Chapter Two

Harry was having a dream that, as they were talking about Sirius, someone had overheard. This was insane, but Harry didn't understand it. For, on the day of the Opening Banquet, Hermione believed she had sighted Sirius on Buckbeak. Although it looked very much like Sirius, it was only Hagrid who looked as if he was great dog, next to a different Hippogriff.

On Sunday morning, Harry was awoken by Ron, who was shaking him quite fiercely. Ron was looking of towards the window, and Harry was looking puzzled.

"Ron..Hey, I'm up, I'm up! What? C'mon Ron, it's Sunday! Go to sleep; it's only 7 in the morning!" Harry said, fumbling around his dorm looking for his glasses.

"Harry...Harry! You'll never believe what I saw!" Ron said, his hair rather a mess. His eyes were completely wide open as he stared out the window. His freckles seemed to stand out more, and were as big as his eyes!

"What? What'd you see? If this is something about Hermione, I don't want-" Harry started to say, but was cut off by Ron, who, at the moment, was bolting down the stairs into the common room. Harry groaned, found his glasses at last, and wandered down to the common room.

"Harry!! Hurry up! Hermione is--" Ron began, but was cut off by Harry this time. He had flopped down onto the fluffy chair in the common room by the fire.

"Ron, I don't care what you think about Hermione! I know you two were angry at eachother before, and I know you didn't want to come to this summer thing with her, but please Ron, if you don't like her, don't bother me about it! I mean, seriously, I was dreaming about.." Harry ended, not wanting to share his dreams with Ron.

"No, Harry! I saw her..and you won't believe this but...She was giggling while talking to Snape! And I'm not kidding, she was talking to him and giggling!" Ron said, his face gone white, even though it was quite warm by the fire.

"Ron, have you been dreaming? That would never happen! Hermione despises him as much as we do! Why on Earth would she be giggling while talking to him? He treats her horribly!" Harry said, still tired for he had only gone to sleep at midnight because he had a very odd feeling creeping over him.

Ron blinked at him and then ran out of the common room calling behind him something that sounded very much like "follow me," so Harry set out sleepily to the halls of Hogwarts. He ran into the wall a few times, which delayed him, and Ron turned back and decided to drag Harry down to an area near the dungeons.

As Harry stood, he did hear giggling in a voice that was very much like Hermione's. He suddenly woke up and stood there, listening intently.

"My word, Ron you're right! It is Hermione and she is giggling! I would have ne-" He almost finished his sentence before a gruff hand had grabbed his robe and lifted him about a foot above the ground.

"Did I catch you spying on my dungeons, Potter? Or perhaps you were spying on who you thought was your little girlfriend, who your friend Ron heard giggling 30 minutes before now?" It was Snape, and he had a crazy grin upon his face which made Harry shudder.

"I---I..Sir..Errr..." Harry couldn't think of anything to say; but at that moment, a graceful figure had moved out from the dungeons, and Harry was quite sure it was Hermione, but it wasn't. It must have been the new defense against the dark arts professor. She had dark brown hair, flowing smoothly out from behind her, and her footsteps were remarkable. Her face was set in a quiet smile and her gaze was upon Harry.

"Is this the Harry Potter I've heard oh so much about? Severus, do put him down. It must be terrible to be up like that in the hands of his most feared professor, don't you think?" She smiled the smile that would make anyone melt, and Snape gently put Harry down.

"Well..Acandra, I was merely stating to him not to go seeking out his fellow friends, for they" at this point he motioned to Ron and Harry, "they were believing you were their dear friend, Hermione Granger. What a horrible mistake, indeed.." For an instance, his eyes sparkled as he looked to the new teacher.

"Severus, may I speak with these two alone, for just a minute? I will continue talking to you about this school within a few minutes." She looked to him, and he immediately walked back to the dungeons.

"So, you're the famous Harry Potter and his friend Ron Weasley? I've heard oh so much about you from Professors Dumbledore and Snape. Of course, their versions of you're behavior are quite diverse. Now, why did you believe me to be your friend?" She looked at Ron, who looked down as if he wasn't good enough to be looked at by her.

"Err..I..well..You giggle like she does, I guess, and we well..heard you talking with Snape and thought you were Hermione, which is really scary because she hates him as much as we do.." Harry said, and shuffled his feet. He felt a weird sensation as he stood in front of her, and Ron felt as if he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Perhaps she was part Veela.

"Oh dear, I believe I have done it again. I have a strange incantation over me; once I hear a voice I like, I keep the same voice until I realize it was not my personal voice. I must have heard your friend yesterday, giggling at you two, for there was a girl with bushy brown hair staring at both of you yesterday, and as you glanced at her, she looked away. Someone looks quite smitten with you two dears." At this information, Harry glanced at Ron, his eyebrows raised, but Ron looked as if he was smitten with Acandra.

"Well..we..must really be getting back to our common rooms..Sleep is really important to..err..us..." Harry mumbled, grabbed Ron's sleeves and began slowly walking towards the Gryffindor Common Room, but for some reason, he was unable to move. It was like his legs hesitated on leaving back Acandra. Ron, too, seemed to notice this, for he gave Harry a petrified look and whispered "Harry, does it feel like you don't want to leave either? I mean, I want to leave, but my legs won't let me!"

"Dears, weren't you leaving? I must go, but you seem to have something on your minds. Would you care to share it with me?" Acandra said, and for some insane reason, Ron turned around and looked at her.

"Yes, I was wondering if you were part Veela and if you will be teacher here for long. You gave me a very strange sensation and I won't leave until you tell me to." Ron shook out of his stupor, as if he didn't know he was saying what he had said. Harry stared at him for a moment, until Acandra began to speak.

"My dears, I am half Veela and I do command you to go to your common rooms immediately, that is, unless I must take away house points from you for disobeying my instructions." She said this differently than her other voice, which was sweet and gentle. The voice she spoke in now was gruff and rude, and it scared Harry and Ron. But, they began walking back towards the common room, in a mutual agreement that another evil has settled in the school.

As they reached the common room, Harry paused and turned to look at Ron. Ron was staring at the picture of the fat lady and twitching in the utmost terrible way.

"Ron, what just happened?" Harry stared openly at the floor. Then he mumbled the pass word, which was "wubbieschnoodles", and wandered into the common room, not at all surprised to see Hermione in a chair in the back of the room.

"Did you guys even know I was back here? The whole time Ron had talked to you about my 'giggling at Snape', I was here! You didn't even have the decency to look for me, and I would never giggle at Snape!" Hermione had said, which scared Ron a bit, because he was still thinking about the new teacher.

"Hermione, we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, you know? She's half Veela, and smitten with Snape! She has an incantation o-" Harry explained, but Ron interrupted him.

"Hermione, were you staring at us during the Opening Banquet?" Ron looked eagerly towards her, no longer frustrated with trying to understand Acandra.

"Well..I was just..looking at you because..Well.." She began, looking down at her feet and blushing rather more than usual. Ron and Harry had taken seats by chairs near to her, and were looking at her, Ron with an eager smile on his face, and Harry who's face was solemn with wonder.

"I thought you two looked really handsome at the banquet, being all polite and sitting up straight, whispering about things that you would do this year. I was just wishing I had a friend like you two are, to tell secrets with. I can't exactly tell secrets with you, now can I? Boys don't like girl talk, and Ginny isn't as old as I am, and she doesn't know how I feel about having friends. She's the most popular girl at school these days, and I'm still 'the smartest girl who's friends with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley'. Would either of you like to be shunned to the side while your two best friends were practically famous?" As she explained this, her face turned the color of rose and she ran out of the common room up to the girl's dorm, where she began to comfort her cat, Crookshanks.

Ron and Harry gave eachother quizzical looks and then decided to walk up to try to talk to Hermione. When they reached the girl's dorm, they looked in, and saw Hermione in the corner of her bed, looking at the door as if it was the most evil thing in the world.

"Hermione, we never knew! If you..well..I don't know what to say, Hermione. You're our best friend, too, you know." Harry said, laying a hand on her shoulder only to console her. She was looking down at the sheets, and looked up at them and said, "Well, I'm sorry, I guess. I was just frustrated with this summer thing. I forgot to bring a book I found the first week I was at home, and well..It was a really good book at the time."