So, how has Christmas been for you lovey-doveys?" he asked the couple in the spotlight with a overly broad grin as he settled back into the seat and pulled Hermione to his shoulder, getting comfortable for the long ride to Scotland.
After Neville had given them the chaste version of his holidays, interrupted by the lewder details - not overly erotic, but still highly embarrassing to the shy boy - given by the cuddling Luna at the appropriate places, it was Ginny's turn to tell her tale. Her face fell as everybody turned to listen to her, all laughter immediately leaving it.
"It was horrible," she sighed. "It was the worst Christmas, ever. Not even the Christmas three years ago when it was our turn to have Aunt Muriel over was that bad. I had not a single minute without Mom ranting or yelling at me. She only put on a nice face while the twins and Bill were over at Christmas Day for lunch, but they left before dinner. I tried to make them stay overnight and for Boxing Day, but Bill and Fleur left, saying that they had to head for France, and the twins said they also had an important date."
Probably with some hot girls," she grumbled.
"I can confirm that, Ginny," Harry chuckled while Hermione was still cringing onto his arm after what she had just heard. "Hermione and Tonks are both rather hot, and Hermione's mum is no less attractive. They were with us for the evening and left with us to the island at Boxing Day after we had... done some paperwork at the Ministry."
"So they and you two were frolicking in the tropics while I got my cute ear chewed off?" Ginny huffed with a glare firmly fixed on Harry.
"As far as I can tell, it's still on, still cute, and yes, we were," Harry replied cheekily under the laughter of all others, feeling safe in the knowledge that he still held onto her wand. It didn't keep her from kicking his shin, sadly.
"How did you get wind of the challenge, then? Do you get the Prophet there?" Ginny continued as if nothing had happened, fetching her wand from the ground and pocketing it while Harry still was hugging his leg with both hands. She had perfected her technique by the age of seven. The twins were scared of her long before she could hold a wand.
"No, we don't. No owl could do that bit of traveling; we found out that they all are redirected to the Manor's Owlery once the portkey to the island is triggered, until the return of the group. We returned for a family meeting just before the new year, and that's when we found out about the headlines we caused," Hermione said while patting Harry's back in mock sympathy.
"Not to forget hitting Percy on that day," Ginny added, her face beatifying with a huge smile. "We heard about that a day later, from Dad, after it made the rounds in the Ministry. While I could kiss you, again, for that, it didn't really help brighten Mom's mood."
"Sorry 'fer 'at," Harry hissed through clenched teeth, still trying to rub the sting out of his leg.
"Honestly, Harry. Are you a wizard or what?" Hermione huffed and drew her wand, tapping his shin once to ease his pain.
"Got distracted," Harry mumbled with pink ears as he sat up and leaned back into the seat, crossing his arms and huffing at her with a slightly lecherous glare, ignoring the laughter of all others. Oh, he would so get back at her for that later. Oh yes, he would.
"Did your Mom really give you such a hard time just for getting petrified by Hermione?" Neville asked incredulously, absentmindedly fighting off Luna's attempts to unbutton his shirt.
"No, not really - at least not after the third day," Ginny admitted while watching Neville squeak and slapping Luna's hand as she reached for his belt buckle instead. "After that she went on about my dating and that I should have tried to date Harry when he still was available, and how I could have prevented you from going dark. That I defended you, for not being dark at all, didn't really get her off my back, but I couldn't let that stand, could I?" Ginny continued telling them with an increasing blush, but smiling back softly when she got her hand squeezed by a grateful Hermione. Harry showed his gratitude by stopping his glare, on account of the earlier kick.
"Ron just retreated to his room and kept writing Lavender short replies to her foot-long, first reprimand, then make up; and finally love letters that arrived twice daily, and kept his head out of it. Dad didn't really stand up for you, but he always managed to calm her down a bit and get her off my cute ass for a while. I would have started cursing her if it weren't for him. Thank Merlin the twins agreed to bring me and Ron to King's Cross, so that I didn't have to spend this morning with her, as well. Dad readily agreed, afraid that she might get into a fight with you again over her stupid notions. Really, the idea alone that Harry might turn dark," she huffed under the laughter of all present.
"I, for one, welcome my new dark overlord," Hermione chuckled while looking into Harry's eyes.
"To my bed, of course!" she added for effect, eliciting another round of bright laughter in the compartment.
ooOOoo
Three compartments away, Ron paused as he heard the well-known sounds of his former best friend and his first love interest laughing. He briefly regretted not being part of their group anymore, but Lavender interrupted his musings as she drew him back into a heated kiss.
*** Next morning***
The day started off well, the weather was fine, their training seemed to be productive, and Neville managed to cast his first real protego shield that didn't collapse with the first spell that hit it. The fact that Luna had promised him something for every spell that he could hold off might have had something to do with it.
The day was an easy one for Hermione and Harry, they would have a free lesson after breakfast, which they had planned to use for a nice stroll around the lake and later Potions.
When they later met up in the common room after training, they noticed that some apparition lesson signs had appeared on the house-board. That was nice to know, but since both of them already knew how to do it, and Hermione even already had her license, it didn't really matter to them.
Neville was anxious, and afraid to start these lessons, while Ginny was a bit sad that she would have to wait another year. Nonetheless, the mood was pretty good when they went down to the Great Hall and started breakfast.
Sitting down, they had much fun teasing Neville. No one but him had heard what Luna had promised him exactly, but given the fact he had a bright red face and the huge smile he wore when he, and Luna, who he had escorted from her dorm, joined them later - much later - it should have been good.
Sadly, that good day ended when Hermione received and opened her Daily Prophet.
ooOOoo
The Boy-Who-Lives-It-Up
By Rita Skeeter
Fame is a fickle thing, but it is known to sometimes rise to the head of a weak-willed person. Sadly, this seems to have happened to Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived or the Line-Ender, as we might call him rightfully now. Being famous, wealthy and moderately handsome, he could have become a wizard we all could look up to in a brighter future.
But knowing what multiple witnesses reported about yesterday's happenings on Platform 9 ¾ to Yours Truly makes me feel worried about the same future.
When Mister Potter and his fiancée, the Muggleborn Hermione Granger, stepped onto the platform, a girl approached out of nowhere, and in a shocking display of immorality not only threw herself into his arms, but jumped him, wrapped her legs around him and kissed him fiercely, right in front of his fiancée.
Now, my dear readers, you will ask yourself the same question like this reporter: When will she leave St. Mungo's?
Far from it - right after separating from Mister Potter, the girl embraced Miss Granger and proceeded to nibble her neck to Miss Granger's obvious delight, before the three went into the train together, proving that there is in fact a relationship between those three.
While it without doubt has happened occasionally that someone was cheating on their partner, these people usually have the decorum to be properly ashamed of it and to hide the mistress. But no, these three openly celebrate their relationship. Now, who is the other girl in this love triangle?
Research has shown that the mystery girl is no other than Ginevra Weasley, daughter of Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, a daughter of an old and known Pureblood family. The very same girl who had been rescued by Potter a few years ago, in the still not fully settled Heir of Slytherin affair. Coincidentally, Miss Granger also was among the victims in the series of attacks on students.
Does this mean that this relationship started four years ago? At least Miss Granger had a short affair on the side with star-seeker Victor Krum two years ago. This also raises the question why Miss Granger is the fiancée in this triangle, and what she has or does that Miss Weasley doesn't, to earn her that position...
ooOOoo
Hermione slammed the Daily Prophet onto the table in disgust. Sniggers could already be heard from the Slytherin table across the hall.
Harry had looked up from his breakfast as she had tried to embed the paper into the Gryffindor table. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Hermione interrupted her third count to ten at his question. "You don't want to know," she hissed, and slammed her hand back on the paper as Ginny tried to nick it from her other side. "And you neither," she told the girl.
"Hermione, either you tell me, or I'll hear it from these rabid monkeys over there," Harry said, pointing his thumb at the raucous Slytherin table.
Hermione shoved the paper over to him with a long sigh, and busied herself with a piece of toast. She didn't have much of an appetite left. Harry finished the front page and without a word, handed the paper over to Ginny.
"Don't bother, I'm sure it'll blow over," he said helplessly, stabbing his breakfast, his appetite waning as well, while Hermione and Neville, who had read over Ginny's shoulder, both whispered encouragements to the once more mortally embarrassed girl.
"He's right," Luna spoke to them, having approached the table to whisk her Neville away . "And I wonder why so many people believe those stupid stories, since it is obvious that Skeeter didn't even get all her facts right," she said while pulling Neville to his feet.
"You are certainly not only just moderately handsome, Harry," she concluded matter-of-factly, turned and dragged Neville out of the Great Hall, multiple eyes following them for various reasons.
ooOOoo
Hogwarts' resident pirates had a much better morning than Ginny, that much could be said. First, most students were rather impressed with, if not to say frightened of Harry and his display at the Ministry. While he gained virtually nothing in spoils but another Wizengamot seat, giving him four in total - about the average of the still remaining fifty-something members - he had ended a pureblood line, something not many could claim. The title Line-Ender was one of the most respected and feared titles in the wizarding world, telling all that he would follow the mandates of a blood feud until the last drop was spilled - not that it was particularly hard in this case with the last members of each family on either side battling.
Also, it was well-known that he and Hermione had already tested out of DADA, over a year early. No one even remotely sane would challenge them, and Draco Malfoy was keeping a rather low profile this year.
Harry thought it was a bit extreme, though, how afraid some students were acting. Near the Room of Requirement, they met a Hufflepuff firsty girl who was so afraid of them that she dropped her astronomy gear as they approached! They helped her to retrieve and repair all her stuff and sent her on her way, trying to calm her, but she was looking at them as if they would eat her alive the whole time.
Much to their disappointment, the Room was again already occupied, so they had to put off their training, and the much needed let-off of steam until later, so they settled for an alternative.
ooOOoo
Later that day, after class and about an hour left until dinner, Harry and Hermione were still in the library, the best place in Hermione's opinion to let a day fade away gently. Some old tomes and sweet kisses were a balm for Hermione's soul, the stupid incident from earlier long forgotten.
As the evening had gotten later, the library had emptied, leaving the two inhabitants of the study section alone, save Madam Pince in her booth, who had no problems with their occasional displays of intimacy, as long as the books weren't harmed. They were engaged, after all.
About an hour ago, Harry had finished his homework, but chose to watch her looking up some more things for her Arithmancy extra credit work instead of studying. Hermione didn't mind at all, Harry had been a very good boyfriend today, so she was ok with him slagging off his studies a bit, especially as his hands were doing wonders massaging her neck while she was reading.
Resolved to let the day end well, she turned and gave Harry a sweet kiss while she closed the book. "Ok, you clean up our desk while I bring that one back and then we can leave," she whispered to Harry
Harry smiled back happily, if a bit evil at the smile she had given him while speaking, promising a stop in a broom closet on the way back. He eagerly started to put their stuff away into their bags as she rose and walked into the maze of the shelves, back to one of the rows deep in the less frequented part of the library where the more obscure works were located.
Finding the spot she had taken that tome from, she had to stand on tiptoe to return it to the top shelf.
Hermione got startled when she heard Harry's disembodied voice whisper in her ear, "Obey, my wench," as she felt his invisible body press against her.
Her suppressed squeak of surprise died and was reborn as a moan as the same disembodied lips that had just talked to her started nibbling the sensitive spot on her neck. Properly distracted, she didn't notice the brief flicker in the air as several privacy spells were raised.
A faint rustling sound made her open her eyes again, and she saw some books floating away from the shelf just in front of her, leaving a small, but deep gap. When she noticed that she couldn't move her hands away from the places she had braced herself against Harry's assault on her neck - a clear sign of sticking charms - a hushed "What are you doing?" left her lips.
"Making your dream come true," was the answer, and suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder while another circled her stomach; and she found herself unceremoniously doubled over and shoved into the gap. She gave a small sound of protest as she felt herself getting magically stuck to the shelf and the books, holding her firmly in place with only a little movement possible. His intentions became clear to her as she felt the cold air when her skirt was flipped over her back. She took a deep gasp as he did so, and then another, even deeper one; drawing more of that delightful, arousing, musty scent of old books into her lungs as she got assaulted by both of her greatest loves at once.
ooOOoo
After leaving the library, and then eating a desperately needed dinner, they retreated to the common room for a bit of reading. Harry tried to make headway with Warding for Home Owners, while Hermione preferred her relaxing copy of The Arithmanthical Improbability of Probability as they cuddled in one of the stuffed couches near the fire. Harry was absent-mindedly playing with the flicking tail of Crookshanks, who was sprawled over Hermione's lap, purring, as he got his ears scratched.
A bit before dinner, they were scared out of their reading. Ginny barrelled into the room and was about to rush up the stairs, when Hermione's call stopped her. Slowly, Ginny turned and went over to the waiting couple. Her face was flushed enough that Hermione immediately put her book aside and guided the girl into the couch between her and Harry.
Harry offered to leave, so that the girls could talk to each other, but Ginny declined.
"It doesn't matter. You will hear most of it in a while, anyway."
"What happened?" Hermione asked from her side, stroking her back in a comforting way.
"That stupid article happened. All day, I heard the whispers behind my back, by everyone. I even overheard some girls talking about me practically bedding everyone; especially once I had some drinks, but they bolted before I could hex anyone," Ginny moped. "How did you two get through second year and the tournament like that? It's only half a day, and I already want to do nothing but curl up and cry. Or hex someone!" she said, alternating between whining and ranting at them, holding her head with both hands.
"I, for one, have grown accustomed to it. I get this every other year, so it's nothing new," Harry told her with a shrug, not helping her much.
"You know, at least something good might come from this," Ginny sighed and sat up with a light smile. Hermione brightened at the new found spark in her friend and gave her a side-hug. "That's the spirit!" she told her friend jovially in a very London town accent.
Ginny snorted at Hermione's antics. "Yeah, you know, Ron and Lavender got into a fight over the article. Lavender believed in Skeeter, and Ron told her off, telling her that he witnessed most of the thing, and Skeeter made up things, as usual. Lavender took exception to his calling her favourite writer a liar. They might break up soon."
Harry chuckled lightly, an action mirrored by Hermione, before she gave an enormous yawn that soon was repeated by Harry and Ginny. "I think we should end the day on this high note, don't you think?" She asked while yawning again.
ooOOoo
"Would you mind escorting me to and from class?" Ginny asked as they sat for breakfast in the buzzing Great Hall. "There has been no one pointing at me while you are around," she noted.
Her curiosity aroused, Hermione let her eyes sweep the room. In fact, there were some hastily withdrawn fingers all over the hall as her eyes swept by, and everybody quickly minded their own business, or at least pretended to do so. She still vividly remembered how it had been in fourth year when Skeeter made her the scarlet woman of the month. She also noticed with a satisfied smirk that Ginny's hearsay information might be true, because while still sitting opposite to Lavender, Ron was cringing under the venomous looks he received from his maybe still girlfriend, eating even faster than usual to get out of here as quick as possible. Lavender currently was stabbing a sausage while glaring straight into his face, making him take a short break to actually swallow his meal unintentionally.
"If possible, we might do so," Hermione told Ginny, who was sitting next to her, while she beckoned Neville across the table to hand her the mashed potatoes.
"At least, you are getting a better deal than I got. You didn't get any Howlers, yet," she said while she spooned some onto her plate and Harry's, who was currently trying to take possession of a roast beef platter that was handed around.
"Are you alright, Neville?" Ginny asked. The boy had stopped eating and stared at a point behind them. Turning around, Ginny's eyes immediately sought out the source of Neville's distraction. No, it wasn't Luna; she currently was juggling tomatoes, nothing unusual. It was a post owl, slowly making its way over to her, bearing a blood-red envelope.
"Thanks for hexing me, Hermione," Ginny muttered with a sigh as her head hit the table in despair.
But that wasn't all. Right behind the first owl, a huge procession of owls reaching for her. It soon turned out that not all of these were addressed to her as the next owl delivered its letter to Harry, followed by two for Hermione. Within a few seconds, ten howlers were sizzling on the table, and more were to arrive, still, among them the occasional normal letter.
Hermione was clinging to Harry as the mail arrived, still wary from her experience with her last hate mail, and was certainly not going to touch any of them. A few seconds later, the Howlers auto-activated one by one, and soon, a full choir of insults hailed down on the kids, too many to make out individual voices, but they were able and forced to hear some choice words like "whore", "sluts", "fornicator" and "dyke", among some longer fragments like: "Kill the mudblood and take your righteous place", "have the decency to back off and let Potter marry the Pureblood" and several accusations of Potter debasing the Pureblood or cheating on a Muggleborn out of bigotry.
In short, they were accused of about every possible scenario and profligacy that existed.
A few minutes later, the worst was over, and no more owls arrived. Harry's ears were ringing from the ranting and occasional explosions, and Hermione looked like she had a severe case of bed-head with her hair sticking all over the place. Both girls looked really distraught, in fact, Ginny was close to tears. This was absolutely new to her, and the viciousness of some of these letters shocked her to the core. She always had thought it was funny when someone got a Howler, but now, her whole outlook was changing drastically. She never felt more embarrassed in her whole life, but it wasn't over for her, not yet.
Neville's wince made her aware of another arrival.
A very old, tiredly flapping owl was zigzagging its way towards her, carrying a red letter in its talons. It was Errol, their family owl.
Errol made a long turn, flying along the whole length of Gryffindor table, with all heads following him in anticipation.
Ginny had the classic deer in the headlights expression on her face, and everybody outside their group started shuffling away nervously at the sight of the owl they knew to usually deliver the Howlers for the Weasley twins. Coming near Ginny, Errol dropped the letter and followed its experience, beating his wings as hard as a young owlet, doing his best to get the hell out of there, while the envelope landed on some sausages, bouncing and finally landing on Ginny's hand.
At the slightest touch, the letter sprang to life, and not much to her surprise, but very much to her horror, it was her mother's voice ranting at her. Errol's frantic try for distance proved to be a good thing; because the sheer volume the Howler produced would probably have done the poor bird in.
"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY! I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN TO BECOME A HUSSY LIKE THAT! IS THAT WHY YOU DEFENDED POTTER ALL THIS TIME - BEING HIS MISTRESS? I SWEAR, WH…"
Everybody was glad when the cacophony ceased in mid rant, turning into a faint, barely audible, but gladly not intelligible squeaking whisper. Looking around, they saw a very angry Harry pointing his wand at the Howler, and a shimmering energy field surrounding the letter that continued to rant until the message was told and then sunk to the desk in letter form, losing the red colour.
While everybody just stared at this display of magic, Professor Flitwick over at the staff table nodded appreciatively. He recognized the effects of the spell. It was an old sound barrier charm that fell out of fashion when the easier Silencio charm was invented. It was still used at demolitions or at reserves for noisy creatures to keep them unheard by Muggles. He didn't know that it was also effective on Howlers. But then, since this charm was not cast on the object itself, but around it, it was obviously capable of defeating the anti-silencing spells on the letter. 'It is impressive,' he thought, 'although that spell was originally designed to silence a dragon, I think I could still hear faint sounds from the letter.'
Meanwhile, Ginny was staring at the now normal letter lying in front of her. The written words on the parchment didn't look any better than the rant had sounded. Making moves to pick it up, she found it removed by Harry, who had reached across the still stunned Hermione, and turned it upside down, shaking his head at her. "Do you really want to know?" he asked with a pained voice, his eyes telling he knew how she felt right now.
For a moment, Ginny considered the pros and cons of knowing versus living in blissful ignorance. "No, she went too far with this one. I want at least to know why I am leaving the house as soon as I am legal to do so," she hissed with tears already forming in her eyes.
Harry nodded sadly and removed his hand from the parchment, allowing her to grab it. She took it and started to read, but after only a few seconds, she started crying and bolted out of the room, under the laughter of the Slytherins, while everybody else looked sheepish at the poor girl's torment. Hermione took it with a bit more grace; after all, she had already been through this. She gave Harry a quick glance, and then set off to look after Ginny, lest she did something stupid. She was a Weasley, after all.
Neville awkwardly excused himself and went to sit with Luna, which left Harry alone at the table. He sat calmly, but he had a faraway look. It took a second call by Professor Flitwick to get his attention.
"I said this was a very inventive use of a rare Charm, Mister Potter. Take two points to Gryffindor for this, and three more for preventing a fellow student getting even more embarrassed than she already was," the small man said, but his usual jovial demeanour was absent as he spoke.
"I also want to congratulate you on your victory in the duel a few days ago. I would like to offer you some assistance, if you would like to improve your abilities. Please let me know tomorrow after class if you are interested in doing so," he finished and left.
Harry nodded, still looking pensive.
ooOOoo
It took Hermione most of the rest of the day, and skipping class, to calm Ginny down. But even then, the girl was extremely depressed. Hermione had to resort - after getting permission from Harry, of course - to promising Ginny to take her on the island next Hogsmeade weekend to cheer the girl up enough to leave the loo she had locked herself into. It took another two hours for Ginny to rant, rage and cry herself out over the humiliation at the hand of her own mother, while Hermione lent her an understanding shoulder.
When a procession of Gryffindor girls apologizing to both of them started, Ginny just went through the motions, not really registering anything. Even Professor McGonagall showed up eventually, assuring the girls that from now on, Howlers to students would get collected by Hogwarts elves and given to them later, after they had ranted themselves out.
While Hermione was busy helping her friend get over these events, Harry also skipped class, and could be seen muttering under his breath over a parchment all day in the common room.
ooOOoo
"Where have you been?" Hermione asked Harry as he stepped through the portrait hole. "McGonagall brought a message from Dumbledore. He wants to see us again this evening," she continued as he approached to the couch she had waited in. "What happened? Why are you smiling like that?"
"Nothing, I just visited Hedwig in the Owlery, taking care of a letter. Come on; let's get to Dumbledore, then. Curfew is only an hour away," Harry replied with a slight smirk. While Hermione knew that he was hiding something, he had a point. She would beat it out of him later.
They quickly made the way out of the room and up to meet the Headmaster.
"You think he will finally tell us about the diary and locket?" Harry asked as they reached the seventh floor.
He had to wait a bit for an answer, as they met Theo Nott, who was heading in the opposite direction and looking rather angry for some reason, there. Waiting silently, they watched him stomp away, not even glancing in their direction as he passed them in front of the door-guard Gargolyle.
"Did you notice that he seemed to come from the Room of Requirement?" Hermione asked Harry when the coast was clear again.
"You're right. Maybe it's only me, but the room seems to be mighty popular lately," Harry said while waggling his eyebrows at her.
"True, remember, it was even occupied during classes yesterday in our free period. I wonder why he looked that peeved, though."
"Maybe she didn't put out," Harry joked, and received a well-earned punch in the ribs for that.
ooOOoo
"Enter!" the voice rang out after they knocked at the door at the top of the spiralling staircase. This time, the password for the gargoyle had been 'Mars Bar' - who knew the Headmaster indulged in Muggle candy?
"Please take a seat, Miss Granger, Mister Potter. Care for a lemon drop?" the old mage said from his place near the windowsill.
Naturally, they declined the latter offer, but took their seats as usual.
"I couldn't help but notice your plight at breakfast," the old man began with a twinkle of mirth in his eyes. "I am sorry that had to happen, and Professor McGonagall has made arrangements to suppress such occurrences in the future."
"We have already been made aware of that, thank you," Hermione replied evenly.
"As I thought - sadly, I cannot take steps to quell those rumours in the press, as I have no leverage there. So I'm afraid you will have to weather this storm," he said gravely while walking over to his cabinet to fetch the pensieve for tonight's session.
"It's already taken care of," Harry remarked, ignoring Hermione's eyes darting at him questioning.
"It is? That is good to hear, my boy," Dumbledore said absent-mindedly as he carefully selected and fetched two vials of memories. "In that case, let us not procrastinate longer and start today's events," he said while he poured the first memory into the basin, and swirled it with his wand, beckoning them to approach.
The first memory was unsettling, but not unexpected. Obviously, Voldemort killed his own father and his grandparents, while using his uncle as a scapegoat, and stealing the ring as a bonus. 'Well, how unexpected - news at ten!' Harry thought, and Hermione commented in about the same way, calling it "Interesting, but not really helpful."
Dumbledore frowned at their indifference, but chose to press on.
The second memory had both of them mad enough to spit nails. "What did Slughorn do to the memory?" Hermione spat. "It's obvious it has been tampered with, and poorly at that!"
"Your observation is spot-on, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said placidly. "Professor Slughorn has meddled with his recollections."
"But why did he do that?" Harry asked confused. "Did he think you wouldn't notice? Even a first-year wouldn't miss this fog thing right after Riddle asked him about these Horthingies."
Dumbledore gave a sigh as he walked over to his desk. "It took me long enough to coerce Professor Slughorn into giving me this much, as for the reason, I believe that is obvious: He doesn't want me to know his real answer, which means that he knows something important that will damage his reputation if known," he said as he rounded the desk and sat heavily in his overstuffed chair, which sighed as loud as the wizard at this action.
"And this brings me to a task I must entrust you both with: You need to obtain the full, untainted memory from Professor Slughorn, for I think it will be the most crucial piece of information of all we have and will see," Dumbledore said.
"Us?" Hermione asked confused. "Why us? Why would we succeed where you couldn't? We don't have any power over him, or Veritaserum and we don't know Legilimency, either!" She protested, and Harry nodded energetically at this.
"You see, Miss Granger, it wouldn't do to wrestle this memory from him by force, and being a premier Potions Master, he will certainly have already taken precautions against the use of Veritaserum. But while Professor Slughorn would never give it to me, to you both, his prized pupils, he might be agreeable. Every man has his weakness, you understand? So, good luck, and goodnight."
Hermione bristled a bit at the sudden dismissal, and even Harry wouldn't have any of this. "But what about this Horcrook thing? What is that?" Harry demanded.
"It is called Hor- crux, Harry. What is it, Headmaster? Does this have anything to do with the ring and locket?" Hermione asked a couple of question that Dumbledore didn't reply to instantly.
"You know something more, don't you?" Harry asked warily.
"I have some conjecture and guesswork, yes, but this is all irrelevant without that memory," Dumbledore gave in, but then quickly changed his tune again. "But enough of this! You two should be off to bed, I will contact you for our next meeting in due time. Miss Granger, Mister Potter... goodnight!"
Knowing that there was nothing that could make the man say another meaningful word to them, they both grudgingly accepted the dismissal and left.
ooOOoo
"You know," Harry said as they navigated the staircase down to the Gryffindor Tower entrance. "I'm finding myself growing quite angry again with our esteemed Headmaster lately. He's hiding something, something big, I think. My skin crawls when he talks about those Horcrux things," he whispered.
"Mine, too. I believe - no, I am sure this has something to do with the ring and the locket, but I am wondering why such items might be of importance in the fight against Voldemort," Hermione answered as they turned towards the moving staircase.
Harry stumbled as he missed a step at her words. Only by grabbing Hermione's arm, he could prevent a fall. "The diary!" he hissed as he found his balance again. "What if they were like the diary?"
"Very much possible - I never heard the term before, but I'll try to find something in the Library. I'll certainly write a letter to Remus later," Hermione stated warily next to him. "There might be a chance he knows something about them, and if those things are as evil as he says, there is a good chance they are at least mentioned in the Library."
"Which is currently on the island, as you know," Harry said with a frown.
"Well then," Hermione huffed, "we'll have to grasp the nettle and hop over to the island soon."
"I'm sorry. I know how much you despise being assigned such menial tasks like research," Harry chuckled, and Hermione bumped him in return.
"You know, we might as well take the guys with us for a visit when we do that. Ginny has certainly earned a bit of a break, and Neville and Luna certainly wouldn't complain," he added after a few seconds of silent walking.
Hermione nodded at that, and continued to formulate her letter on the way downstairs, including the advance notice of their friends accompanying them to the island.
***The next morning***
Bad rumours tainted the Boy-Who-Lived and his friends.
By Barnabas Cuffe
Much to our regret, the Daily Prophet failed in its duty to verify one of its stories thoroughly. When our reporter got multiple letters about the occurrences at Platform 9 ¾, all telling the same story, and her research did not show any evidence to the contrary, she sadly, but understandably, took it for fact.
But after our article, multiple letters reached our office, claiming that this story went a bit different than we depicted it. We immediately made more inquiries and requested a statement by Lord Potter-Black, which reached us this morning.
In this statement, the Lord confirmed the other complaints. It was a simple misunderstanding. Poor Miss Weasley had been terrified when she heard about Lord Potter-Black's duel and when she saw him at the platform, she was simply overjoyed to see him and greeted him in an overly enthusiastic way, as young girls sometimes are wont to do. She immediately apologized to Miss Granger, who hugged her friend close, laughing at the stupidity of the whole scene.
Sadly, we at the Daily Prophet have been misled by ill-meaning people, and apologize for the inconvenience these upstanding young people might have suffered due to our mishap.
ooOOoo
"What did you do?" Hermione asked Harry over the paper. Harry paused between two pieces of bacon and smiled sinisterly.
"Oh, nothing too extraordinary, I just wrote a letter to the editor, decently hinting at my being annoyed by the reporting. I actually happen to have a copy of that letter here," he smiled and gave it to her. Hermione immediately started to read, or better, decipher Harry's scrawl.
'Dear Mister Cuffe,
I think you might want to check whether the published facts on the story about me, my fiancée and one of my best friends hold water. I wrote this letter to you as I think the editor is responsible for the content, and thought you might be interested in learning that the events did not entirely happen as they did ended up being depicted in the challenging story by Miss Skeeter. You see, to be truthful, Miss Weasley was quite a bit distraught over my recent duel, whereshe wasn't able to attend, and was just expressing her gratefulness, as you will understand, that I did not find an end at the point of a wand.
Noticing that this might cause a misunderstanding, she proceeded to immediately withdraw the arms from me and explained her story, citing that she certainly had no ill intentions and apologized for her overreaction.
I am sure she never meant any harm, as anyone knowing her would attest - seriously, the idea she would do that is ridiculous.
Yours sincerely,
Harry Potter'
Frowning as she read the letter a second time, Hermione's eyes suddenly widened as she noticed what had originally caught her eye. Reading once more, she broke down, laughing. Ginny took a few moments longer to read the note, but she finally stood and walked over, giving Harry a Hagrid-sized hug in return.