𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 ! || harry potter x reader

74. The Biggest Git of a Lifetime

Y/N, Ron, and Hermione returned in the late afternoon.

"Harry!" cried Y/N as she climbed through the portrait hole. "Harry, I passed!"

"Well done!" he grinned, receiving her with his warm arms as she crashed into them. He kissed her cheek as she sank into his body, the armchair before the fire supporting the both of them. His thumb rubbed circles into her hip as he grinned against her skin, reluctantly pulling away with sparkling green eyes. "And Hermione and Ron?"

"Well, you already know Hermione passed. Ron—he just failed," whispered Y/N, as Ron came slouching into the room looking most morose with Hermione by his side. "The examiner saw that he'd left half an eyebrow behind. . . rather unlucky if you ask me. How did it go with Slughorn?"

"No joy," said Harry, as Hermione Ron joined them. "Bad luck, mate, but you'll pass next time—we can take it together."

"Yeah, I s'pose," said Ron grumpily. "But half an eyebrow! Like that matters!"

"I know," said Hermione soothingly, "it does seem really harsh. . . ."

They spent most of their dinner roundly abusing the Apparition examiner, and Ron looked fractionally more cheerful by the time they set off back to the common room, now discussing the continuing problem of Slughorn and the memory.

"So, Harry—you going to use the Felix Felicis or what?" Ron demanded.

"Yeah, I s'pose I'd better," said Harry. "I don't reckon I'll need all of it, not twelve hours' worth, it can't take all night. . . . I'll just take a mouthful. Two or three hours should do it."

"It's a great feeling when you take it," said Ron reminiscently. "Like you can't do anything wrong."

"What are you talking about?" said Hermione, laughing. "You've never taken any!"

"Yeah, but I thought I had, didn't I?" said Ron, as though explaining the obvious. "Same difference really . . ."

As they had only just seen Slughorn enter the Great Hall and knew that he liked to take time over meals, they lingered for a while in the common room, the plan being that Harry should go to Slughorn's office once the teacher had had time to get back there. When the sun had sunk to the level of the treetops in the Forbidden Forest, they decided the moment had come, and after checking carefully that Neville, Dean, and Seamus were all in the common room, snuck up to the boys' dormitory.

Harry took out the rolled-up socks at the bottom of his trunk and extracted the tiny, gleaming bottle.

"Well, here goes," said Harry, and he raised the little bottle and took a carefully measured gulp.

"What does it feel like?" whispered Hermione.

Harry did not answer for a moment. Then, at last, he got to his feet, smiling and looking as arrogant as ever. A glow of confidence surrounded him and Y/N hated it because it made her want to distract him from his mission at hand.

"Excellent," he said. "Really excellent. Right . . . I'm going down to Hagrid's."

"What?" said Y/N, Ron, and Hermione together, looking aghast.

"No, Harry—you've got to go and see Slughorn, remember?" said Hermione.

"No," said Harry confidently. "I'm going to Hagrid's, I've got a good feeling about going to Hagrid's."

"You've got a good feeling about burying a giant spider?" asked Ron, looking stunned.

"A dead spider who almost ate you once?" Y/N said incredulously. "And set his millions of kids on your arse just for funsies?"