Time for another chapter, and not too long after the last one either so I'm proud of myself for that. You can look forward to some more development in here, but not without its setbacks.
Returning back to Hogwarts left Hermione with more time to herself once again. These days Harry was more concerned with his private lessons from Dumbledore and his obsession with Draco Malfoy. As for Ron, Hermione wouldn't say that they were fighting anymore since they just weren't speaking to each other. She had considered approaching Ron and saying that she was glad that he was alright, but every time she saw Ron he was with his precious Lavender who was just raving about her Won-Won. Ron didn't seem to be enjoying himself with Lavender anymore, which gave Hermione the slightest bit of satisfaction since he only started dating Lavender to get back at her.
So with the free time that she had to herself, Hermione spent it doing her schoolwork and communicating with Anonymous. Hermione was pleased to think that they seemed to be making more progress together. With every conversation, Anonymous appeared to be getting more and more comfortable with her. She had taken a step back from continuously asking them about what was troubling them, since Hermione had realised by now that asking that only made things worse. She was still no closer to figuring out who they were, but if Hermione could help them in anyway she would consider that a victory.
It was almost becoming ironic how Hermione was slowly becoming obsessed with the book. To think that not too long ago she was calling Harry obsessed for his infatuation with the Halfblood Prince's textbook. But this was different, since Hermione needed to have that notebook in order to communicate with Anonymous while she still didn't know who they were. She guarded it with her life, taking it with her everywhere she went and never letting anyone take a peak. Only once Hermione found the most isolated spot in the Gryffindor Common Room did she write in the book.
So, how are things since coming back from the holidays? We haven't really had that much of a chance to talk.
And for a good reason. I've been busy with stuff.
What kind of stuff?
Stuff that doesn't concern you and stuff that you don't want to know about, trust me.
Alright then. How have your classes been?
Barely tolerable. I don't really have much time to waste in these pointless lessons this year. I have other priorities.
What could be more important than schoolwork?
Staying alive.
Hermione didn't exactly know how to respond to that. There were certain things like this that Anonymous said that caught her off guard and she didn't know how to respond to this. Instead of pressing on the matter, Hermione figured that she'd try and lighten the mood for them.
There's no need to be that dramatic, it's just school. It might get harder with lessons each year but it'll all be worth it in the end.
Yeah, yeah. I take it that you're a keener then?
If by keener you mean someone who is enthusiastic about learning then yes, I am. With everything that's going on in my life and beyond the Hogwarts grounds, I like having something to distract myself with. School work helps with that. Talking to you does, too.
I have been told that I am very distracting ;).
I'm assuming that you were being arrogant just then.
You would be assuming correctly. But I guess that you have been equally distracting for me too, in a good way.
Well, I'm glad that I can be of assistance then. But don't you have anyone else that you can distract yourself with? Like friends or a girlfriend or boyfriend?
My friends are hardly useful for me right now in that way and no, I don't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. A boyfriend certainly wouldn't be suitable for me considering I am a guy.
Now this was a big clue. Deep down, Hermione had suspected that Anonymous was a guy just based on the way that they wrote. But having actual confirmation that her suspicion was correct narrowed down the list of people that she could be writing to quite significantly. Hermione wondered if they had ever theorised about her like that, so she figured that she'd give them a bone as to who she was as well.
There's nothing wrong with having a boyfriend as a guy just like there wouldn't be anything wrong with me having a girlfriend as a girl.
That's easy for you to say.
Alright, fair enough. I suppose that everyone has different expectations of them in life as well as opinions that have been influenced by outside sources.
What do you mean by outside sources?
Well, almost every opinion that we can have on something can't be formed on our own without information from other people. It would be like me saying that all magic is bad without knowing anything about it. I used to think that the line with magic was just light and dark, but there is a middle in there. The more magic that I have seen and experienced has made me realise that so-called light spells can cause just as much harm as Dark magic. Things aren't always black and white, and that's one thing I've become forced to realise.
Well, that's one way of looking at that.
What about you? Do you think that there is such thing as good and bad or can people be both?
In my experience, there's only ever been good or bad. There has been no in between, especially when most of the people in my life are what you would probably consider to be bad.
Then perhaps you should surround yourself with better people.
Again, that's easy for you to say.
We all have the power to choose who we want to associate with. If you don't use that power, you're condemning yourself to unfulfilled relationships that cannot be a good influence on you.
I don't appreciate being psycho-analysed by someone who barely knows me.
Even Hermione had to admit that perhaps she was being a bit too imposing and suggestive towards someone that she barely knew, but it was Anonymous who was giving her reasons for having this assumptions in the first place. Hermione knew that she was pushing the boundaries that they had made an unspoken agreement on. But she knew that she was going to have to keep on pressing if she was to get more information.
That's not true, I know more about you than you might realise. We have been conversing through a magical book for a while now.
Oh yeah, then prove how much you know about me.
Alright then. I know that you're a guy and that you hate hippogriffs and werewolves, but you like kneazles and dragons and have an appreciation for Thestrals. You don't have a girlfriend. You strike me as the arrogant type so I'm assuming that you think that you're a gift to the world. You don't like Christmas. You don't have any brothers or sisters. You go to Hogwarts like me. You seem to be miserable all the time like you're awaiting your impending doom. You like Quidditch, even though for the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would like that stupid sport. You feel abandoned and think that you're a loser like me.
Hey, there's nothing wrong with Quidditch!
… Out of everything I write, that's what you comment on?
Of course. Quidditch is an integral part of wizarding culture and a huge part of our history. It's what makes us… wizards. You don't see any muggles flying around on broomsticks and throwing Quaffles in hoops in the air.
Quidditch is basically a crossover between football and basketball, two pointless sports that I have no interest in either.
What are football and basketball?
Now this was a huge clue. From that response, it would be safe to assume that Anonymous was clearly someone who hasn't been exposed to muggle culture before. Although it narrowed her possibilities down quite a bit, Hermione still wasn't too sure who it could be. The chances were that this could very well be a pureblood, but Hermione knew that there were more than just purebloods who were woefully ignorant when it came to muggle culture. Just before Hermione could write down a response, she could feel someone quite literally breathing down her neck.
"Watcha writing there?"
Hermione immediately slammed her book shut and kept it protectively close to her as she turned around to face Ginny, who gave her an odd look at her actions.
"Nothing important," Hermione replied.
"It's obviously important if you slammed it shut and protected it like it's your child," Ginny remarked. "Honestly, that's something Harry would do with the Halfblood Prince's textbook. Actually, he has done that with that stupid book."
"Yep, Harry sure is protective of his book…" Hermione trailed off.
"Don't tell me that you've found your own Halfblood Prince book?" Ginny asked.
Well, it wasn't a potions book or anything that allowed her to cheat in class. But it was a book that allowed her to communicate with someone else. But she wasn't going to tell Ginny that. Definitely not.
"No, I don't," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Unlike Harry, I would have enough common sense and decency to not hoard a book that basically feeds me the answers to everything I do in class."
"Then what's the book for?" Ginny asked.
"Why do you care?" Hermione huffed.
Ginny narrowed her eyes, "Why are you acting like it's the end of the world if I find out what's in there?"
"Well, maybe it might be," Hermione replied.
Ginny gasped, "Oh my god, it's your diary, isn't it?"
"I- Well…" Hermione trailed off.
"I didn't think that you were the type to have a diary, Hermione," Ginny commented.
"Okay, you caught me. I have a diary. But it's only because as of lately, I've been feeling as if I need somewhere to vent about my feelings because of your stupid brother," Hermione admitted, and it wasn't completely a lie. She did need somewhere to vent about her feelings, but she wasn't exactly doing it in a diary.
Ginny grimaced, "That's understandable. I know that Harry hasn't exactly been that nice to you either."
"And it's all because I'm looking out for him!" Hermione exclaimed. "Some of those potions and spells in book are things that we've never even heard of. Harry's putting so much faith in the Halfblood Prince even though he seems like the dodgiest character ever. This is like the Firebolt incident in third year all over again."
"Well, I'm sure that Harry will come around eventually. You guys always make up in the end," Ginny reasoned. "As for Ron, I know that he's getting tired of Lavender so it's only a matter of time before they break up. Then you and Ron can be together like you should've been without this mess."
Hermione sighed, "I don't know, I'm not sure if I want to be with Ron like that anymore."
"What? You've liked him since fourth year. What's changed now?" Ginny asked.
"I guess I realised that whenever something goes wrong between us, we always do something stupid to hurt each other. You and I both know that he's only dating Lavender to get back at me which isn't fair to either of us, and by us I mean Lavender and I. I just don't see us having a healthy relationship if we're always going to be arguing and trying to hurt each other," Hermione replied.
"You guys argue like ninety percent of the time," Ginny pointed out.
"Exactly. I don't want to have a relationship that's full of screaming matches. I want to have a relationship that I care about and with someone that I know would never hurt me no matter how difficult I might be to put up with and I don't think that person is Ron," Hermione said.
Ginny sighed, "So, does this mean that there's no chance of us being sister-in-law's anymore?"
Hermione chuckled, "No, at least not right now. But who knows, Ron might end up becoming mature enough for us to be able to have a functional relationship. I suppose I have some maturing to do as well for that to work."
"Damnit," Ginny muttered. "You would've made a much better sister-in-law than Phlegm."
"You still don't like her then?" Hermione wondered.
Ginny shook her head, "Merlin, no! She spent Christmas with us, you know. She even insulted Celestina Warbeck. Mum really didn't like that. How could she not like Celestina Warbeck?"
"I don't know," Hermione replied.
Having Ginny to entertain now, Hermione had to restrain herself from pulling out her book and writing back to Anonymous. She couldn't have Ginny, let alone anyone else, seeing what she was writing. Of course her conversation with Ginny centred around boys after that, with Ginny lamenting her frustrations about Harry and Dean. Hermione had also plenty of frustrations to vent about Harry and Ron, but she had a new frustration. A frustration in the form of Anonymous.
As much as she seemed to be making progress with them, they were still withholding the truth from her. Knowing that there was a time limit on the books made every conversation critical, so from here on out, Hermione was going to have to do everything she could to figure out who they were or help them before time ran out.
So, Hermione's now moved on from Ron and her attention lies solely with Anonymous. For the purpose of story development, I fit in that conversation with Ginny at the end so that Hermione could voice her thoughts about a future with Ron. Now all she has to do is figure out who Anonymous is and things will keep going from there…
