It took several hours for anyone to gain the courage to go up to Harry's room. When they did it could be counted as unsurprising that it was two Gryffindors. Professor McGonagall followed Sirius up to the room of one of her favourite lions. As she walked she contemplated what had happened before the Order meeting that night. Albus had been taken to the Hospital Wing and without the leader of the Order present it had been chaos as people kept shouting over each other. The main gist of the evening was that the Order was falling apart into three factions. Those who wished to follow Albus' plans and trust that the wise old wizard knew what he was about. Those whose faith had been shaken after hearing the points Harry Potter had made about the Order's strategy or lack thereof and wanted to rethink how the Order went about achieving its goals. Finally there was a group that was undecided. Minerva knew this group existed because it described her own feelings. Potter's words had a ring of truth to them, but Albus always had a plan. Minerva wanted to wait to hear how Albus responded to the points Harry had raised. They could discuss it right after she tore into him for daring to use Legilimency on a student. For now though she had a mission she needed to complete.
When they reached the door to the room where her charges presumably were Sirius knocked and immediately called out.
"Harry, mind if I come in? I've got Minnie here with me. Ouch!" Professor McGonagall put her wand back in her pocket after having fired a Stinging Hex at Sirius Black's rear end. The rascal had had trouble with propriety when he was a student too as she recalled. A moment later she heard a click and the door swung open to reveal two smiling students.
"Still getting disciplined in your old age, Padfoot?" Potter asked in a teasing tone.
"Hush, Harry. You know you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I'm not sure you could ever teach this particular dog anything." Ms. Granger rebutted.
"Hardy-har-har. You going to give the 'old' jokes a rest and let us in or what?" Sirius groused at them. Potter flashed them an impish grin before he said "Of course we'll let you in. No promises about the jokes though." Sirius huffed and pushed past his godson while Minerva was bowed into the room.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter. Ms. Granger." she said briskly.
"Good evening, Professor." the two said in unison causing Minerva to pause slightly. If they started talking like the Weasley twins I am retiring she told herself. Instead of voicing that out loud though she reached into her pocket and drew out two envelopes. She quickly checked the names of the addressees before handing each to the correct student.
"Since the school owls can't find this place, I've taken the liberty of bringing you your letters myself. I am sure that the Order will ensure a safe expedition to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies." A look passed between the two teens that she couldn't interpret but she was suddenly sure that the Order's protection would be wasted on these two. Ms. Granger was the first to open her letter. Minerva held her breath as she waited for a reaction she had been imagining for the better part of three years. Sure enough Ms. Granger's eyes went wide when the prefect's badge fell into her hand. She looked up at her Head of House as if seeking confirmation. Minerva nodded with a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. As if that had sealed it Ms. Granger gave a loud squeal and jumped into Mr. Potter's arms. Mr. Potter was laughing happily as he spun her around congratulating her. When he put her down Ms. Granger said something that caused a weight to settle in Minerva's gut.
"Open yours, Harry." Grinning at her enthusiasm he did as she had asked and pulled out his own letter. After quickly reading through it he looked up at his teacher with a guarded expression.
"Professor, I think you made a mistake." She had been hoping to avoid this. Still, Potter had proven very reasonable last year, so maybe she could explain it.
"I am very sorry, Mr. Potter. I want you to know that I wanted you as the boys' prefect but Professor Dumbledore overruled me and gave Mr. Weasley the position. There's nothing I can do about it." Potter blinked at her in surprise.
"I…see. That's not really what I meant though." It was Minerva's turn to blink in surprise. She had been sure that Potter would feel that the badge had been stolen from him. Hell, she felt the badge had been stolen from him. "I was talking about the fact that I have a Divination book listed and neither an Ancient Runes book, nor an Arithmancy book." This was making less and less sense.
"May I see your booklist, Mr. Potter?" He handed it over without protest and after a quick scan she could see he was right. "That's strange. I could have sworn I changed your schedule. I will check your class enrolment when I return to the castle Mr. Potter. In the meantime perhaps you could share with- Ms. Granger are you alright?!" The girl had gone white as a sheet.
"Weasley is the boys' prefect?" she asked in a horrified whisper. Minerva nodded, not sure what was causing this reaction. She saw that Potter had his arms around Ms. Granger and was whispering something in her ear.
"No, Harry. I couldn't do it if it was structurally based on at least three rule violations." Before Minerva could puzzle out what Mr. Potter had said her brain was shocked into numbness as Ms. Granger pressed prefects badge into her teacher's hand.
"I'm sorry, Professor. If Ronald Weasley is the boys' prefect I will not be able to serve." Minerva's thoughts felt like they were slogging through marshes.
"Why?" was all the Head of Gryffindor could manage as she was confronted with a situation none of her colleagues would believe.
"He…he has been feeding me love potions this summer. If Harry hadn't found out and forced a Purging Potion down my throat…" Ms. Granger trailed of and shivered as Potter gathered her to him again. "I just wouldn't feel safe patrolling the halls at night with him. I truly am sorry, Professor." she said before hiding her face in Potter's chest. Both Potter and Black looked exceedingly grim.
Minerva felt at a loss. She was now without both prefects she had envisioned for this year and to make matters worse, the one prefect she did have might have taken part in behaviour that was only legal because of the pervasive bigotry in the Wizengamot. She couldn't remove him without some serious evidence that he was misbehaving. She hadn't been lying when she accidentally misinterpreted Potter's question: she couldn't overrule Albus on this. Albus! He was going to answer some questions when he was up and about again, she'd make sure of it.
"I am sorry too, Ms. Granger. I…" Minerva had no idea what to say. What could she say? "I'm sorry." With that Professor McGonagall turned and left the room looking older than any of the other three had ever seen her. Just outside the door she leaned against the wall as she tried to understand what had just happened. Doing so allowed her to hear the conversation that started up between the remaining people.
"I can't believe the old goat would deny you the prefect's position!" Minerva couldn't believe Hermione Granger had just spoken of Albus Dumbledore in such a tone of voice.
"I can." Potter sounded so matter of fact that it startled Minerva. Thinking back he had at no point demonstrated a belief that he would be the prefect for their year. She assumed that he had received some incredulous looks in the silence that followed because he continued with an explanation.
"I may not have done it on purpose, but I'm the reason he faced inquiries last year over the Horntail and the Basilisk. Not to mention that he lost a Pensieve and his positions on the Wizengamot and with the ICW as a result of my wanting to offer a memory last year. I imagine that even if I hadn't he would still have stepped in. I can't seem to go a year without almost getting killed and that could be a bad example for the younger students."
"You'd think that saving the entire school at least twice would cancel that out." Minerva had never heard Ms. Granger sound so bitter. "Do you really think Dumbledore would be that petty?" came the next question. It was one Minerva would like answered as well. Hearing Potter's snort gave the answer clearer than words. Minerva numbly pushed herself away from the wall. Her faith in her friend, teacher and employer was severely shaken. Moving on autopilot she headed for the Floo. She needed time to process this; time and perhaps a dram.
:-:-:-:-:
Back in Harry's room Harry, Hermione and Sirius were discussing how they were going to get their school shopping done.
"I was thinking that we could ask Kreacher to do it. I don't think he would get a second look and even if he is noticed any Death Eaters will assume he works for one of them or their sympathizers." Harry suggested. Hermione looked a little uncomfortable at the idea but didn't object.
"We'll need to get measured so he can pick up our robes for us." was all she said. Harry agreed with her and thought that it might be well within the elf's capabilities and that they should at least ask him. Something seemed to have occurred to Hermione though.
"Harry, how will he pay for everything though?" she asked sounding worried. Harry just smiled at her.
"Gringotts will allow an elf to take money if they've the appropriate key. I did my banking through Dobby that way over the summer. I'll just give Kreacher my key and that lets him take the necessary money from my vault." Harry explained.
"Harry, I can't let you pay for my school supplies. My parents will probably send me some money and we can just ask Kreacher to exchange it at the bank." Hermione offered.
"How about we take the galleons from my vault and we'll settle up later?" Harry countered. Hermione took a moment to think it over before carefully agreeing, but Sirius still had something to add.
"Almost right, pup. It will be my vault that pays for this. As your guardian your school expenses are my responsibility." he said proudly. Harry stood there slack-jawed for a moment before he turned to Hermione.
"I think you were wrong about teaching an old dog new tricks. That was downright parental." he said with an almost straight face.
"Oi!" Sirius objected as the two teens dissolved into laughter. "If you don't knock it off I'm removing the wards on the stairs and the library." That got the two teenagers attention.
"What wards?" Harry asked curiously. Sirius turned smug and started buffing his nails on his robes.
"Oh, you know, just some wards to keep unwelcome people out. Only the three of us will be able to access the top floor and the library. Minnie was able to come up here because I pulled her across the ward line, but otherwise she wouldn't have even been able to find the stairs." Sirius was grinning at the slack-jawed expressions on Harry and Hermione's faces. "What? If I didn't do this, I would have to throw those traitors out and that would be a horrible waste of a revenge. I trust this meets with your approval."
"I take it back, Sirius. Almost parental kind of works for you." Harry said before turning to his girlfriend. "What do you think, Mi? Throw them out or trust the wards?" Hermione mulled it over for a while.
"Will you still put up your spells at night?" she asked after a moment.
"If you want."
"Then I vote we go for the revenge." Hermione said resolutely with a predatory look in her eyes.
:-:-:-:-:
It took the Order until August 31st to organize themselves for a shopping expedition. When they were finally ready to go Mrs. Weasley asked Harry for his vault key so she could go shopping for him as it would be too dangerous for him to go to the Alley with them. When Harry told her that wouldn't be necessary as he already had everything for the coming year she didn't believe him until Sirius stepped in and told her that Harry had indeed gotten everything on his list. Ron and Ginny were standing off to the side ignoring the two people they had just recently been so determined to claim. The only exceptions were occasional disgusted glares at the reunited couple; either the hate potion was in full effect or they had realised that they had been caught. Meanwhile, Molly had switched over to a rant about Harry flouting the Order's protection and endangering himself. She was demanding to know how he had snuck out when the other Order members interrupted to say that they had to go now and that if Potter didn't have his things for the school year that it wasn't their problem. The fact that it was Diggle and Vance who were escorting the shoppers may have contributed to this attitude. They still hadn't forgiven Harry for taking them down so easily several weeks ago. Moody on the other hand had congratulated him and offered some advice on spells he should study up on.
Finally the shopping group left and Harry and Hermione took the chance to peruse the study for a final selection that they would be taking along to read at Hogwarts. Harry had spotted Slinkhard's name on the booklist telling him that the toad would be making a return to Hogwarts. He had a few ideas to get her kicked out as quickly as possible but a lot depended on how she reacted. Either way he hadn't wanted to buy the book but hadn't been able to come up with a satisfactory excuse for not doing so. That didn't mean that he would be wasting his time in Defence reading that pile of pigeon droppings. Instead Harry planned to be sitting there with a useful book glamoured to look like Slinkhard's nonsense.
The Black Manor study had quickly become familiar territory for Harry and Hermione. Sirius had dragged the two in here for a discussion on Harry's 'guess' about what Dumbledore was up to. Harry had asked them both how their Occlumency was before answering that. When both of them had reassured him that they were sufficiently competent to keep out most Legilimens, Harry had continued.
"I think that Dumbledore is looking for the magic that Riddle used to survive that night he came to Godric's Hollow." Harry had told them. When asked if he knew what that magic was, Harry had hesitated for just a moment.
"You know about that connection I have to Riddle? During my Occlumency meditation I came across some knowledge that wasn't mine. First of all, Riddle thought there was a prophecy made about us. It's the reason he came after my family. Second, it seems that Riddle made something called Horcruxes. It took me while to figure out what that meant but I got there in the end." Harry had taken a deep breath and continued to explain what a Horcrux was and that Riddle had made six. He explained how to destroy them and that the Sword of Gryffindor had absorbed basilisk venom. He carefully avoided any mention of once being an accidental seventh Horcrux or that he had been reviewing his memories from the future during this particular meditation and that it had taken him all of his sixth year to figure the Horcruxes out. At the end of his explanation both Sirius and Hermione had been stunned.
"Do you know where these things are, Harry?" Hermione had asked in a quivering voice. Harry had nodded reluctantly.
"Four of the six are already destroyed. The first was the diary that possessed Ginny in second year. The second was Ravenclaw's diadem which was hidden in Hogwarts and pretty well confirmed the information was accurate. I still have the pieces. The third was his familiar, Nagini. The fourth was Salazar Slytherin's locket which turned up in a different place than where Riddle had left it. Right here in Grimmauld Place, in the drawing room." From there Harry had launched into the story about Regulus and Kreacher. Sirius had been crying by the end of it. Hermione had only gotten more and more nervous as the story progressed.
"Harry, why do I have the feeling you're going to be hunting the rest of these things?" she had asked. Harry had proceeded to tell her about the prophecy and Hermione had broken down in his arms, telling him that she didn't want to lose him to some ridiculously hideous piece of obscure magic. Harry had tried to comfort her as best he could saying that he had no intentions of going after these things until he knew he could do so with as little risk as possible. Sirius had asked to know where the remaining Horcruxes were but Harry had refused.
"You are every bit as capable of doing something stupid and impulsive as I am and especially since you know I'm involved. The prophecy is about me and I'm afraid something will go horribly wrong if you do something impulsive." Harry had told Sirius and no amount of wheedling had changed his mind. Harry had reassured both Hermione and Sirius that he was studying as hard as possible to prepare himself. Hermione had thrown herself into creating a schedule for them to work with and Sirius had managed to key them into the study so they could use the books there. Harry was certain that neither had given up on somehow relieving him of his burden and that they were simply waiting for the opportune moment. So far though he had avoided any real clashes on the matter except for one night where Hermione had angrily berated him for, as she put it: his refusal to learn from the stories about the Oracle of Delphi, saying that he was forcing the prophecy to fit his interpretation. Harry had argued that he was simply preparing for the worst since Dumbledore and Riddle clearly believed in the prophecy. That had been the only night so far that they had spent on opposite sides of the bed. They had managed to talk it out in the morning but it had still been a night where both had slept poorly.
Harry sighed as he looked through a book on ward-eating curses and put it on the 'take to Hogwarts' pile. He still wondered on occasion what had possessed him to tell Hermione and Sirius about the Horcruxes and the prophecy. It had been an inescapable need at the time, but in hindsight he had increased the risk to both his plans and the two people that meant the most to him in this world. It hadn't been the first time in recent weeks that he had allowed his impulses to rule him. I don't think I'm going to enjoy going through puberty again. I'll have to be careful that I don't do anything to endanger Hermione; or my mission. In the end though he hated lying to either of them and while the story of how he had died and come back in time wasn't really something he could discuss, this had been a secret he could share. He certainly couldn't deny that it had felt amazingly freeing to have someone else know even if he regretted the worry he was now putting the two most important people in his life through. It impressed the hell out of him though that even at fifteen, going on sixteen, Hermione had chosen to stand by him and help him with his task.
"Harry?" Hermione's voice pulled Harry from his musings. "I think I've found as many books as I'm going to be able to fit in my trunk. How about you?" Harry nodded.
"I think I've got enough. We're still going to be able to ask the Room for books so we can always expand on what we bring with us." Hermione nodded noncommittally and Harry suspected that in her opinion there was no such thing as 'enough books'. The couple gathered the books into two piles and levitated them back to their room where they started packing them. They had most of the books packed when Sirius came in.
"How's the packing going, lovebirds? Did you bother to remember that your things are supposed to go in separate trunks?" he asked happily. Sirius apparently considered a day wasted if he didn't make at least one attempt to point out that Harry and Hermione were essentially living together. The regular teasing did mean that the two teens were being rapidly cured of their blush-reflex; a reflex that Harry felt should be embarrassing in its own right for a nineteen year-old war veteran.
"Are you here to contribute our just to remind us that you still can't get a date?" Hermione asked Sirius archly. The old Marauder responded by clasping a hand to his chest and acting mortally wounded.
"Actually I wanted to give Harry something his dad and I used when we had separate detentions." He proudly held out a hand-mirror. "This is a Communicating Mirror. It'll let us talk face to face if we need to. You just say my name or my marauder name to call me. Say 'come in" to accept a call and 'over and out' to end it. I thought we could use them in case you need to talk about the…you know." Sirius was looking inordinately proud of himself as he explained how to work the mirrors and only a little awkward at the end.
"You had terrible taste in muggle culture when you were at school, didn't you?" Harry asked his godfather while shaking his head. Sirius looked stuck between confused and offended. "Still these could prove useful. Thanks, Padfoot." Sirius spent the rest of day until the shopping party came back leaning back in the desk chair and heckling Harry and Hermione as they packed. Both gave as good as they got.
That evening as Harry and Hermione headed to dinner. They were accosted by the Weasley twins who were looking a little unwell.
"Harry, can we talk to you for a moment?" Fred asked looking at Hermione coldly. The twins had been acting distant towards Hermione all summer and while Harry didn't understand it he wasn't about to send her away unless he heard a good reason to.
"Sure, guys. What's on your mind?" he asked them. The twins shared a look before George picked up the conversation.
"Have you guys noticed anything…off about our younger siblings?" he asked, going a little greener as he did. Harry and Hermione also shared a look as they silently debated how to answer the question. They hadn't told the twins anything about the potions since they weren't sure how the two pranksters would take it.
"Not really, but we don't really see them that much during the day. Why?" Fred looked truly nauseous as he answered.
"While we were shopping today we noticed Ron and Ginny slipping off together. We followed them to see if they had chosen to get up to no good despite Ickle Ronnie's new badge."
"We…we saw them snogging in a side alley." George sounded close to tears as he admitted what they had seen. Had they had some warning as to where this was going Harry and Hermione might have had a chance to stop the twin snorts of laughter that escaped them. Fred and George looked mightily offended.
"We're not making this up!"
"That wouldn't even be a good prank!" Harry just held up a hand to calm the two redheads.
"We know. I think we can also explain this to you." The offended looks hadn't completely disappeared but there was definitely curiosity mixed in now. "Right after I came to headquarters we discovered that your mum and your siblings had been giving Hermione several potions and tried to give those same potions to me."
"Harry managed to get me a Purging Potion. After we found out what they had done we wanted to do something to keep them from trying that again." Hermione picked up the story.
"Kreacher's been switching our food with theirs at meals." Harry finished off. "To be honest we thought they'd stopped when they realized that neither of us was falling for them." The twins faces had turned thunderous as they listened.
"Are you telling us you fed our little siblings that love potions to make them snog?" George asked angrily. Harry was in his face in an instant giving him a hard look.
"No. We're telling you that they tried to feed us potions to force us into relationships with them." Harry's voice was cold. "We're also telling you that we turned their little scheme around on them and that if they had stopped acting like a conniving pack of rapists this wouldn't have happened. We're telling you that we weren't pulling a prank but getting revenge."
"But…but…Mum wouldn't do something like this." Fred managed "She wouldn't." he repeated more quietly. Harry stepped back half a step and blew out an aggravated sigh and ran his hand through his hair.
"When I found a plate of potion laced biscuits that apparently came from Ginny according to the note that came with it, I asked Kreacher to watch any food served around here to determine if anyone else was being fed potions and who was doing it. At the time I was actually trying to prove that Ginny wasn't involved, as I didn't want to think that of your family. He saw your mum adding the potions and has been serving me my food ever since. Your siblings' actions were enough to convince us that they knew about the potions even if they weren't actively putting them in our food." He saw that the twins were still struggling to accept what they were being told. "Look, after we get to Hogwarts I expect that the effects will dissipate since Molly won't be there to try anything. If they start this shit again though we're going to use my idea of revenge and get a lot more violent."
Leaving the twins with that last warning ringing in their ears Harry and Hermione continued on to the kitchen. When Fred and George showed up they tried to get their siblings' food away from them, only to be met with a tirade from their mother. As dinner progressed Hermione felt torn between enjoying the fact that their plan had worked, as evidenced by the longing looks and touches the two youngest Weasleys were giving each other when they thought no one was looking, or being disgusted by the very same thing. She settled for trying to suppress the vicious little smirk that she could feel pulling at the corner of her mouth.
:-:-:-:-:
The next morning Harry and Hermione packed the last of their things and shrank their trunks. Harry let Hedwig fly from their open window, telling her he would see her at Hogwarts. Getting Crookshanks into his carrier was always a difficult task but with the two of them working together they managed well enough. Putting the miniaturized trunks in their pockets they headed down for breakfast. Eager to avoid the redheads as much as possible, the couple had their breakfast served early by a teary-eyed Kreacher. In the end they needn't have worried as the Weasleys were running late as they did every September first.
In the end it took a series of growled threats from Mad-Eye about leaving them to get to King's Cross by themselves to get the redheads downstairs with their trunks. When the old auror had turned to Harry and Hermione and demanded to know where their things were both teens simply tapped their pockets drawing his magical eye to their shrunken trunks. Moody's loud guffaws and compliments on keeping their mobility were met with smug smiles.
There was a brief argument when Sirius showed up in his dog form, determined to accompany them to the station. Harry ended up being the one to resolve it.
"Padfoot, we are damn close to getting you exonerated. If you come along you risk getting captured by a stunningly corrupt ministry and you know that would mean the Kiss. Can you sit on your impulsive side and just say goodbye now so we can say hello again at Christmas?" Sirius looked torn for a minute before he relented under Harry's stare.
"Alright. Alright, pup. Just stop looking at me like that." He grabbed Harry in giant bear hug and whispered in his ear "I'm gonna miss you, pup. Be careful this year and don't go off on your own without backup, understand?" Harry nodded into his godfather's shoulder. Sirius then surprised everyone by also grabbing Hermione in a hug. Harry couldn't hear what was whispered between the two but Hermione nodded much like Harry had before she stepped over to Harry and took his hand.
"If we're all done with the mushy stuff?" came Moody's annoyed voice. He didn't wait for anyone to answer him but started walking towards the door. "Let's get a move on then." The large group trouped out of Black Manor and started the long walk to King's Cross Station. Outside they met up with Tonks, Diggle and Vance. As they moved through the non-magical side of London with eight magicals doing their best muggle imitation, four of whom were lugging trunks, Harry and Hermione could feel the astonished looks of the people around them.
"Thankfully we don't stand out like a sore thumb." Harry remarked sarcastically to Hermione, making absolutely no effort to whisper. "That would make this protection detail completely useless." Hermione just shook her head as Diggle and Vance glared at them. Eventually the group managed to make it to King's Cross without being stopped by the bobbies. Harry and Hermione were first through the barrier and immediately headed for the Express. Hopefully they could find Luna and ward their compartment like they had for the last ride. In the end it was less a case of them finding Luna and more a case of Hermione nearly being knocked into the wall by a hugging missile. Harry laughed his head off until it was his turn to have the life squeezed from him.
"Hello, Luna. I've missed you. Have you got a compartment yet?" Luna beamed at them, happy to be reunited with her friends.
"Oh, yes. Nobody else has tried to join me yet. Will you be putting up spells to keep the Nargles out again?" Luna managed to get all this out with a look of wide-eyed innocence that had Harry grinning; he really had missed the little blonde and her refreshing brand of honesty.
"I was certainly thinking so, Luna. Shall we? We can discuss our summers after I put up my spells." Slinging an arm around her shoulders Harry pulled Luna into the compartment she had burst out of, followed by a smiling Hermione. After Harry had put up the same wards as last time the three friends had a great time sharing their summers with each other. Just before eleven Harry called Dobby and Winky and invited them to join in. It took the elves a while to get the hang of volunteering information but eventually they were enjoying themselves as much as the humans.
It was about an hour into the train ride that Harry felt someone breaking down his spells.
"Dobby! Winky! We're about to have company. Hide yourselves and make sure nobody except the three of us knows you're here." The elves obeyed the commands instantly while the girls eyed the door worriedly. Harry flicked his wand into his hand and waited for the door to open. When it did Harry's wand was in the intruders face so fast it was a blur. A surprised Cedric Diggory was going almost cross-eyed trying to look at the length of holly pointed between his eyes.
"Harry? I should've known I suppose. Who else would ward their compartment?" Cedric was clearly trying for a casual tone but there was a slight tremor there that told everyone that the business end of Harry Potter's wand was not where he wanted to be. Harry quickly put his wand away, looking rather sheepish.
"Sorry about that, Cedric. I was a bit concerned about the intentions of anyone who was trying to break through our wards." he apologized while stepping back a pace to allow Cedric to enter. Behind Cedric followed Roger Davies who was looking relieved that he had allowed Cedric to go first.
"Yeah, well I have a bone to pick with you anyway. How come you two aren't the Gryffindor prefects? When I saw who showed up for the prefect meeting I thought the two of you were pulling a prank on me." Cedric's face suggested that he hadn't given up all hope on that particular theory. For the first time Harry noticed that the badge on Cedric's chest had changed.
"Hey, you made Head Boy! Congratulations!" Harry exclaimed clapping the older boy on the shoulder. Hermione and Luna were quick to add their congratulations and Hermione told Cedric she thought there was nobody in the school more suited to the task.
"Speaking of suited to the task: you two still haven't explained how you aren't the Gryffindor prefects." Cedric said, unbridled curiosity evident in his voice. It was Hermione who answered him.
"Professor McGonagall did want to give the badge to Harry, but the headmaster stepped in and gave the badge to Weasley instead." she told the Head Boy. Harry picked up right where his girlfriend left off.
"Hermione did get the badge but she returned it." Both older boys stared at Hermione in shock. All of Hogwarts knew how badly Hermione Granger wanted to be prefect and then Head Girl. Hermione shrugged uncomfortably.
"Due to some things that happened over the summer I wouldn't feel safe patrolling with Weasley alone at night. Harry offered to shadow us so I could have some backup and keep the badge but I couldn't in good conscience accept the position if it was going to be based on us repeatedly and deliberately violating several school rules." She told them. Both boys looked to Harry for further clarification. Harry shared a look with Hermione who gave him a small nod.
"The little shit tried to rape Hermione using love potions." Harry's tone was curt and cold as it usually was when he was forced to bring up Weasley in conversation. "Apparently there is nothing that will be done by either Hogwarts or the Ministry."
"You mean we're really stuck with Weasley and Brown?" Roger asked, speaking up for the first time. Harry and Hermione nodded somewhat apologetically and Roger cursed softly before turning to Cedric.
"Have fun being Head Boy, man." he told his friend. Cedric just groaned. The two seventh years stayed for a few moments longer chatting with the younger students before Cedric pointed out that they needed to finish their patrol.
"That sense of responsibility is clearly why you got the top job." Roger told him nodding sagely. Cedric responded by playfully shoving the Ravenclaw out of the compartment before turning back to Harry.
"Technically you aren't supposed to lock the compartments, but all things considered I won't say a word if you choose to ward this thing again after we leave." He gave them all a nod and left to join Roger for the remainder of their patrol. As soon as they were gone Harry warded the compartment again and Dobby and Winky reappeared. The elves were carrying packed lunches for the three humans and handed them out to effusive praise. The rest of the ride to Hogwarts went uninterrupted and was mightily enjoyed.
When they reached Hogsmeade Harry and Hermione restored their trunks to their proper size and would have left them in the compartment if Dobby and Winky hadn't immediately taken them and disappeared. Nobody bothered the trio on their way up to the castle. In the Entrance Hall Professors Flitwick and McGonagall were keeping an eye on the mass of returning students. Surprisingly they were called over by the Charms Professor, or rather, Luna was.
"Miss Lovegood, I am aware that you would usually sit with your friends at the Gryffindor table, but I must ask you to join the rest of your House for the Welcoming Feast. You may sit where you wish for the rest of the year of course." Luna considered this for a moment before nodding. As they moved into the Great Hall she reassured Harry, who was already glaring at the Ravenclaws.
"Don't worry, Harry. You still scare them more than a rampaging Huffalump. The might not be friendly, but they'll be civil." Harry nodded at his friend.
"Anyone gives you trouble, you come find us." he told her as he gave her a hug. Hermione also hugged their friend. As the two Gryffindors went to find their seats, Luna skipped her way to the Ravenclaw table. As Harry and Hermione headed for their own table Harry scanned the Head Table. To his great disgust Dolores Umbridge had indeed shown up to make a mockery of Defence. He also noticed with some satisfaction that both Dumbledore and Snape seemed determined to stare at a point somewhere above his head.
At the Gryffindor table Harry and Hermione noticed that they were rather unfortunately placed where they couldn't help but see Weasley and Lavender posturing with their badges. Ron had his chest thrust out further than Percy had back in their first year. With Lavender it was hard to tell if she was trying to use the badge to draw attention to her cleavage or her cleavage to draw attention to the badge as it was situated at the bottom of a very deep v-neck that Harry doubted was an acceptable part of the school uniform. The expression on Hermione's face certainly suggested it wasn't, though how much of her visible disgust was for which prefect was hard to say.
Harry had never really paid attention to the sorting but at least put in a bit of effort this year since he knew that it was important to Hermione. He noticed that the Sorting Hat once again urged the school to unity and struggled to at least remember the names of the new Gryffindors. After the sorting, the Welcoming Feast appeared as usual. This time Hermione joined Harry in checking their food for potions. Once they had confirmed it was safe the couple happily dug in. At the end of the meal Dumbledore gave his usual start of term announcements and, just like Harry remembered, Umbridge claimed the stage and gave her condescending propaganda piece. At the end of it Hermione and Harry shared a look that conveyed that they had both understood Umbridge's true mission at the school. Once the toad was done, Dumbledore was able to complete his announcements and asked the prefects to lead their houses to the dormitories.
"Right, over here, you midgets! Shift it!" They heard Weasley bellow while Lavender tittered next to him. Hermione buried her head in her hands in shame.
"Professor McGonagall is going to have to step in, isn't she? I mean, he can't be allowed to get away with that." she asked, her voice muffled by her hands. Harry just shook his head.
"I think if it were up to McGonagall she would have already done something. They're more Dumbledore's prefects than they are hers." Harry said. To be honest, he too was feeling a little uncomfortable with the way the two prefects were addressing the first years. Once they had a group of them they swept out of the hall, Lavender on Weasley's arm as she called over her shoulder for the first years to keep up. Harry saw one first year girl break into a run in an effort to reach not just the departing prefects but the rest of her year group. Shaking his head he got up and offered Hermione a hand. The two of them found Alicia who was the seventh year girls' prefect and got the password to the tower from her before heading up themselves. There was no sign of Lavender, Weasley or the first years in the common room and Hermione fretted over whether they had made it up alright.
"I think the best thing we can do is tell one of the older prefects. If we start wandering the halls looking for firsties we're going to be the ones in trouble." Hermione agreed and gave Harry a passionate good night kiss that he happily returned. Just before she pulled away she whispered in his ear "I'm going to miss sleeping in your bed." She turned around and quickly hurried up the stairs while Harry was still processing what she had said. By the time he could react she was already out of reach.
"I'll get you for that, My Lady!" he called up after her shaking his fist theatrically and hearing only musical peals of laughter in return. Harry took a moment to find and inform Alicia that he and Hermione were worried about all the first years having made it up to the tower. Alicia groaned and went looking for her counterpart so they could check the first years' dorms. Harry left them to it and headed up to his own bed thinking that Hermione might have a point: sleeping alone was going to take some getting used to despite how shortly they had shared a bed