VIII
It was mid-morning by the time Hermione found herself walking out to the front of the school with Ron by her side, both of them bundled up against the harsh Scottish winds as they prepared to traipse out into the forest. She had debated not doing anything with her hair at all after Pansy's barb, but it really had looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, so, deciding it was for practical reasons, she had spent a few minutes fighting a brush through it, then had platted it the best she could and shoved a bobble hat on top of her head.
Ron was wearing actual clothes now rather than his pyjamas, and no less than two of his mother's jumpers, though Hermione suspected it might actually have been three from his unnatural bulk. They barrelled out of the front door, ignoring the other students who passed, and set out into the cold air.
No one else knew yet what had happened to Harry and Malfoy. Hermione had debated telling Ginny, seeing as she and Harry were still close even though they were no longer dating, but part of her didn't want anyone to worry until they knew there was a real danger. Obviously it wasn't great that Harry was in some sort of coma, but hopefully it would be just temporary, and the Healers would fix him (and Malfoy) soon.
She would rather he didn't have to face any drama when he woke up; he had already faced so much over the years. This was his chance to be normal, a regular student, and she didn't want to spread some rumour about him having another near-death experience or something if there was a simple solution right around the corner.
So it was just her and Ron that ventured outside to go find the spot where Harry had been found. The only thing different from their normal sort of investigating they'd done over the years was that Pansy Parkinson was waiting on the bottom step for them, idly smoothing down the fur trim on her gloves.
She had a tailored, three quarter length, dusty pink coat on with silver buttons that probably cost more than Hermione's whole duffle coat, which was now making her feel pretty cumbersome as she walked up to the other girl. A darker pink French beret was angled artfully on her sleek black hair, and her socks were now almost entirely covered by purplish-grey, suede, knee-high boots.
Hermione could practically feel Ron scowling from beside her, but Pansy pushed off from the stone banister she had been leaning on with a little skip and met Hermione as they reached the bottom step.
"There you both are," she said cheerfully, unabashedly reaching over to straighten Hermione's scarf and stroking the end of her plat. The moment was over before it had begun, and Hermione wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed or not. Ron's hand slipped firmly against hers though, and she shook herself with a cough.
"Shall we get going?" she asked.
Pansy nodded and spun on her heels. "Of course," she told them as she began to crunch over the frozen ground towards the woods. "Follow me."
"Why the bloody Hell is she being nice to us?" Ron muttered into Hermione's ear. She gave a baffled shake of her head.
"She said something about us always getting Harry back in one piece," she suggested. "Perhaps she's buttering us up so we'll do the same for Malfoy?"
Ron grunted. "I'd be happy to leave Malfoy to rot," he said through gritted teeth, and then he sighed. "But it's not what you do is it? You help people, because it's right? Not because someone decides to suddenly treat you as a human being."
Hermione chewed her lip. "She's Slytherin," she offered. "Maybe she doesn't see it like that?"
"She," Pansy said cheerfully, but with an underlying steeliness. "Will do whatever it takes to help her best friend. Including eavesdropping on gossiping Gryffindors."
Hermione blushed, ashamed, but Ron didn't seem to care much. "Alright then Parkinson, where are we going? How do we know you're not taking us on some wild goose chase?"
Pansy sighed and turned around, waiting for them to catch up with her. "Now what would be the point in that?"
Ron shrugged. "Kicks?"
Pansy scoffed and began stomping over the grass once more, the tree line lurking up ahead and looking particularly uninviting. "Yes, I wanted to lure you out here and waste all our time whilst Draco and Potter wither away and die."
"Die?" Ron repeated, colour draining from his face.
Hermione squeezed his gloved hand. "I'm sure it won't come to that," she said firmly, and mostly believing it. "So are we retracing your steps from last night?" she asked their companion diplomatically.
Pansy drew her wand out from her coat pocket and gave it a swish, pointing them slightly to the left. "Yes," she said, focusing on the woodland trail ahead, although it was dwindling by the minute and Hermione guessed if they carried on like this they would soon be battling through the undergrowth. "Like I said, when midnight rolled around and Draco still did not appear, I activated our Vinculum charm. It's a mild bonding spell," she clarified before Ron could ask. Hermione had of course mastered it in their Sixth Year, but she had never used one practically.
"Why do you have that?" Ron asked.
Pansy arched an eyebrow. "After all the horrors he had to go through the last couple of years, I wanted to make sure I could keep an eye on him."
Hermione could understand that, although she couldn't say she was as sympathetic to Malfoy's plight as pretty much everyone else she knew. "And it pulled you towards Malfoy?" she questioned.
Pansy nodded, walking them around several logs that had been piled up together. "At first I thought it was a bit of a joke, that he and Potter were hiding out in the forest of all places, but then I just kept on walking, and when I discovered them unconscious and freezing it didn't seem so funny after all."
Hermione shivered, despite the layers of clothing she had on. "I'm glad you found them," she admitted in a small voice."
"Me too," Pansy agreed in a tone lacking its usual rancour.
"But what were they doing all the way out here?" Ron asked. They were so deep in the forest now the weak November sunshine was struggling to permeate the canopy, and the gloom put Hermione's nerves on end. "Were they fighting?" Ron carried on. "They seemed to be getting along alight lately – you know – for them."
Pansy tutted. "Shall you explain it to him darling," she asked, fluttering her eyelashes as Hermione. "Or I?"
Hermione frowned at her. "Um, what?" she said.
Pansy huffed and looked back in front of her again. "For someone so clever you are rather dim at times."
Hermione bristled, but she had no idea what Pansy was referring to, so decided not to respond. Instead, they trampled on in silence for some time until what looked like a clearing appeared up ahead, distinguishable from the ring of pale sunshine that was lighting the grass on the ground.
Sensing this was it, Hermione quickened her pace, dragging Ron along and then letting him go altogether as the three of them entered the glade.
"Here we are," Pansy said, opening her hands in a slightly hopeless gesture.
Hermione turned in a circle, taking in the half a dozen or so trees that lined the grass. "They were just here?"
"On the ground," Pansy explained, indicating the spot with her wand. "In front of these two trees, like they had just collapsed. I couldn't wake them up, so I summoned McGonagall, and she came with Pomfrey." She rubbed her arm and moved to look at some of the other trees, lifting her free hand to touch the bark. "I thought there might have been something on here last night, but maybe it was the moonlight playing tricks?"
She didn't sound convinced though, so Hermione stood from where she and Ron had been inspecting the grass and cast a quick Lux spell.
The result was immediate.
Images blossomed into life on each of the trees; not terribly strong, but clear enough to make out in the weak sunshine and the light from her spell.
"It's a heart," Pansy said in surprise, withdrawing her hand quickly from the bark.
"And a bonfire?" Hermione said, peering around at the several trees. There was a prayer mat, a colourful egg, and the two by Ron detailed a Christmas tree and a Jack-O-Lantern. "What does it mean?"
The three of them stood and stared for a little while as Hermione turned over the possibilities in her mind.
"Well," she said eventually. "I guess this represents Christmas and Halloween," she said, pointing at the more obvious pictures. "So I guess that's Valentine's?"
"That's Guy Fawkes night," added Ron eagerly. "And Easter."
"Look at this," Pansy murmured, and made her way back a little into the trees.
Even if the images had not grown more defined for whatever reason, they wouldn't have necessarily noticed the other markings as they would have been to their backs. But now, as they fanned out and made their way back into the woods from the glade, it was clear to see that the trees were all organised in rings around the clearing, and each one of them had a different picture on the bark. Hermione spotted fireworks and a daffodil, a shamrock and a frying pan, even what looked to be a portrait of Shakespeare and another of a face laughing so hard it was crying.
"I think they're all holidays," she said, looking back the way they had come. "Do you see?"
"Yeah," said Ron. "But what's the fish for?" He had ventured into the third ring of trees, and as it was gloomier again, he lit his wand to see better. "Or a teddy bear, or a bunch of vegetables-"
As soon as he held his wand up towards the tree with the vegetables, a gust of wind tore so fiercely through the woods that Hermione was pushed forward, and she tripped on her own feet, sprawling to the ground. But she looked up just in time to see the vegetables become startlingly clear, like the colours had intensified tenfold, and then suddenly the image swung open like a door.
And dragged Ron towards it.
"Accio Weasley!" Pansy's voice cut through the gale, hauling him away from the hole in the tree, and Hermione scrambled to her feet, her own wand raised.
"Colloportus!" she screamed, slamming the door back shut and locking it tight.
The three of them retreated into the centre of the clearing, all breathing heavily from the shock. "What the Hell just happened?" Ron demanded, clutching at his chest.
Hermione shook her head and looked at Pansy. "I'm not sure," she said.
But it didn't bode well for Harry or Malfoy.
