Again, thanking their Charms professor for his time, Harry and Hermione left. It seemed Moody wasn't a problem... at least, not yet.
A little over two weeks after school began, Hermione celebrated her fifteenth birthday. They held the party in the Gryffindor Common Room and invited all the Gryffindors, where Dobby delivered the cake. Harry had owled Madam Rosmerta to order some butterbeer, which Dobby picked up as well. He made sure to give the little house-elf three pairs of socks for the effort. After generous helpings of cake and several rounds of "Happy birthday Hermione!" were given by everyone, it was time to open up the presents.
Ron had bought her a book... on Quidditch. Still, at least he was trying. "Now you'll have something exciting to read about!" said Ron, as she unwrapped the present. She gave a polite "thank-you" and picked up the next gift.
Neville had also chosen to give her a book, Fantastic Flora of France. Apparently, France had some of the widest varieties of magical flowers, most of which were extremely beautiful. Hermione gave the boy a hug in thanks. Harry knew he just had to sneak a look into that book for future reference.
The twins' gift was a dozen quills. Hermione knew they couldn't possibly be ordinary quills, so she eyed them carefully and didn't touch them before asking the twins, "So... is there anything special I should know about these quills?"
They replied, "Welcome to the fantastic world..."
"Of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!"
"The greatest source..."
"For pranks, jokes, gags..."
"And everything else to make your entire life more interesting!"
Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Well, that was interesting, but what's so special about these quills in particular?"
George explained. "Well, these are our Dozen Duplicate Dicta-Quills! We've turned the plain, old Dicta-quill and made it even more convenient by allowing you to make up to a dozen copies at the same time of anything you dictate to a single quill! Not only that, they're charmed to work a good distance away from each other, so they can be in separate rooms or still work!"
Fred continued. "They work if you write the normal way, too. We figured it was an easy way to make our own copies of the answer keys..." Hermione glared at him furiously for that. "...but we figured a brilliant mind like yours would find a much, much nobler use for our inventions," he finished.
Hermione gave them a slightly scornful look. "Well, thanks anyways, guys." Looking around the room, she added, "and no, I won't be using these to make copies of my homework for anyone." Half the room laughed while the other half drooped their heads in disappointment.
Her parents had made use of Kerris, who delivered a letter of congratulations and her gift, a pair of high-end leather gloves. Evidently, her mother knew her size well, as the gloves fit her perfectly.
Harry's gift was, at first glance, just another book. It was a thick leather-bound tome without a title, but it also had a metal frame across the covers. Upon opening it, the pages were all blank. Hermione gave him an odd look. "I hope this isn't a diary, Harry. Especially not one that writes back." Ginny stiffened in the background.
Harry laughed. "No, it's a recording tome. It can copy and store any book you have. You see this metal frame? Just swing it around so it faces the opposite direction, and place another book here..." He grabbed Neville's gift, and clamped the metallic, jaw-like covers over it. "...and it will copy the entire contents of the book onto this tome. You can recall the book simply by saying the title, or by calling it up from a list. It'll hold about two thousand books or a million pages." Opening up the tome, Fantastic Flora of France was listed in small text on the first page. Tapping the name, the title etched itself into the leather at the front of the tome, and its pages filled in exact copies of the book Neville gave.
Hermione squealed and gave Harry a hug. "This is just what I needed, Harry! Thank you!" she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. When she pulled back, she found herself staring into Harry's bright green eyes, and Harry into her deep brown ones. They were instantly lost in each other's gazes, and without thinking, both of them gravitated towards each others' lips and began a slow, gentle kiss. As they let the waves of euphoria wash over them, they didn't notice how silent the entire room had become. They were lost in their own little world. Nobody would disturb them, and nobody could if they tried.
When they finished, they realized everyone in the common room was staring at them. Hermione showed some mild embarrassment, but Harry was wondering what was wrong. The kiss felt so right, and it wasn't as if they were going wild with each other... why did it seem like such a big deal? Oh, I forgot. Nobody else knows we're together... even though it's been over two months for us, he remembered.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/madarasama125🎉