Chapter 2

"Do you know where Harry went?" Hermione asked, looking up from her textbook for the first time in an hour. Ron, clearly having just woken up, rubbed his eyes and straightened himself up in the red velvet chair and mumbled, "Nope, no idea." Hermione sighed loudly and said, "Honestly, Ronald. Could you at least stay awake long enough to attempt to study?"

"Hermione, I did study."

"For a mere fifteen minutes!"

"That's fifteen minutes longer than usual."

"Oh, forget it. I told Harry to meet us here an hour ago, and he's still not here!" she exclaimed, closing her book. "He's never late like this."

"I don't know what you're freaking out about," Ron said nonchalantly, glancing around the empty common room. "He probably fell asleep. He's been doing that often these days."

"I know, and it's worrying me," Hermione admitted, playing with the fringe on the hem of her skirt. "Harry seems to be acting a big off, don't you agree?" Ron shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "I suppose so."

"Should we go look for him?"

"Hermione, seriously, chill out." Ron was beginning to get frustrated now. "I'm sure he's fine. You've been studying too hard, you need to take a break."

Hermione reluctantly set her book on the coffee table and stood up, offering her hand to Ron. "Alright then, shall we do something else?" Ron grasped her small hand in his and lifted himself out of his chair. "I guess so," he began. "I mean, I guess we could go to the great hall and see if anyone is there. The Gryffindor rooms are dead empty."

Making their way down the staircase, Ron pinched the back of Hermione's arm and motioned his head toward a couple of first-years who were maneuvering their way through the massive crowd at the bottom of the staircase, one of them holding a full-sized map of Hogwarts. Hermione bit her lip to contain her laughter, but Ron couldn't help it and let out a hearty laugh. Hermione hit his stomach, and to her surprise, he let out a gasp and exclaimed, "Hermione! Ow!" Hermione found herself in a fit of giggles. Laughing so hard that tears were filling the corners of their eyes, the skipped down the rest of the stairs. Suddenly, Hermione thrust her arm out in front of Ron, stopping him short of nearly falling down the last few stairs.

"Hermione!" Ron caught himself on the railing, and glared up at her.

"Look, look, look!" Hermione was pointing frantically, the smile gone from her face. Following her gaze, Ron gazed across the room and saw what Hermione was so shocked to see.

Draco and Harry were walking toward the Slytherin common room, and it looked as if they were holding hands.

"No way." Ron couldn't stop staring. "Are they...?"

"It looks like it," Hermione replied. "No, they're not. But Draco definitely has his arm around Harry or something."

Ron winced and turned around. "Well that's not something you see every day. What do you think is going on?"

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Ronald, how would I know? But I say we don't make any assumptions, and we talk to Harry tonight before bed. I'm sure he'll explain everything to us."