Molly grinned as she put the final touches on her care package. She was so glad Arthur left her alone when she made potions. It was his way of trusting and respecting her. It helped that she made all their medical potions and a majority of the stronger ones required all of her attention and could only be made while her children were away and out from her apron.
Granted she usually hen pecked her family enough that they didn't want to be there, but she was a force all on her own. Of course she complained from time to time, but whenever someone mentioned she do something different her hackles raised and she immediately went on attack. Even her children found themselves under a fierce glare and occasionally her wand.
Nothing serious, a stinging hex, a silencing charm, a mild hex that stuck their tongue to the roof of their mouth, even sticking charms. They were her children after all.
Arthur told her they would figure out something together to fix her blunder, but they hadn't found anything that satisfied her yet. Apology letters were one of his ideas, cakes were one of hers; they were trying to figure out something that would make a big impact but in a frugal manner. She still hadn't told him about the money they had been receiving.
She had gone ahead and made some cupcakes for Harry and Hermione. Harry's potions were of course laced tiny doses of love potion geared towards her daughter and Hermione's were geared towards the twins.
It had taken her some time to see how it figure it out without poisoning her and was gladdened to discover that twins essence was able to be mixed together without any side effects. She made sure she obtained both with simple accio-s.
Her family deserved the best. Her Ronnie may not be a good match for her, but perhaps her twins were. They were delinquents to be sure, but with a firm hand from the other witch she was sure they'd be more respectable wizards. She was debauched enough anyways, twins should hopefully be enough for the muggleborn.
Molly deliberately forgot she was in an apprenticeship with a single wizard. Severus was a private man, and men had needs, surely he had a secret witch.
Of course… Severus technically did have a secret witch. Hermione Granger and Severus Snape were keen that business and pleasure be kept separate and compartmentalized those facets. It just so happened they were also private people and common public displays of romantic affection made them both uncomfortable.
Before she tied the care packages to Errol she carefully wrote letters to both Harry and Hermione. The plump redhead signed them both and infused her magic into both letters focusing on her love for her children. They would feel her unconditional love when they held and read her letters. Hopefully it would make them forget the small incident and once again consider her family.
Albus Dumbledore was an unhappy wizard. Dolores Umbridge was a sore in his side. She constantly belittled everyone, criticized the staff, made many pointed remarks, and made many many complaints. He, and the rest of the staff, quickly decided that they'd rather be subjected to a prank by the Weasley twins than attend staff meetings.
Her most recent was the articles and subsequent howlers.
"Shouldn't Hogwarts have wards against strange howlers!?" she screeched.
He closed his eyes and took a shallow calming breath to keep his anger in check. Albus was fully aware that she wouldn't say anything if it was directed towards anyone but her.
"Dolores I'm aware that not even the Ministry has wards against howlers," he said looking over his half-moon spectacles.
"T-that's not the point!" she stuttered her face turning redder as she banged on the long table with both of her stubby fists.
"Dolores give it a rest," Severus sneered at the fat witch.
"I don't see you getting howlers!" she yelled in her obnoxiously high pitched voice.
"Hm, I also didn't insult a well-respected tradition in front of hundreds of students," he agreed cynically.
"If she," she growled the pronoun refusing to call the mudblood by her name, "hadn't tricked you into giving her an apprenticeship this wouldn't be an issue in the first place!"
"My apprentice didn't trick me into anything. Especially considering it was my idea and my decision," he drawled, crossing his arms and fixing a dark glare at the other witch.
"Clearly you didn't know anything about apprenticeships," Hooch spat, also crossing her arms, "You stepped on a lot of toes and it's no one's fault but your own. Can we move on to actual issues concerning the school."
Minerva agreed also glaring coldly at the pink glad witch.
"Yes. Let's. Apprentice Granger and Severus came to me the other day with the decision that Apprentice Granger will be removed from Defense Against the Dark Arts. While they would prefer she be removed immediately I am fully aware she cannot for another week. You are hereby notified in front of all of the staff that she will no longer be in your class after the week is up," The cat animagus stated professionally.
Dolores sputtered, "M-my subject is mandatory!"
"Yes. However as long as she has an approved and credited tutor she is fine. It's clearly stated in the school charter," Filius chirped in.
Severus nodded, "I was going to do so myself but Lord Malfoy decided to hire a tutor for my apprentice. He was quite sorry she suffered such disrespect and poor treatment and has decided to take care of the problem himself."
Dolores paled but couldn't hold her tongue, "No! I was chosen and appointed by the Ministry! Lord Malfoy was part of the deciding board!"
"Ah, that would be why he feels the need to hire a tutor as an apology," Severus practically purred, leaning back into his seat, "Your actions reflect on him."
"It's true. Lord Malfoy has high standards and this scandal is akin to besmirching his name if he was one of those to hand pick you," Aurora added. She wasn't a big fan of the wizard, but also had little interaction with him.
Dolores seemed to deflate; she hadn't considered that. She was afraid to open the letter she received from him, so it still sat unopened in her desk.
Her deflation seemed to cheer up the rest of the staff who tried not to look as pleased as they were and continued the rest of their meeting as though she wasn't there.
"Anything else of note before we conclude?" Minerva asked.
Sadly Dolores seemed to have found her voice again, "I believe Miss Granger should be removed from the Hogwarts after she is officially removed from my class."
"As the changes are within the charter, no," the elder witch said bluntly. She wanted this meeting done with and wanted nothing more to do with Dolores than she had to.
Dolores blink before her nostrils flared and she opened her mouth to retort.
"That concludes this meeting." Minerva said loudly before standing up.
The rest of the staff quickly followed suit, leaving Dolores and Filch as the last ones in the room.
The following days were filled with tension for Hermione, Harry, and their friends. Dolores stared them down, or tried at any rate, anytime she saw one of the two and it made everyone in the vicinity nervous, even Ron.
Last time she did something he thought would work out ended with him almost losing an eye. He still had to wear an eye patch. Madame Pomfrey said if he still couldn't see out of it by the end of the week he would have to see a specialist at St. Mungos. It both scared and angered him.
He also wasn't happy that his family wasn't angry upset for him. It was all Hermione and Harry's fault and none of them agreed with him! They all started to avoid him, even Ginny!
What he didn't know was that Ginny had heard the rumors and while she was a bit heartbroken, she had given up on Harry. She had been upset with Harry for not noticing her, now she knew why. She had been upset with Hermione for making her feel insecure and realized that it was irrational.
Hermione had expectations to uphold and she realized that now. Harry being her blood bonded brother also had some of the same expectations.
He was more confident this year, he dressed well, was overall more attractive than he had been before he had been bonded with the curly haired apprentice.
She was still attractive, she knew that, and it was evident by the attention she was receiving from wizards and witches. Ginny would blush lightly whenever she remembered the argument between Hermione and Ron where the other witch yelled that she was more her type.
For a witch who kissed a veela who was considered the cream of the crop of her school, she considered that a very high compliment. Of course she still kept her ear to the ground to be sure the rumors were true that Harry was gay.
In the meantime she decided it was better to focus on her studies and do some self-reflection. Her mother always told her that she'd one day marry The-Boy-Who-Lived. Clearly her mother was wrong. She never put much more thought into her future considering who she would marry or what her type was or anything since she was supposed to marry the Harry Potter who was handsome, kind, chivalrous, strong, smart, charismatic, and perfect.
Meeting him in person she was more startled to meet her "future husband" than she thought. After her mother told her so many amazing things about him she thought she didn't measure up.
Watching him from afar and getting to know him though…
Ginny sighed.
She loved her mother, but she had been wrong before about a lot of things. Why she believed her about that she didn't know. It was something else to think about.
What Ginny Weasley knew for sure though was that Harry Potter was not for her. Hermione Granger was not the source of her problems or her less than elite upbringing. They did nothing to her and she would not let some imaginary issue keep her from being their friend.
She figured she should start by apologizing for how she behaved over the summer.
She also realized she shouldn't have listened to her mother when she said this would be the year Harry would be with her. She had been told it was acceptable to flirt with her intended and even hold him close. Clearly she had only made him uncomfortable… She would apologize as soon as possible.
Harry scrunched up his face in distaste as he looked at the back of his hand. It had thankfully been the last detention with that sadistic pink toad.
He couldn't wait until Hermione and Snape were ready to unleash a personal kind of hell on the witch. Thankfully his sister and her boyfriend, at least that's what he called Snape in his head, told him they'd be waiting for him down the hall. Calling him her master still rubbed him the wrong way, but he respected their relationship.
He saw the duo standing imposingly with their backs to him. Clearly they heard him however as his sister turned and grinned at him, her shoulders sagged with relief.
He knew she was tense and upset every detention he had with the toad. As soon as he was in arms' reach she snatched him and held him in a tight hug. The green eyed wizard relaxed in her hold and hugged her back.
As quickly as she snatched him up she put him at arms' length and grabbed his wrist. He was almost stunned by her athleticism. Reflexes like that she'd make a great chaser, but somehow knew she was just shy of having the reflexes a seeker. It's what made him better at Defense than her.
While he his thoughts were drifting Hermione had already taken care of his hand. It still burned so he barely noticed the extra sting.
"Good. It won't scar," she muttered to herself.
Severus looked over her shoulder at Harry's hand, "Hm. Three more days of treatment and it'll be as though you never suffered. We will be taking a picture of this though."
"Or rather I'll have Colin take a picture of it," Hermione stated.
"Now that you're no longer with her alone, Mia and I can proceed," Severus said calmly.
"The walls have ears," the witch muttered again.
"I took the liberty to ensure that we won't be heard," the pale wizard informed his witch.
"Oh! Good," she brightened up.
"We're going to start small," she began, "It'll be amateur, but enough that it will cover up what our real goal is. I would have hired the twins, but I want them to have plausible deniability. If she would do this to you for defending me, I don't want to know what she'd do to a pair of mavericks like them."
"They wouldn't take it laying down," Severus muttered.
"What if I pay them to plant dungbombs in her office?" Harry offered.
Hermione and Severus turned to stare at each other.
"It is common enough," she raised her brows at him.
"I can't believe we're plotting this and actually considering hiring the Weasley twins; but common enough," she raised her brows at him.
"I can't believe we're plotting this and actually considering hiring the Weasley twins; but yes."
"And while they're doing that we can have Thimi bring us her personal tea set!" the curly haired witch's eyes practically glowed.
If Harry hadn't been tortured for a week with a dark artifact he would be more disturbed by what was happening, but wanted to get even with the toad.
They talked for a few more minutes before the duo escorted Harry to the tower and finished their rounds.