Chapter 5, Working Some Things Out

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – October 6

There are just too many suspicious things going on this year! There must be some relationship between them.

1. Umbridge handed down another Educational Decree today disbanding all student organizations, and requiring her permission to reform them or form new ones. It’s clearly aimed at our defense study group. Someone must have tipped her off about it. She’s also obviously targeting Harry specifically.

2. We know from Sirius that the Order was also tipped off about our meeting. Is there a connection there?

3. Sirius let slip that Molly was ‘on duty’. Harry says that’s not the first time he’s heard that expression. Tonks mentioned being too tired to go on duty for Dumbledore once this summer. Earlier Sirius had told Harry that Voldemort was after a weapon. We think the Order is trying to keep him from getting it.

4. An Order member was arrested in the Minstry late at night. Is the Order guarding the weapon in the Ministry or is the Order trying to steal it from the Ministry?

5. Dumbledore and the Ministry have been at odds since July. Harry saw Fudge talking to Malfoy. Umbridge and Fudge are clearly trying to get rid of Harry. Whose side is the Ministry on? Fudge and Umbridge are apparently worried that Dumbledore’s raising an army against them. Is he?

6. Harry is having dreams about walking along a long corridor. He’s also getting twitches of Voldemort’s emotions through his scar, but these seem to be two different things.

7. Hedwig was attacked and injured. Owl post is no longer secure.

8. Sirius was almost caught talking to us through the floo in our common room. Therefore floos are also no longer secure.

9. Dumbledore hasn’t spoken to Harry since June. He didn’t want me to see him this summer. He didn’t give Harry a prefect badge, but awarded them to Ron and me instead. If I had taken it Harry would have been alone a lot. We’ve generally been kept in the dark about what the Order’s doing.

10. These things taken together all suggest that Harry is being isolated. Why? He and Dumbledore are supposed to be on the same side!

Hermione gathered up her things and slipped down to the common room, where she found Harry asleep by the fire where Crookshanks was purring contentedly.

“Hey Crookshanks, are you down here watching over Harry for me?” Hermione asked softly while scratching the thick fur at the back of his head. Crookshanks opened one eye to acknowledge her, then closed it again. Hermione sat down next to Harry and fondly watched him sleep, then sighed and decided to wake him up. She leaned over and kissed him on the head, then whispered in his ear.

“Harry … Harry, wake up.”

“What? Who’s there?” Harry awoke with a start and blinked a few times before he realized where he was and then realized that Hermione was leaning over him. “I almost had it,” he muttered.

“Had what?” Hermione asked.

“I’m not sure. Whatever is on the other side of the door in my dream.”

“Do you think you should tell Dumbledore about it?”

Harry frowned. “I would but he’s avoiding me, remember.” He turned towards her. “What are you doing down here so late?”

“I’ve been thinking about all the things that have been happening this year and making a list and trying to make some sense of it. I wanted your input on it. Look at what I’ve got so far.” Harry sat up and Hermione moved right up next to him, and he automatically put his arm around her. He scanned down the list in her journal.

“I think you’re on to something,” he agreed. “I didn’t make the connection before but seeing it all here together makes me wonder.” He leaned back and rubbed his forehead with his free hand while Hermione looked up patiently.

“Voldemort has some kind of plan and it’s not going well. I can tell by the feelings of frustration I’m getting from him. So whatever the Order’s doing, it seems to be working. And with all the things you’ve pointed out here, they’re clearly trying to cut me out of it. That must be part of their strategy.” Hermione nodded; that had also been her conclusion. She was afraid to make the logical follow-up though.

“Every plan of Voldemort’s seems to involve me and I don’t think this one’s any different,” Harry continued. “And it’s obvious the Order’s afraid of letting me know what’s going on. Here’s what I think. They’re worried that my link with Voldemort goes both ways. They think he’ll try to get information about this weapon out of me – that’s why they’re isolating me. As long as I don’t know anything about the weapon it can’t hurt them.”

“That’s what I thought too, but I was hoping I was wrong.” Hermione admitted. “Do you think he’s breaking into your mind?”

“I don’t think so, not yet anyway. Everything so far seems to be me seeing or feeling what he’s doing or feeling. If that’s so, these dreams like I just had where I want to get through the door must reflect his desire to get what’s behind the door. As long as he doesn’t get through it we’ll know we’re still OK. If I ever actually make it through the door in the dream and find something we’ll know it’s time to take action.

“That makes sense to me,” Hermione agreed, but noticed Harry still frowning. “What else?” she asked.

“What if they’re worried that he’ll possess me like he did Ginny? That might be why Dumbledore’s staying away from me and why I’m being isolated. Maybe he thinks it’s not safe for you and Ron to hang around me so much.”

Hermione scowled for a moment, but then hardened her face in determination. “If that’s the case they don’t know us very well. I’m not giving you up that easily.”

“But …” Harry began to object.

“Harry Potter! I’ve told you, you mean everything to me. I’m sticking with you no matter what,” Hermione declared in a voice that left no room for argument.

Harry looked away, not wanting her to see the emotion on his face that she had raised with her heartfelt pledge. “Thank you.”

Hermione hugged him tightly, then announced, “Come on, it’s late. You need to get to bed.”

Harry tightened his arm around her for a return hug before they got up, but as he released her they were startled by a loud pop. Whirling around, they spotted something moving toward them in the shadows.

“Dobby has your owl, Harry Potter sir!” The eager elf paused to look back and forth between the two students. “Oh, but Dobby did not mean to disturb Harry Potter and his Miney.”

Hermione blushed and rose to her feet while Harry took Hedwig and stroked her head. She asked Dobby about Winky and was disappointed to hear that the former Crouch family elf was still not taking well to freedom. Harry picked up Hermione’s journal and was about to hand it to her when his eye caught the first item on the list and he was reminded of the difficulty their defense group would be having trying to meet without Umbridge finding out.

“Dobby, there’s something else we need.”
 

Dobby, of course, was delighted to be of use again and excitedly told us about a hidden room that sounds like just the thing we need. He called it the ‘Come and Go Room’ or the ‘Room of Requirement’. Apparently it turns into whatever you need it to be. Since we need a place to practice spells without anyone knowing, that’s what we’ll get. Harry and I will check it out tomorrow, and if it looks OK, we’ll have our first meeting the following night.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – October 8

We had our first defense club meeting tonight. I think it’s going to work out really well. The Room of Requirement is absolutely amazing! And all the students were quite enthusiastic, and want to meet at least once a week. I suggested we officially elect Harry leader, and choose a name. We’re going to call it the DA. Cho came up with the name ‘Defense Association’, but Ginny suggested we call it ‘Dumbledore’s Army’. That girl has a pretty sharp wit.

Harry decided to start with Expeliarmus, which is a pretty basic dueling hex. Zacharias Smith, who is turning into quite a pain, complained about it being such a simple hex, but Harry shut him up by saying he used it in his duel with Voldemort. I added that Snape had used it when he dueled Lockhart our second year, and it’s commonly used to end a duel. Fred then commented sarcastically that any moron ought to realize that if you could get your opponent’s wand away from him you’d have quite an advantage. (He actually used a more colorful phrase than ‘quite an advantage’.)

It turned out to be a good idea, because most of us were frightfully bad at it. Many times the spell missed and hit something or someone else. Sometimes mispronunciations caused something entirely different to happen. Harry beat me the first time, but after that first round when we discovered how much difficulty people were having I practiced with Ron and Neville while Harry went around the room helping people. I won almost every time. Ron claimed he got me a few times, but once was when he stumbled and knocked the wand out of my hand, and another was when I was distracted. I couldn’t tell him why, though. I was watching Harry at the time and he was helping Cho. She was acting all helpless and cute so he stopped to show her what she was doing wrong. She even made him stand behind her and put his arm around hers to show her the wand movement. I finally interrupted them by shouting to Harry that it was getting late. Next time I’m going to duel her and knock her on her cute little arse!

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – October 15

Second meeting of Dumbledore’s Army. We finished up with the Disarming Hex today. Ron got really annoyed that I beat him so often. He tried to claim that he was going easy on me because I was a girl, but I just gave him a look that told what I thought of that excuse. Then he told me Neville needed the practice more than he did and stomped over to join Lavender and Parvati. Unfortunately, Neville was really no challenge for me. Finally I found Harry and asked him to practice with me a while. I didn’t realize it at first but everyone stopped to watch us.

He got me the first few times – he is just too fast for me. Then I suggested he just dodge while I tried to hex him. Finally I disarmed him and I was so pleased I jumped up and down and clapped my hands. Then he surprised me by giving me a hug! It was only then that we noticed everyone’s eyes on us. We broke away quickly and he announced that my idea was excellent and that everyone should try having one person do the hex while the other one dodged, as that would be good practice too. I went back to work with Neville at that point and he finally managed to disarm me by the end of the meeting.

When we were finishing up Harry announced that we would move on to restraining spells – Incarcerous and PetrificusTotalus – since that was the logical next step after you disarmed an opponent. Cho piped up teasingly that Harry could tie her up any time he wanted to. That little flirt! But it did get a round of laughs and Harry turned red. Then Ginny shot back that she would be glad to tie up Cho, if she could include a gag as well. It was quite a clever putdown, but then Ginny’s pretty good at that. I wondered at why she jumped into that situation so quickly, though. Was she trying to help me out? It almost seemed like she was protecting her own turf, but I thought she had given up her crush on Harry. After all, she’s dating Michael Corner now.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – October 23

Different night for the DA this week due to a quidditch practice rainout. It’s probably a good idea for us to meet on different days anyway, to minimize our chances of being caught. I passed out fake Galleons that I charmed to communicate the date and time of the next meeting, which will also help avoid suspicion that would arise from constantly passing messages back and forth across the Great Hall.

Ron went right to Lavender as soon as we broke up into pairs to practice, and Harry noticed the disappointed look on my face, so he quickly announced that everyone should mix up and use different partners than they had the first two times. I stopped to surreptitiously give his hand a squeeze and whisper ‘thank you’ into his ear before I found another partner. (Surreptitiously is a relative term, I suppose. Many of the girls noticed, but I don’t think any of the guys did.)

I tried to partner up with Cho, but Padma got to her first. Too bad – I was hoping to body bind her permanently so that she wouldn’t be able to flirt with Harry. I ended up with Luna. She really is a strange one. She was quite good when she put her mind to it but she’s easily distracted, and she makes the most outrageous comments. I almost wonder if the whole ‘Loony’ personality isn’t an act. I’ve been able to do PetrificusTotalus since first year, so I had no problem with that. Incarcerous was more difficult since it’s a NEWT level spell. By the way, the Room of Requirement is incredible. It provides very well cushioned floors and lots of pillows, which came in very handy when people were petrified and fell over.

After we all got back to our common rooms Lavender and Ron announced that the Gryffindor prefects were planning a Halloween party next week. I’ll talk to Harry tomorrow to see if he thinks we can attend as a couple.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – October 24

Harry informed me this morning that Ron told him last night that he was taking Lavender to the party. So Harry told him that he would probably be taking me. That apparently really set Ron off. He said some things to Harry that Harry didn’t want to repeat to me – the gist of it was that he accused Harry of stealing me from him. Where does he come off acting like that? He never actually showed any interest in dating me, and now he has a date with Lavender. What is his problem? I griped to Ginny about it and she shrugged and said that’s just the way Ron is. I have to agree that Ron has always found it easy to become jealous of Harry. At any rate, he avoided us all day.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – October 31

The DA meeting tonight went well, at least. I finally got to duel with Cho. I sequentially disarmed her, slapped her in a body bind, and tied her up. Then I leaned in close and told her to stay the hell away from my boyfriend. I didn’t mean for anyone else to hear me, but as I walked away Katie Bell gave me a wink and Ginny slapped hands with me in a high five. Harry and I stayed behind after everyone left to make sure everything was in order and I told him what I’d done. He laughed and gave me a hug and said he didn’t mind me being protective, but that he had to be nice to her in the meetings. I allowed that he was probably right.

Things went downhill from there. When we returned to the common room the party was already in full swing.

On the way back to the common room Hermione decided to vent her frustrations with Ron. “I’ve about had it with him,” she complained as Harry nodded sympathetically. “What am I supposed to do? If I do something better than him he sulks. But he’s not willing to work at things as hard as I do. Does he think that he’s just naturally entitled to be good at magic because he’s a pureblood and I’m muggleborn?” Harry frowned and shook his head in support. “And because he’s a guy he’s allowed to go after any girl that catches his eye, but I’m not allowed to be interested in another guy?” Harry started to respond but Hermione cut him off. “And don’t say it’s just because it’s you; he was the same way with Viktor last year.” Harry cut his response short, as that had been exactly what he had been about to point out, but of course she was right, as usual.

“Come on,” he urged as they approached the portrait hole. “Let’s forget about this for a while and enjoy the party.” They broke apart as they entered the common room and hurried up to their dorms to change into some nicer robes.

Harry was back down to the common room before Hermione and what he saw stopped him in his tracks. On the couch in the corner, but in full view of the rest of the common room, Ron was wrapped around Lavender Brown so tightly that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began.

“Disgusting, isn’t it?” Ginny’s voice came from his side. “It looks like he’s trying to eat her face.”

Before Harry could answer, he heard a sharp intake of breath behind him followed by a muttered, ‘That hypocrite!’ He turned around just in time to see Hermione’s mane of bushy brown hair disappear out the portrait hole, which slammed behind her accompanied by a loud complaint from the Fat Lady. He quickly excused himself from Ginny and hurried to follow her.

He didn’t have to look far. He found her in the first empty classroom he came to. She was standing at the front of the room, coldly and methodically casting Incarcerous spells on the desks and chairs in the first row, leaving each one neatly and tightly wrapped in sturdy looking ropes. Harry decided it was fortunate for Ron and Lavender that she was taking out her anger on classroom furniture rather than them, or they would have ended up rather uncomfortably bound together. He couldn’t help but admire the accuracy and thoroughness of her spellwork under such stressful circumstances.

“Hello Harry,” she said evenly. “I thought I’d get a bit of practicing in. I find it helps me calm down.”

“Nice work,” he noted. “Good thing you didn’t decide to practice your Reducto hex, though.”

Hermione managed a tight smile. “I thought about that, but I decided that the professors might not appreciate having an entire classroom turned into kindling.” Harry moved next to her and took hold of her other hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Ron seems to be enjoying the party,” she sniffed at last. Harry nodded and moved closer and released her hand in order to wrap his arm around her waist. Finally Hermione turned to him and sobbed, “It’s not fair!” Harry responded by pulling her close as she buried her head into his chest.

“It’s just not right,” she continued. “We’ve been leaning over backwards to avoid any displays of affection around him, but the first chance he gets he snogs her brains out right in front of the whole common room. Why do we have to be so careful about his sensibilities because he supposedly has some sort of thing for me, but he’s under no such restrictions? We don’t even hold hands in front of him but he can just kiss a girl any time he feels like it!” She pulled away and continued her rant. “And they’re both prefects! They’re supposed to enforce the rules, not break them.”

“That’s been hard for you this year, hasn’t it?” Harry gently pointed out as Hermione nodded glumly. “You can’t help but think of how you and I would have handled a situation and it bothers you that they don’t take their responsibilities as seriously as you would have.” Hermione nodded again and a small smile crept onto her face. Harry certainly was good at understanding her and making her feel better. She gave him another hug, this time with warmth and affection.

Harry put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back so that he could look in her eyes. “What do you say we don’t worry about what they’re doing for a while? I do believe this is our second date now Miss Granger. And we seem to be alone in this classroom.” Hermione’s eyes now shone brightly and she shyly nodded her assent and licked her lips nervously. Her eyelids fluttered shut as Harry lowered his head to hers.

The door behind them burst open and to their horror, Ron came in laughing, pulling Lavender by the hand. He instantly drew up short at the sight of them and his eyes narrowed as an angry look filled his face. Lavender took one look at the three of them and backed out of the room, the door swinging shut behind her.

“I knew it!” Ron shouted. “I knew you two were up to something. I knew you were going to steal her …”

“Ron!” Hermione cut him off. “Nobody stole anyone! In case you don’t remember, you decided to date Lavender. Harry and I have been developing feelings for each other for a while now and he told you we were going to this party together. And I never belonged to you!”

“You knew I was interested in her!” Ron spat at Harry, ignoring Hermione’s words. “You always get everything I want and now you’re taking Hermione, you traitor!” He moved menacingly toward Harry but before he could do anything Hermione’s voice rang out.

“Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerous! Silencio!” In quick succession Ron was struck rigid, bound, and unable to speak. Hermione would have let him crash to the floor but Harry darted forward and caught him, then propped his rigid form up against a desk.

“Is that what I am to you, Ron?” Hermione hissed. “A prize? Some sort of trophy? What was I supposed to do Ron? Wait around while you worked your way through all the good-looking girls first? What exactly is my function in your life? Someone to bicker with until you need something from me? You’re always making fun of me for studying so much, but it doesn’t seem to bother you when you want to copy my homework. You criticize the amount of time I spend working on my spells, and then pout and sulk when I can do them better than you. Harry and I have been bending over backwards to avoid making you feel uncomfortable about our relationship, but you can do anything you want right in front of the entire house. Well that’s not what friendship is about, Ronald Weasley. It’s a two-way street.”

Hermione stormed out of the room and the door slammed behind her. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Harry approached Ron. “Hermione and I are trying to work out what we feel for each other,” he said slowly, in a low, even tone. “But my feelings for her or hers for me have nothing to do with you. We didn’t decide to get together because of you or to spite you or to cut you out or for any reason involving you at all. It’s between us and we both hope you can accept whatever comes of it, just like we’d accept any relationship you have with a girl.”

He turned away and walked to the door, then turned back. “I’m sure Hermione’d prefer to leave you like this all night, but we have a quidditch match tomorrow and I want you ready to go. Finite Incantatum.”

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – November 1

Can things possibly get any worse?

The day started out well enough. I met Harry in the common room this morning before we went down to breakfast and asked him if he was displaying proper house spirit for today’s quidditch match. He gave me a blank look for an instant before he figured out what I was getting at, then he broke into a sheepish grin and nodded. Then I pulled the collar of my robes away from my neck until he could see my red bra strap and said, “Me too!” That really got a smile out of him. Unfortunately, it was the last time I saw him smile all day.

Ron ignored us at breakfast, but at least he wasn’t glaring or shouting at us. Instead, he was more worried about the match. It was a very bad sign when he couldn’t eat. Ginny went over to try to cheer him up, but it didn’t seem to help much. I’m afraid our confrontation last night made things even worse. His performance in practice had been uneven – sometimes he’d make great saves but other times he got flustered and botched things horribly. Harry told me that Fred and George were concerned about how his play would be affected by the taunting he was likely to get from the Slytherins. Well, they were right.

I knew we were in trouble when I spotted the badges the Slytherins were wearing. They all said, ‘Weasley Is Our King’, and I was certain that they weren’t meant to be complimentary. I warned Harry not to let Ron see them, then I gave him a kiss on the cheek, wished him luck, and headed for the stands. It turned out that the badges were in reference to a viciously insulting song. Ron fell apart and couldn’t stop anything, but fortunately Harry caught the snitch before Slytherin got too far ahead, and Gryffindor won handily. That’s when disaster struck.

After Harry caught the snitch, even after the whistle blew, Crabbe hit a bludger that knocked him off his broom. Since the match was over, Harry wasn’t paying that much attention. He wasn’t very far off the ground, so he didn’t get hurt, but Malfoy was still flying along after him and managed to knock him down again as soon as he got up. Then the two of them got into a shouting match. Fred and George flew down to support Harry, and Malfoy started taunting them too, with his usual insults about the Burrow. Harry held George back, and Angelina grabbed Fred, but Malfoy’s taunts just got worse and worse. He made fun of Mrs. Weasley, then switched to Harry’s mother, and finally said something disgusting about me. (Harry refused to reveal what it was.) George lost control with the remark about his mum, and Harry couldn’t restrain himself either, and both of them began pummeling Malfoy. The fight was broken up in seconds, and McGonagall hauled them into her office. She gave them both a weeks detention, which I admit (and I think Harry would agree) was fair. But it didn’t end there.

Umbridge cited yet another Educational Decree and overruled McGonagall’s punishment. She announced that Harry and George would be banned from playing quidditch! That’s outrageous! The whole thing was instigated by Crabbe and Malfoy. I’m tempted to think that it might even have been staged. Even more outrageous is that she banned Fred too – she said he would have attacked Malfoy too if his teammates had not restrained him. There’s no way she should be able to do that. Dumbledore simply must do something about this!

Late that evening in the common room, Harry and Hermione sat by the fire, surrounded by the rest of the quidditch team. Angelina was in a daze, still not able to grasp what had happened to her team. “No Seeker and no Beaters,” she kept repeating, “what on earth are we going to do?”

Alicia complained about the how unfair it was that Crabbe had gone relatively unpunished. Ginny, sitting on the other side of Harry, reported that he had just got lines and that the other Slytherins were laughing about it. Eventually, after Harry remained silent and continued to stare into the fire, she got up and went to look for Ron. Soon after, the others gradually drifted away leaving Harry and Hermione alone before the fire.

Finally Harry spoke up. “I just don’t know if I can take it anymore Hermione,” he whispered miserably. “If it wasn’t for you I don’t think I could keep going.” Hermione laced her fingers into his and gave his hand a long squeeze.

“Harry, you’re the strongest person I know,” she assured him. “You’ll get through this, I’m sure of it. And you know I’ll be here for you, doing whatever I can to help.” She moved closer and leaned her head on his shoulder and he dropped her head on top of hers.

Just then the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Ron and Ginny climbed into the common room. Ron looked terrible, as though he had been wandering outside for hours, but now he was deathly pale and clearly alarmed. Harry and Hermione quickly broke apart as the siblings came in and rose to their feet.

“Bloody Hell, Harry!” Ron exclaimed. “Is it true? You’ve been banned?” Harry nodded his head glumly, but a small part of him was glad that this incident was causing Ron to overlook his anger with the two of them for starting a relationship. Beside him, Hermione caught his eye and he knew that she was thinking the same.

Ginny poked Ron with her elbow. “Er … I was going to tell you that I’m resigning from the team but …” he began before Hermione cut him off.

“But you can’t do that now because the team needs you and the rest of you have to pull together,” she insisted. Ginny was nodding before she had finished, and Harry joined in as well. Ron looked unconvinced but the other three stood firm.

“But what are we going to do for a Seeker?” Ron moaned. Out of the corner of his eye Harry noticed Ginny nodding thoughtfully to herself and he nudged Hermione to call it to her attention. To his surprise she gave him a ‘we’ll talk about it later’ look. For his part, Ron trudged toward the stairs and up to their dorm, and after a final quick hug from Hermione, Harry followed him.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – November 2

Dumbledore never said a word about what happened yesterday. Harry says he’s not surprised – the headmaster not only hasn’t said a word to him all year, he hasn’t even looked at him. I simply don’t understand why he’s sitting back and letting Umbridge take over the school.

Harry is absolutely despondent about the whole thing. He said that without quidditch, and even more so without his broom and the ability to go flying, he feels like he’s lost a part of himself. I think I understand what he means. He’s felt so trapped all his life that flying is a release for him – it makes him feel free and unfettered. I wish I enjoyed flying as much as he does – it would be something nice to do together. Or it would be if he still had a broom. That’s another thing – how can she justify taking his broom away? Even if it was legal for her to ban him from quidditch there’s no way it should be possible to ban a wizard from flying! I swear that when this is resolved I’m going to go flying with him more often. Perhaps with both of us sharing a broomstick – that sounds romantic.

As far as that’s concerned, Harry and I have gone back to a ‘no public display of affection’ understanding, so as not to alienate Ron again. Harry is so depressed now that I don’t want him and Ron to be at odds as well.

I explained to Harry this morning about Ginny and quidditch. (Harry and I usually have a few minutes to ourselves in the mornings before Ron comes downstairs. That’s been our private ‘alone’ time all term.) Ginny’s been desperately hoping to get on the quidditch team ever since she’s been at Hogwarts. So I bet she was thinking of trying out as the replacement seeker, but she didn’t want to say anything in front of Harry last night. She’s as quidditch crazy as the rest of her family. She told me she’s been breaking into the broom shed at home and sneaking out to ride her brothers’ brooms since she was six! I made him promise me he’d keep her secret and he assured me he would. He told me to let her know he’s fine with her trying out – he’d just as soon it be her as anyone else in Gryffindor.

On top of everything else that’s happened, Hagrid came back last night. We went to see him today to warn him about Umbridge, but he just brushed it off. He says he has lots of ‘interesting’ creatures for us to study. I’m afraid that his idea of ‘interesting’ is going to get him fired. What I don’t understand is why Professor Dumbledore doesn’t say anything to him about his lessons. Hagrid would certainly listen to him. Sometimes it seems like Dumbledore doesn’t care anything about the quality of education here.

It won’t help that Hagrid looks like he’s been in a nasty fight. That will give Umbridge even more reason to claim that what he’s doing is too dangerous for students. As it turns out, he and Madame Maxime have been meeting with the giants, trying to win them to our side. They evidently weren’t successful. From the look of him, one of the giants beat him up pretty badly. The curious thing, though, is that his injuries look very recent.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – November 4

Hagrid showed us thestrals today. It was actually a very good lesson, although Umbridge ruined it by insulting him about his speech and acting like he was too stupid to understand her questions. Of course she got Malfoy and Parkinson to back her up. I was furious with her by the end of the lesson, but Harry and Ron kept me from saying something that would get me another detention. I’m afraid that if she can even make one of his better lessons look bad, he hasn’t got a chance. Oh, it turns out that Neville can also see thestrals. I made a really insensitive comment about wishing to be able to see them too. Harry quietly pointed out just what I was wishing for and I felt really bad. He just gave my hand a squeeze and told me it was OK though. He’s nice that way.

Ginny made the quidditch team. She wanted to be a Chaser, and Angelina briefly considered switching Katie to Seeker, but during the tryout Ginny did well at Seeker so they put her there. And this way they don’t have to break up the Chaser combination that’s been together for 4 years. Unfortunately, Harry says that Fred and George told him Ron is still shaky, and that the replacement Beaters aren’t very good.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – December 1

Things have settled down quite a bit – at least no new things have gone wrong. The DA continues to go well. We’ve finished with defensive type spells and are starting offensive ones – Impedimentia and Stupefy this month. Harry is a great teacher! He’s always going around showing the students how to do the spells better, giving them tips on wand motion and aiming and so forth. Cho continues to flirt shamelessly with him. Honestly, she knows very well that he and I are together! She probably thinks that a pretty girl like her can lure him away from plain old me. Fortunately, Harry’s not the kind of guy who will switch girlfriends that easily, even if we weren’t already best friends.

Harry and I have even more time to ourselves now that Ron and Ginny have quidditch practice and he doesn’t. I feel so badly for him, and would even be willing to give up the extra time alone with him if it meant he would be able to fly again. At least he’s staying caught up with his homework, and most evenings we have a chance to cuddle together on the sofa in front of the fire for a bit.

Ron is further behind than ever what with quidditch and his prefect duties. He’s now really regretting getting the badge, and even joked the other day that I had the right idea in turning it down. He’s mostly put aside his unhappiness about Harry and me being together. It would probably be more accurate to say that he’s ignoring it, and we’re making it easy for him to act that way by refraining from touching each other in front of him. I think part of it is also that he needs my help with his homework. It’s not a stable situation for the long term, though. I want to start moving our relationship forward soon. I’m considering plotting a way to get Harry alone in a room for that kiss that Ron interrupted.

I’m really going to miss Harry over the holidays. I’m going skiing with my parents, and he’s going to the Burrow with Ron. It’s an indication of just how badly this school year is going that Harry told me that he’s looking forward to getting away from Hogwarts. As soon as he said it, though, he got a panicked look on his face and hastened to reassure me that he didn’t mean that he wanted to get away from me . He’s so cute.

-0x0x0-

From the Journal of Hermione Granger – December 18

Oh Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I finally kissed Harry tonight! I feel like that song in My Fair Lady – I Could Have Danced All Night. It starts out ‘Bed, bed I couldn’t go to bed; my head too light to try to put it down!’

Breathe, Hermione. OK, here’s how it happened. It was the last DA meeting of the term tonight and Harry announced we’d just be reviewing what we’d learned so far, then start new stuff after break. I’ve become quite good at Stunning spells. I stunned everyone I went up against. Harry wouldn’t let me duel Cho, though. I’m fairly certain he knew I wanted a piece of her – justifiably so, I think, given what she tried to pull later.

Anyway, Dobby had decorated the room for Christmas, with mistletoe and ornaments hanging from the ceiling with Harry’s face on them. Naturally, Harry was embarrassed to death about it and I helped him get them down before the others arrived. I deliberately left a sprig of mistletoe though. It almost backfired on me. At the end of the meeting Cho hung around, obviously hoping to get Harry alone. Of course, I wasn’t about to let that happen, so I stayed behind to help clean up a bit.

Harry approached Cho to see what she wanted, but when she turned to face him tears were pouring down her face.

“What …?” he began, not knowing what to do. She was just standing there, crying silently.

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head and wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “I was just thinking of … him, and whether he knew all this stuff and if it would have helped …”

Harry moved closer, reassuring Cho that Cedric had indeed known all these spells and a lot more besides. They exchanged a few more words and Harry began to move away, aware that Hermione had stopped stacking cushions and was keeping a close eye on them.

“Oh, don’t go,” Cho pleaded quickly. “I didn’t mean to get all upset. What I really wanted to do was thank you. You’re a really good teacher, you know.” Harry had been told this by Hermione as well, but had tried to brush it off. Of course his best friend would say something like that. He smiled as he pictured her now saying, ‘I told you so!’

Cho was emboldened by Harry’s smile, and shot back a smile of her own, the tears now forgotten. “I’ve never been able to stun anything before,” she continued, moving closer to him.

Harry swallowed hard, trying to think of something to say, and how to get out of this situation. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” he stammered, trying to make a joke of it. “I’ve thought you looked stunning from the first time I saw you in a quidditch match. I had trouble concentrating on the game.”

Over by the cushions, Hermione groaned to herself. Why did Harry have to be such a nice guy? He was just trying to be polite, but everything he said and did was encouraging her.

Cho glanced up, causing Harry to follow her gaze. “Mistletoe,” she said quietly. Harry gasped as he wondered where the heck that had come from. When he looked back at her it was quite clear to him what she expected to happen next.

“Oh!” he said nervously. “Well, then, Happy Christmas, Cho.” Then he quickly kissed her on the forehead and stepped back before she could do anything more.

As soon as Cho pointed out the mistletoe Hermione gave up all pretense of tidying up, and quickly slipped over to where the two of them were standing. Just as Harry moved back from the pretty Chinese girl, Hermione came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, smiling sweetly at her over his shoulder. “Yes, Happy Christmas, Cho,” she repeated brightly.

For her part, Cho shot Hermione a vicious glare, but realizing she had lost this contest, whirled, flipping her long black hair behind her, and quickly exited the room.

Harry turned to face Hermione with an apologetic look on his face. Hermione smiled shyly at him, though. “You know, that mistletoe’s still up there,” she whispered.

Harry broke into a nervous grin. “Probably full of nargles, though.”

“Well,” Hermione declared as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Luna just happened to tell me the best way to ward off nargles.”

“What … what’s that,” Harry murmured as he bent his face close to hers.

“This.” Hermione closed the remaining distance and pressed her lips to his. With hearts pounding they each tentatively explored the other’s mouth. Harry couldn’t believe how soft and inviting Hermione’s lips were; Hermione wondered how the room had suddenly become so warm. Eventually the need for air caused them to reluctantly break contact.

Very satisfied with herself, Hermione smiled broadly at the dazed look on Harry’s face. It had been wonderful, and easily lived up to their expectations, but both now wondered what would happen next. As usual, Hermione came up with a clever solution. “Now, Professor Potter,” she teased. “What do you always tell us we need to do in order to master a new skill?”

Harry’s face broke into a wide grin. “Practice,” he answered. “Repetition is essential.” Then they promptly followed his excellent advice.

 

Some time later the couple finally made it back to Gryffindor Tower. As the portrait hole opened, Hermione, whose arm had been firmly wrapped around Harry as they huddled together under the invisibility cloak, gave him one last hug and hurried toward the stairs. Ron, who had been waiting for them, caught only a glimpse of her.

“Hermione, where are you off to in such a rush?” he called out.

“Oh! I … er … need to write …” she didn’t want to reveal to him that she was keeping a journal – he would tease her about doing something so girly as writing in a diary and she’d never hear the end of it. “I need to write a letter,” she blurted out and raced to her room

Still in a bit of a daze, Harry sank into the armchair next to Ron’s, who was muttering about Hermione probably writing to Krum again.

“What kept you?” he asked suspiciously, as he noticed Harry’s flustered state. Harry paused to gather his thoughts. He and Hermione had vowed not to lie to Ron about what was going on between them, and it was now definitely clear that they were in a serious relationship.

“Well, um … Hermione and I … we … well we decided …”

“You kissed her.” Ron said accusingly. Harry nodded, bracing himself for Ron’s reaction.

Ron slumped back into his chair unhappily. “What about Cho?” he demanded.

“Huh?” Harry asked in surprise, not expecting this line of questioning. “I haven’t been interested in Cho for ages. What made you think …?”

“Well, she’s obviously interested in you,” Ron responded. “I noticed her hanging back after the meeting. Thought she was going to try to corner you under that mistletoe or something.”

“Oh.” Harry had the feeling that Ron had been hoping this would happen, and turn Harry’s attention away from Hermione. “Well, actually she did, but …”

Ron gave him a shrewd look. “But Hermione broke that up right quick, I reckon.”

Harry’s face broke into a goofy grin, which did not make Ron happy at all. “Yeah, and then …” Harry began, but Ron waved him off before he could say any more.

“Please, I don’t want to hear the details,” Ron declared with a scowl. The two boys sat silently for a few minutes, avoiding each other’s eyes.

“Look Ron,” Harry said finally. “We’ve been moving in this direction for a while now, and you know it. We’re hoping you will accept us being together. We’re still best mates and Hermione considers you as much of a friend as she always did.”

Ron didn’t say anything, but finally shrugged. After a few more minutes the pair went up to bed in an uneasy silence.

-oooOOOooo-

Hermione looked over at her daughter, who was unable to restrain herself from bouncing up and down excitedly on the sofa next to her while clapping her hands.

“Ooh Mummy, that’s so romantic! Your first kiss was under the mistletoe.” Hermione smiled and nodded wistfully. “And so the book was wrong?” Rose continued. “He never kissed that Cho Chang?”

“Well, not that time,” Hermione answered with a slight frown. Then she caught sight of her daughter’s wide-eyed stare. “Never mind about that right now. It’s time for you to be getting to bed.”

“Mum!”

“Go on. Scoot.”

-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-