591Author's notes: The Rotten Writer, here once again Ladies and Gentleman with a new chapter for A Fair Life. I actually had some fun with this chapter and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what you all think of it. I've got the immediate aftermath of the first task here as well as the beginning of some future problems. It's gonna be fun.
Work continues on all my stories, as promised. Nothing will be abandoned, just some stories nay take longer to see updates than others. Tomorrow is the first day of my new college classes but hopefully that won't interfere too much, we'll see how it goes.
Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.
Here is chapter 15 of A Fair Life. Enjoy!
A Fair Life
Social Niceties Must Be Observed
By,
Rtnwriter
Five minutes after Harleen entered the medical tent, Sirius, Hermione, and Neville walked into a scene of Cedric laughing uproariously from his bed while Harleen glared good-naturedly at him from her own bed, all three of them looking on with bemused expressions on their faces. When Harleen noticed the three of them standing in the entrance she was immediately concerned over the tears she could see brimming in her girlfriend's eyes. The way she was gently cradling her right hand against her chest also worried Harleen, as well as the split skin on her knuckles and the way her hand and wrist appeared swollen.
"Hermione? What happened?" Harleen asked as she jumped out of the bed, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's protests that she stay put as she rushed over to her girlfriend to gently take her injured hand in her own. "Jeez, did you punch the ferret again?"
As Neville and Sirius both burst out laughing, Hermione flushed and shook her head.
"I heard that story," Neville commented. "How she decked Malfoy last year. No, this time she hit Parkinson right in her pug face. Pretty sure she broke her nose."
"Hermione!" Harleen said in a teasingly admonishing tone. "First ferrets, now pugs? You know it's not nice to be cruel to animals like that, they can't fight back properly."
"Stop teasing Miss Granger and bring her over here so I can take a look at that hand," Madam Pomfrey cut in before Hermione's blushing could get any worse.
Moments after Harleen had her girlfriend settled on the bed she'd just vacated, Madam Pomfrey was casting her charms and muttering under her breath while Harleen pulled a chair over and took a seat on the other side of the bed, reaching out to take Hermione's good hand in her own.
"This is certainly a switch," she commented, smiling tiredly. "I'm usually the one in the hospital bed and you're sitting and worrying about me."
"Well, I figured it was time to change up our routine a bit," Hermione managed to say through gritted teeth while Madam Pomfrey poked and prodded at her hand. "Wouldn't want us to get stuck in a rut, now would we?"
"Heaven forbid."
"Harleen, what was all that out there?" Sirius asked from where he and Neville were standing at the foot of the bed.
"Here," Madam Pomfrey interrupted, pressing a potion vial into Hermione's good hand. "Mild pain potion and then you'll have a small dose of a bone knitting potion. You fractured your knuckles, Miss Granger, as well as two of the bones in your wrist. Since they're only fractures a small dose will be sufficient and I'll let you go once I've wrapped your hand. Keep the wrap in place until tomorrow morning at the least, but come to me any time after that if it bothers you and I'll take another look."
Dutifully, Hermione swallowed down the potions as they were handed to her, a grimace twisting her expression at the taste.
"Hold up on explanations, guys," Harleen said when Madam Pomfrey moved over to check on Cedric. "I'd be willing to bet that we'll be getting a visit from the judges and officials soon to ask me what happened."
"We know you were talking to the dragon," Neville pointed out, slowly sinking into one of two chairs that Sirius conjured for them. "No idea what you two talked about though."
Harleen shrugged. "Yeah, I didn't realize until just before I landed my broom that I was even talking in Parseltongue. It still just sounds like English to me."
They managed to talk for about five more minutes as Hermione's potions worked on healing the damage she'd done to her hand when Harleen suddenly jerked in her seat, her head whipping toward the tent opening.
"These humans aren't listening, little witchling!"
Before anyone could ask about her behavior, Harleen was out of her seat and sprinting out of the tent, snatching up the Hat on her way by. Erupting out of the tent she came on the scene of a half a dozen roughly dressed witches and wizards in the act of attempting to subdue the horntail who was crouched protectively over her nest, growling loudly at the assembled humans.
"Oi!" Harleen bellowed furiously. "What in the bleedin' hell do you idiots think you're doing?"
One of the wizards, a stocky, thickly muscled fellow with a shock of bright red hair on the crown of his head turned toward her and she immediately recognized Charlie Weasley.
"Harry?" he asked, seemingly startled by her sudden appearance. "Stay back, we need to get her back into her cage for the trip back to the reserve."
"Don't you people listen?" she snapped, attempting to shove her way past him when he stepped between her and the dragon. Unfortunately, he was entirely too solid for her to move through sheer muscle alone and she ended up practically bouncing off of him instead, so she settled for glaring up at the man. "The Sorting Hat said that the dragon and her eggs are staying here, at Hogwarts. You can't take her back."
"What's she on about, Chuck?" one of the other wizards asked though he never took his eyes off the dragon, nor did he lower the wand that he had pointed at her.
Taking the distraction as an opportunity, Harleen ducked around Charlie and ran toward the dragon, putting herself between the horntail and the team facing her.
"Harry! Get away from her-"
"She's not going to hurt me," Harleen snapped, then she looked over her shoulder at the horntail. §You're not going to hurt me, right?§ she asked.
"Never, little witchling… unless you try to threaten me or my young," came the reply and Harleen relaxed just a touch, turning back to Charlie and his people.
"See? She's not going to hurt me, and she's staying here."
As Hermione, Sirius, and Neville stepped into the arena, the area descended into a great deal of shouting, arguing, and general chaos for several tense minutes until a voice cut through the noise, catching everyone's attention.
"Might I ask what seems to be the trouble here?"
As one, the entire group turned toward the tunnel leading out of the arena to find a small crowd gathering just past the entrance. Madame Maxime stood at the back, just rising to her full height after ducking her way through the short tunnel. In front of her and slightly to one side stood Igor Karkaroff along with Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman, the latter of whom seemed to be practically vibrating with excitement, a broad grin spread across his face.
At the head of the group, and also the speaker that had interrupted them, stood the Headmaster, appearing every inch the powerful wizard that he was known to be. He stood tall, shoulders back, chin raised level with the ground, and he had none of the usual twinkle in his eyes, instead giving a hard stare at the team of Dragon Handlers that stood in front of him.
"Professor," Charlie started. "We were trying to get the Horntail back in her cage when Harry came running out saying that she wasn't going back."
"I believe this is actually true, Mister Weasley," Dumbledore responded, "but instead of everyone shouting at each other, why don't we attempt to kill two doxies with one spell, shall we?" Dumbledore turned toward Harleen and she noticed a small glimmer of the usual twinkle appearing in his eyes as he looked at her.
Charlie's reaction would have been funny to Harleen, if she wasn't keeping a wary eye on the Headmaster as he moved through the small crowd toward her.
"Miss Potter?" he asked, stopping in front of her with one hand extended toward her expectantly. "May I?"
She blinked in surprise a few times at the strange question and opened her mouth to ask what he meant when another voice spoke up.
"He means me, Miss Potter," said the hat that she still held in her hands. "Go ahead and hand me over, this will be faster."
Silently, she held out the hat, letting go once Dumbledore had a secure grip on the ancient artifact. He smiled softly behind his beard and offered her a nod of his head.
"Thank you, Miss Potter," he said, just before he placed the hat on his head, his eyes disappearing beneath the brim.
"H-Harry?"
Turning away from the Headmaster, she realized that her friends, along with Charlie, had slowly worked their way closer, though Hermione, Neville, and Sirius appeared less than thrilled to be there. Each of them barely glanced in Harleen's direction, instead keeping their eyes mostly fixed on the dragon looming behind her.
She felt something large bump into her back, gently, but with enough force behind it to cause her to stumble forward a step.
"Your friends seem very nervous, little witchling," the dragon spoke in an amused tone. "Your mate, in particular, is very worried."
Harleen rolled her eyes and spun around to glare at the dragon. §Would you stop that? Please?§
"Stop what?" she asked, taken aback by Harleen's sudden reaction.
§Stop calling her my 'mate', please?§ Harleen hissed as quietly as she thought she could get away with. §For all I know I'm not the only Speaker around here and we don't want people to know about us. Too many have found out already as it is.§
"You humans. I don't know how you manage to function with your senses so limited. I can assure you, you are the only Speaker anywhere around here. I would know if there was another with the ability to speak as you do."
Harleen found that at least somewhat reassuring, but still. §We make up for the lack of extra senses in other ways,§ she insisted, to which the dragon snorted again, thankfully without the accompanying cloud of smoke.
"Harleen, are you going to introduce us to your… friend?"
Harleen spun around again to find that Hermione had stepped even closer in the time that she'd been talking to the horntail.
"Uhh…." She trailed off uncertainly for a moment, her gaze darting back and forth between her girlfriend and the dragon still at her back. "I don't know if she has a name, actually, but-"
"Of course I have a name," the horntail interrupted, sounding rather affronted at the suggestion. "Do you really think dragons so uncivilized that we wouldn't have names?"
§It's not about if you're civilized or not, I just… wait...§
Harleen gaped at the dragon for a moment.
"You understand English?" she suddenly burst out in surprise and the dragon started laughing again.
"Of course I do. Dragons actually understand most verbal languages. We simply lack the physical ability to speak in anything other than the Noble Tongue."
"You know… it might have been useful for you to tell me that before I freaked out half the stadium by hissing at you during the task," Harleen grumbled irritably.
"It is rare that I meet a Speaker,"the dragon defended herself. "I was enjoying the opportunity to speak with a human in my native tongue."
"So, for your own entertainment, I get to be ostracized by who knows how much of the wizarding world again?" she shot back. "I told you, most witches and wizards see Parseltongue as a dark gift. They're gonna start calling me the next Dark Lady or some such rubbish!"
"Is it my fault wizards are stupid?"
"Hey! That's my line!" Harleen cried, leveling one finger accusingly at the horntail. "I've been saying wizards are stupid for years, you can't use that one."
The horntail leaned down until they were eye to eye, Harleen clearly able to see her reflection in the dragon's eye as she studied her for several long moments. "Are you going to stop me?"she asked, still in an amused tone.
Harleen huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know damn well I couldn't stop you, as much as I might want to," she grumbled. "You could at least pretend to be nice and let me have that one."
"Why let you have it when I specifically stole it from you? It works so well, I couldn't not use it!"
Harleen waved one hand as if waving away the dragon's excuses. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. So, if you have a name, what is it? My name is Harleen, by the way. Maybe you could stop calling me 'little witchling' now?"
"But you are little, and you are a witchling, are you not?"
Sighing, Harleen let her head fall back, eyes directed up toward the sky. "I'm never going to win an argument with her, am I?" she muttered rhetorically.
"Never."
"That was a rhetorical question!"
Slightly hysterical giggling caught her attention again and she turned away from the argument she was having with the dragon to see Hermione, hand covering her mouth, eyes a little wild and giggling almost uncontrollably. Harleen supposed it looked rather ridiculous. All her friends could follow was one side of their conversation and she was pretty certain that it must have sounded at least a little insane. Especially considering that all anyone saw was a huge dangerous creature and there was little Harleen Potter, arguing with the dragon as if she were sitting in the Common Room having a friendly argument with Hermione, or perhaps Neville.
"Umm… ma'am?" Sirius called, stepping forward to place one hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I'd like to apologize for my goddaughter, we haven't taught her the finer points of common courtesy yet and she's been incredibly rude for not introducing us. This here is Hermione Granger, Harleen's best friend, you'll have to forgive her, she's had an emotional day and I think she's just about at her limit of surprises. This is Neville Longbottom, a young man that is turning out to be a very good friend to Harleen as well, and as I already alluded to, I'm Harleen's godfather, Sirius Black. Could we have your name, please?"
At first, Harleen wanted to be somewhat offended over some of Sirius' commentary. Then she figured he probably had a bit of a point. She hadn't taken a moment to introduce them, but in her defense it wasn't every day that one found oneself in a position to introduce their friends to a bloody dragon! One more glance at Hermione killed any wish she might have had to protest, as it was clear to her that the girl was holding on by a thread.
"That interesting hat of yours already said my name," the horntail spoke. "It was a single utterance amongst some surprising information though, so I can understand how it might have been missed. My name is Lilliom, and tell your godfather that it is a pleasure to meet all three of them."
"She says that her name is Lilliom, and it's a pleasure to meet you all."
"Lilliom?" Sirius asked in a surprised tone. "Really? That's a bit coincidental."
"What do you mean, Sirius?" Harleen asked.
"Well, I dated a Hungarian girl a while back. If I'm remembering correctly, Lilliom is Hungarian for Lily."
#####
It took a bit longer for things to calm after that. Eventually the chasers and the Weasley twins, along with Ginny joined them down in the arena. Fred and George were particularly pleased to be introduced to Lilliom, and Harleen found herself resolving to keep a very close eye on them. If there were two people in the school that would likely try to put the school motto to the test, it was those two, and she didn't want to know what would happen if Molly Weasley caught word that two of her kids got themselves eaten by a dragon.
By the time that Dumbledore took the Sorting Hat off his head, Hermione had calmed considerably and was actually chatting with Lilliom, with Harleen acting as translator so that Hermione could understand the dragon's responses. Despite not being completely terrified anymore, it was clear the stress had taken a toll on her and Harleen just wanted everything to wrap up so she could get her girlfriend somewhere quiet and private.
"You, Miss Potter, never cease to impress," Dumbledore said, pulling everyone's attention to him. "The immediate issue as to the status of our new friend, Madam Lilliom, the Hungarian Horntail, is thus. According to the Hat, as Hogwarts is a semi-sentient entity, as well as being separate from the Ministry and therefore nearly a sovereign nation in and of itself, the school has offered sanctuary to Madam Lilliom and her eggs."
"What does that mean?" Ludo Bagman interjected, practically bouncing in place with joy over the entire proceedings.
Not going to be so happy once Rita gets her hooks into your business dealings, Ludo, Harleen thought, resisting the urge to glare at the man.
"It means that this fine dragon will be living here, at Hogwarts, from now on. She is under the protection of the school and has Hogwarts' express permission to reside on the grounds, under the conditions that she helps to protect the school and that she doesn't hurt any of the students or visitors." Dumbledore turned to look at Harleen.
"Might the school prevail upon you, Miss Potter, to assist on occasion with communicating with Madam Lilliom so that we can ensure that all of her and her children's needs are met? I'm certain that Hagrid would be delighted to help in whatever way he can." There was no hiding the grin the old wizard had behind his beard, though he at least appeared to be trying.
"I'd be happy to help Hagrid and Lilliom," she told him, grinning herself at the thought of just how excited Hagrid was going to be over the whole thing.
"Thank you, Miss Potter. Now, if you and your friends might give myself and the other judges a few moments, we shall settle on your score and announce the scores for all the champions so that we can finally conclude this task."
As they stepped away, Harleen tugged slightly on Sirius' arm.
"I'm gonna take Hermione back to Madam Pomfrey, she still needs to wrap her hand."
At the wizard's nod she took hold of her girlfriend's arm and slowly drew her away from Lilliom, toward the medical tent and the waiting, no doubt irate, medical witch.
Scores could wait. Everything appeared to be settling and more than anything Harleen wanted to be sure that the girl she loved got the care she needed. She was sure they were going to be in for some long discussions and difficult decisions later and they would both need to be running on all cylinders as much as it was possible to be.
One thing she knew for sure, she didn't regret how the task had gone. Adding a new and powerful defender to the school could only be a good thing in her mind, but just how would this massive change in the timeline affect things going forward?
Grimly, she shoved such thoughts aside and pulled Hermione into the tent resolved to worry about that later. All she could do right at that moment was pray that her actions did not change things too much or they would be in for a very difficult time.
One thing at a time, she thought as Madam Pomfrey bustled her way over to them, muttering darkly under her breath. Worry about one thing at a time. Deal with the things you can, and with Hermione with you, face the rest as we always have, head on and supporting each other through it.
After Madam Pomfrey finished wrapping Hermione's hand she admonished both of them for leaving the tent without permission. "If you can sit quietly for ten minutes, without anyone getting injured, I'll let you both go," she told them in a sharp, demanding tone that caused both girls to nod rapidly in agreement. She eyed them for a moment longer then gave her signature 'hmph', and stalked away to check on Cedric's burns.
"I have never been so scared in my life," Hermione hissed under her breath once the Mediwitch was far enough away.
Harleen winced at the note of anger in her girlfriend's voice.
"I know," she whispered. "I'm sorry. I thought the illusions would fool her. But, on the plus side, I didn't get hurt," she pointed out. "That's got to win me some leniency, right?"
Hermione's only response was a withering glare that had Harleen shrinking slightly in her seat beside the bed. While she very much wanted to hug her girlfriend, or at least hold her hand, Harleen restrained herself while they were still in full view of Cedric and Madam Pomfrey. The ten minutes passed in a tense, awkward silence until the Mediwitch approached and waved her wand over Hermione a few times, then over Harleen.
"Your hand will be tender for a bit longer but it appears to be fully healed. Don't strain yourself too much and it should be back to normal by tomorrow morning but I want you to come to me if you experience any sharp or unexpected pains, understand?" Madam Pomfrey asked, to which Hermione nodded her head, murmuring a quiet acceptance.
Turning to Harleen her expression became a bit more severe. "You, young lady, have used up a lot of magic. Whatever you did out there was rather power intensive, but you should also recover by tomorrow. I'm viewing it as something of a miracle that you didn't come here lying at death's door! Rest, and do not strain yourself either. Limit magic use until tomorrow but you should be just fine."
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. Are we cleared to leave now? The Headmaster was saying they were going to give my scores for the task in a few minutes."
"Yes, yes, get out of here, and don't let me see you back in my Hospital wing any time soon if you can possibly help it!"
The last was practically shouted at their backs as the two girls hurried out of the tent, Cedric's quiet chuckling filling the air behind them.
Outside, Harleen kept close to Hermione's side as they approached the group they'd left behind. Hagrid had joined them, and with tears streaming down his face, he was waxing on about how beautiful and amazing Lilliom was, chattering away so fast that his thick accent had him completely unintelligible to the rest of them.
Oh, well, Harleen thought with a fond smile. We might not be able to understand him, but at least he's happy.
"Your friend here is quite excitable,"Lilliom commented when she spotted the two girls approaching.
"Yeah, well Hagrid really loves dragons and other dangerous creatures," Harleen responded in English. "I'm sure he'll calm down a bit, eventually."
Hermione's quiet snort from beside her had Harleen grinning slightly, though her amusement was dimmed by the fact that there was a hard look around the girl's eyes that showed she was still angry.
Looking around, Harleen found that the judges had returned to the box from which they'd watched the task and Dumbledore was approaching the railing, wand in hand.
"If we might have everyone's attention?" he called, the sonorous charm he'd cast allowing his voice to carry over the entire audience. "After seeking answers to some questions and deliberating amongst ourselves, we are prepared to give out the scores for Miss Potter's performance during this first task."
One by one, each judge cast their charm, causing a ribbon to erupt from their wands and twist into the shape of a number. Harleen barely held back a snort as she got exactly the same score as she did last time around, once again putting her in first place.
As they left, Hermione pulled Sirius aside and whispered in his ear while Harleen said goodbye to Lilliom who was listening to Hagrid rambling on about everything he'd ever learned about dragons. In the back of her mind, Harleen thought that Hermione might have more than a few choice words to share with her, once her girlfriend got her alone.
#####
Several hours later found Hermione pacing furiously back and forth in front of the fire in the Room of Requirement as Harleen sat on a small couch, listening silently as Hermione ranted and raved, gesturing wildly with her hands as she spoke.
"...dragons don't use all the same senses that we do! Did you do anything to mask your scent? Or silence any sounds that you might have made in the arena?"
Harleen winced.
"Of course you didn't," Hermione snapped. "Did you research dragons at all before the task?"
Harleen winced again, her shoulders hunched inward slightly and Hermione threw her hands into the air.
"You knew! You knew that you were going to be facing a dragon and you didn't do any research into the different species! What did you actually do to prepare for the task? What did you do last time?"
Quietly, in a very small sounding voice, Harleen spoke up for the first time in nearly twenty minutes. "Last time I summoned my broom and flew around until the horntail gave me an opening to dive in and swipe the egg out of the nest. I finished the task with the fastest time but one of her tail spikes caught my shoulder. Left me with a pretty nasty scar, too. I looked up illusions to try to distract her this time. Flying worked before, so I thought it would have been easier to get through unhurt if I could give her some other targets to focus on instead of just me."
"That might have helped if she hadn't been able to see through the illusion you created!" Hermione snapped, to which Harleen flinched noticeably.
It was the flinch that finally caught Hermione's attention and she stopped pacing long enough to focus more fully on her girlfriend. Harleen quickly attempted to hide the fact that she was barely holding back a flood of tears by offering a weak, shaky smile and Hermione suddenly felt awful for the way she'd been ranting at the girl.
"Dammit."
She sighed, the lion's share of her anger bleeding away as she exhaled. Moving over to sit next to Harleen, the raven-haired teen offered no resistance as her girlfriend pulled her into her arms.
"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered, clutching Harleen tightly.
"It's okay."
Anger flared again, though this time not directed at the girl in her arms and Hermione quickly stamped it down.
"It's not okay," she insisted. "I hate that you just accept the way I was just treating you as if that's how things should be. You scared the life out of me, love, but that doesn't give me the right to act like a hag. Talking down to you, acting as if you're stupid or something."
The more she spoke, the more horrible and guilty Hermione felt. Harleen had just survived the first task, unscathed, and instead of celebrating, here she was berating her for how she went about it.
Merlin, when did I become such a bitch? she wondered.
"It wasn't a bad plan," she slowly admitted, "but against a creature like a dragon it just wasn't enough on its own."
Harleen remained silent, her eyes directed at the floor.
"Do you think you could do me a favor?" Hermione suddenly asked, drawing Harleen's gaze back up to meet hers.
"What?" she asked.
"Didn't you say that you were told you couldn't pull the 'lone hero' thing anymore?"
Harleen winced again, but slowly nodded her head.
"Let me help you. We are good at different things. You're very smart, love, but research and planning? That's my forte. If you had told me you were going to be facing a dragon, and what your plan was, I might have been able to help you come up with something a bit better." Unconsciously her arms tightened around the other girl, pulling her closer. "So no more hiding things from me. Tell me what's going on and let me help."
"I didn't want to worry you."
"I know, but in the end, not knowing made me worry even more," she said earnestly, determined to get the girl to understand. "I love you, Harleen, and I can't very well spend the rest of my life growing old with you if you go and get yourself killed because you refuse to tell me something that I could have helped you with!"
Harleen's eyes widened and a dumbfounded expression stole over her face for several moments.
"Did you… did you just ask me to marry you?" she suddenly blurted out.
Jerking in surprise, Hermione thought back over what she'd just said and felt the heat in her face as her cheeks flushed a brilliant red.
"Err… well, no, not exactly," she stammered out in a slight panic. "I mean, I'm not exactly against the idea… I think? But I haven't really given it a lot of thought either. W-we're a little young for that kind of thinking anyway, aren't we?"
Her rambling broke off into silence when Harleen leaned closer and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth before she let her head rest back on Hermione's shoulder.
"For the record," Harleen whispered, "young or not, I know that there is no one in the world better for me than you. I'm happy to wait until you're sure before I ask you, so don't worry about it."
Dumbfounded shock ran through Hermione's body as that particular statement fully registered followed by a wave of warmth that seemed to pool in her chest. Before she could properly examine the feeling, or formulate a response, Harleen spoke again.
"I promise, by the way. No more trying to do things on my own. You're right, working together we're a pretty unbeatable team and I should have thought of that. It was stupid of me not to ask you for help, especially after how much I've already said that I need you to help me change the future. There's a reason that I was allowed to tell you, specifically, as much as I did. I need to keep that in mind."
And you still haven't told me exactly what that reason is, Hermione couldn't help but think to herself. This role that I can fill in your life that you've refused to tell me about.
"Everyone is entitled to mistakes and moments of poor decision making," Hermione mused, "just so long as we learn from them, right? And I'm including myself in that. How I reacted was certainly not the best by any means. I can only blame fear and panic for that."
Her tone was apologetic and Harleen's only response was to wrap her arms around the other girl and squeeze tightly.
After several minutes, Hermione sighed. "We're missing the party," she pointed out reluctantly.
"Don't care," came Harleen's response.
Hermione sighed but had to agree with her girlfriend's assessment, she didn't really care much about the party either. In fact, they had barely managed to endure almost two hours of praise and congratulations before they had snuck out in order to be alone. As far as they were aware, and based on past experience they were most likely right, the party was probably still going strong, even without Harleen's presence. At best, a few of their friends might ask later where she'd gotten to, but it wouldn't stop the majority from taking full advantage of an excuse to throw a party.
Luckily, they were finally sure that most of the tower seemed to be squarely behind Harleen, though how many of them honestly believed that she didn't enter herself into the tournament was probably something they would never know for sure.
"I don't need a party," Harleen continued. "I don't even want a party. I just need you."
Her breath hitching in her throat, Hermione pulled the girl closer as Harleen looked up at her.
"You have me," she spoke earnestly. "You will always have me if I have anything at all to say about it."
She hadn't planned on it, but she couldn't help but draw her girlfriend into an emotional kiss. The day had already put Hermione through the emotional wringer, from the worry she'd felt when waking that morning, the high of their antics in bed, followed by more worry and anxiety, then the sheer terror of watching the love of her life facing off against something that could have easily killed her… suffice it to say that Hermione Granger was emotionally all over the map and she felt more than a touch out of control.
For a time, Hermione did something she rarely willingly did, she threw logic and rational thinking aside and simply let herself get lost in her girlfriend, kissing her with an ever increasing abandon until a surprised moan caught her attention. She pulled away from Harleen, just enough to catch her breath and take in their positions, both. Rows arching toward her hairline in surprise once she fully registered how they were now situated.
Breathing heavily, her cheeks flushed a brilliant red, Harleen had somehow moved from sitting next to Hermione to straddling her lap. Her arms were wrapped around Hermione's neck and it took the brunette witch a moment to notice that she had both of her own hands tightly gripping Harleen's bum through the uniform she'd been provided with for the tournament.
That, she realized, was likely what had caused the intoxicatingly arousing sound that had escaped her girlfriend's mouth.
She froze for a moment, her eyes widening in shock. Since becoming a couple, regular kisses shared between the two girls whenever they were alone had become the norm, but there had been few instances of full-blown snogging. During those times, Hermione had let her hands explore her girlfriend's body, but she'd made a conscious effort to curb her desires and had kept those explorations to relatively safe areas. This was the first time either of them had strayed into such territory and she really wasn't sure how Harleen was going to react.
As the seconds ticked by, and Harleen remained perfectly still above her, Hermione slowly loosened her grip and began moving her hands up toward Harleen's back.
"No!" Harleen blurted out, one hand reaching back to grab Hermione's wrist, preventing her from moving that hand away. "Don- you don't have to… I mean…"
Harleen stammered for a moment before she trailed off and deliberately pushed Hermione's hand back down until it once again rested squarely on the firm curve of her arse.
"You don't have to stop," she whispered. "That… uh… that feels really good." She was blushing brightly as she spoke and Hermione gently kissed her again.
"We don't have to," she said over the thumping of her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Truthfully, she wanted to. She wasn't entirely sure just how far she wanted to go, but some part of her desperately wanted to touch and explore the girl in her arms. Rationally she knew that her desire was likely being heightened as a response to the worry and terror she'd experienced while watching the first task, but she really couldn't bring herself to care overly much.
Further rational thought was momentarily banished when Harleen leaned into her. "I want to," she breathed quietly, just before her lips covered Hermione's again, tongue delving into the bushy-haired witch's mouth.
Her heart racing, Hermione let both hands drop back where they had been and gave a firm squeeze. She couldn't help but grin against her girlfriend's lips as a soft moan tumbled from Harleen's mouth. Hermione let her hands explore the other girl's curves, those same curves that had been playing havoc with her heart rate for weeks now as her mouth covered Harleen's, swallowing each soft sound as she coaxed them out of the other girl.
Moving one hand, she reached up to pull one of Harleen's arms away from where they were both still wrapped around her neck.
"What's wrong?" Harleen asked breathlessly, pulling away just enough to be able to look at Hermione clearly.
Hermione found herself grinning again, thrilled by the slightly dazed look in her girlfriend's eyes, the bright green looking darker than usual and nearly swallowed entirely by her dilated pupils.
"Nothing's wrong," Hermione assured her as she took Harleen's right hand and moved it down, placing it directly over her left breast. Her grin grew wider when Harleen's eyes widened and she suddenly sucked in a sharp, hissing breath.
"We stop when either of us feels we've gone far enough, right?" Hermione whispered, holding Harleen's hand in place on her breast.
Harleen gave a shaky nod, her hand trembling beneath Hermione's.
Slowly, Hermione moved her hand away, returning it to its previous location. For several seconds neither girl moved, then Harleen slowly flexed her hand, fingers straightening out for a moment before curling in again, giving the soft flesh under her palm a tentative squeeze.
A shiver of delight ran down Hermione's spine and she pulled Harleen even closer, both girls choosing to ignore the world that waited for them outside the Room. There would be plenty of time to deal with that later. Right now they each had found far more interesting explorations to occupy their time and they were determined to make the most of the privacy they had found while they had it.
#####
Augusta Longbottom set down the letter she'd received from her grandson, a pensive expression on her face. The first task had taken place the day before but she had been unable to attend.
It pleased her to hear how well Harleen had performed during the task itself, as well as hearing of the effort how her now ward was putting into befriending the other champions. It seemed that the young Miss Potter understood the value of networking and making connections.
"Maybe some of that enterprising nature will rub off on my grandson," she muttered to herself.
Overall, she was pleased with what she'd been hearing from Neville in regard to Harleen. She had been worried that the girl would have more trouble adjusting to her shift in gender, but for all intents and purposes, the girl seemed to be handling things admirably. Far better, she suspected, than most adults would have handled the situation.
Her pensiveness as she finished her letter was from a different source entirely. Dragons. Those fools at the Ministry had actually forced the champions to face dragons for the first task! Did they not understand that three of the champions were very important individuals? The Diggory boy was the only child of the family and while not a Most Ancient and Noble House, they were still well regarded and influential members of British wizarding society.
The Delacour girl was the eldest daughter of Sebastian Delacour, the Deputy Minister of the French Ministry of Magic, and Harleen Potter's importance to their world could not be disputed, even by those that hated her on principal.
What would those fools have done if any of those children had been fatally injured? What if one of them had been crippled, or maimed? The possible political ramifications were impossible to predict, yet they didn't seem to care about the potential disaster they were courting with their actions.
A soft crack suddenly interrupted her dark musings and she turned her attention to the sharply dressed elf that had appeared by her knee.
"Yes, Flopsy?" she asked. "What is it?"
"Flopsy is being sorry for disturbing you, Lady Longbottom," the elf squeaked out. "Your appointment has arrived."
Augusta frowned and only just managed to suppress the urge to let out an exasperated sigh.
"Very well. Show him in and I believe we'll take tea here," she responded, already in the process of ensuring that her dress was presentable and her robes were free of lint or wrinkle.
She barely noticed when Flopsy gave a short bow and disappeared with another crack of displaced air. On any normal day there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that she would ever entertain one such as the man that had arrived to see her. Propriety, alone, prevented her from telling that vile slug of a human being what he could do with his request for an audience and Augusta Longbottom would see her ancestral home burn to the ground before she ever knowingly brought shame or dishonor on her family name through her own actions.
The niceties would be observed and then she would move him on his way.
She rose smoothly from her seat, no sign of her advancing years present in the way she held herself as the sharp, staccato tap coming down the hall reached her ears. Just as she straightened to her full height, he entered the room, dressed as immaculately as ever in black and gray silk, platinum blond hair slicked back and just brushing his shoulders as he moved. One gloved hand gripped the silver snake head to his cane, an affectation, she knew, as the man had no physical need for it.
"Augusta," he said in his usual smooth tones as he came to a stop before her, accepting the hand she offered and bowing to place a kiss on the air just above her knuckles. "So good of you to have me on such short notice."
"Mister Malfoy," she responded, her tone considerably less friendly, though not outrightly hostile. One had to be very careful of such things. "I confess I was surprised to receive your letter. I don't believe that Houses Longbottom and Malfoy had much, if anything, to discuss in matters of business."
She gestured politely to one of the chairs for him to sit as she took her own seat. As propriety demanded, Lucius waited until after she was seated before taking his own seat. He reached into his robes and removed a tightly rolled scroll of parchment, silently reaching out to set it on the table between them.
One brow arched sharply as she immediately recognized the royal blue ribbon that had been used to tie the scroll shut and understanding suddenly dawned just as the tea set along with a small platter of finger sandwiches arrived on the table.
Augusta used the opportunity provided by the necessity of preparing and serving their cups to gather herself.
"You are aware that I will have to discuss this with her before making any binding agreements? We haven't had much time to talk and I have no idea how she feels about such things," she pointed out after taking a slow sip of her tea, her eyes fixed carefully on the, and she used the term loosely, man sitting across from her.
"Of course, Madam Longbottom," he said, his face carefully impassive. "I trust that I will be able to impress upon you the possible benefits, and that you might convey them to your ward. House Longbottom has much to gain, as does House Potter."
"Perhaps," she muttered. Reaching out, she plucked the scroll off the table and removed the ribbon, setting it carefully aside. "Perhaps not," she added as she unrolled the parchment and began to read. "We shall see, Mister Malfoy. We shall see."
