Elizabeth went upstairs to Hermione's room and looked through the crack in the door. Hermione was at her desk, smiling and writing furiously in her journal.
"Knock knock," she said from the doorway. Hermione turned around and grinned. She took that as a good sign and came in.
"Just let us know next time you're going to be out so late."
"Okay mum, sorry to have worried you," she said and went back to her writing.
"You have some leaves in your hair."
Hermione froze. "Oh, do I?"
"Want to tell your old mum about it?"
Hermione bit her lip, sighed and faced her with a grin. Elizabeth could tell by the look in her daughter's eyes that something significant had happened. Hermione took a deep breath and started.
"Well, we were on a hammock in the front yard and talking when it suddenly broke and..."
Elizabeth carefully but casually observed her daughter as she spoke. She had never seen Hermione in such a state and felt tears come to her eyes. Her shy, bookish little girl was gone and before her was a beautiful young woman in love.
"...and not long before Mr. And Mrs. Weasley arrived, I...um..." she leaned in and whispered, "-had an orgasm, mum!" with a furious blush, as if she had discovered what made rice white!
Elizabeth made a Herculean effort to keep a straight face at the wonder of her daughter discovering the joys of womanhood.
"I know what you're feeling, truly I do. You love him, and being with the man you love is wonderful."
"Is there a 'but' to this?"
"Yes, my clever girl, there is. You've known him and been friends since you were eleven, so why don't you slow down a bit and take the time to get to know each other as more than friends? A slow simmered stew tastes better in the end, you know."
Hermione's face scrunched up. "Where did you get that awful allegory?"
"My mum, when we had this very same talk about your father."
"I get it. You're right, we have all the time in the world, but I don't regret tonight. Not one bit."
"Fair enough, now, to more practical matters. I know you're a smart girl, but you can get caught up in the moment, so I need to ask: are you using any type of contraceptive?"
On Monday, Hermione arrived at the Burrow for study time after breakfast.
"Where's Harry?" she asked.
"Another thing at the Ministry."
When he wasn't studying, Harry was inundated with interview requests from publishers, magazines and newspapers. On the advice of the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, (no longer the temporary minister) Harry sought the help of a public relations wizard and a solicitor. Grimmuald Place and the Burrow had to be warded against the onslaught of reporters and writers. He had numerous de-briefings with representatives from the Department of Mysteries about the Horcruxes, and the Aurors were very interested in his account of the events of the past year.
On this particular morning, when he would rather be studying with his friends, he was telling about that horrible hour at Malfoy Manor. Hermione had been tortured, a chandelier fell on her, Ron was beat up, and Dobby had died.
"I learned a lot that night," he said. "It was chaotic, too chaotic to last I imagine. There was so much fear, distrust and confusion among the Death Eaters that they would have done themselves in soon enough. It was that bad. I don't remember where I heard it, but evil eventually turns on itself."
The Aurors interviewing him looked at each other. They were impressed. That was pretty deep for a seventeen year old wizard to realize.
"Potter, do you still plan on being an Auror?" one of them asked.
Harry nodded. "Unfortunately, there will always be Dark Wizards. I've never wanted to do anything else."
It would take The Daily Prophet years to run out of material to write stories about. A month before NEWT testing, Hermione opened the paper at breakfast and choked on the sip of juice she had just taken. She read the front page article, frowned and quickly turned two more pages. Her face paled. She tossed aside the paper and apparated from the dining room.
"What ever could that have been about?" Ian said.
"She didn't finish her breakfast," Elizabeth said, picked up the newspaper and read.
THE OTHER TWO
Wizarding Hero Harry Potter has long maintained that his extraordinary, harrowing journeys would have ended in failure and death were it not for the steadfast strength and intelligence of his 'two best mates,' Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Reliable, anonymous sources have revealed information about the two who will be remembered as much as Harry Potter for their heroic part in this epic piece of history.
Ronald, the youngest son of the prolific Weasley family, is known for his love of Quidditch and his prodigious skill at the game of chess. It is widely acknowledged that had he returned to Hogwarts for his final year of study, he would have been named Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, playing as Keeper. At a stocky six foot two, he is said to resemble his older brother Charlie in looks and the oldest son Bill in temperament. His future plans include trying out for a position on a professional Quidditch team and having a family of his own.
Hermione Granger, of Surrey, is the sole child of Muggle dentists. (see the 'What are Dentists' feature on page 4) Acknowledged as 'the brightest witch of her age' Hermione would have surely broken academic records at Hogwarts had she returned for her final year. Were you to hail her as many do, as the 'beauty and brains' of the trio, she would adamantly deny it. "She's the most unassuming person I know," reports our anonymous source. She is undecided about her future plans.
Ronald and Hermione are currently living with family and studying to stand their NEWTs along with 39 other students of their year. It is also reported that Ron and Hermione formed a romantic attachment (see picture, page 4) during their journey with Harry Potter. Is there a wedding in the future for these two heroes?
"'What are dentists?' Don't they know what dentists are?" Ian asked.
"This article isn't too bad," Elizabeth said. "What got her so flustered?" she asked and turned to page 4. "Oh," she said with a chuckle and saw a picture of Ron and Hermione lying on the ground, wrapped up with each other, snogging passionately. The caption read "Ron and Hermione-Young Love."
The doorbell rang and Ian rose to answer it. He opened the door and found himself face to face with a dozen wizards and witches at the ready with quills and parchement.
"Are you the father of Hermione Granger?" one asked then they all started talking at once.
As expected, Hermione tumbled through the Burrow floo. "I thought this place was warded!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, people can't get within a hundred yards of the home," Arthur said, "but they can still see what's going on, it's not an invisibilty ward."
Hermione snatched the paper away from Ron. Of course he was looking at their snogging picture. "That was a private moment!"
"Yes, as private as a front yard can be," Molly said with a gentle smile.
"Et tu, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked and sank into a chair.
"Ettu?"
"Never mind. Can I have some of that coffee?"
Ron felt compelled to go home with Hermione to try and explain the picture to her parents. They apparated to the back yard and went inside. Her mum was on the telephone.
"Who's on the front patio?" Hermione asked. Ian peeked out the front curtains.
"Yes, Mary...no, just reporters...in a way, yes, they're foreign.." she said and looked at Hermione. "Yes, thank you, goodbye" she said and hung up the phone.
"Apparently, reporters that won't go away," Elizabeth said.
"I"ll take care of this," Hermione said primly, tossing her hair behind her back. She went to the front door and snatched it open. The crowd of reporters jumped at her. In a split-second, she whipped out her wand and pointed it at the group. The frantic talking and writing stopped as the crowd looked wide-eyed at the wand, then the witch holding it. This was a witch who faced Death Eaters time and time again, whose skill with a wand was now well known. When Ron appeared and stood behind her, one of them bravely snapped a picture.
"This is a muggle home, and all of you are trespassing, uninvited on private property. I am well within my rights to forcibly evict you from the premises. Need I say more?" she demanded.
She thought she saw the face and hair of Luna Lovegood and dropped her wand.
"Luna?"
The crowd parted and looked back. Surely the sweet, shy Luna wouldn't be a part of this madness.
"Are you here on Quibbler business?"
Luna shook her head.
"Okay, Luna, you can come in. The rest of you, please go. I'm asking you civilly on behalf of my parents." She shut the door in their faces and introduced Luna to her parents. "She's a friend from school and her father owns a paper." He was going to give us up to Death Eaters too!
"I don't mean to intrude, I just wanted to see where you lived and say hello. I miss my friends."
"Of course, I know you would never intrude! How is your father?"
"Well, we're repairing the house, but the printing press is beyond repair."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Elizabeth said.
"Oh, it will be all right. Father's getting a bigger, better press than the previous one. Of course, he's still heartbroken over the loss of his Snorcack horn."
"His what horn?" Ian asked.
Hermione wanted to blurt out 'ERUMPET HORN!' but held her tongue.
"I thought the picture in The Daily Prophet was very sweet," Luna said. "Neville says hi by the way. He looks forward to his Herbology NEWT."
"Oh? When did you last see him?" Hermione asked.
Luna blushed. "Last night, he took me to Fortescue's."
"You're seeing Neville?" Ron asked.
Luna nodded. "He asked me. There's so many he could choose from and he chose me. Why?"
"Why? Luna, don't say that. He's lucky to be with you! You're smart, brave and pretty, why wouldn't he want that?" Hermione asked.
"That's nice of you to say."
"If you don't mind my asking, what happened to your arm?" Elizabeth asked. She was referring to the scar on Luna's arm from her time as a prisoner at Malfoy Manor.
"Oh, that happened at Malfoy Manor."
"Mum, remember when I told you I was tortured and a chandelier fell on me? It happened at Malfoy Manor as well," Hermione said.
"I've heard an awful lot about these Malfoy people, I hope some justice is done," Ian said.
"The Death Eater trials are in the fall," Hermione said. "There's going to be a lot of justice, you can believe in that."