Ch. 8: Indecisions
The weather got colder with each passing day, as September became October and Halloween was drawing near. The first Hogsmeade trip was planned for the weekend before the holiday and Hermione was looking forward to it, even if she had to make a rather difficult choice beforehand. Just last Sunday, when they were packing their books to leave the library, Safu said that if Hermione wanted to spend the trip with them, she was most welcomed. She even said that Harry and Ron were welcomed as well, if they wanted to come and Hermione was really at loss of what to say.
Since Shion's birthday, she had spent a couple of Sunday evenings not only with Shion and Safu, but also with Nezumi, Ciel and Lizzy, all of whom needed to study just as much as they did, with the new strictness of the teachers. They would really study most of the time, sometimes asking Safu or Shion, or even Hermione, to explain something they couldn't understand. However, sometimes they chatted with hushed voices, to avoid the getting Madame Pince's attention.
She actually enjoyed that quiet time spent in the library. A couple of times, she asked Harry and Ron to join her, wishing for all her friends to get along and hoping that spending some times with her "study group" would convince her friends that they were alright. In response, Ron either mocked her for hanging out with Slytherins or badmouthed Shion. Hermione knew where the former was coming from, but she couldn't quite understand the latter. Harry, after Ron's tirade died off, only smiled at her apologetically and said that he'd stay with Ron or he'd feel stupid in the company. So Hermione went alone, wondering what would happen if she would have to choose one day and that day finally came.
What Ron and Harry would say if I suggested spending the Hogsmeade trip with the "devilish, Slytherin twins", she wondered, shaking her hand at the nickname Ron has given to Ciel and Nezumi in one of his tirades. They would probably be proud, she thought, while Ron thought he was insulting them. She was sitting in the corner of the common room, trying to find an easy way out of her problem. Around her, the Gryffindor students were chatting excitedly about their plans for the trip on the following day.
Hermione sighed. If I don't go with them, Harry and Ron will be angry and they are like brothers to me, she thought, looking down at the book on her lap. She couldn't even focus on what she was reading!
'You look awfully sad, Hermione,' Ginny, Ron's younger sister, said as she sat next to her in the corner. Hermione tried to smile at her. 'What's up?'
'The sky,' Hermione muttered with a smirk. She had picked that up from Ciel, which was ironic enough, considering the meaning of his name. Ginny blinked at her in surprise and then burst laughing. Hermione laughed with her, feeling much better than she was just moments ago.
'That's a good one, Mione,' Ginny said finally, brushing the corners of her eyes. 'I have to forward that to other people when they ask me,' she added. Hermione wondered briefly what Ciel's reaction would be if he got an answer like that. It should be worth seeing, she decided.
'So what are you going to do tomorrow?' she asked, not out of curiosity, but to have something to think about other than her dilemma. Ginny grinned.
'What do you mean "what I am going to do"? Of course I'll stalk you, Harry and Ron and pester my brother to buy me sweets,' she replied innocently. Hermione snorted. 'No really, I was hoping to stay alone with Harry so I actually came to ask you if you minded getting Ron away from him,' she replied again and this time she sounded serious. Hermione knew that Ginny and Harry were having something and she wondered if it would really work to detach Ron from his best friend and his younger sister, but Ginny's next statement froze whatever thought processes Hermione might have had. 'I know that Ron would love to spend some time only with you and you want that too, no?'
'Uh,' Hermione didn't really know what to say. Ginny looked at her funnily.
'Not that Ron said something like that, but didn't you start hanging out with the sexiest guys in the school to make him jealous?' she asked and Hermione's eyes widened. Who was Ginny talking about? 'The Phantomhive twins of course,' Ginny clarified, rolling her eyes. 'If they were not in Slytherin I would have considered them to make Harry jealous. I'm sure I would manage to charm them, but I didn't want to go that far. I'm actually surprised that you did, but really, it worked. Ron is all worked up about how you spend more and more time with them.'
Hermione was speechless. Did Ginny honestly think that Hermione just hanged out with Ciel and Nezumi to make Ron jealous? Did Harry and Ron think that as well? She blushed and wondered if Ciel and Nezumi thought anything along those lines as well. Her blush must have confirmed Ginny's theory for the younger girl, because she grinned and went on in her babbling.
'It's a shame they are in Slytherin, such a waste of good looking guys really. They are quite hot, huh?' she paused and winked. 'I mean that other guy, the one you studied with since the beginning? He's quite something now as well, with the new hair and those lensy contacts.'
'Contact lenses,' Hermione corrected automatically, still not quite grasping how the conversation with Ginny got that much out of control.
'Yeah, those,' Ginny agreed lightly. 'I'm surprised that McGonagall lets him look like that at school though. Mom told me, when I wanted to dye my hair orange, that Hogwarts has strict policies on how students should look.' Hermione realised that it was true and started wondering about that herself. Moreover, Shion didn't strike her as a guy craving for attention. He would probably be mortified if he heard Ginny just now, talking about him with such a smile on her face. 'I suppose that's why Ron is suddenly unhappy that you are studying with the Ravenclaws rather than him and Harry. I heard him complain to Harry nearly every time that you are away.'
'Really?' Hermione managed to utter when Ginny paused to breathe. Her friend mistook her interest for hope and grinned madly. What am I getting myself into?
'Really, really,' Ginny assured her. 'He's driving us crazy, so maybe you could try and study with him instead? Not that there would be a lot of studying involved,' Ginny smirked at her knowingly and Hermione felt her face grow hot. 'But that way me and Harry could have some time for ourselves as well, it would be nice. So, what do you say Hermione? Will you try to get Ron away from us in Hogsmeade tomorrow?' Ginny asked and looked at Hermione pleadingly. I can't say no to her, can I?
'I'll try,' she said with resignation. 'But I can't promise anything. If Ron starts to suspect anything he-' Ginny didn't let her finish. She clapped in joy and hugged her briefly, thanking her and going away, waving at Harry and Ron.
'What was that about?' Harry asked as he and Ron came to sit with Hermione moments later. Hermione looked at him with narrowed eyes as he blushed and looked away. So he knew! He sent Ginny onto Hermione. She was going to make him pay, she promised herself, but for the moment she smiled sweetly and said that it was nothing.
'What are you guys up to?' she asked, wanting to change the topic. She didn't have the dilemma of what to do in Hogsmeade anymore, although she wasn't sure if she was satisfied with the solution. She hoped that Safu and the others would not take it badly. She strongly suspected that the twins would just shrug and go on, but maybe the other three would be disappointed.
'We were out, trying to find out what Malfoy is scheming,' Ron started excitedly and Hermione gritted her teeth and willed herself to not roll her eyes. 'And we had the most interesting conversation with Michael Corner,' he added.
'The same Michael Corner that was dating Ginny last year?' Hermione asked with a slightly mocking tone. She knew it shouldn't give her satisfaction to see both Harry and Ron wince at the reminder, she really knew that. She fought, and won, against herself to not smile at their expressions.
'If that guy lays his dirty hands on my little sis again,' Ron started and Hermione almost laughed at the apprehensive look on Harry's face. The twins are rubbing off me, she thought guiltily. 'I swear if I see him as much as look at her too long, he will regret it.'
'Ron,' Harry stopped him. 'Hermione knows all that already,' he added and Ron's mouth snapped shut, a sulk appearing on his face. 'In any case, Michael,' Harry said the name with the smallest hint of distaste that Hermione found infinitely amusing. 'Said that the guy you're studying with is behaving weird this year. You know – the white-haired Ravenclaw.'
'Shion,' Hermione said. Before she didn't even try to correct Ginny, who was too far gone into her fantasies to listen, but she didn't want Harry to call somebody she deemed her friend as "the white-haired Ravenclaw". Harry nodded, while Ron winced slightly. 'What's weird about him?' she asked, keeping her tone casual. She wondered if he wore his scarf in the dormitory as well. If Michael had anything to say, then probably he did or did something even more out of place that started the gossip.
'He's having some secrets,' Ron said earnestly. 'Since this year, he started to avoid the other guys in his dormitory, at least unless he's all wrapped up in clothes. He doesn't even shower at the same time as they do anymore.'
'That hardly sounds as a crime,' Hermione pointed out, forcing her voice to stay calm, although a chill ran down her spine as she remembered the red mark on Shion's neck. Could it be the reason? Was it a bruise? Did he have more bruises? Horror stories about abuse victims plagued her mind whenever she thought about it and she wondered if it was only a Muggle problem. She only ever heard about those kinds of things when she was watching the news at her parents place.
'No, but it's weird, you gotta admit it,' Harry butted in. 'Besides, Michael says that those are not contact lenses he's wearing, because his eyes don't change in the evening. He says his mom wears contact lenses and you can see in the person's eyes if they wear them. Do you think you could look, Hermione?'
'What are you doing, telling her to look into his eyes,' Ron yelled and the conversations around them stopped as everybody looked at them. Hermione thought that she was going to die in humiliation as smirks twisted some of the faces and Ron turned lobster red. A few people laughed and then the conversations were back. Hermione glared at Ron before looking at Harry.
'And if they're not?' she asked. Why didn't she think to check before? She knew that contact lenses were visible from up close after all.
'People's eyes don't change colour, Hermione,' Harry said seriously. 'If he's not wearing contact lenses then there might be something fishy going on,' he added. Hermione bit her lip, torn between agreeing with him and telling him to mind his own business. 'Michael is going to try and spy on him for us a bit, he said he's curious himself and he will share if he finds something.'
'Don't you think that we have no right to pry? What if something did happen to him and it's not a pleasant memory?' she asked finally. Harry and Ron blinked at her, as though this thought has never occurred to them. If Hermione was honest with herself, it didn't occur to her either, but she didn't put nearly as much time into solving the mystery as they and Michael Corner seemed to do. She kind of accepted Safu's words and let the matter slide, even if she kept an eye out for any sign of trouble.
'Well,' Harry mumbled and looked away. Hermione kept her eyes on him, knowing that she could make him see reason if she was given enough time.
'It's too late now, isn't it? Michael will try to sneak up on that guy in the shower tonight or tomorrow or whenever he will take a shower,' Ron pointed out, breaking the silence. He didn't sound overly concerned either and Hermione wondered if she could still go, find Ginny and tell her that she didn't want to have anything to do with Ron, much less to spend a whole day with him.
She could only hope that whatever it was that Shion was hiding, from the other boys in his dormitory, he was better at it than Michael Corner was at spying. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, she was going to find Shion and warn him. She didn't care if that would turn Shion's and, probably everybody else's, anger onto Harry and Ron.
