[A/N: Posting this with all the optimism in my heart that my hiatus is over and that I'll be done with this series by the end of this week!]

"What if I figured out a way for you to switch bodies with me so you could take my OWLs for me but also take yours at the same time?" Matilda asked.

Hermione looked up from her transfiguration book. "If you were capable of doing that, you wouldn't need me to help you cheat on your OWLs."

"True," Matilda said. "Guess I'll just have to actually study harder."

"I mean you should do that anyway," Hermione said.

"We can't all be like you, Hermione," Ron said.

Neville and Ginny chuckled and Hermione rolled her eyes. Rory appeared in the doorway suddenly, looking a bit flushed.

"There you are!" Neville said.

"We were wondering where you ran off to after apparently telling Sirius he was going to die," Matilda said.

"Maybe die," Rory said dismissively. "But that's not important."

"That seems kind of important," Ginny said,

Rory either didn't hear Ginny or didn't care to respond because she went on.

"Can I talk to you about something?" she asked.

"Also, were you ever going to mention that you were able to spew out prophecies? Or that prophecies are an actual thing?" Matilda asked.

"No, I wasn't," Rory said dismissively. "Anyway, I was just chatting with Harry," she went on. She motioned to Neville and Matilda. "Can I borrow you two?"

Matilda raised an eyebrow. "Is this related to your chat with Harry?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Can you not do this for once?"

Matilda and Neville closed their books and followed Rory from the room.

"That was weird," Ginny said when the trio was well out of earshot.

"It's way less weird than holding a seance in the middle of the night and spouting off a prophecy about how your dad is going to maybe die," Ron said casually, staring hard at the book in his lap as if he could absorb the information by simply looking at the words hard enough.

"She's just weird about Harry now. Which is weird because she broke up with him and says she doesn't want to get back together with him," Ginny explained.

"She's just being weird the same way she was when she liked him. So obviously she still likes him now," Ron said. "Don't have to be a genius to figure that out. I mean, I'd think I'd know if someone was chasing after Harry or not."

Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances. Yes, Ron would definitely notice something like that.

Then Harry appeared in the doorway. "Hello."

"What'd you say to Rory?" Ginny asked. "She said you had a chat but she seemed a bit flustered."

Harry chuckled. "Did she?"

"Practically dragged Neville and Matilda from the room," Ginny said. She was the picture of nonchalance. But Hermione knew better. Ginny was digging for information to see what had Rory in such a tizzy.

"Well she's always doing that," Harry said dismissively. "We didn't talk about anything important, really." But he looked to Hermione and then he looked to Ron. And Hermione knew that something had happened while he was talking to Rory. He just didn't want to say what it was in front of Ginny.

Ron looked over to Ginny and then motioned with his head towards the door.

"What?" she asked.

"Can you sod off for a bit?" Ron asked.

Ginny snapped her book closed and then whacked Ron with it before leaving the room.

"Poor kid can't take a hint," Ron said with a shake of his head.

"Must be a Weasley trait," Harry teased as he took a seat beside Ron.

"What did you say to Rory?" Hermione asked. "She did seem a bit distracted."

"I don't know what I said to her," Harry said with a shrug. "We were talking about the prophecy and my Occlumency lessons, just normally like we always chat, and suddenly she said she wasn't going to fall for my 'charming Harry Potter bullshit.'"

"What?" Ron asked with a snort.

"That's exactly what she said. 'Charming Harry Potter bullshit.' First I'm hearing of its existence," Harry said.

"Likewise," Hermione said. "Charming is not a word that comes to mind when I think of you."

"Thank you for your honesty, as always," Harry said.

"Still, you must've said something to her," Hermione said.

Harry shrugged. "It was no different than how I usually talked to her before things were weird anyway."

"Ah," Hermione said. "So you were flirting with her."

"No I wasn't," Harry said. "How is having a normal conversation with her flirting?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but Ron held up a hand.

"I've got this one, Hermione," he said confidently. "You don't know how to talk to Rory without flirting. Hope that clears things up."

"You can't be serious," Harry looked to Hermione for backup, but she had none to give. It was exactly what Hermione was going to say to him. When they weren't arguing with each other, Harry and Rory lived in a perpetual state of making each other smile. Harry was especially good at getting a reaction out of Rory. He'd see Rory laugh or smile, and he'd lean into that. Sweet nothings, compliments, and jokes would tumble from him without trying. Of course he didn't realize he was flirting.

"I've always been able to have perfectly normal conversations with her," Harry said.

"No, it just seemed normal because you were always flirting with each other," Hermione said.

"No we didn't," Harry said.

"You're underestimating how obnoxious it was to be around the two of you when you'd forget other people are in the room with you," Ron said casually.

Harry frowned.

"But that's what you wanted right?" Ron asked.

"To be obnoxious?" Harry asked.

"She only got all weird about it because she still likes you," Ron said. "Otherwise she wouldn't have told you to knock it off."

"She doesn't want to get back together. She said she wants to get her head sorted out and learn how to not be so jealous," Harry said. "Which I get. And I really do like that we're getting along and friendly now."

Hermione was incredulous. "But you're hoping she changes her mind?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess so. It feels a bit like she might."

Hermione groaned and got to her feet.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I am recusing myself from any involvement in your love life, Harry Potter," Hermione said. She walked out of the room. She walked downstairs to the dining room. Bill, Sirius, Tonks, and Lupin were all there chatting. Hermioned plunked herself down in a chair.

They were all silent as she sat there. Which was fine. She didn't need to talk about it. She was washing her hands of all of it. Let Harry and Rory and Ginny all stumble around in the dark trying to sort things out.

"Hey," Tonks said, casually. "Something on your mind, Hermione?"

Hermione huffed. Yes, there was a lot on her mind.

"Harry is like a brother to me. I love him very dearly. He's very brave and smart and an excellent friend most of the time," she said. "However-"

"You are about to say something not great," Sirius said.

"It's just, I don't get it. I do not get it. I don't understand how perfectly reasonable, intelligent girls suddenly lose all sense and reason when they get around him. I mean, Rory has to be one of the smartest people in the entire school, but when it comes to Harry... She turns into the mostly wildly irrational human being I have ever met. And why? I mean, I understand that I have never been romantically interested in Harry ever, and everyone has their own tastes but... As brilliant as Harry is, he's still a dumb idiot boy who does dumb idiot things, and I know this because she would tell me about all the dumb idiot things he does."

Hermione did not get it. She loved Harry, but she'd had enough of this. She'd never lost her head when she was dating Viktor.

She looked over to the adults. They were smiling, but pityingly.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing. We've all just noticed it as well," Tonks said.

"But you have to give Aurora some leeway. True love makes you crazy," Sirius said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "If anyone cares what I think, it's that neither of them should be seeing anyone, except for maybe a therapist."

"Weirdly enough, I said almost the exact same thing," Tonks said.

"It doesn't matter. Those two are going to do whatever they want anyway," Hermione said. "At the very least Rory seems certain that she doesn't to date Harry, not right now anyway. Of course that basically changes every time she has a conversation with Harry. And with the whole patronus thing-."

Hermione stopped herself.

"No! What is it?" Sirius asked, clearly desperate for information.

"Rory will literally kill me," Hermione said getting to her feet. "Forget I said anything."

"I can't. She won't tell us," Sirius said.

That made sense. Rory seemed to be deep in denial about it as it was.

"Ask Rory," Hermione said before she could actually let anything else slip up.


Rory did not make eye contact with Harry when she saw him at lunch or when she saw him for dinner. She couldn't. She would not allow herself because they'd cleared the air and laid to rest all of the things that had split them up in the first place.

And now there was just Harry. And as she had told everyone else repeatedly when she was so angry with him that she couldn't be in the same room as him, "How can you not like Harry?"

She couldn't believe she'd called him "charming." Yes, she'd also said it was "bullshit" but of course, he'd only heard the compliment.

Rory chance a glance at him across the table. He was talking to Ron and not looking at her. Which was good. Because she meant it when she said that she needed space to sort herself out. She would not let him and charming Harry Potterness make her forget this.

"You're staring," Neville said.

"Am not," she said. "I glanced."

"And remained staring at him," Matilda said. "I can't believe you're so in your head about this. Just snog him and get it over with."

"No," Rory said. "I can't make rash emotional decisions. Besides, I can very obviously not be trusted to make smart decisions about him. I need to learn to turn the jealousy off, focus on myself and figure out why I am the way I am."

"What do you think, Neville? I give it two weeks before she changes her mind," Matilda said.

Rory rolled her eyes.

"Rory," Hermione said, drawing her attention down the table. "Do you think you can quiz me on runes tonight?"

"Absolutely," Rory said.

"I don't know how you two are possibly able to never take a break from studying, ever," Ron said.

"Our entire career trajectory could be affected by the results of our OWLs," Hermione said. "And we're going to meet with McGonagall for career advice after we return to school."

Rory groaned. "Don't remind me"

"What are your career aspirations?" Tonks asked.

"Well, I thought I might like to work in the Department of magical law enforcement for a start. There are so many laws on the books that need examining, so I'd like to work my way up to there," Hermione said. "And then-."

"Twenty years from now, we'll be voting for her to be the minister of magic," Rory said. Hermione blushed.

"Don't worry, everyone in our class is emotionally preparing themselves for that outcome," Matilda said.

"What about the rest of you?" Remus asked.

"I want to be an event planner and be zero percent stressed about my academics," Matilda said.

"I love that for you," Sirius said.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"You still intending to work in herbology, Neville?" Tonks asked.

"Oh, yeah," he said, seeming a bit startled that she remembered.

"What about you, Aurora?" Tonks asked.

"I'm going to be a fortune teller on Canary Wharf," Rory said.

"Be serious," Remus said.

"I really don't know," she said. "Something like what Hermione does, I guess. Whatever she tells me to do when she's in charge."

"You could easily be an auror with your skills," Sirius said.

"Yes. An Auror named Aurora. That's exactly what I need in my life," Rory said.

"You could sing," Mrs. Weasley said.

"But that's too easy," Rory said dismissively.

Sirius scoffed. "You definitely didn't get that work ethic from me."

"You could teach," Remus said.

"I'd love to teach if I was allowed to call people stupid," Rory said.

"Doesn't stop Snape," Neville scoffed.

"Yes, and he is the standard to which all of our teachers are held, obviously," Rory said with a roll of her eyes.

"I mean, to be fair," Fred said, "you kind of have already been teaching."

"And you tell Zach Smith he's stupid a lot," George said.

"For starters, Zach is an idiot. Secondly, I was lesson planning. Harry was teaching," Rory said. "I actually did zero teaching during our last lesson."

"Patronuses," Fred said.

"You did struggle there a bit," George said.

Shit. She should not have brought this up. Rory could practically feel Sirius salivating across the table.

"Can't be good at everything," Rory said casually.

"Except you did produce a full patronus, remember," Matilda said.

"Yes, thank you," Rory said. "And so did Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and even Cho."

Mrs. Weasley gasped. "Ginny! Ron! You never said anything."

"Fred and George did too," Ron said.

Mrs. Weasley was even more stunned by this. "Well, what were they?"

Rory thought she would be spared from explaining, but as they made their way around the table, they came back to her.

"And what about you, Aurora?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Rory sipped her water. "I'd rather not say."

"Why are you like this?" Sirius asked.

"Probably because you are," Rory said.

"Oh!" Ron said. "Because yours was-."

"If you like that she's never hexed you, I would stop talking," Harry warned, echoing the words Rory said to him.

"Being able to produce a patronus at all is a source of pride," Tonks said.

"Yes. And I am quite proud of myself for being able to produce one," Rory said. "I will even go so far as to say it is a very cool patronus."

"So what is it?" Remus asked.

"It is a secret," Rory said.

"We tease her, but, to be fair, if I were in her position, I also wouldn't say," Matilda said.

"Thank you for that at least," Rory said.

"But why?" Sirius asked. "Why won't you say?"

"Personal choice," Rory said.

Dinner came to an end Rory was happy to leave to work on ancient runes with Hermione.

After she brushed her teeth, Tonks was waiting for her in the hallway.

"You're still here," Rory said.

"You got a letter from Levi," she said. She held the letter out to Rory who sighed. "I know."

"Everything he writes is so innocent. I don't get how he's, like, a cult leader," Rory said.

"Believe me. I understand," Tonks said. "But let us know if there is anything weird."

"Of course," Rory said.

From the kitchen, Rory watched Ron and Harry walk upstairs. They gave her a quiet wave as they walked upstairs to bed. Harry flashed her a smile. Stupid, unfairly charming smile.

"I know you've been very adamant about this," Tonks said, "but what is the deal with your patronus?"

"I don't-."

"I know, I know," Tonks said. "You don't have to tell me, but I do know it's really killing your dad not to know."

Rory knew this was probably true, but she had an opportunity here. Why not use it? Everyone else was always prying into her business. Why not return the favor?

"How do you know?" Rory asked.

Tonks raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"How do you know it's really bothering my dad?" Rory asked.

"We chat. We're friends," Tonks said. Rory nodded. "Why do you seem so incredulous?"

"I'm not," Rory said. "Just curious. Didn't realize you two were so tight. He said you guys made risotto together."

"We did," Tonks said.

"That's very nice of you," Rory said. "My dad's a terrible cook. Or he was anyway."

Tonks was visibly confused. "Okay."

"Good talk. Gonna go find my dad," Rory said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Tonks said.

Rory walked down to the lounge where she found her dad tidying up before presumably also heading to bed.

"Are you alone?" she asked.

He looked up at her and nodded.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "I just wanted to tell you something. A secret."

"Okay. What secret?" he asked.

"It's an actual secret. You can't tell Tonks or Sirius or even Grampy, okay? You have to promise," Rory insisted.

"Of course, dear. What is it?" he asked.

Rory sighed and walked over to the couch. He sat down beside her.

"Well, the thing is," she started, "it's about my patronus." He nodded. "It's... A bird."

"A bird?" Remus asked. "What kind of bird? Assuming it relates to any of your abilities as a seer it could be a number of things. A crow, a raven, an albatross-."

"An owl," Rory said. "A snowy owl."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"All of the threats of physical violence against your friends and Harry make sense now," he said. "But do you think you can use your actual words to tell me how you feel about all this?"

"I feel... Kind of irritated, actually," she said with a laugh. He laughed too. "I kind of feel like the universe is throwing him at me sometimes. Every time I try to be the master of my own destiny, here comes Harry Potter, yet again. Which was fine before he went and kissed someone else. But now it just feels mean."

Remus chuckled. "I can't tell you what to do. Or even what I think you should do. But I do know that not even 'the universe' is going to control what decisions you make."

Rory hugged him. "How do you always know exactly what I need to hear?"

"Part of my job as your dad," he said.