Chapter 10 – Sympathy and Chocolate
It was five minutes until the end of Transfiguration, the last class of the day, and Ron was itching to make use of the eighth years' new found privilege. But first he had to transfigure Sirius back.
They were studying human transfiguration still, and Sirius and he had been partnered. The former had just, on the professor's instruction, transfigured Ron's nose back to its usual freckly form. Now it was his turn.
But therein lay the problem.
There was four minutes left until the end of the class, a fact floating at the forefront of Ron's mind, taunting his ignorance. What on Earth was that bloody spell for the hair? Eurgh. It's all just so much to remember, they assume we all have minds like Hermione's. It's going to take me half an hour at this rate, the damn book is so long. Ron cursed himself for not leaving the book open on the right page; he was paying for it now.
He glanced up, fully expecting to see Sirius glowering at him and rolling his eyes, or something of the sort. Or at least sitting there wearing a bored and slightly irked expression. But no, he had obviously given up waiting, and was immersed in conversation with Hermione and James, both of who had finished (of course). All Ron could see was the (bright blue) back of Sirius' head. Fine.
Then Ron, with two minutes left, had a sudden stroke of genius.
The index! Why didn't I think of that before? With a smug grin, he flipped the heavy tome over and opened it at the back, only for his jaw to drop in dismay.
What lay before him were four pages of entries for the letter A alone. Each page with five columns. And tiny writing.
Ron flopped onto the desk in defeat, his head in his hands.
It would be all too easy just to ask Hermione for the incantation, but Ron, being male and, well, Ron, saw that as a sign of defeat. And she already thinks I'm stupid enough. James and Sirius were no use either; he'd have to interrupt their conversation with Hermione, who would then listen anyway. Even Harry was over on the other side of the classroom.
But maybe…yes! That might just work!
Ron decided to act while Sirius' back was still turned, because there was a good chance nothing would happen and Ron would just end up looking like a fool in front of everyone (everyone being Hermione). He pointed his wand at his target and murmured, "Finite Incantatem."
The colour began to disappear gradually from the darkening hair, and Ron allowed himself to gloat internally. Less than a minute later, Sirius' hair was back to its usual black length.
But…hang on. Ron couldn't remember transfiguring the length, only the colour. And wasn't it supposed to be brown?
Oh shit.
Hermione and James' frozen expressions reflected exactly what had just gone through Ron's mind.
Because the universe is never content with allowing people believe a bad situation cannot get any worse, just then the second hand hit the twelve. The sudden rush of noise and motion, however, startled Hermione into action. She pushed her bag off her desk, and Ron only realized why when she whispered, "Get down!" urgently at Sirius.
Ron couldn't see his face, but assumed that he had absolutely no idea what had just happened to him. With a helping shove from James though, he obeyed Hermione's command. She too dropped to the ground, starting to pick up the various contents of her bag that were now strewn across the stone floor.
Ron hastened to do the same, and saw that he had been right about Sirius' oblivious mindset. A small hand mirror had landed, and miraculously not broken, next to his foot, so he picked it up and passed it to Sirius. Immediately after glancing into to it, he stiffened and exhaled, "Holy mother of Merlin."
Most of the class had disappeared by now, as eager to get away as Ron had been. Only Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna remained in one corner. Luna was sporting a beak, and Neville was looking frantic. The only worrying thing was that the teacher still stood at the front of the room, looking particularly impatient. It probably didn't help things that professor McGonagall's successor greatly resembled an emu.
Hermione stood, narrowly avoiding hitting her head on the corner of the desk, and began to cross the room. As she brushed past him, Ron inhaled that familiar and scent that she constantly surrounded her. He couldn't identify what exactly she smelled of, flowers maybe? Spices? But he did know that it was particularly compelling, and made him wish that he knew where he stood with her.
As she passed the teacher's desk, she paused to say, "Sorry professor, everything fell out of my bag! Please don't worry about waiting for us." Luckily, professor Maius grudgingly agreed, saying, "Alright, but see to it that Miss Lovegood gets her nose back," nodding over to where Neville's head could be mistaken for a tomato it was so red, and Luna's beak had doubled in size, before disappearing into the crowded corridor.
"Harry! Please tell me you have the cloak with you!" Hermione pleaded. This obviously confused him, as god knows why someone would need an invisibility cloak for a spilt bag. But once he caught sight of Sirius, who had just stood up, his face cleared. "What in the name of…what happened?" He inquired, and at Hermione's shrug relief surged through Ron's veins. They don't know it was me! Who knew it was possible to feel guilty and relieved at the same time? Well, two emotions at the same time full stop.
But fortunately, it looked like no harm was done. It was easy work getting an invisible Sirius back to the tower once Hermione had sorted Luna's nose out, and Sirius had used a packing charm on the rest of her spilled belongings.
The guilt part was easy enough to ignore with the prospect of their freedom looming in Ron's mind once again.
--
"I can't believe you, Ronald!" came the shrill voice from behind the shut door.
Sirius carefully extracted his hand from the handle, deciding that it was more than his life's worth to open the door at that particular moment. Instead, he settled himself down on a fluffy mat on the bathroom floor trying his best not to listen to the conversation in the boys dormitory beyond.
"What?" the voice, obviously Ron's, replied incredulously. "What have I done now?"
Maybe 'conversation' was too polite a term.
"You're just going to go and gallivant around Hogsmeade and ignore what's happened?"
"Nothing's happened, 'Mione. You just need to re-apply the glamour charm and we're all set to go."
There was a pause before Hermione spoke again. When she did, it was clear that she had made an effort to calm herself. Her irritation wasn't gone however, by the strained tone of her voice.
"Ron, I don't think you're grasping the severity of the situation. Sirius' glamour just failed for no apparent reason. My charm, it didn't work properly! And until we can work out why and find a resolution, then he can't be walking around in full view of everyone. He's recognizable, you know that."
At this her voice lowered to a hiss, and Sirius gave up all pretence of not eavesdropping. He shuffled closer to the door, pushing his ear up against the rough mahogany. If they were talking about him, he figured, he had the right to listen. Hermione continued.
"I have to do some research, find out what could have gone wrong. Then if I can't, I need to work out what other options there are. We might even have to resort to polyjuice, and that will open up a whole new set of problems. It takes a month to brew if you don't remember. We can't have Sirius and James locked up in the dorm for a month, they might not even be here then! Ugh, this is just so complicated!
"All that can wait, Hermione. A couple of hours this evening aren't going to make any difference at all."
"Don't you listen to anything I say? Sirius obviously can't go, and neither can James. If I made a mistake whilst casting the spells, which at the moment is the most likely cause of what happened, his glamour is liable to collapse at any given moment! Is it really impossible for you to just use your brain sometimes?"
Sirius heard an exasperated sigh; a distinctly male, exasperated sigh.
"Invisibility cloak, remember? Seems like I'm not the one neglecting their brain."
Sirius barely heard the last, muttered, sentence, but it caused a sharp intake of breath. He cringed against the door waiting for all hell to break loose. Though he had only known Hermione for a couple of days, from what he had seen and deduced about her temperament, this was the lowest insult possible. Though Sirius couldn't see the scene in the room beyond, the stony silence was an indication that whatever was happening wasn't good. Not for Ron at least.
"What did you just say?" Her voice was no more than a deadly hiss.
"Nothing, I was just pointing out that-"
"Just go out and get wasted without a second though about anyone other than yourself, Ron. That's what you want, isn't it?" The calm in her voice, the lack of emotion, was even more frightening than her almost hysterical shouting of a few moments prior.
"That's not what I meant!"
"Don't touch me!"
"Please Hermione, just come to The Three Broomsticks for an hour or two. It'll be fun."
"Fun," she repeated flatly, "because that's my top priority." The sarcasm ripped his weak attempts at placating her to shreds. "I'm staying, and Sirius and James will do the same if they have any sense. I suppose it was wishful thinking that you might actually offer to help for once." Her acidic voice grew quieter, as if she were walking, or more likely storming, to the opposite side of the room.
There was the sound of a door being wrenched open, but before it had quite slammed shut, Ron lashed out in a last defence.
"Fine! We'll have a way better time without you there!"
There was no way she could not have heard.
--
Hermione flung open the heavy wooden trapdoor, her anger fuelling the motion, and pulled herself through the gap. Immediately, she was hit by the frosty January air. Panting from the exertion of having run up several flights of stairs, she shoved the trapdoor back into place with her foot and slumped onto the hard stone floor.
The top of the Gryffindor tower was somewhat a safe haven for Hermione, somewhere she could come when she needed to be alone. It was practically guaranteed to offer her solitude; Hermione wasn't sure if anyone else actually knew about it.
That was an extremely lucky thing indeed, as if they did she would never again have a moment of peace. The trapdoor she had just emerged through was situated right at the top of the girls' dormitory stairs, past the highest dormitory. Another, identical, trapdoor lay adjacent to the first, several feet away. Hermione had a strong suspicion that it indicated the top of the boys' dormitory staircase. If that was the case, had this haven of sorts been of common knowledge, it would undoubtedly play host to more than a few night time rendezvous.
And so for the secrecy Hermione was grateful.
She herself has discovered it in her third year at Hogwarts after exiting her own dormitory only to overhear Lavender and Parvati bitching about her in the middle of the stairs. They didn't show any sign of being about to leave, so Hermione couldn't reach the common room. What was more, they seemed to be waiting for someone, so she couldn't stay put either. Not wanting to face her other two dorm mates, Hermione turned and fled up the stairs, not stopping until she had reached the very top. A tear had fallen from her cheek and splashed onto the step on which she stood. As if this was the trigger, a silvery ladder had appeared before her. She had looked up only to see the glowing outline of a trap door, thus discovering Gryffindor Tower's best kept secret.
There has been no problem acquiring access today. Hermione lifted her sleeve in a vain attempt to wipe the tears from her face, her breathing ragged now only from emotion rather than physical exertion, though her heart was still beating wildly. A gust of wind blew her already wayward hair into even more disarray, the chill even bitterer where her cheeks were wet with tears. The cold sent a shudder through Hermione's body, awakening her to her surroundings.
It was cold. Freezing cold as a matter of fact and she was going to catch hypothermia if she didn't do anything about it. With deep breath and a moderately successful attempt to still her heaving shoulders, Hermione pulled out her wand and cast a warming charm about herself.
Drawing her robes tighter around her body while the spell took effect, she stood up and walked slowly to the parapet. Once she reached the stone wall that ran around the circumference of the flat tower roof, Hermione leaned against it, her elbows resting on the wide top. The breeze was almost pleasant now she was no longer shivering.
The view was one of Hermione's favourite things about the place. The tower was one of the tallest of the castle, and on a clear night such of this she could see not only the whole of Hogwarts' grounds, but miles of rolling hills, the huge lake, and the forest, seemingly extending forever. The vastness of the nature stretched out before her made Hermione feel so small, her problems so insignificant. And that was just what she needed.
Her gaze swept across from the forest to the little clump of lights by its edge that signified the village of Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade, where Ron and Harry and everyone else would no doubt be enjoying themselves at that very moment. Ron. Stupid, obnoxious, self-centred Ron.
Hermione couldn't tell whether she was more upset or angry at the thought of him. Her mind told her to ignore his parting comment, that he was just lashing out with whatever he could grasp, being both male and a Weasley it was inevitable. Yet her emotional rationality or lack of it as one might say, was far from convinced. Did she really ruin everyone's fun all the time? Is that what they all thought of her? As a burden, a nuisance?
But how dare he? How dare he just ignore every single thing she told him? How dare he still think he was right?
In fact, most of her feelings for Ron these days were confused, unclear and mixed up. She had no idea what was between them, they weren't dating, were they? But they acted suspiciously like Harry and Ginny sometimes, when they weren't arguing that was.
The troubling thing was she knew that everyone expected them to end up together, as if it were only a matter of time before they were married with as many children as Ron had siblings. But try as she might, and as much as she loved Ron (some of the time), Hermione just couldn't see it. It was almost as bad as imagining herself married to Harry. She shuddered at the thought. That was practically incest.
Sighing, she finally managed to stem the last of the tears. Trying to distract her mind from Ron (that foul, pathetic excuse for a human being), she turned and sat on the ground, her back resting against the wall. Then, changing her mind, she stood again and removed her school outer robe and folded it up before sitting back down on top of it. The warming charm had worked wonders.
But as she settled into a comfortable position, a movement in the now near darkness caught her eye. Startled, she withdrew further into the shadow cast by the wall with a sharp intake of breath. One of the trapdoors was open, and a head was poking through. Hermione tried to remain as still as possible, not even sure why she should be scared of being seen. Frustratingly, she couldn't make out the face.
The rest of the body came into view as the newcomer emerged and then shut the trapdoor. He or she, the figure was wearing a cloak so Hermione couldn't tell, straightened up and looked about.
"Hermione?"
At the sound of her name she consciously relaxed, breathing out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding. She knew that voice.
"Over here," she answered, her voice more shaky than she would have liked.
The figure walked over and Hermione could now make out the long hair being blown about by the wind, though the last of the setting sun meant that it was still mostly a silhouette.
"Hermione, are you alright?" his voice was tinged with genuine worry. But then his grin appeared. She couldn't see his face but she could hear it in his voice. "I thought you might want some chocolate," Sirius beamed.
And, true to his word, he was brandishing what looked more like a slab than a bar of chocolate. Suddenly, Hermione was all too aware that her face was still wet and probably more than a little red, and her hair was in a state worse than appalling. In an attempt to distract his attention from said face and hair, she patted the ground beside her, motioning for him to sit down.
He complied, letting out a short laugh as he did so. At her quizzical expression he elaborated, "I was wondering why half your limbs hadn't dropped off from frostbite yet, but now I see. Toasty!" Hermione smiled half heartedly in reply. Though she had recovered from her fright of moments before, she was still startled as to his presence. So to put off his first question she asked her own, "How did you...? What did...? How...?" or she tried to at least.
"How did I get up here, how did I find you, or how did I manage to come by such a humungous bar of chocolate?" He replied, proceeding to unwrap purple foil from the chocolate in question.
"Um, well all three really and why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" Hermione's found it easier to smile now, adding, "Thanks," as he passed her several large squares.
Sirius gestured vaguely at his appearance, "I'm pretty sure if I went out in public people would see me, and I didn't fancy an evening under the invisibility cloak. The rest of them have gone, and are on strict instruction to chuck the cloak over James' head at the first hint his glamour might be fading."
"And on whose instruction might that be?" Hermione found it hard to believe Ron had taken her words to heart, but maybe a miracle happened. She might even be able to forgive him."
"Mine..."
Oh. Well that's that then.
"...because, um..." Sirius continued, "I...that is to say the reason I knew where to find you...well I heard..." he trailed off.
"You heard Ron and me." It wasn't a question. Hermione knew that had to be it, it took a lot to make Sirius Black lost for words.
"Yes. I'm really sorry though, I didn't listen intentionally," He added quickly. "When I went into the bathroom the dorm was empty, but when I was about to come out again, I heard your voices."
"Don't be sorry, it's hardly your fault," Hermione reassured him with a pat on the knee. "But that doesn't explain how you found me. You can't have followed me because Ron was still in there after I left."
"Well first I thought you'd be in the library, but I couldn't go and check because that would involve roaming the corridors. I reckoned if you had been crying though you wouldn't have gone straight there anyway. Ginny said you weren't in the girls' bathrooms either. No, Ron didn't tell them what happened; they thought you might still be getting ready. So anyway, that meant you had to be up here."
Hermione swallowed her mouthful of chocolate. "They just left without me when they thought I was getting ready?" That backed up what Ron had said, they truly couldn't wait to get rid of her. She felt the prickle of tears behind her eyes once again.
"No, it wasn't like that," Sirius cut in, seemingly knowing what she was thinking. "Ron told them you had gone to the library and persuaded them to go. They were concerned at first, but I said I'd hang around in the dorm and wait 'til you came back."
At the mention of Ron, a new wave of anger had surged through her. "That loathsome pile of hippogriff dung!" she growled, but her voice wavered, betraying the tears that still threatened to spill. But then a warm pair of arms wrapped themselves round her in a friendly and consoling hug. "Just forget him; he's not worth losing sleep over. Besides, he's male; you know we don't think before we speak."
Hermione could feel the vibrations emanating from Sirius's throat as he spoke. She was so surprised at the emotional support, unused to receiving any such insight from her two best friends, that she managed a shaky laugh.
It was comforting being held. Her arms reached out automatically to reciprocate, and he didn't object. His hair tickled her nose and she tried to identify its scent. Something natural like a forest on a rainy day, spicy like cinnamon and cloves which reminded her of Christmas, and just the tiniest, fleeting hint of dog. His body was warm, and she could tell from his firm chest and arms that he was relatively muscular. Her knee brushed against his, and Hermione hoped he wouldn't notice the instantaneous increase in her heartbeat. But before she could ponder on the fact, he relinquished his hold. Panic shot through her as Sirius pulled away slightly to scrutinise her face, her mind jumping to the obvious conclusion: he must have felt it. However, he misinterpreted the worry that was evident on her face, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Seriously, don't take anything he said personally."
He reached down beside them with his other hand, and lifted the bar of chocolate, offering it to her. Hermione broke off some more, and began to nibble at the edges. It was starting to take effect already, she was feeling far better. Though whether that could be attributed to the chocolate or the company was another question altogether. "Where did you get the chocolate anyway?" Hermione wondered out loud, babbling in an attempt to distract herself from the tingling in her shoulder. "I would have thought a trip to Honeydukes would give your game away. Besides, I didn't know they even made bars this big!"
Sirius placed the slab down again, munching on his own piece. "Well funny you should ask that..." he began, and launched into a tale involving the problem of finding chocolate without leaving the common room and an extremely odd looking elf that he somehow managed to summon, who was obviously obsessed with Harry Potter.
By the time the warming spell began to wear off, which felt like minutes later but was probably more like hours, Hermione had almost completely forgotten the upsetting events of earlier that evening. The rest of the chocolate had been devoured and they both sat with their backs leant against the wall, her head resting on his shoulder as they chatted companionably.
Only when the chill started to seep through their clothes did they decide they ought to go back inside before the others came back and got worried. "And there was I thinking nobody else knew this existed," Hermione commented before stepping through the trapdoor that Sirius held open.
"Don't be silly," he snorted as he climbed through behind her, "as if they could keep a secret this good from me."
--
There you go, some dramarama (as promised)!
Now I'm glad I posted the last chapter when I did, as this one is quite large enough on its own. I have given up on my target for 100 reviews for 10 chapters :3, but all reviews will be received with gleeful spazzing…and yes that was a not so subtle hint.
Any typos/weird extra words I've missed etc. you spot, let me know (as usual) so I can correct them!
Ron-bashing dedicated to Prinnie 3.