A/N: thanks for notifying me about the chapter-switch, but I already noticed it when I uploaded the last chapter. The switch wasn't done by me – at least I don't think so. It might have happened when I replaced the content of chapter 18 with a slightly modified content, I don't know. Anyway, I didn't dare try and replace the contents of chapters one and two, so I put a note at the end of TGSoHH, telling the possible new readers that they should start TGSaWCS with chapter 2, then read chapter 1. Yesterday I read HerbieWerbie's review (thank you so much, HerbieWerbie!) and in there she told me what to do. I did it – I guess it's okay now.
The Face of Evil: no, Tatyana is no lust demon. I haven't even heard of lust demons before :)
VeRyWiLdWiTcH: it's not necessary that Hermione's mom has a twin… twins can prop up in every family, without the family having other twins (but of course in the case of Star Wars it is genetic: Padme is likely to have a twin, Leia has a twin-brother and Leia also has twin-kids… but those are fraternal twins, not identical. Well, never mind :)
Nefertiri: congrats on breaking the record, you're the writer of the longest review now! Anna Karenina just finds Harry sexy, but she isn't really in love with him. Harry didn't look into the crystal, just bought those tealeaves on instinct, and he was joking when Hermione asked him about seeing the future. IMHO no one knew that Krum needed a new samovar, but I thought it'd be funny if everyone wanted to buy him one – samovars are typical Russian stuff and they are in Russia… so why not? I'll be back to Fred/George/Angie, later. Angelina is 4 months pregnant now, and yes, you'll see the baby in this story. For the time being Ron kind of believes that Hermione cheated on him – though he isn't sure. However, you know him: he wouldn't admit that he was wrong (of course he'll have to do so in the future, but not right now.) Remember how outraged he was at the Yule ball in book 4, when Herm was with Krum – and they were just dancing! He accused her of collaborating with the enemy and everything… stupid, stupid Ron :) Why does Dennis like Mileta? Hm… he has a bad taste :) Yes, McGonagall likes both Dumbledores, but in different ways. Yes, Albus still likes Mrs. Figg, but there won't be anything about them in this fic. Maybe in the third one :) How does Albus know everything? Hm… ask Rowling… How old are the people who read my fics? Most of them are 13-16, but I have received mails from 25 and 35 year-old people as well who have read it, and I was overjoyed that people who are older than me also like my stories. Yes, most of them are females, because the story has lots of romance in it, and even its main genre is romance. Well, the third story won't have the genre romance, that's for sure… I was happy to see that you didn't only write a long review, but you USED THE ENTER BUTTON! It was so much easier for me read than those long reviews where there are absolutely no Enters!
Bucky: you'll see Gred and Forge again, I promise! And not only in one chapter, but in several :)
blaubaerin: I don't think that Ginny notices anything on her ring right now, because Harry isn't in any kind of lethal danger. Later, however… you'll see :)
Aimee: Tatyana doesn't necessarily get pregnant just because Harry is so potent – you'll see later that his potency is only that big when Ginny is concerned (and I'll explain why.) Did you like SW? Oh, I envy you that you're free for the summer! I still have 5 exams! *big sigh*
X_Tow_Naga: no, Tatyana does not want a baby to love, remember that in chapter 8 she said that she didn't like children. On the other hand it has something to do with Harry going to the netherworld (or I wouldn't have mentioned that), but she really does not want to get pregnant. Yes, I made up the thing about the ghosts' time travel. Why can't ghosts take drugs? Remember book 2? There all the ghosts kept complaining that they couldn't eat or drink, because everything went through them without them being able to taste it. So I think that they cannot take drugs as well – at least not through their mouths. Given that their veins aren't working anymore, they can't take drugs that way, either. A charm to deflect arrows? Hm… that sounds like Star Wars, deflecting the laser-bolts with the lightsaber or the Force. I don't think that the students were in danger of getting pregnant from a teacher – hopefully the teachers were sane enough to resist a love-sick teenager (if they weren't shot, too, that is. Don't worry, no one got pregnant during Valentine's Day.) You asked why Harry couldn't resist Tatyana's potions and charms. Well, Tatyana got to know from Dennis that Harry couldn't be controlled by Imperio, so she looked for something else – something more potent. No, Aberforth wasn't hit by an arrow, he just took advantage of McGonagall… bad, bad Aby! There WERE voyeur ghosts at Hogwarts: remember Moaning Myrtle in the Prefect's Bathroom in book 4 (where she said that she didn't look at Harry as he undressed, but I never believed that she didn't :) No, the SUNS didn't refer to SONS. I just love this twin-sun-thing – you know, from Star Wars – Tatooine has twin suns.
jeanine23Dr: I promise you the opposites :) A fanclub for me? No, please! I'm way too shy for stuff like that… :))
Kit Cloudkicker: yes.
K. C. Hunter: you're right, it's Mrs. Karenina, not Ms. However, Harry and Hermione don't really know how to formulate the Russian names, so they made a mistake :) Good luck with your finals!
Notebook Girl: no, Harry does not look like Tatyana's first love at all.
! Cedric ! Diggory ! Fan !: I'm glad you like my fics so much. Yes, I know that I'm cruel to Harry… many people have told that that I'm a sadist :) Yes, go and watch the Star Wars movies, IMHO you should watch them in the order they came out, so did everyone else. (If you watched them in the numbered order, you'd miss film 3 very much, since it hasn't been filmed yet.) The original trilogy is better, but the new ones are okay as well. Maybe for you – who hasn't seen any of the movies yet – all five will be excellent. Watch them and tell me your opinion – which one was your favourite, etc. My fave is The Empire Strikes Back.
Crazycutee831: may I ask how old you are? Because you wrote that you made fried chicken… I'm 21 and I can't cook at all! *the greatest shame, LOL* I was also annoyed that Harry's eyes weren't green in the movie. They could have made Dan Radcliffe wear contact lenses or they could have turned his eyes green by computer as well. Otherwise I think he's really cute. I didn't really care for how tall Ron was. I liked him, he was bloody brilliant! You asked which story I thought was better. Well, I like TGSoHH a bit more than this, but I worked more on TGSaWCS, so somehow I'm more attached to this one. When I wrote TGSoHH, I didn't plan anything in advance, I just wrote as I thought of something, but in this fic I planned most things well before I started writing at all. Still a lot of people say that this fic is boring, and I know that they are right: many chapters weren't really interesting, but they were still necessary. In TGSoHH there were no 'boring but necessary' chapters, IMHO. The real reason why I like that one better is that I didn't get flames for it, while I got a couple of rather nasty flames for this one. You know what flames are like: they make you insecure… sometimes I was on the verge of hating this fic and I'm still not sure how much I should like/dislike this one. I hope people won't really hate it (though there will be times when they'll hate ME.) I'm already prepared for the flames I'm going to get in a couple of chapters… I hope your chicken didn't burn :)
Rose: no, I'm not getting up chapters faster than with TGSoHH, because with that I uploaded three chapters a week.
aurora riddle: no, I haven't been to the States or Canada yet, and I'm not going to try for quite a while. The reason? Because Hungarian people aren't welcome there. We usually don't get visa because the Americans think that we (coming from a rather poor Eastern-European country) surely want to settle down there. I know a nice (and rich) couple who wanted to spend their honeymoon in the US and they didn't get the visa, just because they are Hungarians! I felt so sorry for them! Oh, so you have flown a plane? Great, I envy you! I'm glad you liked my poem, I love writing poems! Sorry, you haven't managed to break the record – the longest review up till now is three times this long. But you don't need to write such long reviews, I'm glad if people just drop a line :)
Moony Lover: so, you are Andrea? My best friend in the primary school was also an Andrea :) Do I believe in reincarnation? Well… I kind of believe in it, but I don't really want to. It gives me the creeps to think that in my next life I could be born in the Middle-East or Africa, having nothing to eat and if I am born a girl there, I'll be treated terribly, having to wear such long, black clothes that only show your eyes… *shudder*. My mother's colleague believes in reincarnation and has learnt all kinds of occultism and once she studied my hands and said that in my former life I was a queen or princess because I have such delicate hands. I don't know whether to believe it or not… I'm Christian, and Christians mustn't believe in it because it's also occultism. I don't exclude the possibility of reincarnation, but I don't like the thought of it. No, Tatyana does not think that Harry is her true love. I'll come back to the secret chamber – very soon. Yes, Agnes is a female name and it's very popular here in Hungary. I'm glad you like my name :)
Padfoot: so, does your friend also read this? :)) Is he/she a Seer? :))
Steph: IMHO you pronounce the 'G' in 'Ginny' like the 'g' in the word 'general'. I hope I'm right, but you should rather ask a native English speaker.
One winged butterfly: no, McGonagall and Aberforth didn't have sex, they just snogged. For Minerva it's enough to get mad :)
veronik: tell your friend that she should feel free to review me, she shouldn't be that shy. I'm also very shy but I send reviews to lots of people. Remind your friend that I'm never going to meet her, so she doesn't need to be afraid of me :))) I promise you that Hermione's children won't be squibs. You have my word.
xenocide: I'm glad you liked the poem :) Originally I wrote the first two verses of it for a stupid, mushy Star Wars fic (the very first fic I wrote in English), and I just wrote a third verse to it so that it'd fit this story. Maybe Minerva wasn't looking in Harry's direction at all when the fairy's arrow hit her. Rowling wrote about fairies, but in her description the fairies were mute, I just made them have voices. However, I made up their looks (with knickerbockers and everything :))
Mage: no, Harry doesn't shag his wife every time he meets her, but Tatyana's potion does not only make him think that she's Ginny, but the potion also contains a very strong aphrodisiac and some kind of hypnotising-stuff as well. So he just can't NOT do it.
Tomoyo Pota: you wrote you didn't like Herm/Ron together. Are you a H/Hr fan, then?
Whit2005: yes, I'm going to write a sequel and both Lily and Davie will be there. Daniel too. I heard rumours that book 5 might not come out till autumn 2003! How terrible! Rowling is torturing us! I'm contemplating to send her a howler :)) The second HP movie comes out in November again (and I know that we in Hungary will get it on 5th December. I have already circled that day in the calendar on the wall with a highlighter :)).
Super saya-Jin Gotan: wow, I always thought you were a girl! (no offence! I'm happy you're a guy!:))) May I ask how old you are? (just curious) Read the first 6-7 lines of my A/N and you'll understand why I 'updated' TGSoHH.
Saphron: yeah, Harry's way too naive, that's his problem. He believes in people's innocence and good will. He should not. The world is cruel (and the author is cruel :)
Aurumlupi: no, Tatyana won't be reborn in one of Herm's kids, because she'll succeed in what she wants – thus this 'possessed-spirit-being-reborn-again-and-again-until-it-reaches-its-aim-stuff' won't work anymore for her.
Kristen Michelle: and does your mum like it?
jennaration: I'll reveal everything in time (well, almost everything… I'll leave a couple of things open for the third story *cruel me* :)
thebiggesthpfan: no, not 36 but 39 chapters.
star queen: have I really outdone myself? *grin* thanks.
Tessa: I won't be Rita on ffnet, I'm just playing her in a Hungarian RPG – and there I'm not nasty to Harry, I'm rather nasty to Gilderoy Lockhart (I love teasing the guy who is playing Gilderoy, LOL!)
PepsiAngel: yes, my mum is still beta-reading for me.
Wood's secret lover: does Rowling also live in Edinburgh?
LilGinny: yes, the twins will be born in this story and Herm and Ron will reconcile. But much later. You'll see Gred/Forge/Angie again, too. Was your camping good? (I suppose you'll only answer this question in about a week, right?)
Toby Haine: oh, at last someone who noticed 'I beat Lockhart!' (my fave sentence in last chapter :) Anyway, the review record isn't held by X_Tow_Naga anymore, the new record-holder is Nefertiri. Keep writing your fic!
Romina: no, Tatyana isn't sleeping with him to get pregnant. She does it for another reason.
Eclectus: Tatyana wanted the cupids to shoot Herm so that Herm would leave Harry alone. Herm was too much following Harry around and Tatyana wanted to get rid of her to get to Harry.
Derkaun Zarion: yes, a samovar is something in which you boil water for making tea. I don't think I'll ever read any other of Tolkien's books, but I'm going to finish the LotR series for the second time – though I don't know when. I also love the Hand of Thrawn duology – especially the Luke/Mara parts :))) I started to read the NJO series, too, but stopped. I was happy when Ben Skywalker was born, but I was totally mad when Anakin was killed off!
Arif: I also think that the last 45 minutes of SW were the best! I was a bit surprised that the clones were on the good side in this movie… later on they'll be on the evil side. How old are you – I forgot, sorry. No, Mileta won't write letters to Ginny. She'll do someting nastier :) I already have ideas for story three, and there'll be a bit of teenage-love, but not much. Of course Harry's going to get to know that Tatyana was 'playing' with him, but it might be late for him… *evil grin* And when will that happen? Very soon… I'm not mad about the bash of Eastern Europe, it was kind of right :( Well, you tried for the longest, but didn't manage, sorry. Why did Anna tell Herm about Harry/Tatyana? Because she thought that Harry wouldn't believe her (and she turned out to be right), so she thought that Harry would believe Hermione… maybe. Or at least Herm could hold Tatyana off Harry, preventing her from hurting him. I don't have more HP pics scanned, but I might ask my friend to scan a couple more of my pics.
Also thanks to: the coffee fiend, Ari Potter, ILOVELINKINPARK222, Sherylyn, Amen, Coolio, Almah, phoenix6545, Harrysgirl, Lupinslover, Qahira Galatea, AmandaPanda, zzxm, Faunix, alli, Bienfoy, Analyse, Lana Potter, Lady Lupin, Black Ice, goldenstar555, nutmeg, Harryismyhero (what a cute name!), Waldomier, PadmeSkywalker, Katie Bell, HerbieWerbie (double thanks to you, my friend!) ladyyuy, silverchocolate, evil_monkeys_abuser
Holy Snitch, I have outdone myself again, writing the longest A/N section for this story so far! I'm sorry that I'm so chatty, I have already been told off for it by people, but I try to answer everyone, so don't get mad at me!
This is a link-chapter, not exactly exciting – excitement comes from next chapter.
Chapter 23
Kinder surprise
Next morning – dawn, to be exact - Harry was awoken by the screech owl he had sent to Ginny the previous day.
"What a quick delivery!" he said gleefully. "Thanks."
The owl took wing and Harry lit some candles to be able to read the letter in the semi-darkness, then sat back down on his bed to read his wife's reply.
Darling Harry,
The poem was simply wonderful… I can't find words for it. I have never received a poem in my whole life – it was so beautiful! Truth be told I totally forgot about Valentine's Day, so it was a huge surprise when the owl arrived with your letter.
Thank you very much, dear.
It was not only the poem that made me happy, but the knowledge as well, that you have forgiven me for having accused you. I was so terribly mad with myself, and I feared that you might not forgive me… but you did, and that makes me happy.
Ron, on the other hand… well, better not even talk about it. For the last month he has been as bitter as professor Snape, at least people say so. I don't really know, because he spent the last weeks in Hogsmeade, working. I think he wants to over-work, hoping that it will help him forget. Stupid, isn't he? I'm sure Hermione never cheated on him with Viktor Krum – please reassure me that she hasn't!
Sirius has been behaving in a funny way lately. He keeps disappearing for days and isn't willing to tell where he had been. I'm not forcing him, of course, he is an adult and can take care of himself.
Lily has learnt lots of new words, and she is constantly talking to Angel now. She misses you, and I think she believes that if she talks to the stuffed unicorn, then you can hear what she says.
Imagine, Daniel has learnt to sit up! I was so proud of him! You should have been there, too, Harry. I hope you'll be with us to see when he takes his first steps.
Take care of yourself and never forget that I love you.
Ginny
After this letter, Harry couldn't stop grinning. He opened his notebook-calendar to count the days until Easter – when he will be going to see his wife again. Fifty-nine days! He felt he couldn't survive that long without Ginny. He read the letter through again, then dressed up in a wonderful mood, humming What a wonderful world.
He was just pulling on his socks – a pair he had received from Dobby for his nineteenth birthday (one of them was navy blue with small birthday-cakes, the other was red with golden griffins), when someone knocked on the door.
"Coming!" Harry said, hoping against hope that it wasn't Mileta this time. "Whew." he sighed, seeing Hermione leaning to the door-post. "Good morning, Herm."
"You look happy." she perceived as she entered.
"Yeah, I'm happy. Life is beautiful, the birds are singing, and I'm in love!"
"Not with Tatyana, are you?" Hermione asked with a worried expression.
"No." he laughed. "Just received an owl from Ginny. She wrote wonderful things." he heaved a happy, satisfied sigh. "Love is so beautiful."
"Yeah, it is." she replied with a sad smile.
"I shouldn't have said that." he sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, Herm."
"Don't be sorry, Harry." she said, sitting down at a small table.
He took place next to her. "Ron's an idiot."
"True. But I'm going to have twins from that idiot." she whispered.
"What?" Harry's eyes widened, grasping her hands. "Hermione! Is… is this… are you sure?"
"Positive." she nodded.
"This is wonderful, Herm! I'm going to be an uncle!" he clasped his hands happily.
She tried to smile, but burst into tears instead.
"Hey, it's okay." he pulled her to himself, gathering her into his arms. "It's okay… don't cry, Hermione. Something wonderful is happening to you now. You should be happy."
"I – am – happy!" she sobbed.
"You don't look it." he shook his head.
"But I am… oh, Harry, it's so difficult!" she sniffed. "Since I married Ron, I have wanted to have kids from him, but… they came along in a rather inconvenient time… what if Ron will think they are Krum's children?"
"Then Ron is definitely an idiot." Harry said, gently caressing her hair. "Anyway, there are still those paternity tests, and… hey, they are going to be Weasleys, after all! Red hair and everything… Ron won't think they aren't his!"
"Daniel has your hair, not the Weasley-red." she pointed out. "I have about the same hair-colour as Viktor. Ron can easily jump to conclusions if the babies inherit my hair."
"Then I'll kick him." Harry said with a smile. "Does anyone else know?"
"No. I only realised it myself last night."
"And I'm the first you share it with? Thanks, I'm flattered."
"Of course you are the first, Uncle Harry." she smirked at him.
"Uncle Harry." he repeated, savouring the phrase. "I like the sound of it… You can't imagine how much I wanted to hear my daughter say Daddy, but she calls me 'Arry instead. I like it, too. She can say it in such a cute way."
"Yeah. Wonderful little girl, Lily." Hermione sighed. "I hope my girls will be like her."
"Girls?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"
"I don't know." she smiled. "I just feel it."
"Thought of names yet?"
"Well, one thing is sure: they are NOT going to be called Frederica and Georgina."
Harry laughed. "Wise decision. By the way… have you and Ron… haven't you used any kind of protection?"
"Well… actually we did… but… we forgot once or twice, I guess. For example at New Year." she shrugged.
"Oh. So it's not the same case as it is with Ginny and me."
"No. I know that we have forgotten a couple of times, but you two… you never forgot it, right?"
He nodded. "This is something I still don't understand, Hermione. Why did the charms and potions not work? What did neutralise their effects?"
"I don't know… but you can be sure that she did NOT get pregnant if you kept using my little presents… of course they could also have broken…" she mused.
"I hope they didn't!" Harry exclaimed with a half-serious, half-joking expression. "Shall we go and tell McGonagall the big news?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Harry swished with his wand to put out the candles, but they refused to be put out.
"Oh, my wand's malfunctioning again!" he sighed. "I guess I should take it to Ollivander's to have it checked when we go home for Easter."
"I'm not likely to go home for Easter." Hermione shook her head. "I don't want to see Ron."
* * * * *
Minerva had just exited the infirmary with a rather sullen face, when Harry and Hermione spotted her.
"Have you been visiting Aberforth?" Hermione asked.
"Yes." the professor nodded glumly.
"Has he come round yet?"
"Er, no."
"But he will be all right, won't he?" Harry said, worried.
"No serious damage done." McGonagall snorted. "Anyway, he deserved it. That man has no shame! Had he been a gentleman, he would have stupefied me to stop me from getting myself into such an… embarrassing situation." she shook her head. "He shouldn't have let me continue kissing him. He well deserved what I did to him."
"Still you feel sorry for him." Harry perceived. "And you feel guilty."
"Of course I feel guilty, Potter!" Minerva snapped. "But NOT because of having broken his limbs, but because of having kissed him! What a terrible shame! A scandal!"
"The greatest scandal of Durmstrang history?" Harry whispered to Hermione who started to giggle.
"It is no laughing matter." McGonagall stated sternly. "That man is crazy."
"But you like him." Harry said.
"You are imagining things, Potter." the elderly professor replied, crossing her arms.
"Am I?" he grinned at his sister-in-law, who grinned back at him. "However, this is not what we wanted to talk to you about, right, Herm?"
"No." she beamed at him. "Minerva… imagine, I'm going to have twins!"
"Ooooooooh!" Minerva clasped her hands, her morose expression disappearing at once, "What wonderful news, Hermione! Congratulations! It's fantastic, don't you think, Mr. Krum?"
Hermione and Harry turned around to see Viktor standing not far from them, looking like someone who had swallowed a skrewt.
"Oh, this wasn't the way I wanted to tell him." Hermione whispered to Harry, feeling like kicking something.
"But he had to get to know, anyway." Harry reasoned.
After a minute of awkward silence Krum straightened himself (as much as such a round-shouldered guy could), and walked up to them with a forced smile.
"Let me congratulate you, Herm-own-ninny. This is great."
"Thanks, Viktor." she replied, knowing exactly that his smile was not real – knowing that he would rather cry than smile, if his pride would let him.
* * * * *
Two weeks had passed since Hermione's revelation, and Krum's mood hadn't improved a bit. He was avoiding everyone, barely speaking and always wearing a frown.
Olympe Maxime kept complaining that the Durmstrang headmaster had no idea of manners at all.
Aberforth was starting to feel better (he had regained consciousness), and he could use both his arms and one of his legs already. He received crutches and seemed to be having fun with them. His left leg was still in plaster, because it had broken in such an unfortunate way that simple charms or magic draughts couldn't put it right – all they could do was to speed up his recovery. So, he was wearing a plaster, on which he had drawn funny pictures to make it look more interesting. There was a yeti on it, holding hands with Santa Claus, looking at a ship that was sailing into the setting sun. Under the picture he had drawn a heart that was shot through by an arrow. To McGonagall's utter horror, he had written I love you Minnie into it.
Aberforth and Harry were adding the finishing touches to the plans on the second task, while Hermione was still angry with Ron, and Harry couldn't talk her into writing him a letter.
"No, Harry, he doesn't deserve to know that he's going to be a father!" she stated coldly.
"But Herm… couldn't you just tell him tomorrow… as a birthday present?"
"Birthday?" she raised an eyebrow. "He forgot about Valentine's Day. I'm going to forget about his birthday."
"You cannot be so vindictive, Herm."
"I can." she said, indicating that the discussion was over.
Try as he might, Harry couldn't persuade her to forgive Ron, no matter how much time they had spent together – and they DID spend lots of time together – too much, in Harry's opinion.
He simply couldn't understand why Hermione was following him around, but he didn't want to remark on it.
Harry kept in touch with Ginny, who informed him about everything that was going at home. Harry was appalled to read her letter of 3rd March:
Dearest Harry,
I hope you are doing well at Durmstrang. Things are not exactly spiffing here. Sirius keeps disappearing from time to time, and he only comes back after three or four days. Once I asked him about this, but he said (very politely) that it was none of my business.
Ron is still so grumpy that he is threatening his customers away. Broomstick sales are menacingly dropping – if he does not come to his senses soon, he will have to close the shop.
Percy's mood isn't a bit better – he still hasn't managed to get over his disastrous wedding, and - according to evil gossips – he still hasn't slept with Penny! Now can you imagine it? They've been married for three months now! This is scandalous! (I for one would have died of longing if you had ignored me for a single day after our wedding:)
Things aren't going any better for the twins – George has healed totally, but they aren't speaking to each other and they insist on running Weasley Wizard Wheezes separately: so Fred is in the shop on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and George is on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Angelina is starting to feel really bad about this situation. I fear she might get a nervous breakdown and that would surely affect the poor baby as well.
Mum is still angry with George for having seduced his twin's girlfriend – but she isn't right, since George was drunk. Well, of course he shouldn't have drunk so much.
Nowadays mum spends all her time with Yvette (Fleur is visiting her family in France and Bill is back in Egypt). That poor little thing doesn't even recognise her parents!
After all these bad news, let me tell you something happier as well: Dannie has started to crawl! You can't imagine how cute he is when he 'races' up and down in the manor. Last week I almost got a heart attack, because I went to feed him but he wasn't in his crib. I thought he might have been kidnapped or something – then I found him in the kitchen with Dinky! He had crawled down the stairs! He has also befriended Abu – they are practically inseparable.
Lily is doing very well, she is speaking constantly. You simply cannot make her stop speaking for a single minute! (except when she is eating… and she's eating a lot! I hope she isn't going to look like Millicent or Myrtle:)
Give my regards to Hermione and McGonagall!
Love,
Ginny
* * * * *
Two weeks before the second task Dennis was starting to be jittery again. Harry understood him more than anyone else and tried to talk him into eating something.
"I'm not hungry. Really." the boy said, gazing at his plate.
"But if you don't eat anything, you won't have enough power to compete." Harry pointed out. "And if you can't compete, you can't win the tournament for Hogwarts."
"Do you really believe I could win?" Dennis asked with a great deal of uncertainty in his voice.
"Of course I believe in it. I have faith in you, young man." Harry replied. "You are talented, inventive and courageous."
"Courageous?" the boy blinked in surprise. "I don't think so. I wasn't even brave enough to ask out Mileta."
"Mileta…" Harry whispered. "Really, what is with her nowadays? I haven't talked to her lately."
"I thought she wasn't talking to you." Dennis said. "Though I have no idea why. What have you done?"
"Nothing. But she thinks I did something… not nice." Harry shrugged. "I don't care what she thinks as far as I know that I haven't done anything wrong."
"You're right." Dennis nodded. "Well, I guess I've got to start eating before it gets stone-cold."
"That's more like it." Harry smiled at him, reaching out for a goblet of butterbeer (since Christmas no one was willing to drink tea so the house-elves had been told not to dare to serve tea). As he reached out for his butterbeer, his eyes met that of the Potions teacher. Harry felt a shiver run down his spine and quickly diverted his glance.
Harry finished dinner early and headed upstairs, feeling tired. As he turned onto the third-floor corridor, he caught a glance of Catherine the Great, sitting in her frame, crying.
"What happened, your majesty?" he asked.
The woman looked up and wiped her eyes with a lacy handkerchief. "I've… I've got a letter from Akakiy…" she sniffed, showing an envelope to Harry with the text: 'to Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst'.
"Excuse me, but who is this lady with the long German name?" he asked.
"It's me!" the tsarina snapped. "It is my original name! You should have known as much!"
"Er, sorry. I am quite uninformed in this area of history." Harry said. "But why are you so sad?"
"Because… Akakiy broke up with me!" she bawled. "Fell in love with… pogrebins!"
"What? He fell in love with pogrebins?"
"No! Pogrebins!" she was pointing at something behind Harry's back.
"Oh, no!" Harry groaned, searching for his wand. He wasn't quick enough – before his hand could get hold of the wand in his robe-pocket, the two demons jumped upon him, pummeling him with their fists. One of them crawled upon Harry's face, and while he was trying to throw it off, he felt some sharp object tear at his chest. He called out in pain, tossed the two attackers off himself, and before he could stupefy them, he heard someone yell Avada Kedavra!
The two pogrebins fell to the floor, dead.
Harry looked at them in horror, then looked down at his left hand that he had instinctively pressed to his chest. His fingers were red with blood. "Ohhhh…" he gasped, feeling close to passing out. His vision grew dim, but he knew that someone was approaching: he heard the rustle of a rock.
"No more problem with those pesky little monsters." a female voice said. "Are you okay?"
"Do I look okay?" he grunted, opening his eyes, trying to make out the other person. He squinted and saw a blurry Tatyana kneeling next to him, taking his hand off his wound.
"Not too deep. You'll survive." she stated calmly. With a swish of her wand she made the pogrebins' bodies disappear. "I'll help you stand up."
Harry gripped her hand and stood up, feeling giddy.
"Come, I'll bandage your wound and give you something that will heal you in no time." she said.
"Oh, no you don't!" came another female voice.
"H…hermione?" Harry stammered. "What…?"
"You are not going with that woman, Harry." his sister-in-law said resolutely. "You're coming with me. Give me your hand, I'll help you."
"I don't need you to prop me, I can walk." he replied irritably. "Thanks, professor Fiodrovna. You saved my life." he told the other woman.
"You're welcome." Tatyana smiled at him, watching as he limped away with Hermione. "You are going to pay for this, Weasley." she whispered when they were out of earshot.
* * * * *
Harry's wound healed in a couple of hours, thanks to the school matron and her excellent patch-up charm: nothing remained of it but a short, white scar.
Harry was feeling all right again, but Hermione still seemed worried about him. Now she really wasn't letting him out of her sight and practically wanted to escort him to the bathroom as well.
"Hermione! I – am – fine!" he told her after a whole week of fussing over him. "Really. No need for you to come and watch as I pee, okay?"
"Okay!" she huffed. "I'm going back to my room and read!"
She stormed out, heading for the library instead of her room. On the corner, however, she bumped into professor Fiodrovna.
"Sorry." Tatyana said.
"Sorry?" Hermione shouted. "I know how sorry you are… that you couldn't get laid by Harry again!"
"What?" the other woman gasped.
"Don't pretend to be the innocent little maiden, professor!" Hermione replied with clenched fists. "I know what you were doing to my brother-in-law! I have no idea why you were doing it, but you can count on it that I'm going to find out!"
"And what if you find out too late?" Tatyana asked coolly, crossing her arms.
"That's out of the question. I'm going to get to know it, and you can be sure that I'm going to prevent you from harming Harry! Did you hear me? I'm – not- letting – you – harm – him!"
With that, she raced off.
"Are you sure, Weasley?" Tatyana sneered. "Are you totally sure? I'll show you, little one… I'll show you that if I decide something, no one can stand in my way!"
A/N2: do you like Kinder Surprise? I used to love the little toys in it when I was younger… and I still love the chocolate, it's so delicious! Anyway, I used it for the title because of its double meaning: in this case it refers to Hermione's twins, of course, because Kinder is the German word for children. There was a joke telling: what comes if a condom breaks? Well, Kinder Surprise :))