17 Deep Breaths

Breakfast was a quiet affair that morning. Once Harry and Hermione had finally gotten up, they'd found they rather enjoyed just lying down together, they had joined her parents in the dining room. A full English breakfast was presented, much to the pair's protestations. But once everyone was served and food was being eaten, the silence began.

"Ok, what is wrong?" Hermione asked her parents, "You've been acting like the world has ended all morning."

"It's not that pumpkin," Anne sighed, "We're just still recovering from the revelations last night."

"Try being the one they're about," mumbled Harry around his toast.

"Try being the ones who can't understand half of it, "George returned, a little snappish. "And can't do anything about it if they did."

"Sorry," Harry bent his head in regret.

"No, we're sorry," Anne sighed, reaching over and grabbed the couples joined hands, "We've lost sight of the fact that this affects you even more than us."

"Well, unfortunately we've gotten used to dealing with unusual situations," Harry sighed, "It seems if it's unusual or abnormal, it happens to me."

"To us," Hermione added, squeezing his hand.

"True," Harry conceded, "and that is probably why we seem…" he searched for the right word, "unphased? We're used to rolling with the punches."

"Can you tell us more about it?" George asked, "Professor McGonagall alluded to some incidents that while we are aware of them, seemed to have more significance than we thought."

"If you're sure you want to know," Harry said, glancing over at Hermione. Seeing her slightly reluctant nod, he continued, "I'm not sure what Hermione has told you, so I'll cover things from my perspective and she can add what she feels needs to be added from hers. Please bear in mind though, if she hasn't given you all the details, there's probably a reason and to please ask her why before you let your upset start something you'll regret later."

Both adults nodded, understanding intellectually what was being said. They realized after Harry's description of the troll incident, just how toned down Hermione's description had been.

"Let me see if I understand this," George said after he was done, "You found out she was upset in a bathroom, took off to get her to safety, and when you found that a four meter mountain troll already there, you jumped on its back to rescue her? And in the process the bathroom was completely destroyed, you made its brains disappear, and Hermione LIED to a teacher?"

"Pretty much sir," Harry agreed, "but she did it for…"

"That's the part you think I'm upset about?" George laughed, cutting him off, "though that is a pretty major change for her. No, what amazes me is that you truly did risk your life for her. Most eleven year olds would have run screaming, not jumped on the things back."

"It was my fault she was there sir," Harry admitted, "Of course I was going to help her."

"No Harry, it wasn't your fault, it was Ron," Hermione pointed out.

"I didn't stop him or stand up for you and I should have," Harry argued, "While yes, Ron bears some responsibility, so do I."

"You selfless, irrational…" Hermione took a deep breath, then sighed, "Fine, you have a point but you're also the one who ran to find me when you realized I was in danger."

"This would be cute if you weren't discussing a near death experience," Anne cut in, "Now what about the rest?"

So they explained the rest. The potions room, where Harry placed his life in Hermione's hands, drinking the potion she identified without hesitation, and how she'd cried inside fearing she'd never see her best friend again but knew he had to go on. How he'd sat by her side while she was petrified, leaving only to take notes in class for her. How he'd gone into the Chamber not because he was trying to save Ginny, but to avenge Hermione. He admitted he'd expected Ginny to already be dead, but had gone anyway to get revenge on the creature that had hurt Hermione. The night of Lupin's attack, where they'd both tried to place themselves between the other and Lupin as a werewolf. The dementor attack, where Hermione blushed when Harry admitted that his patronus was powered by the feeling of their embrace of a few moments before.

By the end, it was after dinner, and there wasn't anyone who had a dry eye. Anne and George asked the pair to excuse them, for they had some heavy thinking to do. The older Grangers went upstairs to talk, and reflect on what they'd learned.

Harry and Hermione moved into the living room, and curled up onto the couch together. They knew it had been a long day, but as Hermione curled into Harry, she thought it was a big step in the right direction.


It was Harry's turn to wake first the next morning. The night before he'd still blushed but had merely followed Hermione into her room when they went to bed. He honestly enjoyed snuggling up to her at night, though he still thought he may be enjoying it too much. Slowly moving the hand he had around Hermione down from where it was encroaching on his self-imposed no zones, he reflected how much better he was sleeping the last two nights. Yes, there was a rather large adrenaline spike to come down off of Friday night, but even last night was one of the best night's sleep in recent memory. He began to wonder why, other than the beautiful girl he now shared a bed with.

"Should I call the fire department?" Hermione's sleepy voice asked.

"Huh?" Harry replied, nonplussed.

"I can smell the gears grinding as you're trying to think," he heard the grin in her voice.

"Gee thanks," he grinned back.

"What's wrong?" she asked, rolling over to face him, "You seem distant."

"It's nothing, just reflecting on everything," he assured her, "Plus trying to figure out if it's just you that made the last two nights sleep the best I've ever had, or something else."

"Oh really?" she huffed.

"Yup," his grin grew.

"And your conclusion is?"

"Definitely you," his matter of fact delivery lasted a whole two seconds before they both dissolved into laughter.

"Come on funny man," Hermione chuckled, "Let's get some breakfast and find out what the plan is for today."

Once they were dressed and made their way downstairs, they joined the elder Grangers for the meal. Simpler than the previous days, it was still filling. Both youths noticed a recurring glance between the older Grangers and neither could figure out what it meant.

"OK, what's up?" Hermione asked as she buttered her toast, "What are you two so concerned about?"

"We're not concerned dear," Anne temporized, "though there are a few things we'd like to discuss with you."

"And some of those things are for just one of you," George cut in, glancing at Harry.

"I figured that was part of it," Hermione admitted, "What's the rest?"

"After lunch, we're expecting company," Anne continued, "Professor McGonagall is returning for you, as well as a couple other individuals, though she never identified them."

"I see," Hermione paused, "I wonder who she's bringing."

"Friends was all she said in her letter," George said, "though she did say Madam Pomfrey would try to be here as well."

The rest of the morning was about as expected. A lot of discussion on what the changes each was undergoing and experiencing would affect the family dynamic, plans for christmas, and the like. Getting 'the talk' from your girlfriend/wife's father was much worse than Harry had ever imagined, for both of them. Fortunately they'd approached it as a 'we're not talking about Hermione' situation and both had survived.

The discussion of Harry's living arrangements for the summer however, were less than straight forward.

"I appreciate the offer, I really do," he told the elder Grangers after their offer, "but if you become my guardians, won't that make Hermione my sister?"

"Not really," Anne explained, "If we were to adopt you then yes, she would. However, if we just become your guardians, then she wouldn't. We had discussed this a bit last summer, when we saw the situation with your aunt and uncle, but never really did more than a basic inquiry."

"I see," Harry acknowledged guardedly, "so why now?"

"Several reasons," George admitted, "For one, while we loved having you last summer, we still wanted to get to know you a bit better. Another is now you and Hermione need to be together or you get sick or die. And since I don't want my daughter within 5 counties of those…"

"George!" Anne cut his rant off, "Sorry dear, but you understand."

"It's ok," Harry blushed, "I don't want her near them either."

"Anyway," Anne continued for her husband, "We thought here would be the best option for that since we know about the situation and we don't know how long this bond will take to stabilize."

"We also want you to understand that however unusual the circumstances," George added quietly, "we do consider you part of this family, this just makes it official until you can get married in our world."

"You will let us give you a wedding here, in our world, won't you?" Anne pressed, hope filling her words.

"Of course mum," Hermione assured her mother as she hugged her, "We had actually discussed having a ceremony later, when we're older."

"I only see one potential problem," Harry sighed, hating to disrupt the family's anticipation. Seeing all the eyes in the room turn towards him, he shrugged, "Dumbledore seems to have an unnatural interest in my life, both in and out of school. He's been unusually quiet this year, especially with the tournament, but I just know he's going to insist on my going back to the Dursleys."

"Well Harry," Anne paused, "I understand that you fear his interference, but what power does he have over your decision?"

"I'm not sure to be honest," Harry admitted, "I think Professor McGonagall could help answer that better when she gets here. I also think that if we approach this correctly, we can arrange for things to happen the way we want them to. I just think it's going to take careful planning and consideration."

"You really think Professor Dumbledore would do that?" Hermione asked.

"I think he has his own plans and ideas, some concerning me," Harry sighed, "and he sure as hell isn't sharing them."

A loud knock from the front door interrupted their discussion. Glancing at each other, Harry and Hermione drew their wands. Anne noticed this and frowned.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"They knocked," Hermione said softly, moving to one side as Harry moved the other way, "Muggles would use the doorbell."

Brow furrowing in worry, Anne slowly moved to the entry, calling out.

"Who's there?"

"It's Madam Bones, Mrs. Granger," came a muffled response, "I also have Auror Tonks with me."

Looking through the peephole, and verifying that was who was waiting for them, she opened the door. Once they were in, Anne looked up in surprise when she saw the teens had not lowered their wands, but held them steady on the pair.

"Kids?" George asked cautiously, "You know these folks."

"Maybe we do, maybe we don't," Harry said cryptically, "There are ways to mimic someone else's appearance in the magical word. Madam Bones, where did I sleep until I received my Hogwarts letter?"

"This is what you get when you let Moody teach kids," the elder witch mumbled, "You slept in a cupboard under the stairs at your Aunt and Uncle's."

"When no one is supposed to know we're here," Hermione pointed out, "There's no such thing as too cautious. Auror Tonks, where did you sleep the first night you joined us for the full moon?"

"We didn't know you were here," the Auror answered, "And I tried to sleep on that damn couch with the lumps. Wasn't exactly successful at that."

"You did look rather haggard the next morning," Harry admitted, lowering his wand, "but if you aren't here for us, why are you here?"

"We're here about your relatives and you living situation," Bones informed them, "My contacts on the muggle side are about to press charges and I was hoping to convince the Grangers to testify and offer temporary guardianship. May I ask why you're here?"

"Fallout from the Tournament," Hermione explained, leading the group into the living room, "Pomfrey and McGonagall decided we could use some time away while the dust settles at school."

"I see," Madam Bones sighed, "And the paper certainly isn't helping, is it?"

"Don't know," Harry admitted, "We came here just after the last task and haven't seen the paper yet."

"Boss?" Tonks inquired hesitantly.

"Go, bring back yesterdays and today's," Bone commanded, her tone harsh, then it softened as Tonks apperated out of the house and she turned to the Family. "Yesterday was bad enough, Today's lays some rather serious innuendo upon you two."

"Already?" Hermione asked, "What is it this time? I'm dating Harry for his Money? Potioned him? I'm using the imperious?"

"Now dear," Harry tried to placate her, "I'm sure my warning to Miss Skeeter was followed."

"Warning Mr. Potter?" Bones asked.

"At the wand weighing ceremony, she drug me into a broom closet," Harry explained, "When her quill started making things up, especially about Hermione, I kind of lost my temper…"

"And?"

"I blew her through the door..." Harry said with a hint of regret, but only a hint. Amelia suspected that it was regret that he didn't do more though.

"After that, I gave her an ultimatum."

"And that was?"

"That she could print anything about me she could prove, with evidence, not hearsay," Harry expanded, averting the head auror's eyes.

"And what else?" Bones asked, her years of investigative work screaming that there was more.

"I may have implied that if she ever said anything bad about Hermione, they'd never find her body," Harry tried for innocence, but his obvious fury at the woman bled through.

"I see," Bones sighed, "While technically legal, I must remind you that we have a free press."

"We understand that Madam Bones," Hermione agreed from Harry's side, "but opinion should be in the editorial section, not headlines."

"Either way," Bones moved on to the reason she was there, making a mental note to keep an eye on the situation, "I'm here to speak with the two of you about your intentions towards Harry, Would you like to do this alone or with the children present?"

"They stay," George said firmly, "We were actually discussing this this morning."

"I see, and your decision?"

"We aren't 100% yet," Anne told her, "However, I believe we are leaning towards moving forward with guardianship of Harry."

"Not adoption?" Bones asked cautiously, for that had been the Grangers initial thought on the subject.

"No," Anne glanced at the younger couple, then continued, "We've decided that given the kids closer relationship, making them effectively siblings would not be a good idea."

"Closer relationship?" Bones pressed.

"We started dating over a month ago," Hermione explained, "Dating someone that is technically my brother would not be… it would add a wrongness to it."

"I see," Bones paused, turning back to the Grangers, "And you feel that is a good reason to just be his Guardian?"

"Madam Bones," Anne said, "Let me put it this way, given their history, and how they are with each other, I'm already planning their wedding," this statement caused the pair to blush. Little did Madam Bones know just how true the statement was.

"I see," Bones stated, leaning back, then looked up as Tonks returned with the papers. Taking them from the youthful Auror, she handed them to Harry. Shuddering in anticipation, Harry started with yesterday's paper, Hermione reading over his shoulder.

Harry Potter: The-Boy-Who-Cheated?

By Rita Skeeter

Yesterday saw an unusual turnout at the first task of the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts. The task, retrieving a golden egg from a dragon's nest, was attempted by the four champions individually, at least to start. The first three champions, Cedric Diggory (Hogwarts), Fleur Delacour (Beauxbatons) and Victor Krum (Durmstrang), performed admirably and completed their tasks on their own. The fourth champion, Harry Potter, who is already suspected of cheating to enter the tournament, once again broke the rules and received help to complete the task.

Once it was evident he was outmatched and woefully unprepared, he shouted for help and received it in the form of his girlfriend. Muggleborn Hermione Granger, who is also suspected of misdeeds to gain her top standing, entered the arena to assist. Upon entering the arena, both were overpowered until an unknown spell was used to enchant the dragon. After this spell, which no one has been able to identify, the dragon merely handed the egg to the champion.

When confronted by the judges, the couple merely pointed out that since Hogwarts had Cedric Diggory as its chosen champion, Miss Granger was not assisting her school's champion and therefore were not breaking the rule against assisting the school's champion. They also denied having planned this intervention beforehand. This seems very suspicious to this reporter, especially since I personally witnessed them plotting in the champions tent before the task.

Later, as the scores were presented, the judges showed their blatant disregard for the fairness of the task in awarding points similar to the other champions to Mr. Potter. Only one judge saw through this thinly veiled cheating attempt and scored Mr. Potter appropriately, the rest fell under his spell. Even the other champions fell for this poorly disguised attention grab, as they tried to give points to Mr. Potter and even attempted to censure the judge who saw through them.

There must be more going on here that meets the eye, and I promise you, my faithful readers, I will find the truth.

For more on Mr. Potters' cheating to gain entry into the tournament, see page 4

For history on the real champions, see page 5

For history on the tournament, see page 7

Harry groaned and looked sideways at the Head of the DMLE. Bones just arched an eyebrow and handed him the second paper, the one from this morning.

More Misdeeds at Hogwarts: Mishaps and Crimes Galore

By Rita Skeeter

As I promised in yesterday's article, I have continued to dig into the odd occurrences surrounding the Triwizard Tournament. In my investigation I have found even more foul deeds performed at Hogwarts, most of them by the supposed Triwizard champion: Harry Potter.

"I don't know what happened this summer," reported a fellow student, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, "Harry Potter came back changed this year. Darker, more reclusive, even violent. He threw his best friend across the Great Hall!"

"I don't know what Granger did to Harry," another student said, "but since they got back he hasn't left her side, it's like she cast a spell on him or something."

Checking with her classmates, they claim she was more than capable of casting such a charm, or even brewing a love potion. Does she have him under her spell?

Other students reported a fight involving the two in which they had to remove another student from the very walls of Hogwarts. Yet another was stuck to a wall with a tickling hex cast on him, unable to free himself.

Very few students were willing to discuss these happenings with me, leading me to wonder what they feared. Why would they not want to tell the truth about what was happening inside those hallowed halls of our youth? Why are they afraid?

Personally, I wonder just what is really happening at Hogwarts and why no one is talking about it.

For more on curious happenings at Hogwarts, see page 7

For more on the triwizard champions, see page 8

"I think we may have to make a small visit to the Prophet on the way back to school dear," Harry sighed as he finished the article, "Rita needs her reward for such a venomous article."

"Now Mr. Potter, I understand your upset, but I simply cannot allow you to run off and attack someone just for speaking against you," Madam Bones stated, looking cross at him.

"You misunderstand," Harry said evenly, "I am merely going to ask them to print a retraction of everything she doesn't have proof of," he grinned evilly, "Then, when she hides behind confidential sources at Hogwarts, I'm going to allow you to arrest her."

"I'm going to arrest her?" Bones was shocked, "And what charge will you be placing against her? I can't simply arrest someone for speaking their mind."

"Of course not Director," Hermione said sweetly, "However, after the last incident at the Weighing of the Wands, Professor Dumbledore expelled her from the grounds and forbade her from returning outside the tasks themselves, and she's only allowed in public areas when she does return. By her own admission, clearly printed, she was in the champions' tent, a very non public area."

"I see," Bones leaned back, considering.

"Boss, if this is true, it's perfect," Tonks cut in, "And once she's arrested, we can force her to reveal her sources as part of the investigation. News confidential sources must be revealed if they are pertinent to an active investigation."

"Did you two plan this?" the DMLE director asked looking suspiciously at the teens.

"Plan? No," Harry said, "Prepare for and anticipate her actions against us? Definitely. We may not get a full retraction, however, the Prophet would be wise to print a statement we will prepare stating the conditions surrounding the points she raised, and state that the paper is withholding further involvement pending DMLE charges of trespassing against Miss Skeeter. They will also, hopefully, comment on the fact that almost everything expressed in Miss Skeeter's articles is conjecture and hearsay, which should not be mistaken for fact."

"You think they will?" Tonks asked uneasily, "She sells a lot of papers for them."

"Imagine what would happen if the Boy-who-lived started loudly declaring he refuses to read the Daily Profit because they make up their news, and he can prove it?" Hermione stated quietly, with an evil grin, "How would that affect their sales?"

"Remind me not to piss you two off," Tonks said fearfully, causing everyone to chuckle.