Even Snape was silent as Harry turned and stalked out of the Hall with his wife and sort-of daughter.
"Harry!" Hermione called, running after him with Sarah just behind her. "Calm down!"
"I'm trying," Harry growled, not looking at the two most important people in his life.
"Try using Occlumency, Harry," Hermione suggested as she pulled him into an empty classroom. Harry gave her a terse nod and closed his eyes, focusing on the image of his mental 'protector', the Hungarian Horntail from the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The two girls watching anxiously breathed a sigh of relief as Harry visibly grew calmer. Harry was just opening his eyes when the door burst open, causing Sarah to let out a startled squeak, and Harry and Hermione to let loose some stunners.
Fortunately for Neville and Luna, they had already had shields up when they entered the room. Not even giving the two time to apologize, Neville and Luna asked Harry simultaneously, "Are you alright? And sorry about bursting in on you guys."
"Are you guys sure you don't have a bond?" Hermione asked, amused by their perfect synchronization.
"Yes," they responded together. "But Harry didn't answer our question."
"If you two start pranking, I'll wonder if the twins are possessing you," Harry said, clearly amused, and just as clearly not wanting to talk about what happened in the Great Hall.
"What did you do to Malfoy?" Luna and Neville asked, disregarding his wish not to talk about it.
Harry sighed, knowing he was going to have to talk about it at some point. "I'll tell you, but you have to do one thing," he said, intending to ask them not to speak in unison like that.
"You ruin my fun, Harry," Luna said before Neville could open his mouth.
Harry didn't know what she meant, but Hermione obviously did as she said, "Luna, you shouldn't use you're seer abilities for something like that."
Luna shrugged. "Why not?"
"Because," Hermione started, but then stopped, clearly unable to come up with a good enough reason. "Fine," she said with a sigh.
"So what did you do to Malfoy, Harry?" Neville asked, ignoring the antics of the girls.
Harry shrugged. "To be honest, I don't really know. I just wished he would hurt, and he started screaming." Quickly changing the subject, Harry asked, "Hey, Luna, ever since the train ride, I've been meaning to ask you a question. If you're creatures are made up, why are they in the Quibbler?"
"Daddy thought he was showing support for me by using the imaginary creatures in his articles, but if you read closely, you can figure out that the imaginary creatures are just veils covering the insults to the Ministry," she responded.
Before either of the two boys could muster a response, Hermione butted in with, "That's a really good idea since any publication that openly defies the Ministry gets shut down; the only reason it wasn't in fourth year was because it was considered a small-time magazine."
"Is that why the Prophet so blindly follows whatever mood the Minister happens to be in?" Harry asked dryly.
"Yes," Hermione hissed; Literally, if the way Neville jumped meant anything.
"I didn't know you were a parseltongue, Hermione," Neville said, looking slightly nervous. "I didn't even know it was possible for a Muggle-born to be a parseltongue."
"Normally, it wouldn't be," Hermione admitted. "But you know Harry, he defies normality. He gave me parseltongue."
"Really?" Neville asked, looking more nervous. "How?"
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "I wanted her to have it, so I told my magic to make it happen."
"That's it?" He asked, looking relieved. "No Dark rituals or anything?"
Before Harry could respond, Hermione cut in. "Neville! You know Harry's not Dark!" She reprimanded him.
He nodded, having the decency to look ashamed. "I know, but it's hard to grow up knowing that Slytherin and You-Know-Who-"
"Say his name!" Harry interrupted angrily. "Voldemort!" Neville flinched. "Damn it! It's three French words put together! 'Vol' means flight, 'de' means of or from, and 'mort' means death! Personally, I think he's a coward for making a name that means flight from death."
"V-v-vol-vol," he paused, gathering his courage. A hard light came into his eyes, and he stuttered firmly, "V-voldemort."
Harry nodded, and looked to Luna; he'd gotten Hermione past it a long time ago. "Voldemort," she said simply. "Have you ever heard me say You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" She asked at the three surprised looks she received.
Thinking back, Harry realized that he hadn't, and, thanks to their bond, he knew Hermione hadn't, either. So he simply said, "Good point," before turning back to Neville and gesturing for him to continue.
"It's hard to change your view when you know that Slytherin and V-voldemort were both Parseltongues," he said.
"Why does it matter if Slytherin was a parseltongue?" Hermione asked.
Neville blinked in surprise at the question, clearly thinking that the answer was obvious. "He wanted to got rid of all those not of pure blood!" He exclaimed, surprised that Hermione of all people was asking.
"How do you know?" Hermione asked. "Were you there? Are there books that were written in that time period that have it documented? How do you know that that's what caused the rift between the Founders?" She waited for a moment for someone to say something, but Neville was shocked, Harry was interested, and Luna was as unflappable as ever. "Is it because everyone says so?" She continued, heat coming into her voice. "Because I'll remind you that everyonesaid that Harry was an attention-seeking brat last year. For all we know, it could have been that Slytherin was rejected because he was gay."
"Was Slytherin gay?" Luna asked, serene as ever.
Before Hermione could answer, Harry interjected, "It makes sense. Look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Or Greengrass and Davis. Personally, I think Malfoy just uses Pansy as a cover," he finished with a smirk.
"It's actually because they have a betrothal contract," Luna said amidst the laughter.
"What does gay mean?" Sarah asked out of the blue, startling the teens.
After a moment of silence, Harry told Hermione, "You brought it up!"
"We'll discuss it when you're older," Hermione said uncomfortably, ignoring Harry. Sarah gave a pout, but nodded reluctantly.
After another moment of silence-this one more awkward-Luna asked, "So, did you guys adopt her yet?"
Hermione, shifting uncomfortably, answered, "Well, we haven't asked her yet if she wants us to adopt her-"
"YES!" A loud squeal interrupted her, before both Harry and Hermione found themselves wrapped in a hug.
"Ummm...guys?" Neville interrupted. "What do you know about magical adoption?"
Harry blinked and looked to Hermione. However, to his surprise, she seemed just as clueless as he did. Turning back to Neville, he answered, "Not much, why? And how do you know about them?"
"Don't worry about that," Neville said, looking embarrassed. "But magical adoption is painful. The steps are simple-all it really takes is a potion-but it's painful. And not for the people adopting," he finished.
Hermione frowned and asked, "But what about babies? How can you adopt a baby knowing it would hurt them?"
"Actually, babies aren't really hurt by it-it's mostly uncomfortable for them," Neville answered. "What hurts is the changes that the body undergoes; the older the person, the more changes that are likely to be made, and therefore the more likely it is to hurt. Babies, fortunately, barely need to change. Sarah, however, may have to change a lot."
By the end of the explanation, Harry was holding Sarah tightly. "It's up to you," Harry said to Sarah.
She nodded. "The pain's not that bad," she said.
"You were adopted?" Hermione asked, surprised. That would explain why she attached to us so quickly, she thought to herself when Sarah nodded.
"Well, then," Harry said with a smile, "I guess Hermione and I are getting a daughter." The two women in his life were also smiling, and-pushing the thoughts of the event in the Great Hall from his mind-he lead the other four to the Room of Requirement.
While four teens and a child were talking amiably (and Hermione was working on the adoption potion), Albus Dumbledore was being reamed by Minerva McGonagall.
"I warned you, Albus," she was berating him. "When you first left him there, I told you that they were the worst muggles imaginable!"
"It was a good idea at the time," he tried to defend himself, but it came out like a whine.
"A good idea?" She screeched at him. Even Molly Weasley would have been impressed. "Were you not listening to the same atrocities that I was?" She demanded of him.
"I said 'at the time'." Damn. It still sounds whiny, he thought.
"It didn't to me!" She snapped at him. "Why won't you listen to anyone else, Albus?" McGonagall asked him. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had no answer.
"That's it?" Hermione asked, disbelieving. It had been maybe fifteen minutes since she started the potion, and it was already done. It had taken very simple, common, ingredients as well as a drop of blood from both 'parents'. "Thanks for the ingredients, Dobby," Hermione said to the beaming House-Elf when Neville nodded; apparently, without a terrorizing, greasy, git of a Potions Master, he had improved in Potions.
"Mister Harry Potter's Miss Grangey is welcomes!" Dobby squeaked happily before popping away with Winky. All four teens had wisely decided not to ask why Winky was always following Dobby like a lost puppy.
Ignoring that for the moment, Hermione turned to Sarah, and, looking her in the eye, asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Sarah somehow managed to maintain eye contact as she eagerly nodded. Worried, Hermione sighed as she handed over the potion, watching as the little girl brought the cup up to her lips. Suddenly, though, she paused. Looking back and forth between Harry and Hermione, (which was easy, since they were hugging each other) she asked shyly, "Does this mean I can call you Mummy and Daddy?" The two teens nodded with unshed tears in their eyes, and clutching each other more tightly as her whole being lit up with joy and she promptly drank the potion.
The changes began almost immediately. First her hair grew longer, bushier, and darker. Then her eyes changed to an emerald green. Then, the pain started. "Mummy!" Sarah cried, reaching for Hermione. Naturally, Hermione scooped her up and held her close as the little girl twitched in pain, crying. The two new parents-who were ecstatic at being called mummy and daddy moments ago-now looked at each other in shared agony as they helplessly watched their daughter writhe in pain. They never realized that Neville and Luna had discretely left.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the pain ended, and Sarah stopped crying. "I'm tired, Mummy," she murmured sleepily to Hermione as her eyes began to close.
Hermione smiled down at her daughter, glad that Sarah's ordeal was over. "Rest, princess," she said gently, kissing her on the forehead. The little girl snuggled closer to her mother as Harry joined them on the couch. Soon, it had changed into a bed, and the new-and very different-Golden Trio was asleep.