Harry Potter and the Delightful Dilemma
By: Sheltie
I don't own Harry Potter
A/N: I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get this chap up. I didn't mean for it to take so long. I just hit a few snags and had to rewrite most of this so it fits right with what I've done before.
Chapter 18
The pressure of O.W.L's was now upon the group and Hermione seemed to revert back to her old ways and became frantic in studying. Most of the group was shocked and a bit frightened at the sight. Harry was used to it since this was typical Hermione behavior and knew it just had to run its course. Luna was the other unaffected, but it didn't seem many things disturbed the lithe blond as she seemed to play along with Hermione's tense attitude.
Padma and Parvati were having a nice chat when Hermione came blazing in. She shoved a piece of parchment into Parvati's hand.
"Quiz me" Hermione ordered desperately.
The Patil girls blinked at this as Parvati looked at the parchment.
"QUIZ ME! Hermione barked.
Parvati jumped and began since she didn't want to get on Hermione's bad side. She has seen what has happened to others since she had lived with Hermione when they were in the lion's den. Fifteen excruciating minutes later Hermione settled, somewhat. She left to study more.
"Oh Merlin. That was terrifying" Padma said.
"Yeah, it was" Parvati said.
"Why are you so affected. You lived with her?" Padma asked.
"I may have lived with Hermione, but I wasn't around her all the time like Harry was. I'm not used to it at all. I've only caught glimpse of this madness over the years. I never got the full hit" Parvati said.
Padma nodded.
Even Fleur and Penny kept their distance with Hermione. Only Harry and Luna were brave enough to be with Hermione. Though each approached with caution. Well, Harry did. Luna could sit by Hermione and hum a tune doing her own work and ignore the furiously writing brunette like nothing was wrong.
"Harry, you've got to do something. She's driving everyone mad" Susan pleaded.
Harry looked up from his DADA book he was reading and saw his ladies before him. Well most of them. Hermione was in the library again and Luna was off doing who knows what to get ready to take down Dumbledore.
"Please Harry, this has to end. I know O.W.L's are important and all and we're all getting ready for them, but this is insane and she's going to burn herself out before the actual exams" Daphne said.
"Plus, no one here can stand being around her when she like this" Padma said.
"So please do something Harry" Susan said.
"Alright, I guess it has been a while since she and I have had our date night, right?" Harry asked.
The ladies nodded. Sure they still did their date night thanks to Hermione's schedule, but with O.W.L's things kind of got jumbled and there wasn't as many dates since there was studying needed to be done, but they still had dates. Well everyone except Hermione.
"That sounds wonderful Harry, but how are you going to get her to go, you know how she is?" Parvati asked.
"Easy, oh Luna" Harry called.
Suddenly out of nowhere Luna appeared.
"Yes Harry" she chirped.
"Time for Operation De-Stressing The Granger" Harry said.
Luna saluted and dashed off.
"What is 'Operation De-Stressing The Granger'?" Penny asked.
"Yeah, I am assuming the Granger part means Hermione, but what does the de-stressing part mean?" Daphne asked.
"Simple. I had a plan since I knew this would happen. Luna decided to help me start the plan off" Harry said.
"And just what does that mean?" Fleur asked.
"That's easy. Step one: kidnap Hermione" Harry said.
"WHAT!?" the ladies shouted.
/Scene Break/
Hermione was in the library way deep in the stacks. She had mounds of books on either side of her as she tried to cram all the text she was reading into her head. She was so focused she didn't see or hear Luna come skipping in. Luna found Hermione easily and first making sure no one was around and when she saw the coast was clear she stunned Hermione in the back. Hermione flopped over. Luna then used a full body bind on Hermione and then disillusion charm on the brainy Granger and levitated her out of the library as she hummed 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'.
/Scene Break/
Hermione awoke to find herself in a very comfy room. She looked around and then checked her pockets to find her wand wasn't anywhere on her person. She started to panic when Harry appeared.
"Thank Merlin you're here Harry, where are we?" Hermione asked with a great sigh of relief.
"Relax Mione, we're safe" Harry said with a smile.
"But where are we?" Hermione asked.
"In a nice room where we can have a date" Harry said.
"Harry, it's not a good time. I have so much to study before O.W.L's" Hermione said.
"Sorry Mione, but you can't leave this room til he have this date" Harry said.
Hermione glared at Harry.
"Open this door Harry" she demanded.
"No can do. The spell I put on it can't be undone til we've had our date. My dad created it since my mom had a habit of burying herself in her work too" Harry said calmly.
Hermione was unhappy and she stomped her foot. If she had her wand she'd of hexed Harry by now. But that wasn't an opinion now was it.
"You can't do this to me Harry. Now let me out" she demanded.
"You're not going anywhere Hermione" Harry said sternly.
The two stared at one another waiting for the other to crack.
/Scene Break/
"Well, what's going on?" Parvati asked.
She and the rest of Harry's ladies were watching a crystal ball that Luna gave them to view what was going on in the room with Harry and Hermione.
"They are just staring each other down" Susan said.
"I hope Harry's plan works. I don't know if I can stand Hermione's frenzy attitude" Daphne said.
"All will be fine. Harry will set Hermione straight" Luna said.
She was the only one not watching the crystal ball. In fact she was scribbling away on a piece of parchment.
"How do you know Luna?" Padma asked.
"I just do" Luna said.
"We'll have to put our trust and hope on Harry" Penny said.
The other ladies nodded as they continued to stare at the crystal ball.
/Scene Break/
Back in the room Harry and Hermione were still having their stare down til Hermione crumbled first.
"Harry, O.W.L's are important. I have to study" she said trying to justify her behavior.
"I know that Mione, but you need to also rest or you'll burn yourself out. I mean, your hairs more bush and wild than usual" Harry said gently.
Hermione touched her hair and saw it was more frazzled than it usually was.
"Besides, the other ladies are getting fed up with your zeal" Harry said.
"I-I-I didn't know" Hermione said in a quiet voice.
"Now you do, but they don't hate you or anything, but you need to calm down or else you're going to alienate them" Harry said.
Hermione just nodded looking down. Ashamed at how she had changed back to her old self.
"Alright, I'll tone it down" she said.
"No, what you will do is follow a schedule that the other ladies will create for you for studying and you can only study on those hours" Harry stated firmly.
Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but saw Harry was very serious about this and sighed.
"Fine" she pouted.
"Good, now lets have our date then we can leave" Harry said.
Hermione nodded.
/Scene Break/
The ladies cheered as Harry won. They then began making a schedule for Hermione to follow so they wouldn't have to deal with a stressed out and foul tempered Hermione. They also liked this firm and stern Harry and knew they wanted to see more of that. Heck, it made them a bit hot under the collar.
/Scene Break/
A few days after that Luna skipped into the common room and plopped into Harry's lap. She wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him on the cheek.
"You done Luna?" Harry asked.
"Yup" Luna chirped.
"She's finished, we can move on Dumbledore now?" Daphne asked excitedly.
"Yeah, call the others" Harry said.
Daphne nodded and rushed out of the common room leaving Luna and Harry snuggle with one another. Once Daphne rounded up the other ladies they all waited for Luna to tell her plan.
"So how are you going to get Dumbledore to sign the contract?" Padma asked.
Luna just gave everyone a mysterious smile.
/Scene Break/
Dumbledore was in his office looking over all the paperwork he had. He sighed. He'd usually have Minerva do this, but this wasn't Hogwarts business. It was from his other positions he holds. He was so busy working that he didn't notice someone enter his office. The figure stealthy glided towards the unsuspecting Dumbledore and when close fired a spell on the old man.
Dumbledore felt something wash over him. He didn't notice the figure slip a piece of parchment over to him. Dumbledore shook out of whatever trance he was in then looked down at his work. He then read it over thoroughly and then jotted his signature. The form glowed gold.
"Right on to the next one" the old wizard said not noticing the figure leave.
/Scene Break/
Luna reappeared in the common room.
"Did it work?"
"Did he sign it?"
"Are you alright?"
"Are going to tell us what you did?"
These were the questions that were bombarded at the lithe blond.
"Ladies quiet. Give Luna some air and she will tell you what she had done" Harry said firmly.
This got the ladies to quiet down.
"Luna dear, you have the floor" Harry said.
Luna smiled and nodded. She got up and stood in front of the fireplace.
"Ladies and Harry" she began.
Harry chuckled.
Luna then pulled out a book that none of the other ladies have ever seen before. The book had a drawings on the cover that none of the ladies even recognized at all, but could tell it was a muggle book.
"I have before me my inspiration for getting Dumbledore to sign Daphne's contract" Luna said.
"What is it?" Parvati asked.
"It's an unusual little book. You have read it backwards to understand it. I've never read a book backwards before and it sounded like fun. Though I wonder if all books can be read like that or is it just these kinds of book. Hmm, something to think about at another time" Luna said after seeing the few exasperated looks she was getting from the other ladies.
"Anyway in this book there's something called genjutsu which lets you create illusions and I thought it was a curious idea and began creating a spell using the concept of genjutsu" Luna said.
"But Luna, we've got spells that create illusions already" Penny said.
Fleur nodded at this.
"I know, but the one I created was specifically made for my plan. Plus, I've got a dozen or so others that I want to make. It's quite exciting" Luna said bouncing on the heels of her feet.
"So you used this 'genjutsu' thing on Dumbledore and got him to sign my contract" Daphne said sounding dubious.
Luna nodded brightly.
"Luna, I don't mean to doubt your spell crafting abilities, but how in Merlin's name could you even create a spell like that?" Hermione asked.
"It's really quite simply with both the Potter and Black library. I just read up on creating spells and then began working on a formula then did trial and error with each formula I created" Luna said.
"But Luna, it takes years to create a new spell, how could you do it in a couple months?" Padma asked.
"Oh, that's easy. I've been working on this for quite a while even before Daphne started working on the contract. I just thought it would be fun to use my spell to get him to sign it" Luna said.
"So what you're saying is that you've been working on this spell for a long while and decided to use it now?" Hermione questioned.
Luna nodded.
"How would you know if it even worked?" Susan asked.
"I didn't really, but I was quite confident it would" Luna said.
This had all the ladies' jaws dropped. Luna went in with a spell that she was fully sure would work.
Harry smiled and walked over to Luna and kissed her. Luna kissed back.
"I love you, Luna Lovegood" he said.
/Scene Break/
It wasn't long til they decided to test out to see if Luna's plan actually worked. Luna wasn't concerned at all as they made their way to Dumbledore's office. None of the ladies wanted to be left out of this so they decided to all come. When Dumbledore called them in he was frowning since he thought like times before that Harry would come alone. In his greatly aged mind he never seemed to fully grasp that this was a different Harry he was dealing with.
"I am glad you've decided to come to your senses Harry. Only working together we can defeat Voldemort" Dumbledore said serenely.
"No sir, we're here to get all of what you know about Riddle and his past" Harry said.
Dumbledore frowned. He knew what they were after, but he wasn't going to give that up unless he got several concessions.
"Harry, that information is very sensitive and can't be heard by just anyone" the old wizard said.
"It doesn't matter, you'll have to tell us" Harry said.
"And why do you think I will have to tell you?" Dumbledore asked.
"Because you signed a contract that said you would" Harry said.
"Contract, I signed no contract at all. I would remember if I did" Dumbledore said.
"It seems old age has really gotten to him" Daphne said with a smirk.
"Assure you Miss Greengrass that my age has not affect my mind at all" Dumbledore said.
"Then what's this with your signature on it?" Padma asked as she pulled out the contract.
Dumbledore's eyes widen as he read it over. He couldn't believe it. He'd never sign something like this. This needed to be dealt with. He took out his wand, but before he could think of a spell he was stopped.
"That won't help Dumbledore. That's only a copy, we've got the original" Harry said.
Dumbledore slumped im his chair.
"So now tell us all you know about Riddle and his Horcruxes and if you leave anything out that is vital you pay the consequences" Harry said sitting back.
Dumbledore was still slumped in his chair trying to think of a way to use this to his advantage, but nothing was coming to him. He had no moves left it seemed. Could this be the end of his dominance?
"Very well Harry, I'll tell you" he said.
He then gave a theatrical performance by showing memories he had gathered along with all his theories he had on what a Horcrux could be. Harry's ladies jotted down notes after notes on everything hanging on every word. When Dumbledore was done there was enough notes to make a couple books.
"Again your knowledge is flawed Dumbledore. I've told you my family studies soul magic and all the things you've said are complete bull shit. We've told you that you can't split a soul that many times to create seven Horcruxes. The most you can make is three before going insane. That and your bullheadedness that Harry's a Horcrux which is utter nonsense. I thank you for giving us more information on Riddle and what could be possible Horcruxes, but the rest you've spouted off his just white noise" Luna said.
"Miss Lovegood, we have our differences, but I have done my research on this subject" Dumbledore said.
"That 'research' you've done was done by hacks and people who didn't know what they were talking about. My family have done actual research on this and we've written many works though none were published due to the fact we didn't want the information out there so it could be used" Luna said.
Before Dumbledore could speak Harry stood followed by his ladies.
"Thank you for your assistance Dumbledore. We'll clean up your mess now" Harry said.
"You can't Harry. You need me" Dumbledore said.
"No I don't" Harry said then walked out of Dumbledore's office.
/Scene Break/
With new information on Horcruxes and what they could be this drove the ladies into research frenzy like a bunch of sharks attacking a whale carcass. Noting was left, no stone left unturned. It didn't take long and with the help of Gringotts they got the Horcruxes taken care of.
Luna's family had ways of destroying the foul things, but none of them could do the spells so they went to the goblins. The agreement reached, which was Daphne's time to shine, was the goblins would seek and find the objects and destroy them and for payment they'd get all the goblin made items from the Potters and Blacks. Sirius agreed with this since it would clean out the clutter of his home to make room for more things.
So with that taken care of all they had to worry about was their upcoming O.W.L's really.
End of Chapter
A/N: yes, I am drawing this one to a close real soon. I know I've been saying this, but here is the evidence. I am think about two more chaps then I am done with this one. For those who can spot what Luna has done good for you. I know it seems farfetched and out there and it doesn't make sense, but tough cookies. It's my story and I went for it and I think it works. So there. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review.