"What do you mean, sir?" asked Hermione, bewildered.
"Don't make the same mistake I did." replied Snape softly, looking miserable. "Make sure he knows how you feel. If you don't, he'll eventually slip away, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
"Thank you." Hermione said simply, thought not quite understanding his words. She heard the murmurs of the group behind her start up again. "I should get going. It was nice seeing you, Professor. And again, thank you for your words of wisdom."
"You're welcome, Miss Granger. Take care."
Hermione walked back slowly to Professor McGonagall's desk, where she was saying, "…just bring the harp down before the waltzing class starts tomorrow evening." She slipped in quietly and stood closely to Draco, not caring on how it would seem to everyone else.
However, no one said a thing. They didn't even mention her walking over to talk to Snape's portrait. Hermione felt slightly awkward, and decided to back on track by saying, "Professor McGonagall, Draco paid five hundred Galleons for that harp, and insists that it's his gift to the school. Shouldn't we…"
"Of course, Miss Granger. Thank you for telling me. Mr. Malfoy, follow me."
"Where?" he asked nervously, giving Hermione an annoyed look, which she smiled sweetly back at.
"To Hogwart's treasury, of course." Professor McGonagall said as if it was obvious.
"Hogwarts has a treasury…?" Zacharias started.
"Yes, in the Headmaster or Headmistress's office, there's a door that leads to a storage room full of the school's annual allowance from the Ministry of Magic. It says so in…"
"Hogwarts, a History. Of course you would, Hermione." Ginny teased.
"Can I go with you to see it?" asked Zacharias, jumping up and down. "That is so cool!"
Everyone else stared at him. It was like watching a large, blond, and rather ugly puppy begging for treats.
Looking through her spectacles, Professor McGonagall said rather reluctantly, "Right this way, boys…" before sweeping off to a door on her right.
Zacharias followed faithfully behind her, right on her heels. The puppy resemblance was getting more obvious every moment. Draco gave Hermione another exasperated look before following suit, as well.
Ginny and Hermione giggled softly. "Who knew Zach had this side of him?" Hermione asked quietly, and Ginny laughed some more.
They waited patiently for the rest of their party to return, and looked out the window behind Professor McGongall's desk, which had a view to rival that of Montecino Tower's window.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the oaken double-doors. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other. Should they let them in? Ginny called out, "Erm… come in?"
The doors swung open, and to Hermione's horror, in came Trevor Birch, dragging Jimmy Peakes by the arm, with Professor Flitwick and Professor Rhyllian following closely behind.
"Professor-!" Hermione squeaked, but there was no need to call, for Professor McGonagall and the boys had returned a moment after the new arrival had come in.
"What in heaven's name is going on?" asked Professor McGonagall, wondering how serious the situation could have been to draw teachers away from their classes.
"I caught this one trying to force his way into the Senior Boy and Senior Girl's dormitories." said Trevor proudly, looking at Hermione's face. "I tried to make him stop, but he started to attack me. By the time I had him backed to the bottom of the staircase, other students had heard the commotion, and went to find teachers, since the Senior Boy, Senior Girl, Head Boy, and Head Girl were away."
"Thank goodness he was there!" said Professor Flitwick. "This boy had already torn up the portrait of Lady Montecino when he was trying to go in!"
"I object!" cried Professor Rhyllian furiously. "My student tells me that he had just reached the portrait before Birch found him. He says when they were dueling, Birch was the one that shot a wayward curse that hit the portrait."
"Enough!" said Professor McGonagall. "Birch, what were you doing at the Senior Boy and Senior Girl's tower in the first place?"
"I saw Peakes open the bottom door and run up. As a prefect, I followed him to make sure he wasn't up to any good." Trevor replied smugly. Hermione felt sick and wanted to throw up. His gloating was worse than what Draco's former self combined with Zacharias's former self could have produced together.
"Now, Peakes. What were you doing? Didn't you have Potions after lunch?"
Peakes said nothing, studying his shoes and clenching his fists.
Professor McGonagall finally made a decision. "We will get to the bottom of this later. Right now, I will go to Lady Montecino's portrait to see the damages inflicted there. When she is fixed up, I will ascertain the truth and exactly what happened. As for the rest of you, head back to your classes. I don't want any of this to be spread more than it should be."
The group murmured answers of submission, and started to file out of the door. Trevor Birch finally let go of Jimmy's arm, and marched over to join Ginny, Hermione, Draco, and Zacharias. Draco made sure that Trevor couldn't stand anywhere near Hermione.
"Hey, guys. We have the next class together! Ready for Ancient Runes?"
Only Zacharias answered, and even his reply was quiet and reserved. Hermione was still in shock from seeing Jimmy again, Ginny was trying to comfort her, and Draco seemed bent on murdering Trevor with his death glare.
"I don't know what's wrong that little creep." said Trevor loudly, as soon as Jimmy was out of earshot. "He was mumbling gibberish when I found him trying to hex his way into your dormitory. Something about 'I have to see her, I have to see her.' He wouldn't even look at me when I confronted me. He just –bam!- out of nowhere, just tried to jinx me. Luckily, I was quick enough to dodge it, not even trying to hit him back. I couldn't bear to curse a boy who is obviously mentally handicapped."
"Very heroic." Draco snarled, boldly putting his arm around Hermione's shoulder, as if he was Ron or Harry. "Now if you'll excuse us, Hermione here is rather scared of disturbing events, and needs time to recover calmly, not listen to your wonderful story-telling. Good day."
With that, he steered Hermione to another hallway, an alternate route to their Ancient Runes classroom, with Ginny at their side, and Zacharias hurrying along in their wake.