When Hermione woke the next morning it was with a new appreciation of her non-magical gift, that frankly, she hadn't felt in a very long time. She softly kissed the only mark on Ginny's back: the scar from their honeymoon. Carefully she pulled her arm from under Ginny and Luna's head so she could see Ginny's back.
Through her alabaster skin showed no sign of the activities the night before Hermione could remember, vividly, the long cuts that had finally appeared after almost a half hour of Ginny yelling at her to hit her harder. That's when it happened... she chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Ginny asked sleepily as she rolled to her back.
"A few things, actually," Hermione replied quietly before kissing her softly. "How about a run?"
Ginny propped herself up on her elbows to look out the window.
"The sun is barely up yet," she whined softly.
"Exactly," Hermione replied and kissed her again; "I thought we could run up into the mountains and watch the sun rise..." she sighed; "I just need to get out of the castle for a bit..."
"And we're less likely to run into you-know-who if we go now?" Ginny asked.
"That's part of it," Hermione admitted with a shrug; "and this way we should be back in time for breakfast with Luna and Fleur."
"A couple hours then?" asked Fleur.
"Sorry, love, I didn't mean to wake you," Hermione apologized.
"No, it's okay," Luna assured her. "The only real drawback of sharing a bed with both of you... once one of wakes we all do..." she appeared over Ginny's shoulder with a smile; "And if you go now we might actually go back to sleep..."
Hermione sat up, kissed Luna, the turned to get out of bed.
"Coming?" she asked Ginny as she held her hand to her.
"Good thing I love you Mrs Granger," she teased as she took her hand and followed her to their bedroom to dress for their run.
Quickly and quietly they made their way out of the castle. As soon as they reached the cold morning air they both stopped a moment and took a deep breath. "Let's check out the mountains..." Hermione suggested again and then looked to Ginny when she didn't reply. "What? If she does decide to follow us she won't make it very far..." she explained as she began leading her towards the back of the castle and the base of the mountains. She kissed her softly; "And it would be really nice to let our wolves out for a run, don't you think?"
Ginny grinned widely and took off at a full run, Hermione following after a shake of her head. They ran, full out up the mountain for almost half an hour before Hermione felt it safe to shift, overtaking Ginny easily and heading towards the mountain's peak.
Ginny caught up and tackled her as they reached the top, the two shifting back and giggling as they kissed. "How are you feeling, Shy? After last night?"
"I'm good..." she smiled; "really good..." she kissed her softly to prove her point. "Healing Fleur barely bothered me..."
"I guess we understand why the Sisters built their playroom," Hermione joked as she sat up and took a joint from her pocket. She lit it before Ginny could question it and inhaled deeply. "Between what happened with us and Fleur breaking the bed..." she chuckled as she remembered what they had come home to.
They barely had the physical energy to return to their quarters after their lovemaking and only just entered when a loud crash issued from Fleur and Luna's bedroom. They'd forgotten how tired they were and run up to their room only to find the two laughing hysterically. They explained, as Hermione and Ginny helped them right the bed, that Luna had tied Fleur up and teased her for so long that when finally she orgasmed she managed to break all four posters of their four poster bed. Ginny had quickly ended their laughter however when she informed them that Fleur had hairline fractures in both wrists and ankles.
"You felt that too?" Ginny asked as she sat up and took the joint from her wife.
"If you hadn't stopped me..."
"I didn't," Ginny replied in confusion; "I mean aside from yelling red..."
"You didn't stay my hand?" Hermione asked earnestly.
"Maybe?"
"It was the magic Gin," Hermione said thoughtfully as she laced their fingers and looked to the rising sun; "As soon as the first cut appeared I was... god, it hasn't been that overwhelming in a long time..." she met her eyes again; "I was so turned on... the harder I hit you..."
"The more you felt the draw to help me heal and therefore more turned on?" Ginny surmised. "They built the playroom because they realized that it was only making Elise stronger..."
"And maybe they took it too far at some point?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Love?" Ginny said softly to get her meet her eyes; "You didn't do anything I didn't want you to do... I was never in any danger..." she assured her adamantly.
"That's the other thing that's funny," Hermione said with a little smile; "You were amazing last night..." Ginny interrupted her with a kiss.
"As were you..."
"That isn't what I meant," Hermione laughed; "I meant how you managed to top me even though I was the one with the flogger..."
"It was the only way to get what I needed," Ginny replied defensively.
"No, it was perfect..." she turned back to her; "I trusted you and you stopped me, even if you didn't know you did, you took control and so..."
"I took the responsibility out of your hands?"
"Exactly..." Hermione sighed; "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"
...
When they returned to the castle Hermione wasn't surprised to find Umbridge waiting for them at the front door, a small army of pink toads around her feet. They both tried to suppress their giggles as she approached.
"Miss Granger, Miss Weasley," she said curtly above the soft chorus of the toads around her.
"Madame Umbridge," they replied.
"Why are you not in uniform?" she asked.
"No where in the Hogwarts rules does it state that uniforms have to be worn outside of class time," Hermione stated as she subtly counted the toads; thirty-seven... she tried to follow them at least six times in the last day as the toads were charmed to produce six more every time she tried. "As my wife and I were out for a run with the full intention of returning before said time begins we choose to run in our track suits."
"Madame Umbridge?" Ginny started before the Toad had the chance to question them further; "Do you know the rules by heart?" She asked, continuing before she had the chance to reply; "because my wife does..."
"And your point is, Miss Weasley?" She interrupted.
"Our point is, you won't find us breaking the rules," Hermione replied. "Furthermore if you continue to follow and harass us at every turn we will be forced to file a formal complaint..."
"Complaint?" Umbridge laughed; "Against me? Whatever for?"
"Why are you following us?" Hermione countered.
"You have no proof that I am," she challenged.
"Don't I?" Hermione asked, the first bit of doubt flicking across Umbridge's face. "For example: I know you placed charms on the only corridor that leads to our quarters..."
"Shit..." Umbridge thought clearly, and quite loudly. "If there were such charms how would you be able to tell that it was that I that placed them?"
"I didn't," lied Hermione easily, "when I found them I sent for Dumbledore and he was kind enough to remove them," Hermione smiled; "Imagine my surprise when he said you'd placed them?" She titled her head as she studied the shorter witch. "If you wanted to see our quarters so badly all you needed do, was ask..." she shrugged; "Although, as a Professor, I see no reason why you should." She smiled again, "Unless, of course, you are here with a hidden agenda..." Hermione could all but hear the wheels turning in her head. "If you're so curious, Madame..."
"Why do you insist on calling me by my Ministry title?" Umbridge hissed.
"You made it quite clear that we are to address you as Professor within the classroom," Hermione couldn't help but smile as Umbridge realized her mistake; "As we're not currently in a classroom, indeed not in the school at all, your rule doesn't apply..."
"If you'll excuse us, we have a meeting with the Headmaster before our Transfiguration class," Ginny interrupted, despite the smile on her wife's face, she could feel her rising anger; "And we'd like to have breakfast with our friends before they head to class..."
"The four of you... you're very close, aren't you?" Umbridge asked thoughtfully.
"It's really none of your business, but yes," Hermione replied, a dark undertone to her voice; "Last year put the four of us through hell and we only made it out in one piece because of each other..."
"But Miss Granger, by all accounts, you did very well in the Triwizard," Umbridge replied.
"And you assume I'm only talking about the tournament," Hermione replied vaguely; "Please, Madame Umbridge, excuse us and have a lovely day..."
"I am not done speaking with you," Umbridge hissed.
"My parents taught me to treat everyone with respect," Hermione answered, wrong-footing the woman entirely; "even those I do not, personally, respect..." she took a deep breath; "With all due respect, Madame Umbridge, you are making that very difficult for me to do..."
They glared at each other a moment as her words sunk in.
"If that is all?" Ginny asked to break the tense silence and received Umbridge's grudging nod. "Good day to you, Madame Umbridge," she added then led Hermione past her.
"Hey dad?" Hermione thought to Albus.
"Yes, my dear?" he replied promptly.
"We need to talk... after breakfast?" she asked.
"Certainly," he answered.
"And if the toad asks; you removed the charms she placed on the way to our quarters," she added with a touch of guilt, she didn't want to include him but she'd had no choice.
"Noted... my office?" even in thought, his tone was terse.
"Thank you," she replied with a wince.
"You called him Dad?" Ginny asked in French.
Hermione nodded.
"He's done nothing but listen and follow our lead," she replied; "He's earned my trust, and most of my respect, again..."
"And you thought he'd take it easier on you?" Ginny teased.
"I don't know if I can keep this up, Shy..." Hermione said with a sigh. "Last night... it helped... but it's only ever a temporary escape..." she smiled and changed the subject; "You said something about Daphne was weird but you never explained..." Hermione trailed off as they entered their quarters and were immediately knocked over by four very excited elves, three of them slightly smaller than the fourth. "Rue!" Hermione cried and drew the grinning elf into a hug.
"But these can't be your children..." Ginny said as she looked at the trio of smaller elves.
"We age differently than humans," Rue replied as she went to hug Ginny; "Very quickly at first and then slowing to almost nothing the older we get..."
"Just like us," Hermione laughed; "Well at least we know their inspiration now..." she joked and shook her head; "And what are your names, little ones?"
"Agnes," squeaked the first.
"Margo," continued the next.
"And Edith," finished the last.
"Well it's very nice to meet you all," Ginny replied warmly.
"We have breakfast ready for you," Rue supplied as she looked to the table where Luna and Fleur were already eating.
"Thank you, Rue," Hermione replied and hugged her again; "It's really nice to see you so happy..."
"I try," Rue interrupted sadly; "for them... but..."
"You're worried about Dobby?" Ginny asked.
"Always," Rue sighed; "I love him but I wish he wasn't so damned brave..."
"I know the feeling Rue," Ginny joked as she glanced at her wife.
"He can leave anytime... they all can... if they're in danger," Hermione reminded her.
"I know, Miss, but..."
"You miss him?" Hermione offered and received her nod. "It'll be over soon and then you'll have the rest of your lives to enjoy together..."
"I hope so Miss," Rue replied.
"Thanks for breakfast, Rue," they said together and went to join their friends at the table.
"So... Daphne?" Hermione prompted before taking a sip of coffee.
"It was weird," Ginny shrugged; "I mean, I wasn't surprised that her magic feels familiar after spending so much time with her mother but..." she frowned as she remembered the feeling of Daphne's magic; "I think she's close to eighteen and there's something else I haven't felt before..."
"Well that is weird..." Hermione agreed; "If she's almost eighteen I wonder why Helen didn't say something?"
"Maybe Daphne asked her to let her explain?" Offered Luna.
"Or perhaps we have enough secrets of our own to keep that she didn't want to add more?" Suggested Fleur.
"Or maybe it's just none of our business?" said Ginny, "We wouldn't have known anything was different about her were it not for my gift..."
"Fair enough..." Hermione agreed.
"So what are your plans for your free period this morning?" Asked Luna.
"We need to talk to my dad about going after the Resurrection Stone next weekend," Hermione replied.
"Do you think he'll give us a hard time about our most recent run-in with the Watch Toad?" Ginny asked.
"What happened now?" Luna asked, exasperated.
"She was waiting for us when we came back from our run and I might have told her that we reported the charms we found to dear-old-dad and it was he who told us she had placed them," Hermione admitted.
"Why though?" Asked Fleur.
"Easier than explaining why I was able to do something most grown wizards have trouble doing?" Hermione answered, a hint of sadness to her tone.
"Do you think we'll ever be able to take credit for what we can do?" Ginny asked with a sigh.
"People will always fear what they don't understand," Hermione replied grimly.
"So why not teach everyone what we can do?" Luna countered.
"You really want someone like Tom capable of what we can do?" Hermione replied tersely.
"No, I suppose not..." Luna agreed reluctantly.
"Maybe someday... someday far far in the future... we'll be able to teach others what we can do. Hell, maybe someday we won't have a choice..." Hermione said thoughtfully. "Because, like it or not, magicals have more to fear from Muggles than they do from us simply by virtue of the fact that they outnumber us... but here's the rub... we need them almost as much as they need us."
"How so?" Asked Fleur.
"If we remain isolated from the rest of the world we will eventually die off... there isn't enough of us to sustain a viable gene pool..." Hermione explained.
"That isn't ominous..." joked Ginny, try to lighten the mood.
"It might take a couple of hundred of years but if we don't start helping them, the Earth might not survive long enough for us to find out at the rate they're destroying it."
"Pollution you mean?" Asked Ginny.
"We, as magicals, have little impact on the environment but we'll die just the same if we don't do something about it..." Hermione shook her head; "But that's long term and we have more immediate concerns..."
"You can't fix the whole world, Hermione," Luna reminded her carefully.
"Someone has to... why not us?" Hermione asked.
"How is it our responsibility?" Luna replied.
"Because chances are we'll still be around in a couple of hundred years and it would be nice to still have a world worth living in and a population of magicals bigger than the four of us?" Supplied Fleur.
...
When Hermione and Ginny exited their quarters after breakfast and a quick shower they both did a quick scan for the Watch Toad.
"She's waiting outside his office? Seriously?" Said Ginny with a groan. "Why can't she just leave us alone?"
"Jealousy, mostly," Hermione replied as she took her hand and went to lead her to the nearest hidden door that would take them directly to the Headmaster's office.
"Love?" Ginny said as she brought her to a stop; "Won't she question how we got past her?"
"I'm really starting to dislike that woman," Hermione muttered angrily.
"Only just starting to?" Ginny teased.
"She's making our already inconvenient lives only more so," Hermione replied and then thought to Albus; "What's the password to get past the Gargoyles?"
"You haven't needed a password for some time, my dear," he replied.
"Yes, well Umbridge is staking out your office and she might question it," she explained.
"The password is 'lemon drops' and I've instructed my guards to wait for it," he answered.
"Thanks, we're almost there," Hermione replied and then looked to Ginny and whispered; "Let's have a little fun shall we?" Ginny smiled and nodded. "You don't think he's going to blame us for the toads do you?" Hermione asked loudly enough for Umbridge, who was hiding around the corner, to hear.
"I doubt it," Ginny answered with a smirk; "since he knows we weren't anywhere near the Great Hall when it started..."
"I wonder how she likes being followed?" Hermione joked as she turned to give the Gargoyles the password. The door opened to reveal the moving stairs behind it without hesitation. "I wonder what Dumbledore has decided to do about the wards she tried to place?" she said as the door closed behind them, the two of them breaking into a fit of giggles as it did.
"Care to tell me about the toads following our newest spy around the school?" Albus asked lightly as Hermione gave him a hug.
"You can see them?" Ginny asked in surprise.
"It seems anyone can once they're 'let in on the joke'," he replied as he took his seat. "Minerva tells me you're not responsible for the original prank?"
"No, but I did modify it," Hermione replied as she took her seat next to Ginny and laced their fingers. "Did you happen to count how many were following her last time you saw her?"
"Forty-nine I believe, why?"
"She's tried to follow us twice more since this morning," she replied with a heavy sigh. "She's persistent, I'll give her that..." she looked back to Albus; "I modified the existing charm in three ways. One: if she tries to end the the charm herself the original toad will grow. Two: Any time she does that fake throat clearing thing it croaks and lastly, and most importantly, the original produces six copies anytime she tries to follow us."
"Ingenious," Albus said with a twinkle in his eye; "But I'm afraid I'll need you to end the spells as the toads are becoming disruptive."
"I have a better idea," Ginny replied; "Since we don't want her to know we had anything to do with it Hermione can alter the charm so you can remove it."
"But only if she swallows her pride and asks you for help," amended Hermione; "And you might want to assure her that you talked us out of filing a formal complaint of harassment... for now..."
"You do realize it wouldn't be enough to have her removed?" he asked carefully.
"I do," she admitted; "But it's important she knows we know, and you know, that she's following us..." he nodded; "Now, for the real reasons we're here..."
"Headmaster..." one of the portraits interrupted; "That Umbridge woman is demanding admittance..."
"Tell her I'm busy but if she'd like to wait I shouldn't be more than..." he began and then looked to his daughter.
"Fifteen minutes should suffice..." Hermione supplied.
"Fifteen minutes," he confirmed and then looked back to her expectantly.
"As you know Remus intends to kill Greyback on Sunday and we'll need him to come back here after so we can monitor him," she started.
"And what do you suggest?" he asked, he no longer had any illusions as to who was really in charge.
"A Portkey directly to our quarters," she requested.
"I will see he gets one before Sunday," he assured her. "What's the second thing?" He asked.
"We'll be leaving the school for a few hours next weekend to retrieve Tom's last hidden Horcrux..."
"I thought we agreed..." he interrupted.
"Hear me out..." she forestalled him with a raised hand, and as she explained her reasoning, Albus couldn't help but be impressed with her forethought.
"So you wish to study it?" Albus asked thoughtfully as he pondered her plan.
"We're hoping it'll help us help Harry when the time comes," provided Ginny.
The silence stretched for a few minutes when Albus finally broke it; "I would like to go with you," he said.
"I know where we need to go, but as I have no clue where that is, I would appreciate it," Hermione replied lightly, relieved her father had agreed so readily. "The tricky part will be getting away without..." she trailed off at a knock on the door; "Speak of the deviled toad..."
"Indeed..." Albus agreed with a chuckle. "It shouldn't take us long to retrieve and I'm sure Minerva can find a way to distract her..." There was another louder, more insistent, knocking at the door. "Come in..." he called as he flicked a hand towards the door to open it.
"Good morning, Headmaster," Umbridge simpered; "I was hoping I might have a word?"
"You may have several, Dolores," he replied genially before looking to the girls; "I will consider your complaint, Mrs Granger, have a good day."
"Thank you for listening, Headmaster," Hermione replied politely as she stood and then, as she passed Umbridge subtly changed the charms attached to the toads around her.
"I need you to do something about these toads..." they heard Umbridge all but whine as the door closed behind them.
"What did you do now?" Ginny teased as she noted the evil grin on her wife's face.
She held up her hand a moment as she informed her father what she had done; "A Finite Incantatum will reset the charm and only the seven of us, you and Minerva will be able to see them," she informed both Albus and Ginny. "What?" she said defensively at Ginny's raised eyebrow. "It's still an effective way to keep track of how many times she tries to follow us and it's far less taxing than having to scan for her all the time..."
...
The rest of the day passed without incident and the only Watch Toad sighting was in the Great Hall during lunch. Soon enough classes came to end for the day and they found themselves back in the solitude of their quarters. That solitude didn't last long as they were soon joined by their friends; Harry, Ron and the twins arrived shortly after they did followed by Gabrielle, David and finally Morgan.
"So, going to tell us what the hell happened?" she asked Morgan as she hugged him.
"I'm not exactly sure," he replied with a shrug as he took a seat next to Harry. "They stunned me as I got out of bed... didn't even get a chance to see who was there..." he shook his head, "I woke up a half hour later to find Daphne and Tracy taking care of me..."
"I guess the Slytherin dorms have the same rule..." joked Harry.
"And what's that?" Morgan asked with a laugh.
"Girls can go in the boys' dorms but not the other way around," Harry told him.
"Actually, up until a little while ago, that wasn't the case..." Morgan sighed heavily before continuing; "Severus asked me what happened and insisted on going down and talking to the Slytherins... want me to share it?"
"Sure..." Hermione replied as she reached for his hand and looked around the table; "Who wants in?" she asked.
"No thanks..." David replied, grinning; "I've heard enough of Snape's lectures to last a lifetime..." he joked.
"We're in," said Fred.
"It's one of the few places Ron's been that we haven't," added George.
Severus surveyed his students, his trademark sneer and look of disappointment clear on his face.
"Why must I remind you, every fall, that hazing and bullying has no place in the house that Slytherin built?" He didn't wait for an answer as he took his wand from his robes and cast several spells on the doors to each of the dorms. "From now on you only have access to your own dorms..." he looked around the room, noting the looks of disbelief, and even anger, on the faces of some. "Need I remind you that we are outnumbered?" The snakes exchanged a look. "We must remain united and not fight among ourselves," he paused a moment; "If I should ever find out who perpetrated this cowardly attack on Mr Anatov those responsible will be dealt with most severely... do I make myself clear?"
"So what prompted him to change the wards to the dorms? I mean, aside from figuring out who attacked you?" Asked Luna.
"Apparently Daphne and Tracey were threatened for helping me," provided Morgan.
"Not just threatened," amended Harry; "It's what they were threatened with that's worrisome..."
"Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini cornered them and threatened to, um, 'make them straight'," Morgan replied uncomfortably.
"And how... wait... Tracy and Daphne?" Said Luna.
"I don't know if they're together but I think they took it seriously," Morgan sighed. "I told Severus I didn't want him to say anything... that it would only make it worse..." he shook his head. "He said he refused to let it get as bad as it was when he was a student..."
"Cissy mentioned it was bad..." Hermione replied with a shake of her head before taking a generousness gulp of her mead. "I still need to talk to her about your Aunt Bellatrix..."
"She's a nutter, what more do you need to know?" joked Ron.
"It'd be nice to know what kind of crazy we're dealing with before Tom breaks her out..." Hermione replied seriously.
"Can I ask you something?" Ron asked and receiving Hermione's nod continued; "Why do our 'marks' itch sometimes?"
"I suspect it does that anytime you want to know something we can't tell you," Hermione replied.
"Don't feel bad Ron, even we don't know everything that's going on," Morgan joked.
"Why though?" He asked earnestly.
"We," Luna said, indicating herself, Fleur and Ginny, "don't even know the full scope of Hermione's plans..."
"To be fair I don't even know myself," Hermione said with a laugh. "No, it's true... there's so many puzzle pieces... so many little things that could go wrong..." she sighed; "Sometimes I have no clue what's going to happen until it does..."
"Well that's reassuring..." Ron joked.
"It wasn't meant to be," Hermione admitted; "but it is what it is..."
"So Hermione..." started Fred with a mischievous grin.
"How'd you like our opening salvo?" asked George.
"A little predictable but nonetheless effective," she replied seriously.
"Is that why you modified it?" asked Fred.
"Figured we might as well make it useful," replied Hermione.
"So does that mean we're tied?" asked George.
"Guess so and that means it's your turn," she replied.
...
After dinner they made themselves comfortable and talked about nothing in particular until just before curfew. It was nice and almost normal. They were watching the last of them leave when Fleur took Ginny into her arms.
"So I was thinking..." she said, her voice already lowering in desire, "that I need to thank you for this morning..."
"No thanks needed, love," Ginny replied with a sigh as she felt Fleur placing soft kisses beneath her ear. "But if you insist..."
"Let's use the shared room though?" called Hermione who had Luna sitting in her lap and kissing her neck. "I'm sorry... as much as I want to spend some time with Luna..."
"After last night you still don't feel like being too far away from Ginny?" Luna teased.
"Something like that..." Hermione replied as she stood with Luna in her arms. "What do you say, love?" She said as she looked to her wife; "Show these two how much we love them?"
"Sounds good to me..." Ginny replied with a grin.