It was Friday, and Hermione again went to see Madam Pomfrey. The healer was not busy that day - no one was in the infirmary, and she was catching up on her notes. Madam Pomfrey was a very experienced and wise healer. She had been dealing with students and their problems for decades. She listened as Hermione went through her story, following the line that Marietta had dreamed up for her. She noted with interest that Hermione's demeanor did not match her reported symptoms. While reporting the classic signs of depression, and on the surface seeming rather down, Madam Pomfrey detected the hope and optimism that lay beneath. Nobody's fool, Madam Pomfrey knew she was being had - she only was unsure as to why. Hermione reached the point in her narrative where she hinted at some terrible secret that was weighing her down. Hermione paused, waiting for the inevitable invitation to continue with her story, but none was forthcoming. Madam Pomfrey maintained her attentive silence. Hermione stumbled over her words, and again alluded to being troubled. Again silence from Madam Pomfrey. Hermione felt uncomfortable, and finally said she was reluctant to tell all to Madam Pomfrey - she was embarrassed. Would Madam Pomfrey keep this a secret? "That depends, my dear," said the healer to Hermione's dismay. "If what you are about to tell me is for the purpose of getting medical assistance, then of course. But if there is some other purpose, well, that's another matter entirely." Things were not going according to plan. The healer noted a change in Hermione's demeanor. There was no longer any hint of optimism. Instead, Madam Pomfrey could detect signs of panic. This was interesting - the problem wasn't the so-called depression, but rather the secret itself. Hermione tried to think, but she was having trouble figuring out what to do next. She had never imagined that Marietta's plan would not work. She had not thought through what she would do if her discussion with the healer did not quite go as expected. Hermione was in the highly unusual situation (for her) of being unprepared. Madam Pomfrey waited patiently as Hermione collected her thoughts. After a long pause, Hermione decided to proceed as planned. The goal was to cure Marietta, and saving her own skin was secondary. Once she had established this in her own mind, she knew what she had to do. Now Madam Pomfrey saw a genuinely distressed Hermione, tearfully launching into what was a sad tale indeed. Sad for Hermione, but entirely familiar to Madam Pomfrey - "The Story of the Curse Gone Bad" was not unknown at Hogwarts, and every now and again she had to deal with the consequences of a hex or a jinx that got out of hand. She was amused that she hadn't seen this coming - Hermione was one of the best students she'd ever seen, and it hadn't occurred to her Hermione would do something so foolish. But as the story continued to unfold, Madam Pomfrey's mild amusement changed to alarm as she listed to Hermione explain in some detail the unsuccessful attempt she and Marietta had made to cure the curse. The whole story unfolded, and it was much, much worse than Madam Pomfrey had imagined. Finally Hermione finished. Madam Pomfrey was enraged. She'd tried so very hard at the end of term the previous year to cure Marietta, but had made no headway whatsoever. If only Marietta had given her some hint about who was responsible - the problem could have been solved so easily. "You foolish, headstrong girl! Yes, you are the most powerful witch of your year, but there is a tremendous amount you do not know. Everything you have done has been a mistake, other than your decision finally to come to me for help. Among your many errors was your assumption that I, like Marietta, was a snitch. No, Hermione, you have no need to fear - I'm not calling the Ministry, nor would I if you'd come to me at the end of term last year like you should have. Your next error was deciding that you would tackle this on your own. Your third error was assuming that your new indexing charm would give you access to all the materials you needed." "What?" said Hermione. "But the entire library of Hogwarts is now in the cube! And Hogwarts is the biggest library in the wizarding world!" "Yes, Hermione, we all know that. After all, it's in 'Hogwarts - A History'." Hermione blushed, knowing that she was being mocked. Madam Pomfrey continued. "It is quite evident to me that a large section of the library is missing from your searchable index. It is a section with which you are no doubt almost entirely unfamiliar. It is commonly referred to as -" "The Restricted Section!" gasped Hermione in horror. "Do you mean that my charm didn't manage to index that?" "No!" said Madam Pomfrey mockingly. "Of course not. You are under-aged. Powerful charms deny you access to the restricted section. Do you seriously think your teenage magic would defeat these defences?" "I just thought it would index everything under its spell," said Hermione sheepishly. "Well, you thought wrong. And the result is an unmitigated disaster. You stumbled across a description of the Reconcilio Ritual. But in the unrestricted section, the description of this and other rituals is incomplete, even misleading, and deliberately so! I have much to tell you, but to avoid having to repeat myself, go fetch Marietta. Get her out of class if you must - here's a note if you need it (she hastily scribbled on a piece of scrap parchment) - and bring her back immediately." Hermione scurried off. She hadn't been chastised since first year, when she'd been caught out of her dormitory after hours. She could feel her face burning from shame as she gave the note to the Ancient Runes instructor. "What's going on?" asked Marietta as Hermione hastily led her away. "Madam Pomfrey knows everything, and she is not happy. She says I really messed up, and was about to explain in more detail, when she told me to get you so that she wouldn't have to tell everything all over again." The two girls arrived at the infirmary, breathless from talking nonstop about what was going on while at the same time running through the halls. During the interval, Madam Pomfrey had had time to gather her thoughts. She received the girls in her office, motioning them to sit down on the couch across from her desk. "Hermione's told you that I know everything about what's happened, and that no one is going to Azkaban any time soon?" Marietta's head bobbed up and down. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, I was really worried Hermione would get in trouble." "No need for you to stop worrying, my dear, there's plenty of trouble for both of you ahead. No, you're not going to be punished, at least not officially, but you have quite an ordeal ahead of you. Listen with the utmost attention while I explain. "You girls are the top two students of your year, and yet never have I seen such a botched attempt at fixing a mistake, and I've been a Healer for a long, long time. "I'm glad you two are friends now - at least you accomplished one of the necessary steps of the ritual. But due to your failure to gain access to the restricted section, your entire method of attack was ill conceived. Hermione, the description of the Reconcilio Ritual you read is simply wrong. "It was written by a wizard who was very popular in his day - he sold a lot of books. But that is all that can be said of him. He was a dunce. One can only wonder how much harm he did before the Ministry forbade him to publish. His books are in our library only because more knowledgeable wizards find them amusing. Do you recall the description in his text of the use of the ritual?" "Yes," answered Hermione at once. Now she was on familiar ground, and with her flawless memory, she repeated almost verbatim the description of the Ritual she had read. "What you don't know is that the author of the text himself heard the story of the Ritual only second-hand. He didn't know the parties involved, nor did he bother to enquire. If he had, he would have discovered an important detail. The "cursor" and the "cursee" were husband and wife. This is a very significant fact." Marietta and Hermione sat in silence, eager to know more. "Many, many of our charms and potions are very ancient, and were originally intended for domestic purposes. Most of the Rituals are rooted in family relationships, the Adoption and Disownment rituals being two other examples. There is a whole category of spells intended to assist in repairing or enhancing the marriage bond. The Reconcilio Ritual is one of these. "It is very powerful magic, and has enabled many a magical couple to recover from what Muggles call 'irreconcilable differences.' You were correct to identify this Ritual as a cure. You were correct to understand that punishment had to be meted out to the offender, so that forgiveness would follow. But what you were ignorant of is the reason why forgiveness was necessary." Hermione protested. "But the book said forgiveness was necessary so that the "cursor" and "cursee" would be able to work together to perform a number of difficult charms!" "That's what it said," replied Madam Pomfrey, "and it is indeed true, but it is a grossly oversimplified truth. And the author's description of the charms involved is utterly fallacious. I think he simply made them up. Shall I tell you now what the parties must forgive each other? Shall I explain why the ritual is simpler and easier than you ever imagined?" The two girls nodded enthusiastically. "Forgiveness is the first stage of a two-stage ritual, the second stage being this, that having forgiven each other, the cursed and the cursor are then able to complete the ritual by making love to one another." This explanation was met with stunned silence. After a very long pause, Marietta spoke up. "But this means that we can't complete the ritual. We're not married." "I have news for you, you silly girl. You don't have to be legally married to use the Ritual. Another bit of news for you is that you have come to me rather late. Had you come at start of term, there is an entirely different cure I could have used, as you know. But I cannot commence this course of treatment now - you are in mid-ritual." "What are you saying??" asked Hermione, distraught at where the discussion was heading. "It's quite simple," replied the healer. "You and Marietta are going to be lovers. Not repeatedly, if you don't want to be. But at least once you shall make passionate love to one another." Madam Pomfrey could see that Hermione was aghast at the thought, whereas Marietta was unperturbed. This was not a complete surprise to the healer. A year before Marietta had come to her, suffering from rectal pain. - a simple fissure which was easily cured. But it was quite odd to find such an ailment in one so young and otherwise healthy. When questioned, Marietta was unabashed and straightforward. The injury was the result of a bout of lovemaking with her girlfriend Luna, who at Marietta's urging had tried to insert more fingers than usual in Marietta's anus. Madame Pomfrey had suggested to Marietta that she be a little more circumspect in her sexual activities, avoiding anything that might do injury. Hermione she'd treated as well, when she came to the infirmary worried that she was carrying Viktor Krum's baby. But there was no pregnancy. Madam Pomfrey had diagnosed that Hermione's symptoms were hysterical, brought on by her emotional turmoil over the fact that Viktor would soon be going home, and her guilt over having, in her mind, betrayed Ron. Hermione had given Madam Pomfrey a brief account of the repeated couplings of the two, which it seemed Hermione had thoroughly enjoyed (had Marietta asked when Hermione was under the influence of the truth serum, she would have learned that she and Viktor had spent a lot of time together after the night of the dance. They'd coupled like rabbits the rest of the term, and managed to meet over the summer.). "I cannot stress how important it is for you to not only to make a real effort, but to succeed! A Ritual can only be completed by success. It is for this reason that they are so dangerous, for a wizard who undertakes a ritual lightly, lacking the requisite skill to complete it, will find himself stuck in limbo, perhaps forever." Hermione spoke, her voice barely a whisper, because she dreaded the answer. "Could you tell us what you mean by 'success', in this instance?" "Of course, my dear. You and Marietta cannot merely go through the motions. You must bring each other to orgasm. It is the orgasm that marks the true conclusion of the ritual, without which all your efforts mean nothing." The larger part of Hermione's mind was taken up with the horror of what was being proposed, but she had enough of her brain still functioning to ask a question that had been nagging at her since Madam Pomfrey began lecturing them. "The Persevero charm - it showed that our first step had failed, whereas you're telling us that our first part of the Ritual was correct. How can this be?" Madam Pomfrey smiled. "Hermione, remember again the source of your information about the Persevero - where did you learn of this?" "From the same source as the Reconcilio . . ." - Hermione's voice faded away. "Exactly. You learned about it from the same dimwit. The Persevero charm is very useful in Rituals, but what your source didn't know was that it means different things in different contexts. In the context of the Reconcilio Ritual, which consists of only two charms (punishment and forgiveness, followed by love making and orgasm), the Persevero charm assumes a different meaning than it does in longer, complex rituals. "In the context of the Reconcilio Ritual, the Persevero charm is very useful indeed, but not as your stupid author thought. You girls are perhaps too young to know this, but there are those who fake orgasms. The purpose of Persevero when used in Reconcilio is to determine whether both parties have truly orgasmed. If either or both fails to orgasm, the charm shows red. In this case, you had not even started love making, and thus no other result was possible." Marietta had also been listening carefully. "You said that lovemaking and orgasm is a 'charm'?" "You heard me correctly." "But that doesn't make any sense! What's magical about lovemaking? Muggles do it all the time!" "All people are magical. It's merely a question of degree. Squibs, for instance, are incapable of performing magic, yet they see things that Muggles cannot, such as ghosts and dementors. Squibs are therefore more magical than Muggles, but much less so than Wizards and Witches. The act of lovemaking is a charm of great power that all the higher order animals can perform. Lovemaking and orgasm are a part of numerous charms, as you may learn after you leave Hogwarts. "We can't teach that here, of course - the parents would go crazy. But you two are now Hogwart's first official exception to the rule." Madam Pomfrey was already looking forward to writing a paper on this - it would make a big splash in The Healer's Journal, with no names mentioned, of course. Hermione was not taking this very well. She accepted in an intellectual sense what she was supposed to do and what was expected of her, but at an emotional level she was not looking forward to getting into bed with Marietta and being with her as she had with Viktor. She had difficulty picturing exactly what two women were supposed to do with each other. She supposed Marietta could lick her as Viktor had done, but the thought made her ill. "Madam Pomfrey," said Hermione, "I don't want to be with a woman. I just don't! How is Marietta supposed to make me orgasm if I feel sick to my stomach?" But Marietta interuppted, and after getting Hermione's permission, repeated what she'd learned of Hermione's sexuality from their session with veritaserum. "Hermione," said the healer, "the truth potion never fails. You are quite capable of making love to a woman and getting the deepest pleasure from it. As a matter of logic, one proof is enough, but if you want further proof, I shall be happy to supply it." Madam Pomfrey walked over to her cupboard and pulled out a few ingredients. She ground them with a mortar and pestle, and then tossed them into a small cauldron, adding a thick oily liquid from an ancient-looking bottle. In a matter of minutes, a potion was ready. It was a colourless, viscous solution, translucent and heavy in texture. She poured Marietta and Hermione each a small glass of the potion, and then gave them a glass of water as well. "Take some water in your mouth, swirl it around, the spit it into the potion. The potion will change colour. If you are true heterosexual, the potion will turn a deep blue, and if you are homosexual, bright pink. If you are a true bisexual (which is as rare as being at either extreme) the potion will remain its present colour. More likely the potion will be a lighter shade of blue or pink, depending on your inclination, and the depth of the colour being an indication of how far along the spectrum of sexuality you are." The girls followed these instructions, expelling the water into the potion, watching carefully as the colour changed. Hermione's turned a pale sky blue colour. Marietta's was barely tinted blue. Madame Pomfrey examined their potions carefully. "Hermione, you definitely lean towards the heterosexual, no question about it. But it is quite clear that you will have no problem enjoying relations with Marietta. And it is crystal clear that Marietta will be more than happy to reciprocate. She is not bisexual, and like you her preference is men, but I can see that in her case it is a very near thing." Marietta only smiled; she had no more forgotten her visit to the infirmary the previous year than had Madame Pomfrey. For some reason, this fresh proof did nothing to allay Hermione's concerns. "I accept that I'm supposed to be able to do it, but that doesn't mean that I will succeed. This is supposed to be natural for me, but it makes me sick." She paused for a moment, and then rushed on excitedly with a fresh thought. "I have an idea - this will work - let's use the polyjuice potion on Marietta and - " "-and make her look like a boy?" laughed the healer. "A particularly handsome one that you happen to love? I thought you might suggest this. But I recommend against it," explained Madam Pomfrey to a crestfallen Hermione. "There have been enough mistakes already without introducing a potion as complex and powerful as the Polyjuice. I am not saying your idea won't work - it might. It just might. But it would be a serious mistake to take the risk. No, I don't want to give you a love potion either," said Madam Pomfrey as Hermione opened her mouth again, "nor will I give you an aphrodisiac. No. But there is something else I can give you to help you get through this." Hermione had hung her head when her Polyjuice idea dashed, but now she looked up expectantly. Madam Pomfrey continued. "Hermione, you find it annoying that the wizarding world has no respect for Muggle learning. A common mistake in our community - I share your feelings. So I am pleased to tell you that in this instance, there is an ancient Muggle remedy of proven effect." And with this, Madam Pomfrey waived her wand, conjured up a bottle, and passed it to Hermione, who examined it carefully. "This is champagne! It's just wine!" "It is alcohol, a substance described by Muggle scientists as a "disinhibitor". I can give you anything you like - from red to white, dry to sweet, or a liquor such as Bailey's Irish Cream - whatever you prefer. I simply chose champagne because the charm you are about to perform on each other is a celebration, the oldest celebration in the world, and I thought champagne fitting for the occasion." Hermione looked dubiously at the bottle. She hoped it would help. The last dinner at home before start of term she'd had a bit too much to drink and had even been a bit silly - unheard of for her. Maybe, just maybe, the champagne would do the trick. It would have to. Then she hoped it wouldn't, because if it worked, it meant she might be a lesbian. But no, she wasn't - it was all too confusing. She turned to Marietta, who moved closer to her on the couch. She took one of Hermione's hands in hers. "Hermione, I promise you that we will be fine. This is not like an exam you must prepare for. You don't have to know anything, you don't have to do anything - I know enough about this for both of us. For once you don't have to be the leader - I'll lead you, I'll take care of you." Hermione looked up at her much taller friend. Marietta's husky voice had made this little speech in a low murmur, and she had spoken the very words Hermione needed to hear. As with Viktor, Hermione needed not to be in control. She had to be able to shift the responsibility from herself, and Marietta was helping her do this. There was a very long pause. "O.K. Marietta. I'll try." Hermione managed a smile. "I guess it's back to the Room of Requirement tonight." It was a Friday and with no classes the next day, Hermione figured they might as well get it over with. "Good luck, girls," said Madam Pomfrey. "I'd like to see you both tomorrow afternoon." The girls started to leave, when she added, "Put that champagne in this bag - you don't want a professor to see you with it, even though you have my permission. I'm sure you'd hate to have to explain why I prescribed it for you." Hermione and Marietta left the infirmary together. Marietta had to struggle to conceal her feelings from her friend. A rush of excitement had run through her as they were leaving Madam Pomfrey - she was going to make love to Hermione! She wondered what she'd be like in the nude. She'd only ever been with one other girl before. What would it be like with someone else? But Marietta didn't want Hermione to realize just how eager she was to find out. She knew that she had to avoid making Hermione any more nervous than she was. They went their separate ways - the next class was about to start. Hermione's thoughts were in such a whirl that she had trouble focusing in Charms. She didn't earn her house a single point (almost unheard of) because she wasn't listening to Professor Flitwick. Finally Ron snapped her out of her reverie. "Blimey, Hermione what's with you? He told us to partner up. We have to practice!" Hermione wanted very much to partner up with Ron, but not in Charms. Hermione had no idea of what they were supposed to be practicing, and Ron had to explain. But Ron was no substitute for a Charms professor, and she had difficulty interpreting Ron's incomplete explanations and vague gesticulations - her mind kept returning to the same thought: in a few hours, she would be with Marietta, in the Room of Requirement. She couldn't get the image of Marietta's breasts out of her head. She thought too of the crimson triangle between Marietta's legs, her sultry voice, her beautiful behind - the thoughts went on and on. Hermione merely went through the motions the rest of the day, and during dinner, Harry and Ron remarked on how distracted she looked. "What's wrong, Hermione?" asked Harry. "I don't think I've ever seen you like this. You'd think you were under the Imperius curse or something." Hermione explained that she was simply very tired from working on Marietta's cure - things weren't going as smoothly as they ought to, and there was much more to do, and she wasn't sure if she would succeed. This was as near as the truth Hermione could get, and it felt good to at least partially tell her friends about what was going on. Harry and Ron reminded her that she'd never failed at anything. Hermione was glad Ron and Harry believed in her. She especially liked hearing Ron's compliments about her abilities. She really wished that it was Ron who was joining her that evening in the Room of Requirement. She glanced covertly at his lean, muscular frame, his large hands, the way he held his head. She loved everything about him, and yet he was such a dunce. Lavender Brown, indeed! Why would he take up with that silly tart? But she knew why. Lavender had set out to make Ron attracted to her, and if she fancied him, why shouldn't she? And if Hermione was foolish enough to let her, then that was Hermione's fault. This only made Hermione angry with herself and Ron, and she suddenly excused herself and left the Great Hall, heading for the dormitory so that she could be alone with her thoughts, leaving Harry and Ron to puzzle for the umpteenth time over how strange girls were - there was no figuring them out - bonkers, the lot of them. The event scheduled for that night in the Room of Requirement would have been the biggest story of the year in Hogwarts, had it been known, but as usual the boys had no idea what was going on around them Never had her love for Ron been such a burden to Hermione. She had adored him since first year. Both Ron and Harry had saved Hermione from the troll, but it was Ron she'd worshiped afterwards. Ron in Charms class had been hopeless at performing the levitation charm, but when called upon to save her, he'd performed it effortlessly, with far greater power than Hermione was capable of even now, five years later. She knew Ron had tremendous latent power, and would be a formidable wizard one day. He needed to get out from under the shadow of his older brothers. However annoying Ron could be, she knew that if she needed him, he would always be there for her. She wished Ron would simply take her. There was nothing she possessed that she could not give to Ron if he asked it - except her virginity. At times she felt real sadness that she could not give this to the man she loved. She'd refused to allow Viktor to have anal sex with her - she could give Ron that much at least. She hoped that Ron was bigger than Viktor, for this would mean he would explore depths within her that Viktor could not reach. And she also had a way to at least make Ron believe he was taking her virginity - she would be able to give him that much, at least, thanks to Madam Pomfrey. She'd had to see the healer near the end of fourth year - her period was late, and she was convinced she was carrying Viktor's child. This would not have surprised her - they'd fucked every chance they got after the first encounter, and invariably Hermione found herself begging him to cum inside her. But when thought she might be pregnant, she was terrified. Madam Pomfrey had examined her, and assured her that she wasn't pregnant. She explained that one significant difference between Muggle woman and witches was that a witch would not become pregnant unless she truly wanted to be. Witches simply did not have unwanted pregnancies. If they did become pregnant, but then for some reason later did not want the child (a witch could sense if her fetus was deformed or a squib), they were also able to spontaneously abort if they chose to, provided the pregnancy had not progressed past six weeks. Thus Hermione had nothing to fear. A grateful Hermione confided fully in Madam Pomfrey, giving her the details of her relationship with Viktor and her feelings for Ron, and her dismay that now she would not be able to make a gift of her hymen to Ron. The healer had laughed at this, and explained that witches need have no such worries. "About five minutes after the first witch learned that men prized virginity, she learned how to restore her hymen," explained Madam Pomfrey. She explained the charm to Hermione, and they worked on it until Hermione felt able to perform it on herself. She had submitted meekly and with great embarrassment as Madam Pomfrey, after putting on a rubber glove, had inserted two fingers into her vagina to make sure the charm had worked. "Any man would think you are a virgin, Hermione, have no fear. When you marry Ron and he beds you the first time, you will feel real pain when he takes you, and you will bleed just as you did before. You won't have to pretend a thing. It will be as real as it was the first time." That very night, knowing she'd be seeing Viktor again the next day, she'd broken her new hymen with a charm- extended finger, gasping in pain as she did so. It would never have done for Viktor to find her hymen restored - Madam Pomfrey had explained that witches owed it to each other never to let men know that they could recreate their hymens. Hermione had restored her hymen again before the start of the school term, hoping that perhaps Ron would finally come to his senses. The recollection of Madam Pomfrey's fingers inside her snapped Hermione out of her reverie, and brought her back to the present. She had been disgusted when the healer's fingers had been inside her. Would Marietta's feel any better, she wondered. Hermione went to the girl's dormitory, and changed from her school robes into her pyjamas. She'd have to meet Marietta outside Ravenclaw before lights out, and then the two of them would make their way to the Room of Requirement under the safety of Harry's invisibility cloak. She had some time to distract herself, and she pulled out her cube and began to browse through Hogwart's library. She began to read a collection of biographies of great dark wizards of the past and present. There was a very interesting account of the life of one of the most evil of the dark lords, Torquemada. It was so easy for a witch or wizard to shine if he or she stepped out of the world of magic. Provided he observed wizarding law, there was no restrictions placed on a wizard who chose to live with Muggles. They weren't allowed to use magic in competitive events - that was thought to be very bad form indeed. And they were forbidden from holding themselves out as psychics, magicians, fortune tellers and so on. But this left many options open, and some wizards made the most of it. Torquemada was a bizarre man - practically a dementor in human form. While not breaking any strictures of the wizarding world, he had taken great delight in exploiting one of the Muggle's main irrational belief systems, using it to inflict incredible suffering on the followers of a different irrational belief system. He'd been shunned by the wizarding world, of course, but that hardly mattered to him. Hermione was sure he'd have been in Slytherin if he'd gone to Hogwart's. She was just beginning to read about Margaret Thatcher ('the poor are the mudbloods of the Muggle world' had been her motto) when other girls began to arrive and make themselves ready for bed. She got her wand, Harry's invisibility cloak ("Sure I'll lend it to you Hermione but you're getting worse than I am - just don't get caught, whatever you're doing) and the champagne, and when unobserved, tossed the cloak over herself and crept quietly out of the common room. She arrived on time for the rendezvous at the end of the corridor where the entrance to Ravenclaw was located. Marietta emerged on schedule, and Hermione soon observed her making her way along the hall. She was wearing a grey robe over her pink silk pyjamas, and looked absolutely stunning, with her long, thick hair loose and flowing past her shoulders, Marietta towering over the other girls and taller than almost all of the boys, apparently unconscious of the glances thrown her way as she strode down the corridor. She was almost unreal. Hermione simply stared at her in admiration and Marietta was already past her before Hermione remembered that Marietta couldn't see her. "Marietta, stop!" whispered Hermione. Marietta had the sense not to whirl around and stare at empty space. Instead, she slowed, and whispered back, "Follow me and when no one's around, I'll join you under the cloak." A few turns in Hogwart's complicated passageways and they were unobserved, and in a trice, Marietta and Hermione were next to each other under the cloak. They had to be careful because of Marietta's height. Marietta crouched a bit, and they stayed very close, their hips often touching, holding hands as they slowly made their way to the Room of Requirement. Readers may send comments to the author by email to suprapubic_cystotomy@yahoo.ca