Chapter 9: OWLS
As Harry and Ron entered the Kitchen they saw that Hermione looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Harry looked questioningly at Ginny who tried to suppress a giggle as she handed Ron and Harry each a letter. It was from Hogwarts, it must be their OWL results. Now Harry understood Hermione's panicky expression, she would be devastated if she didn't get the best grades. He sunk down into his seat fingering the thick parchment of the envelope before slowly tearing it open.
He took a deep breath and opened the results. His hand shook as he tried to focus on the paper:
Astronomy: A
Care of Magical Creatures: E
Charms: O
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Divination: P
Herbology: O
History of Magic: D
Potions: O
Transfiguration: O
Harry couldn't believe it, he had gotten 7 owls! He even got the O he needed in potions to become an Auror! He jumped out of his set and ran to Remus hugging him, "I did it. I can still be an Auror!" He showed Remus his grades. Remus smiled, Snape was going to be very upset that Harry had gotten an Outstanding.
"Great job son, I'm very proud of you." Remus told him, not realizing he had called Harry son until he noticed Mrs. Weasley start to cry and everyone else was staring at them. "What?" He asked everyone, looking at Molly Weasley.
"It's so sweet, you called him son. I'm so happy for you two," She told him. Harry just smiled, he had been surprised by the name, but he liked it a lot. He had never been called that before.
"How did you do Ron?" Ginny asked her brother, smiling at Harry who had obviously done well. Ron opened his letter; he knew Harry was smart, so he just hoped he had studied hard enough.
Astronomy: D
Care of Magical Creatures: E
Charms: E
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Divination: A
Herbology: A
History of Magic: D
Potions: A
Transfiguration: E
"I got 7 owls!" Ron said surprised. "I even passed Divination!" Ron said as he and Harry swapped results to look at each other. "Wow Harry, you got 4 Outstandings, that's great. You even got an O in potions."
"You got an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I bet old Umbridge is all pissed off that we did well." Harry laughed, "Looks like we both get out of History of Magic, it's a shame though, I enjoyed my sleeping time in there!"
"I'm so proud of both of you boys." Mrs. Weasley said hugging them both and kissing Ron. "I think you should open it now dear," she told Hermione who still looked pale.
"Yeah 'Mione, if I got 7 owls, you had to have done well. You are way smarter than Harry and me!" Ron said trying to reassure their friend.
She finally slowly opened her results. Her eyes got huge; she screamed and ran out of the room in hysterical tears. Ron ran after her, Harry looked to Ginny who picked up Hermione's results. "FRED, GEORGE!" Ginny screamed. Harry had never seen her look so angry, "GET IN HERE NOW!" Harry looked at Hermione's OWLs, they were straight Ds. He knew how important these exams were to Hermione, he also knew her greatest fear was to fail everything, he was going to kill Fred and George. The twins walked into the kitchen trying to look innocent, but everyone could tell they were guilty. "YOUâ I" Ginny couldn't even begin to say all the nasty things she wanted to.
"Go fix it!" Harry bellowed, scaring everyone in the room at the forcefulness in his tone, "She is hysterical, her greatest fear is to fail everything and you went and faked her OWLs! How could you be so cruel?" Harry didn't have to say another word, for at that exact moment Ron came back into the kitchen and punched Fred who was closest to the door and then rounded on George who backed out of the way. All the Weasleys started screaming at each other, nobody noticed Remus slink out of the room to find Hermione.
She was curled up on her bed, still bawling when he found her. "Hermione," he said tentatively, "They were not your real OWLs. The twins switched them as a prank." She looked up at him with hopeful eyes. He had been there when she tried to fight the boggart that told her she had failed everything; he knew how important her grades were to her. "Come on, let's go back down and find out what they did with your grades." She looked up at him with hopeful eyes.
"Iâ Iâ I didn't really fâ fâ fail?" She sobbed, she trusted Professor Lupin, if he said it was a prank, she would believe him.
"No, you did not fail." He told her steering her back to the kitchen where the Weasleys were still arguing. Ron was being held back by Mrs. Weasley whose face was purple with anger, Fred had a broken lip and black eye, George had a red hand print across his face from being slapped and Ginny was cradling her hand and being restrained by Harry who looked like he would have loved to hit the twins as well.
They all turned to look at Hermione when Remus dragged her into the room. She looked awful, her eyes were swollen and puffy and her hair was stuck to her face in spots. Ron broke free of his mum and raced to her side. "It's ok 'Moine, they played an idiot prank on you, it's not real." He put his hand to her face and moved the hairs that were stuck out of her way in a very touching gesture. She turned to look at the twins who had their heads bowed looking at their feet.
"We're sorry Hermione, we're insensitive and stupid." George told her.
"We didn't think you'd be so upset, we're sorry." Fred said, "We intercepted the owl and had him deliver our fake letter instead."
"We were planning on making up fake ones for all of you, but we ran out of time." George said, "Here's your actual letter." He handed her a letter from inside his robes. "I really am sorry."
She took the letter and sat down at the table to open it. It couldn't get any worse than the fake one, so she took a deep breath and opened it.
Ancient Runes: O
Arithmancy: O
Astronomy: E
Care of Magical Creatures: O
Charms: O
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Herbology: O
History of Magic: O
Potions: O
Transfiguration: O
She started crying again, but this time out of happiness. She put her face in her hands and handed her results to Remus who smiled. "10 OWLs, 9 Outstandings and 1 Exceeds Expectations. Very well done Hermione, I'm sure your parents will be very proud."
"And I'm sure you would have gotten an O in Astronomy if Umbridge hadn't attacked Hagrid and Professor McGonagall." Harry added hoping to cheer her up.
"This proves that you are the smartest witch in our class." Ron told her smiling; he knew she would do great, but 9 O's! "You did better than both Percy and Bill and they were both Head Boy, I bet you did the best of the year."
"She did," Ginny said, "It says so right here in the letter. You got the highest score on all your exams except Astronomy and Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"I wonder who got the best in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" She asked happily, now that she got the grades she wanted.
"I did." Harry said surprised as he looked over his letter. "I got the highest score ever. I didn't miss a single point on the written and had the highest ever practical score."
"Way to go both of you." Remus said, "Between the two of you, you received the highest scores of 9 out of the 12 classes! Those Ravenclaws will be eating their words now, they can't say they have the smartest students anymore, not with you two being in Gryffindor!"
"We got our book lists for next year too." Ginny said finally opening her letter. "Oh, my!" Ginny exclaimed as a silver badge dropped out of her letter. "I got made a Prefect!"
"Way to go Gin," Harry said giving her a hug, "You'll make a great prefect."
"I'm so proud of you Ginny, now what kind of present do you want for being made prefect?" Mrs. Weasley said smiling at her youngest child.
"I was hoping to get a pet." She said shyly. "I don't know what kind I want yet though." She told her mum.
"I'm sure we'll find you one when we go to Diagon Alley." Molly told her, "Is there anything special you need for the 6th year?" She asked Ron, Harry, and Hermione.
"What?" Harry said jumping up, pulling a silver prefect badge out of his Hogwarts letter too. "But you get Prefect in 5th year." He was confused. "Maybe it's a mistake?" He said looking at Ron.
"My letter still tells me to be in the prefect car for orders." Ron said looking as confused as Harry was, "So at least they didn't take mine away.'
"There's another badge!" Harry said staring shocked at the beautiful red and gold badge in his hand; it read 'Quidditch Captain.' "Did you guys mess with my letter too?" He asked the twins.
"No, you can't fake those, Dumbledore makes them that way." Fred explained.
"Wow, then I'm Quidditch captain too." Harry said shocked. Ginny hugged him, she knew how much he loved Quidditch.
"This calls for a celebration! Everyone has had such good news today. Let's all go to Diagon Alley to get their supplies and then we can have dinner at 'Le Wiz' to celebrate everyone's success." Remus told them all.
"We can go to Diagon Alley, but 'Le Wiz'? That might be a little much for us." Mrs. Weasley said blushing. 'Le Wiz' was the nicest restaurant in Diagon Alley, only the rich could afford to dine there.
Harry saw the dreamy expression on Ginny's face at the mention of the restaurant; he had heard it was the nicest wizarding restaurant in England. "I like the idea, it's my treat, if you won't let me give you my Gringotts vault at least let me buy us all dinner." It was settled, they all ran upstairs to change into their good robes. Harry put on his new silk Midnight Blue robes with the Potter Crest and wore one of his nicest shirts and pants beneath with his new dress shoes as well. Even he was impressed with how he looked. Harry was glad the twins had gotten Ron new dress robes so he didn't feel awkward. Hermione wore her light blue robes she had worn to the Yule Ball and Ginny was in pale yellow robes that looked amazing against her red hair.
"You look breathtaking." Harry whispered to her as they stepped into the fireplace. "Yellow looks amazing against your beautiful red hair." Ginny could barely breathe; Harry had acted like she didn't kiss him all morning, but now he was whispering sweet nothings in her ear.
"I like your robes too; the silk with your family crest is very nice." She whispered before taking his hand and yelling "Diagon Alley."
Harry helped her out of the fireplace and leaned in close to her, brushing his lips against hers quickly. "Blue and Yellow go together very well." He said smiling. She was shocked, did Harry just kiss her? She was also aware that he was still holding her hand. When they heard someone in the fireplace behind them, he dropped her hand and moved away slightly. She realized that he didn't want any of her family to see them. She was going to have to talk to him later about this.
They got all their school supplies. Harry bought five or six extra defense against the dark arts books for his collection as well as bought Hermione a book called "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Continuing Your Magical Education." They refilled their potion stores and went to buy new parchment, quills and ink. Harry saw Ginny looking longingly at a purple quill and rainbow ink. Mrs. Weasley reminded her that she only needed black ink and that she had plenty of quills. Ginny didn't even bother looking at the nice parchment, before she felt Harry's hand on her arm.
"You don't want such thin parchment, just tell me what you want and I'll get it. I won't tell your mum." He winked at her as she pointed to a stack of beautiful ivory parchment that was thick and wouldn't smudge. Harry saw a stack of purple parchment and got that as well as the ink and quill she had been looking at. Remus handed him what looked like four empty ink bottles to purchase and told him he would explain later. Once they had gotten all their supplies, Tonks left to take them back while they all went to find Ginny's new pet.
They went to three different stores and Ginny was starting to get depressed, she hadn't found an animal that she loved. Her parents had insisted on going back to the first store and left Remus and the trio to wander around until they got back. They walked closer to Fred and George's shop and Harry stopped. There in a window was a perfect pet for Ginny. It was a black kitten with green eyes and a lightning bolt shaped patch of yellow fur between its ears. Harry went into the shop and picked up the kitten, it started purring immediately.
"She's a feisty one, lots of people want her for her looks but she hisses and bites at them, she's waiting for the right owner." The shopkeeper told him.
"She is pretty." Harry said scratching the kitten's head.
"I wanted to nickname her Potter since she has a lightning bolt like Harry Potter, but it just didn't seem like a fitting name. I wonder why she is so taken with you." The shopkeeper mused.
The shop door opened and Ginny and her parents walked in. She looked from the kitten to Harry and back, "She looks just like you Harry," she whispered taking the gorgeous black cat from him. The kitten purred and batted at Ginny's hair playfully.
"Well I'll be that cat hasn't been nice to a single person until you two walked in." The owner said smiling. "You must be who she was waiting for."
"I love her," Ginny said smiling at the little black cat in her arms. "This is the pet I want mum, I couldn't let someone else have a cat that looks so much like Harry here." She laughed.
"If she's like me then she's been looking for a good home, and I'm sure she'll love you Gin." Harry said petting the purring kitten in her arms.
"She's a magical cat," The owner told her, "She'll never get any bigger, and she'll always look like a kitten. Her parents were very intelligent cats with different magic abilities. She hasn't showed any of her abilities, but I know they're in there."
The Weasleys paid the woman for the cat and bought Ginny a carrier for her as well. "We're going to dinner; can we come by and pick her up afterwards?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Sure. I'm open late. Besides I want to say my goodbyes to her. She is the most unique cat I've ever sold. I wanted to keep her, but she doesn't want me." The lady said bidding them farewell.
They all headed for Le Wiz, Remus had made reservations so they were seated right way. "Wow!" Hermione said as they were led to their large table.
"It's magnificent." Mrs. Weasley said as she took her seat. They all ordered and were talking happily before they were interrupted.
"If it isn't Potty and the Weasels," Drawled Draco Malfoy sneering at their table.
"Malfoy." Harry said he knew Malfoy wouldn't try anything in public. "Is there something we can help you with?"
"I didn't know they let trash like you into a place like this." Draco said, "Are you going to have to sell your house to pay the bill?" He laughed at Ron and his family.
"We are having a nice meal here Draco; I would suggest you go join your mother before she gets lonely. I'm sure it's difficult for her with your father in prison." Remus said trying to avoid an altercation. Draco just glared and then stalked off.
Draco sat across the restaurant at a table with his mother. He kept staring at Potter and his friends. He wouldn't let anyone know, but he wished his family was as caring as the Weasleys. They had seven children and treated them all with kindness and love as well as embracing Harry and Hermione as one of their own. Then there was Professor Lupin, his father had told him that Lupin and James Potter were friends. Harry had more people that cared about him than Malfoy could ever imagine. He wished he had someone that cared about him. His father never cared about him and his mother only cared about money. He hated Potter; he had everything Draco had ever wanted. And to top it all off, he had two beautiful women with him. He recognized one as the Weasley girl, who would have thought she would have turned out so well and the other was a woman he had never seen. She had long flowing blonde hair, purple eyes, a very pretty face and she actually looked good in hot pink robes. She was gorgeous. Draco also noted that she was sitting very close to Remus Lupin. "I bet she doesn't know he's a werewolf!" He said watching her excuse herself to the powder room. He got up and followed her.
"You are too beautiful a woman to be with a creature like Remus Lupin," He said cutting her off on her way to the bathroom door. "You deserve someone who can treat you the way you deserve. My name is Draco Malfoy." He said kissing her hand, "And I can give you everything you've ever dreamed of."
"I'm" Tonks said thinking fast, using her real name would get her nowhere, she might be able to get information out of the little Malfoy, "I'm Amanda Theodore," she smiled at him, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Malfoy."
"I think you should join me for dinner this Friday evening, we could be very good together." He told her using his Malfoy charm, women never said no to him.
"I would have to make sure Remus hasn't made plans for us first," She fake laughed, pretending to seem sad at the thought.
"Oh, you won't be able to be with him on Friday, that's the full moon. I wouldn't want a beautiful woman like you to be hurt by him." Draco said pausing for effect, "I'm sure he's mentioned that he's a werewolf and is not safe around the full moon."
"Werewolf?" Tonks said putting on her best 'scared' face and feigning innocence.
"Oh, he didn't tell you." Draco said pretending to be sympathetic. "Let me help you forget about him.
"I would love to meet you. I'm staying at the Leaky Caldron; you can pick me up at 7 on Friday." She said batting her eyelashes. Draco smiled, he knew he could win her away from his pathetic ex-teacher.
"He was too old for you; let me show you what kind of life you could have with me." Draco said kissing her hand again, "until Friday." He said and went back to his table.
Tonks headed back to her table. "We need an Order meeting, I just talked to Malfoy." She whispered without moving her lips. "I need to pretend I'm having a bad time and leave early. Get the meeting set up."
Remus looked confused but agreed. He was surprised when she stood up and said fairly loudly, "I don't think we should see each other anymore, you're just not the man I thought you were." She winked quickly before walking out of the restaurant. She went to the Leaky Caldron and got 'Amanda Theodore' a room for the week.
Remus pretended to be confused and hurt; he could see Malfoy smirking across the restaurant. Harry understood that it was all and act, and figured it was for Malfoy's sake so he moved to the seat next to Remus and put his arm around his shoulder for show. They had been finished with their meal before Tonks went to the bathroom, so they finished their drinks and left quickly.
"What was all that about?" Ron asked when they got back, Remus ran off to call an Order meeting.
"I'm sure Tonks will explain as soon as the Order is here." Molly told him. "You should all go and change out of your dress robes before they get here." They went up the stairs, Ginny and Harry in the back.
"I hope you had fun tonight." Harry said to her, "You looked like you belonged in that restaurant, you are so beautiful." He whispered to her so they could not be overheard. "Meet me in the drawing room at 11 pm; wear your new invisibility cloak so you don't get caught." He winked at her before going to his room to change. He wanted to talk to her in private about what was going on between them.
They all sat in the kitchen waiting once they had changed. Tonks arrived shortly after they were all assembled. "Sorry it took me so long, I was getting a room at the Leaky Caldron, and I'll explain it all at the meeting."
The Order was mostly assembled, and she told them all of her conversation with Draco Malfoy. "I thought that playing along might get us some inside information. I gave him a false name and registered under that name at the inn. Now I just want to know if I should proceed."
They voted to have her continue her charade and Dumbledore sent a few others out to set up her false identity in the ministry database. She and Remus were to come up with a believable story of how they met and their dating history. Hermione reminded her to memorize the features she was wearing now so she could make sure she duplicated them exactly.
When the meeting was over she apologized to Harry for ruining his night. "You didn't spoil anything, just be careful with Malfoy, he won't stop until he gets what he wants." He said smiling. "There is something you could do for me, sort of like a belated birthday, congratulations on Quidditch Captain kind of thing."
"What?" She asked curious to what Harry would want from her.
"I want to see the real you. Can you show me what you really look like?" He asked her, "Please."
"I'll show you and Remus, but nobody else but my family knows what I truly look like." She led them into the drawing-room and closed the door. She morphed into a woman with hazel eyes and medium length sandy brown hair. She has a small nose and is only about 5'5" tall. Harry thought she was perfect for Remus, exactly his type. She even looked older.
"You are beautiful." Remus said walking up to her and touching her face. "I like the real you." They stared at each other for some time, both forgetting that Harry was in the room. "I want you to promise to be careful around Draco; you know he's related to you through his mother."
"I'll be very careful, I promise." She said moving closer to him. They were practically hugging they were standing so close. "I've never shown my true self to any man before, I always wanted to save it for someone special"
"You are an amazing woman, you are smart and funny and beautiful. Why would you choose me?" He said, finally asking the question he had been dying to know.
"You make me smile, I feel safe when I'm near you. You are smart and charming and loyal. I just think you are amazing." She told him smiling. Harry knew he should leave, but he was afraid they would be embarrassed if they remembered he was there and stop what was about to happen.
Remus took her face in both hands and leaned in and kissed her. She smiled at the touch and responded. She was glad he got over his fear of their age gap; she had a feeling that he was the one for her. "You better get back to the inn before someone misses you." Remus said breaking away from the kiss. He had never been kissed like that before.
Tonks was on cloud 9, she had never been kissed like that before, with such feeling, like he was touching her soul not just her lips. "I'll see you later; I'll keep in touch about Malfoy." She said turning towards the door and laughing when she saw Harry sitting on a sofa with a smirk on his face. "Keep an eye on him for me Harry."
"Oops." Was all Remus had to say with a shrug. They both laughed hard and Harry told him that he was glad.
"I told you that Tonks was a nice woman." Harry laughed, "I'm glad to see you working on finding me a mum."
Harry went and lay down in bed waiting for 11 when he would see Ginny.