Moments in Love

The Coup

AN: Warning for this chapter: Violence.

The next few weeks passed with little incident and another page on the calendar turned, but winter seemed to be stubbornly hanging on in northern Britain when another cold-snap brought late snow-storms to Hogwarts during the first week of March. The Coven had settled into their routine of school during the week, and home on the weekends. But the feeling that something imminent was about to happen never left them.

In that time, Samantha Mason gradually got used to being a witch, and used to being around children her own age again. She and her mother were taken under Hestia Jones' wing, in whose quarters they were both staying.

Likewise, Gemma Dawson began acclimating to her new status, being tutored by Hestia Jones, and by the professors after regular classes, and residing in a new suite in the Unaffiliated "House" with her sister Clara.

Daphne couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship, seeing her own younger sister whenever she looked at Samantha. Likewise, Jennifer, despite feeling a bit discomforted by the reminder of the similarity of her experiences to Samantha's and Gemma's, made herself available any time they just wanted to talk about things.

Indeed, the entire Coven went out of their way to make Samantha and Gemma feel welcome. Luna, Ginny, and Parvati introduced them to wizarding games. Fleur and Dora had taken to their roles as "Teacher's Assistants" very seriously, making every effort to help the new witches with their studies, and Dora began teaching them both self-defence techniques. Harry and Hermione joined in whatever was going on at every opportunity, whenever they weren't busy themselves.

If any of the professors thought it odd that the two new entrants to wizarding society were "late bloomers," having only recently and coincidentally discovered their magic after being rescued by the Potters and their friends, they kept it to themselves.

~o0o~

It was late Thursday evening, and the Potters lay awake in bed in their private chambers, bathed in the warm glow of the fire crackling in the hearth. Crookshanks yawned and flicked his bushy orange tail before curling it around Hedwig, both of them settling in for a nap as there was little point in taking a midnight prowl in a snowstorm.

Hermione sighed contentedly as she gently kneaded Harry's chest while he stroked her tawny coils of hair.

"Hermione," said Harry after they had been laying in silence for a few moments, "I've been thinking..."

"Yes Harry?"

"Er... I've been wondering, what if we could turn more muggles into wizards? D'you think we should?"

Hermione frowned, biting her lip pensively as she mulled it over. She had to admit, the thought had crossed her mind more than once in the last few weeks, and she still wasn't entirely certain that they had done the right thing, triggering the activation of Samantha's and Gemma's recessive magical genes in the process of helping them get over the worst of their PTSD.

It felt right, and Hermione knew she would do it again without hesitation under the exact same set of circumstances, but questions still niggled in the back of her mind. Harry's fingers continued caressing her hair while he waited patiently for her answer.

"I'm really not sure Harry," Hermione sighed after several minutes passed. "I know it seems like it might be a good thing, but there's so much to consider. For one thing, not everyone might want to be a wizard - lots of people are frightened of magic or don't understand it. And not everyone would use magic for Good. We need to be very careful about who we consider turning."

"Yeah," said Harry, nodding in agreement, "I was sort of thinking the same thing now. At first I thought it would be great to give everyone magic, but then I started to have second thoughts. I was thinking about Puddleby - what if our Patronuses accidentally turned a few muggles into wizards?"