Chapter 29: Obvious and Oblivious
Sunday 25th December 1994.
Hermione smiled as the pair walked once more into the Great Hall, all the decoration from the night before vanished into naught but a memory.
The tables were already half full of students chattering away about their time at the ball and the developments that had arisen within. Hermione's mind, though, was still drifting over the chat they'd just finished with the Hogwarts elves a few minutes earlier and the gifts Harry had given them for their superb work.
She had to admit, the food from last night had been beyond incredible. Her taste buds were still relishing in the sense memory of the delectable meal.
"Hermione, Harry. Morning." The affable Gryffindor lad seated among the Hufflepuffs offered.
"Hello, Neville. How was your evening?" She replied as they sat opposite, next to a beaming Luna.
"Wonderful. Everyone is so welcoming," he smiled in return.
"You're easy to be welcoming with, Nev." Harry chuckled as he began loading a plate up with food. "From what I'm told, you are really blossoming this year, mate."
The Gryffindor blushed at the comment, unfortunately at the worst possible time as Harry's chronically cheeky cousin sat beside the lad. "Blossoming, eh?" She eyed the boy for a moment before continuing. "I can see it."
Nym waggled her eyebrows and Hermione shook her head at the incorrigible young woman. "Be nice Nym, he's not used to you yet."
The poor boy blushed harder still as his date from the night before settled in on his other side sitting opposite Luna. "Good morning, Ginny. You look rather radiant this morning."
The ginger blushed an almost equal shade to Neville as she glanced at the boy out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes flicked to Harry for a moment, but already she had lost the glimmer that Hermione had seen in them the first couple of times she'd sat with their group.
"It was lots of fun. I'm…" The girl trailed off, still slightly embarrassed by the company she was now keeping.
Hermione hoped that with time she would grow out of it. Harry leaned against her shoulder and laid his head beside her own. "Yeah. That was totally worth all the grief."
"No second thoughts then?" Nym questioned as she started in on her own breakfast as several more of their growing group of companions joined their table. Viktor and Fleur sitting without their dates from the night before.
"One or two." Harry winked before turning to the newest arrivals. "No one on the arm this morning, Viktor?"
He smiled but shook his head. "No, Mady could not stay on. Her family is travelling to America before the New Year. I shall not see her again before Second Task. Is vhy last night vas chosen for announcement."
"The papers this week should be good. Biggest announcement you could have made last night." Nym smiled.
"Dah." Viktor chuckled, getting a slightly dirty look from his fellow champion.
"I cannot beelieve zat Mady kept zat from me. We do not talk as often as we used to, but I zought we were still close."
"Ve told no one, Fleur. It vas big secret. Only our parents knew before last night. And even they were only told before I left for Tournament."
Hermione glanced at Harry upon the further mention of family, expecting to have to rouse his spirits at the fact they were being kept from celebrating the holidays as a family as they usually did. Instead, she was surprised to find him looking pensive, a look she had come to both treasure and fear in equal measure. As realization spread across his features, she felt a slight bit of trepidation before he locked his eyes on her.
She tilted her head in response and both were silent, completely unaware of the couple of stares they had drawn at the strange exchange. But within seconds, Hermione had figured out Harry's train of thought. And she thought it was genius.
"Question for you all. Who'd like to be at home with family for the holiday?"
Everyone nearby gave a slightly less than enthusiastic affirmative response, and Hermione smiled at her partner in crime this morning.
Luna sighed. "That would be lovely. Shame the Express left two days ago."
"The Hogwarts Express, yes. But there is another express that can get everyone home for a few days of family time." Harry offered.
Several hopeful looks turned to Harry and Hermione couldn't shift the grin on her face. "Shifty?"
A pop sounded and the extremely tall elf they'd come to like arrived behind them, unable as ever to remain completely still as he stood there. "Yes, young miss?"
"Is there somewhere out of the way we can gather as a group? Preferably not a classroom?" She paused and glanced at the number of folks already present and considered the few more they might wish to accommodate. "Preferably somewhere big."
"Of course. Seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of the tap-dancing trolls. Press your hand to the wall opposite and ask for a room as large as you need."
"Thanks, Shifty. Great work yesterday too." Harry added.
"Thank you, young sir." And with a pop, the elf vanished again.
"Well, you heard him. Finish up your breakfast, grab what you need for a few days at home and meet us there." Hermione finished, as she and Harry stood and headed for the door.
As soon as they could, they ducked into an unused secret passage and, holding hands, vanished from the school, arriving with looks of surprise among the living Marauders in the school's Hogsmeade lodgings.
"Morning, head home. We'll meet you there later." Harry informed the stunned pair, both frozen with their cutlery halfway to their drowsy faces.
Without further comment, the pair popped away again and were now facing the enormous tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, covering almost the entire wall of this passageway, with the wall opposite almost completely devoid of anything that belied the normality of its existence.
The pair quickly stepped up to the wall and followed Shifty's instructions, asking the wall for a room large enough that all their friends could gather with supplies before moving on. In an instant, the wall began to change, forming a large doorway that looked quite similar to the one on the Great Hall, simply not as high.
When they swung the door inwards, they found a large space with a couple of couches by the wall and to Hermione's delight a small bookshelf in the corner. She dashed forward and began to look through the titles on the shelves and found they were all books she hadn't yet read.
Taking one down, she settled into the nearest couch and lost herself to the words within, storing away the wonderful new information in her incredible brain.
It was several long chapters later that she was interrupted by Harry and looked up to see all their friends were gathered looking at her with smiles on their faces. Everyone had a small bag by their side and Harry was watching her with a look she'd seen many times before. One that said he wanted to snog her senseless.
She blushed slightly and tucked the book into her pocket, intending to continue it later as their hands entwined again and they faced the happy yet slightly confused students before them.
"What is this room, guys?" Cedric asked. "This is an exterior wall. There can't be a room here."
"No idea. I'm sure Hermione already has plans to further examine it once we come back. But for now, everyone grab the hand of one of these elves." Harry paused as all their elves appeared in the room, not popping in as she had expected. "They'll take you where you need to go, just picture home clearly in your mind and let them take you. If it's a really long trip, you may make a pit stop on the way, but they'll get you there. I promise. Then we just return on the Express on the sixth."
A couple of the faces looked slightly unsure, but Hermione gave them a happy wave and in a few series of trips, the room was once again empty. Harry quickly wrote out a note on the nearby table and sent it off with a snap of his fingers as the others travelled away.
When only Nym, Harry and herself remained, the trio smiled and popped home to the Manor with a laugh.
ϟ
Remus stared at the empty air near the table for several long minutes, his arm growing tired as it supported the weight of his breakfast hovering just before his mouth.
He was still throwing off the remnants of sleep.
While it had been a week since the full moon, his body was particularly stiff lately and it took far longer than he would like to properly awaken.
Not even the large pot of coffee that one of the elves had prepared had been enough to throw off the drowsiness, and now he was seeing things as well. "Sirius…"
"No, I saw that too. They looked far too bright and cheery for this hour. What is the hour?" His friend groaned, looking about the room for a clock.
Remus glanced down and saw his hovering food and at last let his arm drop back to the table, relieving the tension in his already sore shoulder. "No idea. Should have never let you convince me to spend last night drinking just because we weren't having a regular family Christmas."
"Don't try and pretend you've got a hangover, Moony. You're just grumpy. There is a big difference. I'm going to have a shower."
Sirius stood from the table, leaving over half his breakfast uneaten as he swayed his way out of the room and Remus tried to figure out why the kids would have asked them to head home. Due to the Ball, they would be spending the rest of the break at the castle. He groaned to himself and took another gulp of his coffee, hoping the liquid might soon help conjure some semblance of consciousness into his weary brain.
He soon gave up on that hope and stumbled his own way to the bathroom, hearing the shower running as his long-time friend tried an alternative method of waking up. Remus gave a slight chuckle as he shucked his robe and without a how do you do, stepped into the large shower behind his fellow Marauder.
"Shove down and pass the soap."
"What the fuck, Moony?" Sirius growled, trying in vain to cover himself up. "Wait your turn!"
"Please, I've seen it before you jackass. This'll be faster." Remus chortled, nabbing the soap from the other man's hand and lathering himself up.
"Crossing a line here, mate," Sirius said, still trying to protect his modesty. A funny sight to anyone who spent more than five minutes with the manchild back at Hogwarts.
"Get over it." Remus hissed, chucking the soap back to his friend who reflexively caught it without thinking as Remus elbowed his stomach to get some purchase under the water, knocking Sirius back into the far corner of the small tub. "If you're just gonna stand there I'll be out of here even faster."
The hot flowing water helped alleviate most of the remaining aches in his body and he was soon feeling a lot more alert and refreshed. His brain beginning to better analyse the kids' behaviour. They had both seemed happy and in a rush to get somewhere. They probably ought to make their way to the Manor as fast as they could.
Once he was satisfied that he was clean, Remus turned to his friend who was still standing in the corner, half-covering himself and half looking like a transformed James in headlights.
Remus laughed to himself as he stepped out and took the nearest towel from the rack, quickly drying himself off as he headed for his room to dress. "Hurry up, Padfoot." He called over his shoulder as he departed.
It was almost a quarter of an hour later when Sirius finally rejoined him in the main room of their little flat fully dressed and giving him a very dirty look.
"Finished sulking now? We've a previous engagement to get to." Remus questioned his moody-looking friend.
"We're mates, Moony. But that is a step too far. Never again, you hear?" Sirius had a look Remus hadn't seen in many many years. And he finally had an idea what kind of prank James must have played on their mutual friend all those years ago that Sirius had adamantly refused to divulge.
"Relax, Padfoot. You're not my type. Can we go now?"
The now well-awake pair stared the other down for a moment before Sirius sighed and disapparated from the flat. Remus smirked before he too turned on the spot and vanished from the space, soon arriving in his room at the Manor. He found it the safest place to return as you never knew what James or Sirius might be getting up to in the halls of the home.
it didn't take him long to find his way to the family room, the name most gave the small reading room at the end of the library where most family chats went on.
The paintings looked on in rapt attention as Hermione regaled them with the tale of the night before. Of dresses and girl talk. Extravagant dinners and hours of dancing. Friends and laughter.
Remus couldn't help but smile at the two sequestered in their normal chair as Nym and her parents arrived as well and the family took their usual seats.
"So, you enjoyed yourselves then?" James asked from the canvas, smiling down at the children.
"Very much," Harry admitted. "I was worried when we agreed we should actually attend, and not just pop in for the events, but it has definitely been worth it so far. We've made really good friends. There are people there that I just click with, in ways I didn't when we were going to muggle school."
"Exactly." Hermione concurred. "I think we were a bit too mature for our old peer group." Sirius chortled from the corner at that, and Remus recalled him often calling Hermione older than they were. The girl just spared him a momentary semi-hard glance before continuing. "But people like Padma and Fleur, they get the need to learn and push ourselves."
"It's great."
"You've no idea. Hogwarts was good fun these past few years, but it's just so different having you there at last. I didn't realize how much I missed you not being around until you were there every day." Nym added, tucked between her parents.
"I'm so glad you're enjoying it." Dorea smiled at the youngins, before turning to Sirius. "Any further run-ins with him?"
He scowled for a moment before speaking. "Not again since, no."
"Run-ins? With who?" Harry questioned, staring at his godfather.
"Dumbledore. He wants to chat. I told him he could shove it. He hasn't come near you has he?"
"No. I can feel his magic and he's never come closer than at dinner times. Well, except in the tent before the First Task. But he didn't try anything there. Should I be worried?"
The figures in the painting shared several knowing looks. "You should always be wary, Harry." His grandfather offered. "We still don't know what he was after, or why he stopped searching for it once you refused to attend Hogwarts. He hasn't made a single suspicious move that we've been able to detect in the past three years and that almost worries me more than when he was gunning hard for the estate."
"Yes, be that as it may… It is Christmas. Can we talk about happier things today?" Remus chimed in, drawing smiles from most in attendance. "How were the presents?"
ϟ
Friday 6th January 1995.
Minerva stood by the main doors, watching as the children filed up from the carriages.
She always tried to call this duty so that she could watch the youthful exuberance as friends met for the first time in weeks, as well as the bright faces of the first-years taking their second trip on the mysterious Thestral-pulled carriages.
It brought great joy to her heart to see the children in their element and helped reaffirm her reasons for being here as a teacher and an administrator.
Her mood broke slightly as the most recent arrivals jumped from their carriage and the small crowd headed up the slope towards the entrance. The last of the names on her list. She vanished the board and took up her usual stern stance as they approached.
"Mister Potter. Miss Granger. Welcome back to Hogwarts. A word, if you please." The professor gestured inside to a small doorway off the main Entrance Hall.
"Of course, professor." Miss Granger smiled as she and Harry waved to their friends and stepped into the room.
As she followed, Minerva tried her best to squash the smile that threatened to emerge upon seeing the two chattering as they passed her, still holding hands as they did whenever they had them free in their travels about the school. She was still sore that she'd been unable to convince the young Miss Granger to attend from first-year, even more so now she had arrived and shown her true potential.
The three came to a stop in the small room with a set of stairs leading off towards the boathouse. Minerva closed the door and turned to face the smiling pair. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"
Mister Potter's face scrunched up in thought but he shook his head and replied. "Not that I can think of."
Minerva sighed for a moment before she continued. "I am very glad you both agreed to actually attend the school, and I know we gave you a great deal of freedom to come and go as you need. However, that freedom does not extend to you deciding to take a number of students from the castle with you. Especially not without the permission of their parents or guardian first."
The two children glanced back and forth for a moment and realization seemed to spread over Mister Potter's face. "You mean…?"
"Yes, Mister Potter. When we had over a dozen students suddenly missing come lunchtime on Christmas Day, students we knew had attended the Ball the night before including all four Champions. Given Hogwarts is responsible for the well-being of all students in attendance, even the visiting ones. Well, needless to say, there was somewhat of a kerfuffle."
"I did send you a note. Didn't you get it?" Mister Potter claimed, looking rather distraught.
"Indeed, but only when I returned to my office. We professors do like to take a small break from sitting at our desks all day, every day during the holidays as well, Mister Potter. By the time I had found it, we had already sent off owls to all the families. Thankfully they all responded promptly and we confirmed where all but two of the students, you two, had vanished to. I would like to request that you inform me, in person, if you will be departing the school in the future."
"Of course, Professor." Miss Granger agreed. "We're sorry. It's just, sometimes we still get so excited we forget ourselves. It's caused a few problems in the past too."
The young girl glanced at Harry and the pair blushed heavily at some other remembered event. Minerva was unsure if she wanted to know, given James's habit of misbehaving and Lily's level of talent that Harry had clearly inherited. The possible options were virtually limitless.
"Yes, well. In future, either myself or your Head of House are preferable. Any teacher will do in an absolute pinch. Are we clear on this?"
"Very much so." The two replied in unison, slightly unnerving the elder woman.
"Good show then. Off you go. The term begins again on Monday and I expect you two to continue exceeding expectations."
Miss Granger smiled brightly and quickly dragged Mister Potter from the room. Minerva sighed again and hoped this wasn't the beginning of Mister Potter taking up the mantle and causing havoc across the school.
She wasn't sure she could take a new batch of Marauders at the same time as the Weasley Twins.
ϟ
Saturday 21st January 1995.
Harry closed the book and rubbed his face.
Researching was always something he enjoyed, but his eyes were beginning to unfocus as they had been at it so long that day. Coupled with the fact that they had two viable methods already worked out and had even been practising the spellwork required to the point he could almost cast it silently, and he was left wondering why they were sitting in the Manor library at all right now.
"You've had enough, haven't you?" Hermione questioned as she glanced at him over the corner of her own book. Harry blushed slightly but nodded in return. "Very well. I suppose we've solved the breathing problem sufficiently."
Harry leaned back in his chair and smiled softly at the girl opposite as she packed her book away and snapped her fingers, returning both tomes to their place on the shelves.
"And the first batch of the gillyweed we ordered should be arriving next week. So we can test it out in the lake and confirm its properties. Neville seemed confident it would work, but there is debate about fresh versus salt water. If you haven't mastered the bubblehead enough to recast it underwater, we need to know the plant will be a sufficient backup."
"I know, Hermione. What's got you so bothered?"
The gaze she fixed him with was one he didn't often see from the girl. Uncertain was not a feeling he got from her often. "I still can't find a fix." She mumbled.
Harry sighed and reached out for her hand across the small table. "The deal is a problem, but you don't need to run yourself ragged looking for an out. We made a mistake. But we know from experience you still had full use of all your magic besides the elf abilities when it happened last time. I think we'll be ok."
"Think isn't good enough Harry. Last time you faced a dragon. What if they add more creatures to the lake? Ones that we aren't ready for?"
Harry stepped around the table and took her in his arms, relishing her warmth after hours of sitting nearby. "Nym and I have discussed how we worded it. We're certain that if it should be a matter of life or death, the magic will act on our behalf. It's done it before. All we promised was not to consciously use the magic to get ahead of the others in ways they can't replicate using ordinary magic."
He pulled away and pressed a gentle kiss to her hair. "If this task is as we expect, we have to recover something from the lake, there are only two forms of elf magic that would apply. Popping, which is absolutely cheating. We'd be in and out with our item before Viktor or Fleur even had the chance to get wet. Or Snapping. Same thing if we snap our trinkets into our hands, the only difference being that by Snapping even Nym and I wouldn't get wet."
"I don't want you to be in danger!" Hermione exclaimed, pulling him tightly and squeezing his ribs hard.
"I'm not exactly fond of it either. But there is a nasty ancient cup that says I must. Would you rather I cheated the others and won by a landslide? I know Nym is the most Hufflepuff of us all, but would you think that fair?"
"If it kept you safe. I'll take the shame." Hermione pulled back and looked into his eyes fiercely. "I can't remember a time in my life where you weren't the most important part of it anymore. If I lose you…"
"You won't lose me. I'm yours until you decide otherwise. I might be able to recall the time before we met, but there is little point when life is so much better with you in it."
"How can you promise that when we don't know how restricted you'll be on the day?"
"Faith," Harry replied simply. "Faith in you, faith in my magic, faith that neither I nor Nym would ever want to make a promise that would result in either of us dying. Elf magic is more literal than regular magic, but it's still driven by our intent. You know this. We couldn't make a deal that would result in our deaths. I cannot believe otherwise. But if you need reassurance, I'd be happy to spend the rest of the afternoon giving it to you."
Harry gave her an overdone wink and the morose girl couldn't help but laugh in reply. She squeezed him tightly again and pulled back far enough to press her lips to his own.
"Be careful, Harry. I know we had to forbid the elves to get involved in the tasks, given the Goblet might react poorly. But if I see you in danger in the second task… I cannot promise I won't get involved. I won't promise that. I'll risk the wrath of that stupid cup before I'll stand there and watch you get hurt."
"And people wonder why I love you. When it's so obvious." Harry kissed her again and let his feelings wash through his magic and his lips. Time seemed to vanish as he lost himself in her presence as she responded in kind.
Both were left panting slightly when they finally broke apart and Harry pressed his forehead against Hermione's, their eyes locked together. "Yours forever, Hermione. No stupid cup or tournament is strong enough to keep you from me. In this life or the next. Deal?"
Hermione nodded and kissed him fiercely once more. Whatever came, they would conquer it together.
ϟ
Monday 13th February 1995.
Luna followed the tall elf silently through the corridors, a look of slightest confusion as he led her on a rather circuitous route but still refused to tell her just where they were going or why.
He'd found her alone in the back corner of the library and had now spent almost twenty minutes guiding her somewhere at Hermione's apparent request.
It had only been a very short few months since she had met the two new arrivals, but already she trusted them absolutely. Had anyone but they made this request, she would have been concerned she was walking herself into a trap of some kind.
At first, she had thought the behaviour of her housemates to be typical towards new students, but she had soon noticed that she was the only one on the receiving end of it. And then it had gotten even worse.
Until that day when Harry Potter had stood up for her. It had been quite the display, and yet he never bragged about it. He never asked for anything in return except for the chance to be her friend.
The tiny blonde smiled as she recalled the time that she had spent with the boy and his girlfriend since. Being included in their study sessions had led to her improving even further in her studies. Also greatly aided by the fact her supplies were no longer vanishing in the night. And she dared to believe that their other friends were also perhaps coming to see her as a friend in her own right as well.
A small ball of hope had been building within her over these past few months and it almost managed to cover the never-ending pain of losing her father all those years ago. Not that that would ever truly go away.
"Miss," Shifty called, drawing her attention and pointing inside of an open room. Luna tilted her head slightly as she glanced through the doorway, unable to see what awaited within beside the bookshelves on the far wall.
"Thank you, sir." She replied and stepped inside the room, which was surprisingly dark given the time of day.
Her eyes reacted slowly to the sudden addition of bright light in the room as the door closed behind her and her ears rebelled at the sudden shouting voices. But when her senses cleared, Luna couldn't help but smile brightly at the gathering before her, arrayed around a table covered in snacks, a giant cake and a large pile of presents.
Her gingered-haired friend stepped forward from the place closest to her and took her hand softly. "Happy birthday, Luna." Ginny offered as she guided her to a seat at the table.
Luna took in each face in turn and recognized most from the dancing group the night of the Yule Ball. While the three oldest champions were not present, all the younger students from the group were. As she sat, each one offered her a personal birthday wish and she was startled as they moved the presents forward towards her, smiling as she reached out in a surprised stupor and began unwrapping them.
If you'd asked her afterwards, she wouldn't have been able to tell you what a single one of the gifts was. Her mind was fully involved in enjoying the fact that people at the school had not only learned about her birthday, they had arranged a party for her and bought her things.
Luna Lovegood had true friends at last.
ϟ
Tuesday 14th February 1995.
Harry ran in terror, the sound of countless footsteps thundering behind him as he fought his body to move faster.
He needed somewhere to hide and he needed it now. Fear, like he'd not felt before, was coursing through him, generating adrenaline in massive quantities, helping his muscles get him further from the approaching vultures.
He'd lasted a whole twelve minutes in the Great Hall before he'd had to run. It had taken all his willpower not to simply Pop away right then and there. But now he was approaching salvation. He dove into an alcove he knew concealed a hidden passage and without looking back, he allowed his magic to embrace the suppressed desire to vanish. With a whisper of magic, he thumped heavily onto the thick rug in the sitting room and exhaled.
He rolled onto his back and panted heavily, the running he'd just done more exhausting than any of the swimming he'd been doing with the other Champions in preparation for the upcoming task. But the task was far less terrifying than what he'd just left behind.
"Pay up!" A voice sounded into the air around him and Harry jolted in surprise. He leant up on his elbows to see his godfather holding a hand out to Remus with a huge smirk on his face.
"I thought you were better than this, Harry." Remus groaned, handing over a small bag to Sirius.
"That's because you were the quiet nerd of the group at school, Moony. You didn't care for girls until far too late, and you always let the furry problem keep you from acting on it."
"What?" Harry mumbled, confusion filling him.
"They bet on how long it would be until you ran screaming from the baying crowds." His father chuckled from the nearby portrait. Thankfully empty of all other family at present.
"You bet on me?"
"Entertainment can be light on around here now you two are at school all the time," Sirius explained, weighing the bag in his hand before tucking it into a pocket. "Besides, this was inevitable."
"You bet on me?" Harry asked again, the disbelief filling him with anger. "How about warning me instead?"
"If you needed to be warned about this, you are not as clever as we all think you are, Harry." Remus offered gently, despite the accusation.
"How could I have foreseen that? I thought we'd sorted this out. I took Hermione to the Ball. I've been calling her my girlfriend to everyone who will listen to me for more than a minute since the day of the first task. Are they all stupid?"
"No, Harry. They're much, much worse." James called, now looking utterly straight-faced and serious. Harry gulped. "They're hormonal teenage girls. And you're famous."
Harry scowled as his father's countenance broke and he fell to the floor of the painting laughing once more, his supposed support group laughing along with his father as Harry fell back against the floor and groaned again.
"Whoever invented Valentine's Day is a bloody moron!" Another familiar voice filled Harry's ears and he glanced up to see a face he thought he'd actually be happy to see above him. Until he saw the expression on her face.
"I swear it's not my fault…" He tried to explain to his girlfriend as she towered above him, looking livid.
Her scowl lessened as she looked down at his proline form. "I'm not angry at you. I knew that was going to happen. You're Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. They better hope I never find out who wrote those stupid books."
Hermione lumped herself down next to him, crossing her legs and tossing a pile of paper in her hands into the nearby fireplace, setting it ablaze with a click of her fingers.
"So, you're not mad at me?"
"No, Harry. I'm mad at the seven idiot boys who saw you run out of the hall and thought it was a good time to give me Valentine's cards."
"They what?" Harry's voice hardened and Hermione smiled at the look on his face.
"There's my Harry. I swear half the school are deaf or stupid. It seems subtlety doesn't penetrate their thick heads."
Sirius roared with laughter as he fell off his chair. Remus laughed too, but not heavily enough that he couldn't answer their questioning glances. "If you two think what you do is subtle, we've failed as instructors."
"What?" Harry growled.
"Harry, you spend almost every waking moment staring at Hermione longingly. You have for years. You two reach out for one another in your sleep. The first night Sirius returned to us, he tried to pull you two apart but you wouldn't be moved without the other."
"Honestly, Harry. It's been obvious to all of us that you two would get together for years. You two are the last to know in this instance, I assure you." James explained to the now heavily blushing pair.
"Well," Hermione asked, "if it's so damned obvious, why aren't they taking the hint at Hogwarts?"
"Because they're teenagers and you're both powerful, strong-willed and rather nice on the eyes. You're both a catch. And kids can be stupid. Teenagers even more so." Nym explained from the doorway, looking down at the two on the floor and flicking her eyes momentarily to the giggling Marauders. "Luna didn't get a chance to give these to you before you both ran away."
The metamorph walked over and handed them both a pair of brightly coloured cards with hearts on the front and the pair glanced at one another before opening them. Harry smiled at the message inside. He had worried for a moment that the younger girl had become as besotted as the others at Hogwarts, but she had simply written a rather heartfelt thank you for the lovely day before.
"She's lovely, Harry," Hermione said, looking happily at her card. "I'm happy you found her. But from now on, we have Valentine's Day in private, agreed?"
Harry nodded in reply and fell flat on his back looking up at the roof. "Agreed."
"Good," Hermione replied, joining him flat on the floor as the others continued chattering away. "Otherwise, people are going to be spending most of the day in the Hospital Wing."