The more I look back on those earlier years of my life, the more I begin to see patterns and connections to things that would occur much later. I wish I could say that they prepared me for what was to come...but I would be lying. Perhaps on some innate level, they did. On every other level, however, I can't say they did much. But I suppose there are some things in life that you simply cannot prepare you for.
Despite Harry's run-in with Umbridge that morning at the breakfast table (or perhaps because of it) news of the article spread like wild fire. By mid-morning, educational decree number twenty-seven had been enacted, stating that any student in possession of The Quibbler would be expelled.
Hermione couldn't help but beam every time she saw one of these signs. It was perfect! It was absolutely perfect. So perfect she wanted to laugh aloud with pleasure.
"What exactly are you so happy about?" Harry asker her suddenly as she smiled yet again at another sign.
"Oh Harry, don't you see?" Hermione breathed. "If she could have done one thing to make absolutely sure that every single person in this school will read your interview, it was banning it!"
Both Harry and Ron looked at her in confusion.
"But how will people be able to read it if it's banned?" Harry asked.
Hermione laughed. "Harry, since when has banning something ever stopped anyone from doing it?" she asked.
"Fair point."
"Blimey," Ron said, shaking his head, "Umbridge must be really thick."
"Yes, well, that's the problem with the entire ministry, isn't it?" Hermione said darkly. "They're not very intelligent."
"More like complete arse-heads," said a voice softly behind them.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned around to see Fred and George grinning at them.
"Where'd you two come from?" Ron asked.
"Same place as you," said Fred simply.
"Or at least, that's what they keep telling us," George added.
Ron glared at them. "Well what do you want, then?"
"Well my dear brother, we were just teaching a bunch of first-years how to bewitch their copies of The Quibbler to look like a textbook—"
"—when we overheard a couple of strapping young lads from Ravenclaw state that they now believe Harry, over here," George said, grabbing Harry into a one armed hug and playfully ruffling his hair.
"So, we figured we'd let you lot know," added Fred.
"Well, thanks," said Harry, struggling to detach himself from George.
Hermione had to stifle a giggle as Harry finally broke free. His hair had reached a whole new level of untidiness, and she quickly fought back the urge to help him put it right again.
"Don't let the troll get you down, Harry," said Fred as he and George bid the trio farewell. "She'll get what's coming to her soon enough." He and George then shared a significant look before heading down the corridor.
"Well, let's just hope they don't get sent to Azkaban for whatever they're planning," sighed Ron. "Mum'll kill me."
As Harry, Ron, and Hermione queued up outside the greenhouses for Herbology, Hermione could clearly hear whispers following them, and the snippets of conversations she was able to catch almost all seemed to revolve around Harry and the interview.
Hermione sighed. It never ceased to amaze her how incredibly ill-mannered Hogwarts students could be. Harry was standing right there, for goodness sake. Couldn't they at least find the decency to not stare at him like he was some sort of display at a zoo?
"Come on, Harry, Ron," she said, beckoning towards the greenhouse, "let's go take our seats."
Soon the rest of the students started filling in as well with Professor Sprout entering last.
"Mr. Potter," said Sprout as everyone had settled down. "Fetch me that watering can, will you?"
Getting up obediently, Harry grabbed the watering can from the window sill and brought it over to her. She smiled at him warmly before stating in a very clear voice, "Thank you, Mr. Potter. Twenty points to Gryffindor!"
Hermione heard him mumble a 'not a problem' before walking towards her and Ron with a very confused expression on his face.
"Someone's feeling generous, eh?" Ron whispered to Harry as he sat back down.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe she felt bad about taking those points away from us last class when we spilled all that dirt on the ground."
"Yeah, maybe," Ron agreed after a bit of thought. "Serves her right, too."
Hermione sat there listening to their whispered exchange with one eyebrow raised. Should she even bother? No, she decided. She'd let Harry figure this one out on his own.
After Herbology, the Gryffindor fifth-years made their way back to the castle and up to their Charms lesson. The class period went on quite normally as they listened to a lecture about silencing charms. However, as the bell rang and everyone rushed out of the classroom, Professor Flitwick could be seen discreetly making his way over to where Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat.
When he reached them, Flitwick beamed up at Harry, pressing a box of squeaking sugar mice on him. He then uttered a 'Shh!' before quickly hurrying away.
The three were silent for a moment, staring at the spot their professor had been not ten seconds before. And then:
"What the bloody hell was that about?"
"Er..." said Harry, staring down at the box in his hands. "I'm...not quite sure."
Hermione clicked her tongue loudly before grabbing her bag and heading towards the door. "You two better hurry up. You don't want to be late for Divination," she called over her shoulder.
"Hold on!" she heard Harry exclaim in realization as she was about to turn into the corridor. "I think I know what this is about, Ron..."
Hermione smirked to herself.
There you go, Harry. I was starting to get worried.
Hermione found it quite touching that the professors were going to such lengths to show their approval for Harry's actions. It almost made Umbridge's outright hostility bearable. She hadn't mentioned it to Harry, but Hermione had noticed Dumbledore staring down at him during breakfast that morning. His eyes seemed to be filled with pride and possibly even respect. But then, as Harry eventually looked up at the staff table, Dumbledore had immediately looked away, and she could not for the life of her understand why.
Harry had mentioned before how he thought Dumbledore had been ignoring him all year, and for the first time Hermione could see his point. She knew there must be a reason, though. There had to be.
As she entered her Arithmancy class, Hermione pushed her thoughts aside knowing that she'd come back to them later.
She took a seat at her usual table near the front, taking out some parchment, a quill and ink, and waiting patiently for class to begin. Arithmancy was her absolute favourite subject. Something about numbers and the manipulation of numbers had always fascinated her. And when she discovered that numbers actually had magical properties to them, it opened up a whole new world for her. It was like breaking a code or solving a mystery. It was absolutely thrilling.
"Afternoon, Hermione!" said Ernie Macmillan as he took a seat next to her.
"Hello, Ernie," Hermione replied, internally groaning. Ernie was a nice enough guy, but he always seemed to get on Hermione's last nerve. He was extremely competitive in his schoolwork, but Hermione didn't mind that as much seeing as how she usually received higher marks than him, anyway.
"So, how many hours of studying did you get in this weekend?" Ernie asked somewhat snootily.
"I'm afraid I lost count," Hermione stated in a bored manner.
Ernie's eyes widened. "That long, eh?" he asked in awe. "Blimey...I knew I shouldn't have taken that break on Saturday... "
In truth, Hermione had only achieved about five hours of study this weekend, which in comparison to Ernie was pretty miniscule. He was averaging eight hours a day. Allegedly.
"Ernie, I'm sure you're studying more than enough," Hermione said, not wanting him to burn himself out at her expense.
"I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Hermione," he replied. "OWLs are only three months away! Three months!"
Hermione simply smiled politely at him before turning away with her eyebrows raised. Was that how she sounded to other people? She suddenly understood what it felt like to be Harry and Ron...
"So," Ernie whispered suddenly, "Harry's really stirred things up, hasn't he?"
Hermione smiled. "Yes, I suppose he has."
"He's really convinced a lot of people, you know," Ernie said. "Mind you, I believed him from the start."
Ernie began describing to Hermione how he had convinced his entire family that Harry was telling the truth when he was thankfully interrupted by Professor Vector entering the classroom.
From then on, he remained completely silent as he and Hermione gave their undivided attention to their professor.
When class ended, Ernie bid Hermione farewell and quickly headed out of the room along with the other students. Hermione was just about to walk out into the corridor herself when Professor Vector called her back.
"Miss Granger?"
"Yes, Professor?" Hermione replied, immediately jumping to the worst conclusions in her head.
I failed that last homework assignment, didn't I...I know I did. I know I did.
"Do give Mr. Potter my good wishes, won't you?"
Hermione was slightly taken aback but nodded nonetheless. "Of course, Professor."
Professor Vector gave one of her rare smiles. "And do forgive me for discussing a matter with you that I'm afraid has nothing to do with the subject of Arithmancy whatsoever. I take it you won't mention anything to our dear Professor Umbridge?"
Hermione smiled widely. "I wouldn't dream of it, Professor."
"Off you go, then."
Hermione left the room still quite staggered from the exchange that just took place. How had Vector even known that her and Harry were close friends?
Well, okay, who doesn't know that? she thought, rolling her eyes.
After dropping her things off in her dormitory, Hermione nipped into the girls' toilets before heading down to the Great Hall for lunch.
There she found a gaggle of girls chattering on about Harry—
Wait, what?
Hermione's brain screeched to a halt.
Since when did girls talk about Harry in the loo?
"Hermione Granger!"
Hermione quickly looked around to see who had called her name and saw about half a dozen pair of eyes boring into hers.
Then out of nowhere someone was pulling her arm, dragging her towards the group.
"Erm..." Hermione sputtered. "Can I help you?"
"You're best friends with Harry Potter, aren't you?" one rather tall girl asked.
"Yes..." Hermione said hesitantly.
They all stared at her for a moment. Then all at once, they began bombarding her with questions.
"Did he really see You-Know-Who come back?"
"Was Cedric Diggory actually murdered?"
"Why would Rita Skeeter even do this interview?"
"Does this mean the Ministry's been lying?"
"Is this why all those Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban?"
"Why would the Ministry lie?"
"Is Harry still dating Cho Chang?"
"Okay STOP!" Hermione shouted.
They all went silent immediately.
Hermione took a deep breath. "Everything in that article is true. And whether you believe it or not, it's your choice. Harry just wanted to tell his side of the story. So, you can call him a liar, you can call him mad, you can call him attention-seeking, whatever."
Hermione paused. "In the end, Voldemort is back. And we all need to realize that...before it's too late."
Her proclamation was met with silence.
She was just about to turn around and leave when someone finally spoke up.
"I believe Harry."
Hermione looked around for the owner of the voice and saw a small Hufflepuff girl with pigtails looking determinedly back at her.
"I suppose...I do as well," said a Ravenclaw. "As much as I don't want to believe he's back...Potter's story just make more sense, logically."
A few others girls nodded and murmured in agreement.
Hermione smiled at them. "The first step in the road to recovery is admittance," she stated, happily.
"Sorry?"
Hermione sighed. "Never mind," she said. "Well...it's been nice chatting...but I'm going to go head down to lunch now."
She bid them goodbye and quickly made her way to the Great Hall, excited to tell Harry about what had just occurred in the girls' lavatory. And just excited to see Harry, in general.
Hermione felt her face grow warm at the thought. Just the sight of Harry these days would make her stomach erupt with butterflies. Being as stubborn as she was, it was hard to admit to herself that he had that effect on her. Once she began talking to him, everything would return back to normal, anyway.
But then he would do something stupid like smile at her or look her straight in the eye and off the butterflies went again. It was pathetic, really.
Harry and Ron were in mid conversation when Hermione took a seat across from them.
"What took you so long?" Ron asked.
"Well, funny story actually," Hermione began, "I went to use the loo after Arithmancy and I found just about every girl in there talking about Harry and his interview."
Harry and Ron's eyes widened considerably at this statement. She could even see a blush starting to creep up Harry's neck.
"What?" she asked
"Girls...talking about Harry...in the loo..." Ron said slowly.
Hermione scoffed. "Oh, grow up," she stated, looking at both of them with an exasperated expression. "This wasn't some schoolgirl natter before lunch. We were having a serious conversation."
Ron threw Harry a disbelieving look which only irritated Hermione further.
"Anyway," Hermione continued, turning to speak to Harry, "I went in there and then they spotted me, and obviously they know I know you, so they were bombarding me with questions. And Harry, I think they believe you, I really do. I think you've finally got them convinced!"
Harry smiled at her. "That's fantastic. I owe it all to you, Hermione. I really do," he said, looking at her sincerely.
"Oh, nonsense," Hermione replied, feeling a little flustered.
"No, really," Harry continued. "You're the one who thought to do the article. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be at risk of suffering an early death."
"Harry, you know that's not—wait, what?" Hermione asked, utterly confused.
She looked at Ron who was chuckling into his shepherd's pie, and then back at Harry who was trying to hold back a grin.
"What on earth are you talking about, Harry?" she demanded.
"According to Trelawney, my future doesn't look so bleak anymore," Harry finally stated. "Quite the opposite, really. I'm going to live to a ripe old age, become Minister for Magic, and have how many children, Ron?"
"Twelve, I think it was."
"There you go," Harry told her, his face still remaining quite straight.
As soon as Hermione burst out laughing, however, Harry had succumbed as well.
"That's not even the best part," said Ron. "Toad-face was in the room, as usual, and she looked like she swallowed about a dozen of Fred and George's puking pastilles when Trelawney said Harry was going to be Minister for Magic."
"All the better!" Hermione said enthusiastically. "Oh, by the way, Harry, Professor Vector asked me to send you her good wishes."
Harry looked confused for a moment. "Isn't she the Arithmancy professor?"
"Mhm," Hermione replied.
"Er...how does she even know me? I don't think I've ever said two words to her."
Ron almost sprayed Harry in the side of the face as he took a swig of his pumpkin juice.
"Harry..." Hermione began as if speaking to a child. However, she was cut off by Ron who gave a huge guffaw.
"Have you gone batty, mate?" Ron asked.
Hermione glared at him before turning back to Harry. She had to admit, she found his cluelessness kind of adorable.
"Harry," Hermione began again, smiling slightly. "I think it's safe to say that everyone in this school...and Wizarding Britain...knows who you are."
"Oh...right," Harry replied.
"And anyway, Professor Vector just wanted to congratulate you on the interview," Hermione added.
"That makes almost every professor, Harry." Ron said. "You reckon Snape'll give you a box of squeaking sugar mice?"
Hermione was absolutely thrilled by the response that Harry's interview was receiving. It was the day after Harry's confrontation with Umbridge, and despite The Quibbler being banned it seemed as though every single person in the school had read the article.
Hermione joined the queue outside the Transfiguration classroom and looked around for Harry and Ron. She had just come from Ancient Runes and hadn't seen either of them since breakfast. She instantly spotted Ron but was rather disappointed when didn't see Harry next to him.
Hermione walked over to Ron and noticed that he was talking to Seamus which was odd since both Harry and Ron had ignored Seamus for practically the entire year. However, as she got closer she noticed Ron didn't seem too thrilled with the conversation.
"Hello, Ron...Seamus," she greeted them uncertainly.
"Hello, Hermione," Seamus responded, not looking at her.
Ron simply grunted, his eyes still fixed shrewdly on the boy in front of him.
"Erm...I hope you don't mind me asking...but what exactly is going on?" Hermione said.
"Well," Ron stated, "it looks like someone's finally realized how much of wanker he's been all year."
"Ron!" Hermione hissed.
"No, he's right, Hermione," Seamus said quietly. "I should've believed Harry from the start. I just hope he can forgive me. Will you forgive me, Ron?"
Ron crossed his arms, scowling slightly.
"Ron," Hermione said quietly, nudging him with her elbow.
"I'll forgive him if Harry does," he said finally.
"Where is Harry, anyway?" Hermione asked, seeing that he still hadn't arrived. "Class is about to start soon."
Ron shrugged. "He was talking to Cho, I think."
Ron had no idea how much those simple words had cut through Hermione like a knife.
"Harry! There you are," Hermione heard Ron call out.
She turned her head and saw Harry walking towards them. His face was slightly flushed and his eyes looked dazed. And at that moment, Hermione hated Cho Chang.
She knew it was completely unreasonable, but right now reason wasn't her main concern.
Hermione was barely aware of Seamus stepping out of the queue to apologize to Harry, but judging by Ron's response, Harry seemed to have forgiven him.
All throughout Transfiguration Hermione was almost exploding with curiosity over what Harry and Cho had talked about.
She supposed she could just ask him later. But that might seem too nosy. Besides, did she really even want to know what they talked about? Cho probably just commended him on the interview. Apologized to him about walking out on their date. Told him how fantastic and brave he was. She wasn't a very complex girl to figure out.
Hermione grinned somewhat evilly to herself at that last thought.
However, she immediately felt guilty when she snuck a glance at Harry. She couldn't mentally tease someone that Harry liked. No matter how much Hermione disliked them. It just wasn't fair to him. And if she was being completely honest with herself...it wasn't fair to Cho either.
God, she hated when she was completely honest with herself.
March had soon blurred into April and Hermione's stress level seemed to be reaching brand new heights. Hagrid was practically hanging by a thread with his job, Harry was continuing to be unsuccessful with his Occlumency lessons, her and Ron's prefect duties seemed to be becoming even more demanding, she still couldn't figure out why Dumbledore was ignoring Harry, she hadn't knitted so much as a sock for the house elves since December, Harry and Cho were still being overly chummy, and to top it all off, the OWLs were less than two months away and Ernie Macmillan was going to get his head jinxed off if he reminded her one more time.
Just about the only thing that seemed to ease Hermione's stress level these days were DA meetings. True, the spells they were learning were becoming increasingly more difficult, but it made it all that much more gratifying.
She couldn't believe how much she'd learned from Harry this year. He was such a remarkable teacher, and Hermione found herself soaking in every last detail of his talks, as if he were any other professor at Hogwarts.
Hermione, along with most of the other DA members, were especially excited to head up to the Room of Requirement that night. Today they were finally going to start working on Patronuses.
At precisely seven o'clock, everyone was seated on a pillow and eagerly waiting for Harry to begin.
Ever since Hermione's acceptance of her feelings towards Harry, DA meetings were becoming all the more enjoyable. Something about Harry as a teacher made him even more attractive to Hermione. Whenever she would be the first to get a spell right and Harry would look upon her with that pride in his eyes, it made her heart fill to the brim with joy.
"...so you just have to think of one of your happiest memories. Let it fill you up and overwhelm you completely. After that, you say the incantation: Expecto Patronum." As Harry explained, he pointed his own wand and out emerged a beautiful silver stag that bounded across the room.
There were 'ooh's and 'ahh's as everyone followed the stag with their eyes.
However, everyone soon found out that Harry had made the task look quite easy. Twenty minutes into the meeting and no one had produced so much as a puff of silver smoke.
Okay, happy memory, Hermione, happy memory. Think. The day I got my Hogwarts letter?
Hermione screwed up her eyes in concentration trying to remember every detail of that day and the joy she felt as Professor Dumbledore explained to her parents that their daughter had been born with a special gift.
She allowed the feeling to fill her up then raising her wand she uttered the incantation.
The smallest of silver wisps emitted from her wand, but Hermione was quite excited nonetheless. She didn't want to call out to Harry just yet, though. She knew she could do better. Perhaps a happier memory?
Hermione raked through her mind for a moment in her life when she was utterly happy. She recalled the infamous Halloween night back in her first-year when Harry and Ron had saved her from the troll, and had ultimately become her best friends, her first friends.
She was able to get a few more wisps of silver smoke this time. Did she need a happier memory? Or was she not concentrating enough...
Hermione realized it might have been the latter as she caught herself staring fixedly at Harry who was currently trying to help an indecisive Justin Finch-Fletchley pick between two happy memories.
"Look, why don't you just try both, okay?" Harry suggested, obviously trying his best to maintain his patience.
Hermione giggled quietly then turned her focus back to the situation at hand.
Happy memory...Happy memory...oh no, Harry's coming near...all I've produced so far is some ruddy fog...I need to show him that I can do it! If I could just find a blasted memory...
But all Hermione could think about at the moment was Harry. Right now, he was filling her up and he was overwhelming her.
"Of course!" Hermione whispered to herself excitedly. Harry made her happy...
And so she searched for the happiest memory she had of him. It didn't take very long.
Hermione closed her eyes, smiling slightly to herself.
She was in the Great Hall and Harry was sitting right across from her. Staring at her with those green eyes of his. As he spoke the words that she had unknowingly been waiting her entire life to hear. Just once.
And he had said them to her. He, Harry, had said them. Maybe if it had been someone else, it wouldn't have affected her this way. But it was Harry. And she trusted Harry. She trusted him.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Hermione opened her eyes and saw a silvery...thing...emerge from her wand. She smiled brightly as she recognized just what the 'thing' was.
"An otter!" she cried happily. She loved otters! Apart from cats, they were her favourite animal in the world. She remembered going to the zoo every summer when she was younger and practically dragging her parents to see the otters.
Hermione smiled reminiscently. Those days were wonderful. During the summer holidays, she hadn't a care in the world. Her dreadful peers weren't there to push her around or call her names or make fun of her. It was just her, and her parents, and her books, and her trips to the zoo. It was her life. And she felt free and...safe.
"Hermione, you did it!"
Hermione looked up and saw Harry smiling broadly at her. She instantly smiled back, feeling a comforting warmth inside her heart.
Harry walked up to her to take a better look at her Patronus.
"And as usual, Miss Granger is the first one to prove successful," he stated playfully. "An otter, huh?"
Hermione shrugged. "My favourite animal."
"Don't let Crookshanks hear you say that," Harry said.
"Luckily, he's well out of earshot," Hermione replied.
After about ten minutes, more people were able to produce an actual Patronus and almost everyone had produced at least some silver vapour.
"Now, I just want to remind you all that producing a Patronus in the middle of a brightly lit room when you're not under threat is very different to producing it when confronted by a Dementor," Harry told them all.
"Oh, don't be such a killjoy," said Cho brightly, watching her silvery swan-shaped Patronus soar around the Room of Requirement. "They're so pretty!"
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"They're not supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to protect you," she heard Harry say patiently.
Just then, Hermione's heart nearly stopped as she saw the door to the Room of Requirement open. There didn't seem to be anyone there until she saw Dobby emerge from within the group and hurry over to Harry.
Hermione instantly began to worry. What could Dobby possibly want from Harry?
Soon enough, though, her worries were confirmed.
"Harry Potter...she...she..."
"Who's 'she,' Dobby?" Harry asked hastily. "Umbridge?"
Dobby nodded and Hermione was now sure that her heart had stopped.
"Is she coming?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes, Harry Potter, yes!" Dobby howled.
Harry straightened up and looked around at the motionless, terrified people gazing at the elf.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed. "RUN!"
Everyone in the room pelted toward the exit at once. Hermione's heart was beating in her ears. She looked around and saw that Harry was still in the centre of the room.
"Harry, come on!" she shrieked.
She was near the door now and looked behind her again to see Harry scoop up Dobby in his arms and run to join the back of the queue.
As Hermione finally made it out into the corridor, she saw DA members running left and right and sincerely hoped that they had the sense not to try and make it all the way up to their dormitories at once.
Hermione spotted Ron up ahead and ran to catch up with him after she saw that Harry had made it out into the corridor. Together they took refuge in the library which was much nearer than the Gryffindor common room.
Trying their best not to appear out of breath, they sat down at a table, quickly grabbing any book around them in order to appear occupied.
"Do you think everyone made it out okay?" Ron whispered over his book.
"I don't know...they were all out of the corridor pretty quickly..." Hermione said. "I'm worried about Harry, though. He was the last one out of the room."
"I'm sure he's fine..." Ron said, looking like he was trying to convince himself as much as her.
"I hope so," Hermione whispered.
After about twenty minutes, Hermione and Ron decided it was safe to head back to the common room. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione silently prayed that Harry would be waiting for them on the other side. She didn't know what would happen to him if he was caught...
When they stepped into the common room, however, there was no sign of him.
Ron seemed to notice this also as he immediately ran up to the crowd of DA members by the fire demanding to know where he was.
"We haven't seen him, Ron," said Fred in an uncharacteristically serious tone.
For the second time that night, Hermione's heart seemed to have failed her. "W-what do you mean you haven't seen him?" she asked fearfully.
A couple of people merely shook their heads.
"There's still about fifteen minutes left until curfew," said Parvati feebly. "Maybe he's just hiding out somewhere until he thinks it's safe to come back."
But fifteen minutes had come and gone and there was still no sign of Harry.
The common room was starting to empty with only the members of the DA still grouped around the fire. It was nearly a half an hour past curfew now.
Hermione had never remembered being so worried in her entire life. She could only imagine the horrors that Umbridge might inflict on Harry. She cut children's hands open during detention for Merlin's sake!
A couple of people began dozing off when finally, an hour later, the portrait hole opened to reveal Harry.
Everyone was quickly alert and focused on him as he walked over to them by the fire.
Hermione threw her arms around his neck and hugged him in relief. "Oh, Harry, we were so worried!" she said before quickly letting go.
"What happened, mate?" Ron asked with concern.
Harry took a seat on one of the chairs, placing his head in his hands.
"Harry?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
After a few seconds, Harry looked back up at everyone with a miserable expression on his face.
"Dumbledore's left the castle."
Hermione had to admit, that wasn't the first thing she would have expected to hear.
In a tired voice, Harry relayed to everyone just what exactly had happened since they had fled the Room of Requirement.
"So basically...we're screwed," said Fred.
A/N: First of all, yes, I did just end another chapter with Fred. Second of all, I was planning on getting this chapter out last Saturday, but alas, I was suffering from major writer's block. However, one positive outcome of this suffering is that I started to really plan the outline for this story and let me just say I'm really excited about it. It's going to take a bit of a long road to get there but...I'm hoping it'll be worth it in the end. ANYWAYS really long author's note...I really really really appreciated your reviews last chapter as with every chapter because reviews make a writer's world go round. Just sayin'