Grounds, Hogwarts, 9/2/1993, 12:45
Harry made his way across the Hogwarts lawns with the other Gryffindor third-years for their first-ever care of magical creatures lesson. He realized that they would be taking this class with the Slytherins when he saw a god portion of the Slytherin third-years gathered near the old gamekeeper's hut.
"Draco looks miserable," Susan whispered into his ear as they got close to where the Slytherins were all assembled around one end of a long trestle table not far from the hut.
"Can't say I that blame him," Harry muttered as he watched Pansy Parkinson try and flail to loop her arm through Draco's.
"Neither can I," Susan giggled.
The Gryffindors were clustered around the other side of the table and most of them were talking about the strange creatures on display.
Harry noticed that there were quite a few large brown worms in glass containers arranged on the table. The worms were really fat around the middle, they had no eyes and had earthy brown-coloured skin that was both extremely wrinkled and very bumpy looking. From what Harry could tell, they were munching away on cabbage or perhaps lettuce.
Harry was pulled from his observations when Professor Peverell stepped out of the old game's keeper's hut catching the attention of the rest of the class as well.
"Good morning to you all and welcome to care for magical creatures, I am Professor Peverell. There are a few rules that if you follow, I have no doubt that you will score very well in this class," Professor Peverell began speaking as he came to stand at the edge of the table so that he was looking at the students.
"Rule number one, respect the creatures we work with. Handle them gently and do not insult them. Many of the larger more dangerous creatures understand what we are saying and will take offence if they feel slighted. This is particularly when it comes to hippogriffs and griffins, the eagles they share as a common ancestors are very proud creatures and this trait has been passed down to both species."
"Rule number two, do not harm the creatures you work with in this class. For some reason, my fire-dwelling salamanders seem to always be the victims of pranks and I will warn you all ahead of time, I will make your life very unpleasant if I catch you harming any of the creatures under my care."
"The final rule should come as no surprise to any of you but my sister-in-law is adamant that I tell you this anyway. This class can be dangerous and there is no sugar-coating that. No matter how many precautions we take, there are always risks involved when working with undomesticated magical creatures. Your parents consented to let you enrol in this class knowing the risks involved as the board of governors has recently made it mandatory for your parents to give their consent for you to enroll in my class. That being said, my final rule should be obvious, there will be no goofing off, roughhousing or troublemaking in my lessons or you will be out of my class for good," Professor Peverell said in a very serious tone reminding Harry a lot of Professor McGonagall's speech during their first transfiguration lesson.
"Now, who can tell me what these magical creatures are?" Professor Peverell asked before gesturing to the ugly brown worms in the tanks.
Harry was a bit surprised when Draco was the first to raise his hand.
"Yes, Mister Malffoy?" Professor Peverell asked.
"Flobberworms, Professor," Draco answered with a look of distaste.
"Correct, two points to Slytherin. Now I am well aware that as far as magical creatures go, flobberworms are not very... Impressive but they are incredibly useful. Who can tell me why that is?"
"Because their mucus has magical properties, Sir," Pansy Parkinson answered batting her eyes at Professor Peverell.
"Correct Miss Parkinson, two points to you as well. The flobberworm's mucus is used in quite a few potions since it acts as a neutral binding agent between ingredients that would otherwise react negatively to one another," Professor Peverell lectured.
"Which end is its head, sir?" Lavender Brown asked.
"The end that is closest to the dark brown band but they consume food from both ends and their waste or mucus is secreted through the pores of their skin," Professor Peverell explained, giving the girl an encouraging smile.
"Is it true that they're edible?" Seamus asked.
"Depends on how you define edible, Mister Finnigan. They are not toxic but it is not a meal I would recommend anyone eat," Professor Peverell chuckled.
"They serve them as fritters at the castle, don't they, Professor?" Dean Thomas asked looking disgusted.
"Unfortunately they do. Who can tell me their ministry classification? Professor Peverell asked before gesturing to a blushing Parvati who raised her hand.
"One X, they are considered quite boring, sir," Parvati answered.
"Correct, that will be two points to Gryffindor, Miss Patil," Professor Peverell beamed.
"Now today I want you to pair up. Each pair can take a flobberworm so that you both can sketch and label the major parts of their anatomy. If you wish you may use chapter one of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as a reference to aid you in labelling your flobberworm," Professor Peverell instructed.
Harry was about to ask Susan if she wanted to be his partner when Draco practically appeared out of thin air.
"Bones you're my partner," Draco said before he dragged her over to the table with flobberworms on it.
Harry was dismayed to see just about everyone already had a partner except Pansy Parkinson.
Sighing internally, Harry walked over to where she stood glaring daggers at Susan's back.
"Do you want to partner with me, Parkinson?" Harry asked.
"I don't have much choice, do I?" Pansy muttered as she looked around at the other students who were already paired up.
"I guess not," Harry agreed.
"Fine but I am not touching a flobberworm, I just got a manicure," Pansy exclaimed.
"They're in glass, we don't have to touch them," Harry pointed out.
"You do if you want to look at their underbelly," Pansy smirked.
"I can just lift the tank, it's made of glass," Harry pointed out.
"Fine," Pansy shrugged as the two of them went over to the last tank containing a particularly fat flobberworm.
They both began sketching the flobberworm in silence though really there wasn't much to draw as they looked like a giant brown grub.
"I can't believe Draco would rather work with that half-blood trollop than with me!" Pansy exclaimed irritably after a few moments.
"Nothing is going on between them, Susan is still dating Justin," Harry sighed.
"Gross, isn't he a mudblood?" Pansy sneered.
"I think they prefer the term muggle-born," Harry corrected, rolling her eyes at Pansy's attempt to rile him up.
"Whatever, he's not from a magical family," Pansy huffed.
"Would you rather she pursued Draco, he's from a magical family," Harry smirked.
"Don't start with me, Potter," Pansy said narrowing her eyes in his direction.
"Oh lighten up, Parkinson," Harry chuckled as he opened his textbook and began flipping through the pages.
"You don't need that, there are only five parts you have to label on a flobberworm," Pansy said as she showed him her labelled sketch.
"How do you know all of this?" Harry asked feeling a bit impressed as he glanced at her drawing.
"My father owns a chain of apothecaries, he used to punish me by making me process flobberworms," Pansy shrugged.
"Yuck," Harry mumbled as their flobberworm began to excrete a nasty yellowish slime from its back.
"They stink too," Pansy added.
"That's not hard to believe," Harry muttered as he labelled the five parts of his flobberworm sketch.
"I hope we don't study these for very long," Pansy said.
"We won't be studying the flobberworms for very long, Miss Parkinson," Professor Peverell said making them both jump.
"Oh," Pansy squeaked, her face flushing pink.
"I see you're both finished your sketches. You're more than welcome to pet them if you like," Professor Peverell joked.
"No thank you, Professor," Harry said shuddering slightly at the thought of touching one of these slimy worms.
"Nobody ever wants to pet them," Professor Peverell sighed dramatically.
"Their mucus will give you a slight rash, Professor," Pansy pointed out.
"Very true, Miss Parkinson. Take two more points to Slytherin," Professor Peverell beamed before moving on to check on Seamus and Dean's progress.
§It is good to see you here, speaker§, a familiar hissed from directly behind him and Pansy.
Harry turned to see Athena coiled on the ground her head raised to look up at him. Harry ignored Pansy's gasp of surprise as he knelt down and smiled at the large bushmaster.
§Athena how are you?§ Harry asked warmly as he gently stroked her head.
§I am well, young Speaker, though It is far too cold for my liking§, Athena pouted.
§It will only get colder, I'm afraid§, Harry chuckled.
§I am aware. It was good to see you again, Speaker§, Athena hissed before she slithered off after Professor Peverell.
"You're a parselmouth?!" Pansy exclaimed as she watched the massive snake slither away.
"Yeah, from what Sirius tells me, it's a trait that runs in the Peverell side of my line," Harry shrugged.
"You're related to the Peverells?" Pansy asked looking very interested.
"Distantly," Harry nodded.
"Interesting," Pansy whispered giving him an appraising look.
Before he could ask what she meant, the bell sounded over the grounds signalling the end of their afternoon classes.
"I want an essay on the life cycle of the flobberworm due next Thursday. If you lot do well on the essay, we will work with crups during our next class," Professor Peverell instructed as they were packing up their things.
"See you later, Potter," Pansy said before she hurried to catch up with Millicent and Megan Jones.
"So how did it go with Pansy?" Susan asked falling into step with Harry as he walked toward the castle.
"She wasn't that bad," Harry shrugged.
"Draco would disagree with you," Susan giggled.
"She was upset you were working with Draco, she called you a half-blood trollop," Harry smirked.
"That bint, I'll show her trollop," Susan muttered irritably.
"How was working with Draco?" Harry asked having to fight a grin.
"He complained about how boring the flobberworms were the entire time," Susan sighed.
"They were dull, all they did was eat lettuce," Harry pointed out.
"I'm pretty sure that was Narcissa's doing, Draco said as much," Susan admitted.
"That doesn't surprise me, you know how protective she is of her little dragon," Harry chortled.
"Well from what Draco told me, his mum forced new policies regarding care of magical creatures to ensure student safety," Susan said, sounding exasperated.
"Remind me to take the piss out of him when I see him again," Harry beamed.
"I wouldn't, word from Lavender is that you're going on a Hogsmeade date with Hannah," Susan said, smiling triumphantly when Harry's face flushed.
"What?!" Harry demanded wondering how Lavender could know that already.
"She seemed a bit upset about it. I think she was hoping that you'd ask her on a date instead of Hannah," Susan continued, her smile getting wider at the look of annoyance Harry gave her.
"Don't you have other things to worry about like not snogging Justin after eating pizza?" Harry quipped.
"Actually Justin's not allergic to garlic anymore," Susan said, not sounding bothered by his barb.
"Whatever," Harry shrugged as the two of them entered the castle.
"But Lavender's right, isn't she?" Susan pressed.
Harry ignored her question and made his way into the great hall having no intention of confirming the rumour though he already knew it was a lost cause to try and hide it now.
As the two of them sat down, Harry wondered how it was that Lavender had found out about his date with Hannah so quickly. That was one thing he had never liked about Hogwarts, nothing was ever private here. Deciding to find Hannah after dinner and figure out how she wanted to handle this, Harry began to tuck into his dinner, pointedly ignoring the knowing looks Susan was giving him.
Peverell Manor, Leeds, 9/18/1993, 13:38
Harry was enjoying a day with the twins flying over the manor grounds.
The last few weeks of school had gone smoothly and Harry was starting to get back into the flow of teaching classes once again. He was having to go through a few more steps to prepare for his classes this year thanks to Narcissa's meddling but it wasn't too taxing, most of the new protocols were things that he would usually do anyway.
The twins were thrilled to get out of the house and away from their brother's crying. Hardwin was calming as the days went by, but every once in a while he'd have days where he seemed to cry constantly... like today.
Harry had just gotten him down for a nap and thought it best to take the twins outside where he didn't have to worry about them waking the baby.
Currently, the twins were racing each other while Harry flew behind them at a more sedate pace. The weather was quite nice today though he could see clouds moving in from the west making him think that it would be raining later this evening.
Harry watched as Carina went into a steep dive maxing her broom's speed out and Iggy hurried to follow after her. Harry had no doubt that they both would make fantastic quidditch players, Carina in particular have the makings of a world-class seeker. Iggy wasn't as strong a flyer as her but he was much better at catching and was quite a bit bigger than she was now, Harry thought he had the makings of a chaser but he would also do well as a beater.
Harry gripped his broom a little tighter as both children got ever closer to the ground. He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding as they pulled up, their trainers dragging through the grass before they shot back into the air again.
Harry was just about to fly after them to tell them to slow it down a bit when he caught movement on the ground. Looking down, he was surprised to see Sirius crossing the lawn.
"Oi," Harry called to the twins.
Harry hovered in place while the twins flew over to him their hair windswept and their faces alight with excitement.
"What's up, Dad?" Iggy asked a wide grin playing on his lips.
"I'm going to go have a word with Sirius, you two had better take it easy or your mother will have all three of our hides," Harry warned.
"We are taking it easy, Daddy," Carina protested.
"If you two had pulled up any slower, you'd be eating the pitch," Harry said giving her a pointed look.
"We promise to be more careful," Iggy said in a very unconvincing tone.
"Good, don't fly where I can't see you," Harry instructed and got nods of understanding from both of them.
Harry flew down to where Sirius was watching them while the twins started up their game of tag once more.
"Looks like you got your hands full with those two," Sirous beamed as Harry landed beside him.
"Surely I wasn't that reckless at their age," Harry muttered as he dismounted his broom and let it hover beside him.
"Little Harry was a daredevil at their age but I was smart enough not to get him a real broom until he was eleven," Sirius smirked.
"The training brooms weren't near challenging enough for either of them," Harry shrugged.
"My point is you only have yourself to blame," Sirius beamed.
"Fair point, so what's up?" Harry asked as he glances back up to make sure the kids were still in the air.
"We had an order meeting last night, Ole No-Nose is planning something according to Snape," Sirius said in a tired voice.
"I'm not surprised," Harry admitted.
"How come you didn't invite me to go along to France?" Sirius asked.
"We were hoping to avoid notice, I still have no idea why all of those aurors showed up," Harry confessed.
"They detected magic use in a non-magical area, the French are beyond furious that their auror teams were humiliated by two people," Sirius explained.
"Bugger," Harry muttered realizing the muggle repelling wards had drawn the French ministry's attention.
"On the upside, you got rid of Dolohov which means Voldemort has pretty much lost the support of Durmstrang," Sirius beamed.
"Good, I am sick of seeing teenagers getting caught up in the middle of this war," Harry said, feeling very pleased with this news.
"The Bulgarian minister was quick to install one of his people at the institute, the man was thrilled to learn of Antonin's demise," Sirius elaborated.
"So this should stall Voldemort's plans for Europe for a while," Harry mused.
"Yes, after Avery got killed, Dolohov was Voldemort's foreign ambassador but now he's got no one to fill that role," Sirius agreed.
"So now I just have to worry about going to France," Harry mused remembering what happened when he was sighted in Peru.
"No, I have a few friends in the French ministry. I was able to smooth things over," Sirius assured him.
"You have friends in the French ministry?" Harry asked in surprise.
"I am a likeable guy, I have friends everywhere," Sirius smirked.
"Right," Harry snorted giving Sirius a disbelieving look.
"Anyway, I figured I would give you the heads up about what the order knows" Sirius continued.
"Do you have any idea when he plans to attack?" Harry questioned.
"No, but it's a safe bet he'll try something on Halloween," Sirius answered.
"You're probably right," Harry said as he watched the twins go into another dive.
"Tonks will be meeting with the bloodsuckers soon, so maybe she can help us get specifics," Sirius said as he watched the kids speeding towards the ground.
"Great, I wish Dumbledore had chosen somebody else to lias, with them" Harry muttered as the kids pulled up and rocketed back into the sky.
"That makes two of us," Sirius agreed.
"I'll keep a watch over her," Harry promised.
"Good. Just out of curiosity, did you ever court the Abbott girl when you were in school?" Sirius asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"No, I didn't. I had a tumultuous relationship with Hufflepuff House until my fifth year, actually," Harry admitted.
"Well your younger self doesn't have that problem," Sirius grinned.
"I've noticed, little Harry is rarely seen without Hannah Abbott anymore," Harry chuckled.
"I've already had Samuel Abbott asking me about Harry," Sirius grinned.
"I hope you two aren't setting up a betrothal," Harry said.
"No, we're not. I think that ole Sam is a little uneasy about his daughter growing up," Sirius admitted.
"Can't say that I blame him. I dread when Carina hits her teens," Harry said as he watched his daughter pull off a perfect sloth-grip roll.
"Makes me glad that I've only got the two boys to worry about," Sirius said, shooting Harry a smug look.
"From what I've seen, Susan has herself a boyfriend already," Harry pointed out.
"And that is Edward's problem, not mine," Sirius shrugged.
"Point, so are you going to be in Hogsmeade next weekend?" Harry asked.
"Of course," Sirius answered as if the question was ridiculous.
"Good, I may join you for a drink before I have to oversee the Weasley twins' detention," Harry said.
"Sounds like a plan," Sirius agreed as the twins touched down in front of them.
"Hello Uncle Padfoot," Carina beamed.
"Hello Carina, I saw your moves you may just make the England national team after all," Sirius beamed.
"What about me?" Iggy demanded.
"You were... alright," Sirius said, giving the boy a teasing grin.
"You did very well, Son. I think you may want to start learning some chasing drills," Harry said as he patted Iggy on the back.
"I've been doing chaser drills with Devon," Iggy said.
"Just keep at it and I have no doubt you'll both make your house quidditch teams," Harry assured them.
"Though if you plan on being a seeker, you may not want to get sorted into Gryffindor," Sirius beamed.
"Why?" Carina asked.
"Because my godson already has that spot covered," Sirius beamed.
"Alright Padfoot, stop irritating my children," Harry sighed before Carina could reply.
"I wasn't irritating anyone," Sirius protested.
"Your mere presence annoys me, cousin," Bellatrix said from directly behind Sirius, making the Marauder jump in surprise.
"Ah if it isn't my violent cousin," Sirius said with exaggerated cheer as he turned to face Bellatrix.
"Keep pestering my babies and you'll see violent," Bellatrix muttered as she rocked Hardwin in her arms.
"I think we're going to hit the sky before he starts crying again," Iggy said giving his younger brother a wary look.
Harry was actually impressed at how quickly the twins mounted their brooms and rocketed into the sky, leaving the three adults standing on the lawn.
"That's the fastest that I've ever seen those two move," Sirius sniggered.
"Our youngest has been in a mood today," Harry said as he conjured Bella a chair.
"He woke up a few moments ago so I thought I'd take him out for some fresh air," Bella said as she eased herself into the seat.
"Sirius was just telling me about what happened in France," Harry said getting his wife's full attention.
Bella listened intently as Sirius recounted what he knew about the incident in France, a look of understanding crossing her features. When Sirius finished talking she hummed quietly to Hardwin before she finally spoke.
"So the precautions we placed to protect the muggles tipped them off?"
"Yes, the French ministry detected the wards and sent in a team to bring you in for questioning," Sirius agreed.
"We'll have to be more careful if we do anything in France," Harry sighed.
"After the assassination of Dolohov, Voldemort won't be doing very much outside of Britain," Sirius pointed out.
"Don't be so sure, he has plenty of contacts around the world," Bella warned.
Harry let his mind wander as Bella and Sirius began arguing the point. Harry hoped Sirius was right but he wouldn't put it past Voldemort to have more contacts abroad. Either way, the assassination had put a stop to Voldemort's influence over Durmstrang so he considered it a win.
Harry was at a loss as to what they would do next but he was certain that he wouldn't have to wait very long before Voldemort made the next move.
Hogsmeade, 9/25/1993, 11:23
Harry walked down the high street with Hannah, the both of them looking around the quaint village in awe. Harry had seen the place a few times but this was the first time he'd ever gotten to explore Hogsmeade.
"This place is amazing," Hannah gushed.
"I know, it looks like something out of a storybook," Harry agreed as he spotted Susan and Justin entering a tea shop down the street.
"That's Madam Puddifoot's Heidi says that's where couples go to snog," Hannah said when she saw where he was looking.
"I just saw Susan go in there with Justin," Harry smirked.
"Excellent, I owe her one for giving us a hard time about coming here together," Hannah beamed.
"What did you have in mind?" Harry asked with interest.
"Let's go to Zonko's," Hannah said before she dragged him towards the crowded joke shop.
Ten minutes later the two of them hurried out of the shop and made their way toward the tea shop while Hannah fiddled with her purchase. Harry was both impressed and a little surprised at Hannah's idea but after the prank Susan had pulled on him last Halloween, he was all for a little revenge.
They entered the cramped teashop and Harry followed Hannah's lead as she weaved between the closely spaced two-seater tables with amorous couples kissing and chatting over tea and pastries. It took a minute to find Susan in the crowded tea shop but eventually, they spotted her and Justin seated at a table in the middle of the room.
Susan was too busy clumsily kissing Justin to see them walk past or for her to notice Hannah subtly sprinkle a pinch of green powder into her cup of steaming tea as they walked by.
Harry picked an empty table not far from Susan and pulled one of the chairs out for Hannah to take a seat. After she was seated, he took his own, making sure to turn his chair so that he had a clear view of Susan's table.
"What can I get you, dears?" A heavy-set woman in a lurid pink apron asked cheerfully.
"Tea and a slice of chocolate cake," Hannah answered distractedly never taking her eyes off Susan.
"A hot cocoa, please," Harry said when the woman gave him an inquiring look.
"I'll have that out in a flash," the woman beamed before bustling off to fill their order.
"You'd think they would have to come up for air," Hannah muttered.
"Sirius says the trick to kissing is to breathe through your nose," Harry said as the waitress set a cup of steaming hot cocoa in front of him.
"You've talked to Sirius about kissing?" Hannah asked as she stirred sugar into her tea.
"It may have come up when I was asking him about dating," Harry mumbled before taking a sip of his drink.
Hannah forgot what she was about to say and grinned widely, Harry turned to see where she was looking and couldn't fight his own grin. Susan had finally broken her lip lock with Justin and was taking a sip of her tea.
Susan had barely swallowed her tea before her eyes went wide and she let out a belch that echoed around the shop, only it didn't sound like a burp, it sounded like the croak of a gigantic frog.
"RIBBIT!"
Hannah had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggles but she needn't have bothered as others in the shop had started laughing, especially when Susan belched three more times in quick succession, much to her mortification.
"RIBBIT!"
"RIBBIT!"
"RIBBIT!"
"I *ha* can't believe *ha* that worked so well," Hannah exclaimed happily.
"RIBBIT!"
"RIBBIT!"
"RIBBIT!"
Harry lost the fight with his own laughter and let out a deep belly laugh as Susan continued to belch like a frog, the sound echoing through the crowded room.
"How *ha* how long does that last?' Harry gasped as he glanced over at Hannah.
"Not long, maybe five minutes with the dose I gave her,"
"RIIIBBBIIIT!"
Susan let out one last monumental belch before she got up and sprinted out of the shop with Justin hot on her heels though not before she got a round of cheers from the other patrons of the teashop.
"Best prank ever," Hannah beamed before taking a bite of her cake and moaning appreciatively.
"She'll be on the warpath when she finds out it was us," Harry chuckled before taking a sip of his cocoa.
"Who's going to tell her?" Hannah smirked as she scooted her chair over so she was sitting right beside Harry.
"Good point, I don't think she even noticed us enter," Harry mused.
"I'm pretty sure that she didn't notice anything when we came in," Hannah sniggered before taking another bite of cake.
"No, she seemed a bit distracted," Harry agreed.
"Try some of this cake, Harry, it's amazing," Hannah whispered as she held her fork with a bite of cake up to his mouth.
Harry opened his mouth and she gently fed it to him, the rich chocolate assaulting his tongue. Harry thought that this had to be the best chocolate cake he had ever eaten, the icing was so rich and creamy and the chocolate flavour lingered on his tongue making him crave another bite.
"That's amazing," Harry muttered feeling his face heat up as he met Hannah's gaze only inches from his own.
"I know what you mean," Hannah whispered her cheeks flushing a cute shade of pink.
Harry wasn't quite sure who initiated the kiss, one minute they were staring into each other's eyes and the next they were embracing with their lips pressed tightly against each others. Harry's mind went blank and felt as if he were floating, as Hannah moaned into his mouth their kiss becoming more enthusiastic.
"Oi, what the hell do you two think you're doing!" an angry voice demanded making them jump apart in alarm.
Harry was surprised to see the Hufflepuff seeker glaring daggers at him and Hannah while his date looked on seeming to be amused by the situation.
"What does it look like we were doing, Cedric?" Hannah huffed, shooting Cedric a look of annoyance.
"You're way too young to be snogging some bloke in public," Cedric exclaimed, looking indignant.
"Calm down, Ceddy," Cedric's date, who Harry now realized was Katie Bell said soothingly.
"Yes calm down and mind your own business, Cedric," Hannah agreed, her eyes narrowed at the older teen.
Harry felt very awkward as Hannah and Cedric seemed determined to stare the other down while their confrontation seemed to have drawn the notice of couples seated at nearby tables.
"Don't think I won't tell Uncle Samuel about this," Cedric threatened.
"Then maybe Uncle Amos should know about the time I caught you and Kenneth Towler smoking behind the greenhouses," Hannah rebutted causing Cedric to blanch.
"Come on Cedric, let's leave them be," Katie encouraged, looking as if she found this whole situation hilarious.
Cedric tried to protest but Katie whispered something in his ear that caused him to stare dazedly off into space and she took the opportunity to drag him away from their table with minimal effort.
"I am so sorry about that," Hannah whispered as she watched the older couple take a seat on the other side of the tea shop.
"Don't be, I know how overprotective family can be," Harry shrugged idly noticing that he could still taste the chocolate from the cake on his tongue.
"Well he has no business butting into my personal life," Hannah muttered before taking a sip of her tea.
"I take it he's your cousin?" Harry questioned before taking a sip of his cocoa.
"He's my second cousin on the Abbott side," Hannah nodded in agreement.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Harry asked feeling very aware that he was being watched by Cedric from across the room.
"Sure," Hannah agreed before finishing her tea.
The two of them walked out of the shop both wishing they could have continued what they had started earlier and Harry just hoped they would get a chance to later in the day.
An hour later the two of them stepped into the Three Broomsticks with bags loaded full of purchases. After leaving Puddifoot's they had returned to Zonko's and bought quite a few other prank items. Harry had made sure to buy a fre packets of the frog belching powder they had used on Susan.
Then they had visited the quidditch,shop, the both of them spending an inordinate amount of time staring longingly at the Firebolt display.
Finally they had gone to Honeydukes where they had both bought an obscene amount of magical sweets.
The last stop before they planned on returning to the castle was the pub where they were planning to have a late lunch.
They quickly found an empty table and Harry volunteered to go place their order but Hannah assured him that she would take care of it.
Harry agreed feeling a bit surprised at how insistent his date was to order their food but shrugged it off. He took a seat and began looking around the massive bar room while he waited on Hannah to return. Off in the back corner of the pub, he spotted Draco, Daphne, and Hermione sitting at a table and having an animated discussion about something. As he surveyed the room, he spotted most of his housemates at tables around the room. When he thought about it, he realized that most of the customers here today were Hogwarts students. As he glanced toward the bar, he was surprised to see his godfather sitting on a stool next to Professor Peverell, Sirius caught his eye and winked at him before going back to his conversation.
"Ugh, I got stuck behind Ron Weasley practically drooling over the barmaid," Hannah exclaimed as she took a seat and slid a tankard of butterbeer over to him.
"The Weasley twins say that she is a looker," Harry said before taking a sip of butterbeer.
"Which is why I placed our order," Hannah said, looking very pleased with herself.
"Rule number one godson, never look at other birds on a date," Harry said, doing a passable imitation of Sirius.
"Birds?" Hannah asked sounding amused.
"That's the advice Sirius gave me," Harry shrugged as he watched two plates floating over toward their table.
"Well, it is good advice," Hannah conceded as a plate of sandwich and crisps settled in front of her.
"I thought so," Harry chuckled as he picked up the roast beef sandwich from the plate that just landed in front of him.
"So what do you think of the village?" Hannah asked between bites of her own sandwich.
"It's amazing," Harry beamed.
"Godric's Hollow is kind of like this but we have to be careful so as not to draw muggle attention," Hannah said.
"I should have grown up there," Harry admitted.
"I know, your old house isn't that far from mine," Hannah said giving him a sympathetic look.
"I've only seen it once when Sirius took me to visit my parents," Harry confessed.
"Did you see the monument?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah, I liked that thought it was weird to see myself in stone," Harry sniggered.
"I bet, did you know they rebuild it after the giant attack?" Susan asked.
"No, I didn't," Harry said not even aware that it had been destroyed.
"Now it's a bronze sculpture," Hannah said before popping a crisp into her mouth.
"Do I still look like a loaf of bread swaddled in blankets?" Harry grinned.
"Pretty much," Hannah agreed.
They spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing and talking about whatever came to mind. Harry had enjoyed the outing with Hannah tremendously and was almost disappointed when it was time to head back up to the school. They parted ways at the entrance hall to go drop their purchases off with a promise to meet up in the library after dinner.
As Harry made his way up toward Gryffindor Tower, he couldn't help thinking that his first date had gone very well, though he definitely wished there had been a bit more kissing.
Carfax Abbey, Near London, 9/29/1993, 23:37
Tonks looked toward derelict manor trying her best to mentally prepare herself for the meeting with her old classmate.
This would be the first meeting she had without Daciana present and she was already missing the flirty vampire when the alternative was Merula bloody Snyde.
"Nymphadora, you're early," a familiar voice called from the shadows of the manor before Merula stepped into the silvery light of the moon.
"What's with the dramatics?" Tonks snorted as the vampire stalked towards her.
"Still as charming as ever. Do you have it?" Merula asked as she came to a stop and eyed the pink-haired auror expectantly.
"Depends on how much information you have for me," Tonks countered.
"I have plenty of information for you. For starters, the dark lord is furious after your uncle offed Dolohov, he's planning something major for next month," Merula said sounding almost amused.
Nodding Tonks reached into her pocket and removed a shrunken trunk and set it on the ground before waving her wand over it causing it to resize to the size of a large travel trunk.
"Ten gallons of blood as promised," Tonks said as she flipped open the lid.
"Then this is for you," Merula said passing Tonks a manila envelope.
"What's this?" Tonks asked.
"All the information that we've gathered on the attack and I was nice enough to throw in a list of death eater safe houses and all the dark lord's sympathizers in other ministries across Europe that I know of," Merula explained.
"You wouldn't happen to know who his spy inside the ministry is, would you?' Tonks asked hopefully.
"No, the dark lord was very guarded about his identity," Merula admitted.
"But it is a he?" Tonks pressed.
"Yes, it is a he," Merula agreed.
"I will bring this back to the order," Tonks said before slipping the folder inside her robes.
"Care to stay for dinner?" Merula asked her eyes alight with mirth.
"No, I prefer solid food," Tonks snorted.
"I meant that you could be dinner," Merula clarified.
"I would tell you to bite me but you'd see it as an invitation," Tonks shot back.
"Probably. I will take this shipment to the others, say hi to your uncle for me," Merula said before shutting the trunk lid.
"He isn't the Reaper," Tonks sighed.
"I know his scent, Nymphadora, I remember what he smelled line at school," Merula said before she picked up the trunk as if it didn't way anything and began carrying it to the house.
"Oh bugger," Tonks muttered to herself as she watched Snyde disappear into the manor.
She realized what this meant, her uncle's identity was compromised, with the vampires at least.
She would have to warn him about this but first, she had to get the envelope to the order so they could start preparing for the attack.