Chapter 4- Questions
Harry left soon after my….vision…or whatever it was. I didn't understand it, but it gave me another firm answer. It wasn't just Helga Hufflepuff that caused this. Godric Gryffindor was involved as well, rather directly.
I decided not to tell Harry was I saw. It felt like some sort of daydream that I couldn't snap out of. What had Helga meant when she said she was stuck in the castle? Why did she swear an Oath to him to protect his house? Why did his house need protecting?
The questions raced through my mind and I felt a twinge of guilt for not including Harry. There was something else bothering me. I was muggle born so how could I be related to Helga Hufflepuff? As far as I knew Helga was a pureblood and always had been. I didn't have any magical background that could be traced. Helga lived over a thousand years ago though, maybe after so much time spells couldn't detect what magic there could have been. It would be amazing if I really was related to her. Who wouldn't want to be? Helga was the sweetest of the four, but the most determined. I felt I could relate to her even if not in blood.
Harry and I were returning to classes eventually, but for now I was on my own with time. A tapping on the only window in my room caught my attention.
It was a school Owl, with a piece of parchment tied to its leg.
Miss Granger,
I have contacted St. Mungos and they had sent a trained Healer to evaluate the situation. All aspects. I know this may be uncomfortable but it is necessary that we understand what's happened to you and Mr. Potter. Come to the Infirmary after dinner to meet your healer. Bring Mr. Potter as well.
P. Pomfrey.
My heart raced and my skin flushed. All aspects? Did she mean the mark and the ….pleasure too? Oh that was more than embarrassing! I hoped that it was a female healer.
I walked over to the door, joining Harry's room to mine. He was curled up in a tight ball, sleeping in the middle of his bed. I had a flash of déjà vu. I could have sworn crookshanks' had done the same exact thing. Only he was a cat not a teenage boy.
I sat on the edge of Harry's bed, looking around his room. It was neat and ordinary. There weren't many things of his in the room yet. His truck was open, clothing spilling out from it. The dresser left vacant and his covers hadn't been pulled back yet, that I could tell. Harry didn't seem like the type to make the bed constantly. His desk had his text books on it and the chair had a pair of school robes hanging from it. Other than that the room was bare of anything that said, 'Harry.'
My room was covered with my things, the dresser full and my 'girl' things scattered around here and there. Not to mention my books.
Harry shifted in his sleep and uncurled from his tight ball. His eyes snapped open and I was suddenly shoved off the bed. A hand closed around my throat for a split second, but I never lost my ability to breathe. Harry rocked back on his knees, flushing. He looked horrified.
"Mione! I'm sorry! I didn't-
"I know Harry, it's fine. You didn't hurt me." I reassured him. He only scared the bloody hell outta me. Rule number one- never wake up Harry. He let out a relieved laugh and helped me to my feet.
I took the note out of my pocket and handed it to him, my nerves returning full force. He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his jet black hair.
"Well I guess I cant go back to sleep." He handed the note back and started looking for something in his trunk.
"Why haven't you put anything away?" I asked, watching him dig in his trunk. He gave me a strange look.
"Why exactly do I have to put away? I have clothes and text books. Quills, parchment…holey socks I need to throw out."
I opened my mouth to say that he should put his personal things but it dawned on me that he just didn't have any. Ron had this weird cologne and his own shampoo and soap. He told me once that his mum took him to get it over the summer.
Harry didn't have a mum…or a dad to do that.
"Oh." I said feebly, feeling stupid. Harry gave me a wry smile and went on digging in his truck. He found what he was after, the map.
"Why do you need that?" I asked curiously. He stood and kicked his clothes back in the open truck. Harry sat on the bed and opened the map.
"I do it every day. I just look at it for something to do. It weird to talk to Seamus every day knowing he was in a broom closet with Pavarti last night."
I let out a gasp, "Harry that's so rude! You're invading their privacy." I thought it was rather funny, but I couldn't tell him that.
He just grinned at me, "Don't you want to know who Ron was with last night? There are a lot of broom closets in this school, did you know?"
I flushed red and glared at him. "I don't care what Ronald does with…anyone!" I protested weakly.
"Sure. He was with Lavender for almost two hours." My eyes fell to the floor, disappointed. He always went back to Lavender. Harry gave me a sad glance and put the map away, apparently not finding anything of interest.
"We might as well just go to dinner. No point in doing anything else tonight. I didn't sleep after I left you; that's why I slept all morning."
"It's fine. I was busy thinking about…" I stopped. I hadn't told Harry about the vision yet. What if he was angry?
"About?" Harry asked expectantly. I made a quick choice to tell him. He would forgive me if he was angry.
"Last night I had some kind of vision. It was about what's going on with us." I winced at how awkward I sounded.
Harry said nothing.
"Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor made an oath." I said softly as we walked towards the Great Hall.
"Was this before or after I left last night?" He demanded. He didn't sound angry.
"Just before you left. I didn't know what to make of it. I just needed to think."
Harry stopped walking and gave me a long look,"Mione, you don't answer to me. It fine to keep things from me but if it's got something to do with what's wrong with us then I think you should tell this healer."
I nodded, "You're right. That's what I was going to do."
We entered the Great Hall for dinner and Ron was sitting with Seamus and Dean. Ginny was on the other side of the table with Neville. We sat at the end next to each other. I wondered why Harry hadn't gone to sit next to Ron.
Ron paused, with his fork half way to his mouth to stare at Harry. He glared slightly and went back to eating.
"Mione? What's up with Harry and Ron?" Ginny stage whispered. She spoke loud enough so that the whole end of our table could hear.
"I don't know. Do you think they're having a fight? What should we do?" I said in a worried tone. Harry was staring at me with amusement. Ron was fighting a smile.
"I don't know maybe we should go put on some of those muggle bikinis and roll around in the mud. Isn't that what you used to do for your other friend back with your parents?" Ginny said, her eyes dancing, but her tone serious.
Harry, Dean and Neville all let out a huge bark of laughter. Neville was a pureblood, but he lived in a muggle neighborhood so he knew what we were talking about. Dean was a half-blood and Harry was…well he was Harry.
"Ginny that is a perfect idea. What do you guys think?" I asked and Neville and Dean shouted loud yes's but Harry just smiled. Ron was clueless.
"What in the world are you lot talking about?" He demanded. Ginny leaned across the table to whisper in his ear. He turned a pink color and looked down at his plate.
"Gin, I don't think they want us too. Oh well there's always next time!"
This was one thing I loved about Ginny. She could always cheer me up with her bizarre personality.
"You and Harry get a whole floor to yourselves? Can I come see you rooms?" She asked when I explained why I wasn't in the girl's dorm any more.
"Of course. I have to go to the infirmary for a little while but I'll let you come see it later."
Ginny beamed at me. She was so easy to please. Ron sulked threw dinner and wouldn't talk to Harry or me.
Harry and I stood up to leave together and Ron muttered, "Can't keep your hands off her for an hour?"
Harry reacted so quickly that I couldn't stop him. He leaned over the table and slammed his fist into Ron's nose, once, twice, and he was going for a third when I grabbed his elbow and pulled him off the table. He tripped and fell to the floor, blood dripping from his hand.
Ron was unconscious, with a bloody mouth and nose. I winced as Ginny and Dean tried to wake him.
"Hermione I think you and Harry should go before he wakes." Ginny gave me a look to tell me she didn't think either of us had done anything wrong. It was stupid of Ron to rile Harry up that way.
Harry rubbed his knuckles on the way to the infirmary, but I didn't offer to heal them. He shouldn't have hit Ron, no matter how deserving the git was.
"You're not talking or asking if I'm okay."
"Damn right I'm not. You know you shouldn't have hit him…more than once. You could have seriously hurt him over a petty untrue comment."
Harry laughed bitterly, "Yea. I know. I'm sorry. He's just so bloody stupid sometimes."
I made a noise of agreement. Didn't we know it.
Madam Pomfrey healed Harry's hand without question and showed us to her office. A woman, to my relief, sat in the chair. She looked around forty, but I wasn't sure. Her hair was brown and curly like mine and her eyes were green like Harry's. Only she wasn't very pretty. Her face was scarred with scratches and they extended down her neck. I averted my eyes, while Harry stared outright.
"Well, I see my glamours aren't working." She said with a light laugh and the scars suddenly vanished.
"Werewolf, luckily I wasn't bit, now on to business. I'm Healer Abbott." Harry and I sat next to each other in chairs opposite her.
"Can I see this mark?" I unbuttoned my shirt so she could see it clearly. She raised her hand to touch it.
Tingles went through me, but it didn't feel like when Harry touched it. Harry was staring at us with wide eyes and clenches fists. Was he feeling something?
"You're glowing blue, Hermione!" Strange.
Healer Abbott pulled away instantly. "Did it hurt?"
"No, it felt nice. Not as good as when Harry or I touched it though." I said, avoiding her gaze. I really didn't want to talk about this, but I was curious. Why would something like that happen? It was just a mark.
"Alright. Any other symptoms aside from the glowing and the pleasing sensation."
I thought for a moment, "It hurt really badly when I got it. But it hasn't hurt in bad way since then."
She took out a note pad and wrote down what I said with a quill. Harry nudged me with his knee. He gave me a knowing look and nodded his head at the Healer.
I didn't catch on for a few seconds, which made me feel slow, but I nodded at him. Healer Abbott was done writing and was looking at us with amusement.
"I take it you have something else to tell me?"
I flushed and nudged Harry. I wasn't going to say it!
"I touched the mark and it was Mione that felt the pleasure. I did." He said calmly though I thought he looked a little breathy.
Healer Abbott was silent for a moment and I could see the tightness in her eyes and jaw. She smiled weakly.
"Would you care to demonstrate?"
Harry moved his chair so he was facing me, "It doesn't work every time Sometimes it's her and not me."
We didn't really know that because we'd only tried this a few times. Harry placed his hand inches from the mark above my left breast and set it down firmly.
Nothing. Harry shivered visibly and closed his eyes against the feeling. I watched with wonder, Harry seemed so much like a…man. His eyes were screwed shut, but his lips were parted, breathing in quickly. His neck was tilted backwards and the contours of his face glowed blue. I think the blue radiated from myself.
"Okay, thank you Harry." He pulled his hand back quickly and moved his chair away from me. I gave him an indignant look. Harry grinned and looked back to Healer Abbott.
"That was unexpected. Have you both ever felt it at the same time?"
"No." We answered together. I couldn't help but noticed how bitter our voices sounded. She took more notes before speaking again.
"Anything else of merit?"
"I had a vision or daydream about the four founders, mainly concerning Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor."
Honesty was the best policy. I rather enjoyed the shocked look on her face. Harry stifled a laugh.
"Details?"
"Helga was in a room waiting for Godric to return. He'd left Rowena and Helga to run the castle for a year. He entered and Helga was angry. She said that he'd imprisoned her and she couldn't leave the castle. It was an Oath. She swore to protect his house so she had to stay there to do it."
I paused, letting her take it in, maybe Harry as well. I never gave him these details either.
"Why was Godric gone?" Harry spoke up.
"Because he killed Salazar Slytherin. When Salazar made his opinions clear on blood purity Godric shoved a poison down his throat. Helga covered it up and said there was a –
"Potions accident." Healer Abbott finished softly, with wide eyes.
"Yes. Godric didn't realize that he had imprisoned Helga and wanted to fix it. He couldn't though. Helga said that was the point of Oaths. They lasted forever."
Harry was deep in thought and didn't ask questions. Healer Abbott was thinking as well so I just stayed silent and let them.
"Well I'll take all of that into account. You best go and get some rest. I would say not to experiment with the mark, but I don't see any other way of finding out it's affects. We haven't seen anything like this in the history of magical medicine."
That was comforting. She bid us goodbye and Poppy led us out of the Infirmary.
"You both behave yourselves." She warned and closed the door.
I looked over at Harry waiting for him to say something, anything at all.
"Well that went better than I thought it would. You'll tell me if you have another…vision?"
We came to our rooms," Yes of course." Harry shut the door behind him without a word and I frowned. He was probably just tired. I was. I should just trust him and Healer Abbott. She would help us, because Harry didn't want to be tied to me this way. Against his will.
I turned out the lights and crawled into my soft bed. I was asleep in seconds.
A/N:Chapter four! It's longer than any yet! I know there werent really any answers in this chapter, but it'll happen soon enough. Reviews are wonderful! Also I have 103 of you on alert. That's amazing and we're only four chapters in.
