Revelations and Romance

Revelations and Romance chapter 19/25

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19: Hermione's Revelation

April 17th

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny went straight into the Great Hall. Harry only had his school bag with him after the holiday, and didn't want to take it all the way up to his dormitory before dinner, which would be starting soon. Most of the teachers were sitting at the teachers' table, although Professor Sprout was standing by the Hufflepuff table, talking to some of them. From their reactions it wasn't good news -- Harry wondered if the Slytherin Quidditch team had all got Firebolts now. Hannah was one of those looking upset, and she glanced at Harry then away again.

Professor McGonagall came over to the Gryffindor table, and stood where all the fifth-years would be able to hear her. 'I would like to see all the fifth-years in the common room after dinner, so please wait there rather than going up to your dormitories.'

'What have you lot been up to?' Fred asked Ron.

'I need to discuss some matters about this term's O.W.Ls,' she continued as though Fred hadn't spoken. 'Also, Miss Maris and Miss Weasley, please come with me to my office. There is a matter I need to discuss with you both.'

Ginny and Fen both looked puzzled, but followed Professor McGonagall out of the Hall. 'I know what that's going to be,' Ron predicted. 'She's going to tell them that their friend Raine has been expelled.'

Harry frowned. 'I hope she hasn't.' In a lower voice, he added, 'Ginny wasn't punished, so Raine shouldn't be.'

'Why can't she just tell them here, though? They've got to go up to her office, and then come back down here for dinner.'

Dumbledore rose to his feet. 'I welcome you all back to the start of the third term. Unfortunately, there is one pupil I cannot welcome back.'

'Oh, no,' said Harry softly. 'Poor Raine.'

Dumbledore gestured, and the banners behind him were replaced by black banners. 'Those of you who knew Raine Dunsmuir will know that she was sent home for the holiday while a punishment was considered. I should have kept her here. During the holidays, she was murdered by a Death Eater on the orders of Lord Voldemort.'

Harry stared, stunned, at Dumbledore for a moment, then glanced over at the Slytherin table. Even Malfoy was looking shocked -- it seemed the death of a Slytherin pupil meant more to him than the death of Hufflepuff's Cedric Diggory the previous year.

'Poor Raine,' echoed Hermione. Her reaction to Cedric's death last year had been muted by Harry's survival, but she seemed to have been affected more by Raine's death. Ron looked less shocked, and Ginny ... Harry realised that she and Fen had been taken away to have the news broken to them more gently. He stood up.

'I'm going to find Ginny, see how she is,' he told Ron and Hermione. They nodded and he left the Hall to go up to McGonagall's office. He knocked on the door.

'Who's there?' came McGonagall's voice.

'Harry Potter.'

The door opened for him, and he saw both Ginny and Fen sitting there in tears. He hugged Ginny and told McGonagall, 'Professor Dumbledore just told us.'

She nodded. 'I should return to the Great Hall. If you are less shocked than these two girls, could you take them up to your common room? I do not think they will be hungry.'

'I know I'm not hungry,' he told her. She left and he hugged Ginny tighter. 'Do you want to stay here for a while, or go to Gryffindor Tower?'

'We can find our way!' Ginny said. Harry could tell she was just trying to regain control of herself. He took them up three flights of stairs, where they were confronted by Peeves.

'Well, and where is Potter going, and how did he upset those two nice girls?' He started to chant, 'Harry Potter, scar over eye, Kissed the girls and made them cry, When old Peeves came out dismayed, Ha- ...'

Harry had had enough of Peeves, given his own reaction to the news of Raine's death. He pulled out his wand and said, 'Lapiform!' Peeves fell to the ground, a statue.

'Wow!' said Ginny. 'Just as well you were with us then,' she said, taking Harry's hand. 'We don't know that spell.'

'We can't use magic in the corridors, either,' said Fen, looking impressed but still tearful. 'I thought he'd left. I haven't seen him in ages. Is he stuck like that?'

'Probably only for a couple of hours,' admitted Harry. 'I was too upset to put much power into it.'

The three of them continued up to their common room, where Harry and Ginny sat in their usual chairs, and Fen sat beside Ginny. The three of them were the only ones in the room.

'Maybe we should have gone back to the Great Hall instead,' said Harry. 'There'd be people around, like the twins, to help distract you.'

Ginny shook her head. Fen said, 'I don't want distracting. I want this to be just a rumour to fool You-Know-Who.'

'I hadn't thought of that. The Slytherins certainly looked shocked. Wouldn't McGonagall have told you if it wasn't true, though?'

Ginny said, 'She just said that Raine and her parents were in Diagon Alley, getting some things from the shops, and then a Death Eater with a metal hand Apparated, cast the Killing Curse on her, and Disapparated. Everyone panicked, and her parents couldn't even find her for a few minutes.'

'Dumbledore didn't tell us anything like that much,' Harry told her. 'It does sound as though it's true. It must have been Wormtail again.'

'I should just have ignored them and owled her! Then she'd have known I'd forgiven her before she died!' Ginny howled. Harry hugged her again.

'I told her I did,' said Fen, still weeping, though not as much now as Ginny.

'Harry told her too. Maybe that's the main thing; he was the one who suffered most from what she had to do.'

Harry tried to reassure and calm her, but both girls were still crying when the portrait hole opened again and the other Gryffindors came in. He'd been close to crying himself at some of the things Ginny was reproaching herself for.

Ron and Hermione sat down in their usual chairs opposite Ginny and Harry. Neville joined them, sitting opposite Fen.

'I brought your bag up,' said Ron. 'You forgot it.'

Hermione had somehow turned several napkins into a bag, which she put on the table. 'I thought you might be feeling hungry again by now, so I brought you some food.'

'Oh, thanks, both of you,' Harry said. He turned to Neville. 'Hello, Neville. I didn't have a chance to talk to you earlier. What was it like in St Mungo's?'

'It was very helpful,' said Neville, smiling. 'They sorted out a phobia I didn't even know I had.'

'Oh,' said Ginny. 'Madam Pomfrey told us you were there for psychiatric treatment, and I thought ... well, it was a sort of punishment for hurting Snape.'

'He's back, too,' said Neville sadly.

The portrait hole opened again and Professor McGonagall came over to them. 'Are you two feeling better now?' Fen nodded, and Ginny hesitantly nodded too. McGonagall looked unconvinced, but went over to the fireplace. 'I would like all the fifth-years here, please!'

The eight fifth-year Gryffindors gathered in front of her. Harry realised with a momentary shock that it was over a month since all eight of them had been together, as Neville had been gone for so long.

'This is the term when you will be taking your O.W.Ls,' McGonagall began. 'I assume that you all know by now that the subjects you started in the first year lead to two O.W.Ls, while those you started in the third year lead to one O.W.L. only.'

Harry nodded. He knew that subjects like Transfiguration could result in a basic O.W.L. in Transfiguration, or a more advanced O.W.L. 'with Merit', which was counted as two O.W.Ls. He'd found that out when he realised that Percy had managed to earn twelve O.W.Ls although he was only doing nine subjects.

'If you get fewer than four O.W.Ls, you will not be able to return for the sixth year next year. I expect all of you to achieve more than four. You should, by the way, hand me your lists of subjects for the next two years either now, if you have them here, or in my lesson tomorrow.'

Harry's list was in his bag; he'd finally finished discussing it with Sirius and Remus the previous weekend.

'Now, in order to concentrate on the subjects you are best at, as well as to gain more free periods for revision, you may drop subjects where you think it unlikely that you will do well enough to pass your O.W.L.'

'I want to drop Potions,' Neville said immediately.

The others all grinned or chuckled at his speed. McGonagall nodded, and looked as if she was in danger of smiling. 'I would have recommended it. It does seem wise for you to avoid Professor Snape where possible.'

Everyone except Hermione, Dean and Seamus promptly said they wanted to drop Potions too. McGonagall frowned, and looked at a list she was holding. 'Potter, your marks in Potions are good enough that you are likely to get an O.W.L. in the subject.'

'Only because Professor Dumbledore stops Snape giving me zero every time,' said Harry. 'I realised that in my first year.'

'Surprising as it may seem, Potter, Professor Snape does not allow his attitude towards certain pupils to affect their scores. You might consider him as having a great love for his subject, which overrides his dislike for some pupils. You are surely aware that he does not like Miss Granger, yet she is consistently at the top of his class, just as in every other.'

Harry blinked. He hadn't thought of that. He looked at Hermione, who was blushing.

McGonagall convinced all of them to continue with Potions, apart of course from Neville. There weren't any other subjects that Harry wanted to drop. Ron asked if he could think about dropping History of Magic, and was given a week to decide. Hermione, to nobody's surprise, did not want to drop any of her subjects.

When they had all finished deciding which O.W.Ls they would be taking, McGonagall asked for the list of new subjects. Harry, Ron and Hermione gave her their lists. Harry realised that he had only discussed the N.E.W.Ts with Sirius and Remus, and he had no idea what subjects Hermione and Ron were taking, beyond the obvious point that Hermione would be taking all the subjects she could fit into a week.

'Do not forget, I need the rest of your lists by the end of my lesson tomorrow. Now, Miss Granger, there is one point about the O.W.Ls you will be taking.'

'I don't want to drop any subjects!' she said, startled. 'Do you think I should?'

McGonagall smiled. 'I certainly do not. However, Professor Dalton has suggested, based on your high scores in the third year, and your family background, that it would be a shame if you did not take the O.W.L. in Muggle Studies also.'

Hermione's jaw dropped.

'You will not need to resume classes, as they clash with your Arithmancy lessons ...'

'I don't want to do that again,' Hermione said.

'Quite understandable. However, given the knowledge you already have in the subject, Professor Dalton does feel that you might be able to pass the exam without further studying. Would you be interested in doing this?'

'I suppose so,' she said faintly. McGonagall noted that on her list, then left the common room.

Hermione went back to her seat and sank into it, looking dazed.

'I should have known that you'd drop fewer subjects than anyone else,' said Harry, grinning at her. 'Even when I didn't drop any of mine, you had to "undrop" one.'

'I haven't even spoken to Professor Dalton since the third year,' Hermione said. 'He must have been impressed.'

Shona, Olwen and Owen were clustered around Ginny and Fen, trying to cheer them up and getting the details about how Raine had been murdered. Harry decided against trying to discuss his new subjects with Ron and Hermione. Neville had gone off to sit with Seamus and Dean, probably to avoid the fourth-years consoling each other. Harry wondered how much difference having had the psychiatric treatment would make to Neville.

Ron took a bun from the food that Hermione had brought up. 'You already had dinner!' she accused him. Ron shrugged and ate it anyway. Harry grinned at the pair of them and took a bun too.

*

On Monday at breakfast, Snape was back at the teachers' table, looking less happy than Harry had ever seen him before. He hadn't been in the Great Hall the previous evening. Harry wondered if McGonagall had told Snape how many pupils had asked to drop Potions.

Neville's confidence and control had increased during his absence. He was able to cast the charms Professor Flitwick asked for in their first lesson of the day, without once miscasting one on Flitwick.

Hagrid was back teaching Care of Magical Creatures, pleasing all the Gryffindors, and even some of the Slytherins, who'd found Professor Grubbly-Plank much stricter this year than when she'd filled in for Hagrid the previous year.

Lavender almost lost a point for Gryffindor when she found that she'd left her subject list in her dormitory. She managed to use a Summoning Charm to bring it to her, though.

Professor Sprout welcomed Neville back enthusiastically in their Herbology lesson, making Harry realise that McGonagall hadn't even commented on his return. Lavender had dropped Herbology, but Professor Sprout didn't seem bothered by her absence.

After Herbology, Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to the castle, and saw Malfoy waiting for them in the Entrance Hall, accompanied as usual by Crabbe and Goyle.

'So, Potter,' said Malfoy.

'What do you want, Malfoy?' Harry asked.

'I want to find out what you did.'

'Get on with it, then, I've got things to do.'

Malfoy looked at the door that led to the Potions classroom and the dungeons. 'Not here. I don't want everyone hearing what I want to say.'

Harry thought of the duelling spells he'd learnt, and decided that Malfoy probably couldn't harm him. 'OK.'

Malfoy led the way down into the dungeon, and to a room that looked like a disused classroom. 'Do those two have to go everywhere with you?' he asked Harry, looking at Ron and Hermione.

Harry shrugged and looked at Crabbe and Goyle. 'Do those two have to go everywhere with you?'

'All right, if they must!'

They sat down on some of the chairs. 'What did you want to ask about?' Harry asked.

'Raine Dunsmuir. What did you do to her?'

'Me? I didn't do anything to her. I even asked Dumbledore not to expel her. When I talked to her on the train home, I said "see you next term" -- and I meant it. I didn't know what Wormtail was going to do.'

Malfoy seemed surprised. 'You didn't want her expelled?'

'No.'

'How do you know about Wormtail?' Malfoy demanded.

'I know far too much about him!' Harry retorted. 'I was there when Snape stopped Sirius and Remus from capturing him and taking him to Azkaban! I was there when Wormtail revived Voldemort!' He noted with satisfaction that Malfoy didn't like hearing that name any more than Ron did. 'Why don't you ask Snape about his part in Voldemort's return?'

'He didn't ...' Malfoy said, bewildered. 'He can't have done. Snape wouldn't ...'

'What's the matter? You were happy enough last year after Voldemort murdered Cedric. Well, Wormtail actually murdered him, but Voldemort told him to. Why are you shocked that your Head of house was involved? Is it different now that Voldemort's killing people in your house?'

'And why didn't you trust Raine?' asked Hermione.

'Oh wonderful, now you're all going to start talking. Look, Father told me that the Dark Lord had a spy somewhere in Hogwarts, and I thought, "Who is the least likely person to be a spy?" -- and Raine's parents were Aurors, and half her family's dead because of the Dark Lord. How much more obvious could it be? I found the headband in her trunk, but everyone believed her! I even cursed you through the headband from a distance, so you'd think it might be dangerous -- and all that led to was a warning that I'd be suspended. What was wrong with you morons?'

'Why didn't you just tell someone, instead of acting like you always do and throwing curses?' asked Harry.

'Maybe I should have done,' Malfoy admitted. 'It's not how we do things.'

'We talked to that portrait,' Harry told him. 'Your grandfather taught Defence Against the Dark Arts. Why not try to be more like him?'

'What, dead? It's a bit hard to be a role model when you're dead.'

'The portrait wasn't sure. He just said your father imprisoned his own parents in your Manor and waited for them to die. Is that the way you "do things"? Is that what you're planning for him?'

'I am not on trial here, Potter!'

'He didn't say "no",' Ron commented to Hermione.

'Anyway, you just used that portrait! You told him that girl was your girlfriend, just so I'd pass it back to Father.'

'No, he got the wrong impression. I didn't tell him anything like that, just that I rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets.'

'Anyway, the Dark Lord found out it wasn't true. He put Cruciatus on my father, and when I got suspended ... Father passed it on.'

Harry winced.

'Yeah, try to imagine what Cruciatus feels like! You can't.'

'I don't need to imagine it,' Harry told him. 'Voldemort cast it on me after the Tournament, so I know what it feels like.'

Malfoy looked at him with what looked almost like respect.

'He's had all three of the Unforgivable Curses cast on him by You-Know-Who personally,' Hermione said. 'You can't claim that.'

'I've never even met him!' said Malfoy, sounding irritated.

'We know from what you said on the train last year that you want to,' said Harry.

Malfoy frowned. 'I've had more time to think since. Raine's murder is just the last straw.'

'You don't want to become a Death Eater?' asked Ron in surprise. 'I thought you almost were one.'

'I don't have to give you my reasons! Anyway, I asked you what I wanted to,' Malfoy snapped, and he and his two friends left the room.

'What do you think?' Harry asked Ron and Hermione.

'He might be trying to convince you he's not supporting You-Know-Who, just so that you'll trust him and he can betray you,' suggested Hermione.

'At least you haven't forgiven everyone,' said Ron, grinning.

'Nobody needed to possess or blackmail Malfoy, did they? He's just like that,' she said.

'Stop talking about me,' said Malfoy, returning to the doorway. 'And who's possessed?'

Ron ignored him, and told Harry, 'I was just hoping he'd give you an excuse to make three more statues. Peeves is back -- it was you who turned him to stone, wasn't it?'

'Yes, he was upsetting Fen and Ginny,' Harry told him. He hoped naming Fen first would prevent Malfoy getting suspicious again.

'Right, you're still a Prefect, and have to protect the little girls,' sneered Malfoy. 'Talking of which, why is the Head Boy's little sister in Gryffindor, when he's in Ravenclaw?'

'Now what are you talking about?'

'Those first years I took points off -- one of them ran straight to her big brother and told him what I'd done. How was I supposed to know who she was?'

'It shouldn't matter!' snapped Hermione. 'You didn't have a good reason to take points from them anyway!'

Malfoy snorted and left. Harry, Ron and Hermione left the dungeons and started up the main staircase.

'He must mean Heather Kelly,' commented Harry. 'I didn't know she was Jon's sister.'

'Nor did I, but it doesn't really matter, when you're fair to people,' Hermione pointed out.

When they reached to their common room, Ginny was already sitting there, doing her homework.

'Good girl,' said Harry, smiling at her.

'Turning Peeves to stone is good, too,' said Ron, grinning. 'So you were there when Harry did it, Ginny?'

Ginny grinned and nodded. 'I didn't know Prefects were allowed to use magic in the corridors. I suppose it makes sense though.'

'Anything that shuts Peeves up makes a lot of sense,' said Ron happily. 'I just wish you could have done it to Malfoy.'

'Do you think he meant to tell you his father's actually meeting with You-Know-Who?' Hermione asked Harry.

'Probably not -- he was just too angry to think, wasn't he? Anyway, I saw Lucius Malfoy there when You-Know-Who was revived, so it's hardly a surprise.'

*

At dinner on Tuesday, Fred and George were grinning widely. 'Ask us when we're back in the common room,' George said, when he was asked why.

After dinner, the Quidditch team and reserves gathered together to hear the news.

Fred said, 'We were going to watch the Slytherins train, to see what their chances were of beating Hufflepuff in two weeks' time.'

Dennis frowned; apparently, he still didn't like the idea of spying on other teams.

George continued, 'The first thing that happened was that Balfour, their captain, resigned from the team. So they've got to find a new captain and a Beater to replace him, and they didn't even try to get any practising done today.'

'Good!' said Katie. 'That'll help the Hufflepuffs, and maybe Slytherin really will have the worst score this year.'

'Poor Grocyn,' said Ginny softly. All three of her brothers looked at her in surprise. She explained, 'He always wanted to seem like a tough guy, but Raine told me once they were sort of dating.' Fen nodded. Ginny continued, 'He must be too upset after her death to want to be on the team.'

'Good,' said Fred. Ginny glared at him. He added defensively, 'Look, I don't know him, I didn't know her -- do you really expect me to pretend I'm sorry? I know she was your friend, but that's the only reason I even knew who she was.'

'So it's just "Oh good, Raine's been murdered, now we can win the Quidditch Cup easily?"' demanded Ginny. 'Maybe I should resign, if that's the official attitude! I'm only a reserve, anyway. I don't want to be part of a team that thinks that way.'

Angelina shook her head. 'It's just your brother. You know what he's like. I'd prefer it if Hufflepuff defeat them just because they're better, but Ravenclaw are the threat to us this year, not Slytherin. I don't like the fact that You-Know-Who is responsible for two pupils' deaths in two years -- I didn't know your friend, but I liked Cedric, and he was a good Quidditch player. If he was still alive, he could have helped beat Slytherin, and then gone on to join a professional team, like Oliver did. He won't have the chance.'

'Sorry,' said Ginny quietly.

The meeting broke up, and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny sat in their usual place.

'Do we have to keep talking about Raine all the time?' asked Ron. Ginny glared at him, too.

Harry said quickly, 'Look, I remember after the Beater trials, when Raine was coming back to the castle with us, and Balfour was yelling at her about something. They didn't seem very close then.'

'He always called her Dunsmuir,' Ginny told him, 'and he only yelled at her then so that the two of them could walk along together. It's his idea of romantic. She just went along with it.'

'What about telling her not to "fraternise" with you?'

'When I asked her later why she was doing what he said, she admitted that was just an excuse. They were trying to spend more time together, that's why she had less time to spend with us. That's when I found out about them.'

'We're still talking about her,' sighed Ron.

Hermione asked, 'Haven't you forgiven her, even after Scabbers murdered her?'

'He's not Scabbers! He's Wormtail.'

Ginny pulled a face. 'I forgot that. When I was five, Scabbers fell in the pond, and I got him out. I wish I'd just run to get Mum instead, though Percy would have been upset.'

'Wouldn't that have been too late?' asked Harry. 'Oh, right. It would, and You-Know-Who wouldn't be back, and Cedric and Raine would both be alive. And some others, too.' He sighed. 'I wonder if Snape can sleep at night.'

'He probably just denies it was his fault,' Ron said.

'What was your Potions lesson like?' asked Ginny. 'We haven't had one this week yet.'

'Neville was well out of it,' said Ron. 'Snape left Harry alone, but Lavender lost ten points.'

*

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny met up again after classes on Wednesday. Ginny told them, 'We had a really quiet Potions lesson. Snape didn't shout at anyone, and kept looking at the table I was working at.'

'You don't mean he misses Raine?' asked Ron. 'Snape has feelings?'

'He just kept looking at where she should have been. I think he's really bothered that You-Know-Who actually killed a student he liked.'

Harry shook his head. 'I wonder if he cares as much that You-Know-Who killed Cedric?'

Ginny shrugged and got out some of her homework.

When they went down to the Great Hall for dinner, Hannah and Lorelei brought back the Firebolts they'd borrowed for their practice game. Lorelei went back to the Hufflepuff table, but Hannah stayed to talk.

'Professor Sprout told us about that Raine Dunsmuir before Professor Dumbledore announced she'd been killed,' she told Harry.

'Was that because you'd rescued her?' he asked. Hannah nodded unhappily. Harry told her gently, 'Nothing changes what you did, though.'

'That's what Professor Sprout told me. Of course it does. I thought I was rescuing someone who'd fallen into the lake. Lorelei thought she must have been pushed, because she knows her and says she wouldn't be silly enough to fall in. She knew her, I mean.'

'I know Lorelei, she's in Herbology with me,' said Ginny.

'Anyway, so we got her to the hospital wing, and Professor Dumbledore gave me fifty points for saving her. Then I found out she'd jumped in on purpose. She wanted to kill herself. And now she's dead anyway. So, what was the point?'

Harry said, 'You gave her more time. She apologised to me, and others, and we told her we'd forgiven her. I think she was probably happier when she was out with her parents, and died instantly, than when she tried to kill herself.'

'That might not have been much of a favour. People who die with unfinished business sometimes come back as ghosts,' Hannah pointed out. 'The Fat Friar is happy enough, and she might have been, too, since nobody could force her to do anything.'

'You wouldn't let this stop you rescuing someone else, though, would you?' Hermione asked her.

'Well, I hope not. It worries me that I might react a bit slower if it happens again. I'd better go and join the others, anyway.' She went over to the Hufflepuff table.

'Poor Hannah,' said Harry, watching her go.

'Yeah, poor Hannah, poor everybody, according to you.' grumbled Ron.

'You're just feeling left out,' said Hermione. 'Poor Ron.'

*

Thursday's Quidditch training went well. As they walked back to the castle after it, Ginny said. 'I don't think the poor Ravenclaws have a chance.'

'Don't exaggerate,' said Harry, thinking of Cho, Ravenclaw's Seeker. He remembered Oliver's regret that Cho had recovered from an injury in time to play them, and grinned.

'I've told my parents our team will be playing in that game,' said Hermione. 'I wonder if they'll want to watch it?'

'It won't be as bad meeting them again if they do, anyway,' said Ron.

'I liked them,' said Ginny. 'Of course, I didn't know what you two had been up to, then.'

*

Harry and Hermione were back in their usual duelling classroom for Friday's lesson. Both had now learnt the three new spells they'd been given the day that Harry was cursed. They used them successfully against the target dummies, then practised blocking them.

'That was very good,' Dumbledore told them. 'You appeared to enjoy having more people to duel with in your last lesson.'

'Yes,' said Harry. 'It's better if we don't know who is going to attack next.'

'Indeed it is. I note that you appear to have branched out into cursing poltergeists, also.'

'Peeves was upsetting Ginny and Fen. He deserved it.'

'He may well have done. On a very different subject, neither Professor Flitwick nor I can see the advantage to Voldemort of having that identity spell on the Quidditch Cup, but we have now removed it.'

'Good,' said Harry. 'So that means whatever he planned won't work.'

Dumbledore nodded, and handed them another list each, this time containing twelve spells. 'I am aware this will not be easy, but when you have learned those, you may have a different type of lesson.' He seemed disinclined to explain further, and they didn't ask what he meant.

They met Ron and Ginny for lunch, and told them what he'd said.

'So you weren't being told off about Peeves? Good,' said Ginny. 'He probably approves then.'

'He can't mean you're going to duel with the sixth-years again, can he?' asked Ron, looking over at Katie, who was pretending not to listen, but was frowning. 'I mean, you already know more curses than they do, and he wants you to learn even more?' Katie frowned at Ron, then went back to eating and definitely not listening.

'Maybe you're going to duel Fred and George,' said Ginny.

'They're two years ahead of us!' said Hermione. 'We're nowhere near that good.'

'Can I see the list?' Ginny asked. Harry handed her the list, which she looked at and shrugged. 'Never heard of any of them.'

'Good,' Ron told her. 'I'm glad you don't know all the curses they know. Oh, we got Aphasic on our list last time, so I'm catching up.'

'Are you looking forward to duelling the Ravenclaws?' Hermione asked him. McCardle had announced that the houses would be switched round for this term's duelling classes, with the Hufflepuffs now duelling the Slytherins and the Gryffindors facing the Ravenclaws. She'd claimed it was just coincidence that those pairings happened to match the last two Quidditch matches, both of which would be played this term. Ron wasn't convinced.

'It'll be different, anyway,' Ron replied.

Ginny stood up, still holding the list, and went over to the twins. After a brief talk, she came back grinning. 'They've heard of the "duelling menaces" too.' She gave Harry the list back.

'Was that what you asked them?' said Harry.

'I showed them your list. They've just got two of the spells in their last lesson, and they already know the other ten. Fred says if you're going to join them, he's going to drag Peeves along.'

'So that we attack him and leave Fred and George alone?' asked Hermione. 'I don't think we really can be up to their level, though. They've had two more years to learn all this than we have.'

'They haven't had the same motivation as Harry or you, have they?' Ginny pointed out. 'You aren't supposed to be duelling this well, it's only because you got bored with Tickling Charms.'

'And because of the practising I did for the Tournament,' said Harry. 'You could be right -- the Tournament was supposed to be for sixth- and seventh-years only.'

'But you won it,' said Ginny, smiling.

'Only with help from Crouch,' Harry reminded her.

*

At dinner that evening, Ron joined the others after his duelling lesson, grinning widely. 'I managed to get past the rest of my group's blocks with Aphasic,' he told them. 'I thought the Ravenclaws would be worse than the Hufflepuffs, but there isn't that much of a difference. Neville's doing really well, too.'

'I wonder how Hufflepuff are doing against Slytherin,' said Harry. 'If they're duelling on Thursdays, we could have asked Ernie and Hannah after today's Herbology.'

'We can ask them later,' Hermione said.

Ron said, 'I'd laugh if Death Eater-in-training Malfoy was beaten at duelling by Hufflepuffs. Can you imagine that?'

'I'm imagining it right now,' said Harry cheerfully. 'And now I'm imagining Lorelei getting the Snitch before Malfoy even sees it.'

Ron laughed. 'Perfect!'

*

A note appeared before Harry at dinner that evening, asking him and Hermione to meet Professor McGonagall in her office after dinner.

'She can't think you two are up to anything now,' said Ginny. 'I don't think even Lavender and Parvati believe that now, do they?'

'They probably still believe it,' said Ron, 'but they're too scared of the "duelling menaces" to say so.'

'Who started that name, anyway?' asked Harry.

'Er ...' said Ron, 'I think I might have done. After I found out that you had been using Reducto on each other, I told Seamus that I wasn't a menace to all the walls around here.'

'So you think he told Lavender, and it spread from there?' Ginny asked. 'Ron starts gossip!'

'I do not!' he protested. 'It was a joke!'

After dinner, Harry and Hermione went to McGonagall's office. 'This had better be about Petrifying Peeves, not more questions about us sleeping together,' said Hermione. 'I'm really getting fed up with those.'

'She can't still think that's true,' said Harry. 'It probably is about Peeves -- but that didn't involve you. Anyway, she doesn't like Peeves, does she?'

'She doesn't seem to. Well, here we are, so we'll find out now.'

The door was open, and McGonagall beckoned them in, with the door closing behind them. They sat down and waited for her to speak.

'Potter, I hear that you were responsible for Petrifying Peeves last Sunday.'

'Yes, he was upsetting Ginny and Fen. He was upsetting me too,' he added out of honesty. 'I wasn't sure if it would work on him or not.'

'It's interesting that you admit it. Peeves himself says it was an accident, and that neither you nor any other student was responsible.'

'He's probably embarrassed that Harry dealt with him so easily,' said Hermione. 'Why didn't Percy or anyone else try it -- or isn't it as good an idea as it seems?'

'It does appear to be a good idea,' said McGonagall. 'Percy Weasley probably did not know the curse; it is not usual for it to be taught to pupils. Professor Dumbledore felt it was necessary to teach it to you, due to Potter's unusually dangerous situation.'

'So I'm not in trouble for what I did to Peeves?' asked Harry.

McGonagall smiled. 'No, if he cannot even admit you did it, he may tone down his actions in future. At least, I hope that he does.'

'Why did you want to see Hermione, though? She was in the Great Hall when I Petrified Peeves.'

McGonagall hesitated and said, 'There is another matter.' Hermione frowned, but McGonagall continued, 'Can you explain why rumours that the two of you are in love persist? I know you have denied them in the past, and even the Daily Prophet has printed that Miss Granger is seeing Mr Weasley rather than you, Potter. There must be some reason for this persistence.'

'Lavender, Parvati and the others being stupid,' muttered Hermione, though loudly enough for McGonagall to hear her.

'I don't know, you'd have to ask the people who keep spreading the rumours,' said Harry. 'There isn't any basis for them.'

'You're sure you're telling me the truth about this? I remember that Miss Granger asked me about the Prophylaxis Potion.'

'This is ridiculous! Of course we're sure!' said Hermione, visibly growing angrier. 'Do you think we're sleeping together without even noticing?'

Harry put his hand on Hermione's arm, hoping to calm her. 'Professor, I think the reason Voldemort recruited Raine to curse me was because she was friends with Gryffindors, including Ginny. It's because of Snape that she was friends with Ginny, but her other friendships seem to have been because she was gossiping with Lavender and the others. So this sort of stupid gossip is why Raine's dead now. This rubbish has to stop before it kills someone else.'

'If you are certain that there is no behaviour of yours that led to these rumours, I suppose I must believe you.'

'People don't even pay attention to what they see!' snapped Hermione. 'You don't, either! Don't you remember what happened on New Year's Day?'

'Hermione!' Harry exclaimed, alarmed that she might tell McGonagall what she and Ron had been doing.

Hermione ignored him. 'You saw Ron running down the stairs to the common room, and all you thought about was he might have given me a shock if I was already down there. Didn't you notice which stairs?'

Harry shook his head. It was too late to stop her now.

McGonagall's jaw dropped. 'Are you saying he'd just been up to your dorm to give you a shock?'

'No! He wouldn't have shocked me anyway, but he did know I wasn't in the common room, because he'd just left me upstairs, after we'd spent the night together -- and not for the first time. You saw him, you saw which stairs he came down, and you still didn't realise! People just don't look at what they're seeing!'

'Miss Granger!' said McGonagall weakly.

'So now you know why I asked you about that potion. I'm not sleeping with Harry, and I never have, but I have slept with Ron. Often. I'm going to keep doing it, too.' She fumbled with her Prefect badge, unfastened it and put it on McGonagall's desk. There was a tear in her eye as she said more calmly, 'I seduced Ron, so he didn't do anything to be punished for. There's my badge; you can make Lavender or Parvati the new Prefect. I know Lavender would love to be a Prefect.'

McGonagall was looking at the badge with as much disbelief as Harry felt. She'd told McGonagall? She'd resigned as a Prefect, losing the position that had meant so much to her when she opened the letter and found the badge? She'd actually told McGonagall about her and Ron?

Hermione stood, and turned to leave the office, tears running down her face. Harry looked at McGonagall, still staring at the badge, and started to follow Hermione. She was going to need a friend to talk to -- it would be a long six flights of stairs back to the common room, in her mood.

There was a click as the door locked itself. 'Miss Granger, please sit down again.' Reluctantly, Hermione did, and Harry sat down also, as he couldn't leave the room now.

'How many points are you going to take off me?' Hermione asked.

'Over three months after I saw Mr Weasley leaving the girls' dormitories, and failed to notice? Without your telling me, I would not know of anything to punish, and I can hardly punish you for your honesty now.' McGonagall picked up the Prefect badge and held it out to Hermione. 'Take it.'

'I meant it,' said Hermione stubbornly, although Harry was sure she was tempted to take it back. 'You don't really think I'm a suitable Prefect any more.'

'The school requires there to be six Prefects in each house, three boys and three girls.'

'I know. Make Lavender the Prefect, she'll be delighted. Malfoy was replaced, so I can be too.'

McGonagall frowned. 'Every year, the Heads of house have to select two new Prefects to appoint for the next year. We each consider all the fourth-year pupils in our own house, decide which of them would make suitable candidates, and then select the two we believe would be the best Prefects.'

Harry hadn't really thought about how the Prefects were selected before. He wondered if McGonagall had already chosen the Prefects for the next year.

'Last year, the best candidates among the boys were Mr Potter, Mr Thomas and Mr Weasley. Despite your frequent disregard for the school's rules, Potter, the fact that you had succeeded in winning the Triwizard Tournament could not be ignored, and you were selected.'

'But I only won because Crouch cheated for me,' said Harry.

'Did he fly your broom for you? Did he tell you to stay underwater until all the hostages had been rescued? Did he then succeed in escaping from ... Voldemort?'

'I suppose not,' Harry admitted.

'Whether you believe it or not, you do deserve to be a Prefect. The suitable candidate for the girl Prefect was Miss Granger. Only Miss Granger. Neither Miss Brown nor Miss Patil would become a Prefect if you insist on resigning your position.'

Hermione seemed to be too surprised to say anything, so Harry asked for her, 'What would happen if she insisted, then?'

'Some centuries ago, there was a year when no girls were sorted into Slytherin. When the students from that year became fifth-years, the problem was solved by making a fourth-year girl the fifth-year Prefect. This led to some problems, such as there being two fifth-year girls as Prefects the following year, and four girl Prefects when she reached her seventh year, although that, at least, could have been avoided with some foresight. I would prefer to avoid these problems in advance. Miss Granger, please take back the badge.'

'You'd make someone from Ginny's year my replacement, in preference to Lavender or Parvati?' said Hermione, surprised. Harry noticed a momentary look of surprise on McGonagall's face when Ginny's name was mentioned. McGonagall nodded. Hermione reached slowly out and took the badge back.

'I always said you were the cleverest witch in our year,' said Harry, grinning. 'See, you're so clever, nobody else can replace you.' Hermione smiled. McGonagall's mouth twitched as if suppressing a smile too.

The two of them headed back up to the common room. 'You might want to wipe those tears off your face,' said Harry.

'Oh, thanks.' She wiped her face with a handkerchief.

'You know, since you're so irreplaceable, maybe you could curse Lavender and Parvati and any other gossipers. Neither Dumbledore nor McGonagall seem to be bothered that I cursed Peeves.'

'They're not quite as annoying as Peeves.'

'They're studying for an O.W.L. in Annoying with Merit,' Harry joked.

'I'm sure they'll get it, too,' she replied. 'No, I'm not going to curse them. I'm fed up with people not believing I love Ron. Maybe they'll believe it this evening.'

'What are you going to do?' Harry asked, concerned.

Hermione grinned impishly. 'Oh, you'll see. I am going to set you and Ginny a very bad example.'

'This doesn't sound too good. Does it involve anything we've learnt in those duelling lessons?'

'No, just a few Locking Charms.' She thought for a moment. 'Maybe a curse with a condition attached, too.'

'Like that spell that lets you save up spells to be cast all at once? These sound useful, I ought to learn them.'

Peeves floated into view in the corridor ahead, saw them, and hurriedly dived back into a classroom. Harry grinned. 'You need to get Lavender and Parvati as scared of you, as Peeves is of me now.'

'I'll start with something simpler, and nicer.'

'Nicer? You're going to be nice to them? That'll terrify them -- they'll wonder what you're really up to.'

Hermione shook her head. 'No, nicer for me.'

They had reached the portrait hole. Harry gave the new password, 'Mare's eggs', and they entered the common room.

'Are you in trouble about Peeves?' Ginny asked Harry as the two of them reached her and Ron. 'And why did Hermione have to be there?'

Hermione was whispering in Ron's ear. He blushed, and then nodded. She took his hand and they went over to where Lavender and Parvati were sitting.

'I'll tell you later,' said Harry. 'Let's go and see what she's going to do to those two.'

'Lavender. Parvati,' said Hermione, just as Harry and Ginny caught up with them to see what she was going to do to them. 'You still don't believe I love Ron, do you?'

Lavender stuttered, but Parvati said bravely. 'How can you be friends with Harry and Ron, and prefer Ron? Don't you remember what he was like at the Yule Ball last year -- a complete boor!'

'One hundred and thirty-two,' muttered Ginny, too quietly for anyone except Harry to hear. Most of the common room seemed to be looking towards them now -- they knew that the two Prefects had been in McGonagall's office, and that Harry seemed to have got away with Petrifying the much-disliked Peeves. Most of them were probably hoping Hermione would do something spectacular, to live up to her 'duelling menace' reputation.

'Perhaps he doesn't like you enough to treat you nicely,' said Hermione icily.

'I do love Hermione, though,' said Ron, grinning at the other two girls.

'I hope you're nice and comfortable there,' Hermione told them. 'Good night.' She turned and went over to the stairs to her dorm. A disappointed sigh from those watching turned to a gasp when Ron, still holding her hand, followed her up the stairs.

Lavender and Parvati looked at each other, bewildered. 'She's not ... she can't be going to sleep with him in our dorm!' said Parvati.

'No, she can't. How are we supposed to ignore them?' said Lavender, then the meaning of Hermione's last comment struck her, she leapt to her feet and ran for the stairs, closely followed by Parvati.

Ginny looked at Harry. 'I don't believe it! She took him upstairs with everyone watching?'

'I think they'll be convinced now,' he said, faintly. 'I had no idea -- she just told me to wait and see. Oh, and that she was going to set the two of us a bad example.'

Ginny blushed. 'But I like the girls in my dorm, I wouldn't want to lock them out of there.'

After a few more minutes, Lavender and Parvati staggered down the stairs. 'She locked us out!' complained Lavender. 'And she cast some curse to slow us down, so we couldn't catch her in time.'

Harry grinned, and took the Gravicrus off both girls.

'Thanks, Harry,' said Parvati. 'I bet she just stays up there for an hour or so.'

'Don't you believe her yet?' asked Harry. 'I bet you each a hundred Galleons they're up there all night, and you'll have to sleep down here.' The two girls declined to bet.

Harry and Ginny returned to their usual chairs. 'Do you really have two hundred Galleons?' she asked.

'Not on me, but in my vault, yes. You don't really think I'd lose that bet, do you?'

'No. This is more embarrassing than Valentine's Day, or when I found him in her dorm on his birthday.'

'I think Ron's stopped hiding the truth from the twins.'

'You're not kidding! Everyone in Gryffindor must have seen them go up those stairs together. Won't she get detention, or lose her Prefect badge for this?'

Harry told her about the meeting with McGonagall.

'Oh, so that's why she wanted to prove a point. Wow. She can still get a detention, even if she can't lose her badge. I wonder -- I suppose Shona's the most likely one to have replaced her, then.'

Harry smiled at her. He'd suddenly thought of an explanation for McGonagall's look of surprise when Ginny had been mentioned. He decided not to tell her his idea -- he'd wait and see if she did get a Prefect's badge this summer, instead.

'Let's see if we can get any homework done, after that.'

'I wondered what would happen if McGonagall found out, but I suppose if she knows already ... I didn't know Ron was running around with nothing on at Christmas!'

'He couldn't really tell you that then, without telling you why.'

'I wish Ron kept a diary. I'd love to read it and catch up.'

'Naughty Ginny,' teased Harry. She pulled a face at him, and they both started trying to do some homework.

*

Harry and Ginny were both down in the common room early on Sunday morning.

'They're not going to come down early, are they?' said Ginny after they'd been waiting for half an hour. 'I suppose I wouldn't, either.'

Fred and George came over to join them. 'Can you believe what Ron did last night? He's got more nerve than I thought,' said Fred.

'What did he do last night?' asked Ginny innocently. 'Is there anything you know about which we didn't see?'

'You're too young to know,' George told her.

'You two are too old to remember,' she retorted. 'They just wanted to convince everyone that Hermione's not in love with Harry.'

'I'm convinced,' said Fred.

'I'm extremely convinced,' said George.

'Are you convinced, Harry?' Fred asked him.

'I've known the two of them were in love for months. It's not so much Daily Prophet stuff, more History of Magic,' Harry replied.

'That's a very good way to keep something secret,' said George, 'teaching it in Binns' class.' He did an impression of snoring.

'I'm not going to wait for them any longer,' said Ginny, standing up. 'I'm going to get some breakfast.'

'I'll join you,' said Harry. 'It doesn't look as if they're even going to remember about breakfast.'

'Ron, forget breakfast?' said Fred in disbelief. 'That's not possible!'

Harry, Ginny and the twins returned to the common room after their breakfast, and found that Ron and Hermione hadn't yet come downstairs.

'What are they doing up there?' asked Ginny.

'That's good,' Fred told George, 'our little sister doesn't know what they're doing.'

'Oh, shut up.'

'It's nice to know she's not only young, but innocent,' agreed George.

'Please turn them to stone, Harry?'

'You shouldn't really joke about that,' said Harry.

'Definitely not,' said Fred. 'I'll tell Mum you asked him to do that.'

'She'll probably think it's a good idea,' Ginny said, grinning.

'Let's not tell Mum what she said. Just in case,' said George.

'I wonder if you are going to all wind up in the same duelling class,' mused Ginny. 'You can block that Petrifying spell, can't you Harry?'

'I can block it when Hermione casts it, anyway, or Dumbledore.'

'You won't be allowed to use that if you duel with us!' said Fred, sounding really alarmed. 'We haven't learnt it!'

'McGonagall said something like that,' said Harry. 'I just thought she meant it wasn't taught until the seventh year.'

'We haven't learnt it yet, at least.'

Ginny looked at the twins and grinned.

'You can keep talking about your brother if you want, but I'm going to do some homework,' said Harry, delving into his bag for books and parchment. Ginny nodded and looked in her own bag for what she needed for her homework.

Almost an hour later, after Fred and George had gone off to do their own homework, there was a commotion. Harry and Ginny looked around, and saw Ron and Hermione just stepping down off the last step into the common room. A burst of applause made them both blush. Lavender jumped to her feet and dashed up the stairs. Parvati followed her more slowly.

Ron and Hermione came over to Harry and Ginny.

'I think they're convinced,' Harry told them.

'Did you have a good night's sleep?' Ginny asked them. 'Did you even get any sleep?'

'I was too annoyed still to really want to do anything last night except cuddle with Ron until we fell asleep,' Hermione said with a grin. 'But nobody except you knows that.'

'And what about this morning?' asked Harry, grinning back.

'This morning, I apologised to Ron.'

'It was the best apology I've ever had,' said Ron, smirking.

'It must have been, to make you miss breakfast!' said Ginny.

'I'll catch up at lunch,' said Ron. 'Oh, you aren't doing homework already?'

'We ought to,' said Hermione, sitting down and reaching into the bag she'd forgotten to take upstairs on Saturday.

Ginny stared at her. 'You can just do homework after shocking everyone like that?'

'Of course, we've got our O.W.Ls at the end of this term,' said Hermione, as if everything was perfectly normal. 'Oh, Ron, you've got to tell McGonagall today if you're dropping History of Magic.'

'Huh, back to reality,' said Ron. He pulled a list from his bag and studied it. 'If I drop it, I'll only be doing eight subjects. If I don't, I still probably won't get an O.W.L. in it.'

'How many are you hoping for?' asked Ginny. 'As many as Bill and Percy got?'

'No. I've got to beat the twins. Charlie got ten, but I probably won't manage that many. I suppose I'd better keep History of Magic, then.'

'That means none of you have dropped any subjects, unless you count Hermione dropping Divination,' said Ginny.

They got on with doing their homework until lunchtime. After lunch, and Ron's enthusiastic attempt to catch up with the breakfast he'd missed, they returned to the common room and their homework. Crookshanks was sitting on Hermione's chair, and meowed at them.

'I haven't seen you in ages,' Ginny told him, tickling his chin. 'Did you come down here looking for Ron?'

'He probably did,' said Ron. 'He slept on Hermione's bed last night, but ... well, he fell off this morning.'

'I don't even want to imagine why,' said Harry.

'It was all right last night, when we were just asleep,' Ron said.

'To sleep, perchance to dream,' quoted Hermione, grinning at Ron.

'Are you saying you dreamt together last night?' Harry asked her.

'That's what she said to me on Christmas Eve,' said Ron. 'Just before she told me how she felt about me, and, well, we made love for the first time.'

'We're getting all the details now,' said Ginny.

'It just occurred to me that yesterday was Shakespeare's birthday, and that was a Shakespeare quote. I said that quote before I told Ron how I felt, and then on Shakespeare's birthday we told everyone in Gryffindor,' explained Hermione.

'I get it,' said Harry, 'you're not obsessed with sex at all, you're just obsessed with Shakespeare!'

Ron and Hermione both laughed.

'I still think they're obsessed with sex,' said Ginny.

*

The next Tuesday, Fred and George reported back from their spying on the Slytherin team. 'They've got their new Beater -- his name's Crabbe,' Fred told the assembled teams.

'Crabbe? He won't bother with the Bludgers, he'll just hit the players!' said Ron. 'You two had better watch out for your brooms, with him playing.'

'Anything he breaks, he can pay for,' said Harry. 'We might as well get some advantage from being the "duelling menaces" -- pay up or be cursed. Who's their new captain?'

'Someone called Brimble,' said George.

'Will Brimble? He's in our year,' said Fen. 'He's the Keeper, like Oliver, isn't he?'

'Yes, that's right,' said George. 'Harry, don't forget it's against the rules of Quidditch to curse the players during the game. You'll have to Petrify Crabbe before the game, or it won't count.'

'I meant it, stop joking about that. I'm not going to Petrify any pupils, even if I do try to scare them with the idea.'

'Yes, take this seriously, George,' Angelina rebuked him.

'Does Crabbe know anything about playing Quidditch, or does he just have two practice sessions to get as good as he's going to be against Hufflepuff?' asked Ron.

Nobody seemed to be sure. Fred said, 'He didn't look as if he knew what he was doing. Jenny and Ernie ought to be able to out-play him.'

*

Judging by the looks directed at Ron and Hermione over the next few days, most of the school had heard what they'd done on Saturday. McGonagall had to have heard, but said nothing further to either of them. Professor Snape's attitude was unchanged, and the trio couldn't tell if he knew or not. Flitwick and Sprout's amused glances clearly showed that they'd both heard.

Ron got a letter from his parents on the Thursday after the momentous Saturday. His letter included comments about the advisability of choosing somewhere quite so public to tell everyone that they were going to sleep together. It also asked him how he thought he was going to keep Professor McGonagall from finding out. The idea that it was Hermione who Ron was sleeping with seemed to please them, though.

'At least it wasn't a Howler,' said Ginny, after Thursday's successful Quidditch practice, when they had time to sit and talk. Crookshanks was sitting under the table, pouncing on anything that came within his reach.

'What happened to that boy who didn't want his parents or twin brothers to know?' Harry asked him.

'A lot of fun happened to him,' said Ron, grinning. 'I'm glad they approve of me and Hermione, anyway.'

'Fred and George are too amazed to even tease him,' said Ginny. 'So far, at least.'

Ron said, 'I thought Mum and Dad might have guessed when they got my Nonpater permission slip to sign on the same day that they got the Daily Prophet which said Hermione was my girlfriend.'

'They didn't seem to know when they wrote the letter back, though,' Harry objected.

'No, but then I wrote to tell them about the holiday. They must have worked it out by now. Though it sounds from this as if they think Saturday was our first time together. Anyway, now I don't have to tell them, even if they don't know everything.'

'He's resigned to it now,' said Hermione, looking up from the essay she was writing.

'How do you feel about everyone knowing?' Ginny asked her.

'It's easier on the nerves, now that I don't have to worry about people finding out.'

'Did you ever imagine that, when you were thinking about how to tell me, back at the beginning?' Harry asked.

'Not like this, no. Perhaps I shouldn't have let McGonagall annoy me like that.'

'It got rid of the rumours about you being my girlfriend, anyway. Even Lavender's convinced now.'

'It's amazing what a night trying to sleep on these chairs can do,' said Ginny. 'No, Ron, I haven't tried it!'

*

Ron and Hermione had to stop using the Prefects' bathroom, as the mere presence of Hermione anywhere near it tended to get knowing looks now from anyone who happened to see her. During Tuesday's free lesson, the two of them had explored the corridors near the portrait of the Fat Lady, undeterred by the way she kept looking at them and smirking. They'd found three apparently disused classrooms, and chosen one of them to use. It now had a comfortable bed in it. Harry sometimes wondered if there were any practical uses for Transfiguration that didn't involve making furniture for surreptitious love-making.

*

In Friday's DADA class, Harry and Hermione demonstrated that they could each cast their new spells effectively against the target dummies, and that they could each block the other's use of them, against themselves and against the dummies.

'Excellent,' Dumbledore told them. 'I hope that you had nothing planned for next Saturday afternoon? No, Sunday afternoon, as there is a Quidditch game on Saturday.'

'No. What's happening on Sunday?' asked Harry.

'The seventh-years have their duelling class on that day, as it is the only time available. Next week, unless you object, you may have these two periods free, and join the seventh-years' class.'

'I don't object!' said Hermione, so enthusiastically that Harry had to laugh.

'I don't either,' he gasped when he had his breath back.

'Then I will see you on Sunday afternoon,' he told them. 'You may find the class interesting.'

'Good,' Hermione said, as they headed down to the Great Hall for their lunch. 'Now we can duel with a group, and we won't have to hold back, like with the sixth-years.'

'Except for Lapiform. It's a bit worrying, though,' said Harry. 'Did you pick Duelling for a subject next year?'

'Yes, I did. Did you?' Thanks partly to the reaction to Hermione and Ron letting everyone know they were sleeping together, the trio had still not found the time to get round to discussing the less-interesting topic of the subjects they would be taking in their sixth year.

'Yes. Fred and George are going to be taking their N.E.W.Ts in just over a month. If we can already keep up with them, what are we going to learn next year?'

Hermione stopped. 'I was so busy thinking about duelling in a group again, that I hadn't even thought about that! No wonder you said it was a worrying thought.' She started walking again, deep in thought.

Harry added, 'I wonder if Katie was right. After all, if we can duel the seventh-years ...'

'I don't think we're going to be put in for a N.E.W.T. this year, Harry! Apart from anything else, we've already had to tell McGonagall the list of O.W.Ls we're taking, so it must be too late.'

'Shame, it's not really the sort of subject where you need to spend much time revising.'