A Desperate Deed

Upcoming Storm

In the past hours, Harry had more than once asked himself what had gotten into him? The first few weeks back at Hogwarts had gone by remarkably easy. Even though they had to live with the deadly glares of Ginny, she still chooses to avoid them as much as she could to Harry's relief. The friendship with Ron slowly was at a healthy level again; one could argue it had even vastly improved. Ron and Hermione had stopped to keep fighting over Harry all the time. Ron had begun to hold himself back and appeared to be strangely at ease considered he wasn't anymore in need to prove himself worthy of her affection. Hermione had, after all, become unreachable to him. At this, Ron was in advance to a certain Ravenclaw Prefect. It had been Terry Boot's fault that Harry was now in this precarious situation in the first place.

Aside from the Weasley's and perhaps the teaching staff nobody knew at Hogwarts that Harry and Hermione were married. The different equipment of the Headquarters was unknown to the majority of the student body, too. In this context, it didn't surprise that Terry Boot believed Hermione to be available for his affection. However, this insight didn't stop Harry from finding Boot's behaviour irritating if not highly annoying.

The kiss Harry and Hermione had shared days before, and the fact that they choose to ignore the graduate change of their relationship hadn't improved his disapproving feelings of the Ravenclaw boy at all. Contrary, the opposite was true. Harry had taken it as an opportunity to rash into action without to think twice about the possible consequences.

"She is going to kill you, Harry!" Ron noted again while putting 1001 Countercurses back on the bookshelf.

"Thank you for the reminder. I would appreciate it if you helped me instead and find a counter curse, preferable before Hermione notice anything is wrong." Harry grumbled.

They were both in the library and had already placed an uncountable variation of books on their table. None of them had been any help.

"Before? Who are you kidding, Harry? She already noticed it. She wears the badge every day." In disbelief, Ron shook his head.

"Ron!" Harry warned him and slammed shut yet another book.

"This is a spell from the Twins. You can't lift it that easily -"

"Damn it!" Harry hissed and dragged Ron behind the nearest shelf.

Just in time, he had seen that Hermione entered the library in a visibly lousy mood.

"What in the devil's name is she doing here?" Harry whispered.

"Harry, this is Hermione we're talking about she always goes to the library." Ron rhetorical answered.

She walked up to one of the bookshelves and searched for any useful tome when she decided the loud giggles from some fifth year girls were highly disturbing.

"Silence, this is a library!" Hermione told them off, and they quiet down immediately.

"Say's who?" a Slytheringirl drawled in a bored tone.

Just a few higher year pupils from Slytherin had returned to Hogwarts. After the war, they had the worst possible reputation.

"Say's me!" Hermione rounded to the table, where the group of girls were seated and pointed to her badge.

"Oh-oh, you're ankle-deep in a mess." escaped Ron before he could utter another word, Harry clasped a hand over his mouth.

"She is Headgirl. Come on, Cecilia, let's go before Granger takes points, or worse give us detention." A Gryffindorgirl noted and was about to gather her school things.

"Wait, the badge says something different though," Cecilia said while gazing at the silvery emblem on Hermione's robes.

"Indeed." Another girl agreed.