"Mate, what happened? You look like someone tried to do you in!" Ron exclaimed as Harry walked into the common room and collapsed in a chair beside Ron.
"It's Snape. He's trying to kill me. I swear." Harry muttered exhaustedly as he threw his outer robe onto the ground in front of him and rested back in his chair.
"Greasy old git, probably gets a kick out of watching you suffer. If I were you I'd hex him- make him grow something out of his forehead, like a…a…" Ron then looked to see Harry sleeping soundly in the chair beside him. "Harry!" He cried and his friend awoke with a start, his green eyes glassy.
"Sorry Ron, I guess I better get up to the dormitories before you have to carry me up there."
"Bloody hell, like I'm carrying you anywhere!" Ron replied jokingly.
"Night Ron." Harry said with a tired smile.
"Night Harry." Ron replied and went back to watching the fire. About an hour later, as he himself got up and prepared to go toward the dormitories he noticed that Harry had left his robe behind. Upon picking it up he found that it smelled sweet and earthy and pleasant. He wondered what the scent was and immediately thought that it had to do with Harry's disappearance, and while he could not have even began to guess what scent was he knew someone who almost definitely would.
"Hermione!" Ron called from across the room.
"What is it Ron?" He looked in the direction he had heard her voice coming from and immediately saw her seated at one of the tables in the common room. She peered up at him from behind a pile of thick books.
"Come here!"
"Why don't you come over here?"
"Hermione…"
"Ron…"
"Hermione…"
"Ron…"
"Hermione…"
"Oh all right." Hermione groaned as she got up from the table and grudgingly strode over to Ron. "What is it?"
"Smell this." He said as he held out Harry's cloak.
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Why do you want me to smell an old cloak, Ron?"
"Because it's Harry's." Ron stated as if this explained everything.
Hermione only looked at him strangely. "Ron, are you trying to tell me something?"
"Oh, bugger off." Ron groaned and Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Just, please." He said and watched as Hermione sat down beside him. She then took the cloak in her hands and did as Ron asked.
"What on earth?" Hermione asked as she smelled it again. "Are you sure that this is Harry's?"
"Yes. Do you know what that is?" Ron asked. "At first I thought it might be a spice, like cinnamon-"
"It's not." Hermione said. "What do you think; he snuck out because he felt the mad urge to spend the night whipping up baked confections?"
"Hardly." Ron replied. "And then I thought it might be some sort of tree and that he might not have been lying about the 'all night walk' thing-"
Hermione snorted. "Not even in the wizarding world is there a tree that smells like its trying to get a good shag."
"Well fine then, what do you think it is?"
"I have no idea." But I know someone who might. She smelled it again.
"Why are you two smelling that old cloak?" They looked to see Neville Longbottom standing beside them looking awfully confused.
"Oh," Ron began. "Because it's Harr-"
"Hardly worth mentioning." Hermione corrected and Neville only looked at them strangely.
"Goodnight then." He said and walked away toward the boys' dormitories, muttering under his breath about how strange they were.
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed as soon as Neville was out of earshot. "Do you think before you open your trap?"
"Not particularly." He replied nonchalantly and Hermione groaned.
"Well can you handle not telling Harry what's become of his cloak?"
"Why?"
"Because I've got a…friend who can tell me what this scent is."
"You do?"
"Yes.
"Who?"
"You wouldn't know him."
"That means that you don't want to tell me who it is."
"Aren't we clever?" Hermione replied caustically and Ron rolled his eyes. "Can you not tell Harry that I have his cloak?"
"I'll cover for you, but he'll get it back eventually right?"
"Of course!" Hermione declared emphatically. "I'm not a thief, I'm just borrowing it."
"Whatever." Ron replied and stalked off to the common room where he found Harry laying awake and staring at the ceiling. Unshed tears glistened in his eyes.
"You all right, mate?" Ron asked as he laid in the bed beside Harry's.
"Yeah, just lost something." He replied sadly
Shite. "What did you lose?"
"Nothing important, I'm sure it'll turn up eventually. 'Night Ron."
"Night Harry." Ron replied sheepishly as he crawled into his bed and drifted off to sleep.
--
Review Replies/ Author's Note:
No reviews this time. T-T. Some for this chapter? Pretty please?
Author's note: Well, here it is. Hooray for dramatic irony!