I don't own much of anything at all in this chapter. JKR and several other people do.
House points to the first person to catch all five literature/pop culture references and leave me a review about them. Good luck.
Ron, FRED, Harry, denotes thoughts and dreams.
Thanks to my beta, Natalie.
Thanks to all who have reviewed so far.
That being said:
*****
"So what do you think we're doing today?" Ron asked from his seat next to Hermione in Transfiguration.
"She mentioned something about O.W.L. reviews during the last class," Hermione replied looking over at her friend. Harry spun around to face the two of them from his seat in front of Hermione and next to Neville.
"I hope it's not the button thing again," Harry laughed.
"Oh why?" Hermione asked.
"Just because you had enough buttons for every pair of trousers in the castle doesn't mean the rest of us were that successful," Ron chided.
"That's why you need to review," Hermione scolded. Ron stuck out his tongue at her.
"Really mature Ron, really mature," Hermione laughed. Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to face the front of the room.
"Good morning, class," Professor McGonagall said. Ron pulled his tongue back in his mouth and sat up straight on the pretense of paying attention.
"Today, as I mentioned at the end of our last meeting, we will begin reviewing for your O.W.L. examinations," McGonagall announced. Ron smirked down at Hermione. Hermione managed a small eye-roll before returning to the lesson.
"You will take your O.W.L. examinations at the end of this year, so between now and then, we will devote every third class to reviewing material from your first four years." Only Hermione looked excited at the prospect of such a review schedule.
"Today's lesson will be a practical one. You will only need your wands," McGonagall said. Everyone made a mad scramble to shove their books into their book bags.
"Today, you will be changing a spoon into a fork." Professor McGonagall held up a fork for everyone to see. "So if you will each come up here and collect a spoon, you may begin." The fifth year Gryffindors slowly went up to McGonagall and collected their spoons. "Mr. Potter, may I have a word with you?" Harry picked a spoon out of the pile and stepped over to Professor McGonagall.
"Yes Professor?" He asked.
"I had an interesting conversation with Professor Dumbledore the other day and we came to a general consensus about this lesson. If and after you change three spoons into forks, I would like you to try to change a fourth."
"Okay," Harry said, slightly puzzled at her directions.
"Without your wand," Professor McGonagall amended. Harry looked at her nervously.
"Professor Dumbledore told me about your unfortunate incident with Professor Snape the other day," McGonagall explained. Harry was almost sure he saw a smirk flash quickly across Professor McGonagall's face. McGonagall, however, didn't make fun of the misfortune of other professors.
"So I try it wandless then?" Harry asked, mostly for clarification.
"Yes. Good luck," Professor McGonagall said. Harry took his spoon back to his desk and pulled out his wand. Hermione had already transfigured her first fork and was headed back to McGonagall for another spoon. Ron had managed to flatten the spoon into an oval-shaped metal disk attached to the handle of the fork. Neville's spoon had sprouted the very beginnings of tines. Harry placed his spoon on his desk and pulled his wand out of his pocket. He pointed it at the spoon, muttered a series of spells to turn it to a fork, and flicked the tip of the wand at it. The spoon silently morphed into a fork. Harry picked the fork up and looked back at Hermione with a beaming smile on his face. Hermione transfigured her third fork perfectly. She picked up all three and waved them at Harry with a grin on her face. Ron had finally created tines on his fork and was working to change the excess metal around the edges to complete the shape of the fork. Harry and Hermione both walked up to Professor McGonagall. McGonagall handed each of them two spoons apiece.
"Think you're as good as me, do you Potter?" Hermione joked as they walked back towards their seats.
"Yeah Granger," Harry laughed. He took his seat next to Neville. He could hear Hermione behind him talking herself through the proper spells to transfigure both spoons at once. Ron jumped from his seat and headed towards McGonagall for another spoon. Neville's spoon hadn't changed anymore since the miniature tines he caused it to sprout. Harry quickly transfigured one of his spoons and started on the next, but Hermione, with her modified spells, was faster. She was on her way back to her desk with more spoons when Harry completed his second and started to take all three forks up to McGonagall for inspection. McGonagall deemed all three forks good enough to hand him his fourth spoon. He took it back to his desk and waved it in Hermione's face.
"What's that Potter, your fourth? I just finished my seventh!" Hermione laughed. Harry shrugged and slipped his wand in his pocket. Hermione had started taking her forks up to McGonagall to collect more spoons, so she didn't notice his move. Harry picked up the spoon and held it in both hands. He closed his eyes and began imagining the spoon as a fork.
"You know Potter, that spoon isn't going to transfigure itself. You need to put it on your desk and actually point your wand at it," Hermione joked as she walked by him in returning to her seat. Harry tried not to break his visualization of the spoon as a fork, but Hermione's comment threw him off. He opened his eyes and looked at the spoon. It hadn't changed at all.
"Hermione, he's trying the wandless magic thing we told you about!" Ron hissed. Neville turned around to look at Ron, open-mouthed.
"Hush Neville. Don't broadcast it until he actually does it," Hermione scolded, in case Neville had planned on saying anything. Harry closed his hands around the spoon again and imagined a fork lying in his hands. This time, he felt the spoon beginning to change in his hands, but Dean fell into him as he and Seamus raced back to their seats. Evidently, Dean and Seamus had the same type of competition that Harry and Hermione had. When Dean fell, Harry's eyes flew open and he lost his concentration, causing the spoon to quit changing. Dean didn't realize Harry was actually attempting to do wandless magic, so he jumped into his seat and set off transfiguring his second spoon. Seamus was also on his second. Harry closed his hands around the spoon and, for the third time, began imagining it as a fork. He didn't realize it, but Hermione got out of her desk and stood next to him so that anyone falling towards him would hit her first and she could act as a human shield. For the second time, Harry felt the spoon begin to change in his hands. The spoon portion flattened out and lengthened. Then it split into four distinct parts. The handle also lengthened and thinned a bit. When the spoon/fork finished moving, Harry opened his eyes and uncurled his hands from around the fork. He held it up to Ron, Hermione and Neville who were all watching intently.
"You did it!" Ron cried.
"Way to go Harry!" Hermione squealed. She jumped straight up in the air and clapped her hands together as she squealed.
"And you're talking about Ginny acting like Astrid?" Ron asked. Hermione stopped jumping and glared at him.
"Shove it Weasley," she said, smacking him lightly on his shoulder.
"Mr. Potter, did it work?" Professor McGonagall asked. Harry held up the fork to her.
"Very good Mr. Potter, I shall tell Professor Dumbledore of your success." Professor McGonagall said, before she was almost knocked over by Dean and Seamus rushing to the front of the class for more spoons. "Would you like to try another?"
"Okay," Harry agreed.
"Professor McGonagall?" Hermione asked.
"Yes Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall replied. Hermione held up two handfuls of perfect forks.
"May I try to transfigure one without my wand?" Hermione asked. Professor McGonagall picked up two spoons from her desk and handed one to Hermione and one to Harry.
"So how exactly do you do this?" Hermione asked Harry, looking at the spoon in her hand.
"Figure out for yourself, you must," Harry said, shooting Hermione a half smile. Ron, Hermione, Seamus and Dean all burst into laughter, ignoring the quizzical looks from their professor and classmates.
"Muggle movie," Harry explained with a smile. He wrapped his hands around the spoon and closed his eyes again, hoping to transfigure the fork faster this time. As Hermione, Ron, Seamus and Dean were all still laughing, he managed to direct his thought at the spoon with considerably less interruption. He could tune out the noise but people falling into his shoulder was considerably more difficult to ignore. He closed his eyes and envisioned the spoon as a fork. He felt the familiar change in his hand and in a matter of moments, he held a fork where the spoon had been. He held it up triumphantly to Professor McGonagall.
"It seems, Mr. Potter, that you can indeed do a bit of wandless transfiguration," Professor McGonagall said, gracing him with one of her usual tight-lipped smiles. "Take 15 points for Gryffindor. And Miss Granger, it seems as though you made several of your spells plural?"
"Yes ma'am," Hermione replied.
"Take 10 points for Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall said.
"Thank you, Professor." Hermione looked down at the spoon in her hands. "Now Harry, how do I do this?"
"I really don't know. Close your eyes and concentrate," Harry said.
"A lot of help you are," Hermione laughed.
"Don't worry, Hermione, I'm sure you can find a book in the library that explains wandless magic," Ron quipped. Hermione turned and glared at Ron.
"Did you ever do any accidental magic as a child?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes," Hermione replied.
"She did this one bit in church where she banished her," Ron began.
"RON WEASLEY!" Hermione cried before Ron could finish his sentence. "For your information, the church bit was done completely magic free." Ron turned bright red and Harry couldn't suppress his laughter.
"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I did some accidental magic as a child. After I read Matilda I discovered that if I concentrated hard enough, I could make my books fly across my room," Hermione said.
"Did you ever try to press your navel for invisibility?" Dean Thomas asked. His comment received more than one raised eyebrow from his classmates.
"I tried but that one didn't work," Hermione replied.
"For me either," Dean replied. Hermione noticed the odd looks, but refrained from explaining.
"You know, you would use your accidental magic to summon books," Ron laughed. Hermione glared at him.
"So if you concentrated to make the books fly, wouldn't you use the same concentration to transfigure the spoon?' Harry asked logically.
"Good point, Harry," Hermione replied. She clasped the spoon tightly in her hands and closed her eyes. Everyone gathered around stared at her intently. Before she opened her eyes, her hands opened and the spoon floated lazily across the room.
"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked. Hermione opened her eyes and looked at the older witch.
"Did I do it?" She asked.
"Not quite," Harry replied. The spoon clattered to the floor and he picked it up.
"Evidently the channeling of your magic you taught yourself as a child is only allowing you to make objects fly at this point," Professor McGonagall attempted to explain. Hermione rubbed her temples with her pointer fingers.
"That and it gives me a headache," she said, looking down at her desk.
"With a little more practice, that should stop happening," McGonagall said. Ron patted her on her back.
"At least you can do it." He said.
"Professor McGonagall?" Neville asked.
"Yes Neville?"
"What is wrong with this thing?" He held up his barely transfigured spoon to the professor.
"Ah, Neville, you have made a very common mistake," Professor McGonagall said, taking the spoon/fork from Neville. She held it up for everyone to see.
"He made a spork!" Seamus cried.
"Yes Seamus, this utensil is now known as a spork. In 1939, an American wizard by the name of Varian Sanders was eating a chicken dinner. He had eaten all of his potatoes with a spoon, and needed a fork for his chicken. However, he didn't have a fork. He decided to transfigure his spoon into a fork," Professor McGonagall explained. "And Neville, can you tell me where he went wrong?"
"Did he try to transfigure the tines first?" Neville guessed.
"Yes. To properly transfigure a fork from a spoon, you must first flatten the spoon then transfigure the tines in, rather than the other way around. If you try to create the tines first, the spoon is stuck in its curved shape and will not allow full tines to develop," Professor McGonagall explained.
"So what happened to Varian Sanders?" Seamus asked.
"He named his creation spork' and his brother stole it and made a fortune," Professor McGonagall said.
"I thought," began Dean.
"He made a fortune from the spork, Mr. Thomas," McGonagall cut Dean off mid sentence. Harry took another spoon from McGonagall's desk and clasped it in both hands. He closed his eyes and began the transfiguration process for the third time.
"Show off," Ron muttered.
"Why don't you try it?" Hermione suggested.
"Professor McGonagall, may I try to transfigure a spoon without my wand?" Ron asked. He held up four wand-transfigured forks for her to see.
"I suppose all of you but Neville may try," Professor McGonagall announced. Everyone in the class except Neville had transfigured at least three forks with their wands.
"May I try another with my wand?" Neville asked.
"Yes," Professor McGonagall replied. She summoned a spoon from her desk and handed it to him. Everyone else walked to the desk and chose spoons.
*****
"Did anyone have any success?" Professor McGonagall asked. Since the advent of Harry's wandless magic, they had all sat quietly in their desks attempting to transfigure spoons without their wands. Hermione pointed to a large pile of forks on her desk.
"Did any one have any luck wandless?" McGonagall amended her statement. Harry held up six forks.
"Anyone besides Mr. Potter?" McGonagall deadpanned. "Anyone… Anyone?"
"Very well then. Your homework for the next class is a parchment-long essay on the ethics of transfiguring animate objects into inanimate objects," McGonagall said, "And Miss Granger?"
"Yes?" Hermione asked.
"You have the pleasure of informing Slytherin house what happened to their spoons." McGonagall said as she walked out of the room. Hermione's jaw dropped and her eyes opened wide. Ron and Harry exchanged incredulous glances.
"I think McGonagall actually just made a joke!" Ron exclaimed.
"What am I going to do with all of these forks?" Hermione asked.
"You shouldn't have made so many," Harry scolded.
"Christmas presents?" Ron asked. All three friends laughed. Hermione scraped the pile of silverware into her bag and they all headed towards the Great Hall for Lunch.
"Hi guys!" a small voice called from behind the three friends. They all spun to see Astrid walking towards them with Dennis Creevey.
"Hey Astrid," Hermione replied. Ron and Harry waved at her.
"Which class did you guys just have?" She asked.
"Transfiguration," Harry replied.
"Really? I have that on Mondays. We were transfiguring spoons into forks. It was quite difficult."
"Don't worry about that Astrid, we've got the two masters on that right here," Ron laughed, clapping Harry on his back and smiling at Hermione.
"What?" Astrid asked.
"We started reviewing for O.W.L.'s today and we did the spoon to fork transfiguration as our first review," Hermione explained.
"How did you guys do?" Dennis asked.
"Hermione has enough forks in her bag for everyone in Gryffindor tower to have two, and Harry can actually transfigure a fork without his wand!" Ron exclaimed.
"Ron. Don't say that so loud," Astrid scolded. Ron looked down at the little girl and she looked back at him with a very serious expression on her small face.
"All I'm saying is that Harry's wandless magic could possible be more beneficial to him if the whole world didn't know he could do it." Astrid reasoned.
"Are you saying there is someone in this castle that could get me in trouble for being able to do wandless magic?" Harry asked.
"Not necessarily in trouble," Astrid said, "But don't you think an element of surprise is important in situations where wandless magic could prove to be the most useful?"
"You're right," Harry said. He reached over and messed up the little girls hair.
"Hands off the hair!" Astrid squealed, smacking his hands away from her head. Ron, Harry and Hermione all laughed at her. Ron pulled open the door to the Great Hall and allowed his friends to pass through before he entered. Ginny, Fred and George were already in their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. Dennis and Astrid went to the spot at the other end of the table they had claimed as their own, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats around the remaining Weasley siblings.
"I missed you!" Fred whispered as soon as Hermione sat down. He dropped a kiss on her cheek, eliciting a loud "AWW!" from Ginny and gagging noises from Harry and Ron. George seemed more occupied with something near the ceiling.
"Ginny, look!" He said, pointing upwards. Fred and Ginny both looked to where he was pointing. A lone owl circled high above the Gryffindor table.
"ARGUS!" Fred and George both cried.
"BRAEDEN!" Ginny squealed.
"No, that's definitely Argus," Ron quipped.
"10 points from Gryffindor, Misters Weasley, for disrespecting a staff member," Snape spat from just behind Harry and Ron.
"But," Began George
"We didn't" Continued Fred.
"Professor Snape. I believe the owl's name is Argus," Dumbledore explained from his position at the head table. Snape raised an eyebrow at the twins.
"His name is Argus Without Whom We Would Have Never Gotten So Many Detentions," Fred provided. George untied the letter from the owl and handed it to Ginny. He fed the owl a crust of bread from his plate and the owl headed off towards the owlery.
"Braeden?" Ron asked his little sister. Ginny, immersed in her letter, didn't pay attention to him. Harry peeked over the edge of the letter and nodded at Ron. Ron, George, and Fred all instantly rolled their eyes.
"You know, it's really nice to know that we bought an owl solely for her to send back and forth to France," George laughed.
"They use his owl too!" Hermione defended her friend and her cousin.
"My bloody point exactly!" George exclaimed.
"Why do they need two owls?" Fred asked.
"They really like each other," Hermione explained.
"I really like you, but I don't see the need to owl you twice a day every day!" Fred exclaimed.
"Would you if I lived in France?" Hermione asked. No one noticed the collective held breath from George, Harry, and Ron. None of the boys trusted Fred's ability answer Hermione's question correctly.
"No," Fred replied. The other three boys inhaled more. Ron and Harry exchanged a panicked glance. Hermione's happy expression began morphing to an angry one.
"Twice a day simply wouldn't be enough," Fred finished smoothly, dropping a kiss on Hermione's forehead. George, Ron, and Harry all exhaled loudly. A broad grin broke across Hermione's face and she leaned her head on Fred's shoulder.
"You're too sweet," she laughed. Fred smiled across the top of her head at George. George rolled his eyes at his brother.
"Braeden made the school team!" Ginny exclaimed, looking up from her letter. She folded it and placed it next to her plate. Ron put a hand on either side of her face and pulled her face to his. He peered into her left eye with his right, leaving only about 10 centimeters of space between their faces?
"Won! Whadder you doin'?" Ginny asked. He was holding her face rather tightly, slightly impeding her speech.
"I'm looking for the tears that usually accompany a Braeden letter, and let me register my amazement at their absence!" Ron explained. He let go of Ginny's face and turned back to his food. Fred, George, and Harry all laughed appreciatively. Hermione smiled at Ginny and shook her head.
"Boys!" mouthed Ginny, looking up at the ceiling. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"So he's keeper for the school team?' Harry asked.
"When are our school team tryouts?" Fred asked.
"How are they planning on picking the team?" Ron questioned.
"Can't they just change the name of the Gryffindor team to Hogwarts school team for those matches?" George complained.
"Yes, Braeden is the keeper for the Beaubaxtons school team," Ginny answered Harry's questioned.
"Don't you think they should at least hold tryouts for the sake of formality before they do that?" Ron answered George's.
"Tryouts are a week from Friday," Harry told Fred, "You're half of a captain, you should know that."
"I'm the better half too!" Fred said with a smile.
"I resent that Fredrick Weasley," George spat. Fred smiled again at his brother.
"Down boys!" Ginny cried. "Can reserves try out?"
"I'm not sure," Harry replied.
"Ask Dumbledore," Hermione suggested.
"Mark this day in your calendars!" Ron cried.
"Why?" asked George.
"Hermione just gave advice to answering a question that didn't involve going to the library," Ron laughed.
"Who do you think will make the Hogwarts team?" Ginny asked.
"Harry," came Fred and George's prompt reply.
"Not Malfoy?" Hermione asked innocently. Everyone laughed at her.
"You know what I heard?" Ron asked.
"What?" Harry, Fred and George all replied. They leaned in towards him with interested looks on their faces.
"Boy do you four look like teenage witches waiting to hear the latest gossip," Ginny muttered. The boys shot her dirty looks but Hermione laughed appreciatively.
"Malfoy isn't going to be the Slytherin seeker next year," Ron said.
"Who will be then?" Fred asked.
"I'll bet it's Snotty Little Malfoy," George guessed.
"What's Malfoy going to do?" Ron asked.
"Keeper," Ginny said.
"What?" Harry asked.
"It makes sense doesn't it? Their keeper is the only seventh year on their team, I think," Ginny explained.
"Pucey?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Ginny replied, "Because Warrington, Derrick and Bole are all sixth years."
"Who are the new chasers?" Fred asked.
"Zabini and some fourth year girl," Harry replied.
"Finley Alexander," Ginny supplied the name.
"Are they any good?" George asked.
"From what I hear, Zabini isn't bad, and the girl is a pretty good flyer." Harry said.
"Better than our chasers?" Ron asked.
"Don't we have classes to go to?" Hermione interrupted. The five Quidditch enthusiasts glared at her.
"Probably not. Alicia, Angelina and Katie have been playing together since their second year," Fred said.
"Experience like that counts for something," George added.
"Don't you boys have to go all of the way up to Divination?" Hermione asked, glaring pointedly at Harry and Ron.
"What about the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams?" Ginny questioned.
"CLASSES!" Hermione shrieked. The Weasleys and Harry instantly became silent and looked at her.
"If you say so, Miss Granger," Fred laughed. Hermione rolled her eyes, jumped up from the table and picked up her bag. She started towards the doors of the Great Hall, with Fred close on her heels, to a chorus of whipping noises from George, Ron and Harry.
"We probably should head up to Divination," Ron suggested. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Ginny, come on! I saw the owl, now what was in the letter?" Jae Lucas cried. She and a few of the other fourth years were headed out of the Great Hall. Ginny quickly grabbed her letter and her bag and hurried after Jae. Harry and Ron picked up their bags and started towards, the door. Lee Jordan approached George.
"Man, I saw what happened with Snape. What are we planning on doing about it?" George's face lit up and he and his friend began plotting revenge.
"What do you think Trelawney has in store for us today?" Ron asked after about five minutes of walking in silence.
"Do you think the fates have informed her yet?" Harry replied. He and Ron both laughed.
"What do you make of Astrid's suggestions about your wandless magic?" Ron queried.
"I think it's reasonable," Harry replied. "The element of surprise in using something like that would be quite beneficial in some situations."
"When would you not have your wand though?"
"Ron, when I met Voldemort last June, he took my wand almost immediately," Harry quietly explained. Ron's face blanched.
"Do you think she knows something we don't?"
"She's a Malfoy, Ron, she probably knows a lot of things we don't." Harry said. Ron began climbing the ladder up into the Divination classroom. Harry followed him closely. The rest of their class was already seated around on various poufs and armchairs. Lavender and Parvati glared at the boys' tardiness. Harry sank into a chair closest to the window to avoid the stifling perfumed heat of Professor Trelawney classroom. Ron slid into a chair next to him.
"Good afternoon!" Professor Trelawney's voice appeared from the mist at the back of the classroom, followed shortly by her moth-like body.
"Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney," Lavender and Parvati chorused.
"The fates have informed me that we need to devote a few of our classes to some of history's more notorious seers. Today we will be studying the quatrains of Nostradamus." Professor Trelawney announced. Harry leaned back in his chair as she charmed a blackboard in the front of the room. Everyone reached into their backpacks for parchment and quills. Harry also pulled out his transfiguration book so he would have something to press down on as he wrote.
"Alright then, first a bit of biographical information on Nostradamus. Michel de Nostradame was born on December 14, 1503 in St. Remi, France." Professor Trelawney began. Harry wrote the facts down on his parchment. A spare bit of parchment hit him squarely in his chest. He unfolded it.
I've died and gone to hell.
Harry looked over at Ron and then back at the parchment. He wrote something on it, waited until Professor Trelawney wasn't looking, and threw it back at his friend.
Wake me up when you get back.
With that, he leaned back in his chair and looked out of the window. The first years from one house were having their first flying lessons down on the Quidditch pitch with Madam Hooch. He watched with interest as the small figures tried, mostly in vain, to get their brooms to jump into their hands. Then he thought about his Firebolt. He almost laughed out loud at the though of its enthusiasm to be flown, as compared to the school brooms. Moving his hand as though he was writing, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, letting his mind drift to outside on the Quidditch pitch with his Firebolt. "Where every one should be," he reasoned, and had to keep himself from laughing again. Slowly, the heat of the room and the steady drone of Trelawney's voice over took him, numbing his senses…
"Thank you for bringing your son here to me," the cold voice pierced the warm summer night. Three black robed figures stood huddled together at the edge of a forest. A large field spread out before them, with a weather-beaten shack off in the distance. The two smaller figures cowered in front of the tallest.
"For someone so young, he is certainly enlightened to the way the world should be," The taller figure laughed. The other man laid prostrate on the ground in front of the tallest figure, overtaken by the power emanating from the taller being
"Harry, I'm back!" A persistent voice said, rousing Harry from his nap.
"What?" Harry asked, opening his eyes to look straight into Ron's face. "Where did you go?"
"Never mind. You slept through class. Lets go before Trelawney realizes it," Ron insisted. Harry dragged his knuckles across his particularly tingly scar.
"Bloody hell Ron, you're going to get it!" Harry cried. Ron woke him at the pivotal point of his dream for the third time
"What?" Ron asked. A confused look crossed his face. Harry scratched his scar again.
"With the way he's scratching his head, I'd say run," Seamus laughed.
"I was having that dream again!" Harry hissed, pushing Ron towards the trap door. Ron scrambled down the ladder with Harry close behind him.
"The dream about Voldemort's Jr. League?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Harry replied.
"And I woke you up right before the cloak fell off of the boy, right?" Ron laughed.
"Actually no, it was a bit different this time," Harry explained.
"Let's go find Hermione and then you can tell me about it," Ron said. He and Harry set off towards Gryffindor tower.
%%%%%
Hermione ran up the steps to her dorm. She ran in her room and dumped her Arithmancy books on her bed.
"Hermione, I think this is for you," Parvati said from somewhere behind her. Hermione turned to face her roommate. A dignified eagle owl sat on Parvati's bedside table.
"Sebastian!" Hermione said. She went over and removed the letter from her owl's leg. She slipped him and owl treat and he took off towards the owlery, probably to be with Hedwig. She unrolled the letter.
HERMIONE
I FOOLED YOU DIDN'T I? DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD EXPECT A LETTER FROM ME WITH YOUR OWN OWL.
THE CONVERSATION AT LUNCH TODAY MADE ME THINK. SCARY, I KNOW. JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT IN FRANCE DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T WRITE YOU A LETTER EVERY NOW AND THEN DOES IT?
AND NOW THAT I'VE STARTED THIS, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO WRITE. REMIND ME TO ASK BRAEDEN NEXT TIME I SEE HIM. HE MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT, GINNY'S ALWAYS VERY TAKEN WITH HIS LETTERS.
WELL, I GUESS I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU HOW HAPPY I AM THAT YOU IGNORED MY LACK OF SUAVITY AND SAID YES ANYWAY! IT'S BEEN 1 DAY AND 17 HOURS!
I THINK THIS IS ALL.
SEE YOU AT DINNER J
FRED
Hermione folded the letter and smiled broadly.
"Fred?" Parvati asked. Hermione nodded dumbly.
"How did you manage to get with him?" Parvati asked.
"He asked and I said yes." Hermione made her relationship sound as simple as the spoon transfiguration. Parvati rolled her eyes and Lavender giggled.
"Is he a good kisser?" Lavender asked.
"Do you even know?" Parvati questioned.
"No noses," Hermione giggled, before waving at her roommates and heading out of the room to find Harry and Ron. Parvati looked at Lavender and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"No noses?" Lavender asked. Parvati shrugged.
%%%%%
"Hermione!" Ron called. He and Harry were climbing through the portrait hole, on their way back from Divination.
"Hey guys, how was Divination?" Hermione asked.
"I went to sleep and Ron went to hell!" Harry announced proudly. Hermione clasped her hand to her forehead and looked at the floor.
"Harry had more of the dream," Ron said.
"The dream?" Hermione asked.
"The DREAM!" Ron replied.
"More?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, let's go over here," Harry said, pulling his friends towards a group of chairs in the corner. He slid into one of the chairs. Ron sat on another and Hermione stretched out in the floor between the two of them.
"So what else did you learn?" Ron asked.
"Well, the only real difference was, the man in the dream bowed down to Voldemort, and Voldemort didn't try to touch the child," Harry said.
"So you still don't know who the kid is?" Hermione asked.
"Nope," Harry replied, "it could be anyone. And I still don't know why the child is important anyway."
"It's Keiran Malfoy!" Ron insisted.
"You know, to be such good friends with his sister, you sure don't like Little Malfoy much," Hermione laughed. Ron scowled at her.
"Voldemort said something too," Harry said. He scratched his scar again.
"What?' Hermione asked.
"He made some comment about the young one being enlightened to the way the world should be." Harry said.
"So he does have a heir!" Ron said.
"Don't jump to conclusions," Hermione scolded, "I think Harry is onto something with the immortality not legacy."
"He probably needs an evil child for some other bit of dark magic to bring him that much closer to immortality," Harry guessed.
"If we're going by names here, then Keiran would probably be dark enough," Hermione said.
"What?" Ron asked.
"Keiran means 'little dark one' and Nigel means 'black'," Hermione explained.
"Keiran Nigel?" Harry questioned.
"Astrid told me," Hermione explained.
"But why Keiran and not Draco?" Harry asked.
"How big is the kid in the dream?" Hermione asked.
"He's probably between eight and twelve. It's rather hard to tell because he's wearing a big black cloak," Harry said.
"Eight and twelve?" Hermione asked.
"Hell, for all we know, it could be Colin Creevey. He is small enough and he's 14!" Harry said.
"So we think of all of the people in that age group we know," Hermione said.
"And then we become amazed at the sheer number of the ones we don't know," Ron said, rolling his eyes at his friend.
"At least Hermione has a starting point," Harry said.
"What about the name thing. Do you know the meanings of the names of any other kids that age?"
"Astrid's first name means 'my father rejoices' and Astrid means 'like a star.'" Hermione said.
"I really don't think it's Astrid," Ron laughed.
"No," added Harry.
"I was thinking about names this summer when you all were at my house," Hermione said.
"Brantley is in that age range!" Ron exclaimed.
"What does Brantley mean?" Harry asked.
"I don't know what Brantley means, but his middle name is Aaron and that means enlightened," Hermione said.
"Wait, didn't You-Know-Who say the young one was enlightened?" Ron asked.
"You're grasping for straws now, Weasley," Hermione warned.
"Hermione Anne Granger, you've got some explaining to do!" an exasperated Ginny cried from across the common room.
"We'll continue this discussion later. I must go convince another one of your siblings that my middle name isn't Anne," Hermione laughed. She jumped up and ran over to where Ginny stood. Harry and Ron looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"Girls," muttered Harry. Ron nodded his head in silent, annoyed agreement.