7.

Hermione:

Who is my secret admirer?

"Hermione! Hermione!" Cried a female voice.

Hermione's eyes snapped open. In front of her a head of dishevelled red hair moved frantically from left to right. Ginny Weasley was practically jumping on her bed, still in her pajamas, and grinning at her from ear to ear as she shook her by the shoulders to wake her up.

"For heaven's sake, Ginny. Does it seem like the hour for screaming?" Lavender Brown, Hermione's roommate, complained. A guttural growl from another roommate sounded, to join in with the complaint.

"You are bitter. It's Hermione's birthday! Get up and come say hi!"

Only Ginny could have that much energy when it wasn't even breakfast time. Hermione, still a little sleepy, thought she was too patient with her. Or that she was just in a good mood because her friend was trying to make her birthday special. She smiled.

The redhead got off Hermione to go bother the rest and signal them to get up as well. The soft purr of her cat Crookshanks, who was in a small ball and clinging to her chest, caught her attention. It was a clear invitation to continue sleeping, even for five more minutes. But Ginny's screams and the exasperated snorts of her roommates indicated otherwise. She sat up in her bed, and the movement caught the attention of her friend, who returned her attention.

"Happy Birthday!" She said walking towards her.

Crookshanks' meow was soon heard. Ginny had crushed his tail sitting next to Hermione. With bristling hair, the offended cat wandered off to a corner of the room. He didn't like people, he just liked being with Hermione. She suspected that although her pet hated everyone, the loud and somewhat rough Weasleys irritated him more than the others.

"Thanks Ginny," she replied, trying to ignore her concern for her pet.

"Here," she handed her a rectangular package. It was obvious that under the wrapping was a book.

The redhead was looking eagerly at Hermione. She didn't keep her waiting, she unwrapped the gift carefully; peeling off the wrapping, not tearing it. Written on the cover, in white letters on a green background, it said: "Codex Born."

"It's a fantasy novel," Ginny explained very quickly, when she was excited, she spoke faster. "It's a muggle fantasy novel! And it's great Hermione. He has magic, magic books... And also in the author's biography, it says that he has been recognized since he was young. His books must be of high quality."

Hermione laughed and then hugged the redhead. She whispered "thank you" before releasing her.

"Happy birthday Hermione," Parvati Patil said, stretching. Her other roommates followed suit.

A pleasant emotion washed over Hermione. Everything indicated that it was going to be a great day.

. . .

On the long Gryffindor table were jugs of natural juices, milk, and also hot water for making tea. Scattered around the table, different cereal boxes. In addition, a variety of fresh breads (and some toasted) were appreciated, with the option of spreading them with butter or jams.

"Open my gift Hermione!" Urged Ron.

Hermione was sitting with her breakfast served but untouched. Harry, Ron, Ginny and even the Weasley twins were around her, watching her closely; one just like the one Ginny showed in the bedrooms hours before. She was surprised that everyone was so excited and interested in it, especially Fred and George.

Several packages were in front of her, her birthday presents. She grabbed Ron's gift, which was wrapped in brown paper, while she wondered if the gift of the twins had some practical joke inside. She carefully removed the wrapping and as expected, another book was under it. She could imagine that all the packages, rectangular and thin, were about the same thing: books. And Hermione loved that, no gift could be better than that.

"I really have no idea what this book is about. That's why I bought it! You like complicated things."

Hermione didn't have time to reply, as Harry insisted that she open his gift now. It was a history book from the Beauxbatons Magic Academy. Her friend claimed that it would be perfect for her, as her favorite book was called "Hogwarts History". Hermione hugged him. And then Ron. Now there was only one gift left... and it scared her a little, because she suspected it would be a joke. She listened as Fred said to Ron "Idiot, the book you bought for Hermione is in Russian", while the other twin, George, waved her hand to indicate the gift they had given him. Hermione opened this package more carefully than the others. She sighed in relief when she saw that nothing exploded, and she glanced at the book they gave her with curiosity. "Magicians vs Creatures" was the title and the synopsis explained that it was about the fights and especially the injustices that magicians committed against other magical species.

"We thought it would be a necessary reading for you to save the house elves," George explained, and Fred added, "We had a hard time getting it! In fact it's censored in England. That's an American edition."

Hermione looked at the spine of the book, it was indeed an edition she had never seen on the shelves.

"Thanks! Thank you very, very much!" The birthday girl squealed excitedly. The twins smiled delightedly.

"Where did they get that?" Ron and Ginny complained at the same time.

Fred and George, smiling haughtily, said at the same time: "We have contacts."

Hermione, after her amazement and excitement, looked suspiciously at everyone. They seemed too interested in her gifts... They always gave her things and she generally liked them. But why so much interest this particular year? She was about to verbalize her suspicions but the entrance of the owls with the mail caught her attention. First came the one delivered by The Daily Prophet, Hermione always bought it. She considered it necessary to be informed about the news. Then a letter arrived. It belonged to her parents, she opened it and read that they missed her and loved her very much, and that they congratulated her on her birthday; the rest she would read in more detail later, when she was alone in her room.

To Hermione's surprise, one more owl approached her. It dropped a book on the table that came dangerously close to falling in her food. That bird did not seem to be delicate, in fact, it took the opportunity to steal some bread. Ron tried to touch it, causing it to get annoyed with him, prick his finger and walk away.

"What's wrong with that owl?" Ron complained.

"You scared him," her younger sister chided him.

"I'm sure his beak had blood on it. It's wild!" His voice got higher. He put his finger to his mouth to suck on the wound. "It could have ripped it off."

"Don't be a baby, Ron," Fred said.

Hermione didn't keep listening to her friend's cries, she was more interested in the book than in the problems that Ron had with animals. "Everything is White" was the name. It looked quite well cared for, the bird although it had been gross, had not left marks of its claws on the cover. The only proof that the book was already years old was its already yellowed pages.

"Did your parents give it to you?" Harry asked, unlike the four Weasley brothers who were very busy bothering each other, he was also curious about this book.

"I don't think so. My parents would wrap it up. Besides, they already gave me a computer... It's in my house, on Christmas holidays I will unwrap it. " She looked inside the book, at the first pages, to see if she could find a dedication or a name. "I guess it's anonymous. " She resigned herself after a few minutes.

"Must be a secret admirer!" Ginny deduced.

"I don't think..." Hermione tried to stop her. But the redhead was already married to the idea she invented.

"He's an admirer! You are a cute and smart girl after all."

"Ginny, I don't have any secret admirers."

"Why not? It would be logical! Right, guys?" She asked, looking at both sides of the table.

Hermione didn't let them answer:

"Obviously someone gave it to me anonymously. But that doesn't have to mean he's an admirer!"

"I'm sure you do have a lot of fans. You are friends with Harry Potter, the boy who lived. You are one of the Gryffindor students who gets the most points for the house. The years have favored you, everyone with eyes knows it. Last year you even managed to steal Krum's heart. A famous quidditch player! I even envied you. Healthily, of course. Healthy envy. Krum is not my type."

"What's so admirable about all that?"

"Hermione, you went to the dance with a celebrity! You stuck your tongue in one of the most amazing Quidditch players in the wizarding world!"

"You kissed him?!" Ron asked, scandalized. He had not been aware of that.

"What's up Ronnie? Jealousy?" Said Fred.

"Of course he's jealous! He wishes he could have kissed Krum!" George scoffed.

Both twins cracked their ribs with laughter while Ron, very red, said "shut up." Hermione was blushing too, but from her friend's big mouth.

"I didn't know you liked Quidditch players that way Hermione," Harry commented, holding back his laughter. "Should I remind you that we're just best friends?"

"Harry!" Hermione squealed in embarrassment. "No, you don't need to remind me, " she mumbled annoyed now, though a smile escaped her. Her best friend could be a jerk sometimes, but a funny jerk after all.

. . .

As she thought that morning, it was a good day. They were allowed to go to Hogsmeade in the afternoon, there was no class to attend; a completely free day to enjoy her friends and their gifts.

Crookshanks meowed as she entered the room. She walked over to him and stroked him, then grabbed him and carried him with her to her bed. The cat did not protest, as he was quite spoiled. Once Hermione settled down (laying her pet on her lap), she looked at her books. She smiled as she remembered the Weasley twins telling Ron that the book they gave her was in Russian. It wasn't, it was a muggle math book, but Fred and George were always looking for a way to screw with him. Many treated Ron like a fool. She wasn't going to deny that on more than one occasion he said things that made her roll her eyes and think he was an absolute fool. But when the boy was studying he achieved good results, he was excellent at playing chess and more than once thanks to him they came out safely from a crisis.

She glanced at the book "Codex Born." As she did so, she wondered if Ginny and Ron had searched for a Muggle bookstore together, maybe late in the summer, before school started...

Hermione laughed, interrupting her own thoughts.

"Crookshanks, I can't believe it." The cat looked at her interested, she bit her lip, holding back laughter. "Ginny bought the second book in the series. Codex Born is not the first. She gave me the impression that she read the book when she told me about it... Didn't she realize that she started the story in the middle?"

Crookshanks twitched his whiskers in response.

"I'm not surprised Ginny got confused, I don't think she reads the flap of the book," she murmured.

Although she was tempted to read the history book Harry gave her, or the striking book the Weasley twins gave her, her hands went straight to the gift of her "secret admirer."

"Did you give it to me, Crookshanks?"

The cat replied with a meow. Hermione stroked him delightedly as a reward for being adorable. She was sure that her pet was smarter than any other and that somehow he knew what she was talking about.

She opened the cover of "Everything is White" and began to read: Everything is cold, so cold outside... I hear the wind, which makes the windows shake. I know what that means, a storm will come. A great snowstorm will hit my home, located in this southern arctic paradise. Before Hermione knew it, the time on the clock stopped mattering, her pet's purr was no longer felt and the murmurs in the hallway became silent; the words written on the yellowed paper had kidnapped her into a fictional world.

"So here you are."

Hermione winced and looked at the bedroom door. Ginny Weasley was standing there. She stuck out her tongue at her, then smirked. Her way of greeting her was many things, but it was not polite at all.

"Were you looking for me?"

Ginny rolled her eyes at her question.

"Uh... Hogsmeade? Friends? Birthday? Do my words remind you of anything?"

"Oh! It just can not be! What time is it?" She exclaimed, closing the book.

"Time to meet, clearly."

Ginny approached her friend, when she did that the cat shot out of bed (it seemed he didn't want the same thing to happen as that morning), and grabbed the book she was holding.

"I understand. Is your secret admirer more interesting than your friends?"

"I don't even know who my secret admirer is, so drop the topic," she complained as she got out of bed to go find galleons in one of her drawers.

"AHA! You admitted it, yes he is your fan!"

Hermione frowned and refused to answer her friend's wild ideas.

"Is it a romantic book or something?" Ginny whispered as she flipped through the pages too fast to read.

The answer was no, but she preferred to continue ignoring her. She went to the door, leaving her behind. "You coming?" she asked loudly as she descended the stairs of the Gryffindor Tower. When she got to the Common Room, she looked back, grimaced, and thought, "Didn't she say it was time for the meeting? What is she doing?" Hasty footsteps were heard after a few minutes.

"How bad you are, you left me behind."

"Why are you bringing my book?" Hermione asked, ignoring her complaints.

"Oh! I didn't realize it, " she murmured.

"Give me, I'll take it back..."

Oh no! We lost enough time."

Hermione opened her mouth in outrage, but before she could say anything the redhead dragged her and her book out of the Gryffindor Tower.

. . .

Ginny and Hermione walked side by side. The book had returned to its owner, who was hugging it to her chest.

"Thanks for the money, little brother!" The Weasley twins were heard to say at the same time.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. That was certainly weird. Fred and George were here? During breakfast they always showed up, but never went with them to Hogsmeade...

"Hermione is already here," Harry announced, realizing first than the others that the girls had arrived.

"Why were they talking about money?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing important," all four boys answered at the same time.

She noted out of the corner of her eye that Ginny was making an irritated face. What made them all so mysterious? She was already beginning to suspect that perhaps they were "the secret admirer." She would kill them if it turned out that way.

"Happy birthday Hermione," Luna greeted her as she handed her a gift.

"You didn't have to bother, really."

"Yes I did. It would be rude to get together to celebrate your birthday and not give you anything. The others gave you something."

Hermione smiled uncomfortably as she unwrapped the gift. It was a bracelet. For a long time no one gave her anything other than books, besides her parents, they insisted that they could not buy a third bookshelf to put all her books in. When she got a better look at the gift, she wished it had been a book. That bracelet was... strange. Stones: some colored, others gray, the typical ones you found on any road... Was that a bottle cap?

"That thing is horri... Ah! Ginny!" Ron complained.

"Whoops. Did I step on you? I'm sorry little brother."

That scuffle caught the attention of Hermione, who tried to make a kind smile and said:

"Thanks, Luna." She bit her tongue to keep from saying "You shouldn't have bothered." Ron had said enough.

"Shall we go now, then?" Ginny asked.

"Why are you bringing that book?" Fred questioned ignoring her younger sister.

"Sorry?" Hermione was surprised at the intrusive question.

"Wasn't our book your favorite?" Now George spoke.

Hermione frowned.

"My favorite?"

"Looks like the secret admirer was the winner," Ginny muttered.

"In that case you should give us our money back," said Ron.

Hermione started to get angry when she understood the situation. They all gave her nice gifts and were too interested in her reaction. She was especially moved by the book that Fred and George got, they talked about money while she was gone, now Ron was asking them to give him his money back...

"They bet," Hermione growled, connecting the dots.

"Well done Ron," Harry said, glaring at the redhead.

"We should keep your money for ruining the game," Fred threatened.

"I can't believe you tried to give me nice gifts to win a stupid bet."

Ginny, noticing what was coming, tried to smooth things over:

"It's not like that, Hermione. Well it is, but it's not as bad as you paint it. One day a conversation broke out about your birthday between Harry, Ron and me. We started arguing about who knew you better... But then Fred and George came to annoy us and said that not even after being with you every day do we know what you really like so even they would give you a better gift than us…"

"I think it's necessary to clarify that we won anyway," Fred interrupted. The other twin explained, "As you said, Ginny, we said that you guys couldn't make a better gift than us. So it was! We are in second place. First that book of doubtful origin, then us, and finally you."

"You know? I think they should use the money they bet to pay for today's outing. "Luna entered the conversation. Her words were calm, and she had a sweet smile adorning her face. But Harry and the rest of the Weasleys paled. Luna noticed, and added, "It's Hermione's birthday. If they have extra money, it would be rude not to use it for her."

Hermione looked at Luna in amazement. Had she helped her give her friends their punishment for making stupid bets? The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw smiled knowingly.

"How smart you are, Luna," Ginny complained, approaching her brothers to demand that they take out the money. "We'll use it for the butter beers," she said.

Hermione looked at the bracelet in her hand and sighed. Wearing it this afternoon won't be so terrible either, she thought.

"Luna, could you hold my book?"

The blonde nodded and grabbed the object. Hermione rolled up the sleeve of her sweater and put on the bracelet.

"Isn't this book familiar to you?"

"Do you recognize it?" Hermione asked right away, desperate to know who the author of the gift was.

"I'm not sure…"

"It doesn't sound like anything to me," Ginny got into the conversation.

"It must have been my imagination," Luna said with a shrug. "I would like to buy a pen. Would you help me choose, Hermione?"

"Hermione? Why don't you ask me for help?" Ginny feigned sadness, even put a hand to her heart, to dramatically fake the pain the situation caused her.

On the way to Hogsmeade, Hermione pondered the tracks. Although she participated in the conversation with her friends, her mind was on that book that she carried in her arms. For some reason, she trusted Luna's memory. She made up creatures and said strange things, but she was excellent at remembering details. What did Luna catch that she didn't? She had read most of the book, and at breakfast she went through the pages; none had an annotation or dedication. There was no name or letter to identify. Nor did she find any prominent phrase, which her "admirer" could have used as a code message. Her friends had not been responsible, they would not betray her trust like that and the twins made a bet, it is impossible that they would sabotage themselves. Luna would not have lied, she never lies... besides already at this time (in which she even wore her strange bracelet through the streets of Hogsmeade), she could consider her one of her friends, therefore, she would not betray her trust either. What was she missing?

"Wow, I wish I had that broom!" Ron said, looking longingly at a shop window. Everyone there stared at the shiny, gaudy, expensive broom.

Hermione didn't like brooms, she hated flying. It caused her quite a bit of fear, better to have her feet on the ground, safe.

"I would love to have this broom in my hands, it's beautiful," the redhead continued.

"Well, I'd rather spend my money and have a book in my hands than a broom."

"Well... you already have one in your hands," Harry commented. Hermione slapped his arm and he laughed.

"Because you don't like to fly. If you liked it, you might even prefer to read books on the air," Ron fantasized.

Hermione made a disgruntled face. Not for all the galleons in the world would she read so many meters above the ground. She would surely get dizzy. In addition, it is dangerous, she could slip, or the books could fall and be damaged. Hermione's eyes widened, associating: The books might fall! She looked at the cover of the book, to confirm her suspicions.

"Luna..." Hermione called out to her. "By any chance... Haven't you seen this book with Parkinson? On the bridge."

The blonde's eyes, always bulging, took on a certain brightness. It seems that something in her mind had also clicked.

"It was on the bridge railing, yes. Pansy covered it with a magazine."

"Wait a minute," Harry interrupted. "Did Parkinson give you that book?"

"Why would that Slytherin give Hermione something?" The twins asked at the same time.

"Shall we get some butter beers already?" Hermione asked, avoiding the others' words.

When they all sat down at a table in The Three Broomsticks, they questioned Hermione about the same thing again. And she, now sitting down and having come out of shock, answered them truthfully: that they were getting along and maybe she wanted to extend a nice gesture to her. Ginny added that she might feel pressured to give her something since Luna had told her when her birthday was. She even joked that she could be getting her hopes up about Parkinson giving her something from her magazines on her birthday too.

Before realizing it, the conversation changed course and they began to talk about other things. But every once in a while Hermione would return to thinking about the book, and why Parkinson had given her that gift. She considered that it was beautiful, even poetic, a mature plot... Although she did not know the ending yet, she could not think of what cause there was to give that book. Maybe she just gave her one at random, one in her collection that she didn't like and instead of throwing it away, she decided to give it to her... Whatever the cause, Hermione was happy. A Slytherin, Parkinson, had given her something for her birthday. She had made a nice gesture to her. She really wanted to go find her right now and ask her about the book. It was not an easy reading, not just any teenager would read it... Did she read it? What will she think of it? They could discuss their opinions of the book!

"Why that big smile?" Ginny asked. She was looking at her with real interest.

"I just... I thought today is a great day, a very good one."

"Why wouldn't it be? Lots of new readings, your friends and Butterbeer. I couldn't think of a better birthday for you. "She raised her beer mug with a radiant smile, she seemed proud that her friend's birthday was going so well.

Hermione brought her drink to her lips and as she looked straight ahead she met Luna's gray eyes, and as she was caught looking at her, she smiled at her. It was a sympathetic, even encouraging smile. She had no proof, so she shouldn't be able to say so, but she swore that Luna, unlike Ginny, could read between the lines and knew why she was happy. Hermione's cheeks turned color and she prayed that the beer mug would manage to cover her blush.

Notes:

* The title of the book "Everything is White", as well as Pansy's description of it and the "snippet" Hermione read, was made up by me, but is based on "All Is White" by Emilie Simon, a song I knew for the documentary "La Marche de l'empereur". If you like penguins, documentaries and French cinema, I highly recommend that you watch the documentary.

* "Codex Born" is a real book in the "Magic ex Libris" series by Jim C. Hines. It is a fantasy saga. And, in case you are interested: it has a bisexual character.