Yuletide Blessing

Going Public

Harry woke up feeling wonderful. Their room was warm, much warmer than the regular dorms, and it looked like they had both removed the blanket during the night. This meant that Hermione was sleeping completely naked, just like Harry. She was on her side, her hand wrapped over his chest. He enjoyed looking at his beautiful wife, remembering what they had done before falling asleep. Some stickiness on his thighs was also a good reminder.

He glanced at the clock. It was after six thirty. They should get up now. He brushed her hair aside and whispered in her ear, "Wake up, my lovely wife. It's time for school."

She didn't say anything and her eyes stayed closed, yet her hand started moving southward, finding his "morning wood". Harry groaned. Her hand stayed firmly there, and then she brought her face closer to Harry's, pressing their lips in a kiss. Harry responded.

It was almost half an hour later when they finally left the bed, yet Hermione proved very efficient, as usual. By seven thirty, both were fully clothed after taking a shower (together) and their bags were holding all that they needed for the morning lessons. They reached the common room before most of their classmates and went all in a group to the Great Hall for breakfast, just as usual. The only discernible difference was the fact that they were holding hands and looking more confident than usual.

Breakfast went normally until the mail arrived. As soon as the newspapers were delivered, there seemed to be a shift in the atmosphere. Harry started noticing many hushed conversations and glances directed towards him and Hermione. Some looked really venomous. He wondered why.

Hermione also got her daily newspaper. She was reading it with a deep frown on her face and Harry noticed some wetness creeping into her eyes. "What is it, dear?"

She just shoved the paper in his direction. He looked at it and gasped.

"The Boy Who Lived married. Love or greed?

By Rita Skeeter

As Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, has attracted a lot of attention from the female half of Hogwarts, it was a sure bet he would be engaged well before reaching adulthood. Now, as he was forced, so it seems, to participate in the Triwizard tournament, this also caused his emancipation. It looks like somebody had made him aware of the fact, as soon after the Yule Ball, Harry left Hogwarts with his friend Hermione Granger, only to return yesterday as Lord and Lady Potter.

Checking with the ministry revealed no prior engagement of either. It looks like they got engaged during the morning of the first day of the year and got married late in the afternoon. There was no wedding ceremony, though. According to the ministry, they exchanged their vows in private, yet it was recognized by Magic as a true wedding, making them legally married.

Lady Potter, previously known as Hermione Granger, is a Muggle-born witch who has been a close friend with Lord Potter since first year. She has been discovered to be more than a friend by yours truly during the first task of the tournament, when she hugged her champion in a way that indicated more than mere friendship, although both have denied it.

While the younger generation may not be aware of this, most older wizards and witches know that the Potter house is among the richest in our country, although nobody seems to know exactly how rich it really is. One can't refrain from wondering if the new Lady Potter has known about this before. Is it really love, or does she only love his money. This reporter is sure to keep an eye on the new couple and find the truth."

"It is quite neutral for Skeeter," Harry said. "She doesn't blame you outright and even states I was forced to participate."

"She could be nicer, though. Her hints that I was only after your money is really hurting. You know I only care about you, don't you?"

Harry smiled reassuringly at her. "I know, love. Let me make a formal announcement now."

He stood up and cast a "sonorus" on himself.

"Will you please quiet for a moment? Thank you."

The noise level decreased drastically as all eyes focused on him.

"As many of you have seen the newspaper, let me tell you that Hermione and I are really married. We didn't plan to get married so soon, I admit. We expected to only get married after finishing school, yet some words we said to each other seemed to have invoked the magic of marriage. As you all know, we've been friends since first year and our friendship grew stronger as time passed, turning into much more. Hermione – Lady Potter – has always been by my side, always helped me in any way she could, even when that put her in mortal perils. She stayed my friend at times when nobody else would. It was just natural for us to fall in love."

There were murmurs of agreement in the hall.

"Now, as she is Lady Potter, married to the Head of a Most Ancient and Noble House, I ask you all to treat her respectfully. Failing to act properly towards her may invoke the wrath of the magic protecting the Potter house. I don't know what it could do but I'm sure you'd not like it. Thank you for your attention."

The noise levels rose even higher than before. Harry looked at the Slytherin table, noticing Draco looking paler than usual. He was surprised to notice some of the girls were looking enviously at Hermione. That was something he had never expected.

They had Herbology first. Professor Sprout seemed glad to see them. Once everybody was seated, she walked to the Potters and said loudly, "I believe I express the feelings of all present by congratulating our new couple, wishing them long and peaceful life and lots of happiness."

She turned to the couple, speaking softly, so nobody else could hear. "I don't know why, but I feel very close to you now, as if you are part of my house. Do feel free to speak with me of whatever may be of interest to you. I'll do my best to help you."

The rest of the lesson was normal. Harry felt no special attention from any of the students. Only Hermione noticed some girls glaring at her, as if envying her position.

Next they had DADA. The lesson was no different than other lessons they had since Moody started teaching, yet both Harry and Hermione were a bit stressed. Harry led his wife to an abandoned corridor as soon as the lesson was over. "Have you felt any of the rings react?" he asked.

"Yes. My Potter ring got warm whenever Moody passed near me, My Hufflepuff ring reacted even stronger, almost burning my finger."

"My Lord ring did the same. What does it mean?"

Hermione thought a bit. "It looks like Moody is presenting a certain threat to us, although we don't know what kind of threat. We need to pay closer attention to him."

"I don't like him. Trying the Imperius curse on students and letting Neville watch the effect of Cruciatus made me dislike him. I don't like him drinking from his flask all the time, either."

Hermione frowned. "I think I've seen him drink normally during meals, though. I wonder what his flask may contain."

Harry looked around. An abandoned corridor was quite safe, but not completely so. "Let's talk about it once we're in our suite."

He did glance several times at the head table during lunch, yet Moody didn't come. He may have eaten in his office, as some teachers did occasionally.

Lunch was followed by Potions. Harry dreaded Snape's reaction to the news, yet it wasn't too bad. Snape seemed to ignore them for most of the lesson. He only stopped once to say, "Even a Lord should know how to brew this simple potion," sneering at their work, and another time, when Hermione tried to help Ron with his work, "Lady Potter, please leave the teaching to me. You'll do better to concentrate on your own work, or your husband may ruin what seems to be a passable potion."

At least their rings didn't get warm.

They were not left alone after dinner. All their friends wanted to visit their new accommodation and even some who weren't really friends. Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean were the first to ask, followed by Fred and George along with the rest of the Quidditch team. Hermione's former dorm-mates also wanted to see her new accommodations. She let them in reluctantly. Harry let Ginny visit as well, but he refused to let any of his younger fan-girls come. He also refused Colin, not wanting any photos of the apartment to circulate.

The Potters had to withstand the banter, the joking and some very indiscreet questions for most of the evening. When it started grating on her nerves, Hermione said that they needed to do some homework and asked the guests to leave. Ron frowned, mainly because he hoped for her help with his homework, which now seemed improbable.

Once left alone, they returned to the subject that had bothered them earlier.

"What are we going to do about Moody?" Harry asked. "There's something wrong about him, I'm sure."

Hermione gave it a thought. "I think we must first find what he drinks from that flask. It can't be some alcoholic drink, or we would have smelled it in class. I doubt it is plain water." She thought a bit longer. "I bet it is some kind of potion."

Harry had already noticed the regularity Moody was drinking from the flask. "What kind of potion one would need to take about once an hour?"

Hermione thought and gasped. "Do you remember when we took a potion whose effect only lasts an hour?"

Harry had no problem remembering that event. "You brewed Polyjuice potion. It only works for an hour... Do you think that's what he keeps in his flask?"

"I can't be sure. It could be some medical potions, although all those I'm aware of are only taken three times a day at most."

"We can't just ask him, I'm sure."

Hermione thought for a moment and her expression got filled with mischief. "There's a switching charm we can use. We'll take a small vial of water and switch the contents with some of the contents of his flask. It won't dilute it much, but we shall have a sample."

"Will we be able to identify it?"

She smirked. "I can easily identify the Polyjuice potion. If it isn't that, we can ask Professor Snape for his help as we found the unlabeled vial."

Harry doubted Snape would be willing to help. "What are we going to do once we know what it is?"

"If it's Polyjuice, then we need to alert the Aurors, or maybe we should first find who he really is. If it's some medical potion – well, the man has suffered many injuries, you know."

"I think we need to practice the switching spell, so we can both do it silently, maybe even wandlessly, before our next DADA lesson," Harry noted.

"Wandlessly?"

"Well, we've both read the book about how to do it although we didn't have time to practice. With our newly restored powers, I believe we can master wandless casting in just a few days."

They had a pitcher of pumpkin juice in their apartment and several glasses. Hermione conjured some vials and filled them with water from the bathroom. They practiced the switching spell a few times, using wands. Both seemed to master silent casting, as they had practiced it a bit during their vacation.

Wandless casting needed a different mindset, though, and they were both too tired to do any good with it.

"Let's stop now. We're too tired and there's something else we need to do before sleeping," Hermione said.

"What do we need to do?" Harry asked, a bit confused.

Hermione rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. "You need to do your husbandly duties with me, remember?"

This brought a smile to Harry's face. "Sure! I shouldn't neglect these duties!"

It was more than an hour later, when the two teens fell asleep, both feeling sated and happy.