Hermione sat in her Hospital bed, staring gloomily at the wall. She knew, of course, what she had ALMOST done… it was the equivalent to suicide. Professor Dumbledore had been to see her, but no one else was allowed in. Good. Ron had tried to get in, but was forcefully repelled. Double Good.
~Damn him, anyway, ~ Hermione thought vehemently. ~ Thought he could make out with Lavender and I wouldn't find out? But- What if he WANTED me to find out? What if he wanted to end it and was too chicken? Ooooh! That- "… BLOODY GIT!" she growled, throwing her book against the wall hard. It made a dull thwacking sound that reminded her faintly of Professor Snape hitting the wall of the corridor. She picked up her quill and wrote on her parchment,
"Dear Professor Snape,
I apologize profusely for my unorthodox conduct night before last. It was quite wrong of me and I really don't know what came over me, other than a teenage squabble I'm sure you have no care to hear about, and I have no care to relay to you. I simply write, therefore, to offer my apologies for cursing you--- I didn't mean it.
Sincerely,
Hermione Lupin."
She sealed the letter and sent it off with Crookshanks. A half hour later he returned with the reply… and another note.
"Dear Miss Lupin,
Your apology is accepted. I know all about your "teenage squabble"… not much in this castle is missed, much less left unrelayed. Therefore, I would heretofore caution you to look at both sides of this puzzling predicament and not be blinded by rage as your boyfriend Mr. Weasley was. The spell you used in your rage was a Dark one and, I believe, a very good indicator of what would happen if you fell to the Dark Lord's reign. Be careful.
Professor Severus Snape."
She recognized the slightly childish handwriting on the other one as Ron's, and almost didn't open it.
Dear Hermione,
I am SO sorry for what happened. The truth of the matter is, I saw someone kissing someone else in the halls, and that someone looked *exactly* like you! (You'd think with all our experiences with Polyjuice Potions, I'd recognize one when I saw it.) You know me… I love you so much I get upset…
All right, all right, Harry! I get JEALOUS, ok?! Happy!?
Yes.
- Harry
ANYWAY, I overreacted-
Overreacted?! From what I heard, you KISSED LAVENDER BROWN! That's SICK!
- Harry
HARRY, STOP WRITING ON MY LETTER!
He's right, Ron.
- Mariah
When did YOU get your hands on this?
Ron, it's kinda hard to miss a half-written letter laid out on the common room table. Just Bloody apologize to my sister already!
- Sephie
Jesus, Sephie, you write large… ARGH! BLOODY HELL! HERMIONE, I'M SORRY, PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR BEING A FOOL!
Love,
Ron.
If it's any consolation, Hermione, the times we wrote on the letter, Ron was magically and Mugglically sanitizing his mouth. (When he started thinking about Lavender.)
- Mariah
Yeah. Herm, PLEASE forgive him. He's unbearable, AND he's sorry. AND even SNAPE is taking pity on him. Now THAT'S pathetic.
- Harry.
Hermione had to laugh at the interjections strategically placed throughout the letter. She regarded both of her letters carefully and realized that Ron would never betray her. His sense of honor was too great and he loved her too much for that. She could see what he thought he saw and realized why he had been so upset. After all, she knew firsthand what it felt like to see your "significant other" kissing someone else. She almost burst into tears again, but controlled herself enough to write,
"Dear Ron,
I forgive you. I wish that this had never happened... next time, talk to me first, and we can straighten things out,
Love,
Hermione."
She sent the letter off again and settled back in bed. "Hermione, where has your sense gone?" she scolded herself. "You should have figured that out yourself!"
~*~
Summer was swiftly coming, and Ginny made her first transformation into a fox three days before end of term. Mariah had yet to become an Animagus, which didn't faze her in the slightest… probably part of the reason it wasn't happening. Ally was getting rounder around the middle every day, and took two weeks out of class to separate boys and girls. Remus taught the boys normal class while she taught the girls about wizard pregnancy. Not that that was DADA, exactly… but her reasons were justified, and Ally realized that after Mariah came to her with a question.
"Professor Lupin?"
"Yes, Mariah?"
"Have you ever heard of the Amores Protectoras charm?" The blunt question made Ally blink.
"Why, yes, of course… it's taught in the History of Magic curriculum for seventh years here at Hogwarts. Why do you ask?"
Mariah leaned in closer to her teacher and whispered, "Because that spell is what enables me to be with Harry now."
Ally's eyes widened.
"If Lily Potter had not had the presence of mind to say it, Harry would be dead… and the world as we now know it would never have existed. I… I think you should teach it in this class, Professor… especially now, with Voldemort on the rise. Not just myth, but… practicality, as well. And…"
Mariah hesitated. Ally looked at her steadily, waiting for her to finish.
~These children know so much that we don't, ~ Ally's mind raced, thinking so fast she was almost stumbling over her thoughts. ~We never tell them what's going on, but they always know. We never trust them, and yet they tell us invaluable things that we might never have known. My God, what have we been thinking?! ~
"Besides that," Mariah continued, after watching a revelation flash across Ally's face, " you know about the Book?"
Ally could tell by the tone of her voice which Book she was talking about. "Yes."
"That book is only protected so powerfully because Lily charmed it while pregnant with Harry. That's a little taught fact: that a witch is twice as powerful while pregnant with a magical baby. Perhaps it should be planted a little more firmly…"
Mariah suddenly gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth, "Oh, Professor, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound insolent!"
All shook her head and smiled at the girl. "You sounded just like Lily for a moment."
Mariah started to apologize again before Ally could stop her.
"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear," Ally interrupted. "Now I think you need to run along before Severus gets his knickers in a knot."
"Yes, Professor," Mariah said, relieved. As she began to run out, Ally called for her to stop.
"And… Mariah?"
"Yes, Professor?"
"I will talk to Professor Dumbledore tonight about getting those spells added to the curriculum before the week is up."
"Thank you, Professor."
As Ally watched Mariah walk out the door Ally whispered, "No, thank you, Lily."
~*~
Whether by chance or by luck, most of the 'children' were in the Common Room that night when Professor Dumbledore himself came to see them.
"Good evening, students," he 'ahemed,' allowing them ample time to scramble into less incriminating spots.
"Good evening, Professor," most of the girls chorused. Lexi noticed that Draco was behind Dumbledore, looking far too comfortable for a Slytherin in the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Sit down, Draco," Dumbledore said, nodding toward Lexi, who was seated on the couch. Draco swiftly did as he was told.
"Persephone, do you still have that extra bracelet I gave you?"
"Yes, Professor. Accio Charm bracelet!" The bracelet came skittering down the staircase and into her hand.
"Give it to Mariah." Sephie did as she was told.
"When I first gave you girls these bracelets, I told you they would render you invisible. And so they do. But they are much more than that. If you examine your bracelets, you'll notice there are now eleven charmed links. One for invisibility, and one for each of the rest of you."
"But, Professor," interrupted Ginny, "There are only nine of us."
"Your brother George is the tenth, Miss Virginia," Dumbledore said quietly. He looked toward Sephie, who blushed furiously and jerked her chin away angrily.
"You ten will be instrumental in the defeat against the dark Lord. For some of you, this is no surprise. For others, it is. I ask you to watch out for each other. I'd ask you, if something happens, to come to me. I will allow you to deal with the problem as you see fit, but I do wish to know about that course of action before it is taken."
This speech was given with a pointed look at Lexi and Draco.
"I bid you all good night. Mr. Malfoy, I trust you can find your way back to your Common Room without much difficulty."
~*~
Around midnight, Minerva McGonagall got out of bed to check on the Book. To her horror, it was gone.
"ALBUS!!!!"
In a hurried round of the students, it was discovered that all were present but one: Mariah Jordan.