Chapter II:
Love At First Sight
The first week back at Hogwarts was wonderful. Harmony got along marvelously with all the teachers. It seemed all of them knew either her grandfather or had known her father. Hermione asked once what had happened to Harmony's father.
" My father was a powerful wizard, you know. An Auror. He was an Animagus too. Turned into a snow leopard. My mother was a Muggle. She had no idea that my father was a wizard or that her child was a witch. My grandma told me when I was nine. But my mother didn't know and my father had no intention of telling her. Well, when my Hogwart's acceptance letter came, by owl post of course, my mother was mortified. I was sent away by my father just before...well, really, I can't say what before, because no one knows. I have not seen my father since that night, but lived with my grandparents. My grandmother was against my going to Hogwart's, so I went to Beauxbatons instead. My mother was accused of killing my dad and now she's in a Muggle prison. I'll never see her again. I refuse."
" Oh, Harmony! I'm so sorry! I had no idea your dad was, well, dead!" Hermione shouted collapsing onto Harmony's shoulder and throwing her arms around Harmony's neck.
" He's not," Harmony said quietly.
" What? But you just said..." Harry trailed off.
" I never said he was dead. He's not. Every once in a while I see a snow leopard watching me from some dark alley. Now, tell me, if someone was an Animagus who turned into a strange animal like that and was supposed dead, would it be merely a coincidence that their daughter kept seeing that animal in dark alleys? I think not. Besides, I just know he isn't dead."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other. " What do you mean?" Ron spoke their thoughts aloud.
" Well, I suppose I should tell you this...but privately, of course." Harmony looked around at the busy common room. " Come on. We can go to the library. You just say that you're showing me when it is."
They quietly left the common room, totally disregarded because the Weasley twins had set off six Dungbombs.
An excited silence followed the four friends down the hallway. Upon entering the library, they found the small candles at the tables burning brightly, but no one in sight but Madam Pince, the librarian, asleep at her desk. Harmony led them to a table far in the back and sat down. Ron promptly sat down opposite of her. Harry and Hermione filled in.
" Now, you are my friends and I would never hurt you," Harmony began in a hushed voice. " You need to know this first off. I can tell what each of you are thinking right now. Harry is thinking ` What is she talking about?', Hermione is thinking, ` Fascinating! I have a real psychic for a friend!', and, well, frankly Ron's thoughts are a bit too private to be spoken aloud," she glanced at him with nothing short of extreme admiration.
" That's how you know your father's not dead!" Hermione exclaimed in an eager whisper.
" One of the many things I know. If I concentrate really hard, I can sense his thoughts. Right now he's missing me and the real world. Imagine how it must be to be mistakenly thought dead!"
" Why can't he just come back? Can you tell?" asked Harry.
" No, that's just it! He never thinks about it and I if I'm so far away from someone, I can't know what has happened in their past!" mumbled Harmony.
" Does anyone else know he's alive?" Hermione inquired.
" No. I haven't told anyone but you and of course everyone thinks he's dead. No one would believe me anyway. Well, we'd better get back. The Dungbombs have cleared and they're looking for us."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Ron had a glazed look about him and was obviously lost in his own thoughts. Harmony stood up and led the way out. Somehow she found the way. Harry was very anxious. He was in company of a girl his age that knew more than the oldest, most wizened wizard. She knew her father wasn't dead when everyone thought he was. She knew her mother was innocent, but wouldn't tell anyone. Harmony knew his own thoughts at that moment. Harmony knew everyone's thoughts. She had said Ron's thoughts were too private to be said aloud. But Ron must tell Harry. They were best friends! Ron couldn't keep a secret, not from Harry! Harry must ask him later. As they were entering the common room though, Harmony waited to go in last, then whispered in Harry's ear, " He will tell you when he's ready. Don't rush him, please."
Maybe it's not so bad having a friend who's a psychic, he thought, knowing Harmony could hear him as though he had spoke aloud.
* * *
Ron didn't sleep at all that night. He just lay there, staring out the window at the stars through the red-velvet hangings on his four-poster bed. He was dating a girl with psychic powers. A girl who could read his very thoughts at any moment. But he still loved her. He had always admired pretty girls, but Harmony was...well, she was just different. But did she love him? Did she even like him? Or did she just pity him, as so many do, he thought angrily. Oh, how he hated being poor! He finally fell into a light sleep with many nightmares of giant spiders.
Ron awoke the next morning grumbling and tired. He decided he must tell someone. And that someone was Harry.
" Harry! I need to talk to you!" Ron hissed in Harry's direction.
Harry woke up immediately, peering out of the velvet curtains and crying hoarsely, " What? Is the dementor here? Ahhhhhhhhhhh! What is it doing here? Dumbledore'll be furious!"
" Harry! Harry! It's okay! There's no dementor here! I just need to talk to you!"
" Oh," replied Harry. " Great. Just give me a second..."
Harry pulled on his robes and his glasses and looked at his watch.
" Ron! It's 3a.m! What are we doing up!"
" Oh, sorry, I didn't know it was that early. Well, we're up anyway, so I need to talk."
Harry followed Ron out of the 5^th year boys' dorm and down the stairs to the common room. Ron settled into one of the armchairs closest to the fire and Harry settled into the one across from it.
" Harry, I haven't been talking to you that much and I'm sorry. I'm just...very incredibly surprised," Ron paused. " I'm dating Harmony, Harry. I'm desperately in love with her-" Harry snorted. Ron ignored him, but noted the pained look in Harry's eyes.
" You don't have to tell me. I already know."
Harry snorted again. " What's that supposed to mean?"
" I begged her...she told me...very reluctantly, mind you..."
" She told you what?" Harry said, an agitated edge to is voice now.
" She-she told me you were jealous...of me...was she right?"
" I-I was a little bit...when we first met her..."
Ron and Harry sat in an uncomfortable silence for quite awhile. Finally, Harry offered Ron a game of wizard's chess, which Ron was very good at. Ron couldn't refuse because he knew Harry was just trying to make him feel better. They played until dawn, when others began straggling down. Hermione came down first.
" Oh, no! Where's my schedule? Do you know what we have today?"
" Well, I know where I'm going today...I think. Let me see...this morning we have...wait, what's today?"
" Friday, Ron." Hermione stated, rolling her eyes.
" Oh, yeah! We have...oh no! We have Double Potions this morning...with the Slytherins again...and Divination this afternoon!"
" Then that means I have Arithmancy and Ancient Runes this afternoon. Good! Oh, hi Harmony! Divination...that reminds me. Why exactly did you choose to take Divination? I mean, you have all those psychic powers and mind-reading ability..."
" Oh, it's just that Trelawney and my father were old rivals back in school, and I decided to uphold family tradition. Besides, I have more of an aura than her by far. She can't read minds and uses tea leaves. Ha! That's no way to read omens! Crystal balls and pure psychic powers are the only ways to read the future. She does do crystal balls. I must give her that. But the tea leaves ruin all of the right things she does. Tea leaves!"
Harmony seemed to be enjoying herself at Double Potions. Snape couldn't even find one thing wrong with Harmony's poison antidote. It was the perfect color (electric blue) and perfectly thick (about the consistency of cream cheese). Snape couldn't even find any reason to take points off Gryffindor because of Harry or even Neville. He did comment that Harry's antidote was too dark and that Neville's was too watery.
That afternoon Harry, Ron, and Harmony climbed up the ladder to Professor Trelawney's little classroom. The heat was positively stifling. Harmony almost passed out because of the heavy perfumed smell of the fire. She plopped down into a pouf beside a table. Harry and Ron followed suite. Harmony was silently staring at a spot in the shadows, the exact spot where Professor Trelawney appeared a moment later.
" My dear students," she began in her misty voice. " My dear students. Harry my dear; I see you are still with us. Quite fortunate on your part. I see you are troubled. Perhaps a betrayal of one close to you?" She lifted Harry's chin so she could see his eyes.
" Sure, he's troubled, lady. He doesn't want the paws of a liar on his face," Harmony snorted.
" And who might you be, my feisty dear?"
" I'm not your dear, and if you're as `All Knowing' as you claim to be, you should know that."
" Yes. Of course. Westershire...so sorry about your father, Harmony. That's what he gets for being so foolish as to marry that...Muggle."
" I'd appreciate it Professor, if you would not insult my father so very much. He is a great wizard."
" There's no is about it, Miss Westershire. Your father is dead and good riddance to him as well. I could have sworn he was on the Dark Side. But no one would've believed me had I voiced my thoughts aloud. Sam Westershire, they would have said. Never! He's just perfect-"
" Aye, so they would've. And you would never admit it, but you agreed," Harmony retorted in a quiet voice. " That's why you were so against him marrying my mother. You were in love with him yourself."
A hushed silence fell in the room. Even Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown were staring open-mouthed at Trelawney. No one had ever really got the best of Trelawney, not counting Professor McGonagall. Everyone knew McGonagall didn't consider Divination a magical art, but pure nonsense. Trelawney's way certainly was, but somehow Harmony's wasn't. It was more practical and down-to-earth. It wasn't misty or closed-up and didn't even seem mysterious.
The prospect of one of their teachers being in love with the supposedly dead father of one of the students undoubtedly appealed to the Divination students. Trelawney couldn't quiet them down for anything the rest of the whole class, no matter how much she rattled on about the incredible position of Neptune. When class was finally over, Trelawney looked as though she had just aged about 20 years. Not even her favorites, Parvati and Lavender, had paid the least bit of attention to her. How did young Harmony know? How could she be so heartless to have said it aloud? "Well, a tiny voice at the back of Trelawney's head whispered, you made some pretty rude remarks about her father... and she's a psychic. You'd do well to be nice to her." Trelawney had always listened to this voice before, for it was her telepathic voice, but this time she refused.
Back at the Gryffindor common room, all was chaos.
" Harmony, that was amazing! How did you know that?"
" Hey! There you are! Do you know anything about Snape? I could really use something to get back at him with!"
She flatly refused any requests for secrets about the staff. " My powers aren't meant to be used that way," she would reply.
Finally, with crestfallen faces, Harmony's peers let her be. She grinned after them and called, " But I will tell you anything and everything about any student who isn't in Gryffindor."
The crowd roared and turned around. Harry got to her first and shouted over the chattering crowd, " Tell us anything and everything about Draco Malfoy!"
Harmony smiled real big. " I thought you'd never ask. Well, for starters, Malfoy is not like his father in the opinion about You-Know-Who. Draco's father is a big supporter of You-Know-Who, and, incredibly, Malfoy is against him! Also, the Malfoys aren't quite as rich as they put forth. And- this is a big one, people- Malfoy's mum is a Muggle born witch! Draco didn't even know that. I had to search deep into Lucius' mind to find it, and concentrate really hard. Draco's not as cool and calm as he appears. He still sleeps with a teddy bear! And-no I won't tell you this one because it taints me as well..."
Harmony's audience applauded loudly, but looked at one another with puzzled looks. They knew exactly what she meant in her last sentence, but it couldn't possibly be true; Draco Malfoy, the most evil Slytherin in the whole school, in love with Harmony Westershire, the perfect Gryffindor? It just didn't work! No wonder Harmony didn't want to voice that finding aloud.
Harmony pulled herself out of the armchair she was sitting in and walked toward the Fat Lady's picture. " Well, I'm off to the library. Got to get cracking on the History of Magic essay about house elves, er, haha!"
" Harmony, we have to work on it too. Wait for us!" Hermione called after her with a sideways glance to Ron and Harry. They followed her out.
" Hermione, I know for a fact that you finished that report last week. What are you doing following me?"
" Umm, I dunno. Well, you seemed a bit uneasy..."
" Of course I'm uneasy! Draco Malfoy likes me! Do you have any idea how that feels? Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that. I know that you're just trying to help..."
" Forget it. You were riled up and, well, who could blame you?"
" Not me most certainly!" Harry said, elbowing Ron to make him say something. But Ron stayed silent. You could tell he was concentrating hard. Harmony's face lit up and she smiled at him.
" Well, we should probably go on to the library. They won't be expecting us back for at least an hour," Harmony said cheerily.
" So, can you tell us anything about Snape? We won't use it..." Ron said slyly as Harmony laughed.
* * *
" Ok, I'll tell you something about Snape." Harmony's words brought low cheers to Harry and Ron, who had been pestering her as she searched through the stacks in the library. Even Hermione let Harmony take a break after an hour of relentless slaving over the books about house elves.
" Well, to start off, Snape liked my mother. He thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. They met in London, where she and my father lived until my mother became pregnant with me. My mother was fascinated by the Muggle street that led to Diagon Alley. She always said that there was something there she couldn't see. She had some magic in her after all. Anyhow, for Snape it was love at first sight. My mother was disgusted by him though. Thought of him as the nasty slime ball he is. Now, if my mother was any good at all, it was because of her cleanliness. She couldn't stand dirt or grease. And, well, Snape is nothing but dirt and grease. She stayed away from him and this made him mad, so he decided to go to war against our family."
" So why was he so nice to you this morning?"
" Umm, I don't know whether I should tell you this or not..."
" Come on, we won't tell!" Harry said jovially, and also carelessly, as he found out when Hermione poked him.
" Harry, you're being very insensitive! She doesn't have to tell us if she doesn't want to!"
" No, Harry's right. I need to get it out. You guys are my best friends and I would trust you with my life, let alone a secret that I have which isn't my shame. It's Snape's."
" The reason he was being so nice to me is because he thinks I'm beautiful. Even more than he thought my mother was."
" Well, you are, Harmony, at least to me," Ron whispered. Hermione did not yet know their secret and looked at Harry with a very confused look. Harry returned the look with one that explained almost everything; he had unwittingly given her a wounded look filled with jealousy. Hermione glanced at the door with raised eyebrows and he gave her a nod. They slowly made way toward the door. Madam Pince was nowhere to be found. Just as the door closed behind them, Harmony fell into Ron's arms.
" You don't know how I feel, carrying around people's secrets that I have no right to know! The pressure is just horrible. I made grandfather send me to Hogwart's because the girls at Beauxbatons kept pressing me to tell them things about the other girls and I am very unhappy to say I gave in one more than one occasion. Those girls were hurt by what I told the others. The burden of knowing that is bad enough, but knowing how they actually felt, how much they cried at the taunts of the more popular girls, that's too much!" Harmony sobbed onto Ron's shoulder.
Ron had no idea how to comfort a girl sobbing on his shoulder and was completely bewildered. They just stood there for about ten minutes, clinging to one another. Finally Ron lifted her head so she was looking straight into his eyes, and said,
" Hon, I dunno what to say. I've never held a girl before, never felt the way I do about you with any other girl. I love you, Harmony." There he kissed her full on the lips. When she felt his tongue, she responded with her own. She saw the fire in his eyes, but, even though she knew their future, and it leaned in this direction, she couldn't. Not yet.
" I-I can't. Not yet. Please don't. Don't hurt me," she hoarsely whispered.
" Harmony, I won't, not if you don't want too. I understand. But why do you think I would?"
Harmony's eyes were far too honest to keep any emotions inside. They unwittingly betrayed her secret.
Ron groaned. " Harmony, no tell me it's not true. Nobody could ever hurt you. Nobody," he said gruffly.
" Not unless I let them. He told me he loved me and he would never hurt me. I believed him. I let him take advantage of me."
" Didn't your powers tell you he was up to know good? And who is he?"
" I ignored them, but, yes, they did tell me. And that certain someone's name was Gilderoy Lockhart."
Love At First Sight
The first week back at Hogwarts was wonderful. Harmony got along marvelously with all the teachers. It seemed all of them knew either her grandfather or had known her father. Hermione asked once what had happened to Harmony's father.
" My father was a powerful wizard, you know. An Auror. He was an Animagus too. Turned into a snow leopard. My mother was a Muggle. She had no idea that my father was a wizard or that her child was a witch. My grandma told me when I was nine. But my mother didn't know and my father had no intention of telling her. Well, when my Hogwart's acceptance letter came, by owl post of course, my mother was mortified. I was sent away by my father just before...well, really, I can't say what before, because no one knows. I have not seen my father since that night, but lived with my grandparents. My grandmother was against my going to Hogwart's, so I went to Beauxbatons instead. My mother was accused of killing my dad and now she's in a Muggle prison. I'll never see her again. I refuse."
" Oh, Harmony! I'm so sorry! I had no idea your dad was, well, dead!" Hermione shouted collapsing onto Harmony's shoulder and throwing her arms around Harmony's neck.
" He's not," Harmony said quietly.
" What? But you just said..." Harry trailed off.
" I never said he was dead. He's not. Every once in a while I see a snow leopard watching me from some dark alley. Now, tell me, if someone was an Animagus who turned into a strange animal like that and was supposed dead, would it be merely a coincidence that their daughter kept seeing that animal in dark alleys? I think not. Besides, I just know he isn't dead."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other. " What do you mean?" Ron spoke their thoughts aloud.
" Well, I suppose I should tell you this...but privately, of course." Harmony looked around at the busy common room. " Come on. We can go to the library. You just say that you're showing me when it is."
They quietly left the common room, totally disregarded because the Weasley twins had set off six Dungbombs.
An excited silence followed the four friends down the hallway. Upon entering the library, they found the small candles at the tables burning brightly, but no one in sight but Madam Pince, the librarian, asleep at her desk. Harmony led them to a table far in the back and sat down. Ron promptly sat down opposite of her. Harry and Hermione filled in.
" Now, you are my friends and I would never hurt you," Harmony began in a hushed voice. " You need to know this first off. I can tell what each of you are thinking right now. Harry is thinking ` What is she talking about?', Hermione is thinking, ` Fascinating! I have a real psychic for a friend!', and, well, frankly Ron's thoughts are a bit too private to be spoken aloud," she glanced at him with nothing short of extreme admiration.
" That's how you know your father's not dead!" Hermione exclaimed in an eager whisper.
" One of the many things I know. If I concentrate really hard, I can sense his thoughts. Right now he's missing me and the real world. Imagine how it must be to be mistakenly thought dead!"
" Why can't he just come back? Can you tell?" asked Harry.
" No, that's just it! He never thinks about it and I if I'm so far away from someone, I can't know what has happened in their past!" mumbled Harmony.
" Does anyone else know he's alive?" Hermione inquired.
" No. I haven't told anyone but you and of course everyone thinks he's dead. No one would believe me anyway. Well, we'd better get back. The Dungbombs have cleared and they're looking for us."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Ron had a glazed look about him and was obviously lost in his own thoughts. Harmony stood up and led the way out. Somehow she found the way. Harry was very anxious. He was in company of a girl his age that knew more than the oldest, most wizened wizard. She knew her father wasn't dead when everyone thought he was. She knew her mother was innocent, but wouldn't tell anyone. Harmony knew his own thoughts at that moment. Harmony knew everyone's thoughts. She had said Ron's thoughts were too private to be said aloud. But Ron must tell Harry. They were best friends! Ron couldn't keep a secret, not from Harry! Harry must ask him later. As they were entering the common room though, Harmony waited to go in last, then whispered in Harry's ear, " He will tell you when he's ready. Don't rush him, please."
Maybe it's not so bad having a friend who's a psychic, he thought, knowing Harmony could hear him as though he had spoke aloud.
* * *
Ron didn't sleep at all that night. He just lay there, staring out the window at the stars through the red-velvet hangings on his four-poster bed. He was dating a girl with psychic powers. A girl who could read his very thoughts at any moment. But he still loved her. He had always admired pretty girls, but Harmony was...well, she was just different. But did she love him? Did she even like him? Or did she just pity him, as so many do, he thought angrily. Oh, how he hated being poor! He finally fell into a light sleep with many nightmares of giant spiders.
Ron awoke the next morning grumbling and tired. He decided he must tell someone. And that someone was Harry.
" Harry! I need to talk to you!" Ron hissed in Harry's direction.
Harry woke up immediately, peering out of the velvet curtains and crying hoarsely, " What? Is the dementor here? Ahhhhhhhhhhh! What is it doing here? Dumbledore'll be furious!"
" Harry! Harry! It's okay! There's no dementor here! I just need to talk to you!"
" Oh," replied Harry. " Great. Just give me a second..."
Harry pulled on his robes and his glasses and looked at his watch.
" Ron! It's 3a.m! What are we doing up!"
" Oh, sorry, I didn't know it was that early. Well, we're up anyway, so I need to talk."
Harry followed Ron out of the 5^th year boys' dorm and down the stairs to the common room. Ron settled into one of the armchairs closest to the fire and Harry settled into the one across from it.
" Harry, I haven't been talking to you that much and I'm sorry. I'm just...very incredibly surprised," Ron paused. " I'm dating Harmony, Harry. I'm desperately in love with her-" Harry snorted. Ron ignored him, but noted the pained look in Harry's eyes.
" You don't have to tell me. I already know."
Harry snorted again. " What's that supposed to mean?"
" I begged her...she told me...very reluctantly, mind you..."
" She told you what?" Harry said, an agitated edge to is voice now.
" She-she told me you were jealous...of me...was she right?"
" I-I was a little bit...when we first met her..."
Ron and Harry sat in an uncomfortable silence for quite awhile. Finally, Harry offered Ron a game of wizard's chess, which Ron was very good at. Ron couldn't refuse because he knew Harry was just trying to make him feel better. They played until dawn, when others began straggling down. Hermione came down first.
" Oh, no! Where's my schedule? Do you know what we have today?"
" Well, I know where I'm going today...I think. Let me see...this morning we have...wait, what's today?"
" Friday, Ron." Hermione stated, rolling her eyes.
" Oh, yeah! We have...oh no! We have Double Potions this morning...with the Slytherins again...and Divination this afternoon!"
" Then that means I have Arithmancy and Ancient Runes this afternoon. Good! Oh, hi Harmony! Divination...that reminds me. Why exactly did you choose to take Divination? I mean, you have all those psychic powers and mind-reading ability..."
" Oh, it's just that Trelawney and my father were old rivals back in school, and I decided to uphold family tradition. Besides, I have more of an aura than her by far. She can't read minds and uses tea leaves. Ha! That's no way to read omens! Crystal balls and pure psychic powers are the only ways to read the future. She does do crystal balls. I must give her that. But the tea leaves ruin all of the right things she does. Tea leaves!"
Harmony seemed to be enjoying herself at Double Potions. Snape couldn't even find one thing wrong with Harmony's poison antidote. It was the perfect color (electric blue) and perfectly thick (about the consistency of cream cheese). Snape couldn't even find any reason to take points off Gryffindor because of Harry or even Neville. He did comment that Harry's antidote was too dark and that Neville's was too watery.
That afternoon Harry, Ron, and Harmony climbed up the ladder to Professor Trelawney's little classroom. The heat was positively stifling. Harmony almost passed out because of the heavy perfumed smell of the fire. She plopped down into a pouf beside a table. Harry and Ron followed suite. Harmony was silently staring at a spot in the shadows, the exact spot where Professor Trelawney appeared a moment later.
" My dear students," she began in her misty voice. " My dear students. Harry my dear; I see you are still with us. Quite fortunate on your part. I see you are troubled. Perhaps a betrayal of one close to you?" She lifted Harry's chin so she could see his eyes.
" Sure, he's troubled, lady. He doesn't want the paws of a liar on his face," Harmony snorted.
" And who might you be, my feisty dear?"
" I'm not your dear, and if you're as `All Knowing' as you claim to be, you should know that."
" Yes. Of course. Westershire...so sorry about your father, Harmony. That's what he gets for being so foolish as to marry that...Muggle."
" I'd appreciate it Professor, if you would not insult my father so very much. He is a great wizard."
" There's no is about it, Miss Westershire. Your father is dead and good riddance to him as well. I could have sworn he was on the Dark Side. But no one would've believed me had I voiced my thoughts aloud. Sam Westershire, they would have said. Never! He's just perfect-"
" Aye, so they would've. And you would never admit it, but you agreed," Harmony retorted in a quiet voice. " That's why you were so against him marrying my mother. You were in love with him yourself."
A hushed silence fell in the room. Even Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown were staring open-mouthed at Trelawney. No one had ever really got the best of Trelawney, not counting Professor McGonagall. Everyone knew McGonagall didn't consider Divination a magical art, but pure nonsense. Trelawney's way certainly was, but somehow Harmony's wasn't. It was more practical and down-to-earth. It wasn't misty or closed-up and didn't even seem mysterious.
The prospect of one of their teachers being in love with the supposedly dead father of one of the students undoubtedly appealed to the Divination students. Trelawney couldn't quiet them down for anything the rest of the whole class, no matter how much she rattled on about the incredible position of Neptune. When class was finally over, Trelawney looked as though she had just aged about 20 years. Not even her favorites, Parvati and Lavender, had paid the least bit of attention to her. How did young Harmony know? How could she be so heartless to have said it aloud? "Well, a tiny voice at the back of Trelawney's head whispered, you made some pretty rude remarks about her father... and she's a psychic. You'd do well to be nice to her." Trelawney had always listened to this voice before, for it was her telepathic voice, but this time she refused.
Back at the Gryffindor common room, all was chaos.
" Harmony, that was amazing! How did you know that?"
" Hey! There you are! Do you know anything about Snape? I could really use something to get back at him with!"
She flatly refused any requests for secrets about the staff. " My powers aren't meant to be used that way," she would reply.
Finally, with crestfallen faces, Harmony's peers let her be. She grinned after them and called, " But I will tell you anything and everything about any student who isn't in Gryffindor."
The crowd roared and turned around. Harry got to her first and shouted over the chattering crowd, " Tell us anything and everything about Draco Malfoy!"
Harmony smiled real big. " I thought you'd never ask. Well, for starters, Malfoy is not like his father in the opinion about You-Know-Who. Draco's father is a big supporter of You-Know-Who, and, incredibly, Malfoy is against him! Also, the Malfoys aren't quite as rich as they put forth. And- this is a big one, people- Malfoy's mum is a Muggle born witch! Draco didn't even know that. I had to search deep into Lucius' mind to find it, and concentrate really hard. Draco's not as cool and calm as he appears. He still sleeps with a teddy bear! And-no I won't tell you this one because it taints me as well..."
Harmony's audience applauded loudly, but looked at one another with puzzled looks. They knew exactly what she meant in her last sentence, but it couldn't possibly be true; Draco Malfoy, the most evil Slytherin in the whole school, in love with Harmony Westershire, the perfect Gryffindor? It just didn't work! No wonder Harmony didn't want to voice that finding aloud.
Harmony pulled herself out of the armchair she was sitting in and walked toward the Fat Lady's picture. " Well, I'm off to the library. Got to get cracking on the History of Magic essay about house elves, er, haha!"
" Harmony, we have to work on it too. Wait for us!" Hermione called after her with a sideways glance to Ron and Harry. They followed her out.
" Hermione, I know for a fact that you finished that report last week. What are you doing following me?"
" Umm, I dunno. Well, you seemed a bit uneasy..."
" Of course I'm uneasy! Draco Malfoy likes me! Do you have any idea how that feels? Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that. I know that you're just trying to help..."
" Forget it. You were riled up and, well, who could blame you?"
" Not me most certainly!" Harry said, elbowing Ron to make him say something. But Ron stayed silent. You could tell he was concentrating hard. Harmony's face lit up and she smiled at him.
" Well, we should probably go on to the library. They won't be expecting us back for at least an hour," Harmony said cheerily.
" So, can you tell us anything about Snape? We won't use it..." Ron said slyly as Harmony laughed.
* * *
" Ok, I'll tell you something about Snape." Harmony's words brought low cheers to Harry and Ron, who had been pestering her as she searched through the stacks in the library. Even Hermione let Harmony take a break after an hour of relentless slaving over the books about house elves.
" Well, to start off, Snape liked my mother. He thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. They met in London, where she and my father lived until my mother became pregnant with me. My mother was fascinated by the Muggle street that led to Diagon Alley. She always said that there was something there she couldn't see. She had some magic in her after all. Anyhow, for Snape it was love at first sight. My mother was disgusted by him though. Thought of him as the nasty slime ball he is. Now, if my mother was any good at all, it was because of her cleanliness. She couldn't stand dirt or grease. And, well, Snape is nothing but dirt and grease. She stayed away from him and this made him mad, so he decided to go to war against our family."
" So why was he so nice to you this morning?"
" Umm, I don't know whether I should tell you this or not..."
" Come on, we won't tell!" Harry said jovially, and also carelessly, as he found out when Hermione poked him.
" Harry, you're being very insensitive! She doesn't have to tell us if she doesn't want to!"
" No, Harry's right. I need to get it out. You guys are my best friends and I would trust you with my life, let alone a secret that I have which isn't my shame. It's Snape's."
" The reason he was being so nice to me is because he thinks I'm beautiful. Even more than he thought my mother was."
" Well, you are, Harmony, at least to me," Ron whispered. Hermione did not yet know their secret and looked at Harry with a very confused look. Harry returned the look with one that explained almost everything; he had unwittingly given her a wounded look filled with jealousy. Hermione glanced at the door with raised eyebrows and he gave her a nod. They slowly made way toward the door. Madam Pince was nowhere to be found. Just as the door closed behind them, Harmony fell into Ron's arms.
" You don't know how I feel, carrying around people's secrets that I have no right to know! The pressure is just horrible. I made grandfather send me to Hogwart's because the girls at Beauxbatons kept pressing me to tell them things about the other girls and I am very unhappy to say I gave in one more than one occasion. Those girls were hurt by what I told the others. The burden of knowing that is bad enough, but knowing how they actually felt, how much they cried at the taunts of the more popular girls, that's too much!" Harmony sobbed onto Ron's shoulder.
Ron had no idea how to comfort a girl sobbing on his shoulder and was completely bewildered. They just stood there for about ten minutes, clinging to one another. Finally Ron lifted her head so she was looking straight into his eyes, and said,
" Hon, I dunno what to say. I've never held a girl before, never felt the way I do about you with any other girl. I love you, Harmony." There he kissed her full on the lips. When she felt his tongue, she responded with her own. She saw the fire in his eyes, but, even though she knew their future, and it leaned in this direction, she couldn't. Not yet.
" I-I can't. Not yet. Please don't. Don't hurt me," she hoarsely whispered.
" Harmony, I won't, not if you don't want too. I understand. But why do you think I would?"
Harmony's eyes were far too honest to keep any emotions inside. They unwittingly betrayed her secret.
Ron groaned. " Harmony, no tell me it's not true. Nobody could ever hurt you. Nobody," he said gruffly.
" Not unless I let them. He told me he loved me and he would never hurt me. I believed him. I let him take advantage of me."
" Didn't your powers tell you he was up to know good? And who is he?"
" I ignored them, but, yes, they did tell me. And that certain someone's name was Gilderoy Lockhart."