The time seemed to be flying, since three days later, Easter Vacation started. Although, it didn't seem like vacation, because they had even more homework than they did during last year's Easter vacation, what with preparing for O.W.L.S.
It would be the first year in a long time that Harry actually had to do his exams. He had managed to get out of exams for the past three years now, with all the trouble he got into.
There hadn't been very many disastrous incidents this year, except for Harry's social life. Besides the many fights and girl problems Harry had had this year, this year was quite boring. Nothing had happened, since his dream about Snape; in fact, he hadn't heard from Dumbledore, Sirius, or Mrs. Figg since that night. Harry was starting to wonder when they were going to tell him what was going on.
It wasn't until his first morning during their Spring Break that Harry heard from one of them. He had been staring at Ginny at the other end of the table during breakfast, his chin in her hands, when Hedwig landed on his shoulder. She startled him awake from his thoughts by pecking him on the nose. Harry complained at first, but was delighted to see that she had finally returned. Then he saw that the letter she held was addressed to him in Sirius' handwriting. Harry gladly took the letter and let Hedwig pick some scrambled eggs off of his plate. He made sure no one was watching, and opened the letter under the table.
Dear Harry,
It seems it took Hedwig quite some time to find me. After we met in Dumbledore's office, I was sent to pick up Remus from a mission (He stayed a little too long, long enough for the moon to become full, if you know what I mean) he had been sent on, and apparently missed your owl before I left. She managed to find me on my way back from my mission, but in case this falls into the wrong hands, I cannot tell you where Lupin and I are hiding. Don't worry, Remus is fine now and he didn't manage to attack anyone before I arrived.
I talked to Dumbledore about your asking to be told what is going on, but I am afraid he is wise in saying that that can't be done. I think we both know you have a knack of running into trouble, so maybe it's best if you are kept out of the business of the Order of Phoenix.
That doesn't mean that I don't want your letters to stop coming. And if there is an emergency soon, I will contact you.
Your Godfather,
Sirius
Harry put the letter down in disappointment. He wasn't part of the Order of Phoenix? He couldn't believe it.
"Harry! What are you reading?" Harry looked up and saw Hermione standing over him, holding Crookshanks.
"Oh, just a letter from Snuffles." Harry used Sirius' secret name from last year. Hermione looked surprised. Harry didn't want to tell her quite yet though; his curiosity was killing him. Why had Hermione brought Crookshanks down to the Great Hall for breakfast? "I'll tell you about it later. First of all, tell me why your cat is eating breakfast with you?" Harry asked her.
"Come with me," Hermione said excitedly. Harry knew there was something up, so he left his leftover bacon on his plate for Hedwig, who gladly nibbled on it, and followed Hermione outside of the Great Hall and out of the castle.
"We need to go see Hagrid," Hermione stated.
"Why now?" Harry wondered aloud.
"Because I figured out who Pumpkin's mate is," Hermione said quite loudly, her excitement obviously building. She had probably been wanting to mention this for a while.
"Who?" Harry said in surprise. Hermione was looking lovingly at Crookshanks. Then it dawned on Harry.
"But Hermione! Cats and kneazles can only be bred professionally! Not in the wild!"
"Well, I figured something out, Harry, with help from Hagrid's lessons. Crookshanks isn't one hundred percent cat. He is half kneazle!" She shrieked in obvious pride and excitement.
"He is?" Harry whooped. This was getting interesting.
"Yes!" Hermione whooped back, "Now we just have to get to Hagrid's and see if Pumpkin and Crookshanks have met. If they know each other, there is no doubt, with all the wanderings Crookshanks does at night." By this time they had arrived at Hagrid's hut and Hermione knocked on the door. Hagrid welcomed them jovially and Fang slobbered all over Harry's jeans in excitement. Crookshanks didn't look too excited to see the boarhound. Hermione couldn't contain her excitement and immediately began explaining her discovery to Hagrid. Hagrid was extremely impressed.
"Well, Pumpkin is in her basket in the corner, maybe we can go and see if it's true," Hagrid was just as excited as Hermione now. Hermione put Crookshanks down next to Pumpkin and immediately the two began to purr and sniff at one another. They rubbed noses like old friends.
"It's true, Hagrid!" Hermione cried.
"By jove, it is," Hagrid agreed, "Well done, Hermione, well done. So this means Crookshanks is part kneazle. Can't believe I never noticed before! But he does kinda resemble one."
"No wonder he is so big," Harry noted. All of a sudden, Crookshanks growled loudly and slunk over to a corner of Hagrid's house, where a couple rats were making their way into a hole. Hagrid blushed.
"A couple o' rats moved into me house while I was away." He remarked in embarrassment, "Been tryin' to get rid o' them. Maybe Crookshanks can stay to be with Pumpkin when her kittens arrive and try to rid me of the rats at the same time."
"That's fine with me," Hermione said, "As long as you call us down as soon as the kittens begin to come."
"O' Course I would! Don't want you to miss it." Hagrid agreed. They looked over at Crookshanks, who was making quite a commotion at the front of the rat hole, trying to get to the rats, "He sure is anxious to get to them. I think my rats will be gone in no time, then." The three of them laughed as they watched Crookshanks hiss and scratch at the hole madly.
Hermione and Harry stayed for tea, Hermione explaining how she had used Hagrid's lessons to realize Crookshanks had kneazle in him. Then when she finished, she asked Harry about his letter from Sirius. "What did he say, Harry?" Hermione cried.
"Well, he is with Lupin out hiding somewhere, because Lupin accidentally stayed out on a mission too long or something and transformed. He wouldn't tell me where. Actually he wouldn't tell me anything, except that if I run into trouble or if he does, we need to contact each other immediately."
Hagrid went over to Harry, obviously spotting his disappointment, "Well, it's all for the best, Harry--" Hagrid stopped when Crookshanks loudly meowed and hissed.
"Sounds like the rats are teasing him." Hagrid said. They watched silently for a minute, Harry thinking only of the fact that he couldn't be part of the Order of Phoenix.
"Well, Harry, we better go back and work on our Astrology projects, right?"
"Yeah, right," Harry sighed. Hermione went over to a distracted Crookshanks and said goodbye to him lovingly, and then she and Harry said goodbye to Hagrid and left the hut.
Harry was starting to take his work more seriously. Hermione was around less too, spending most of her time in the library studying for all of her classes. Harry would try to join her, but she just seemed to want to be alone, so he left her alone. The week flew by, and Harry found he was spending most of it by himself. Hermione would be in the library, Ron wouldn't talk to him, and Ginny was trying to stay away from him as much as possible. Harry couldn't figure out if things would ever be the same between all of his friends. This year he had expected change, but in all the wrong places.
Soon, it was Sunday and classes were starting again tomorrow. Harry walked into the common room when the full moon had already risen. The room was not as full as usual. Harry looked around, hoping to find Hermione so he could say good night to her. He knew he wasn't spending enough time with her, and maybe his excuse was a little too harsh. But the extra affection was quite uncomfortable, maybe even embarrassing. Then again, he missed her almost as much as he missed Ron, so he decided to forgive her and spend more time with her.
He found Hermione in the corner of the common room, by herself. Her face looked tired and sad. Harry recognized the look on her face, but he couldn't remember where it was from. He dawdled slowly up to her and stood in front of her. He followed her sad gaze to Ron and Seamus, who were playing a game of wizard chess. Did she miss Ron as much as he did?
"Hermione?" Harry whispered. She immediately looked up and gave him an unconvincing smile.
"Harry, I was waiting for you," Harry couldn't help but notice that it sounded like a lie.
"For what reason?" Harry asked.
"I wanted to make sure you found that information on Uric the Ugly for your History of Magic report," she said softly as she stared at Ron and Seamus from the corner of her eye.
"Yes, I found it..." Harry said, wondering why she would ever stay up just for that reason.
"Ok, well, goodnight," Hermione said absent-mindedly and looked at Harry, obviously expecting him to leave.
"Goodnight?" Harry said scathingly. Why was she blowing him off now? He sighed deeply, and dawdled up to the dorm and went to sleep.
In History of Magic the next morning, Harry noticed that Hermione was back to her old self again. But then at lunch, when they got in line right behind Ron, Dean and Seamus, she went off into her own world again. "Earth to Hermione!" Harry called.
"Erm...what?" Hermione said, as if nothing had occurred. Then she was back to her old self again. Harry decided he had too much on his mind to deal with this, so he ignored it after that and focused on his work.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts, they worked on their semester reports that were due in 3 weeks. Hermione and Harry shared their books since Hermione had left hers in the common room. Harry thought this was quite unlike Hermione, leaving books behind.
"I got a little distracted, that's all." she said as she got her parchment and quills out of her bag.
"Right," Harry said, quite unconvinced. What was up with Hermione? He started out his report, which he decided to do on werewolves. He thought he might as well take this opportunity to learn more about them. Then he began to wonder how Remus and Sirius were doing. Had they made it back from their mission? Were they still staying in the Shrieking Shack? And what about Mrs. Figg? Where had she ended up? Harry worried silently until Professor Fletcher came and pulled him aside, apparently he had news about something.
"I need to know if you have had any more dreams concerning You-Know-Who, Harry. Dumbledore asked me to ask you." He whispered.
"Why didn't he ask me himself?" Harry asked, due to his suspicion.
"He has a lot to do, Harry. He's been very busy with secret business." Professor Fletcher hesitated.
"Well, what kind of business?" Harry asked, his curiosity building up.
"It's nothing I need to tell you, Harry." Professor Fletcher said.
"Why? Don't I have a right to know?" Harry was starting to get angry.
"I'm afraid this isn't any of your business, Harry. Only those in the Order of Phoenix--"
"Why can't I be a part of it?" Harry scathed as quietly as he could.
"This isn't the place, Harry! Now, tell me, what kind of dreams have you had about You-Know-Who?"
Harry wasn't sure if he could trust this man. Was he completely on their side? But it didn't hurt to tell the truth since it had nothing that Professor Fletcher could want. "Nothing, sir," he said, "I haven't had any dreams since the last." Professor Fletcher sighed slightly and told him to get back to work. Harry looked at his face, studying his every expression, searching it for clues. Why wouldn't anyone include him? He was old enough to be part of the Order of Phoenix, to fight Voldemort, to avenge his parents. Voldemort was the reason for his parent's deaths! He wanted to be part of the fight! He stormed back to his seat and ignored the looks of interest he was getting from both Hermione and Ron, and opened his book to the beginning of the chapter on werewolves.
Harry couldn't sleep that night. He lay in bed and thought about Professor Snape. What if he was in trouble? Were they doing anything about it? Dumbledore had probably sent someone to check and make sure he was o.k. Yet Harry still wondered what was going on. He was so confused.
Harry's thoughts changed to Ginny. How was he ever going to get her to talk to him? And when they did begin to talk again, would he have the courage to tell her that he had begun thinking of her as more than a friend? Harry still couldn't believe it himself. Only last year he had thought of her as Ron's little sister. Now he felt all mushy whenever he thought of her. He was slightly embarrassed by this. What if Ron found out? It was different then how he got when he thought of Cho last year. More real.
By now, Neville's snoring was starting to get annoying. Harry decided that he would take a walk. He knew it wasn't right for him to do so, but he didn't care. He had too much on his mind right now. Harry picked up his Invisibility Cloak and completely forgot his Marauder's Map as he shuffled out of the dorm and into the castle halls, clutching the cloak around himself. Somehow, his feet dragged him to the castle door and outside. Minutes later, he found himself in front of the school lake. He sat and looked at the lake, the moon's reflection casting a luminous light upon the water. He leaned against the tree and looked around him at the early April world.
"I didn't expect to see you here at this hour, Harry," A voice startled Harry and it took him a moment to realize he had draped the invisibility cloak around his shoulders, making his head visible to whomever was sharing the lake side with him. He squinting and noticed a quite familiar figure only 20 feet away.
"Professor Lupin?" Harry gasped in disbelief.
"That's right, Harry, it's me." Lupin said in glee, obviously happy to have run into Harry, "Now, explain to me why you are outside at such an hour, son." He walked over to be closer to Harry.
"I really don't know, to be honest. My feet just kind of led me here."
Professor Lupin smiled, but then saw the lathargic look in Harry`s eyes, "Is something wrong, Harry?"
"You can put it that way, but I don't think you can help." Harry sighed deeply, "Anyways, it isn't that important," Harry lied. Lupin didn't look like he bought it, but he inevitably got the point and dropped the subject. " So what brought YOU here at such an hour?" Harry asked.
"I am here to meet a friend," Lupin replied, "I am glad I came early, otherwise I wouldn't have run into you."
"Professor, do you think you could convince Dumbledore to let me join the Order of Phoenix?"
Lupin gave him a grave look, "Harry, if Dumbledore says you shouldn't join, then you shouldn't. It's probably for the best. Besides, some of the stuff I have seen this year shouldn't be seen by your young eyes." Suddenly he gazed at the lake and Harry took a long look at his graying hair and weary face. Yet, his concern couldn't out-match his anger.
"But Professor! I saw Cedric die last year! I battled Voldemort face to face!"
"That is something you shouldn't have experienced, Harry. But it is all in the past. " Suddenly, Harry heard a figure approaching them. He turned around and saw the face of Mrs. Figg.
"Harry Potter. What are you doing down here?" Mrs. Figg berated. She moved her glare to Lupin," Did you tell him you were going to be here, Remus? Don't you know the castle rules? You always were such a troublemaker..."
"I didn't Mrs. Figg, I promise," Lupin said, cowering slightly to the tiny woman.
"Well, it looks like Hogwarts has a Remus Junior in it's midst, then" Her glare changed to a warm smile, which surprised Harry.
"Well, Harry, I'm afraid, Mrs. Figg and I have to go now. We have some serious business to attend to." Lupin looked rather tired as he said this.
"Can't you tell me what's going on, Professor?" Harry said, slightly frusterated.
"I'm afraid not, Harry. But don't fret, I will send you owls, despite Dumbledore's orders," Lupin smiled mischieviously, "And by the way, please call me Remus from now on, ok?"
Harry brightened at this and smiled slightly, "Alright, Remus. Take care and good luck to both of you, what ever you two are up to."
"You take care too, Harry" Mrs. Figg said, "watch over Professor Fletcher for me, if you don't mind."
"I will, goodbye!" Harry wondered why he needed to watch over Professor Fletcher.
"Farewell, Harry!" Mrs. Figg and Lupin said together as they hiked up to the path that led to Hogsmeade.
History of Magic was just as boring as ever the next day. Harry slumped in his desk even further as he listened to the history of Chinese witches. Professor Binns had announced before the lesson that this was his favorite subject, but his passive voice showed no sign that he was at all interested in it. Harry looked around in boredom to see what everyone was doing. Dean and Seamus were trading wizard cards. Parvati was drawing on her hand, while Neville was snoring next to her a flow of drool coming from the corner of his mouth. Hermione was listening attently as usual, while Ron stared longingly at her. Harry sighed deeply. Why couldn't Ron have fallen for someone else? He noticed some of the class had started packing up, and realized class was over. He quickly grabbed his bag and nudged Neville before he caught up with Hermione.
Hermione said they needed to go to the library to do their Charms homework. Harry realized she seemed as if she might be better, but he couldn't be so sure. He sat down beside her and took out his book. As he opened it, he noticed Hermione still hadn't gotten hers out yet. She was staring across the library at the check-out desk. Ron was there talking to Madam Pince.
"Young man, if I don't get that book back soon, I will have to have you pay the entire price for it!" Madam Pince admonished Ron in a cranky voice.
"I suppose so," Ron said, sounding slightly dissappointed. Harry thought it was probably nothing important and poked Hermione until she came out of her daze and got her book out. Harry glanced over in Ron's direction as she got her book out and saw that he had sat down by himself at a table and had noticed them in the library. Harry and Ron had a brief moment of eye contact; Ron gave Harry a loathing glare that made Harry sigh deeply. What is his problem, Harry thought.
"Alright, it's on page 429, Harry, not 559," Hermione flipped his book to the right page. Harry noticed that she glanced briefly at Ron periodically, "Oh, Harry, your so funny sometimes!" she giggled.
"Wha?" Harry grew confused. What was so funny about that? He hadn't even had a chance to flip his book to the right page. Apparently Hermione was in her weird mood again. Girls, Harry thought. Harry rolled his eyes as he took out his quill and parchment. Then he saw a shadow on his books, looked up, and saw Madam Pince glaring at the two of them.
"How many times do I have to ask you students to be quiet in my library!" she shrieked, "When I said quiet, I said quiet!" she snorted at them and waddled off to sort more books.
Harry leaned closer to Hermione and whispered, "Hermione! Stop acting strange or you'll get both of us in trouble!" Hermione looked at Harry and started giggling as if he had said a joke, "What are you laughing at?" Harry asked in disgust. He had a feeling they were going to get kicked out of the library. Harry gave her a look, but her gaze was on Ron. Harry looked over and saw Ron was about to explode with anger. What was going on? Then it suddenly dawned on Harry, what had upset Ron. Could it be that Hermione was acting mushy towards Harry to upset Ron? It had to be! Harry felt as if a light bulb had appeared over his head. It was so obvious! Hermione liked Ron too!
Harry was so surprised at the revelation that he didn't see Hermione leaning close to him. At the last moment he saw her close to him and felt her peck her lips on his cheek. Harry felt a cold disgusted shock race through his body.
"HERMIONE!!!!!!!" Harry got up and backed away quickly, rubbing his scarlet cheek. Hermione obviously realized how far she had gone. She slumped in her chair, her face scarlet red. Ron had gotten out of his chair and had his jaw dropped in disgust and surprise,
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERMIONE?!" Harry shrieked, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" He stormed towards the exit of the library, leaving his books behind. He was so angry that when an angry Madam Pince stormed up to him, he just pushed her aside and slammed the library door shut. He didn't even notice Ginny timidly wave hello to him on his way up to the Gryffindor common room. He stormed up to his dorm and slammed the door shut, relieved to find it empty.
***Don't forget, I love getting reviews, so I know what you enjoyed the most! Thanks for those who have been so loyal, I truly appreciate it! Please keep coming back for more! ***
Disclaimer- The characters, setting, etc. belong to the most talented writer in the world (JK Rowling), yet the plot was developed, with inspiration from the greatest writer in the world, by yours truly ;o)
It would be the first year in a long time that Harry actually had to do his exams. He had managed to get out of exams for the past three years now, with all the trouble he got into.
There hadn't been very many disastrous incidents this year, except for Harry's social life. Besides the many fights and girl problems Harry had had this year, this year was quite boring. Nothing had happened, since his dream about Snape; in fact, he hadn't heard from Dumbledore, Sirius, or Mrs. Figg since that night. Harry was starting to wonder when they were going to tell him what was going on.
It wasn't until his first morning during their Spring Break that Harry heard from one of them. He had been staring at Ginny at the other end of the table during breakfast, his chin in her hands, when Hedwig landed on his shoulder. She startled him awake from his thoughts by pecking him on the nose. Harry complained at first, but was delighted to see that she had finally returned. Then he saw that the letter she held was addressed to him in Sirius' handwriting. Harry gladly took the letter and let Hedwig pick some scrambled eggs off of his plate. He made sure no one was watching, and opened the letter under the table.
Dear Harry,
It seems it took Hedwig quite some time to find me. After we met in Dumbledore's office, I was sent to pick up Remus from a mission (He stayed a little too long, long enough for the moon to become full, if you know what I mean) he had been sent on, and apparently missed your owl before I left. She managed to find me on my way back from my mission, but in case this falls into the wrong hands, I cannot tell you where Lupin and I are hiding. Don't worry, Remus is fine now and he didn't manage to attack anyone before I arrived.
I talked to Dumbledore about your asking to be told what is going on, but I am afraid he is wise in saying that that can't be done. I think we both know you have a knack of running into trouble, so maybe it's best if you are kept out of the business of the Order of Phoenix.
That doesn't mean that I don't want your letters to stop coming. And if there is an emergency soon, I will contact you.
Your Godfather,
Sirius
Harry put the letter down in disappointment. He wasn't part of the Order of Phoenix? He couldn't believe it.
"Harry! What are you reading?" Harry looked up and saw Hermione standing over him, holding Crookshanks.
"Oh, just a letter from Snuffles." Harry used Sirius' secret name from last year. Hermione looked surprised. Harry didn't want to tell her quite yet though; his curiosity was killing him. Why had Hermione brought Crookshanks down to the Great Hall for breakfast? "I'll tell you about it later. First of all, tell me why your cat is eating breakfast with you?" Harry asked her.
"Come with me," Hermione said excitedly. Harry knew there was something up, so he left his leftover bacon on his plate for Hedwig, who gladly nibbled on it, and followed Hermione outside of the Great Hall and out of the castle.
"We need to go see Hagrid," Hermione stated.
"Why now?" Harry wondered aloud.
"Because I figured out who Pumpkin's mate is," Hermione said quite loudly, her excitement obviously building. She had probably been wanting to mention this for a while.
"Who?" Harry said in surprise. Hermione was looking lovingly at Crookshanks. Then it dawned on Harry.
"But Hermione! Cats and kneazles can only be bred professionally! Not in the wild!"
"Well, I figured something out, Harry, with help from Hagrid's lessons. Crookshanks isn't one hundred percent cat. He is half kneazle!" She shrieked in obvious pride and excitement.
"He is?" Harry whooped. This was getting interesting.
"Yes!" Hermione whooped back, "Now we just have to get to Hagrid's and see if Pumpkin and Crookshanks have met. If they know each other, there is no doubt, with all the wanderings Crookshanks does at night." By this time they had arrived at Hagrid's hut and Hermione knocked on the door. Hagrid welcomed them jovially and Fang slobbered all over Harry's jeans in excitement. Crookshanks didn't look too excited to see the boarhound. Hermione couldn't contain her excitement and immediately began explaining her discovery to Hagrid. Hagrid was extremely impressed.
"Well, Pumpkin is in her basket in the corner, maybe we can go and see if it's true," Hagrid was just as excited as Hermione now. Hermione put Crookshanks down next to Pumpkin and immediately the two began to purr and sniff at one another. They rubbed noses like old friends.
"It's true, Hagrid!" Hermione cried.
"By jove, it is," Hagrid agreed, "Well done, Hermione, well done. So this means Crookshanks is part kneazle. Can't believe I never noticed before! But he does kinda resemble one."
"No wonder he is so big," Harry noted. All of a sudden, Crookshanks growled loudly and slunk over to a corner of Hagrid's house, where a couple rats were making their way into a hole. Hagrid blushed.
"A couple o' rats moved into me house while I was away." He remarked in embarrassment, "Been tryin' to get rid o' them. Maybe Crookshanks can stay to be with Pumpkin when her kittens arrive and try to rid me of the rats at the same time."
"That's fine with me," Hermione said, "As long as you call us down as soon as the kittens begin to come."
"O' Course I would! Don't want you to miss it." Hagrid agreed. They looked over at Crookshanks, who was making quite a commotion at the front of the rat hole, trying to get to the rats, "He sure is anxious to get to them. I think my rats will be gone in no time, then." The three of them laughed as they watched Crookshanks hiss and scratch at the hole madly.
Hermione and Harry stayed for tea, Hermione explaining how she had used Hagrid's lessons to realize Crookshanks had kneazle in him. Then when she finished, she asked Harry about his letter from Sirius. "What did he say, Harry?" Hermione cried.
"Well, he is with Lupin out hiding somewhere, because Lupin accidentally stayed out on a mission too long or something and transformed. He wouldn't tell me where. Actually he wouldn't tell me anything, except that if I run into trouble or if he does, we need to contact each other immediately."
Hagrid went over to Harry, obviously spotting his disappointment, "Well, it's all for the best, Harry--" Hagrid stopped when Crookshanks loudly meowed and hissed.
"Sounds like the rats are teasing him." Hagrid said. They watched silently for a minute, Harry thinking only of the fact that he couldn't be part of the Order of Phoenix.
"Well, Harry, we better go back and work on our Astrology projects, right?"
"Yeah, right," Harry sighed. Hermione went over to a distracted Crookshanks and said goodbye to him lovingly, and then she and Harry said goodbye to Hagrid and left the hut.
Harry was starting to take his work more seriously. Hermione was around less too, spending most of her time in the library studying for all of her classes. Harry would try to join her, but she just seemed to want to be alone, so he left her alone. The week flew by, and Harry found he was spending most of it by himself. Hermione would be in the library, Ron wouldn't talk to him, and Ginny was trying to stay away from him as much as possible. Harry couldn't figure out if things would ever be the same between all of his friends. This year he had expected change, but in all the wrong places.
Soon, it was Sunday and classes were starting again tomorrow. Harry walked into the common room when the full moon had already risen. The room was not as full as usual. Harry looked around, hoping to find Hermione so he could say good night to her. He knew he wasn't spending enough time with her, and maybe his excuse was a little too harsh. But the extra affection was quite uncomfortable, maybe even embarrassing. Then again, he missed her almost as much as he missed Ron, so he decided to forgive her and spend more time with her.
He found Hermione in the corner of the common room, by herself. Her face looked tired and sad. Harry recognized the look on her face, but he couldn't remember where it was from. He dawdled slowly up to her and stood in front of her. He followed her sad gaze to Ron and Seamus, who were playing a game of wizard chess. Did she miss Ron as much as he did?
"Hermione?" Harry whispered. She immediately looked up and gave him an unconvincing smile.
"Harry, I was waiting for you," Harry couldn't help but notice that it sounded like a lie.
"For what reason?" Harry asked.
"I wanted to make sure you found that information on Uric the Ugly for your History of Magic report," she said softly as she stared at Ron and Seamus from the corner of her eye.
"Yes, I found it..." Harry said, wondering why she would ever stay up just for that reason.
"Ok, well, goodnight," Hermione said absent-mindedly and looked at Harry, obviously expecting him to leave.
"Goodnight?" Harry said scathingly. Why was she blowing him off now? He sighed deeply, and dawdled up to the dorm and went to sleep.
In History of Magic the next morning, Harry noticed that Hermione was back to her old self again. But then at lunch, when they got in line right behind Ron, Dean and Seamus, she went off into her own world again. "Earth to Hermione!" Harry called.
"Erm...what?" Hermione said, as if nothing had occurred. Then she was back to her old self again. Harry decided he had too much on his mind to deal with this, so he ignored it after that and focused on his work.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts, they worked on their semester reports that were due in 3 weeks. Hermione and Harry shared their books since Hermione had left hers in the common room. Harry thought this was quite unlike Hermione, leaving books behind.
"I got a little distracted, that's all." she said as she got her parchment and quills out of her bag.
"Right," Harry said, quite unconvinced. What was up with Hermione? He started out his report, which he decided to do on werewolves. He thought he might as well take this opportunity to learn more about them. Then he began to wonder how Remus and Sirius were doing. Had they made it back from their mission? Were they still staying in the Shrieking Shack? And what about Mrs. Figg? Where had she ended up? Harry worried silently until Professor Fletcher came and pulled him aside, apparently he had news about something.
"I need to know if you have had any more dreams concerning You-Know-Who, Harry. Dumbledore asked me to ask you." He whispered.
"Why didn't he ask me himself?" Harry asked, due to his suspicion.
"He has a lot to do, Harry. He's been very busy with secret business." Professor Fletcher hesitated.
"Well, what kind of business?" Harry asked, his curiosity building up.
"It's nothing I need to tell you, Harry." Professor Fletcher said.
"Why? Don't I have a right to know?" Harry was starting to get angry.
"I'm afraid this isn't any of your business, Harry. Only those in the Order of Phoenix--"
"Why can't I be a part of it?" Harry scathed as quietly as he could.
"This isn't the place, Harry! Now, tell me, what kind of dreams have you had about You-Know-Who?"
Harry wasn't sure if he could trust this man. Was he completely on their side? But it didn't hurt to tell the truth since it had nothing that Professor Fletcher could want. "Nothing, sir," he said, "I haven't had any dreams since the last." Professor Fletcher sighed slightly and told him to get back to work. Harry looked at his face, studying his every expression, searching it for clues. Why wouldn't anyone include him? He was old enough to be part of the Order of Phoenix, to fight Voldemort, to avenge his parents. Voldemort was the reason for his parent's deaths! He wanted to be part of the fight! He stormed back to his seat and ignored the looks of interest he was getting from both Hermione and Ron, and opened his book to the beginning of the chapter on werewolves.
Harry couldn't sleep that night. He lay in bed and thought about Professor Snape. What if he was in trouble? Were they doing anything about it? Dumbledore had probably sent someone to check and make sure he was o.k. Yet Harry still wondered what was going on. He was so confused.
Harry's thoughts changed to Ginny. How was he ever going to get her to talk to him? And when they did begin to talk again, would he have the courage to tell her that he had begun thinking of her as more than a friend? Harry still couldn't believe it himself. Only last year he had thought of her as Ron's little sister. Now he felt all mushy whenever he thought of her. He was slightly embarrassed by this. What if Ron found out? It was different then how he got when he thought of Cho last year. More real.
By now, Neville's snoring was starting to get annoying. Harry decided that he would take a walk. He knew it wasn't right for him to do so, but he didn't care. He had too much on his mind right now. Harry picked up his Invisibility Cloak and completely forgot his Marauder's Map as he shuffled out of the dorm and into the castle halls, clutching the cloak around himself. Somehow, his feet dragged him to the castle door and outside. Minutes later, he found himself in front of the school lake. He sat and looked at the lake, the moon's reflection casting a luminous light upon the water. He leaned against the tree and looked around him at the early April world.
"I didn't expect to see you here at this hour, Harry," A voice startled Harry and it took him a moment to realize he had draped the invisibility cloak around his shoulders, making his head visible to whomever was sharing the lake side with him. He squinting and noticed a quite familiar figure only 20 feet away.
"Professor Lupin?" Harry gasped in disbelief.
"That's right, Harry, it's me." Lupin said in glee, obviously happy to have run into Harry, "Now, explain to me why you are outside at such an hour, son." He walked over to be closer to Harry.
"I really don't know, to be honest. My feet just kind of led me here."
Professor Lupin smiled, but then saw the lathargic look in Harry`s eyes, "Is something wrong, Harry?"
"You can put it that way, but I don't think you can help." Harry sighed deeply, "Anyways, it isn't that important," Harry lied. Lupin didn't look like he bought it, but he inevitably got the point and dropped the subject. " So what brought YOU here at such an hour?" Harry asked.
"I am here to meet a friend," Lupin replied, "I am glad I came early, otherwise I wouldn't have run into you."
"Professor, do you think you could convince Dumbledore to let me join the Order of Phoenix?"
Lupin gave him a grave look, "Harry, if Dumbledore says you shouldn't join, then you shouldn't. It's probably for the best. Besides, some of the stuff I have seen this year shouldn't be seen by your young eyes." Suddenly he gazed at the lake and Harry took a long look at his graying hair and weary face. Yet, his concern couldn't out-match his anger.
"But Professor! I saw Cedric die last year! I battled Voldemort face to face!"
"That is something you shouldn't have experienced, Harry. But it is all in the past. " Suddenly, Harry heard a figure approaching them. He turned around and saw the face of Mrs. Figg.
"Harry Potter. What are you doing down here?" Mrs. Figg berated. She moved her glare to Lupin," Did you tell him you were going to be here, Remus? Don't you know the castle rules? You always were such a troublemaker..."
"I didn't Mrs. Figg, I promise," Lupin said, cowering slightly to the tiny woman.
"Well, it looks like Hogwarts has a Remus Junior in it's midst, then" Her glare changed to a warm smile, which surprised Harry.
"Well, Harry, I'm afraid, Mrs. Figg and I have to go now. We have some serious business to attend to." Lupin looked rather tired as he said this.
"Can't you tell me what's going on, Professor?" Harry said, slightly frusterated.
"I'm afraid not, Harry. But don't fret, I will send you owls, despite Dumbledore's orders," Lupin smiled mischieviously, "And by the way, please call me Remus from now on, ok?"
Harry brightened at this and smiled slightly, "Alright, Remus. Take care and good luck to both of you, what ever you two are up to."
"You take care too, Harry" Mrs. Figg said, "watch over Professor Fletcher for me, if you don't mind."
"I will, goodbye!" Harry wondered why he needed to watch over Professor Fletcher.
"Farewell, Harry!" Mrs. Figg and Lupin said together as they hiked up to the path that led to Hogsmeade.
History of Magic was just as boring as ever the next day. Harry slumped in his desk even further as he listened to the history of Chinese witches. Professor Binns had announced before the lesson that this was his favorite subject, but his passive voice showed no sign that he was at all interested in it. Harry looked around in boredom to see what everyone was doing. Dean and Seamus were trading wizard cards. Parvati was drawing on her hand, while Neville was snoring next to her a flow of drool coming from the corner of his mouth. Hermione was listening attently as usual, while Ron stared longingly at her. Harry sighed deeply. Why couldn't Ron have fallen for someone else? He noticed some of the class had started packing up, and realized class was over. He quickly grabbed his bag and nudged Neville before he caught up with Hermione.
Hermione said they needed to go to the library to do their Charms homework. Harry realized she seemed as if she might be better, but he couldn't be so sure. He sat down beside her and took out his book. As he opened it, he noticed Hermione still hadn't gotten hers out yet. She was staring across the library at the check-out desk. Ron was there talking to Madam Pince.
"Young man, if I don't get that book back soon, I will have to have you pay the entire price for it!" Madam Pince admonished Ron in a cranky voice.
"I suppose so," Ron said, sounding slightly dissappointed. Harry thought it was probably nothing important and poked Hermione until she came out of her daze and got her book out. Harry glanced over in Ron's direction as she got her book out and saw that he had sat down by himself at a table and had noticed them in the library. Harry and Ron had a brief moment of eye contact; Ron gave Harry a loathing glare that made Harry sigh deeply. What is his problem, Harry thought.
"Alright, it's on page 429, Harry, not 559," Hermione flipped his book to the right page. Harry noticed that she glanced briefly at Ron periodically, "Oh, Harry, your so funny sometimes!" she giggled.
"Wha?" Harry grew confused. What was so funny about that? He hadn't even had a chance to flip his book to the right page. Apparently Hermione was in her weird mood again. Girls, Harry thought. Harry rolled his eyes as he took out his quill and parchment. Then he saw a shadow on his books, looked up, and saw Madam Pince glaring at the two of them.
"How many times do I have to ask you students to be quiet in my library!" she shrieked, "When I said quiet, I said quiet!" she snorted at them and waddled off to sort more books.
Harry leaned closer to Hermione and whispered, "Hermione! Stop acting strange or you'll get both of us in trouble!" Hermione looked at Harry and started giggling as if he had said a joke, "What are you laughing at?" Harry asked in disgust. He had a feeling they were going to get kicked out of the library. Harry gave her a look, but her gaze was on Ron. Harry looked over and saw Ron was about to explode with anger. What was going on? Then it suddenly dawned on Harry, what had upset Ron. Could it be that Hermione was acting mushy towards Harry to upset Ron? It had to be! Harry felt as if a light bulb had appeared over his head. It was so obvious! Hermione liked Ron too!
Harry was so surprised at the revelation that he didn't see Hermione leaning close to him. At the last moment he saw her close to him and felt her peck her lips on his cheek. Harry felt a cold disgusted shock race through his body.
"HERMIONE!!!!!!!" Harry got up and backed away quickly, rubbing his scarlet cheek. Hermione obviously realized how far she had gone. She slumped in her chair, her face scarlet red. Ron had gotten out of his chair and had his jaw dropped in disgust and surprise,
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERMIONE?!" Harry shrieked, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" He stormed towards the exit of the library, leaving his books behind. He was so angry that when an angry Madam Pince stormed up to him, he just pushed her aside and slammed the library door shut. He didn't even notice Ginny timidly wave hello to him on his way up to the Gryffindor common room. He stormed up to his dorm and slammed the door shut, relieved to find it empty.
***Don't forget, I love getting reviews, so I know what you enjoyed the most! Thanks for those who have been so loyal, I truly appreciate it! Please keep coming back for more! ***
Disclaimer- The characters, setting, etc. belong to the most talented writer in the world (JK Rowling), yet the plot was developed, with inspiration from the greatest writer in the world, by yours truly ;o)
