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"Hey, Dee." The three younger Hufflepuffs sat down beside Deanna for breakfast.

"Noah, Jem, El." Deanna sent a wave to them. "How have you three been?"

"Shouldn't we be the ones asking that?" Eleanor asked, moving her eyebrows up and down.

"And I thought you said you didn't like anyone?" Jemina grinned widely when Deanna had blushed.

"T-That... I wasn't sure back then." Deanna explained sheepishly, trying to focus on her hotdogs, but she couldn't do that due to the intense stares the three younger teens had on her. She mumbled under her breath. "I just didn't want to admit it yet."

"So, you already liked her then?" Noah exclaimed happily, making Deanna shush him. He smiled sheepishly and lowered his voice to a whisper. "So you liked her since then."

"Yeah, I guess I did." Deanna finally admitted with a soft smile on her face at the thought of Hermione. She liked the Gryffindor before she even knew it, and she was just glad her tongue slipped that night of

"Hey, Deanna." Deanna turned around and saw that it was Justin who called her. "Aren't you supposed to be in Potions?"

"But today's Wednesday?" Deanna asked in confusion.

"It's Tuesday!" Jemina, Eleanor, Noah and Justin exclaimed in unison. In her confusion, Deanna checked her notebook and her eyes widened when indeed it was Tuesday.

"Damn it, bye!" Deanna waved to them, jumping out of her seat and running out of the Great Hall. She caught the attention of the people passing by at how crazy she looked, but she didn't care about what people would think of her. She was late to Potions class by more than an hour. Yes, indeed, the Boisterous Badger struck again.

"I'm here." Deanna opened the door to the dungeons and panted for air, resting her hands on her knees.

"Ah, Miss Dumbledore, you're... late." Professor Slughorn, unlike what Deanna expected, had a smile on his face. "By an hour and 15 minutes to be specific."

"I-I'm sorry, Professor." Deanna finally calmed down a bit and stood up straight with a grin. "I thought it was Wednesday today." Laughter boomed around the room, and Slughorn was the one who laughed the loudest. Deanna looked around for Hermione and saw the Granger giggling, making her grin even wider.

"Now, you have 15 minutes to make an antidote to all potions." Slughorn gave her a pat on the back. "I'm sure you'll do good. Now, get back to work, all of you."

"Thank you, Sir." Deanna smiled at him gratefully before going to her station where Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ernie were. She gave Hermione's hand a kiss. "Hey, darling."

"Hey." Hermione smiled at her before her expression turned into one of worry. "How will you be able to finish in 15 minutes?"

"Yeah, we've been at it for an hour and 15 minutes, and we still have no progress." Ron said gloomily, looking at his own potion.

"Don't worry, I got it." Deanna winked at them and took out her own cauldron. There was one thing she could do, and despite not wanting to do it, considering who she had made it with, it was an emergency. She took all the ingredients she needed from the cabinets, a Bezoar, dittany, bubotuber pus, and others. She knew she had 15 minutes left, and luckily, this potion was one that could be made in only 5 minutes.

"Time's... UP!" called Slughorn genially. "Well, let's see how you've done! Blaise... what have you got for me?" He started moving around the room, and Deanna noticed that nobody had succeeded in creating the perfect antidote. She noticed Hermione was trying to put a few more ingredients into hers while Ron and Ernie had given up.

"What's that in your hand?" Deanna asked Harry, seeing him clench something in his fist. "A bezoar?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Harry asked in surprise. Deanna just winked at him because Slughorn had finally reached their table. He sniffed Ernie's and Ron's, his expression growing into one of distaste.

"And you, Harry," he said. "What have you got to show me?" Harry held out his palm with the bezoar. Slughorn stared at it for a long ten seconds before roaring with laughter.

"You've got nerve, boy!" he boomed, taking the bezoar and holding it up so that the class could see it. "Oh, you're like your mother... Well, I can't fault you... A bezoar would certainly act as an antidote to all these potions!"

Deanna had to hold back her wince when she saw that Hermione was furious as her potion had not even been examined yet.

"And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you, Harry?" Hermione asked through gritted teeth.

"That's the individual spirit a real potion-maker needs!" said Slughorn happily, before Harry could reply. "Just like his mother, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making, it's undoubtedly from Lily he gets it... Yes, Harry, yes, if you've got a bezoar to hand, of course that would do the trick... although as they don't work on everything, and are pretty rare, it's still worth knowing how to mix antidotes..."

"And the last two." Slughorn looked at Hermione's and simply nodded before turning to Deanna's. He looked at Deanna then back down at her antidote before smiling widely. "And here's the best potion-maker of the class. Brilliant indeed. And to think, you've done it in only 15 minutes! Great job, Deanna dear, great job. The perfect antidote."

Slughorn proceeded to examine Deanna's potion more. "A Bezoar? And dittany?"

"Yes, sir." Deanna grinned at him, happy that she was able to do the antidote before the time ended. Then, the bell rang at that time, signaling the end of the class.

"Time to pack up!" said Slughorn. "An extra ten points to Gryffindor for sheer cheek and 20 points to Hufflepuff for the perfect antidote! Let me take 1 for being extremely punctual."

Chuckles came around the room while Deanna rolled her eyes and smiled. They started filing out of the class while Deanna noticed Harry had dawdled behind. She raised an eyebrow, asking if it was the task Dumbledore had assigned to him, and when he nodded, she sent him a thumbs up and went out with Ernie. A few meters ahead was Hermione who looked like she was still fuming with what happened.

"Hey, Ern. I'll catch up with you later."

"See you then, Dee." Ernie waved to her and went on his way. Deanna sneaked up behind Hermione and covered the Gryffindor's eyes with her hands.

Hermione jumped but as soon as she saw who it was, she relaxed and smiled softly. "Deanna."

"Mione." Deanna placed a kiss on Hermione's cheek, making her blush though she kissed the top of Deanna's head and intertwined their fingers. "Are you all right?"

Hermione pulled away slightly and frowned at her. "Why? Are you going to tell me off too?"

"No, I just wanted to make you feel a little better." Deanna smiled softly at her and rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb. With her other hand, she reached out and started fixing Hermione's hair that was even bushier than ever. "And I just wanted to say that your bushy hair definitely makes you more beautiful."

"Stop that." Hermione covered her face in embarrassment though she couldn't hide the wide grin on her face. She and Deanna sat down at the bench near the Potions classroom and with a sigh, she rested her head on Deanna's shoulder. "But yeah... I'm... I just... I worked hard for that, and he just gets a Bezoar because of the stupid Half-Blood Prince and becomes Slughorn's favorite again. I understand you because you truly are amazing at Potions, but Harry... I know I sound stupid, I'm sorry."

"No, no. Your feelings are valid." Deanna squeezed her hand reassuringly. "You have all the right to think that. I mean, you're right you did work hard for it, but that's how life is at times, right? Life is idiotic just like some people, but we have to go on as we've always done. One day, no matter how long, one day, we'll receive what we deserve, and don't you know? You're already one of Slughorn's favorites! You don't have to do anything else except work hard and be Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age and my girlfriend."

Hermione couldn't help but smile at that and she leaned in to place a kiss on Deanna's cheek. "You do know you're amazing, right?"

"I've been told." Deanna said teasingly, making Hermione roll her eyes and smack her on the shoulder. "But I like you, Miss Granger. A lot."

"And I l-like you too, Miss Dumbledore." Hermione mentally cursed herself for almost saying the word 'love'. They've been together for about a month, and she shouldn't be pressuring Deanna by saying that word that was too special to be used so easily.

The door to the dungeons opened, and Harry came out, looking disappointed and he walked to where the two girls were.

"Hello, Harry, didn't turn out well?" Deanna stood up with Hermione.

"No." Harry answered gloomily, and the three of them started walking.

"You guys go talk, I have something to say to Professor Slughorn." Deanna patted them on their shoulders, giving Hermione's a squeeze. "See you."

Deanna went to the entrance of the Dungeons, resting against the wall beside the door and taking out a pack of Crystallized Pineapples from her pocket, waiting for the Professor to come out. Then, the door opened, and Professor Slughorn jumped in surprise though for the first time, he did not look pleased to see Deanna.

"Crystallized Pineapples, sir?" Deanna offered the unopened pack to him.

Slughorn, however, looked at it warily and scoffed. "If this is about –"

"I know what I've seen, and I don't care." Deanna smiled though she spoke with a firm tone. "You're still a Professor I deeply respect, and that won't change. I won't force you to speak of something you're not comfortable sharing so please just take this pack, Sir. I'm sure you need it."

Slughorn's eyes filled with tears and he smiled weakly, taking the pack of Crystallized Pineapples from her. His appreciation for the Dumbledore increasing even more. "Thank you, Deanna."

"Now, come on, Professor. How about you tell me what the secret ingredient is, yeah?" Deanna nudged him teasingly, making the Professor laugh and roll his eyes.

"As if you don't know already." Slughorn's remark made the two of them laugh, and they continued on their way. Deanna's words had given Slughorn a little courage to tell them the truth, but at the same time, he did not want the respect Deanna had for him to be gone.

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"Getting better, Susan?" Deanna patted the hand of her friend as she, Ernie and Justin sat around their friend. They just had their first Apparition lesson, and Susan got Splinched. Honestly, they were all furious at the instructor with his 3D's.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, don't worry." Susan smiled reassuringly at them, her entire arm was wrapped with bandage and the lower part of her body was covered so that it could be left to some healing.

Deanna noticed how worried Justin was and nudged Ernie. "Look at him." The two of them held in their grins, finally finding out who Justin liked, but they did not know that Justin and Susan were trying to hold in their own smiles at how stupid their friends were.

"You do know we can hear and see you, right?" Justin suddenly blurted out, making Deanna and Ernie's eyes widen, and they suddenly had sheepish smiles on their faces.

"Maybe if you two paid more attention, you would have known we have been dating since December." Susan's comment made the two stand up.

"WHAT?" Deanna and Ernie exclaimed, making Susan and Justin laugh.

"A-Are you serious?" Ernie asked in disbelief. "Y-You've been dating for 2 months already?"

Susan and Justin looked at each other before smiling widely. "Should we tell them?" Susan asked Justin.

"Tell us what?" Deanna frowned in her impatience. Clearly, these two were hiding something from them, and she wanted to know if they really were dating. If they were, Deanna and Ernie were really idiots. If they weren't, these two were indeed gits.

Justin reached over and took Susan's hand in his, grinning. "Actually, yeah. We've been dating since December. Surprise!"

"S-seriously? How did we not notice?" Deanna asked incredulously. It was impossible for them not to know since they were together most of the time, but this was mind-blowing. How could they not know?

"You two are just idiots." Deanna and Ernie glared at Susan at that while Justin laughed and kissed her good hand.

Deanna let out a sigh. "Fine, we admit it."

"Deanna." Ernie whined, completely disagreeing with what she just said. Deanna laughed along with Susan and Justin at the pouting Ernie.

"But stupidity aside, we're really happy for you." Deanna smiled softly at her two friends, truly happy that they got together. They fit each other well, and Deanna was sure these two would have a long and happy relationship.

The four friends smiled at each other, only missing the presence of Hannah, but despite them being incomplete, they took comfort in the thought that they'd be together again one day. As she watched Justin and Susan kiss each other while Ernie was covering his eyes, Deanna laughed.

'Hannah, we'll see you again one day. That's a promise.'

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"Quick thinking on your part, Harry, using a bezoar." Dumbledore said as he, Minerva, Snape, and Deanna went into the Hospital's Wing where Madame Pomfrey, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Eleanor were sitting around Ron's bed. Ron had accidentally eaten the Cauldron Cakes Romilda Vane had sent for Harry, and he got poisoned by drinking the mead. Deanna went over to her friends, squeezing the worried Eleanor's hand.

"You must be very proud of your student, Horace." Dumbledore nodded to Slughorn.

"Hm? Oh, yes, very proud." Slughorn said though a little confused, holding onto the bottle of mead.

"I think we agree, Potter's actions were heroic." Minerva spoke in a grave tone. "The question is, why were they necessary?"

"Why, indeed?" Dumbledore suddenly turned to Slughorn, his eyes set on the bottle of mead. "This appears to be a gift, Horace. You don't remember who gave you this bottle?"

Dumbledore took the bottle from him and sniffed it. "Which, by the way, possesses remarkably subtle hints of licorice and cherry... when not polluted with poison." With wary eyes, he handed it over to Snape.

"Actually I had intended to give it as a gift myself."

"To whom, I might ask?"

"To you, Headmaster."

At Slughorn's comment, Deanna exchanged glances with Minerva, and they knew immediately it was not something good. First, the locket with Katie Bell. Now, the bottle of mead. Was someone trying to kill Dumbledore?

The tense silence was broken by the sound of rushing footsteps, and Lavender Brown came in with a worried look on his face. "Where is he? Where's my Won-Won? Has he been asking for me?"

Deanna exchanged glances with Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Eleanor. Lavender was a good person. She treated Ron well though she was quite clingy, but she was good to Ron. To his friends... that was another matter. Besides all the glaring and muttering of insults, yeah, she was a good person. They were fine with her being there, but one had an obvious look of distaste on her face.

"What's she doing here?" Lavender glared at Eleanor who was sitting beside Ron's side.

"Who are you to ask me that?" Eleanor scoffed, standing up and meeting Lavender's glare.

"I happen to be his girlfriend."

"I happen to be his... friend."

"Don't make me laugh." Lavender crossed her arms and scoffed. "You haven't spoken in weeks. I suppose you want to make up now that he's all interesting."

"He's been poisoned, you daft dimbo!" Eleanor whisper shouted, wondering how stupid Lavender could be, focusing on her presence when it should be Ron they were focusing on. "And for the record, I've always found him interesting."

Suddenly, Ron started stirring, making the two stop and turn their attention towards him.

"Ah. See? He senses my presence." Lavender stepped closer to Ron, pushing past Deanna and Hermione. "Don't worry, Won-Won. I'm here. I'm here."

Ron started mumbling incoherent words, making Deanna, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Eleanor look towards each other.

"Uh... Eleanor..."

Everyone in the room kept silent, trying to understand what Ron was saying.

"Eleanor." Ron had said it louder this time, making everyone's eyes widen. Lavender looked heartbroken, and she ran out of the room while Eleanor had sat down by Ron's side and took his hand. Deanna, Hermione, Harry and Ginny grinned at each other. Finally. Ron had finally done it.

"Oh, to be young, and to feel love's keen sting." Dumbledore smiled slightly at Ron and Eleanor. "Well, come away, everybody. Mr. Weasley is well tended." The Professors all left while Slughorn stayed a little longer, staring at Ron with guilt in his eyes.

Deanna gave Slughorn a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "He'll be fine, Professor. It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah... Thank you, Deanna." Slughorn gave her a smile before he too left the Hospital Wing.

"About time, don't you think?" Ginny whispered to the three of them before she left too.

"Thank you." Deanna, Hermione and Harry said to Madame Pomfrey who dropped off some medicine for Ron. Eleanor looked back at them and saw the three grinning at her.

"Oh, shut up." Eleanor couldn't help but smile as she held Ron's hand, and the three students left the Hospital Wing at that. Eleanor smiled once more as Ron's hand had clutched hers just as tight. They were fine. They were all right, and maybe, they could be something more.

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