Hermione stared into space as her friends spoke around her. She couldn't concentrate on anything they had to say. She kicked a pile of leaves out of her way as she walked along next to Ron and Harry, talking endlessly about the latest prank the Weasley twins had pulled.
"It was brilliant, don't you think so, Hermione?" Ron said enthusiastically.
"What?" she said as she dragged her attention to him.
"Fred and George putting those gas beans into Fudge's soup before he made his speech at Hogwarts." he said. "You haven't heard a thing we've said, have you?"
"No." she answered. "Not to be rude, but I don't want to hear, yet again, how brilliant your brothers are." she said. "I want to get to the Three Broomsticks and talk to Brenda."
"You've been moody for days now." Harry said. "Are you okay?"
"It's girl stuff." she told him. "That's why I need to talk to Brenda."
"Girl stuff." Ron shuddered. "Enough said."
"Then let us just drop it." she sighed as the Broomsticks came into view. "I'm going ahead." she told them as she quickened her pace.
"Girls." Ron sighed as they watched her disappear into the building.
Hermione looked around the crowded room, searching Brenda out. The older girl had agreed to meet her here for Hogwart's trip to Hogsmeade, and Hermione was in desperate need of talking.
"Herminone!" Brenda waved from a table in the corner.
Smiling, Hermione made her way through the crowded room and stopped short when she got a clear view of the table. Sirius sat at Brenda's side, his arm draped around her shoulder as he spoke to Remus Lupin. Great, she thought, just what she needed, an audience.
"I didn't know you were going to be here." Hermione said, trying to sound happy at the surprise.
"We're not here for long." Lupin said. "Just long enough for a butter beer or two, then Sirius and I are off."
"Guy stuff." Brenda rolled her eyes. "You got here just in time, I ordered you a butter beer." she said, sliding a mug of the warm concooction to Hermione.
"Thanks." she said as she took a sip and sat back, silent.
"You're not going to talk until they're gone, are you?" Brenda whispered, leaning towards her friend.
"No." she laughed.
"Shoo." Brenda said, lifting Sirius' arm and shoving him from his seat.
"What?" he said. "I'm not done with my beer."
"Take it to another table." she said, shooing them.
"Why?" Lupin asked.
"Girl talk." was her simple reply. "Hermione and I need to talk about make up, and clothes, and what guys do to drive us up the wall."
"I'd like to hear the answer to that last one." Sirius said as he got to his feet, still holding his mug.
"Sorry, that would take away our fun." Brenda said, giving another shove.
"Fine, we know when we're not wanted." Lupin said as he got to his feet as well. "We will just go and talk about women, girls, whatever the case may be."
"Whatever the case may be?" Sirius asked.
"Well, women for those of us not prone to cradle robbing." Lupin grinned.
"I'll see you later." Sirius said, giving his old friend a kick in the back to get him moving.
"Okay." Brenda said once the men were away. "Dish, girl, dish." she urged in an exaggerated tone.
"Well," began Hermione nervously. "It's about a guy."
"Good, good." she nodded with an eager smile. "Who is it?"
"I don't want to say anything." Hermione groaned. "I just wanted to know, how did you know it wasn't just a crush?"
"With Sirius?" Brenda asked. "I don't know." she shrugged.
"Did you ever think it too weird that he was older than you?" Hermione asked, as she swished her butter beer around in the mug.
"Oooh, so it's an older guy." Brenda said with a smile. "Who is it?"
"You didn't answer my question." Hermione pointed out, hoping to keep her American friend from asking too many questions.
"No, his age wasn't my main concern." she answered. "It was his being Harry's godfather, and the fact that my dad was going to be upset with his age, and his past."
"Oh." was all Hermione could think to say.
"I answered your question." Brenda prompted. "Now, you answer mine."
"No." she shook her head. "You'll laugh at me."
"You don't know that." her friend argued. "Okay then, let me think. If you're thinking about it this much, then its not simply an upper classman." she bit her lip as she thought. "So, someone who works at the school?"
Hermione didn't answer, instead she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She hated this. Usually she was so confident in everything she did, in almost everything she thought, but now, because of something that was probably mere infatuation, she was feeling like a bumbling idiot, having secret meetings with her friend to discuss boys. She was acting, well, like a girl!
"Okay, so you're not gonna give anything away." Brenda sighed and sank back into her chair. "Oh, let me guess, it's Filch."
"Oh, that is just disgusting!" Hermione said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
"Well come on now, I can see how some girls might find him enchanting in a greasy, needs to eat a good meal, creepy sort of way." Brenda laughed. "Hagrid?" she nudged her friend's arm.
"If you're not going to take this at all seriously, I'm leaving." Hermione said.
"If you don't tell me anything, how am I to take it seriously?" Brenda asked.
"I'm going back to Hogwarts." Hermione sighed as she got to her feet.
"Hermione, please, just sit back down." Brenda pleaded.
"I'm not really in the mood." she said as she grabbed her coat. "Say goodbye to Sirius and Remus for me." she added as she headed for the door.
--
"Don't know why I even bothered." Hermione grumbled as she pushed open the door to the girl's lavatory. "You expect your friend to be serious for just a moment." she continued as she ran her hands under some warm water before splashing some on her face. "Then for her to think I'm going to tell her who I'm a jumble over..."
"Where are your true friends when you really need them?" a girl's voice questioned.
Hermione jumped and turned around, eyes darting, trying to find where the voice was coming from. There was no one there, not that she could see anyways.
"Hello?" she called as she looked under the stall doors.
"Hello." the voice called back.
"Myrtle?" Hermione said, "Is that you?"
"No." the girl answered. "I'm Gemma."
"Are you a student here?" she asked. "Where are you?"
"I was a student, long ago." Gemma answered. "As to your second question, I don't like showing myself to people."
"So, you're one of the Hogwarts ghosts?" Hermione asked, still looking around.
"Yes." Gemma replied. "You're not going to find me unless I want you to, so it's no use looking."
"Why haven't I met you before?" Hermione asked, giving up her search.
"I'm shy." Gemma answered. "I don't talk to people much at all. Never really."
"Why are you now?"
"Because you sounded sad." Gemma said. "And I know how it feels to have your friend not take you seriously."
"She was doing just fine up 'til she picked Filch as the one..." she stopped and sighed. "Oh, never mind."
"No, no, really." Gemma said. "I know what its like to find yourself suddenly liking someone whom you never gave a second thought to."
"You do?" Hermione asked, feeling a bit of hope.
"Yes." Gemma said. "To find yourself suddenly looking at him, not too obviously so that he thinks you're odd, but just enough to notice what he's wearing, what his favorite food and drink seem to be."
"To find him in every stupid dream you have, even if they make no sense whatsoever." Hermione added as she kicked the wall.
"Exactly." Gemma sighed. "And then you think you can talk to your friend, but, when you tell them who it is you like, they ridicule you."
"I didn't tell my friend, but I know she would have thought I was mad." Hermiond said as she leaned against one of the sinks. "Did it work out for you?"
"No, it didn't." Gemma said softly. "We came so close."
"I'm sorry." Hermione said, truly feeling for the girl.
The door to the bathroom opened, and a few Slytherin girls walked in and stared at Hermione before cracking up laughing.
"Even Potter and Weasley couldn't stand you anymore?" one girl asked.
"So you had to come back here and be all by yourself." another snickered.
"It must be so horrible to be a freakish, mud blood loser." yet another teased.
Hermione just rolled her eyes and left, casting one more quick look around the room in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her new found friend. No such luck, she would have to try again some other time.