Hermione's Plan
Fall Term Part 2 - Many Things Are Revealed
By Chem Prof
Chapter 25, Fall Term, Part 2 – Many Things Are Revealed
Still December 22
That afternoon the young couple snuggled up together on a couch in one of the parlors. At one end of the room was a warm fireplace and at the other a large picture window looked out on the field where they had played quidditch during the summer, and into the woods beyond. A light snow was falling again but it was nice and cozy inside. Hermione summoned her notebook again and they settled down to read once more.
-oooOOOooo-
From the Journal of Hermione Granger, September 20, 1997
We celebrated my birthday the second time through with my parents last evening up in their rooms. They are so excited about their classes, and they really feel like they’re making a difference. While many of their students are skeptical that a couple of muggles can teach them anything worth knowing, they are making some progress. The more members of the wizarding world that they can help overcome this ridiculous prejudice, the better off the society will be.
They are discussing how muggle society differs from wizarding society, initially focusing on technology. They have a lot of things that they show the students, from common household items to transportation, communications, commerce, and industry. Dobby is a great assistant for them, conjuring perfect replicas of muggle items. Mum and Dad show him a picture of something and he can make it. When they get to transportation they’ll start with trains, since everyone is familiar with those, then move on to cars, and finally airplanes. Dad is actually planning on having a plane and a helicopter out on the grounds.
There was one awkward moment during the evening, though. Mum had ordered a birthday cake, and the house elf who brought it up couldn’t leave the room fast enough when he saw me there. When Mum asked about it, Dobby let it slip that none of the other house elves will have anything to do with me. That made me realize that Dobby’s the only one who takes care of the Head Suite. Then Harry admitted that during the last couple of years Dobby was the only house elf who would clean Gryffindor Tower. I had driven all of the others away. It made me feel terrible that by knitting those hats and leaving them lying around I had only been making his life more difficult. The worst part, I now realize, was that I insulted them all for nothing. Even if they had picked up one of the hats, it wouldn’t have freed them, since I wasn’t their master.
I’ve really had to reexamine my attitudes about house elves these past few months, and really, reexamine my attitude in general. I realize now that I’ve been insufferably self-righteous about a lot of things. Not a really happy way to spend your birthday, is it? Good thing I’ve got such a supportive boyfriend and set of parents.
“So you knew all along that Dobby was taking all of the hats and that they weren’t having any effect at all?” Hermione asked Harry dejectedly as she leaned back on the couch in her parents’ quarters. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to feel bad.” Of course. She knew that would be the answer even before she finished asking the question. Harry consistently did whatever he could to avoid hurting her feelings – any of his friends’ feelings actually.
While that thought made her appreciate what a good friend he was, it did nothing for her self doubt. “I really have been insufferable sometimes, haven’t I? Why did you put up with me?” she asked as a look of sadness settled on her face.
“Because I knew you cared.” Harry moved up behind Hermione and pulled her onto his lap and put his arms around her. Dan and Emma joined them on the couch, one on either side, but kept quiet, wanting to see how Harry would deal with this.
“You care about people. It’s one of your best qualities. Sure, you go overboard sometimes, and you have had trouble being inflexible. You decide that you know what’s best and have a hard time admitting when you’re wrong. But really, you aren’t wrong very often and you’ve gotten much better at that more recently.” Hermione looked up at him to see if he really meant it, or if he was just saying that to make her feel better, but Dan and Emma reassured her that they had noticed it too. She had been rethinking some of her positions lately, from her opinion of Fleur, to house elves, to the way she acted toward Harry, Ron, and her other classmates.
“As for why we put up with you, well, that reason’s probably different for Ron than it was for me,” Harry continued. “Ron grew up in a house where people get on each other all the time, but they all know that they love each other. So he was always used to being scolded by people who cared about him. And the way he learned to deal with it was by ignoring a lot of it from Ginny and his brothers, and even from his mum to some extent.” Hermione nodded. That was Ron’s most common response to her nagging, and it had tended to drive her crazy.
“Me, on the other hand, I was scolded all the time while I was growing up, but the difference was that I knew it was from people who hated me.” Harry was focusing on Hermione on his lap, rubbing her shoulders while he was saying this. He could tell that Hermione tensed up at these words, and he dropped his hands down to her arms to give them a reassuring squeeze. He didn’t, however, see the dark looks that Dan and Emma exchanged behind his back at the idea that he could talk about his abuse so casually.
“It took a while for me to get used to having someone badger me because they cared so much for me, because they actually liked me. I’m sure that’s why I resented you at first, and why my attitude toward your suggestions hasn’t always been the best. But I gradually learned to appreciate what you tried to do for me, even if I didn’t always show it.”
Hermione turned and leaned her head into Harry’s chest, while wrapping her arms around him. He responded in kind, and they shared a nice, contented hug. It had been good for both of them to get those feelings out in the open. Dan and Emma sandwiched them from either side with brief hugs of their own before they both got up and pulled the teens to their feet.
“OK, that’s enough introspection for now,” Emma announced. “Let’s have some cake.”
-ooOoo-
We also learned this morning about some goings on in Gryffindor house. It seems that Ginny is now going out with Zacharias Smith! We can’t believe it. Of course, Ron is fit to be tied. Of all the guys she could have picked, why him? He has a well-deserved reputation for treating girls very badly. Normally, I’d say that Ginny could take care of herself in a relationship, but I’m not so sure about this one, with the way she’s been acting lately. I tried to ask her about him, but that didn’t go well at all…
“Ginny?” Hermione had found Ginny alone in a corner of the common room.
“Oh, not you too, Hermione. Why can’t you people just leave me alone?” Ginny snapped as she folded her arms across her chest and looked away.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Hermione persisted.
Ginny fixed Hermione with a withering look. “Well, no, Hermione, but we can’t all have Harry Potter now, can we?”
Although Hermione was long past feeling guilty about Harry, that struck a nerve. Taking care not to let it show, she tried one more time. “But why Smith?”
“Oh please, Hermione. Where do you come off asking that? Or have you forgotten so quickly? Two words, Hermione. Cormac McLaggen. Oh wait, that’s right. YOU considered Smith first, THEN decided on McLaggen.”
-o-
Needless to say, that ended our conversation rather quickly. But I considered dating Smith, then went out with McLaggen, in order to make Ron jealous. (I know, not the brightest thing I’ve ever done.) Is Ginny trying to make Harry jealous? That doesn’t make any sense. It’s not like Harry cares who Ginny goes out with, except the same way I do, as a friend. He’s not exactly going to drop me and date Ginny just because she’s going out with Zacharias Smith!
Mum had another idea about it when I talked to her. She said that girls with low self-esteem often go out with boys who treat them badly as a way of punishing themselves. They somehow think they deserve to be treated badly, or feel worthless. How can that possibly apply to Ginny? If there’s any girl who should feel good about her appeal to the opposite sex, it’s her. Just because Harry chose me instead of her shouldn’t have damaged her self-esteem that much, should it? She must know she’s still one of the prettiest girls at Hogwarts. I’m sure lots of other guys have asked her out already this year.
But that comment of Mum’s made me really stop and think about what I was doing last year. Did I try to pick the biggest jerk I could find to punish Ron, or was I also punishing myself? I guess I was feeling pretty worthless at that time, after Ron rejected me for Lavender. After all, if I just wanted to make Ron feel jealous I could have asked Harry, or any other Gryffindor guy. Maybe that is part of the reason I picked McLaggen. I knew he would treat me horribly. It was all I could do to keep his hands off of me. In retrospect, it was a good thing Harry was at the party that night. I would have been horrified to have him see McLaggen pawing at me. I wonder if Harry hadn’t been there, if I would have let him go farther than I did. Now there’s a truly sickening thought. I was really a mess last year.
-o-
Here’s something a bit more pleasant. I’m really impressed with the way Ron is handling himself this year, with all the female attention he’s getting. He’s playing it cool, and being nice to all of them, but not letting any of them hang all over him the way Lavender did last year. Lavender, of course, has the inside track, as she has him all to herself in Gryffindor Tower. But she’s keeping it under control, and not acting all clingy or jealous like she did last year. She just sits with him every night and flirts, letting him know she’s interested.
During the day, Hannah and Susan have their chance. Somehow they always seem to be going the same direction that he is in the corridors, and end up one on each side of him. They’re both very friendly, and always smiling and laughing, making him feel like the greatest guy in the world. Those Hufflepuffs really can butter a guy up.
The most fun one to watch is Daphne. Ron doesn’t know what to make of her. She just appears out of nowhere occasionally and gives him a look, a smile, and just a few words in a low, sultry voice then walks away with a seductive sway to her hips. It puts Ron in a daze for the next half hour. (It usually gets Harry’s attention too, but he always catches himself right away and gives me an apologetic look.) And she always manages to do it when Ron’s with me and/or Harry, rather than when the other girls are with him. I don’t know how she does it. That Slytherin girl is really crafty. I guess the Sorting Hat had her pegged right.
-ooOoo-
From the Journal of Hermione Granger, September 21, 1997
OK, this one is rather amusing. For some reason, Lavender decided not to wear a bra today. If she was trying to call attention to her ‘assets’ she succeeded spectacularly! I lost count of how many boys walked into walls or doors when she bounced down the corridors, or spilled things on themselves when she paraded them into the Great Hall during lunch. Of course, I’m well aware that her main target was Ron. And it was pretty obvious that he appreciated her efforts. I don’t think he stopped grinning all day.
Unfortunately, I think it got to be a bit uncomfortable for her eventually. The breaking point was when she came to Mum’s first aerobics class this afternoon. (I finished enchanting her tape player and gave it to her Friday night.) Lavender showed up in a tight tee shirt and stretch pants, and the exercises were just too vigorous for her unrestrained breasts to handle. Finally I took pity on her and cast a quick spell on her. It was one that Fleur showed me to use in case I thought I needed a bit more support when I’m not wearing a bra.
“Hermione! That’s wonderful! What did you do?” Lavender asked eagerly after she had pulled Hermione aside. “You simply HAVE to teach me that spell.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Hermione explained. “It’s a Veela spell that a friend showed me and I promised her I wouldn’t reveal it to anyone.” Lavender’s expression showed a clear disbelief.
“You’re friends with a Veela?”
“Well, do you remember Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons Tri-Wizard champion?” Hermione asked. Lavender nodded. “She married Ron’s oldest brother.”
“I know,” Lavender replied. “But I didn’t think you and Ginny got along with her very well.”
Hermione shrugged. “I guess I’ve changed in quite a few ways since last year. She’s probably my closest female friend now. Sort of like a big sister.”
“So, is she the reason for your change in appearance?” Lavender inquired.
“The potion for my hair and the make-up, yes.” Hermione admitted.
Lavender nodded again, looking thoughtful for a moment, then perked up. “All right then, but at least tell me how the spell works for you. I’m guessing you don’t wear a bra at all any more?” Hermione blushed and nodded a bit sheepishly. “Can you vary how much support it gives you and, well, how much movement you get?” Hermione’s smile confirmed that the buxom blonde was on the mark. “So, how much do you use?” Lavender asked with a sly grin.
Hermione returned a coy smile. “Enough to keep Harry’s interest.”
Lavender shook her head in wonder. “You really have changed a lot. We should have gotten the two of you together years ago.”
-ooOoo-
From the Journal of Hermione Granger, September 22, 1997
They’ve found Viktor! He’s alive! I’ve been so worried about him ever since he disappeared right before the attacks at the beginning of the term. He’s very badly injured though. Probably tortured extensively, according to Tonks. I can hardly bear to even think about it. They have him in St. Mungo’s now. Harry and I are going to go visit him this evening after classes. I don’t know how I’ll be able to wait that long to see how he is.
They were escorted to the floor where Viktor was being treated, past several levels of security. When they were finally admitted to his room Hermione broke away and ran to the bed.
“Viktor! I was so worried about you!” She barely managed to restrain herself from hugging him, realizing that his injuries would not respond well to that treatment, and settled for taking hold of his hand.
“We both were, Viktor,” Harry added. “It’s really good to see that you got out alive.”
Viktor acknowledged their concern with a pained, but grateful expression in his eyes. “Her-mi-o-nee … Har-ry,” he whispered with an effort. “I … ”
“Shh, you don’t need to say anything,” Hermione insisted as her eyes welled up. “You just make sure you get better.”
Harry told Hermione to stay and visit while he talked to the healers. After several minutes he returned with a satisfied look on his face. By this time Viktor had lapsed into sleep, likely aided by the comforting presence of his friend holding his hand. Harry explained to Hermione what he had been up to. He had inquired if Viktor needed any special assistance, thinking of possibly attempting to repeat the spell they had used on Charlie, but the healers had assured him that it was unnecessary. He had then expressed his concern about security, a concern which the staff shared. While they were grateful for the Auror presence, they were worried about a possible Death Eater attack. They were definitely not thrilled about the potential for a shoot-out in the hospital corridors.
Therefore, they were quite receptive to Harry’s suggestion that Viktor be transferred to Hogwarts as soon as he was well enough to move, so that he could recover in the protection of the castle. Hermione threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, her face glowing with her appreciation. The pair stayed in Viktor’s room the rest of the night, as Harry’s favorable status with the Aurors came in handy once again. They were more than willing to bend the rules a touch for him, and besides, having the wands of Potter and Granger backing them up in case of an attack was a definite plus. The next morning, the young couple used the time turner prior to returning to Hogwarts to get an extra six hours of sleep before their classes.
-ooOoo-
From the Journal of Hermione Granger, September 24, 1997
Here’s something interesting. Harry mentioned that Olivander had told him that his mum’s wand was good for charms. We had found James and Lily’s wands in the Potter family vault this summer and Harry had taken them to keep as mementos. On a whim, I tried using her wand in Charms class today. It worked surprisingly well. Not as good as my regular wand, but I think it will work better for me than the backup wand I got from Moody this summer. Harry assured me that it’s OK for me to use it as a backup wand.
Then I asked him what his dad’s wand was supposed to be good for and he said Transfiguration. So I talked him into trying it out for that, and it worked pretty well for him also. He decided to keep using it in Transfiguration class in order to get more used to it. If he gets really good with it, it will give him another option when we fight Voldemort, since it won’t lock up with Voldemort’s wand the way Harry’s original one does.
-ooOoo-
From the Journal of Hermione Granger, September 26, 1997
Viktor was transferred to Hogwarts today. He’s better than he was, but Madame Pomfrey insists that he’ll need to spend several weeks in the Hospital Wing. Harry grimaced when he heard that, and she just smiled and shook her head. I’ll bet she hopes that Viktor is a more cooperative patient than Harry usually is.
Viktor is still in some pain when he’s awake, so Madame Pomfrey keeps him asleep most of the time. I’ll go and visit him in the evenings. I teased him (and Harry) by announcing that I’d sit by his bedside and read to him from Hogwarts, a History. Predictably, Harry groaned loudly when I said that, so of course I had to hit him. Then I got him with a tickling jinx. That actually made Viktor smile.
-o-
Augusta Longbottom, Neville’s gran, is also here now. She had been released from St. Mungo’s two weeks ago and apparently has been busy working on legislation with DMLE Director Hammer. Both of them got together after Harry and I talked with them over the summer about the possibility of requesting that Gringotts seal the vaults of convicted Death Eaters and establishing a procedure for the Ministry to seize their assets. With the DMLE behind it, and Mrs. Longbottom lobbying for it in the Wizengamot, combined with the fallout from the Death Eater attacks on pureblood targets over the summer, they managed to get it passed early this week. The tricky part was that they needed to word it carefully so that due process is followed. They don’t want to make it too easy, or they could have a situation like Sirius where they could have taken the Black family fortune even though he was innocent.
It was reported in the Daily Prophet this morning, and there was apparently quite the stir among some old pureblood families. It was all coordinated, of course, and Gringotts had already sealed the vaults prior to the public announcement, before anyone could react. Mrs. Longbottom says she’s now marked for death because of what she did, and so is Director Hammer. That’s really frightening, but after all, they did kill Hammer’s predecessor in the position, Amelia Bones, last year so it’s a definite possibility. There are obviously a lot of brave, dedicated people fighting with us against Voldemort. That’s both good to know and saddening at the same time.
She’s given us something to think about. We assumed that the Longbottom and Lovegood homes had been attacked because of Neville’s and Luna’s links to Harry, but she thinks it was because of both her and Mr. Lovegood’s outspoken opposition to Voldemort. I guess it we’ll never really know. When Harry and I finally face him, we’ll have other things on our minds besides asking him about that.
So anyway, since she has that threat hanging over her, McGonagall arranged for her to come to Hogwarts also. She’s going to be teaching a Magical Traditions class for muggleborns. If we can make time, Harry and I want to sit in on it. It should be very informative.
-ooOoo-
From the Journal of Hermione Granger, October 1, 1997
We finally heard from Bill and Fleur! They found Hufflepuff’s Cup! They asked if we wanted them to bring it back so that Harry could destroy the Horcrux in it or if they should just destroy it there. We decided that it wasn’t necessary for Harry to be involved, since Dumbledore destroyed the ring without him. And if they take care of it there, we wouldn’t have the risk that something could happen to it or to them on the way home. It will be safer if they just destroy it before they come back.
-ooOoo-
From the Journal of Hermione Granger, October 6, 1997
Slughorn announced today in Potions class that we would learn how to make Wolfsbane potion this term, and would be making quite a lot of it. Gee, I wonder why? That man is so greedy. Given that it’s Harry’s money we’re talking about, we’d actually end up paying him for potions that I made. Harry had an idea and went and talked to McGonagall. Then she went down and offhandedly reminded Slughorn that all potions made by students at Hogwart belonged to the school, and wondered if he had any of value that were worth selling, as we were short on supplies in the Hospital Wing. He was not very happy about that. I’m reminded again why the Sorting Hat considered putting Harry in Slytherin.
Greed aside, Slughorn’s treating me much better this year. Although I am the top student in the class again (now that Harry’s gone, as he so cheekily reminds me on a regular basis,) I don’t think that it’s just because of that. I think he’s playing up to the future Lady Potter. I now realize that despite Harry’s success in Potions last year, most of Slughorn’s fawning over him and his excessively favorable treatment was due to Harry’s fame, not his perceived Potions ability. I still can’t believe that I got jealous and pushed away my best friend because of that.
I am so lucky that things turned out the way they did between us. If Ron had accepted my advances I could easily have ended up with him and Harry with Ginny. I know neither of us would have been nearly as happy in that ending as we are together (Especially me! Harry and Ginny might have got along reasonably well, but I would have been miserable with Ron!). As Tom Cruise’s character said in the movie about the sports star and his agent – Harry and I complete each other.
-ooOoo-
From the Journal of Hermione Granger, October 10, 1997
The situation with Ginny has continued to deteriorate. She and Zacharias Smith only lasted for two weeks, but it just got worse. Since then she’s gone out with a series of guys who are just as bad. And she’s started to get a reputation for showing the guys a really good time. Ron’s been in detention three times this week for attacking guys he overheard saying things about her. The last guy she went out with was from Slytherin house, which prompted an interesting discussion last night.
“I thought Ron was going to completely lose it because he was a Slytherin, but that part didn’t seem to bother him as much as I expected it to,” Harry commented once he and Hermione had returned to the Head Suite after breaking up a shouting match between the Weasley siblings.
“No, he was much more concerned about the guy’s reputation than his house,” Hermione agreed. “I’m glad to see that he’s matured and is attempting to get over the whole ‘all Slytherin’s are evil’ mindset. This is more like Blaise Zabini asking me out.” Harry raised an eyebrow at that comment, causing Hermione to roll her eyes at him. “No, you silly git, he hasn’t actually asked me out. He might have, though, if he didn’t think you’d hex him into a pile of goo. But my point is, I wouldn’t go out with him because he’s a creep, not because he’s from Slytherin.” Harry nodded that he understood the distinction. “Now,” Hermione smirked, “what would be the most disgusting would be if Ginny got together with Malfoy.”
“Ugh! No kidding. How can you even suggest such a thing?” Harry protested. Then he thought for a moment. “No, what would be even more disgusting would be if you were with Malfoy.”
Hermione burst out laughing. “No, actually, that’s not so much disgusting as just completely absurd. You see, it’s at least conceivable that Malfoy would consider being with Ginny, since she’s a pureblood,” she explained. “His treatment of her would be despicable, more like a sex slave than anything else, but since she’s so attractive he would at least consider it. He would never even consider the possibility of anything with me, given my blood status. Now of course, Ginny would never have anything to do with him, since he and his family are the complete opposite of everything she and her family believe in. No matter how much she hated herself she wouldn’t do that to the rest of her family.”
“Inconceivable, huh?” Harry asked after a pause, trying to lighten what had turned into a truly depressing conversation. A little smile appeared on his face.
“Inconceivable!” Hermione responded with a grin. “And I don’t want to hear you start quoting dialog from The Princess Bride.”
“As you wish.” Harry grinned back and Hermione sighed contentedly. That line always got to her. Harry smoothly moved around behind her and started massaging her shoulders and neck and she melted happily back into him. Suddenly she burst out with a sharp laugh and turned around.
“I just got this weird picture in my mind,” she told him. “You’re facing Voldemort for the final time and he’s backing away in terror while you say …”
“My name is Harry Potter. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” Harry finished for her, laughing. Hermione nodded and joined his laughter, the subject of Ginny’s problem temporarily forgotten.
-o-
Harry says quidditch practice has been very tense. Ginny’s performance hasn’t slipped a bit; in fact, she’s better than ever. She’s playing with such an intensity that she’s scary. I think it’s a way for her to release the pent up emotion that’s tearing her apart.
This afternoon Harry overheard a conversation between two sixth year Ravenclaws that made us decide we have to do something …
“So, you’re going out with Weasley tonight?”
“Yeah, can you believe it? She is so incredibly hot. I am going to be one lucky man.”
“You mean she’ll let you shag her?”
“Well, not that far yet, but the next best thing!”
-ooOoo-
Harry checked the Marauder’s Map once again as he approached the broom cupboard that evening with a sickening feeling in his stomach. He was obviously reluctant to go through with it, but felt he had to step in and stop this. Taking a deep breath he quietly put up a silencing ward, unlocked the door, then threw it open.
The scene before him was as bad as he had feared. The Ravenclaw boy was sitting on a chair with his trousers and underwear around his ankles, with an expression of disbelief at his good fortune as he practically drooled at the beautiful girl before him. Ginny had removed her robes and her top, and was kneeling in front of him, her torso completely bare, as she lowered her head toward his lap. As she moved closer, his hands reached down to try to fondle her breasts.
Stupefy! Before either of them even knew he was in the small room, Harry had silently stunned the boy. Ginny jumped to her feet and turned on him with a look of fury, clenching her hands into fists at her side, but made no effort to cover herself.
“What do you think you’re doing!” she screamed at him. “Why are you here? This is none of your business!”
The sight before him was one that would have frozen him into incoherence the prior school year, but his experiences since then, particularly all the time he had spent with Hermione and Fleur sunbathing topless, enabled Harry to keep his cool. Not that he didn’t notice. He was a normal male, after all, so a part of his mind filed away a detailed picture of her for later perusal while he focused his attention on the current situation. “Ginny,” he said calmly. “Why are you doing this?”
“Why do you care? You don’t want me! You’ve made that very clear. I’m not worthy of you. I get it, all right? I’m a failure. I’ve let down my family.” Ginny’s anger was slowly turning into sorrow, but it didn’t hurt any less.
“Ginny that’s not true …” Harry tried to reassure her, but she wasn’t listening.
“So if I’m not worth your time I can find someone else who likes me,” she countered, tears now welling up in her eyes. “Now I have someone who loves me and you come in here and break it up. Why don’t you leave me alone?” she pleaded.
“Ginny, he doesn’t love you and you know it. These guys are just using you. They don’t really care about you.” Harry winced as he said these words. He couldn’t expect them to make her feel any better, but he needed to make her realize their truth.
“Then no one cares about me and I might just as well die.” Ginny’s shoulders slumped and she covered her face with her hands and began sobbing. Harry now moved forward and tentatively put his hands on her shoulders.
“Ginny, you’re wrong. Lots of people care about you. Your family cares about you. I care about you. Hermione cares about you …”
“You don’t love me. You love Hermione,” Ginny argued, but she didn’t pull away.
“Ginny I do love you and Hermione does too. Not like you wanted me to but more like …”
“I don’t need any more brothers.” Ginny was wavering. It was clear that she was struggling with whether to accept the affection he was offering.
“Maybe not, but I could really use a sister. And Hermione would really like to have the sister back that she used to have.” He pulled her toward himself and she resisted only briefly, allowing him to put his arms around her. “Ginny, you don’t have to do this. You are a very special, beautiful, warm, fun loving, and all around wonderful girl. There are plenty of really great guys out there who would be so lucky to be with you if you gave them a chance.”
Ginny broke down and threw her arms around Harry’s neck, still sobbing. In turn, Harry wrapped her up in a tender hug. “Oh, Harry, I’m so sorry! You must think I’m the most horrible slut you can imagine. I know you’ll never want anything to do with me now …”
Harry murmured soothing words, trying to comfort her and reassure her that this wouldn’t make him stop caring for her, while stroking her back. Carefully, without letting go of her, he began to pull his robes off in order to wrap her up in them. While he was doing this another hand appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and took the place of one of his hands on Ginny’s back.
“What’s going on here?” The door to the broom cupboard flew all the way open as Padma Patil, who had been on Prefect rounds, entered. Due to Harry’s silencing spell no one inside the small room had heard her approach. Padma’s eyes widened as she took in the scene in before her – Harry Potter, removing his robes while embracing a topless girl who was NOT his fiancée. “Harry! I don’t believe this! How could you do this to Hermione?” Padma was obviously crushed by this betrayal, not only of Hermione, but of herself. She had believed so strongly in Harry Potter and everything she had thought he stood for.
“Padma, it’s not what you think,” Hermione blurted out as she threw off the invisibility cloak. Ginny, who had initially frozen in horror at being discovered, then turned in surprise at hearing Hermione’s voice, relaxed somewhat as she realized that she was among friends who could be counted on to keep quiet about what they had seen. “Don’t worry, we have everything under control now,” Hermione continued as she turned to Ginny with a hopeful look. “We’ve just had a bit of a misunderstanding, but we’ve cleared it up now.” Ginny hesitated, conflicting emotions warring across her face as her eyes darted back and forth between Harry and Hermione, then she gave Hermione a hesitant nod.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief, then pointed her wand at the unconscious Ravenclaw boy, directing his trousers back up his legs to cover him up. Padma blushed, amazed at how unconcerned Hermione seemed to be with the boy’s nakedness, but then remembered that her sister had once commented on Hermione’s relaxed attitude toward clothing. Hermione then levitated him out into the corridor and Padma, with one last puzzled look over her shoulder at Harry and Ginny, followed her. Hermione could see that the Indian girl was astounded that she would leave her boyfriend alone in the room with his half-naked former girlfriend.
“Um, a misunderstanding?” Padma finally managed. Hermione eyed her carefully for a few seconds, then nodded.
“Can I trust you to keep this to yourself?” Padma nodded vigorously and began to raise her wand to take an oath, but Hermione stopped her and continued. “Ginny’s been making some bad choices lately. I think her mum gave her a really hard time this summer about Harry and she started feeling like a failure. She got so down on herself that it changed her whole personality. I don’t know if you’ve noticed recently, but she’s been nothing like the vivacious, outgoing girl we used to know. It got so bad that she started punishing herself by going out with guys like this creep. Hopefully she’ll come to her senses now.” Padma nodded, not really understanding how a girl who had everything going for her like Ginny could think so poorly of herself that she would date a guy like this. Since he was her housemate, she knew his reputation all too well. He usually preyed on younger girls who were easier to seduce. A girl like Ginny was way out of his league.
When Padma pointed this out to her, Hermione shrugged. At one level, she didn’t understand how Ginny could feel that way either, but she was also aware of how she herself had reacted somewhat similarly, but thankfully to a lesser extent, the previous school year.
Hermione next turned to the unconscious male still floating in front of her, and to Padma’s astonishment promptly obliviated him of the memory of the last hour. Finally, she asked Padma to escort the would-be lady’s man back to Ravenclaw Tower. Somewhat dazed by the events she had just witnessed, Padma agreed and levitated him away.
When Hermione reentered the broom cupboard Ginny, now fully dressed again, embraced her. “Thanks, Hermione. I’m sorry for not listening to you earlier.” She pulled back with a dejected look on her face. “I’ve really made a mess of things now, haven’t I? No decent boy will want to have anything to do with me after this.”
Behind her, Harry put his arms on her shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze, and Hermione responded, “I don’t think you should be so hard on yourself, Ginny. You’ve made a mistake and a really good guy won’t hold it against you. But perhaps you should cool it with dating for a while.” Ginny solemnly nodded and the three friends turned and headed back to Gryffindor Tower.
-ooOoo-
What a relief that’s over with. Well, perhaps not completely over, because it will be a while before Ginny gets over it and starts feeling better about herself. But I think she’s headed in the right direction. She made us promise that we’d never tell Ron, or anyone else in her family, what she had done. I suggested that she might be able to confide in Fleur, and she allowed that she thought she could do that. We each gave her a hug before she went up to the dorms and she thanked us again with tears in her eyes.
When we got back to our suite Harry and I just turned and hugged each other. It was such an emotionally charged night, and we had been so worried that it would turn out badly. We decided to go straight to bed and just hold each other all night. This incident tonight made me SO glad that I have him.
-oooOOOooo-
Back at Potter Manor Hermione closed the notebook and sighed. “I am so relieved that the situation with Ginny finally got resolved. I was really scared there for a while.”
“I was nervous about your plan for me to go in there and confront her alone, while you stayed under the invisibility cloak,” Harry replied. “For a while I was sure she was going to hex me.” Hermione smiled at him and patted his arm. “But you were right, as usual. I was the one who had the best chance of getting through to her.” He smiled back and leaned over to plant a little kiss on top of her head.
“I wonder if Mrs. Weasley has any idea of what she did to her daughter, with all the harping about you she did last summer,” Hermione responded concernedly. “Have you heard anything about how she’s doing since we got back?”
“Minnie heard from Winky that she’s doing much better. Susan’s mum has been visiting her every week ever since September and talking to her about things, trying to bring her back to reality. Apparently she’s accepted that Ginny and I aren’t going to be together, which will take the pressure off of Ginny. I think she’s beginning to understand that you and I are together, but I’m not sure if she knows how serious we are. There was a message from Ron that the Weasley family is going to decide the day before the wedding if they are going to bring her or not. They want to be certain she won’t do anything to disrupt it.”
Hermione nodded. While it made for great drama in the movies when someone actually stood up in a church and challenged a marriage when they got to the ‘Does anyone object?’ part of the ceremony, it was most decidedly unpleasant to have it happen at one’s own wedding.
Harry removed his arm from around Hermione and stretched out. “I think we could use a bit of exercise. What do you say we check out that new pool you surprised me with?”
Hermione nodded happily. Harry and been thrilled when Minnie proudly showed him the new swimming pool that had been added to the mansion after they had gone back to Hogwarts in September. The indoor portion was under a greenhouse type enclosure and was heated to a comfortable temperature. There was also a sunning area where Hermione claimed that they could sunbathe even in the winter, at least on those days when the sun was out. She got up and went over to a dresser and pulled out a small pair of swim briefs for Harry, and an even smaller bikini bottom for herself. She tossed Harry’s suit to him and quickly removed her clothing and put on the bikini bottom, making sure he was watching, then tied a pareo around her hips and pulled on a very short cropped tank top. She smiled broadly as she noticed that her little show meant that Harry’s swimsuit didn’t fit very well. Keeping her eyes on his display, she slinked forward toward him as alluringly as she could.
“You are such a tease,” he protested.
“I’ve been taking lessons from a Veela,” she purred back. When she was right in front of him she reached down and stroked him, causing him to moan.
“Just a few more days now,” she whispered. That thought caused a tingle between her own legs. Then he reached down with his hand and gave her bum a squeeze, and she gasped. After sharing a long, passionate kiss, the loving couple finally made their way down to the swimming pool where they had a long, very enjoyable swim.
-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-
Author Notes:
Just to clear up any confusion, the last chapter, this one, and the next one started and ended in late December, with Harry and Hermione reminiscing about the previous term by going through her journal. Last chapter covered the time from Sept 2 to Sept 19, and this one will go from Sept 20 to Oct 10, with the following one taking us to Halloween.