Unlike a Sister (Harmione)

Chapter 46: The Ambassador

To the very great displeasure of the Daily Prophet, Screeching Mandrake, and Rita Skeeter, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger still appeared to be very much "a thing."

Indeed, since the unceremonious, early return of the Brightest Witch of Her Age, the couple was more affectionate than they'd ever been. Each morning, they could be seen walking through the Atrium hand-in-hand. At the golden lifts, they shared a brief kiss before making their separate ways to the Auror Department and Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It became a common sight to see the Auror Chief bringing her lunch from the canteen, two fizzy drinks balanced under his chin, as all the young counselors craned their necks over their cubicles to get a better look.

There were even photographs of them shopping in Diagon Alley, including a memorable set from the Magical Menagerie. Harry was finally getting a new owl and, while he looked over the options, Hermione lingered near the cage of a surly-looking, squat-nosed, raven-black, long-legged half-kneazle with golden eyes. Once Hermione had walked wistfully away, Harry spoke lowly to the shopkeeper, nodding towards the cage. When the Auror Chief put the creature in her arms a few minutes later, Deputy Director Granger's eyes had grown rather bright and she hugged him tightly, the feline yowling as he was squeezed between them.

As the papers filled with pictures of them happy (and quite clearly in love), a few reporters and Wireless commentators began to (very hesitantly) argue that it was time for the couple to be left alone. They deserved their privacy and the opportunity to sort their respective familial concerns free from the media's scrutiny. One Quibbler columnist went so far as to note that Hermione Granger had been treated abominably, receiving the lion's share of the public's derision when both parties had been equally at fault in the affair. What did this say about their world and its double standards for witches, the columnist asked? How could they claim to be a modern magical society when brazenly sexist (and borderline blood supremacist) content had blanketed the airwaves and mainstream publications for months?

The shifting discourse had no effect on The Screeching Mandrake, of course. They still ran articles with headlines like:

SHAMELESS: POTTER AND GRANGER SPOTTED SNOGGING ON DESERTED STREET AFTER PRIVATE FAMILY FUNCTION

MUGGED OFF: AUSTRALIAN SILVER FOX DEVASTED BY GRANGER'S DEPARTURE, CONTINUING MUGGLE-BORN'S LONG HISTORY OF TOYING WITH AFFECTIONS

MUGGLES' CHAMPION?: GRANGER'S PREFERRED MUGGLE SHOE BRAND LINKED TO ETHNIC CONFLICT AND FAMINE IN UGANDA

It was all very nasty but, somehow, it felt half-hearted.

Harry and Hermione were more than a little stunned by it all. The week she returned, they were prepared for another volley of negative headlines and hate mail and, while that had happened, it was clear something was different. By late November, they no longer thought they needed to give an interview, though they did consider it.

Two days after her return, for example, a large gift basket appeared on their doorstep from Rita Skeeter. Unwrapping it at the kitchen table, Harry saw that it was full of cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties and an extravagant bouquet of flowers. The note with it read:

Dearest Harry and Hermione,

You cannot imagine my joy when I learned of your heart-warming reunion after the trials of the last few months. Please accept this small token of my well wishes and, should you ever wish to disabuse the public of its hateful and unwarranted perceptions of your moving love story, know that my quill and voice are at your service, as always.

Yours,
Rita

Harry smirked and brought his tea to the table. He was about to bite into a cauldron cake when Hermione appeared.