A/N – Thank you so much for the wonderful comments, they seriously make my day to read. The next chapter is called The Prophecy and will be posted 03/15.

Happy International Women's Day!

Chapter 17: The D.A.

March-April

Year 5

Draco dipped a quill into the ink pot next to him, scratching out the previous line from his parchment. He was only halfway done and already sick of writing his essay for charms. It was the last assignment due in the course before he had to begin studying for his upcoming O.W.L.s.

Suddenly, a newspaper was thrust into his peripheral, completely derailing his train of thought. He looked up at the source of the intrusion with a glare. Luna Lovegood stood in front of his table, wearing a bright purple jumper, navy blue skirt, stripped purple leggings, and earrings shaped like plums.

He leaned back in his chair, baffled. Luna was obviously offering the newspaper to him. Though Hermione had told him stories of Luna, he could not remember a single time when he ever spoke directly with her; to say he was surprised to see her in front of him was an understatement.

"Yes?" He asked, unsure of how to interact with her.

"You may be interested in page 8," Luna added with a knowing smile, her voice light and airy, "I think it's all rather romantic, though I'm not the least bit surprised. She said I was mistaken but I knew I saw them."

She?

Draco inspected the newspaper in his hands, it was the March edition of a paper called The Quibbler. He had heard of this newspaper from his father; according to him, the newspaper was nothing but rubbish and conspiracy theories.

On the front page in large bold letters it read

HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST: THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN

Neither Hermione or Theo had mentioned that Harry was going to sit down for an interview with the newspaper. Draco made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Glancing up at Luna, who nodded encouragingly, Draco flipped through the pages until he found page 8.

Blibbering Humdingers and You

What You Need to Know About Soulmate Bonds

Draco froze, rereading the title before looking to Luna, "why do you think I care about…" he looked back at the newspaper, "blibbering humdingers?"

Luna tilted her head curiously, her light voice declaring, "I saw them, of course, in the great hall. Around you and Hermione Granger. Like I said, it's all rather romantic; I haven't seen them in person before you two—father was quite excited when I told him, that was his inspiration for the article."

He sucked in a breath at her words, "me? And that annoying swot?" He tried to sneer, "you really are looney, aren't you?"

She studied him, undeterred by his words, "curious, she acted confused as well. You don't have to worry, I won't tell anyone, but you should really get them under control unless you want others to find out. It's rather obvious when you have the right tools," she shrugged, lowering a pair of square blue and green lensed glasses onto her nose and adjusting them.

Draco watched as she danced away from his table, humming quietly to herself. His heart pounded nervously in his chest as he looked back down at the article, skimming the contents.

Throughout the history of wizardkind there have been legends and myths around the bond of two souls, more commonly known as soul mates.

Thousands of years ago, Greek witches and wizards believed that magical beings were born with four arms, four legs, one head with two faces, and one core source of magic. That these beings were split into two by ancient powers who feared their combined magical ability. The halves were condemned to spend the rest of their lives in search of the other. When reunited, they create a force of unimaginable power. Blibbering humdingers flock to these halves when they are reunited, feasting on their combined energy.

"She immediately felt like home to me, as if we had known each other for years. It felt like we belonged to each other." –Barwick Thontan

Draco closed the paper, eyeing around the library to ensure that he and Luna had not been overheard. He promptly packed away his quill, ink, and parchment, deciding to go early to the come-and-go-room for his meeting with Hermione.

Along his path, he passed the stone wall which held nearly a hundred educational decrees; Filch was presently nailing a new posting onto the wall.

Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled.

Draco made a face, quickly folding the newspaper and shoving it into his bag as he hurried to the seventh floor.


"So, The Quibbler," Draco looked to Hermione seriously as she entered the room.

"Hello to you too," she mused, dropping her bag onto the floor next to the door.

Her face lit up, "you saw the article? I wasn't sure at first but I'm glad Harry did it—even though Umbridge was furious. The bad news is that he has another week of detention from it, and he's banned from Hogsmeade trips, that hag." Hermione scowled, "anyway, you wouldn't believe the number of letters he received this morning from readers. I think he swayed some minds with it! One reader even said they canceled their Daily Prophet subscription after reading his interview."

"Did you happen to read page 8?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Page 8?" Hermione's brow creased, "no…I only read Harry's interview. I don't believe I'm the target audience for the usual content of The Quibbler."

"You might want to read page 8," Draco unfolded the newspaper and handed it to Hermione, watching as she scanned the contents.

"Blibbering humdingers?" She let out a small gasp of recognition, "Luna told me about these after the D.A. a few months back, said she saw them around us. I thought she was on her usual ramblings but after reading this I feel like there is more to it than that…soulmate bonds? Do you think she knows?"

Draco sighed, "I think she might, or at least knows a part of it. It's pure luck that no one takes her seriously because of rubbish like this," he gestured to the paper, "she gave me this in the library, said she saw them flying around us and that it's 'quite romantic'."

Hermione nervously chewed her lip, "I'll talk with her, set the record straight."

"Are you going to tell her about the Black family bond?" He asked, "she said in the library that she wouldn't tell anyone about our…blibbering humdingers," he shook his head at the absurdity of this conversation.

"I mean…I might, is that alright? It might be nice to have someone to talk with…and like you said, no one really takes her seriously so even if she did tell, I can't see anyone believing her." Hermione reasoned softly.

Draco smirked, "yeah, not sure many people would believe that one-third of the golden trio is magically soul bonded to me."

She rolled her eyes, "that name is really ridiculous, I should have kept Rita in the jar for an extra week for that one. Don't worry about this, I'll talk with Luna."

"I would say what an odd year this has been for us, but honestly, I don't think I know what normal is anymore," he joked half-heartedly.

"Speaking of oddities, how much do you know about the Department of Mysteries?" Hermione asked.

"Why do you always have to do this?" He asked, exasperated.

Hermione looked offended, "do what?"

"Ask questions that stress me out."

She glowered at him, waiting for him to answer her original question.

"Well," Draco began thoughtfully, "the people who work in it are called unspeakables, and the department has the word 'mysteries' in the title, so no. I don't know much about it, why do you ask?"

Hermione huffed irritably, "I was hoping for a bit more than that, I couldn't find any information in the school library."

Draco smirked slightly, "well, my family is well connected with the Ministry. I don't know much but I might still know more than most. My father told me that department operates independently outside the other departments. There was a Minister for Magic in the 1800s who tried to shut down the department and the unspeakables just ignored him because they didn't answer to him."

"Wow," Hermione marveled, "I can't imagine what kind of work they must have that they can supersede direct orders from the Minister. Do you have any idea about what they have in there?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"I don't have any details, that's highly classified—even more classified than money can buy. I just know that the department includes sub-departments for love, space, thought, time, and death. Which is incredibly vague naming for a reason, I have no idea about specifics. Do I even want to know why you're asking questions about a Ministry department known for holding the biggest secrets of the wizarding world?"

Hermione sighed deeply, fidgeting uncomfortably in place under his stare.

"Granger, don't tell me you're going to go and do something stupid with Harry again, are you?" Draco crinkled his forehead in concern.

"Of course not, but Harry's been having more dreams." She mumbled, "he's been seeing the Department of Mysteries."

Draco sucked in a breath, "well, then you should be asking him and not me. If he's seen the inside of that place, even in a dream, then he's probably one of a hundred people alive who knows what the department holds. Are these memories from the Dark Lord?"

She nodded, still thinking aloud, "after Arthur Weasley was saved, Voldemort has to know that he and Harry are connected—right? I can't imagine that a student could figure out their connection without Voldemort at least having suspicions that Harry can see his memories."

"Oh, he knows," he confirmed firmly, "he has to know. You can't command an army of thousands without having at least a bit of wit. From the stories my parents have told me, their connection should terrify Harry if he knows what's good for him. How are his occulemency lessons going with Snape?"

"Ehh," Hermione groaned, "not well. Harry and Snape don't get along to begin with due to some sort of childhood rivalry between Snape and Harry's father, James."

"Wow," Draco raised his eyebrows, "remind me never to get on Snape's bad side. That's a long time to hold a grudge."

"It's been nearly two decades—I'd say that's an understatement."


Though Hermione was a firm believer that divination was a ridiculous class with no merit, she still felt awful when Harry recounted the story of Umbridge and Trelawney to her while they sat in the Gryffindor common room later that week.

"It was pitiful, Hermione, just awful. Trelawney was sobbing—barely able to speak level of sobbing and she was begging to stay. She said Hogwarts is her home and that Umbridge could not sack her. Then Umbridge mocked her for not being able to foresee that coming," Harry rubbed a hand over his face.

Hermione's face fell in sympathy for Trelawney and her treatment by Umbridge, "how could Umbridge do that? I know she has been reaching for more authority at Hogwarts but even she can't just unilaterally decide to fire a professor…can she?"

"She can! Umbridge said the Minister countersigned the order for Trelawney's dismissal, effective immediately. None of the professors are safe anymore with Umbridge here." Harry emphasized, a shudder passing through him.

Harry paused, "thank god Professor McGonagall was there to intercept her. Umbridge apparently didn't have the authority to ban Trelawney from the grounds, just to sack her from her post. McGonagall brought Dumbledore with her and he said the ability to house or ban from the castle resides with the headmaster."

She felt slightly smug listening to Harry, at least Dumbledore could still supersede Umbridge's authority, if only on a technicality. She wished that he could get her to leave Hogwarts completely.

"Who do you think will replace Trelawney? I hope it's not another Ministry appointed professor, the last thing we need is another one of those." Hermione added.

"Well Dumbledore came with a replacement; he must have known that Trelawney was going to be sacked. Would've been nice for him to give her a heads up, you'd think. Either way, do you remember Firenze?" Harry questioned, a glint of mischief in his eye.

"The centaur? From the forbidden forest?"

Harry nodded, "that very one. He's the new divination professor."

Hermione's face lit up with mirth, "Dumbledore appointed a half human creature as the new divination professor? Not that Firenze isn't qualified, but I'm sure Dumbledore had to have known how furious Firenze will make Umbridge when he filled the post. She regularly calls anything not fully human a 'filthy half-breed' or a 'savage animal' in defense against the dark arts, I can't imagine what's going through her head right now."

"What a shame that you won't be there to see it, betcha wish you hadn't dropped the course now," Harry teased.

Hermione shrugged, "still a made-up class," she mumbled sheepishly.


The D.A. was on their third straight week of learning how to cast a patronus. Hermione offered to help assist Harry in the lesson; she was feeling confident in her abilities due to her experience teaching Draco the month before.

Cho Chang was the first in the D.A. outside of Harry and Hermione to successfully cast a corporal patronus. Her patronus came in the form of a delicate silver swan which swam gently in the air throughout the practicing students.

"Oh Neville, you're trying too hard. You need to take a quick breather and then try again," Hermione encouraged, "sometimes taking a break can be just what you need to come back with a fresh mind."

Neville's shoulders slumped, he had been trying unsuccessfully for the past hour to cast smoke, vapor, anything really.

"I think I've got it! I think—oh…" Lavender's voice called out, suddenly disappointed, "never mind, I thought I saw something there for a moment."

"You should try—" Hermione was cut off by a frantic set of burns on her ring, over and over again.

Run

Umbridge

Coming

She gasped, looking over to Harry who was mid-instruction to Seamus Finnigan.

"Harry!" She yelled, not quite sure how to explain why she was so panicked.

His green eyes met hers from across the hall. A crack rang out in the room as Dobby appeared, running over to Harry as quickly as his legs could manage.

"Harry Potter! Harry Potter! She is coming!" He squeaked, his whole-body trembling, "Dobby has to warn Harry potter!"

Harry's eyes widened in shock, the class around him began to exclaim in fear.

"Who? Umbridge?!" Harry asked anxiously, "Dobby, is it Umbridge? Does she know about us?"

"Yes!" Dobby confirmed, hitting his head with his small fists.

"Harry! We have to go!" Hermione ran up to him, grabbing his arm and tugging, "NOW!"

"Everybody! Run!" Harry bellowed as the students began to sprint to the door of the room of requirement and out into the corridor.

Hermione quickly processed their surroundings, they were close enough to run to the owlery or the library which would provide a better alibi than wandering the corridors aimlessly.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione called as they slipped through the doorway and into the corridor.

Harry turned back, "wait, I have to make sure everyone is out before she gets here" he slipped out of Hermione's eyesight.

Hermione darted back around the corner to retrieve Harry but stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of a high pitch clearing of a throat. She hid behind a nearby statue, taking quiet shallow breaths and trying not to make any noise. Hermione saw a flash of pink, Umbridge had found Harry.

"Stand up, Potter!" Umbridge demanded gleefully, "you won't get away this time, I know exactly what you've been up to! Time to go to the headmaster's office, I have someone waiting for you."

Their footsteps retreated down the corridor in the direction of Dumbledore's office. Hermione's heart pounded loudly in her chest, she tried to control her heavy breathing from exertion and panic. How had Umbridge found out about Dumbledore's Army? Did someone betray them?

She looked down to her ring; was Draco nearby? He had been able to warn them, but it was too late for Harry. She hoped Dumbledore would be able to help him; according to the Ministry decree, breaking the decree would result in expulsion. Hermione could think of no worse outcome than to be expelled from Hogwarts. Especially now, with Harry's connection to Voldemort. To have his wand snapped would be a death sentence.

After the footsteps retreated, Hermione sprinted down to the owlery, hoping to find other members of Dumbledore's Army. She passed several students on her path, but no one she recognized from their meeting tonight. Finally, she reached the owlery, her nose crinkling at the smell of droppings.

"Ron!" Hermione called as spotted his red hair in the corner of the room, he was feeding a treat to his owl, Pigwidgeon.

"Ron, she caught Harry." Hermione stated breathlessly.

Ron's eyes grew wide, "bloody hell, what do you think she's going to do to him?" Ron asked anxiously.

"I don't know, but I think they're with Dumbledore. Let's go back before she finds us too."

Together, Ron and Hermione made their way back to Gryffindor tower. They waited impatiently in the common room, watching the portrait entrance for Harry's return.

Finally, nearly an hour after he had been caught, Harry stumbled through the opening, looking stunned. Hermione and Ron jumped up from their seats, making their way over to Harry.

"Harry, what happened?" Ron questioned tensely, "everyone else in the D.A. was able to get away but we couldn't find you. Hermione said she saw Umbridge take you to Dumbledore's office."

Harry collapsed onto the common room sofa, as if his knees gave out beneath him; he looked seconds from tears.

"Dumbledore…" Harry mumbled weakly, "Dumbledore's gone. The Minister was in his office, they blamed him for our group. It was because of us that he was sacked, they tried to bring him to Azkaban for conspiring to overturn the Ministry!" He dropped his head between his knees as guilt washed over him, "Dumbledore's Army," he chuckled bitterly, "we were fools to name it that."

"What?! They arrested Dumbledore?" Hermione's voice raised in alarm.

Harry lifted his head slightly, "they tried to arrest Dumbledore. He and Fawkes burst into a flash of fire and he was gone. Fudge and Umbridge were beyond furious. McGonagall let me leave once they decided it was all Dumbledore's doing."

Hermione sat in shocked silence.

"How did they even know where we were?" Ron wondered furiously, his face and neck red with anger, "does this mean McGonagall is the new headmistress?"

"I doubt they would trust McGonagall after tonight."

"It was Marietta," Harry spat out bitterly, "Marietta Edgecombe sold us out to Umbridge."

Hermione gasped, "I knew we shouldn't have trusted her! Her mother works for the Ministry, but Cho insisted she should join. She insisted that Marietta should be trusted."

"At least she can never hide what sort of person she is, considering she has a rather nice set of boils on her face." Harry added smugly, "nice jinx, by the way."

"Please, 'Mione, tell me it's permanent." Ron pled venomously.

She nodded curtly, "it's as good as permanent considering I'm not sharing the counter-curse. After what she did to Dumbledore, she deserves worse." Hermione asserted crossly.

Hermione was so overwhelmed with the outcome of the night she did not even notice her ring burning rapidly.

You okay?

Granger?

Hermione?


Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight, Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Draco eyed the latest decree uneasily. He had heard the rumours, they were all over school. Dumbledore had disappeared with Fawkes the phoenix just as the Minister and two aurrors were attempting to arrest him for planning to overthrow the Ministry.

He had heard Pansy bragging about joining Umbridge for the search party to catch members of an illegal club and he sprang into action. Draco had sent Hermione messages to her band and then ran up to the seventh floor to try and cover for her if needed. By the time he arrived, the come-and-go-room was empty, and Harry was halfway to the headmaster's office with Umbridge. He never heard back from Hermione which left him restless all night.

The next morning at breakfast everyone was talking about the events from the night before.

"All I'm saying is that we best stay on her good side," Pansy said matter-of-factly, "now that she is the head of the school, she will finally fix everything that decrepit Dumbledore has been mismanaging for years."

"Head of the school?" Daphne Greengrass scoffed, "I heard that Dumbledore's office locked itself and won't let her in. She may be head of Hogwarts in name, but she is obviously being rejected by the castle itself."

Pansy glared at Daphne, "I wouldn't let her hear you say that, if I were you. I'd hate for anything…unfortune to happen to you by disrespecting our new headmistress."

"Is that a threat?" Daphne reached for her wand, her fingers holding it tightly against her thigh.

"It's more of a promise. I have it on good authority that she's forming an inquisitorial squad made up of a select group of students. I know because she's invited me to join," Pansy replied haughtily, her nose in the air.

"How about we all just calm down and move along?" Theo suggested in exasperation, "this is way too much drama this early in the morning, plus it's about time for class anyway."

Theo looked to Draco who nodded curtly, "yeah, I forgot my essay back in my room, I have to grab it before the lecture begins."

Draco's eyes wandered back over to the Gryffindor table, looking for Hermione. She was not in her usual seat at breakfast, but he had not heard anything in the rumours of her being caught with Harry. Hopefully she was with them right now.


When Hermione saw Draco, she was immediately overcome with guilt. She had been so immersed with Harry that she had neglected to thank Draco for his warning. He looked exhausted and had bags under his eyes, Hermione guessed he had not been sleeping well.

"Where have you been?" Draco rushed over to Hermione.

"I'm so sorry, ever since the whole thing with Dumbledore, Harry has been an absolute wreck. Ron and I have been with him in Gryffindor tower. He blames himself because we named the club after Dumbledore. He thinks it's his fault that Dumbledore is gone and that Umbridge has taken over. Plus, he can't go anywhere without people hounding him for details from that night." Hermione hurriedly explained.

"Thank you so much for your warning, we were able to get everyone out and away from Umbridge. Harry was the only exception, and at least he wasn't expelled for it. Without you, I don't know if we would have reacted as quickly. How did you know she was coming?"

Draco looked relieved that she was not purposefully ignoring him, it was just like his witch to be worrying about everyone but herself.

"I overheard Pansy bragging about the raid, I was so worried the message wouldn't get to you in time. You realize that Umbridge would have made an example out of you, right?" Draco pointed out.

Hermione nodded solemnly, "I think the only reason Harry was able to leave was because of Dumbledore's fake admission of guilt. I still can't believe that Dumbledore just accepted responsibility for the club in order to save Harry. Now he's in hiding, god knows where. I'm just grateful you overheard Pansy—and that she's such a loud gossip."

Draco made a face, "yeah, speaking of Pansy, she told me Umbridge is starting an inquisitorial squad made up of students. Sort of like her own little network of spies running around the castle, ratting on students and following her orders."

Hermione's eyes lit up with excitement, "Draco, that's perfect!"

He stared, "that's…not the reaction I was expecting."

She looked to him, "you have to join! She's going to give all her information to members of the squad, it's the perfect way to get firsthand information about her plans and raids!"

He had a sour expression, "I'd really rather not, it sounds like only the worst parts of being a prefect. Plus, I think I'd rather fight the giant squid than have to spend more time with Umbridge."

"I understand," Hermione's face fell, visibly disappointed, "I know she's a terror even if she likes you."

Draco contemplated silently, "I mean," he paused, "it wouldn't be the worst, I suppose. It would basically be my regular prefect duties…"

Hermione squealed in delight, throwing her arms around his neck, "thank you, thank you, thank you! I will take everything you're able to tell me back to Harry. With any luck we will get that toad out of Hogwarts before the month is up."

He hid a smile, "yeah, yeah, this is obviously all for Potter's benefit."

Hermione teased flirtatiously, "obviously. Don't think I haven't seen the chemistry between you, perhaps even a blibbering humdinger or two."


Draco uncomfortably adjusted the new pin on his robes, a shiny silver 'I' for the inquisitorial squad. He briefly wondered how Hermione always managed to pull him into her antics. Hopefully he would be able to provide meaningful information to her, otherwise he would be suffering for nothing under the reign of Umbridge—which was feeling more like a dictatorship lately.

He was assigned to patrol, similar to prefect patrol but without a partner. He was not always fond of his assigned partner for prefect rounds, but at least he had someone to talk with to pass the time. It was significantly more boring to wander the halls by himself than is was with a patrol partner.

There was the sound of giggling echoing down the corridor, Draco sighed, mentally preparing himself to break up more teenage snogging. It was by far his least favourite part of patrol, and simultaneously the most common part of patrol.

Draco fought back the urge to gasp in outrage—it was Amelia and one of the Slytherin boys who had been bothering her the week prior. His eyes drifted down, they were holding hands and leaning in close as they whispered.

Before he could think twice, Draco was stomping up to the pair, his eyes narrow in disbelief as he took in the scene before him. They looked up to him in surprise.

"Excuse you," he said harshly, "and just what do you think you are doing, young lady?" He asked, cringing inwardly at how much he reminded himself of his father in that moment.

Amelia turned to the confused and slightly frightened Slytherin boy, "it's okay, Tomas, I've got this. I'll find you later?"

Tomas looked to Draco and back to Amelia before nodding, he looked suspiciously at Draco as he left the corridor.

"Oh my god, you're worse than my dad," Amelia complained, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"That boy is no good," Draco asserted, pointing at the empty space where Tomas had been, "he just made you cry last week!"

Amelia huffed, "I think you saw it first-hand that I can handle myself if he gets out of line. He's since apologized for last week, and the month before that. Tomas has never had a girlfriend before, he said he was apparently just trying to get my attention—albeit in a moronic way."

He scoffed, "what type of bloke is rude to a girl to get her attention? You deserve better than that."

She raised her eyebrows at him, "I don't know, Draco," she stressed his name, "I've heard many stories of you and Hermione when you two were my age. From my recollection, you weren't exactly the nicest to your girlfriend."

Draco grumbled, "that was different…"

"Hmm. I'm sure it was. Do you know how Tomas and I started talking?" She asked dryly, "every morning after breakfast he sits in the same windowsill by the great hall to read. It just so happened that this week someone placed a sticking charm on it, would you happen to know anything about that?"

He looked away, "I'm a prefect and on the inquisitorial squad now, I can neither confirm nor deny my involvement."

"So," she continued, "you're saying it wasn't you who stuck him to the windowsill, charmed a bucket to drop honey and catnip on him just as Mrs. Norris was doing her rounds with Filch?"

"I can neither—"

"—confirm nor deny, got it." She let a small smile creep onto her face, "either way, thank you. I helped clean him up, scratches at all, and we got to talking. Turns out we have quite a bit in common."

He shrugged mumbling, "kid was being a prat, I hope he made it up to you. And he better not hurt you again, there are worse things that could happen to him than being attacked by a cat."

"He has apologized many times, though I have to admit the catnip idea was brilliant. I may have to use that someday. It's nice that you stuck up for me, I won't forget that." Amelia smiled, giving him a friendly kiss on the cheek, "now if you don't mind, I'm going to go find my boyfriend. He's quite jumpy around prefects these days—I wonder why."

Draco shuddered at the word boyfriend, kids these days grew up so quickly.


Hermione had cancelled their previously scheduled date night for some unknown reason. She had sent Draco two messages to his ring.

Busy tonight

Sorry

Draco had not heard of anything big happening with the Gryffindor trio, he hoped that meant she was staying out of trouble. After her line of questioning about the department of mysteries, his mind raced whenever she was off with Harry and Ron. He impatiently waited for the weekend to meet with her.

"How was your week?" Draco asked casually, trying to seem disinterested.

"It was fine, I had class, some homework, Harry had a few more dreams, we met Hagrid's giant brother in the forest, oh, I had a new set of quills delivered from Schrivenshaft's via owl." She glossed over the list.

"I think I went momentarily deaf; would you like to repeat that? You met a giant?" Draco asked, aghast, "Hagrid has a giant for a brother, and he lives in the forbidden forest?"

"Stop, don't be so judgmental. He's quite shy, actually, and even though he's a giant, he was really gentle when he picked me up."

"I can just tell being with you is going to age me so quickly," Draco muttered, pulling a hand through his hair, "I have so many questions but can I start by asking why you let him pick you up?"

She waved a hand dismissively, "it wasn't intentional, he didn't know any better. Don't worry, he put me down as soon as I asked; plus, he's not exactly the first large creature I've encountered. In first year, there was this troll, ugh he was the worst. I would take Gwap any day, at least I could reason with him."

"What. The hell. Hermione."

She sniffed haughtily, "I'll have you know I live a full and exciting life outside of you."


A plain barn owl swooped down in front of Hermione, waving its leg at her. She untied the envelope, spearing a sausage onto her fork and offering it to the owl which accepted it with a happy hoot before flying away.

Hermione looked at the envelope, perplexed; it was labeled as if it was sent by her parents, but the handwriting was completely different. The handwriting did look familiar, it looked almost like—she paused that thought, realizing the envelope had a hard piece of metal in it. She glowered over at the Slytherin table; why was her boyfriend so impossibly stubborn?

Ripping the envelope, she withdrew the coin, slipping it back into her pocket.

"What'd ya get?" Ron asked, his mouth stuffed with pie.

"A galleon mailed by my parents," she said through clenched teeth, "I must have forgotten it at home during my last visit."

Ron grumbled, "wish my mum would just randomly send me money."

"Are we going to form any study groups this year?" Harry asked, looking worried as he glanced over his schedule, "surely, even Umbridge can't prevent us from congregating in the library at the same time to study for a class. Ancient runes is going to be the death of me with that star chart."

Ron agreed eagerly, "these are the only tests that matter. O.W.L.s are coming up and if we want to be aurrors, we have to make sure to do well so we qualify for the right classes next year."

"You two want to be aurrors," Hermione corrected, "but yes, we should make study groups, in fact, Professor Babbling specifically recommended them during class last month."

"If Umbridge gets her kickers in a twist, we can tell her that we have permission from Babbling." Harry muttered.

"Can we not talk about Umbridge's knickers?" Ron asked, making a face of disgust.

"I can create an itinerary and schedule tonight!" Hermione added excitedly.

"Well, I'm not sure I want you creating the schedule, or we would do nothing but study. I'm surprised that Madam Pince isn't charging you rent based on how much time you spend in the library on the weekends!" Ron chortled at his own joke.

Hermione cleared her throat, thinking back to her days and nights with Draco where she was most certainly not studying, "yep, you know me…always in the library."


As she was leaving the library after the first session of their O.W.L.s study group, Hermione heard a faint hissing sound nearby.

She paused before announcing, "I'll be there shortly, I forgot that there was a book I needed to pick up for ancient runes."

Breaking from the rest of the group, Hermione found her way to a rarely used corner of the library where a smirking Draco Malfoy was waiting for her.

"Hi love," he murmured, pulling her into a kiss.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" She asked quickly, looking around anxiously.

"Just wanted to give you this," he announced, pulling out a basket from behind him.

She smiled widely, looking down in his hand, "and what is that?"

"It's a 'my girlfriend gets immersed in studying and I probably won't see her for weeks' bag of study treats. Sugar quills, chocolate fudge—I may have taken a bite or two from it, extra parchment, and enchanted ear plugs to cancel out noise, along with some other goodies."

Hermione took the basket gratefully, "you are literally the best boyfriend ever. But I really need to go, what if someone catches us? You have to admit that we have a really bad track record with this kind of thing."

"It'll be fine, no one uses this part of the library anyway," he frowned.

"That's not true," she corrected, "I've seen—"

"I think it's back here, McGonagall said we would get extra credit if we finished the chapter before class," a high voice announced, two rows away.

Hermione looked to Draco, whispering, "told you so!"

As the footsteps grew closer, she panicked, waving her wand and muttering, "finestra."

The wall at the end of the library was suddenly littered with pieces of falling glass, she could hear sound of confusion near the shattered window.

Draco turned to Hermione, looking incredulous, "are you kidding me? We talked about this."

"I had to find a way to distract them!"

"You said no more broken glass."

She corrected, "I said I would try not to break any more glass. No one is bleeding," she paused as she listened to the increasing chaos, "I think."

He glared.

"Hey, I went a lot longer than last year! Don't be mad at me, I really did try." She said quietly, her lower lip protruding.

"Do or do not, there is no try," Draco said matter-of-factly, giving her a knowing look.

She gasped, pulling a hand to her chest in shock, "did…did you just quote Star Wars to me?"

Draco suddenly looked self-conscious, "that depends, did I quote it correctly?"

"Yes, you did. I'm just wondering where you heard about Star Wars considering we never watched it together."

"Well I…I've been doing research." He grumbled, his cheeks turning pink, "just a bit about muggle culture, since the visit with your parents."

She looked confused, "research?"

"Yeah…for next time."

Hermione's face broke into a wide smile, "my mum loves Star Wars, especially Han Solo. I think you'll be ready—for next time."

He smiled proudly, "good. Now let's get out of here, before my witch goes and breaks the rest of the glass in the castle."

"That's an exaggeration, it's only happened twice. Also, you're welcome, because it worked in our favour this time," she pointed out.

"Great, kid, don't get cocky," he teased.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I take it back, I'm already sick of the Star Wars quotes."

Draco smirked, "I love you."

She scrunched her nose in delight, "I know."