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"It's good to see you again." Deanna smiled widely at the house-elves who greeted her just as cheerfully. It had been too busy for her to visit the kitchens due to homework, but thankfully, she could have some time now. Also, it was because her father was out often these days so she decided to go to the kitchens this time. She was worried about him especially after Hannah had gone out of Hogwarts because her mother was reported to be found dead. Everything was growing darker and she could only hope her father was fine. She knew he could handle himself but she was a daughter. She couldn't stop worrying.

"So how have you all been?"

As they brought her a plate of hotdogs and a glass of chocolate milk, Deanna conversed with them as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time, but that was the truth. She did miss them badly and she treated them as her friends.

"Don't worry. The next time I come, I'll make sure to bring you all some Butterbeer. And we'll have a party." Deanna let out a small chuckle at the happiness in their voices as they cheered and chanted her name. They were like the siblings Deanna never had.

"Oh, Deanna, you're here?" Eleanor smiled widely and made her way to Deanna, giving the older Hufflepuff a hug.

"That I am, Eleanor. Hello to you too, Jem, Noah." The house-elves left Deanna alone with the trio of Hufflepuffs, letting them catch up with each other. Fifth year was a busy year. Deanna knew that because she often had to stay up late to complete her homeworks, and it seemed like it was also taking its toll too on the young trio.

"Here. It's scrumptious, and they'll give you lots of energy." Deanna slid over the plate of hotdogs to them and smiled. "Fifth year's proving to be hard eh?"

"It is." Jemina started complaining. "I can't believe we have O.W.L.s after this."

"Ah, it'll pass soon." Deanna smiled slightly at their exhausted expression. "You'll get used to it. Don't worry."

"By the way, everyone's excited to see you play, Dee." Noah said excitedly. "I can't wait for tryouts this Saturday."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." Deanna grinned at them. "If you guys are trying out, I'll look forward to it then." She was a Quidditch captain now. She never thought she would ever get that position, but she didn't think she would be sleeping for 50 years as well. She would just do her best to make Hufflepuff the best team this year.

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Deanna was at the stands, watching Gryffindor's tryouts so that she knew what she would be doing on Saturday. Of course, she asked Harry for permission before she came to the Quidditch Pitch.

"Hey, Deanna." Hermione smiled slightly when the Hufflepuff jumped and blushed at the sight of her.

"Mione. Came to watch Harry and Ron?" Deanna quickly composed herself and flashed Hermione a small smile.

"Well, maybe I came for you." Hermione's smile grew wider when Deanna blushed even more.

"Stop that." Deanna crossed her arms and looked at the Quidditch pitch where Harry was now talking to some of the players. Hermione was about to apologize, but she saw the grin on Deanna's face and she grinned as well, knowing they were all right. But she raised an eyebrow when she noticed one of the boys was winking at her.

At the same time, Deanna noticed that and she sent the boy a glare, wondering why would he wink like a creep... As if Hermione liked him. She glanced at the witch beside her who was raising an eyebrow at the boy and she let out a sigh of relief. She suddenly felt bold and she reached a hand over to Hermione's face, making the Prefect blush.

"You had something there." Deanna brushed off an imaginary speck of dust from Hermione's cheeks. She glanced at the boy and smiled victoriously when he was glaring at them.

"W-What?" Hermione snapped back to her senses though her cheeks were still a dark shade of red.

"It was nothing. You're just... beautiful." Deanna smiled widely at her and inched closer to Hermione, not knowing that it was making Hermione's heart speed up more. The tryouts continued and while Hermione would read a book, Deanna would watch with all her attention on the Quidditch pitch, mumbling some comments from time to time and chuckling when Harry would get annoyed.

Soon, the book became a prop for Hermione and she would just stare at Deanna with a soft smile on her face. Deanna was wrong. She wasn't the beautiful one. It was the Boisterous Badger beside her that was beautiful. And Deanna sat up straight when it was the Keepers' tryouts.

It was Ron versus the creep from a while ago, and she clenched her fists when he winked at Hermione once more. She glanced at Hermione who was unexpectedly staring at her. Deanna couldn't help but smile and she stuck her tongue out at the furious boy.

It was Cormac McLaggen's turn and Deanna was extremely frustrated that he had saved four out of five penalties and every time he would save one, he would wink at Hermione or flash her a stupid grin that he probably thought was attractive. Of course, it wasn't.

Deanna thought that it was time to put the practice she had done on non-verbal magic to use. 'Confundus.' She was the one who laughed the loudest when McLaggen missed the Quaffle. Hermione grinned at how happy she was and somehow, it was also because of the fact that it was Deanna who had done the Confunding spell since the Hufflepuff had accidentally whispered it under her breath.

"Go Ron!" Deanna and Hermione shouted when he mounted his Cleansweep Eleven.

"Good luck!" Another voice shouted from below them, and to Deanna's surprise, it was Lavender Brown. She glanced at the entrance to the castle and there was Eleanor Edmonton with a furious glare on her face. Oblivious and slow, what a great combination.

And Deanna cheered loudly when Ron had saved the five penalties in a row. She was so happy that she even gave the person beside her a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. When she realized what she had done, Deanna immediately let go and smiled awkwardly at the flustered witch. "I'm just... happy."

"Then I'm happy too." Hermione grinned at her and pulled her down to Ron and Harry without waiting for an answer. Deanna just smiled despite the burning of her cheeks and they gave Harry and Ron big hugs. Eleanor had also ran into Ron's arms, making the Weasley smile even more.

Perhaps, Hermione's words and actions did have meaning and they meant that there was a sliver of hope for Deanna. Or maybe, they were just that of a friend's. But even if the chances were low, even if she had only a probability of 1% for Hermione to fall for her, she wouldn't change her feelings for the witch she was hugging now. Hermione was warmth and happiness. That wouldn't change.

Deanna separated from the trio and on her way to the Headmaster's office, she ran into Slughorn. "Oh, Professor Slughorn. How have you been?"

"Ah, little badger." Slughorn greeted cheerfully. "I have a dinner scheduled for later, and of course, I'd like you to come. It's been a long while since we've had dinner."

"Indeed, sir. 50 years is a long time." Deanna's remark made them both laugh. She let out a sigh. "Maybe next time, Professor. I have dinner with Pops today."

"Oh, all right then. I'll see you soon, Deanna." Slughorn waved to her and started going on his way.

Deanna suddenly remembered something and chased after him. "Professor?"

Slughorn stopped and turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I think there's someone else you should bring into your club." Deanna blushed at what she was trying to say but she continued on. "A Gryffindor? Good at Potions. Excellent even. Pre – you know who!" She whined when Slughorn was laughing at her.

"Yes... yes... A Hermione Granger?" Slughorn laughed harder when Deanna's blush grew darker. "I was planning on doing so anyways, but I'm glad you reminded me, Deanna. Well, it's not like, Miss Granger leaves your mind anyways now, does she?"

Deanna groaned and started walking away from him. "Good night, Professor!"

Slughorn chuckled and watched her go with a fatherly smile. "I'm happy for you, Deanna."

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"All right, listen up, you lot." Deanna spoke in a calm yet commanding voice while looking at the Hufflepuffs who showed up. She nodded subtly to Noah, Ernie and Justin. She didn't want the others to think she was giving them special treatment. "My name is Deanna, and I'll be Hufflepuff's captain for this year. We'll be doing some – "

"Excuse me, but where's Zacharias?" A boy cut her off with a rude tone.

Deanna raised an eyebrow. "May I ask for your name?"

"Summerby."

"Mister Summerby, as Mister Smith had announced at the end of the previous school year, he has stepped down from being Captain and had asked me to fill in for him." Deanna said calmly, but Summerby looked like he was about to pee due to the cold stare the Dumbledore had on him.

"B-But why you?"

"Summerby..." Ernie said with a dangerous tone, and the other Hufflepuffs had also glared at him. Summerby had suddenly felt embarrassed at their gazes and he was about to apologize when Deanna spoke up.

"How about this? I know some of you may think the same way as Mr. Summerby here." Deanna smiled slightly when some of them looked away from her. "So, to prove that I am worthy of being Team Captain, I'll catch the Snitch faster than Mr. Summerby. Will that be all right?"

"W-What?" Summerby stuttered and looked at the other Hufflepuffs for help, but they were just avoiding his gaze. Deanna was scary if she wanted to be, and they wouldn't want to do anything to anger her.

"It will be my way too of checking if I'll be taking you as Seeker or not, yeah? If I lose, I'll make you Captain and tryout with the rest." Deanna smiled slightly and picked up one of the old brooms of the school. But that broom was Aries' broom and she knew that despite it looking so old, it still had power and style.

"Wow, Deanna sure is a leader." Ron muttered to Hermione, Harry, Susan, Jemina and Eleanor. The five of them sat in the stands while watching the tryouts for Hufflepuff.

"And she's a good player too." Jemina supplied while watching Deanna mount her broom. Hermione could only watch with a slightly open mouth because seeing Deanna commanding the Quidditch pitch was definitely making Hermione's heart skip a beat.

"Ready? Get set, go!" Ernie released the Golden Snitch into the air and Summerby was faster since the Nimbus outflew the Oakshaft, but despite that, Deanna was just starting. She suddenly stopped in the middle of the pitch and closed her eyes, making everyone look at her in confusion.

"Why did she stop?" Eleanor asked. Before anyone could answer, Deanna suddenly soared up towards Summerby who was a few inches away from the Snitch. Just as his hand was about to clasp upon the Snitch, Deanna zoomed past him with her hand outstretched... finally, the Snitch was in her hands.

"Wow." That was the only word Hermione had let out while Deanna flew down to the ground where the rest of the Hufflepuffs were clapping wildly for her. Seeing Deanna fly was different from seeing Harry or Ron fly. She looked like a phoenix who had spread her wings and soared above them. She fit in naturally.

"Hey, Summerby." Deanna called out to him who was about to leave the Pitch. "I didn't say you could leave yet, now, did I?" Summerby flushed in embarrassment but he did not say a word and went back to the rest of the Hufflepuffs. Deanna smiled widely at them. "Now, let's start tryouts, shall we?"

And after a few matches...

"All right. We're done now." Deanna smiled at them. "For the Chasers, we have MacMillan, Finch-Fletchley and Macavoy. For the Seeker, Summerby. For the Beaters, Knight and I. And for Keeper, we have Scamander. We'll have our practice next Friday, that's all. Thank you."

Everyone thanked Deanna and started leaving the pitch. None of them had any objections to that because Deanna did increase the difficulty when it came to her friends, and Ernie, Justin and Noah had passed every test she threw at them. Ernie, Justin and Noah came to her excitedly.

"I didn't know you could play like that, Dee." Ernie jumped up and down. "You could play the whole team by yourself!"

"Of course not." Deanna laughed at his remark. "I'm just a little good, but once we start working as a team, we'll be better."

"I know we'll do good, Dee." Noah grinned at her.

"You're a great captain." Justin gave her a pat on the back.

"Thank you. Now, go get some rest, yeah?" Deanna gave them pats on the shoulders and made her way to the bottom of the stands where her friends were.

"You were great, Dee." Susan gave her a hug and went to Ernie and Justin. Jemina and Eleanor also congratulated her as they made their way to Noah, and she was left alone with Hermione, Ron and Harry.

"You've been holding back on me, Dumbledore." Ron said teasingly.

"Ah, I'm offended, Weasley, I've never done so." Deanna gasped exaggeratedly, making the four of them laugh.

"I'll be looking forward to Hufflepuff then, Deanna." Harry held his hand out for a shake.

Deanna shook it firmly with a grin. "Ah, lions versus badgers. Can't wait." Harry and Ron laughed once more before bidding farewell and leaving the two girls alone. Deanna turned to Hermione who was surprisingly smiling up at her with that soft smile that made Deanna's heart speed up.

"You smell." Hermione teased her before taking a handkerchief out of her pocket and leaning in closer to Deanna. The scent of fire embers, grass and chocolate milk overwhelmed her once more, but she kept her composure and started dabbing at Deanna's sweat gently.

Deanna blushed at the small distance between them, but soon, she found herself lost in Hermione's delicate features. From her bushy hair to her warm brown eyes to her plump lips that were closed tight in concentration. Everything about Hermione was beautiful and Deanna wondered what she had done to be able to witness this beauty.

Hermione could only blush at the soft gaze Deanna had on her as she continued wiping away the badger's sweat. After what seemed to be a long time, Hermione had finally finished and pulled away despite the disappointment that bubbled in her. Instead, she took Deanna's gloved hand and smiled. "Let's go?"

"Y-Yeah." Deanna intertwined their fingers through her glove while they set on their way towards the castle with shy smiles and small talks. These actions and words she and Hermione exchanged? She would never understand them, but they gave her hope. Hope was all she had when it came to understanding Hermione's feelings, but that was enough. This was enough.

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"Where is she?" Hermione was sulking the whole day because it was her birthday yet the person she wanted to see the most was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, lighten up, Hermione. You have us anyways." Ron tried cheering her up, but Hermione just sank into her seat even more. Did she perhaps forget? Or was she even alright? Hermione couldn't help but worry about the Hufflepuff. What if something had happened to her? Or what if something happened to Dumbledore? After all, he wasn't that present anymore these days. Maybe, the two of them had a mission that went array.

Harry and Ron, on the other hand, were signaling to each other. The two of them were checking their watches from time to time as Deanna had told them to do so. They would alternate between comforting Hermione and asking each other silently if it was time. And finally, the clock struck 8. Harry and Ron stood up simultaneously, making Hermione look at them in confusion.

"Hey, don't you want to see the house-elves? It had been a long time since we've been to the kitchens." Harry said hurriedly.

"What?" Hermione repeated as she was still confused.

"Come on, Hermione." Ron pulled her up and started tugging her with them. "Let's get some food there to celebrate." Hermione just sighed and gave in, letting them pull her to the kitchens. Harry and Ron shared a sly smile behind her back. Their plan was working, and they just hoped Deanna was all ready when they arrived.

The trio arrived at the kitchens, and Harry and Ron motioned Hermione to tickled the pear. The Prefect rolled her eyes but she tickled the pear anyways and started her way down the stairs. And a small gasp escaped her lips once she arrived in the kitchens.

There was Deanna Dumbledore with the soft smile and a sunflower in her hand, wearing her school robes. The house-elves were dressed in small tuxedos, and they were also smiling at Hermione for the first time. Deanna walked towards Hermione slowly and held out the sunflower to her. "Happy birthday, Mione."

Hermione took the sunflower and the Hufflepuff in her arms. "Thank you. I thought you forgot."

"How could I ever forget?" Deanna chuckled lightly. "You're unforgettable, you are."

With red cheeks, Hermione pulled away and relaxed into Deanna's hand that caressed her cheek gently. Deanna's hand slid down from her cheek down to Hermione's shoulder and down her arm until it reached Hermione's hand, her touch leaving sparks where it had gone.

"Now, come on." Deanna pulled her to the couch and took a box from behind it. "For you."

"Thank you, Deanna. Just having the house-elves smile at me was enough." Deanna chuckled with her before motioning her to open it.

Hermione laughed lightly and opened the carefully wrapped present. A smile immediately spread across her face because there was a phoenix stuffed toy inside. She sniffed it and immediately smelled the same scent of fire embers, grass and chocolate milk. The same scent of the nervous phoenix in front of her.

"I love it. Thank you." Hermione squeezed Deanna's hand and smiled.

"It was my first toy." Deanna mumbled nervously before she too smiled back at Hermione. "I'm glad you liked it. Happy birthday."

Indeed, if you would ask Hermione to choose which was her favorite birthday, she would choose her 17th birthday because she had Deanna, her friends, a letter from her parents... she had everything. And hopefully, the next birthday she had, Deanna wasn't only her friend anymore, but something more.

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