Love Potions
Part 2: Communication Breakthrough
By Firenzie
A/N: It's huge proof that I'm an Internet-aholic when my computer breaks down for two days and I start to get a mental and emotional breakdown. Okay, it's not that bad. And it's not neccessarily the computer I missed as much as the writing. But during this time, I had a huge burst of inspiration, and I finished this part. I meant to post it on Monday, but that's when my computer got screwed. I had been worrying to death that all my files had been lost, but it's all good now. So here's the fic (finally!).
P.S. My spellcheck was screwed up, so please overlook any spelling errors and other mess ups.
Disclaimer: Why bother?
* * *
"I can't believe he's making us do this," Hermione moaned, burying her head in her hands. She was too upset to even touch her dinner, and it had nothing to do with House-Elves this time. "This is one assignment even I don't want to do."
"Well, believe it," Ron said, not seeming as perturbed as Harry or Hermione. In fact, he looked quite content, eating his meatloaf calmly.
"You're just happy because you got the Polyjuice Potion," Harry said enviously, and then a lightbulb flashed over his head. "But you better worry that you've got Goyle as a partner, and he'll be testing his potion on you."
That drained the color from Ron's face, and he was considerably less smug afterwards.
In the days that followed, everyone, including the Slytherins now, hated going to Potions even more than they ever had before. They had never, ever seen Snape as gleeful as he was, and they didn't like it. And not a single person liked their partner or the difficulty of the potion they would be making, and the only thing that kept their spirits up was the fact that they would be able to test their potion on their partner.
It turned out that Snape had been lying about getting their ingredients first hand. He merely said he enjoyed the expressions on their faces when he had. "Just a little Potions Master humor there," he said, with a horrible smile on his face. No one, not even the Slytherins, not even the teacher's pets, were laughing.
Instead, they had to give him a copy of the potion they were making and the ingredients -- which he wanted copied down by hand, just to give them more work. Much class time was wasted that way. The busier students were, the less they had time to talk and to dawdle, was Snape's philosophy.
Which was just fine with them, since they didn't wish to carry on conversations with their partners anyway. It was bad enough that they were working together already. No, even when they began to make their potions, they talked to each other the minimum amount they could. The only words you'd hear were, "Please pass the lacewings," or remarks such as, "This is so stupid;" the only thing partners could really agree upon.
Even then, Draco and Hermione refused to talk. They had hated each other for too long and too much to suddenly become friends just because Snape had paired them together, just because he wanted to see them suffer. They agreed upon the fact that the assignment was insanely difficult, but that wasn't enough to make friends of.
One day, Malfoy "pulled a Neville," as the Slytherins had dubbed any act of clumsiness, and tipped his cauldron over. Its acids burned a small hole in the floor and left a purplish stain that not even magic or Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover could get rid of. Though it was useless, Snape forced Draco -- and to her fury, even Hermione, though it was of no fault of her own -- to clean it up. It was long after everyone -- including Snape, had left, and he said they couldn't leave until it disappeared.
Draco scrubbed the floor vigorously until his arm ached. "Snape is an asshole," he muttered to himself, resting for a while.
Hermione dipped her rag into the bucket and wrung out the excess water. "So even you Slytherins hate him? You especially. I thought you were his favorite student."
He scowled. "He can be all right sometimes. And this is the class I'm best at. But I still hate him. Look, he's got me trying to clean this unremovable stain the Muggle way! This is Filch's job, not mine."
"Well, it is your fault," Hermione said harshly. "And Snape took advantage of this opportunity to drag me into it also. How was I supposed to know that you would sweep your scraps off the table with your arm and hit your cauldron? I'm always blamed for things I have no power over."
"That's the price of being a perfect student."
Hermione couldn't detect any sarcasm or remorse in that voice. It sounded very unlike Draco Malfoy. Like he genuinely meant it. After pondering over this for sometime, scrubbing absentmindedly, she asked, "What do you mean, a perfect student?"
He stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "Do you even have to ask?"
"I want to know what you mean," she said firmly, "because yes, I truly don't know."
"Well, that's a surprise. For once, Hermione Granger doesn't know the answer."
"Are you mocking me?" she asked indignantly.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "It was just a simple comment. You're just a total know-it-all--" Her eyes flashed angrily, but he finished his sentence hastily. "It's not a bad thing. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I swear. Isn't that new?"
She stared at him in disbelief. "Do you mean we should have a truce?"
Draco looked away from her. "Oh, I don't know. Everything will just be more difficult if we fight -- not that it won't happen, of course, but we shouldn't go around egging it on. That's all I'm saying."
"Look, I've hated you beyond belief. But if we're forced into this situation, so be it. I just want to get a good grade and not have anything come in the way of that. So -- so we can still be enemies -- face it, nothing is going to change that -- but...but..." she trailed off, thinking of the right words.
"We'll agree not to act like rivals," he finished for her, "just for now. It's only temporary, of course. And though I want to say it should only be that way in Snape's class, if we do get into an argument in the hallways or something, that'll affect our attitude towards each other when we're working, so... We'll have to be civil towards each other *all the time*, until this stupid project is over. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Hermione said. She stuck out her hand, but Draco just stared at it.
"Granger, just because we've gotten a truce doesn't mean we have to be all prim and proper and nice about it," he said, incensed. "Just act like nothing's changed. Don't want to get Potty -- I mean, Potter and Weasley all suspicious."
"Yes, so tell your goo-- er, Crabbe and Goyle to lay off my friends, too. I'll tell them the same."
"All right then," he said.
The two of them looked up at each other briefly, but it was extremely awkward, so they quickly looked back down at their work.
"Well, that's only one problem solved," Draco commented. "You're the genius, Granger, now how do we get rid of this stupid stain?"
* * *
The next day, they had Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. He had learned to tone down his lessons somewhat, since the disaster with the Blast-Ended Skrewts in their 4th year. Today he had a cuddly little creature called a mistmaker. (I borrowed it from 'The Secret of Platform 13,' by Eva Ibbotson, because I don't happen to own 'Fantastic Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them.') It looked like a little baby harp seal, with fluffy, snow white fur. It sang beautiful music, filling the air with mist, hence its name. The girls all squealed delightedly, and even the boys had to admit that it was cute. But, surprising even themselves, the fact that it had no sort of attack of dangerous things about it was kind of boring.
"Can I hold it?" Lavender asked Hagrid eagerly.
"Well, all righ' then," he agreed, putting the mistmaker into her arms, "but be gentle with it."
A crowd of girls formed around Lavender, who giggled delightedly when the mistmaker licked her on the nose after she stroked its fur. Parvati begged to hold it, and so the mistmaker was passed on and on, so everyone had a chance to hold it. Dean remarked that it felt like a huge shapeless ball of fluff, and Hermione was dying to hold it, so he gave it to her.
To everyone's surprise, Malfoy asked if he could see what it was like -- and even more strangely, Hermione said yes. The bundle of fur was passed onto Malfoy, and a bright smile lit up his face. The mistmaker seemed to like him just as much, snuggling into his arms. It gave something of a yawn, in which a few puffs of mist came out its mouth, and closed its eyes and seemed to be resting. It was funny, because the mistmaker breathed heavily, and each time it exhaled, mist came streaming out its nostrils.
"Well, I'll be," Hagrid said in amazement, "I think it likes yeh, Malfoy."
That was confirmed, because when Malfoy handed it to Blaise Zabini, the mistmaker started shrieking relentlessly, much like the restricted book Harry had opened in his first year, and the mistmaker didn't stop until it was back into Malfoy's arms.
When class ended and Harry and Ron and Hermione were walking back up to the castle, Ron commented, "What did Malfoy do to the poor thing, curse it to like him?"
"Oh, stop," Hermione said, not meaning to sound like she was defending Malfoy, but that's how Ron took it.
He looked at her strangely and suspiciously. "Hermione, that's the third time you've stopped me from saying something about that slimeball. What's the matter with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean -- I mean --" He looked positively flustered. "I mean, ever since you had to stay after Potions to clean up that mess *he* made, you two have been acting like best buddies or something--"
"We have not!" she interjected quickly, but Ron went on.
"I want to know what happened in that dungeon after everyone left!" he shouted. "What, are you and Malfoy a couple now?!" He was yelling so loudly that everyone outside overheard, including Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy himself.
Hermione's eyes narrowed into thin, little slits, and her breathing was shallow and uneven. "How dare you say that! What is with you, anyway? You get angry and suspicious and jealous any time I say so much as 'hello' to another boy!"
"You think I'm jealous, do you?" He glared at her.
"Yes! Yes, I think you're being an illogical git blinded by your own stupidity! Ronald Weasley, use your brain! This is Draco Malfoy we're talking about!" She made an impatient snorting noise, too angry to speak. "You are so immature!" And then she turned around and stamped off back to Hagrid's hut.
"Hermione!" Ron called weakly after her, ready to run off.
Harry held out his arm to stop him. "Let her go, Ron. She needs time to breathe and clear her head. Some conflicts are best resolved by diffusing them -- waiting a while before trying again to reach a solution."
(A/N: Oooh dang, that's pure mediatior training right there...)
Ron nodded. "I don't know why I act all mad like that. She's right, as usual. It's not as if she'd suddenly fall in love with Malfoy from a class project."
"Yeah, that's about as likely as me getting into a love triangle with Pansy and Crabbe," Harry pointed out.
(A/N again: Hmmm, maybe that's not such a bad idea... J/K, that's gross!!!)
"Yeah... Blimey, I've got to learn to control myself about these things. I just feel this big-brotherly overprotection thing..."
But Harry knew that Ron didn't get involved with Ginny's love interests, and that it was something a whole lot different than a big-brotherly sense.
* * *
Hermione reached Hagrid's hut, calling out, "Hagrid! I've got to talk to you about Ron -- he's being a jealousy-crazed maniac again; this time it was Malfoy -- can you believe it? -- *Malfoy!* -- and I--" She paused to see not Hagrid, but Draco standing outside the hut.
He was holding the mistmaker, having a fun time spinning and twirling around, grinning and laughing as the mistmaker cooed and squealed like a baby. He stopped abruptly, upon hearing Hermione's shouts, but it was too late. She had already seen him.
Hermione was disappointed to see Malfoy there instead of Hagrid, but equally intrigued. "Um -- hello," she said awkwardly (I know, I keep overusing that word, but for some reason, Microsoft Word isn't working and I don't have a thesaurus now).
His face was beet red, and for once, it wasn't at all from anger. "H-hi, Hermione," he stammered. "I take it you saw--"
"Yes," she answered. "And you heard--"
He nodded.
"How about we keep these things to ourselves, huh? Even though all the Slytherin and Gryffindor sixth-years overheard my entire argument..."
He just nodded again, with an understanding (or lack of anything to say), "Hmm."
"I'm -- I'm sorry about what I said about you. I had no idea you were here -- and still, I had absolutely no right--"
Draco cut her off. "Remember, Hermione, it's only a temporary truce, we don't have to be so nice about it--"
She wasn't listening. "But -- but you just called me Hermione!"
He was caught off-guard. "What?"
"Two times, in fact -- the first when you said hi to me, but I didn't notice it then..." she went on thoughtfully.
"I didn't even realize I had said it. Are you sure it wasn't Granger, Gangly, even? Muggle, Mudblood--?"
"I'm sure!" she said. "What I want to know is why--"
He was as clueless as she was. "I don't know. It just...slipped out..."
"Things are changing, Malfoy. I'm not so sure I like it..."
"Malfoy, Hermione, is that you? I heard voices..." Hagrid's huge figure came into view, Fang trotting along by his side. "Wha' are yeh doin' here, Hermione?"
She paused. "I -- I was just leaving, Hagrid. Great lesson today, by the way..." And she was off.
Draco cleared his throat. "Uh -- me too. Er, thanks for letting me play with the mistmaker," he said nervously, shoving the creature into Hagrid's arms. Then he ran after Hermione.
Hagrid shook his great, hairy head. "Ne'er seen anythin' like that..." He gave one last glance at Draco and Hermione before disappearing into his hut.
Draco caught up with Hermione. "Herm--I mean, Granger," he panted. "What -- what was all that back there--?"
"I don't know, but -- but I've really got to go, I'm sorry--" And she broke into a run, heading for the castle.
Draco sighed. What was going on? Like Hermione had said, things were changing...and he wasn't so sure he liked them either.
Part 2: Communication Breakthrough
By Firenzie
A/N: It's huge proof that I'm an Internet-aholic when my computer breaks down for two days and I start to get a mental and emotional breakdown. Okay, it's not that bad. And it's not neccessarily the computer I missed as much as the writing. But during this time, I had a huge burst of inspiration, and I finished this part. I meant to post it on Monday, but that's when my computer got screwed. I had been worrying to death that all my files had been lost, but it's all good now. So here's the fic (finally!).
P.S. My spellcheck was screwed up, so please overlook any spelling errors and other mess ups.
Disclaimer: Why bother?
* * *
"I can't believe he's making us do this," Hermione moaned, burying her head in her hands. She was too upset to even touch her dinner, and it had nothing to do with House-Elves this time. "This is one assignment even I don't want to do."
"Well, believe it," Ron said, not seeming as perturbed as Harry or Hermione. In fact, he looked quite content, eating his meatloaf calmly.
"You're just happy because you got the Polyjuice Potion," Harry said enviously, and then a lightbulb flashed over his head. "But you better worry that you've got Goyle as a partner, and he'll be testing his potion on you."
That drained the color from Ron's face, and he was considerably less smug afterwards.
In the days that followed, everyone, including the Slytherins now, hated going to Potions even more than they ever had before. They had never, ever seen Snape as gleeful as he was, and they didn't like it. And not a single person liked their partner or the difficulty of the potion they would be making, and the only thing that kept their spirits up was the fact that they would be able to test their potion on their partner.
It turned out that Snape had been lying about getting their ingredients first hand. He merely said he enjoyed the expressions on their faces when he had. "Just a little Potions Master humor there," he said, with a horrible smile on his face. No one, not even the Slytherins, not even the teacher's pets, were laughing.
Instead, they had to give him a copy of the potion they were making and the ingredients -- which he wanted copied down by hand, just to give them more work. Much class time was wasted that way. The busier students were, the less they had time to talk and to dawdle, was Snape's philosophy.
Which was just fine with them, since they didn't wish to carry on conversations with their partners anyway. It was bad enough that they were working together already. No, even when they began to make their potions, they talked to each other the minimum amount they could. The only words you'd hear were, "Please pass the lacewings," or remarks such as, "This is so stupid;" the only thing partners could really agree upon.
Even then, Draco and Hermione refused to talk. They had hated each other for too long and too much to suddenly become friends just because Snape had paired them together, just because he wanted to see them suffer. They agreed upon the fact that the assignment was insanely difficult, but that wasn't enough to make friends of.
One day, Malfoy "pulled a Neville," as the Slytherins had dubbed any act of clumsiness, and tipped his cauldron over. Its acids burned a small hole in the floor and left a purplish stain that not even magic or Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover could get rid of. Though it was useless, Snape forced Draco -- and to her fury, even Hermione, though it was of no fault of her own -- to clean it up. It was long after everyone -- including Snape, had left, and he said they couldn't leave until it disappeared.
Draco scrubbed the floor vigorously until his arm ached. "Snape is an asshole," he muttered to himself, resting for a while.
Hermione dipped her rag into the bucket and wrung out the excess water. "So even you Slytherins hate him? You especially. I thought you were his favorite student."
He scowled. "He can be all right sometimes. And this is the class I'm best at. But I still hate him. Look, he's got me trying to clean this unremovable stain the Muggle way! This is Filch's job, not mine."
"Well, it is your fault," Hermione said harshly. "And Snape took advantage of this opportunity to drag me into it also. How was I supposed to know that you would sweep your scraps off the table with your arm and hit your cauldron? I'm always blamed for things I have no power over."
"That's the price of being a perfect student."
Hermione couldn't detect any sarcasm or remorse in that voice. It sounded very unlike Draco Malfoy. Like he genuinely meant it. After pondering over this for sometime, scrubbing absentmindedly, she asked, "What do you mean, a perfect student?"
He stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "Do you even have to ask?"
"I want to know what you mean," she said firmly, "because yes, I truly don't know."
"Well, that's a surprise. For once, Hermione Granger doesn't know the answer."
"Are you mocking me?" she asked indignantly.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "It was just a simple comment. You're just a total know-it-all--" Her eyes flashed angrily, but he finished his sentence hastily. "It's not a bad thing. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I swear. Isn't that new?"
She stared at him in disbelief. "Do you mean we should have a truce?"
Draco looked away from her. "Oh, I don't know. Everything will just be more difficult if we fight -- not that it won't happen, of course, but we shouldn't go around egging it on. That's all I'm saying."
"Look, I've hated you beyond belief. But if we're forced into this situation, so be it. I just want to get a good grade and not have anything come in the way of that. So -- so we can still be enemies -- face it, nothing is going to change that -- but...but..." she trailed off, thinking of the right words.
"We'll agree not to act like rivals," he finished for her, "just for now. It's only temporary, of course. And though I want to say it should only be that way in Snape's class, if we do get into an argument in the hallways or something, that'll affect our attitude towards each other when we're working, so... We'll have to be civil towards each other *all the time*, until this stupid project is over. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Hermione said. She stuck out her hand, but Draco just stared at it.
"Granger, just because we've gotten a truce doesn't mean we have to be all prim and proper and nice about it," he said, incensed. "Just act like nothing's changed. Don't want to get Potty -- I mean, Potter and Weasley all suspicious."
"Yes, so tell your goo-- er, Crabbe and Goyle to lay off my friends, too. I'll tell them the same."
"All right then," he said.
The two of them looked up at each other briefly, but it was extremely awkward, so they quickly looked back down at their work.
"Well, that's only one problem solved," Draco commented. "You're the genius, Granger, now how do we get rid of this stupid stain?"
* * *
The next day, they had Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. He had learned to tone down his lessons somewhat, since the disaster with the Blast-Ended Skrewts in their 4th year. Today he had a cuddly little creature called a mistmaker. (I borrowed it from 'The Secret of Platform 13,' by Eva Ibbotson, because I don't happen to own 'Fantastic Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them.') It looked like a little baby harp seal, with fluffy, snow white fur. It sang beautiful music, filling the air with mist, hence its name. The girls all squealed delightedly, and even the boys had to admit that it was cute. But, surprising even themselves, the fact that it had no sort of attack of dangerous things about it was kind of boring.
"Can I hold it?" Lavender asked Hagrid eagerly.
"Well, all righ' then," he agreed, putting the mistmaker into her arms, "but be gentle with it."
A crowd of girls formed around Lavender, who giggled delightedly when the mistmaker licked her on the nose after she stroked its fur. Parvati begged to hold it, and so the mistmaker was passed on and on, so everyone had a chance to hold it. Dean remarked that it felt like a huge shapeless ball of fluff, and Hermione was dying to hold it, so he gave it to her.
To everyone's surprise, Malfoy asked if he could see what it was like -- and even more strangely, Hermione said yes. The bundle of fur was passed onto Malfoy, and a bright smile lit up his face. The mistmaker seemed to like him just as much, snuggling into his arms. It gave something of a yawn, in which a few puffs of mist came out its mouth, and closed its eyes and seemed to be resting. It was funny, because the mistmaker breathed heavily, and each time it exhaled, mist came streaming out its nostrils.
"Well, I'll be," Hagrid said in amazement, "I think it likes yeh, Malfoy."
That was confirmed, because when Malfoy handed it to Blaise Zabini, the mistmaker started shrieking relentlessly, much like the restricted book Harry had opened in his first year, and the mistmaker didn't stop until it was back into Malfoy's arms.
When class ended and Harry and Ron and Hermione were walking back up to the castle, Ron commented, "What did Malfoy do to the poor thing, curse it to like him?"
"Oh, stop," Hermione said, not meaning to sound like she was defending Malfoy, but that's how Ron took it.
He looked at her strangely and suspiciously. "Hermione, that's the third time you've stopped me from saying something about that slimeball. What's the matter with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean -- I mean --" He looked positively flustered. "I mean, ever since you had to stay after Potions to clean up that mess *he* made, you two have been acting like best buddies or something--"
"We have not!" she interjected quickly, but Ron went on.
"I want to know what happened in that dungeon after everyone left!" he shouted. "What, are you and Malfoy a couple now?!" He was yelling so loudly that everyone outside overheard, including Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy himself.
Hermione's eyes narrowed into thin, little slits, and her breathing was shallow and uneven. "How dare you say that! What is with you, anyway? You get angry and suspicious and jealous any time I say so much as 'hello' to another boy!"
"You think I'm jealous, do you?" He glared at her.
"Yes! Yes, I think you're being an illogical git blinded by your own stupidity! Ronald Weasley, use your brain! This is Draco Malfoy we're talking about!" She made an impatient snorting noise, too angry to speak. "You are so immature!" And then she turned around and stamped off back to Hagrid's hut.
"Hermione!" Ron called weakly after her, ready to run off.
Harry held out his arm to stop him. "Let her go, Ron. She needs time to breathe and clear her head. Some conflicts are best resolved by diffusing them -- waiting a while before trying again to reach a solution."
(A/N: Oooh dang, that's pure mediatior training right there...)
Ron nodded. "I don't know why I act all mad like that. She's right, as usual. It's not as if she'd suddenly fall in love with Malfoy from a class project."
"Yeah, that's about as likely as me getting into a love triangle with Pansy and Crabbe," Harry pointed out.
(A/N again: Hmmm, maybe that's not such a bad idea... J/K, that's gross!!!)
"Yeah... Blimey, I've got to learn to control myself about these things. I just feel this big-brotherly overprotection thing..."
But Harry knew that Ron didn't get involved with Ginny's love interests, and that it was something a whole lot different than a big-brotherly sense.
* * *
Hermione reached Hagrid's hut, calling out, "Hagrid! I've got to talk to you about Ron -- he's being a jealousy-crazed maniac again; this time it was Malfoy -- can you believe it? -- *Malfoy!* -- and I--" She paused to see not Hagrid, but Draco standing outside the hut.
He was holding the mistmaker, having a fun time spinning and twirling around, grinning and laughing as the mistmaker cooed and squealed like a baby. He stopped abruptly, upon hearing Hermione's shouts, but it was too late. She had already seen him.
Hermione was disappointed to see Malfoy there instead of Hagrid, but equally intrigued. "Um -- hello," she said awkwardly (I know, I keep overusing that word, but for some reason, Microsoft Word isn't working and I don't have a thesaurus now).
His face was beet red, and for once, it wasn't at all from anger. "H-hi, Hermione," he stammered. "I take it you saw--"
"Yes," she answered. "And you heard--"
He nodded.
"How about we keep these things to ourselves, huh? Even though all the Slytherin and Gryffindor sixth-years overheard my entire argument..."
He just nodded again, with an understanding (or lack of anything to say), "Hmm."
"I'm -- I'm sorry about what I said about you. I had no idea you were here -- and still, I had absolutely no right--"
Draco cut her off. "Remember, Hermione, it's only a temporary truce, we don't have to be so nice about it--"
She wasn't listening. "But -- but you just called me Hermione!"
He was caught off-guard. "What?"
"Two times, in fact -- the first when you said hi to me, but I didn't notice it then..." she went on thoughtfully.
"I didn't even realize I had said it. Are you sure it wasn't Granger, Gangly, even? Muggle, Mudblood--?"
"I'm sure!" she said. "What I want to know is why--"
He was as clueless as she was. "I don't know. It just...slipped out..."
"Things are changing, Malfoy. I'm not so sure I like it..."
"Malfoy, Hermione, is that you? I heard voices..." Hagrid's huge figure came into view, Fang trotting along by his side. "Wha' are yeh doin' here, Hermione?"
She paused. "I -- I was just leaving, Hagrid. Great lesson today, by the way..." And she was off.
Draco cleared his throat. "Uh -- me too. Er, thanks for letting me play with the mistmaker," he said nervously, shoving the creature into Hagrid's arms. Then he ran after Hermione.
Hagrid shook his great, hairy head. "Ne'er seen anythin' like that..." He gave one last glance at Draco and Hermione before disappearing into his hut.
Draco caught up with Hermione. "Herm--I mean, Granger," he panted. "What -- what was all that back there--?"
"I don't know, but -- but I've really got to go, I'm sorry--" And she broke into a run, heading for the castle.
Draco sighed. What was going on? Like Hermione had said, things were changing...and he wasn't so sure he liked them either.