Hello again, my dearest darlings! Welcome to the fourth chapter of Consulting the Flower! I've been very excited about this chapter. And this time, I ask only that you enjoy the next chapter of drum roll Consulting the Flower!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own cherry trees. I do not own Japan. I do not own owls. I do not own doves. I do not own white roses in general. I do not own love letters in general. (These are all the things I do not own from last time, because I think I forgot to put a disclaimer, even though this should all be very obvious to you.) I do not own Filibuster fireworks. I do not own troll boogies. I do not own Severus Snape. I do not own the grease in Severus Snape's hair. I do, however, own my money, so you bad, bad lawyers who have nothing better to do cannot take it away from me! Ha! (I've had a lot of fun doing this because I am very bored. Forgive me.)
Consulting the Flower
By Sailor Jedi Witch (SJW)
Rated PG because I said so, and I am the Ruler of the Universe, so you must obey me! (Not really, but you should be intelligent enough to know that!)
Chapter 4: A Bloomin' Mystery
"Good afternoon, Hermione," greeted a cheerful Sirius Black, the day after Hermione had received her anonymous gift.
"Hi, Sirius. How… how are you, then? Doing all right?" the girl replied, obviously lost somewhere beyond the fringes of the Milky Way, still puzzling over the aforementioned object, and the fact that her handkerchief was now missing.
"I'm fine. Say now, do you enjoy eating Filibuster fireworks marinated in boiled troll boogies, and dipped in the grease that can be squeezed out of Severus Snape's hair?"
"Yes, yes, of course. Absolutely lovely. Hope you have a nice day too, Professor," she mumbled, brushing past the older man. However, he stepped in front of her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and grinned widely.
"Aha! I knew something was wrong with you! I'll bet… I'll bet you just received a love note from a secret admirer!" he cried, with an ever wider, more lopsided grin.
Now, in such a state, as many young ladies around the world will undoubtedly know, not very many words could pull Hermione out of the Fantasyland she was in. However, Sirius had said just one of those things.
"Hmm? Oh, yes… wait a minute! How did you know that? I just got it right…"
"I could recognize such a look anywhere! I caused similar such reactions in many a young lady in my day…" Hermione coughed, vainly trying to cover up a blatant laugh, which Sirius, thankfully for her, did not notice.
"Anyway… enough of dwelling in the past… Who could it be from?" he wondered aloud, with a little twinkle in his eye (which Hermione didn't seem to notice.)
"I have no i…" she began to say, an old memory springing to mind. "Bye, Sirius!" she called over her shoulder, rushing to her dormitory, leaving behind quite a bewildered man.
~*~*~
Harry once more roamed the halls of Hogwarts, forming the next step in Operation: In Your Dreams in his head. According to his sources, which shall of course remain unnamed, (coughcough coughParvatiandLavendercoughcough,) Step One had been quite successful. The next step had to be even more so.
Harry was still pondering when he bumped into the very object of his affections.
"Hello, Harry," she said, smiling quite stupidly, which Harry found to be incredibly attractive.
"Hi, Hermione. Nice day, isn't it?" he joked, gesturing to the window, through which could be seen sheets of snow falling onto the sloping lawns of Hogwarts. Hermione grinned and replied,
"Yes, absolutely lovely. Say, Harry, have you seen my handkerchief anywhere? It's white, and has my name embroidered on it, with little pink flowers…"
"Sorry, can't say that I have," he lied, barely fighting down a blush. "But I'll keep an eyes out for it, see?" he said, magically conjuring a fake eyeball into his hand. Hermione giggled in response, and Harry's stomach turned. How can she do that to me? He thought to himself, pocketing his eyeball, and waving a farewell to the still giggling Hermione. Wow, am I that funny? He wondered incredulously, completely distracted from his previously scheming state of mind. That is, until he bumped right into Parvati and Lavender.
"Hey, Harry," they greeted in unison, grinning mischievously at him.
"We've just been to see Professor Trelawney, and she said that there would be a solar eclipse quite soon," Lavender informed him, smiling. It was then that Harry had a spark of divine inspiration. Thank you, God!
"Lavender, Parvati, I need you to do something else for me. It's part of my… ahem… plan. Are you up to it?"
"Of course!" exclaimed Lavender.
"We're the Cupids of this school," agreed Parvati, "and we won't let you down!"
"But remember, Mum's the word, or nothing will get done, got me?" Vigorous nods from the two girls. "All right, here's what I want you to do…"
~*~*~
Hermione rushed into the dorm, flopping onto her bed. She opened a drawer in her nightstand and took out the little box she had received from "Hopelessly Pining" (whoever that was,) took one of the cherry blossoms into her hand, and began picking the petals off, one by one.
"He loves me, he loves me not," she breathed each time she plucked a petal, hoping against hope it would come out all right… Only a couple of petals were left now…
"Hermione!" a voice from behind her squealed, interrupting her plucking. Turning around, she found Parvati and Lavender hovering anxiously in the doorway.
"Hermione, come on, you have to see this!" Lavender cried, rushing over to Hermione's bed and clutching her wrist.
"What is it? What happened?"
"There's no time to explain, you just have to come!" exclaimed Parvati, who had now joined in the effort to drag poor Hermione along.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" the latter person growled irritably, not very pleased with being interrupted.
Together the three girls flew down the corridors, Lavender and Parvati squealing in excitement, and Hermione rolling her eyes. Probably some announcement for a class on how to make your own make-up, she thought dryly, chuckling aloud at her own joke. Parvati and Lavender paid her no heed, and continued on their way, carrying along the poor, bedraggled Hermione.
After what seemed like ages, they finally arrived – on the Quidditch field. The empty Quidditch field.
"Er… Parvati, Lavender… er… have you two been eating too many sugar quills, or something?"
"Of course not! Just look at the sky!" Hermione complied, shivering because it was still snowing, thinking that she might as well humor the obviously delusional girls. Probably from inhaling all that smoke in Trelawney's room…
Suddenly, the sun began to darken, as a black disk of shadow began to fall over it. Hermione shaded her eyes against the brightness, gasping at the sheer beauty of it all. Within moments, they stood in complete darkness, and it had to be the most wonderful thing any of them had ever experienced. In another minute, the shadowy disk began to draw back again, and they were once again in full sunlight. Hermione cast an astonished look over in Parvati and Lavender's direction, questions springing up in her mind.
Lavender grinned, correctly interpreting her bewildered expression, and said,
"Professor Trelawney foretold the eclipse this morning, and we thought you'd like to see it."
"Oh." Hermione, of course, believed no nonsense about predictions; Trelawney had probably just read the Daily Prophet, which always announced those sorts of things, seeing as very complex and ancient magic usually could only be done during times such as eclipses.
"Say, Hermione, what's that?" Parvati asked, pointing at a little letter that had somehow appeared in Hermione's hands.
"I… I don't know," she replied meekly. Breaking the seal with trembling fingers, Hermione opened the envelope, and pulled out the thick parchment inside. It read:
"I would move planets to gain your love.
Forever yours,
Hopelessly Pining"
"Oh, my…" Hermione said, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Hopelessly Pining… HP… HP! Could it be…