"Hermione, where did you go?" Harry asked casually when he saw Hermione return.
"To pick up something I ordered!" Hermione said. "Then I was busy for a while, but I'm finished now."
"Heh, I've just finished too." Having polished his "story," Ron set down his quill in satisfaction and admired his work for the day.
Harry resisted the urge to take it and have a read. After all, Ron's "stories" were quite entertaining. Still, he was more curious about what Hermione had been doing.
For a long time afterward, Harry regretted his curiosity.
"What are you carrying?" Harry asked curiously, looking at the little box in Hermione's arms.
"You'll find out in a moment." Hermione gave a deliberately mysterious smile, then glanced at Ron, who was grinning foolishly at the parchment in his hand, and pursed her lips. "Finished another story?"
"What story? What story? This is divination." Ron immediately reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Someone like you, with absolutely no talent for divination, simply wouldn't understand."
Hermione wrinkled her nose, clearly unwilling to continue this conversation with Ron. Ron had the sense not to pursue it either, changing the subject as he looked at Hermione's box. "What is it, then? Why all the mystery?"
"Heh." Hermione smiled smugly, then set the box in front of Harry and the others and opened it.
Inside the box were about sixty gleaming badges, all beautifully and delicately made. But the letters on them made Harry and Ron frown slightly.
s-p-e-w
"Spew?" Harry picked one up and examined it carefully, then looked at Hermione in puzzlement. "What did you make these things for?"
"It's not spew!" Hermione immediately gave Harry a disgruntled glare. "It's S-P-E-"
"Isn't that still spew?" Ron still didn't get Hermione's point. Nor was he