Pranks or Bullying

"Neville, there will be some things happening over the next few days that you may not understand, but please believe me when I say that any plans we have will always include you and Luna." He turned toward the Ravenclaw girl. "Luna, you can trust Neville with your life; he will never let you down and is the true definition of a friend."

Neville and Luna looked at each other, both wearing shy smiles; tellingly, they didn't break eye contact until Hermione came from behind the medical screen flashing her 'new' smile. Harry pulled out his wand and a couple of plaques appeared above two beds, one read Snape while the other had Malfoy printed on it, "Just making reservations in case the ward gets busy." They could all see Harry wasn't joking.

The quartet left the infirmary to be confronted by a quintet of riled redheads, Ron wasn't pleased not to be part of the group in front of them, Ginny wasn't pleased that Hermione and Luna were, the twins were seriously miffed at being called bullies while Percy 'head boy' Weasley wasn't sure why he was upset, he just knew he was. Percy looked as if he'd just let go with a wet fart onto his starched underwear, the problem was of his own making but in typical Weasley fashion he wanted to blame somebody else for his mess.

Ron was attempting rightful indignation, but just sounded like a ginger whinger. "Harry, I thought I was your best friend. What are you playing at slagging off Gryffindor?"

"Ron, I have only one best friend," he pulled Hermione closer as both of them lost themselves in a kiss that had all the watchers speechless. The couple were still looking lovingly into each other's eyes when Harry spoke again. "I wasn't slagging Gryffindor, I was calling out the twins for their bullying."

The Weasleys protested en mass, but that was cut short when a spell hit the twins, transforming one into a greasy git and the other into darling Draco, what really turned everyone's stomachs was that they then proceeded to re-enact the kiss that Harry and Hermione had shared the minute before.

When the spell wore off both twins looked ready to commit murder but Harry silently summoned their wands before commentating on the prank. "Some people might think that was extremely funny, some extremely sick. Was it a prank or was it bullying? It all depends on your point of view. From my point of view that was a pre-emptive strike. These people here are my friends and under my protection, if anything happens to them, Dumbledore and Trelawney will be 'getting it on' on top of the Gryffindor table some lunchtime. Do I make myself clear?"

Both twins reluctantly nodded, Harry handed them back their wands before walking away with his arm round Hermione's waist, Hermione waited till they were passing Ginny before returning the gesture and leaning her head on Harry's shoulder. She nearly lost it to laughter when she heard Harry's voice in her mind 'you really are a little minx'. Neville and Luna looked toward each other, shrugged and followed the couple down the corridor.

The four ended up in an empty classroom as Neville was brought up to speed with the same information Luna had, he was delighted at the news of their betrothal. Harry and Hermione were giving classes a miss, but the other two had to go.

Remus Lupin was packing when Hermione and Harry entered. His eyebrows shot up as the couple proceeded to dispense locking and silencing charms. "What have you heard, Remus?" asked Harry.

"I haven't really heard anything. Albus just smiled when I asked him how he managed to save Sirius." He was astounded at Hermione's heated reply.

"That's because the old bastard did nothing to help Sirius, he wanted him kissed so Harry wouldn't have a godfather and would need to rely on the old tosser for support. We saved Sirius but wouldn't tell the old coot anything."

"I proclaimed myself head of House Potter and we think Dumbledore is trying to get it reversed to have me under his control, my betrothed and I can't allow that to happen under any circumstances. We need your help to get to Gringotts as something there is very wrong," said Harry.

Remus saw the rings appear on the youngsters' fingers; he was also a marauder and knew he wasn't being told the full story but here was the son of one best friend who, along with his betrothed, had just saved the life of his other best friend. "When do we leave?"

....

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