Majo Kon-ki The Marriage of Tanya the Witch
(The marriage chronicles of a witch)
Arc 1 - Philosophers Stone – part 6
January 1992, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"Ignotus Peverell, wherever you are, I want you to know this: you are the best boss ever! Now, this is how you treat your employees, Being X could learn about business management with you…"
Tanya had been in a wonderful mood after finding the invisibility cloak. After just four months in Hogwarts, she found one of the hallows! If things proceed that fast, who knows, maybe she could find all of them before her second year was over!
"I wouldn't mind receiving the stone as an Easter gift… And maybe the wand by next Christmas… That would mean just another year to go home!"
Of course, there was the fact that she only found the hallow. She wasn't it's owner yet. Tanya was not ashamed to admit that she considered stealing the cloak, but remembered the instructions Peverell left her for each hallow.
The particular trait of the invisible cloak was that it could not be stolen, since it's allegiance was inherited. After the passing of it's present owner, it would go to his or her heir. Another way to change the allegiance would be the owner giving it off, but it would need to be by his own volition. She didn't knew what difference it would happen with the cloak if it was taken by another, as she saw Ron Weasley turn invisible without Harry around… But the only way to became the master of death was for all hallows to be truly hers.
This means that Tanya had another reason to protect Harry Potter, for should he die now, the cloak would go for his closest relative, in this case, his aunt. Her only way to have it will be for Harry to give it up. She considered a few plans to convince him, but decided to put it in hold until finding the remaining two.
Still… even if she finds all the hallows now, there was the fact that Harry Potter was still too immature to fight for himself… not to say, defeat a dark lord. Tanya had to start planning a training regime for him…
"That boy need to be ready by the time I find all the hallows. But he wasn't studying DADA as I ordered- I mean… instructed. However, since the troll, school became a peaceful place again… And it's high unlikely for something so dangerous to happen again. So… He can have his free year. Of course, in the next one he will know hell!"
Yes… next year she will worry… Now, it was time to just celebrate!
She was skipping and dancing as she walked the hall. Some children gave her weird stares and even laughed at her… in other occasion it would be embarrassing, but now she didn't give a damn. Life was finally good and she wanted to enjoy it. After all… it is normal for a 'sweet little girl' to behave like that… Also, she is now very respected in Hogwarts, the amount of points she earned make it almost certain that Gryffindor will win the house cup. Tanya felt like she owned the place, so she was free to act the way she wanted! To think that a simple homework planned to kill some time (and not to say, indulge her ego!) produced so many benefits…
Even Harry Potter was giving her a break, as he seemed busy with other things. So, no annoying little boy following around to grab her hand.
"Oh! And speaking of an annoying little boy…" Tanya thought noticing Ron Weasley watching her.
"…"
"Hm? Does he want something?" He was just standing there looking at her.
"Ah! Whatever!" She ignored him and danced murmuring a song she remember from her 'first' childhood.
"…" And Ron was still staring as she danced around, without saying anything…
"… Alright… Now I am embarrassed."
"… Want something from me, Ron?" Tanya asked, recomposing herself.
"…"
"Ron?"
"…Eh? AH! Right..." He shook his head, like he was trying to dismiss something…
"Er… Tanya, can we talk? It's about Harry…"
"What are you doing here Harry?"
"Tanya?" Asked Harry surprised.
"How did you find me?"
"Ron Weasley asked me to come, but he didn't say what you were doing… I noticed that you have been leaving the dormitory all nights in the last week… and worried that you were going to the third floor."
"Oh! No, no. I promised that I would not go back there remember?"
"That's good to know…" She said nodding her approval.
"Can't have you risking your life… Even more now that you own the invisible cloak."
Tanya looked at the boy just sitting on the floor doing nothing.
"But what are you doing here all by yourself?"
"Oh! That… well..." Harry then shifted his gaze to a large and old mirror in the room.
"It's faster if I show you…"
Harry then get up and motioned for her.
"Here…" Tanya drew closer to Harry and he pointed to the mirror.
"Now look… What you see?"
"Huh? I only see my reflection-"
"…!"
Then Tanya's eyes widened, her mouth agape.
Reflecting in the mirror was not 'she' but 'he', the salaryman as he was before his death. He was showing a big grin of satisfaction, seated in an even larger desk than the one he used to work, and by the title in the name plate, he was promoted to department chief!
She was staring so transfixed that she even forgot that Harry was with her.
"!"
And then she got an even bigger shock… the salaryman held a cup and a woman emerged and filled it with what she believed to be coffee. What was so shocking about the woman… is that she is her former adjutant, Viktoriya Ivanovna 'Visha' Serebryakov.
Just as Tanya stared at Visha, the woman let an innocent smile, like the ones that only she was able to give and hugged the salaryman.
"Tanya… You alright? You look flustered."
"Ah!" It was then that Tanya remembered Harry and he was also looking at the mirror! She then tried to cover the mirror with her small body.
"T-this is… I mean… That was-"
"What you saw?" He asked.
"Huh? You can't see…?"
Harry shook his head.
"When Ron was here, he saw something completely different from what I saw. He saw himself holding the Quidditch cup. In my case… I see my mum and dad…"
"Ah! This mirror shows what we want to see…?"
"That's what I think too. So… what do you see?" Harry asked again.
Tanya looked again at the mirror and there was the salaryman with Visha… A future that would never came to be, as those two people lived in different worlds and different times.
"B-but why she is in there? Its not like she meant anything to me in the first place… W-well, her coffee was delicious and she did save my life but-"
Tanya shook her head. It was no use wasting time with such silly thing.
"… I see my dream job."
"You see a job?!"
"Not just a job Harry. I see my future. The future I will fight to turn into reality…"
"I see…"
"But… without her coffee…" Tanya motioned her hand towards the mirror and Visha did the same, yet she only felt the cold surface of the glass.
"Harry… You have been coming here all the week just to look at this thing?"
"It's the only place I can see my parents now…"
"…" Harry then gazed at the mirror, and just like it was with her, he forgot everything besides what he was seeing.
"This is a problem… Peverel warned methat Harry has a chance ofbecomingthe master of death in the future. What if, this is the moment he decides to became one? In the hope of bringing his parents back to life?"
"Harry, do you trust me…?"
"Huh? Of course I trust you… You are one of my best friends!"
Tanya had a plan… It would be risk… but she couldn't allow Harry Potter to became a rival in the pursuit of the hallows…
"Then let me say this: You should forget about your parents…"
"W-what are you saying?"
… and turn him into the obedient little brother that Tanya wished…
"Your parents are dead! Get over it! You should be more like me and Ron. We both see things that we can reach. It's futile to wish for what you can never have."
"…!" Harry's expression changed, he seemed seriously angry.
"Ooh…! So it would be alright if I see myself getting a job or winning the Quidditch cup?"
… but, it's sometimes hard to make people see reason…
"No! It's just-"
Then Harry grabbed her by her arms with such strength that she winced.
… fortunately, she anticipated an emotional outburst…
"THEN WHAT WOULD BE ALRIGHT- NO… WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SEE?"
"… me." Tanya said in an uncharacteristic low voice.
… and now she would use his own emotions in her favor…
"Wha-" Harry's anger immediately subsided.
"What you said?"
"I want you to see me… to look at me like I look at you… as family." Tanya said, giving her best 'cute' expression.
… if he want a family, then she would became one for him…
"I am an orphan like you Harry… I never knew love from my parents, and the sisters at the orphanage see me as just a bother…"
"T-Tanya…"
"You are the only one- No, actually you and professor Snape are the closest I have to family…" Then Tanya let a few tears to make more convincing.
"Ugh! Such a cheesy line!" Tanya thought, fighting hard to not puke at her own words.
"You don't know how much I was suffering being far from you for almost two months… If you asked me to choose between you and professor Snape, It would sadden me, but I would give up on him and choose you."
… but he will give his very soul in return!
"I don't want to lose you to a mirror or to the memory of your parents… I know it's selfish… I know I am being a bother-"
"NO!"
Harry then took the little girl in his arms.
"Hey! I am not finished- Ah! Forget it!" She thought, disappointed that the big script she'd envisioned wouldn't be fully utilized.
"You are not a bother… You are the very first friend I ever had and the first person to ever care about me! You are like- no… you are my family…"
"YES! We are family!" Tanya had to hid the smirk that was in her face. Her plan to turn Harry into a dependent and obedient boy was finally coming true!
"You feel so warm… Your kindness… I wonder…"
It was a relief that Harry was still a child, because if he was older, he might see this situation as romantic in nature-
Then Harry caressed her cheek, and slowly lifted her chin.
"W-wait…! what is he doing? C-could he have perceived this as something romantic after all?!"
She tried to distance herself, but he was holding her firm in place.
He slowly brought his face close to hers…
"S-shit! I can't walk away or this could ruin any relationship we have!"
Tanya closed her eyes afraid of what was coming… But in the end she only felt the small brush of Harry's lips in her forehead.
"Huh? Did he… just kiss my forehead?"
She opened her eyes and saw Harry looking at her with tenderness in his eyes…
"I love you… I really do…"
"!" He was so earnest, that even Tanya couldn't avoid blushing.
"You are like… like…"
"That's it! Say it! Say that I am like a sister to you!"
"… It's like… I have a mother now…"
"Oh! I feel the same- Eh? A mother?! You want me to be your mother?!" Tanya asked a little annoyed… It was already humiliating for her to became a 'sister' but… a mother?!
"…Something wrong with that?"
"W-well… To tell the truth, I wanted you to be my-"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"My parents are starting to fade… And something else is forming…"
"What is it?"
"I think… It is… Professor Dumbledore?!"
"You are seeing the headmaster?"
"Mr Potter. Miss Degurechaff." a voice came from behind.
They turned to see the headmaster looking at them.
"Y-you don't need to do this every morning… you know." Tanya said as Hermione combed her hair.
"Nonsense! I am having fun!" Hermione said, humming in satisfaction.
"It's like I am brushing my doll's hair again."
"A doll?"
"Yeah… a doll I used to have… With your bright blue eyes, porcelain like skin and golden blonde hair you look so much like her!"
"…"
"Oh Sorry! Did I offend you?"
"Actually… I am starting to get used to it… some nuns at the orphanage said the same thing…"
Ron Weasley watched the interaction between Hermione Granger and Tanya Degurechaff. This was becoming a sort of a morning tradition from what Parvati Patil mentioned.
Tanya was bad at waking up in the mornings, so Hermione offered to wake her every day with the condition that she could also brush her hair.
This particular morning, Tanya managed to wake earlier and escape the dormitory, but Hermione caught her in the common room. And that is how this came to be.
Ron was looking transfixed at Tanya. He was trying to understand why this girl makes him feel so… uneasy.
He had to admit that she helped Harry… she always does… The incident with the mirror would have been solved thanks to the headmaster moving it somewhere else, but he had no doubt that Tanya had already convinced Harry.
But there was something off about her… something that he first noticed when she 'killed' the chocolate frog in the train. She was very different from all the girls he knew, at least very different from how his sister behaved.
Or at least until he found her… dancing in the hallway? For a moment… just a tiny moment, he had to admit that she looked… pretty.
"W-what I am thinking! How could she be pretty? Even Harry agreed with me that she can be temperamental, bossy, demanding and above all, scary…" Ron blinked at this thought.
"Hm? Didn't I just describe mum…?"
"Ronikins… Why are you looking at Degurechaff like she is mum?" His brother Fred asked.
"What! No… I-"
"Oh? Then it's Granger who you want to turn into a mum?" This time it was George who asked.
"NO! Listen… first, I was looking at Tanya-"
"HE ADMITS WANTING DEGURECHAFF TO BEAR HIM CHILDREN!" Fred yelled.
"WHAT?!" Ron shouted and looked in the girls direction, but luckily, they didn't seem to have noticed anything.
"Shh! Knock it off. I was just-"
"Ohhh! His first love!" It seemed that his brothers could not listen as they were too busy making fun of him…
"How cute is that-! No, you are the cute one, lil' bro!"
"Afff! Does those blokes have to always besuch prats?!"
"Don't say that I am cute! I was just- Ah! Know what? Forget!" Ron replied with an annoyed tone.
His brothers walked away still laughing.
"What is up with those two?" Tanya asked in front of him.
"Oh, nothing-" Ron then realized that Tanya had a big white ribbon tied in her ponytail.
He looked behind to Hermione, to see the girl gesturing for him to be silent about it.
He had to admit… Now she really looked very pretty…
"Err… You look cute today!"
"What?"
"W-why I said that? Oh! Right… It was all Fred and George fault for putting the word in my head…!"
"Please… Don't say that I am cute!" She said glaring at him.
"…!" At her words, something seemed to fall in place in Ron's brain.
"Hu?" She looked at a close mirror and noticed her hair.
"Wha- Hermione!" Removing the ribbon from her hair, she ran after Hermione demanding satisfaction.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Errr… Sorry! But I think this make you look so cute! You look even more like my lost doll!"
"I am not cute!"
"There! Again…!"
"Of course you are! And I think Harry would love to see you like that…"
"… What does he have to do with anything?"
"…" Ron had a thoughtful expression, it remained that way until Hermione came back few minutes later.
"Ron! Do you know how hard was to put that ribbon-!"
"Hermione! You look cute today!" He said suddenly.
"Wha-" Hermione then blushed furious at his compliment.
"O-oh! T-thank you… what have come over you-"
"Hey! Parvati, you look cute today!"
"Eh?" Hermione looked dumbfounded as Ron was now flirting with another girl.
"W-what? Err… Thank you…?!" Just like with Hermione, Parvati also blushed.
"Ron what are you do-?" Hermione tried to ask but…
"Johnson! You look cute today!"
"Hm…? Grow up a bit, little boy, before hitting on me…" Angelina Johnson said, but she also had a small blush in her face.
"RONALD WESLEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Hermione exploded after being ignored a second time.
"Oh! You are still here?"
"Why are you flirting with any girl that passes in front of you-"
"Ah… You are right… I need a boy now."
"WHAT?!"
"Ah! There is Dean! Hey, Dean! You look cute today!"
Dean looked at him like he grew a second head.
"Hey, mate… Don't joke like that!" he said glaring at the red-headed boy.
"Did you see that?"
"That is what I am trying to ask… What are you doing?"
"It's just… I think I got it…"
"What is it?"
"I… I…!" Something was becoming clear in Ron's mind, an answer to a very important question.
"I… dunno…" Unfortunately… he forgot what it was.
Tanya's good mood didn't last as Harry taking advantage of their new status as 'family' made an outraging request.
It all started when it was reveled that professor Snape was going to referee the next quidditch game. Of course, the Gryffindor team reached the conclusion that he was doing this to either knock points off, threaten Harry's life or even both.
With that in mind, the first thing to do would be to remove Harry from this particular game. But it created another problem, who was going to play seeker for the team? That was when her name was mentioned… By now, Tanya was well known as the only Gryffindor that Snape didn't bully and seemed to genuinely care. If she took the seeker position, Harry would be safe and there was the chance that Snape might act fairly or maybe even take their side…
Tanya's first answer was a big 'no'. She even tried to reassure that she knew the professor and he would never harm a student. But it seemed that Harry Potter and his friends already decided that Severus Snape was the mastermind of a big scheme to kill the boy, steal whatever was being guarded in the third floor and… who knows… maybe even take over the school.
In the end, Tanya compromised to see how well she could play before answering… And that's how we came to this emergency quidditch practice as Oliver Wood called it.
"NO! NO! NO! YOU ARE DOING IT ALL WRONG!" Oliver Wood was yelling again and again.
"How many times do I have to tell this… You need to mount your broom! You can't fly by yourself just holding it!"
"…!" Tanya was almost losing her calm… She could fly perfect well unsupported, so it was stupid to make her fly in a broom. No, a small correction… It was stupid to fly in brooms! It limited her flight to much, it's as if she is learning to fly from scratch!
"Am I having a dejavu? This is too similar to when I first tested the Elenium Type 95… Wood is proving to be as infuriating as Schugel was!" At least, this time, her life was not in danger and she wouldn't end having to pray every time she wanted to use magic… Right?
"NO! COME ON! YOU ARE NOT EVEN TRYING!"
"THAT'S IT! I GIVE UP!" Tanya shouted, throwing the broom away.
"Wahhhh!" Harry immediately ran to intercept it before it hit the ground.
"T-Tanya please! You could've broken my Nimbus!"
"I am done here!"
"But you can't! If you give up I will have to play and Snape may kill me-"
"Professor Snape is not going to kill anyone! I already told you! This is a waste of my time!"
"Actually… This is a waste of my time too!" Oliver Wood said not hiding his irritation.
"B-but-"
Tanya took a deep breath to regain her calm.
"Listen Harry… My style of flying is too incompatible with brooms. Maybe if we had more time I could adapt, but there is no way I can learn in time for the next game."
"I see…"
"Wait!" Hermione then came holding a book.
"I was reading the rules of quidditch… And look at this."
Hermione then showed the book in manner that Tanya, Harry and Oliver Wood could see.
"It says: '… each player has to be mounting a broom…'"
"As I said before… this is the basic rule of quidditch-"
"Ah! I see what you are getting at…" Tanya was the only one, Harry and Oliver didn't get what she meant.
"Now, this might work!"
The day of the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff arrived.
The last minute changing of the Gryffindor seeker was met with great surprise as Harry is regarded as a talented player and because his substitute had shown in many occasions that she disliked both quidditch and brooms.
Harry at first was nervous, thinking that maybe Snape might decide to punish Tanya for taking his place. That was why he was with his Nimbus 2000, to intercede should anything happens.
But when she flew to the middle of the pitch Snape seemed genuinely astonished. He even delayed the start of the game to talk with her. They talked a little and then he just sighed and signed the start. For a moment he glared at the stands and Harry knew it was meant for him.
Again, Harry worried as he noted that Tanya was just fixed in the same spot since the start of the play. Sometimes she would move to dodge a bludger, but besides that, she was just immobile and… her eyes were closed?
"Is Tanya sleeping?" Ron also noted.
"I… hope not…"
"Did she had any time to practice at all?" Hermione asked this time.
"Yeah… Actually after your suggestion, she played very well, she caught all the golf balls that Wood threw at her… he was so happy that he even apologized for being so impatient."
"Well… At least Snape don't seem to be favoring Hufflepuff too much…"
"That must be because professor Dumbledore is watching."
At this Harry felt himself calming down. If Dumbledore was watching nothing bad would happen to Tanya. Everything was going to be-
"Ouch!"
Harry felt someone poke his head from behind. It was Malfoy.
"So Potter… Are you so scared that you had to send Degurechaff in your place?"
"Shut up Malfoy!"
"Well, she is smarter than you. She knows she is going to lose and is not even trying…"
"Uh! Could she be angry? Because I forced her to play?!"
"… and what is with that broom? It looks like something you find in a dumpster or in Filch's closet."
Malfoy guess was close to the mark. Tanya just couldn't fly in a broom, so the solution was for she to keep flying by herself on a regular broomstick…. That was what Hermione found out: '… each player has to be mounting a broom…', but it didn't specify that the broom has to be magical.
So, they just picked up a broom, fastened it to her belt to make sure it wouldn't fall if she accidentally let go of it. Everything else was just a quick training to adapt the way she flew.
"This is not cheating… but it's best if no one finds out-"
"Pff. Is that girl so poor that she can't even get a proper broom?"
"I am warning you Malfoy… If you insult Tanya I am gonna hex you!" Harry said, already picking his wand.
"Snape may be someone important to Tanya, but this git I can hate as much as I want!"
"Why? Don't tell me that you have the hots for Degurechaff… Are you planing to ask her to be your girlfriend?"
"G-girlfriend?" Harry blushed at the remark.
"T-that's not it! She is my family now!" Harry tried to say, but felt very embarrassed suddenly.
"You are smart… You insult Tanya when she is not around to kick your arse…" Hermione then completed the sentence with a giggle.
"Way to go Hermione!"
Draco Malfoy seemed pissed off but couldn't deny what she said.
"… and I will let you know Malfoy… Harry and Tanya are practically dating!" Hermione said making a dreamy face.
"Ha! Take that- Wait… WHAT?!" For a moment, Harry thought he heard wrong…
"WE ARE?!" He yelled in surprise.
"Huh? What is this surprised look? You don't need to pretend in front of me Harry… I have been watching you two…"
Harry blinked at that.
"Watching what?"
"Please… The two of you are almost all the time holding hands! And when you were in bad terms, it could be seem how miserable you both were for being so far from each other… Finally, after you made up with her, Tanya was so happy that some times I saw her skipping or dancing in the corridors! Also, she is always worried about your well being… So unless someone hired her to watch over you, it's obvious that she fancies you!"
"T-Tanya fancies me? 'The' Tanya?!" Harry at first thought that Hermione was crazy… But then he remembered their moment of closeness in the mirror room.
"No… That's impossible… Tanya said that she wanted to be my- wait… when I said that she was like a mother to me, she seemed displeased…"
'I want you to see me… to look at me like I look at you… as family.'
"Could the family she wanted us to be was as a… married couple?!" Harry wondered if he didn't made a misunderstand in some moment.
"Ha-ha! Very funny! As if her father would allow her to date Potter!" Malfoy said interrupting Harry's thoughts.
"Father? But Tanya is an orphan." Ron asked, mirroring the confusion of his friends.
"Are you that stupid? It's pretty obvious that she is Snape daughter."
"SNAPE IS TANYA'S FATHER?" Harry shouted without wanting. First he discovers she fancies him, and now that she is the enemy's daughter?!
"That's the only explanation… He treats her as if she is a Slytherin!" Draco said, sounding as if it was the most unfair thing in the world.
"I reckon he had an affair with a muggle and when she was born he through the child was a squib. But when he realized that she was a witch, he had to pretend they are not related to save face."
"… That's ridiculous." Hermione said.
"I don't know… this kind of makes sense to me…" Ron then said.
"'… kind of…'? This makes perfectly sense! Who else that insensible sod would like… if not his own child? And she fancies me? Ugh! This is too much for my head to handle!"
"Humpf! To think that the head of Slytherin would take the side of a half-blood bastard!"
"!" Harry snapped, now he had a good excuse to hex this prat to death!
Malfoy seemed to realize his mistake as he cowered under Harry's furious glare.
"I warned you Malfoy now-!"
"YES! WE WON!"
They heard Neville yell and at the same time, the stands erupted.
"Wha-"
Harry then faced the pitch and there was Tanya holding the snitch with a neutral look in her face, that turned in annoyance when she was almost crushed by the group hug the other six members of the team gave her.
Harry, Ron and Hermione shared the same frustrated look in their faces, Tanya had just won the game and they didn't see it…
"A-anyone saw anything?"
"It was brilliant! Diggory was almost catching the snitch, but then she flew so fast that seemed like the golden ball had disappeared with her! And the dive she did…! I never knew that brooms could fly like that!" Neville answered.
They looked over and saw Cedric Diggory with a look of confusion, as if he didn't know why he lost…
"Well. At least now you two are even… She lost your game and you lost hers." Ron offered this consolation.
And to make things worse… Malfoy took advantage of the situation to withdraw without getting the proper punishment.
"Ah… I will apologize to her… Hope that she don't get too angry…"Harry sighed.
"Don't worry… It was Malfoy's fault. We will tell her."
"Sure! But I let him- Hm?" It was then that Harry noticed Snape flying in the direction of the forbidden forest.
"You two… wait here!" Harry then mounted his broom and flew after the professor.
"…And now that I saw Snape pressuring Quirrel, we need to tell Tanya, she will finally agree that-"
"I think that Tanya is with Snape in this." Ron cut in.
"Come on Ron…" Hermione then interceded.
"You still believe the rubbish Malfoy said? I told you… There is no way those two are father and daughter, its genetically impossible, they are too different!"
"That's not a problem for magic. Snape is a potion master, he could've made a potion to change her appearance."
"You mean polyjuice…?"
"Yeah, something like that she could… she could… she-" Ron took a thoughtful look.
He spend a few seconds like that and then widened his eyes.
"That's… That's it! I know the truth! Degureachaff is not a kid! Hell… She is not even a girl!"
"R-Ron?"
"That's it. She is an adult man!"
Harry and Hermione shared a look. With this they were asking each other: 'how'd he come to this absurd conclusion?'
"Please Ron-"
"No! Listen… She is very smart, people keep saying that she is so smart she could be a teacher. And she was so cranky about quidditch just like an old man."
"…"
"Oh! And you were there! I said that she was cute and she reacted like a boy! Just to make sure, I said the same thing to other girls and they all blushed, Dean was the only one to react like her… a boy!"
"Ah? Is that why you keep complimenting those girls and Thomas? To compare their reactions? But why you didn't say anything then?"
"W-well… I kind of forgot why I was doing that in the first place…"
Harry and Hermione then looked at him like he was the stupidest person in the world.
"Did it occur to you that she simple didn't like being complimented by you…?"
"Eh? Well… y-you think so…?" Ron actually had the look of a boy that just got dumped by the girl he fancied.
"R-remember when we met? She killed a frog in such a barbaric way-"
"Ron… that was just chocolate…"
"Y-yeah but- Ah! Remember when you saw her naked?"
"W-w-what? No! I don't want to remember that!" Harry said. At first he didn't though too much of it, but afterwards Hermione had a serious talk with him. He finally understand that what he did was a very shameful… Worse! She would be right if she got angry with him!
"Just remember what she said… that she wasn't worried about her breast size-"
"Ronald Weasley… Do you have anything against girls with small breasts?" Hermione asked crossing her arms.
"What? No! What I mean is-" Ron saw Hermione glaring so hard at him that he wisely drooped this comment…
"Then… What about you brushing her hair? Don't girls like that? And didn't she forbid you of doing that again?"
"… That only happened because you told her about the ribbon!"
"I already told you, she saw it in a mirror… And she don't like dresses. What girl don't like dresses, take my sister as example. If it was up to her, Ginny would wear a dress all the time."
"There are lots of girls that don't like dresses… Is that your last evidence?"
"Y-yes… but, but-"
"And you didn't saw her dancing in the hallways? Wasn't that 'girly' enough for you?" Hermione mentioned this particular incident.
"W-well… She could just be doing that to… err… take out any suspicion…?"
"If it was the case, she wouldn't do that when she doesn't know if people are looking! Like in the dormitory-"
"Ah! That's it! What about you Hermione? How is she around the girls in your dormitory?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Like… What she do when you girls are changing?"
"… Now that you brought this up… She leaves the room when we are changing and avoids taking her clothes off in front of us… And she never showers with us… Could it be… No! No! That's an absurd… She probably is shy… And why would someone go to such lengths?"
"I reckon 'he' is an old man… he wants the stone to live more."
"You mean that Snape is actually working for Tanya?" Hermione asked, looking like she was starting to consider this story.
"SHE IS NOT LIKE THAT!" Harry yell seemed to make Hermione regain her sense.
"Y-yes, that's right. This is too fantastic of story. Such a radical change… No one would do something like that!"
"Oh! You think so? Then let me tell a story that my dad once told me…" Ron said.
"This happened four years ago given or taken… Dad noticed that there was some ruckus at the department of Magical Law Enforcement and went there to see what was happening… When he got there, he saw a group of hit wizards being treated by healers. Dad couldn't tell if they were hurt because they were all covered in some web-like stuff."
"A web? Like a spiderweb?"
"Just like a spiderweb. And those were not just any hit wizards, they were a special team of hit wizards handpicked by the minister to fight against any threat! And yet, dad swears to this day that they were scared-shit and crying as if they were little girls!"
"What exactly happened with them…?"
"That was never reveled… But dad said one keep repeating between sobs: 'It may look like a girl, but it is an acromantula! She stole my wand!'"
"Y-you mean to say that someone transfigured an acromantula to look like a child?!" Hermione asked very frightened.
"What is an acromantula?" Harry asked, not familiar with the term.
"I-it's a kind of giant spider. A-and…? What happened after that?"
"Later, dad found out that all hit wizards were transferred, the ministry never gave a formal statement of what happened."
"… And? What's the point of this story? You think that Tanya is a giant spider now?" Harry said, sounding skeptical as to the veracity of this story.
"What? No! My point is that if even an acromantula could pass up as a kid, then there is some old wizards out there that could do the same!"
"That's rubbish… Don't you agree Hermione?"
"T-that story was kind of scary…"
"Hermione?"
"A-anyway… Ron has a point…."
"Rah!" Ron shouted, happy that he finally proved his point.
"What? You think that Tanya is a grown up man?"
"No! That part is ridiculous… But, there is no denying that Tanya and Snape are close. Regardless of she being an adult or even a man…. There is a chance that she could be helping him."
"B-but she is our friend!"
"We must consider the possibility that… that she is deceiving us… So, maybe we should at least keep her in the dark of our suspicions-"
"No, no! I don't believe!"
"Harry…"
"If she is lying to me… after I… I said that I l-loved her…"
"Wait… What?"
"I told her that I love her…"
"…" Hermione then took a really big breath.
"OH MY GOD! YOU TWO ARE ALREADY TOGETHER?!" She shouted very excited with the news.
"Why you didn't say anything?"
"I-it's not like that!" Harry took a step back, a little frighted with Hermione sudden excitement.
"We decide to be each other's family… She is like a sibling or even a mother to me…"
Harry then explained what happened between the two of them in the room with the mirror of erised. At the end of the story, Hermione had a thoughtful look.
"… I may have figured Tanya Degurechaff out." She said, sounding very confident.
"So… You also reckons she is an old man, right?"
"What? NO! I already said, that is rubbish!"
"What! Rubbish?! How could you-"
"Ron! Just give me a second, okay?" Hermione then turned to Harry.
"What I am about to say is mostly assumptions using details I saw and heard, and some information Tanya told me about herself and what you just said… but, there is a chance that I may be mistaken… But just heard me out."
Harry nodded his head.
"Tanya is not that hard to figure, and no, I don't believe she is a man. She is a fragile girl that had to grow up very fast because her guardians wouldn't care about her. Having a tough life, she had to look strong and things like dolls and dresses became weaknesses that she was not allowed to have. But deep down, she still want to find love and a caring family… and I think that when she saw how alike you two are, she wanted to help you and eventually fell in love."
"F-fell in love…? B-but like a sister or a mum right?"
"… Harry… Tanya doesn't want to be your mum! She may be very mature… but not to the point of 'adopting' you. You can see that she is looking for someone to be always with her… to protect, to love, to have children with one day…"
At the mention of 'have children with one day' Harry paled.
"H-how did this happens?! I don't want a girlfriend… or a wife! I know how bad it feels to be lonely but… I really don't see her THAT way!"
"It's okay Harry… You don't need to make any decision now. You two are still too young but keep your mind open…. Oh! And remember that she may not wait forever…"
"Hu? What you mean-"
"Aff! Do you hear yourself? What are you going to say next? '… You two need to go all 'smooch', 'smooch' and have babies forever and ever...' Bah! Girls…"
"Ron! I am warning you, be silent!"
"You are the one that should shut up after saying all this rubbish-!"
"GAHHHH! Everyone is confusing me! Tanya says that she want to be my family… Malfoy says she is Snape daughter. Hermione says she fancies me… Ron that she is actually a man… And the only thing you two agree is that I should lie to her?!"
"Not lie Harry… We just don't tell her the truth."
"Yeah mate, calm down!"
"Harry… I think that Ron is wrong and I kept what I said: she fancies you. But I think that either Snape is lying to her or she knows and is torn between you two."
"Ah! That's it! She said that she would choose me! If I ask, she will choose me over-"
"Do you really want to force her to choose? Snape may be the closest she ever had to a father… Can you turn her into an orphan again?"
"!"
"Let's just kept watch, and after this is all over, we will tell her everything… but until then… we kept this all a secret between only the three of us."
"I-I… Okay…"
Harry was feeling pretty down… He was so happy when he and Tanya became close, but now he was going to keep things from her, maybe even lie! And if Hermione was right, she was fancying him! What should he do? He really don't want to hurt her… Also, what if Malfoy or Ron were the ones right? In both cases, they would never be together again…
"Ahhhh… I feel so… so- what was the word again…? Oh yeah! Screwed…"
AN: I am very happy with this chapter, I finished it in record time! Could this means that I am finally getting the hang of this writing thing?
And many thanks to everyone that is adding this story to their favorites. It just reached the one hundred favs!
My only regret is that I wanted to show a bit of Cedric Diggory in this chapter. But if I showed him, I would need to give more details with the game and that would made this chapter too long. Maybe in the next arc…
Tanya skipping and dancing in the corridors is based in two scenes, one from the manga and the other from the movie. In the manga, she is skipping and whistling in one panel, in the next she is walking normal and saluting someone, and in the next she is skipping and whistling again. In the movie, close to the end, she is dancing and laughing because she thinks that she finally got her job in the hear and goes to a church to brag to Being X.
About Ron figuring the truth. I am thinking of making him a 'new Rerugen'. Someone that realizes a few truths about her and is very afraid. Unfortunately for him, since he is usually stupid, people will dismiss his worries. Oh! And there will be later another character that will also realize Tanya's original gender… Can you guys guess who?
Hermione talk with Harry will reverberate for years in his life. When he gets married to Tanya, he will remember this moment and realizes this was the starting point to their 'love life'. Unfortunately for Tanya, when she learns of this, it will be already too late…
And one last thing. I am considering making an 'interlude' chapter showing Harry and Tanya's life years after the marriage. It would be an 'earlier epilogue'. It would be posted after the end of this arc, but it would mean more time until the next arc starts. What you guys think about this?
Next chapter: Tanya meets Voldemort and… finds the second deathly hallow?!
Reviews:
To Venator77: I already told and I will tell again: Loria didn't rape Tanya. But, Tanya believes that he did rape her and Loria himself died thinking he had her… But let me say this: depending of the point of view, something even worse may have happened with her during that time (but nothing of a sexual nature).
To Lubber: Thanks for reviewing, but I didn't understand what you mean…
To wedgegeck: Thank you. Just like in the original book, Hermione will be very important in this story. A funny thing is that later, Tanya will see that Hermione and Harry's relationship was the one she wanted to herself and Harry.
To duked: Thank you. Character development can be hard. I am, sometimes, afraid that as the quantity of chapters grow, I may forget what I did and did not with them. Next chapter, Tanya will make a big misunderstanding with the philosopher's stone… Like only she is capable of doing.