I'd like to thank Balthazar23, Antar23, werewolfXZ, damadape, TheNarratingMan, WraithNX01, Vahktang, flixus, Lynix, TripsToTheRescue, fredfred and InquisitorCOC for betareading.

Chapter 37: The Interview

Godric's Hollow, Devon, Britain, July 20th, 1996

Desmonda Bartlemout checked her robes one more time before approaching the Potters' residence. It wouldn't do to arrive with, say, some stain on her chest from the stew in the Leaky Cauldron or some wrinkles that weren't fashionable. This was her big break, after all - her chance to finally surpass Rita Skeeter as the most famous, and best paid, reporter of the Daily Prophet, Britain's leading newspaper.

The scoop of the year - or the decade, depending on what she would hear in a little while: The dirt on what exactly had happened to Harry Potter, the Child of Prophecy, on that pirate island! Everyone in Britain was talking about this. It had made international news. And she was the reporter who would interview the boy and find out the truth!

As long as she could keep it together. She found no speck of dust on her robes - fresh from Madam Malkin's - took a deep breath and approached the gate. Be professional, she reminded herself. She could do this. She would do this.

Be polite, she reminded herself as she entered the yard. The Potters had a reputation. They had fought the Dark Lord himself four times and lived. They had lured him into an ambush in this very house and helped Dumbledore destroy him utterly. And they had a temper. Desmonda hadn't gone to Hogwarts with them - she had entered the school a year after the Potters had finished - but she had heard the stories about Lily Potter née Evans and the current Head Auror. And their feud with Rita.

Desmonda had no intention to enter a feud with the Potters. Or Dumbledore. Be polite. Be professional. She nodded at her own thoughts and knocked on the door.

After a few seconds, it opened, and Lily Potter nodded at her. "Mrs Bartlemout."

"Yes." The witch was holding her wand, Desmonda noticed. And moving it. She licked her lips. "I'm a little early, I fear."

"That's OK," Mrs Potter replied. "Come in."

Desmonda took another deep breath and entered the house. She could almost hear her first lines. 'A cosy house with that aura of old magic you could almost touch, not as pretentious as some manors, but still, without a doubt, the home of an old pureblood family…' Better scratch the 'pretentious'; too many not quite so old families might feel slighted. And the pureblood remark might anger Mrs Potter if some rumours were correct. So, old wizarding family, then.

"Harry! Hermione! The reporter's here!" Mrs Potter's voice carried through the house without shouting.

It wasn't an Amplifying Charm, either, Desmonda knew how those sounded. She cocked her head. Perhaps some enchantment covering the house?

"A spell of my own invention," Mrs Potter told her unasked. "The yelling started to hurt my ears."

"Oh." That was nifty. And a subtle reminder that Mrs Potter was an accomplished spellcrafter of some renown. Desmonda made a mental note to mention that in her article - it never hurt to flatter your sources. "That seems quite handy."

"It is."

"Did you publish the spell?"

"No. It's just a little charm for convenience, hardly worth the effort."

Desmonda kept smiling despite the fake modesty the witch displayed. There were few enough spellcrafters as things were, and any new spell was an accomplishment. For a muggleborn, the witch certainly had adapted to the tendency of Old Families to hoard spells.

"Please have a seat. Can I offer you some tea?"

"Thank you."

Mrs Potter flicked her wand, and a tray with tea and sandwiches floated into the room. No house-elf, Desmonda made another mental note. That was to be expected - the Potters weren't an Old Family, after all.

She cocked her head when she heard steps on the stairs before her cup was full. A moment later, Harry Potter, followed by a girl who had to be Miss Granger entered the room.

"Harry, Hermione - Mrs Bartlemout. Mrs Bartlemout - my son Harry and Hermione Granger."

Desmonda beamed at them. "Not that either of you need an introduction. Everyone in Britain knows your names."

"And our faces, I suppose," Harry replied with a grin. A cheeky lad, just like she had been told.

"It was to be expected - we were the indirect cause of an international incident, after all," Granger added. Also as expected.

They looked better than on the pictures Desmonda had seen, she noted while they took cups of their own. Both showed a slight tan and looked healthy. She couldn't spot any sign of starvation. Her sources at St Mungo's confirmed that they hadn't been treated.

"Thank you, Miss Potter," Granger said when the witch filled her cup.

"Call me Lily, Hermione."

"Lily, sorry."

Desmonda hid her interest. A recent development, then. Or a sign of something else? The two teenagers had been together upstairs, presumably in Harry's room. And both looked quite comfortable with each other - which was very unlike the stories she had been told about how they acted towards each other at Hogwarts.

She smiled as kindly as she could. Yes, this was already shaping up to be an extraordinary interview. Frontpage for sure.

"...and I kept its attention while Hermione swam to the cave we had discovered," Harry said.

"And as soon as I was inside the cave, I summoned Harry to me."

Desmonda stopped her notes and looked up. "You summoned him?" That was impossible. The Summoning Charm didn't work on people! The first sign of a lie! Oh, the story she could weave around that!

"Technically, I summoned his clothes," Granger explained. "But it works out the same."

"Ah." Really. It probably could work. But to summon another person? That was far beyond the charm as well. Desmonda remembered very well how hard it had been to master the charm until she could summon her luggage.

"So, I was yanked out of the wyvern's way and dragged into the cave, just before it took another dive at me," Harry went on.

"He crashed into me, which was a good thing since we were driven back to the end of the cave," Granger, once again, cut in. "A moment later, the wyvern crashed into the cave, trying to get at us, but it got stuck in the entrance and couldn't reach us at the back."

Desmonda suppressed a frown. Couldn't the girl get a hint and let Harry tell the tale? No one needed her long-winded drivel.

"It almost got Hermione's leg," Harry added. "We could smell its breath - and that was nasty, I'll tell you."

"No more than any other predator of that size would smell," Granger spoke up. "Some muggle animals even use the bacteria growing in their mouths to weaken prey."

Who cared about muggle animals? But the whole thing sounded too fantastical. "So, you managed to summon Harry across the pond?" Desmonda asked. If Granger doubled down on that, she would have a more solid cause to point out the fabrications.

"Yes." Granger frowned. "We actually summoned each other a couple of times."

"Well, mostly me." Harry laughed. "My clothes were a little more durable."

"Your robes were more durable?" Desmonda blinked. Granger's robes must have been ratty indeed. Was she a poor muggleborn, trying to net herself a rich pureblood? It was quite obvious from the way the two were seated and talking that they were a couple, after all. Granger would have had ample opportunities to seduce the boy while they were stranded.

"My muggle clothes." Granger blushed slightly. "I was dressed for the summer."

Oh. Desmonda's eyes widened. She knew all about muggle clothes! Of course the boy had fallen for the girl. But still… "And you feared they would be ripped off instead of, ah, carrying you with them?"

"It didn't seem too unlikely, given the forces involved. That was why Harry got to play bait again."

"Yes." Harry nodded with a grin. "And I knew she could summon me quickly enough to avoid a diving wyvern."

"Really." As if anyone but a trained Auror could do that!

"Are you doubting us?" Granger was frowning at her. "Do you need a demonstration?"

"You're still underage," Mrs Potter spoke up.

Was Granger about to break the law in front of her? 'Delinquent seduces Pureblood Boy…' No, that was too much like what Rita would write.

"But Hermione's right - you do sound as if you doubt this."

"The Summoning Charm is quite a complex spell which needs years of practice to master," Desmonda replied with a polite smile.

"We've been casting the spell for years," Granger retorted.

"It's not on the syllabus until your fifth year," Desmonda told her. You didn't forget a spell you barely cast at your O.W.L.s, after all.

"Who cares? It's not a restricted spell and too useful to wait until fifth year to learn it," Harry said, shrugging. "Once I saw Hermione do it, I had to learn it as well.

Both chuckled as if that was some sort of a joke. Well, perhaps it was if the rumours about their feud were true. Which, frankly, made the sudden reversal look very suspicious. Surely, Mr Potter would have his son tested for love potions…

"Anyway, yes, I did summon Harry, and I would be happy to demonstrate this to you, should you doubt me. We can travel outside Britain's jurisdiction if you require a demonstration." Granger glared at her.

Desmonda wanted to dismiss the girl, but…

"Or we can ask Dumbledore to show you the memories in his Pensieve," Harry suggested. "If he isn't too bothered by it."

Right. A reminder that Dumbledore was a family friend. The kid was more subtle than Desmonda had given a Gryffindor credit for. She was tempted to call Granger's bluff… but what if it wasn't a bluff? Would the girl really expect her to be too cowed to check? And what if it was true, and Desmonda cast doubts on them, and they got another reporter to check their memories? What if they offered that scoop to Rita? Rita wouldn't hesitate to rip Desmonda's reputation into shreds.

If this was true, of course. But then… the kids didn't look as if they were lying. Gryffindors, both of them. And Mrs Potter didn't look as if she thought the kids were lying, either.

Desmonda felt her stomach sink. If this was true… Mr Potter wouldn't hesitate to bring the law down on her. And he would hesitate if the kids were lying - his rivals at the Ministry would jump on the chance to prove he was abusing his office.

No, odds were the kids were telling the truth.

Merlin's beard!

She smiled. Time to fix this. "No, no, I was merely surprised. This is an extraordinary feat, after all. Our readers will be astonished. How did you escape from the cave?"

"Well, we stayed there for the night - we didn't want to risk leaving and having the monster pounce on us," Harry continued. "However…"

"...and then we saw the Patronus Messengers arrive. They led Mum, Dad and the others to us."

"They were too fast, of course, to be directly followed," Hermione Granger explained, "but you could see the direction they took when they sped away and navigate like that."

"I see," the reporter said.

Hermione had her doubts - the witch hadn't struck her as very smart or talented. At least not where magic was concerned. The Summoning Charm being a difficult spell? She refrained from scoffing.

Of course, she was a little biased, and not merely because the reporter had doubted her. It was more the way the witch focused on Harry when taking notes. The reporter paid far less attention to Hermione's detailed explanations, which, in her opinion, wasn't a good sign for the veracity of the article.

"In any case," she went on, "we still had the two brooms we took from the pirates and flew back to the island with the others. Now that the pirates were no longer a concern, it didn't matter that we were slower, with one broom carrying two people."

"Do you want to see the brooms? We've got them with us," Harry said.

"Pirate brooms? I would love that!" the reporter gushed.

"Oh, they are not unique brooms, actually," Harry told her as he pulled his own shrunken broom out.

Hermione quickly followed his example.

"You carry them with you? Shrunken?"

Wasn't it obvious? Hermione refrained from sneering as she showed the reporter her broom. "Yes."

"Wouldn't an extended pocket or bag be more convenient?"

"Shrinking an item isn't really a bother," Hermione said. Although an enchanted pocket would be easier since she wouldn't have to cast a spell to store the broom or to unshrink it. Which she wasn't allowed to, she remembered. "Well, it wasn't a problem on the island." Under her breath, she muttered: "I can't wait to be seventeen." Here she was, in a pureblood home where the trace wouldn't work, and she couldn't even cast the most simple spells to prove her claims to the reporter!

"We shrunk ourselves as well, after all," Harry added. "Though only because we didn't have any choice any more."

"Oh, yes. To save the little Veela," the reporter added after a glance at her notes.

"Céline de Ciel," Hermione corrected her. Really, didn't the reporter care about having all the facts?

"Yes, yes. A desperate measure - a gamble - which paid off. I must say, this is far more riveting than I had assumed. Almost straight out of a Lockhart novel."

"The offer to ask the Headmaster to use his Pensieve still stands," Hermione reminded the woman. Compare their adventure to a piece of fiction?

"Of course, of course." The woman waved her hand rather dismissively. "Anyway, you fought and killed a wyvern - after three clashes, during which you barely escaped with your lives, often at the literal skin of your teeth - or the wyvern's, in this case!" The woman laughed at her own joke.

Hermione forced herself to smile. She wasn't looking forward to Luna Lovegood and Professor Hagrid reading that part of their adventures. But they couldn't really lie about that. Not with the skull they had taken.

"Well, we always had a plan, and we could improvise when needed," Harry said.

"And you were lucky," Mrs Potter - Lily, Hermione reminded herself - said. She had been rather quiet, Hermione had noticed, during the interview. But, as her expression showed, she must not be happy about the details they had revealed.

Harry, either not reading the mood or trusting that his mum wouldn't make a scene with a reporter present, shrugged. "We had both good and bad luck - it evens out."

"Yes," Hermione agreed. It was true, at least statistically. "Personally, I found the pirates more dangerous. The wyvern, for all its might, was merely an animal. And a single animal, at that - we could plan for its actions. However, the pirates were an entire crew, dozens of them, and each of them was unpredictable. Of course, as a mob, they were supposed to be a bit more predictable, but that rule only goes so far. Even if most people would act the same in a given stressful situation, it only takes a single one to take charge to change the entire situation for good or ill."

The reporter blinked as if she had never heard about psychology. At least Mrs Potter nodded. And Harry was grinning for some reason.

Hermione shook her head. "Of course, the biggest challenge was overcoming our complete lack of supplies." And their lack of spells that would've come in very handy. But only a fool would advertise such a weakness in public. "We had to improvise a lot."

"But you proved the old adage that all a wizard or witch truly needs is a wand!" The reporter gushed. "That will impress so many people!"

"We can but hope it'll inspire them to learn more spells as well," Hermione said.

"In case they, too, end up stranded on a pirate island?" the reporter asked.

The woman sounded condescending again. Hermione frowned, but before she could say anything, Harry spoke up: "Or any other emergency. We don't carry our shrunken brooms around as a souvenir, but in case we need them."

The reporter blinked as if that had never occurred to her.

Really, if the witch ever found herself stranded somewhere, Hermione doubted that she would survive on her own.

Harry Potter grinned. That had gone better than he had expected after his and his family's experience with Skeeter. Well, Bartlemout could still stab them in the back by writing lies in the article, but at least she seemed to genuinely believe them now. And without them having to break the law and demonstrate their spells.

And she was impressed by Hermione. Harry could tell. Which was good - without Hermione's knowledge, they wouldn't have made it off the island. It was only just that she'd get recognition for that.

Though some of Hermione's explanations might get cut, Harry expected. Especially if the reporter missed some details in her notes. At least she wasn't using the kind of self-writing quill Skeeter used. Still, he was fairly content - the witch's reaction to their story had been better than he had hoped. There would be no need to embellish things.

He glanced at Mum, and his smile slipped. Her reaction to the unedited tale of their adventures wasn't… She was smiling politely, but he saw how tense she was. No, this wouldn't be good.

"You think you'll need your brooms in another emergency?" Bartlemout asked.

"You never know what might happen," Hermione told her. "You have to be prepared for anything."

"Yes," Harry agreed. "I honestly doubt that we'll end up on another deserted island, but what if some relatives of the pirates want to take revenge? Or someone thinks we found some pirate treasure." He winced when he saw how the reporter's eyes lit up. That had been a mistake.

"There was no treasure," Hermione said, glaring at him. "And if there were, the crew of the ship that Dumbledore hired would've taken it - they were the ones to take the village, after all."

"After you sank the pirate ship," Bartlemout replied. "And you found the wyvern's cave."

"Which was filled with bones, not coins," Harry retorted.

"There was no treasure," Mum spoke up. "And there will be no speculation that might attract treasure hunters and worse people." She glared at Bartlemout. "Imagine if someone attacked students because of some rumour created by the Daily Prophet. Albus would be so… disappointed."

Bartlemout actually paled. Skeeter would have smiled and nodded, in Harry's opinion, and written what she wanted anyway. The more 'controversial', the better. It wasn't as if Dumbledore would actually abuse his power - otherwise, Skeeter would probably have been cursed long ago to only say and write the truth or something.

"Just stick to the truth," Hermione said.

Harry nodded. "And as I said - if you doubt us, we can ask the Headmaster to show you the memories."

"Of course. Although some of our readers might doubt the story's veracity," the reporter said.

Harry shrugged. Some people were just stupid. On the other hand, it was the Prophet.

"There are always sceptics," Mum said. "As long as your article sticks to the facts, they shouldn't be a concern."

Bartlemout nodded again. "Of course. So, in order to cover this incident extensively, would you mind shedding some light on how you found the island?"

Mum's smile didn't change. "I am not privy to how Dumbledore acquired this information, but I can tell you how we sailed from Gibraltar."

"That would be lovely!"

Lovely? Harry shook his head but leaned forward. He wanted to hear Mum's side of their story. In detail.

"Dumbledore informed us that he knew the island's location, and we travelled together to Gibraltar, where we boarded a ship hired for the trip."

"According to some, ah, rumours, it was a pirate ship?"

"Reformed pirates whose captain had abandoned his filthy trade to win the love of a Veela, or so I heard," Mum said.

The reporter's eyes widened. Harry could almost see how she added another article. Or at least a sidebar. He only hoped that the captain wouldn't take it personally. On the other hand, Abdul had seemed to love attention, as far as Harry could tell.

"So, we boarded the ship and sailed on, down the African coast. It took us a few hours, and when we arrived, Harry and Hermione had already left the island, which we didn't know. But we saw the capsized ship and the burning houses and knew that there must have been a battle, so…"

"Goodbye, Miss Bartlemout."

"Goodbye, Mrs Potter."

Hermione Granger sighed when the door closed behind the witch. "That could've gone better," she said.

"I thought it went fairly well," Harry said.

"We should consider ourselves lucky if she doesn't speculate about pirate treasure we might or might not have taken. Or a wyvern's hoard, even though there has been no report of wyverns showing hoarding behaviour." She knew; she had read up on them after their return.

"Well, it's better if they speculate about treasure than harems, right?" Harry asked.

Hermione pursed her lips. "Marginally, at most," she admitted. "And someone might think we know the location of buried treasure."

"If anyone is so stupid as to believe that, they shouldn't be a threat," Harry retorted.

"Or they are too stupid to refrain from obviously suicidal plans," Hermione pointed out. "We can't dismiss this risk."

"Speaking of suicidal plans…"

Hermione turned and winced. Mrs Potter - definitely Mrs Potter, not Lily right now - was glaring at them.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of the reporter," the witch went on. "But, really! What were you thinking?"

"We already told you!" Harry blurted out. "We did what we had to!"

"We made our decisions to the best of our knowledge," Hermione added. Which was true. Who would knowingly make decisions they knew were bad, anyway?

"And you almost died multiple times!" Mrs Potter retorted.

"We didn't die, though," Harry objected.

"And that makes it all better?"

"Yes!"

But the witch shook her head. "Do you even realise how close you came to dying?"

"We're aware," Hermione told her. "But it wasn't as if we had a choice." They had explained that already, hadn't they? Why didn't the adults listen?

"We couldn't just hide and hope for rescue," Harry said. "Not when we realised you couldn't find us with magic."

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "And we couldn't just hide from the wyvern, either. Sooner or later, the pirates would have realised we were on the island."

"You didn't know there were pirates."

"We did suspect after we found the destroyed hut of Amélie Besson. And her wand," Harry said. "Really, Mum - we did what we had to. And it wasn't nearly as dangerous as fighting a war against Voldemort!"

Mrs Potter drew a sharp breath in response to that, and, for a moment, mother and son stared at each other.

"Sorry," Harry whispered. "But it's true."

Hermione made a mental note not to ask about that until she was alone with him.

Mrs Potter shook her head, then sighed. "You shouldn't have gone through this. James and I didn't join the war until we had finished Hogwarts."

"Well, we didn't exactly have a choice," Harry replied.

"I know. But why didn't you tell us the truth from the start? Why did you make us think things had been… less dangerous?"

Ah. Hermione chewed her lower lip. That was probably the heart of the matter. "You were already overreacting," she said.

"Overreacting? We..." Mrs Potter took a deep breath. "And that's a reason for lying to us?"

"No!" Harry protested. "We just didn't go into details. We didn't lie!"

Hermione nodded. "It was bad enough to be treated like we were helpless and about to collapse."

Mrs Potter shook her head. "We're your parents."

"Yes. And?" Harry frowned.

"That means we worry about you, and we care about you. And…" She shook her head again. "I'll have to discuss this with James. And your parents."

Hermione winced. That wouldn't be a nice discussion, either.

"And why are you carrying around those stolen brooms?"

"Looted," Harry corrected her. "We didn't steal them - they attacked us, and we took them from them."

"Whatever. You have a much better broom," Mrs Potter pointed out. "Much more expensive as well."

"Well… the brooms made for a good prop for the interview," Hermione said. "And I at least don't have a better broom." She didn't have a broom at all before this - it was hard to justify the expense when she couldn't fly regularly. Or wanted to. Something that would have to change, of course - you couldn't outfly an aggressor if you were not used to flying.

"Something we'll fix soon," Harry cut in. "And now that the readers of the Prophet will expect us to carry those old brooms, we can replace them!"

Mrs Potter was still frowning. "Do you honestly think that someone will read the Prophet and then attack you based upon the article?"

"We can't dismiss the possibility that someone will use the information in the article against us," Hermione told her.

"And why would they do that?" Mrs Potter asked with a strangely pleading tone.

"Revenge," Harry replied. "We did cause an entire pirate village to get razed. And the pirates will likely be executed."

"Or someone thinks we acquired pirate treasure," Hermione added. "It's not too far-fetched, after all."

"And some might just feel that by taking us down, they'll gain some reputation," Harry took over again. "If Malfoy attempts something, I want to have a few aces up my sleeve."

Hermione nodded. "If they think that the spells and brooms in the article are all we have access to, then we have better chances of surprising and defeating them." That's why they would be studying hard to learn more spells, after all. And look into how to acquire a few choice potions as backup. They wouldn't be caught empty-handed and unprepared again.

"But…" Mrs Potter rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You can't treat a spat at Hogwarts the same as an attack by pirates."

"We won't," Harry said. "But if we're prepared for pirates, we can handle Malfoy easily."

Hermione nodded in agreement.

"That's not… You can't act like Moody! You don't have to expect an attack at any moment!"

Harry frowned and glanced at her, shrugging. Hermione nodded and cleared her throat. "But we did," she explained. "Only, before the island, we had to keep an eye out for an attack by the other. And now..." How to word it?

"...now we watch out for each other," Harry finished.

Mrs Potter gaped for a moment. "This is worse than I thought."

"It's fine," Harry told her. "We won't kill anyone."

Once more, Hermione agreed. Not if they could help it, anyway.

Harry Potter was quite happy to retreat to his room to wait until they would head to the Grangers'. Mum was so irrational! "Why can't she understand that we only did what we had to? We didn't just decide to risk our lives!" he vented after closing the door behind him. And casting a few privacy charms.

"I don't know," Hermione replied. "I understand that our parents were very worried about us and that hearing the details of our… battles was stressful, but that's over. We made it through." She shook her head. "Yes, things could have gone wrong, but they didn't. They act as if we'd do the same thing again..." She turned to look at him. "Oh my God! They think we'd do it again!"

Harry's eyes widened. "That's it! Oh, that's bad." If Mum and Dad thought they wanted another such adventure… They were Gryffindors, but they weren't stupid.

"No! They can't think we would get lost again. Or travel to a pirate island willingly. Or do anything similar," Hermione objected to her own idea. "They know better."

"They should know better, but you saw how Mum acted when we told her about the brooms."

"We're in Britain!" Hermione shook her head. "We're not going to meet any pirates. Or dark wizards." She frowned. "We won't, will we?"

"Not at Hogwarts," Harry told her. "And there haven't been any really dangerous dark wizards since… the war." At least according to Dad.

"That's reassuring." Hermione nodded. "Well, it depends on your father's definition of a 'really dangerous dark wizard', but seeing how they worry so much about us, it's probably not too strict."

"They haven't lost an Auror since the last Death Eaters were arrested," Harry told her. Dad was proud of that.

"Good." Hermione nodded again. "But that also means they aren't used to such threats. After fifteen years, people will have grown complacent to at least some degree."

"They train hard," Harry objected. "And Dad's not gotten any slower, just meaner." Sirius had told him so. And Sirius was the one who was training privately with Dad and an active duellist - if not as active any more as he had been - so he'd know. "And they easily defeated the pirates."

"They had Dumbledore and a crew of pirates with them," Hermione pointed out.

That was true, but… "That didn't mean they were bad. Anyway, I don't think they fear that we'll be attacked by dark wizards."

"Or pirates." Hermione shook her head. "They are more concerned about us overreacting."

"Yes." Harry sighed and looked around. "I wish we could take the bus."

"The bus? Oh, you mean the Knight Bus. Yes." Hermione sighed. "But we would risk getting bothered by reporters. Or just busybodies. Oh. I just had an idea. If we are in a bad situation, we could summon the bus."

"The Knight Bus isn't exactly staffed by Aurors," Harry objected.

"But it would be a decent diversion - and a means to escape," Hermione countered. Then she pursed her lips. "Although since that would expose the staff and any passengers to a magical battle, it should probably remain a last resort."

Harry nodded. "Oh, yes. I would prefer not to get banned from using it for life or so. Or sent to prison for endangering people."

"True," Hermione agreed, pursing her lips. "But if we have no other choice…"

Harry nodded and sat down on the bed. Hermione joined him. "I think they mostly fear that we'll overreact and misread a situation," he said.

Hermione scoffed. "As if we'd cast spells recklessly! Unless we're clearly under attack, of course."

"Of course." If someone was trying to kill them, all bets were off. Or if someone was trying to kidnap them.

"Although, in theory, someone could try to fake an attack on us," Hermione went on.

"Why would they do that?" Harry frowned. "Wait. Malfoy." The git.

"He might attempt to prove us wrong or something," Hermione said.

That would be like the idiot. "He never really accepted that he wasn't my 'main rival' or something."

Hermione snorted. But she quickly grew serious again. "That means we'll have to be extra-careful at Hogwarts."

"Yes." If Malfoy actually tried to fake an attack on their homes… Well, the war might have been over for almost fifteen years, but anyone attacking a wizard or witch at home couldn't expect the Aurors to care much if they got cursed or worse.

"What a bother."

Harry sighed in agreement. "Better than accidentally killing or cursing anyone."

"We'll stick to Stunners," Hermione said. "At least until the first incident."

"Yes." Harry leaned to the side and slipped an arm around her waist. Someone would try something, he was certain. They always did. "So, how do we convince our parents that we aren't a danger for everyone else?"

"By demonstrating that we're prepared for anything," Hermione replied. "If they know we can handle both actual attacks and some idiot trying to hex us from behind to sabotage our Quidditch team, they won't need to worry about us any more."

"Right." Harry snorted. "I almost forgot about Quidditch."

"You'll be exposed during a match," Hermione said.

"Can you keep watch over me?" He grinned, turning it into a joke if she took offence.

"Of course." She smiled.

They spent the rest of the time until Mum came to take them to the Grangers without talking much.

Kingston upon Thames, London, Britain, July 20th, 1996

"...and then we were found by the others," Hermione Granger, sitting on the couch in the living room, finished recounting their, well, 'adventure' didn't quite cover it. Their experience? Ordeal? Certainly not 'trip'. Mum and Dad were staring at her, she noticed, and she couldn't help flinching in return.

"It didn't sound as bad the first time," Mum said.

"We didn't want to go into details," Harry cut in. Dad glared at him, and he winced.

"And now we see why." Dad shook his head and turned to look at Hermione. "I wish you would've been open with us."

"We…" Hermione licked her lips. "Everyone was asking questions. We were just back and still trying to adjust. We didn't want to go over our experiences in detail." She felt a little guilty when her parents looked struck. It wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the whole truth, either.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Hermione!" Mum said. "And Harry. We didn't want to… we should have realised. But…"

"Sorry, Mum," Hermione replied, looking down at the table. "We should've told you."

"No, no!" Dad shook his head again. "We shouldn't expect you to rip open such a wound…"

But there weren't really any wounds to be ripped open. Just some nightmares to deal with. Hermione glanced at Harry. He was still wincing. Well, the whole situation was awkward. Not as awkward as with the Potters, though. At least in her opinion. Her parents were much more understanding. "We know," she said. "But we should've told you. We just… You were worrying already so much." Even though they were fine, and it was over.

"Yes," Harry chimed in. "And it won't happen again."

Her parents didn't ask what he meant. Another deception of sorts. They wouldn't be caught unprepared again. Which would avoid another situation where they would have to make do with inadequate resources, which would reduce the risks they would have to take… Hermione bit her lower lip. Her parents wouldn't have to worry about them again. She would make certain of that.

But it still felt as if she was betraying them.

"Well, it's good that this was settled," Dad said. "I guess we'll read the article tomorrow?"

"Probably," Hermione said. "The reporter didn't say anything about delays, and I think they will hold the deadline for that."

"It's not as if they take too much care with their articles, anyway," Harry grumbled.

Hermione nodded in agreement.

Her parents looked worried again. "Will that cause more issues?"

"We hope it won't," Hermione replied. "Mr Potter and the Headmaster have some influence, but…" She shrugged. "...sometimes, the newspaper is more like a tabloid."

"And Dad's sure that Skeeter has something on the Ministry; she gets away with far too much," Harry added.

"But we didn't talk to Skeeter," Hermione was quick to point out. "Unless she used Polyjuice Potion, of course."

"It's possible - Dad said that would explain some of the scoops of her," Harry confirmed, "but we talked for longer than an hour, and she didn't drink any potion to renew the effect."

"Right." Hermione pursed her lips - she should've considered that herself. "Anyway, there shouldn't be much trouble from the article itself. Though it'll inform a lot of people about what happened to us. In detail."

"And that might cause some problems," Harry took over.

"What sort of problems?" Dad wanted to know.

"Malfoy might try to prove he's not a useless idiot riding the coattails of his father," Hermione replied.

"Don't kill him," Mum told her.

"We won't. Stunner's only," Hermione assured her.

"Unless someone attacks us with dark curses and Stunners don't cut it," Harry added.

Hermione nodded. "Exactly. But it shouldn't be a problem at Hogwarts."

"Now that we have each neutralised the greatest threat to us at school," Harry joked.

Hermione giggled. Mum and Dad looked confused, so she explained: "Since we won't go after each other any more."

"Ah." Mum smiled, although it looked a little forced, but Dad managed a chuckle.

"If that's the main worry..." Dad smiled.

"Well, next to the possibility that some relatives of the pirates who were captured would come after us for revenge, or that some idiots might think we found a pirate's treasure," Hermione pointed out.

"Mum and Dad don't think so, but better safe than sorry."

At least Mum and Dad agreed with that, judging by the glances they exchanged and how they nodded. "We'll talk to them."

"Good. We need to go over our schedule, anyway," Hermione said. "We need to plan training sessions for duelling, flying and homework. And more spells. I've drawn up a preliminary schedule." The second, actually - Harry's owl had wrecked the first. Harry claimed she wanted more letters to carry. Hermione wasn't quite certain she agreed, but she never had to take care of an owl herself, so she deferred to him.

"Ah. But… I think you shouldn't overdo it, dear," Mum said. "You just got back. You need to rest and relax."

They were doing plenty of resting and relaxing! Not that Hermione would go into any details regarding the exact method, of course.

She was about to tell her parents that they knew what they were doing when Harry spoke up: "We won't overdo it. What's on the telly tonight? Or do you have a movie to watch on VHS?"

Seeing her parents' surprise, Hermione rolled her eyes. She had told them already that Harry had a muggle cousin he regularly visited! It was as if they weren't listening.