When Harry and Hermione woke up it took them a moment to remember where they were. When they did they couldn't help but smile at each other. Rather than get up they laid down and spent some time holding each other. Hermione especially felt like a balloon of sunshine was inflating in her chest. After the day she had had yesterday how could she not?
"Hermione?" Harry asked softly. "I think we're going to have to do some acting." Hermione giggled in response.
"You mean we shouldn't tell Professor McGonagall that we spent the night sleeping together?" she asked as she imagined her Head of House's shock in response to that proclamation. Harry snorted.
"Well, that too. What I meant, though, was that maybe we shouldn't let on that your parents survived yesterday." Hermione was shocked and sat up to look at Harry. He looked dead serious. "I don't think it was a coincidence that the Death Eaters showed up at your parents' house and I think we may not want to advertise that they failed."
"But who would have told them where to find my parents? Surely anyone who would want to find them wouldn't have access to the necessary information?" That happy feeling was rapidly diminishing. Harry sat up too and drew Hermione back into his arms.
"That's what worries me. Snape has access to the Hogwarts records which would list your home address. I would imagine that there is a record in the ministry too. Someone could have broken in to read that record or there could be informants in the ministry. Either way, Riddle takes people surviving his madness as a personal insult and I would like to keep your parents as safe as possible." Harry was looking resigned to the fact that this plan would be painful for Hermione. He also looked like he fully believed it to be necessary. Hermione was trembling with fear as the reality of her parents' situation hit home. "We'll need to ask them whether they ever gave their work address to a magical person. If they did they should probably close their practice, at least temporarily. If not, well I doubt that the Death Eaters would ever really go looking for information in the non-magical world, even if they could figure out what a dentist is." Hermione could tell he was trying to soften the blow.
"Did Dobby return the mirror to Sirius yet?" she asked despondently. Harry nodded and got out of bed to get a piece of parchment and a quill. When he returned he sat behind Hermione and pulled her into his chest.
"Let's start by just asking them about how much the magical world as a whole knows." He said when he saw Hermione just staring at the blank parchment. "You can always 'find out' that they're alive at a later date if you think it's safe." Hermione sighed and started writing a letter to her parents. By the time she was finished she had at least found her calm again. She folded the letter and sealed it with a spell. Harry called Dobby and gave him the letter with instructions to take it to the Grangers. He also told his elf that if the Grangers wanted to return to work they should make sure that nobody in the magical world knew where it was.
With the letter sent and sunlight streaming in through the windows, the two teens decided they had better get out of bed. After straightening their clothes and flinging on their robes the two headed across the seventh floor to the other side of the castle and Gryffindor tower. As they climbed in through the portrait hole they received a nasty surprise. Professor McGonagall was seated in one of the armchairs looking as disappointed as either teen had ever seen her.
"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, we need to talk. Do you need to change?" her tone was detached and professional. Harry and Hermione shared a look.
"If this conversation is going to take long I think we might, Professor." Harry said as calmly as he could. Professor McGonagall nodded and stood up.
"Be in my office in no more than half an hour then." she said before striding from the common room. Hermione was looking horrified at their treatment at the hands of her favourite professor. Harry was taking it a little more stoically but he too wondered what was so urgent that it had caused Professor McGonagall to be sitting here this morning. He shook himself; they would find out when they met with their Head of House and until then getting to that meeting on time was the priority. He gave Hermione a small nudge and her head snapped up to look at him before she nodded. They made their way up to their respective dorms for a quick shower and a change of clothes. The couple met up in the common room a mere fifteen minutes later and together they left for Professor McGonagall's office.
When they got there Hermione knocked on the door and they were called in quickly. Inside they found out that Professor McGonagall's stern expression hadn't softened one bit. At her direction the two students took seats in the chairs in front of her desk. She surveyed them for a moment before she began.
"I think you are both intelligent enough to know why you are in here. What I want to know before I give you your punishment is whether I need to call Madam Pomfrey down here or whether you took the necessary precautions?" Harry looked to the side to see that Hermione looked as gobsmacked as he felt.
"Umm, Professor, Harry and I, we aren't…we haven't…gone that far yet." Hermione managed to get out, embarrassment glowing clearly on her face. Harry nodded in agreement; his own face felt rather warmer than usual too. Professor McGonagall just raised one disbelieving eyebrow.
"When I received a report this morning that you hadn't slept in your own beds last night I didn't believe it. Then I checked and found the report to be accurate. Now I would appreciate it if you would be honest with me." she said in a disappointed tone of voice.
"We aren't denying that we spent the night somewhere else, Professor." Harry said his voice harder than he had intended. "We're just telling you that we haven't done anything that could possibly warrant precautions or a visit to a Healer."
"And what, pray tell, were you doing that rendered your own beds unsuitable for sleeping?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply. This time Harry's voice was exactly as hard as he intended it to be.
"You were in the headmaster's office at lunch yesterday, Professor. You know what happened. We simply fell asleep while I was trying to comfort my girlfriend after…well, after." Hermione looked miserable at the reference to yesterday and the events that had preceded Harry finding her. Professor McGonagall looked uncomfortable with the direction this discussion was taking.
"Would you be willing to prove that, Mr. Potter?" she asked, deliberately stressing the fact that he would be doing the proving.
"I am not sure what you would accept as proof, ma'am, but I am willing." Harry told her without softening his tone. McGonagall seemed slightly more comfortable with this confrontation if she focused on him.
"I will cast a spell on you that will let me know if you've been…sexually active." What little comfort she had felt had clearly left her by the end of the sentence. Harry just gave a curt nod. Professor McGonagall drew her wand and waved it at Harry while incanting "Coitus Revelio". As soon as the spell hit Harry he started glowing with a soft white light. Not being familiar with this spell but knowing what the results should be Harry just cocked a sardonic eyebrow at his Head of House who was now looking massively embarrassed.
"It would appear that I was mistaken in my assumptions. I apologize to you both." She managed barely meeting her students' eyes. "I still have to punish you for breaking curfew, but I am more relieved than I can say that I will not have to do the same for…other matters." Harry's face could have been hewn from granite as he watched his teacher struggle. It occurred to him that had he been dragged in here with anyone else he might have been able to laugh it off, but McGonagall hadn't believed Hermione, had embarrassed Hermione. He thought that the professor's current discomfort was the least she deserved for that.
"Ten points each from Gryffindor and detention tonight after dinner with Mr. Filch." McGonagall concluded her tone clearly indicating that the meeting had come to an end and that she hoped her students would leave so she could gather herself. Harry gave another curt nod and stood. He offered Hermione his hand and helped her up before leaving the office without another word. The two were silent for several corridors until Hermione spoke up.
"I hope we never have to go through that again." She seemed to have regained her composure. "I can't help but wonder who reported the both of us as missing though." she added thoughtfully. Harry just shrugged in response. As they entered the Great Hall he had a feeling that he knew though. Weasley and Brown broke out into smug smiles the moment they saw them and Harry didn't think he had given either of them a reason to look like that recently. A nudge was enough to draw Hermione's attention to what he had seen. Harry could see her eyes narrow at that. They sat down at a space that was far enough from the prefects that they could talk privately.
"Well, at least they've finally done a part of their job as prefects, no matter how annoying it is for us personally. We should in all honestly probably encourage that kind of responsibility in those two." Hermione said with a sigh.
"Does that mean we aren't going to find a way to place them in a highly embarrassing situation if the chance arises?" Harry asked his girlfriend. Hermione considered him for a moment.
"I didn't exactly say that." she replied after a while.
As Harry and Hermione were walking to class after breakfast they heard a popping noise. A moment later Dobby was waving at them from behind a statue. The two teens walked over after checking that there was nobody who would notice their behaviour. Dobby had brought them a letter from the Grangers. In it they said that they were willing to play dead to the magical world. They agreed that if Harry was more or less the recognized expert on these matters it would be foolish to ignore his advice. It wouldn't really affect their lives as they had barely any contact with the world their daughter inhabited in the first place. They had never talked about where their practice was. The only time their occupations even came up was when they were talking with Mr. Weasley before second year and he had been so distracted by concepts like plugs and rubber ducks that the details of what they did never came up. The letter went on to tell Hermione that they had already made contact with the police and their insurance company. A new house would be built on the location of their old one and the police were already looking for a band of homegrown terrorists. After that the letter descended into small talk about the response of the community. It made Hermione feel better to know that her parents were getting their life back on track and that they weren't upset with her for suggesting that they fake their deaths towards the magical community. She still wasn't looking forward to her part in this deception and acting like she had lost her parents though.
:-:-:-:-:
November brought with it cold, wet weather and the traditional opening of the Quidditch season at Hogwarts: Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Angelina had been drilling the team as ruthlessly as Wood ever had and Harry thought they stood a better chance than even the last time. He also hoped that without the feud that existed between Weasley and Malfoy, which could be described as being even more vicious than the one between Harry and Malfoy, playing a part in the game there wouldn't be a ridiculous song to compete with this time. The run-up to the game had looked like it would be as vicious as it had been the last time. Right up until the seventh year players ended up moving around the castle as a unit and taking care of Katie as well. Harry had Hermione and Luna with him at all times and helped Derek get around to his classes unmolested. Even most of the Slytherins agreed that pissing off the Weasley twins was a bad idea and pissing off Harry Potter might be downright suicidal.
The team's arrangement might keep skirmishes involving them to minimum but the rest of the students in either House were only a step from outright war. Harry was almost relieved when the weekend of the match came around. He had trouble not laughing out loud when Professor McGonagall refused to assign her fifth years homework for the weekend. Everyone else had been confused until she looked straight at Harry.
"I expect you to make the extra time count, Potter. You will show Slytherin that you are perfectly capable of out-flying Viktor Krum." Her eyes were burning with passion as she said this and the rest of the class roared their approval. Even Weasley would apparently rather see Slytherin laid low than Potter.
The day of the match, the weather looked like it would cooperate. The sky might be grey and threatening but the rain refused to fall just yet. The Gryffindor team met in the common room and headed down to breakfast together accompanied by a small army of friends and well-wishers. The result was that half the House entered the Great Hall together. During breakfast Harry focused on getting Derek to eat something. The youngest member of the team was nervous and having the same trouble eating that Harry remembered from his own first game. Eventually Derek managed a few bites of toast and a cup of tea before Angelina called the team to the dressing room.
They got up to loud applause and cheering which only increased in volume when Hermione gave Harry a good luck kiss that might not have been entirely appropriate in front of the younger students. Luna had once again made her lion's head hat and it roared loudly amid the cheers. As the team trouped out towards the Quidditch pitch Harry felt as relaxed as he could ever remember feeling before a match. After the team had changed into their scarlet Quidditch robes Angelina gave her pep-talk.
"Listen up! We all know we're the better team out there today. We also know that the Slytherins are going to pull every dirty trick in the book. Fred, George, be careful today. Derrick and Bole managed to graduate somehow and have been replaced with two blokes I know nothing about: Crabbe and Goyle." She was looking a little anxious at the fact that she had no information on the new beaters.
"They're Malfoy's pet gorillas, Angie. I'd expect them to be brutal and vicious rather than in any way skilled." Harry told his captain. She gave him a relieved nod.
"I didn't really expect anything else from the snakes, but it's good to know for sure." she said. "Harry, I think you know better than I do how to tie that little albino twit into knots. Derek, just stay calm and focused. Their Chaser line is indistinguishable from their Beaters; all about brute force and intimidation. Alicia, Katie, I want to see Bletchley cry today. Let's go!" The team gave a loud cheer and followed Angelina through the tunnel to the pitch. When they got there they lined up and Harry found himself standing next to Derek who was still looking a little wide-eyed.
"Don't worry, Derek. Once you get out there it's still just playing Quidditch and it's still fun." he told the younger boy with a grin. Derek gave a jerky nod, but his eyes never left the mouth of the tunnel. When they could hear Lee's voice finish his introduction of the Slytherin team Angelina mounted her broom and shot out of the tunnel and onto the pitch followed by the rest of the team.
"And here come their opponents today: the Gryffindor Lions. Led by Captain, Chaser and all around hottie Angelina Johnson."
"Jordan!" Harry couldn't help the smile that burst onto his face at hearing McGonagall berating Lee as he commentated in his usual style.
"Sorry, Professor. Johnson is joined up front by Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell. A first start today for Keeper Derek Nordstrom. If he's been practicing against this Chaser line I have no doubt he will be giving us quite a show today. Wielding the bats will be Gryffindor's human Bludgers: Fred and George Weasley. Finally the man who will end today's game in Gryffindor's favour: the Knight of the Light, the Pride of the Lions, the Youngest Quidditch Player in a Century: Harry! James! POTTER!" Harry winced at the introduction he got and wasn't mollified by half the crowd joining in on his surname. He had forgotten about that particular stunt the twins had pulled the year before and would have hoped they and Lee had as well. Looking around the stadium he could pick out a dozen flags that were also familiar from last year; black dragons impaled on red swords were waving around the Gryffindor section of the stands. Harry was starting to think it might be better to just give up on people ever forgetting his second fourth year. Thankfully Hooch was already calling the captains to the centre of the pitch. After the completely ineffective pre-game ritual of asking the captains for a clean game after having them shake hands the game was on.
Harry settled into a focused searching pattern. Matches against Slytherin were best kept short and that meant finding the Snitch early. After a few minutes of searching he was forced to conclude that the little bugger had decided to hide somewhere and wasn't up for a chase yet. He returned his attention to Lee's commentary, hoping for an update on the score.
"…and Warrington scores to make it thirty-ten to Slytherin. The Quaffle is with Spinnet…she's rocketing down the pitch…passes to Bell…ouch that has to hurt, Bell is hit in the hand with a Bludger. Pucey takes possession." Harry had heard enough to know his team was getting the short end of a very hard stick. Peeling away from his search pattern Harry dove down towards the Slytherin Chasers. As he was closing in on an oblivious Pucey, Harry heard a grunt and the familiar sound of a bat hitting a Bludger behind him. He threw himself into a barrel-roll to avoid getting hit and saw with satisfaction that the Bludger hit Pucey between the shoulder blades smacking his face into his broom and forcing him to drop the Quaffle. Angelina picked it up and passed it to Alicia who put it through Bletchley's left hoop while Montague and Malfoy were busy screaming at Goyle who had apparently been the one to hit the Bludger.
"Gryffindor score! Thirty-twenty after some outstanding disruptive play from the Gryffindor Seeker. Keep that up, Harry!"
"Jordan!" Harry shook his head and shot up again to continue looking for the Snitch. Malfoy followed him and began marking him much closer in an effort to prevent Harry from tearing the Chaser plays apart again. That was fine by Harry. He waited until each team had scored again and he was facing Malfoy to do a double-take and dive down underneath his rival and towards the opposite stands. Harry heard Malfoy curse as he wrenched his broom around and took off after the Gryffindor Seeker. Harry started a gentle spiral to flare out his robes so that Malfoy couldn't see past him and would have to assume that Harry was following the snitch. Harry waited until the very last second to veer away from the stands. Malfoy, who had been focused on catching up to Harry, didn't have time to react and ploughed into the stands; hard.
"Potter ploughs Malfoy! If you want to beat Harry Potter on a broom I suggest you bring along several dragons, folks, and even that might not be enough. Seven snakes certainly isn't."
"Jordan!"
"What?! It's true, Professor!" Lee was protesting his case. "Fine, fine, sorry. Potter continues to casually take apart the Slytherin team. Madam Hooch stops the match and Madam Pomfrey is heading over to take a look at Malfoy who's really had a number done on him."
Harry smirked as he thought that Lee had a point. Malfoy was hanging in the supports of the stands in a rather awkward spread eagle position, looking more than a little dazed and most of the bristles in his Nimbus 2001's tail were twisted to one side. It was unlikely that he would be much of a threat even if Pomfrey let him get back in the air. Harry was scanning the pitch in an effort to find the Snitch so he could get after it the moment the whistle blew again. As he was doing this he heard twin cackles approaching behind him.
"Did the ickle ferret annoy the mighty Champion?" Fred asked as the twins came level with Harry.
"Do you think you can leave some of them for us? I swear Pucey hasn't managed to catch the Quaffle since you pulled that earlier stunt and Malfoy doesn't look like he'll be able to fly straight for a week." George mock scolded his younger teammate.
"Looks like he'll be giving it a go anyway." Harry responded as he watched Malfoy unsteadily climb on his broom and wave Madam Pomfrey off. "Best get in position, lads. Time this right and you might be able to knock one of his trained monkeys off their brooms." The twins looked at each other before saluting Harry with their bats. Harry never noticed as he had caught sight of a glint of gold and tensed on his broom, carefully following it's erratic flight with his eyes. Once Malfoy had wobbled his way back up Madam Hooch blew her whistle. Harry plummeted from the sky like a peregrine falcon.
"Play has barely resumed and Potter's off again. I wonder who he's after this time?" Lee called out gleefully. "Ouch! Excellent Bludger work from the Weasley twins. Crabbe manages to knock away the first one but took the second straight to the face." Harry didn't notice that the twins had taken his advice literally as he closed in on the fluttering golden ball. "Great Merlin! Potter's not hunting serpents, he's seen the Snitch! Go, Harry!" The entire stadium held its breath as they watched Harry Potter sharpen his dive in response to a change of direction from the now desperately fleeing snitch. Malfoy was too far away and too unsteady to pose a challenge so the only way Gryffindor were losing this game was if Harry fell off his broom.
"Potter dodges a Bludger…dodges Warrington and Montague…HE'S GOT IT! Harry Potter does what we have come to expect and catches the Snitch. Gryffindor win 190 to 40!" Harry was flying across the pitch at an altitude of a foot and a half with his hand in the air, the Snitch's silver wings beating weakly against his fist. The Gryffindor section of the stands were screaming their heads off at the commanding victory over their arch-rivals. Two-thirds of the rest of the school were politely cheering the win while the green and silver section of the stands looked utterly disgusted. It didn't take long for the rest of the Gryffindor team to find their seeker and grab him in a mid-air hug. Even the usually stoic Derek was cheering and hugging with the rest. As they made their down to the pitch they could see their housemates streaming out of the stands.
On the ground everyone wanted to pound Harry on the back. He dodged several overly amorous witches and finally came face to face with the one witch he actually wanted to be amorous with. He picked Hermione up and spun her around causing a loud squeal of laughter. When he stopped spinning she leant down for a victory kiss that was every bit as steamy as their good luck kiss had been. The other Gryffindors weren't content to let the couple celebrate in peace though and started dragging them to the castle. Harry managed to get a quick hug and congratulations from Luna and told her they would see her at breakfast the next morning before eager hands dragged him off to the common room for the first Quidditch party of the year.
:-:-:-:-:
It was several weeks after Gryffindor defeated Slytherin that Minerva McGonagall was teaching a Gryffindor/Ravenclaw second year class. She was happy that despite Ravenclaw also winning their match against Hufflepuff last week there were no signs of conflict in this class. Conflict was the last thing she needed as she had arrived at a landmark lesson in any student's development: beetles to buttons. It was her second years' first foray into the world of animate to inanimate transfiguration. As she usually did, Minerva walked around to observe and assist. The two girls she was observing completed the transformation well enough. In fact one of the few who might have outperformed them in recent years was Ms. Granger. Minerva gave the girls a well-deserved compliment and moved on to the next pair.
As she watched the two boys make much of clearing their throats in an opportunity to postpone her evaluation, Minerva allowed her mind to wander back to the Quidditch match her lions had played three weeks ago. She had thoroughly enjoyed watching Potter play. By now she had lost track of how often she had patted herself on the back for demanding that exception to the No-Broomstick-Rule for first years from Albus. Even better was the look on Severus' face whenever Potter played a particularly significant part in Slytherin's defeat. It was also one of the reasons she was so happy that she didn't have to break up any arguments among this group as in her mind there was no chance that any of the other Houses would win the Quidditch Cup this year and she wasn't sure she could keep from saying so. Finally getting tired of the prevaricating going on in front of her she barked at the two boys to get a move on. They both failed miserably and received extra homework. Giving them a stern look she moved on to the two Ravenclaws in front of them. It surprised her when her ears, honed by years of catching rule-breakers in her classroom, picked up the conversation behind her.
"It's not fair we got extra homework. This is ruddy hard and I've got no idea what I'm doing wrong." she heard one voice say.
"Shh." hissed the other. "Keep your voice down or McGonagall will hear you. We just have to wait until we can go to the common room after dinner tonight and we can ask the professor for help." Minerva had been about to let the two chatterboxes know she could hear every word when the last sentence stopped her. There were several red flags there. Either one of the professors had taken to hanging around her common room, which was unlikely, or one of her students was making unreasonable demands of his or her peers. Secondly there was the clear indication that whoever this person was, the students had far more faith in them than in their Head of House. That meant that she was clearly doing something wrong and it also meant that these students were unlikely to respond well to a direct question. Still, she had been a teacher for nearly forty years and this wouldn't be the first time she had discovered answers to questions students were unwilling to answer.
At the end of the day Minerva dismissed her class and headed into her office to get some work done. It was unlikely after all that she would have time tonight. Minerva attended dinner and kept a close eye on her second years. She could easily tell when they were almost done with their dinner and excused herself from the Head Table. She headed out of the Hall and slipped into a niche behind a suit of armour. She Disillusioned herself and shifted into her animagus form. This should allow her to observe her lions without them noticing her.
Minerva waited patiently for her second years to emerge and when they did the camouflaged cat raced along behind them. She quickly noticed that there were some Ravenclaws mixed in and the group seemed to be arguing. Could it be that she had completely missed the signs earlier today? As she got closer she realized to her surprise that they weren't arguing about Quidditch at all.
"It's just wrong, is what I'm saying." One of the Ravenclaw boys was arguing. "The smartest witch in the school and the only student professor should be Ravenclaws, not unthinking Gryffindors." If Minerva had been visible the students would have been treated to the unnatural sight of a cat rolling its eyes. Apparently Filius wasn't the only one who couldn't stop complaining about that. Before this year he had only complained about Ms. Granger not being sorted into his House but with Mr. Potter taking over the Defence course he was now being included in the Head of Ravenclaw's mostly good-natured grumbling. Now that I think about it, I think another visit with Albus to see if he has found an actual teacher yet is in order. This conversation was shedding some light on the conversation Minerva had overheard in her class and at the same time making it more confusing. She had certainly considered that Mr. Potter might be 'the professor', but she couldn't imagine him wanting to be called anything but 'Harry' if her past experiences with him were anything to go by. She refocused on the argument in front of her in an effort to glean more information that she must obviously be missing.
"And my point is that if they're that intelligent and still in Gryffindor, you can only imagine how brave they are." one of her Gryffindors was arguing. Minerva shook her invisible head. She had never made any headway with Filius with that argument either. Sure enough:
"There isn't enough bravery in the world to offset that kind of intelligence not being in our House." another Ravenclaw threw out.
"Two words: Hungarian Horntail." one of her cubs bit back. It was a long walk up to the fifth floor where the Ravenclaws turned towards the entrance to their tower. Minerva followed her students up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. She had been musing about their argument the whole way. It seemed clearer and clearer that Potter was the 'student professor' but she was still confused as to why the usually self-effacing boy would demand the use of a title from his peers. Now she would get to see what was going on. She had to dart in quickly after the last student to avoid giving her presence away. As soon as she was inside the common room she darted off to the side and up several pieces of furniture until she was neatly perched on top of a bookcase. Looking around it seemed nobody had noticed an invisible feline jumping around. No one except for that overly intelligent ball of ginger fluff that was currently staring right at her while being petted by some first years. Crookshanks shot the invisible professor an amused look before closing his eyes and relaxing under the talented fingers of his minion's minions. It would seem he was prepared to let Minerva get on with whatever it was she was doing without ratting her out. Good thing too. This is getting to be more exhausting than it used to be, even as a cat. Luckily the weekend starts tomorrow.
After quickly scanning the common room Minerva confirmed what she had already come to suspect: that there were no other professors present, which meant that she was going to have to talk to one of her lions about abusing their seniority. She focused on the second years who seemed to have developed an acute case of shyness. Eventually one of them was pushed forward by the rest. She followed the younger Mr. Creevey's progress until he stopped in front of Mr. Potter who was reading a book. Creevey cleared his throat and Potter looked up.
"Dennis? Is there something you need?" he asked his underclassman.
"Yes, Professor. I think we all need some help with our Transfiguration homework." Minerva's surprise at the idea that Potter of all people would ask someone to give him a title was nullified as she watched his face twist into a pained expression.
"You do realize that you don't have to refer to me like that, don't you?" Potter asked. "I have a name and I don't actually work for the school." Creevey got a slightly stubborn look to his face.
"You're still our teacher. Shouldn't we address you with respect?" Minerva could see that Potter was struggling to find a way to answer that question that wouldn't lead to a rash of disrespectful incidents for her and her colleagues. The snickering coming from Ms. Granger who seemed to be tutoring two sixth years in Arithmancy told her that this was a challenge he had faced before and not yet overcome.
"Fine. What did you need help with and should we call your classmates before we get started?" Potter relented. The other second years had clearly been listening in and were soon arranged in front of Potter.
"We were learning about turning beetles into buttons, but we're all sure we're doing something wrong, Professor." Potter nodded and seemed to be ordering his thoughts before he launched into an explanation that was a bit less academic than her own had been, but still essentially correct. She could see the younger students listening with rapt attention and even taking notes.
When he had finished his explanation Potter walked over to a window and threw it open before casting a Summoning Charm. Soon he had ten beetles on one of the study desks and the second years arranged themselves around the table and started practicing. She noticed that Potter gently corrected those who were having trouble. When he got to the two girls that had impressed their Transfiguration Professor he observed their attempts carefully.
"It looks exactly the way it should, you two. If you want, you can practice by creating different styles of button to work on your finesse but there is no way Professor McGonagall would disapprove of these." Minerva was nodding along to Potter's words but the girls faces paled.
"No! Something has to be wrong with them. Professor McGonagall said that if we kept going like this she would make us...prefects." Minerva was only able to hear the last word due to her superior hearing as a feline. It was still enough to nearly drop her from her perch. What on earth was going on here to make these students think being a prefect was a punishment? Thankfully Potter looked as surprised as she felt.
"You know, Sakura, if Professor McGonagall said that she probably meant it as a compliment." Ms. Akagi's look of deep scepticism felt very wrong to the experienced professor. "Well, take it from me then. Both you and Natalie are doing very well with this spell." Both girls brightened and looked very proud. Potter gave them both an approving smile and moved on. After only half an hour of tuition every member of the impromptu class had mastered the spell. Minerva was very impressed and already preparing her careers advice session with Potter. Hogwarts could desperately use this kind of educational talent.
Potter dismissed the second years and encouraged them to get started on their homework. Minerva was again surprised when every last one of them followed that instruction without complaint. Meanwhile, Potter Banished the beetles back in the direction of the Forbidden Forest and sat down with his book again. Ms. Granger's tutoring session had apparently ended as well since she joined Potter on the couch. The two shared a chaste kiss before settling down to read while leaning on each other.
Minerva spent some more time casually observing her lions in their natural environment as it were. Most of what she saw pleased her immensely and she felt herself calm down as she observed the greatest sight any educator can hope to see. The peace was quite abruptly disturbed by shouting near the staircases. Minerva's head shot up and she immediately identified the source of the conflict. Mr.'s Colback and Wells from fourth year were arguing loudly. It looked like punches would be thrown and Minerva was about to intervene and stealth be damned when someone else beat her to it.
"Alright, that's enough! What on earth are you two fighting about?" Potter was standing there and while he was only a few inches taller than the fourth years it felt like he towered over them even from the top of a bookcase on the other side of the room. Granger, standing at his shoulder, had a look of disapproval on her face that must be doing just as much to cow the two troublemakers. The fight had stopped before it could properly begin and both boys were now looking at their feet. "Robert, you first."
"Andy stole my Gobshites set, Professor Potter." A small part of Minerva was starting to enjoy that moment of aggravation on Potter's face whenever someone addressed him with that title.
"I did not!" Mr. Wells was quick to rebut. Potter gave them both a critical look.
"Robert, are you sure that your Gobshites were stolen? And that it was Andy who did it?" Potter's voice suggested that Mr. Colback had better be sure.
"He was the last one in the dorm this morning when they were lying on my trunk lid. Now they're gone and nobody's been up there since." came Colback's answer. Potter's look didn't waver.
"Have you tried a Summoning Charm?" He asked. At Colback's shake of the head Potter continued "Let's go up and do that now then. That way we can be sure of where they are." With that Potter guided Colback up the stairs. They came back down a few minutes later, Colback looking thoroughly embarrassed. He walked straight up to Wells.
"I'm sorry I accused you like that, Andy. When we summoned them it turned out they had rolled under my bed." Mr. Wells looked like he was about to say something when a glare from Ms. Granger made him stop.
"It's okay, Robert. I'd be upset if I lost my Gobshites too." The two boys then sat down to repair their friendship over that ridiculous game. Minerva was impressed with the way the two fifth years had handled it. She was even more surprised when she saw Mr. Weasley and Ms. Brown get up after all the excitement had died down.
"You ready for our patrol, babe?" Weasley asked. Ms. Brown tittered and nodded and the two left through the portrait hole. Minerva could have sworn that there hadn't been any Gryffindors scheduled to patrol tonight. Still, she knew that prefects traded patrols fairly frequently and paid it no further mind. She continued to relax and observe. After another hour she stretched herself to get rid of some stiffness that was developing from sitting in one place for so long. As she did she noticed the clock on the wall indicating that it was half past nine. Looking around the common room she still saw several first and second years sitting around. They were supposed to be in bed by now. What were the prefects doing?
She must have made some noise because Granger's head shot up with a suspicious look on her face as she started looking around. Minerva could tell that Ms. Granger also noticed the time and settled back down to see what, if anything, she would do about it.
Ms. Granger gave Potter a quick nudge and pointed the clock out to him with a hushed whisper. Potter nodded and put his book away as Ms. Granger stood.
"First and second years, it's time you went up to bed. Staying up late on a Friday night is one thing but you have classes tomorrow." There was some grumbling but all the first and second years started gathering their things.
"Chop-chop, kiddies." Minerva's head whipped around at the new voice.
"Yes, wouldn't want to make Mum and Dad angry by staying up too late." The Weasley twins, I might have known. Ms. Granger turned to face them with her hands on her hips and a mocking expression on her face.
"I was actually going to tell them that if they don't get to bed on time they will turn out like Uncle Fred and Uncle George and nobody would want that." she told them firmly.
"Oi!"
"Why not?!" This late night comedy act ensured that everyone went to bed with smiles on their faces. Potter and Granger waited until every first and second year had at least gone up the stairs before finding their couch again.
Minerva's heart was breaking at the fact that these two were doing everything and more she could ask of a prefect while those who had the badges sat back and waited for them to solve everything. She jumped to a neighbouring bookcase to get closer to her two favourite students. She could see they hadn't picked up their books again and were simply holding each other and looking very content doing so. They sat there for a few minutes before Ms. Granger broke the silence.
"So how many patrols does that make this week?" she asked, momentarily confusing her eavesdropping professor.
"I've stopped counting. It's just not worth the bother. With the hols coming up I imagine they'll spend most of the weekend patrolling." Potter's response was sarcastic enough at the end that Minerva was developing a very clear suspicion of what was going on.
"Are you sure we shouldn't tell Professor McGonagall?" Ms. Granger asked. Potter blew out a frustrated sigh.
"We don't have any evidence, Mi. After they accused us of more or less the same thing it would just be seen as retaliation." Potter sounded frustrated and Minerva couldn't blame him. It is just typical of that boy to know almost as much about what happens in the castle as Albus does. I doubt Weasley and Brown told them the reason I was waiting here for them after Halloween. Ms. Granger just sighed and cuddled into Mr. Potter.
Minerva laid down where she was. She might have to wait for the last students to go to bed if she wanted to leave undetected, but she certainly had learnt enough tonight to keep herself occupied until then.