Disclaimer: I don't own anybody except Ms. Harper
The next morning things went quite normally, without any uncomfortable moments between Ron and Hermione. Ron willingly followed Hermione's lead of pretending nothing happened, although nothing really had happened.
Ron found himself wishing something had.
Hermione, on the other hand, behaved as her usual self, only slightly more chipper than usual. As soon as Harry and Ron came down for breakfast (late as usual) she seemed to be quite bright and energized.
"Hello, Harry! Hello Ron!" she exclaimed as they sat down.
"Well, someone certainly seems bright this morning," Ron said groggily.
"Don't blame me if you're not, I told you to get to bed early," she said in her bossy voice.
Ron glared at her. Here we go, Harry thought to himself. He decided to change the topic before an argument broke out.
"So, you guys went last night, didn't you?" he asked in a mildly rushed voice. He glanced quickly at Ron, who, to Harry's slight surprise, was tinging a light red.
"Yeah, we went." Hermione seemed to be as usual, however.
Harry chose to ignore Ron's strange behavior. "Well, what did you find?" He had more important things to worry about, anyhow.
"Oh!" Hermione said, and at once she delved into her beige satchel. She retrieved a dark green book entitled Muggle Studies: Muggle Locks. "Here it is."
Harry looked at it, taking the book into his hands. "So, it's not bewitched, but." He placed the book down and looked at Hermione. "How do we know if it says anything about old locks?"
"Oh, well." Was it just Harry or was Hermione's voice dropping a slight notch? However, realizing this, she quickly returned to her normal tone. "Ron and I went through it last night. There's a whole chapter on old locks. Maybe two."
"Good. So when can we look at it?"
"How about Saturday morning?" Ron asked with his mouth full.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Ron?" Hermione said in an exasperated voice. "I'm tutoring Neville!"
"And we can't do a decent job without Hermione," Harry mused. Hermione blushed at this. "But we have to find out this week. If this key has anything to do with." Harry let his voice get lower "Voldemort, then I want to know now."
"But you have Quidditch practice this week, don't you Harry?" Hermione asked, confused.
Harry sighed. He wondered why he was doing this but. "I guess I'll leave it to you to then. You can do it together or just one of you. I'm not going to be around so it doesn't really matter." He stood up and shrugged.
"Well-well, all right," Hermione said slowly. "Harry are you okay? You seem to be acting strange this morning."
He was acting strange? Him? Well, wasn't that the irony of the year. He chose not to remark on this, however, and simply shook his head Yes. "Come on," he said. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning, and I don't want to miss a thing."
"Today, class," Ms. Harper began, "we will be taking our first real lesson in wandless magic: teleportation."
"Like Apparating?" Neville asked.
Ms. Harper tilted her head. "Somewhat, because it is transportation. But Apparition is instant; teleportation takes a few minutes. It's best for those who don't have Apparating licenses. Apparating involves higher risk because it's instantaneous. Teleportation's risk is much lower. When you find yourself in a situation where you need to run quickly, you will want to teleport. It is a very important skill used by many wizards who don't have Apparating licenses." She paused. "I take it all of you have your basic wandless magic rules memorized and understood, because that is pretty much all you need for teleportation. It is the simplest form of wandless magic around. Now, of course there is a process." She smiled. "Oh, yes, one more thing. The only people who can teleport onto or within Hogwarts grounds are registered teachers and students. So you're all safe." She glanced at the famous trio.
Harry copied down several complicated teleportation methods Ms. Harper wrote on the board, and knew right away he would not be able to do this. In addition to locating your own magical powers, there was a complicated process involved. When time got to actually teleporting (and to stop copying), all Harry wanted to know was whether teleportation could give you motion sickness or not. He decided to try method one first. He closed his eyes, focused completely (or at least tried to focus completely) on the spot he was in, and repeated the phrase "Lochna teleportania" over and over. He managed to get on top of his desk, rather than next to Neville's, which had been his goal.
He was pleased to see, however, that he was not the only one struggling. Ron had not moved at all in the past ten minutes that the class had been trying. Neville managed somehow to split his body in half, and there were now two halves of Neville walking around. Hermione, though, had managed to teleport on her first try, and was now going left and right across the room. She kept insisting to Ron it was really quite easy.
Yeah, right.
Harry decided to try method two. He closed his eyes, focused on the spot he was going to, and repeated "lochna teleportania" four times. Suddenly, everything around Harry was spinning quite fast, and he was off the floor, moving high above the ground. Now he could feel himself being split into billions of tiny particles, and he wondered if this was supposed to happen, but kept muttering the phrase. Billions of Harry particles zoomed across the room, and finally.he was on Neville's desk. He did it. He successfully teleported. And honestly, it wasn't that bad.
He did it a few more times just to be sure.
He teleported himself to Ron during the last twenty minutes of class they had. Hermione was standing there as well, and Ron kept saying the phrase, but nothing seemed to happen. He had only managed to move to the desk in front of his own.
"At least you moved," Harry tried encouragingly.
"Ron, it's really quite simple," Hermione persuaded. "Have you tried method two?"
"I've tried every damn method!" he said furiously. "The only thing that actually got me to move was method two."
"Well, then stick with that one."
Ron tried again, and actually managed to jump three desks. By this time, however, class was over. Luckily, Ron was not the only one who was still confused, and Ms. Harper promised they would spend more class time on it next time.
As the three were leaving, Ms. Harper noticed the book of locks under Hermione's arm.
"Where'd you get it?" she asked, the amused look taking over her face once more.
"Oh.the library," Hermione replied, looking very flustered.
"All right. Well go on, you three." And she winked.
The three left, and as soon as they were outside, Ron said, "I swear that woman knows something."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I think so too."
"Gee, you all catch on fast," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "Hasn't it been obvious since the first day we had her?"
"Yes, but what could she know?" Ron asked.
No one knew what to say.
Later, after dinner, Harry went straight to Quidditch practice while Ron and Hermione took their time returning to Gryffindor Tower.
"We really need to investigate what is going on with that key, and I do mean seriously, Ron," Hermione said.
Ron nodded. "I know."
Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled. "As soon as we find out what kind of lock fits that key, then we just have to find the lock."
"What do you mean the lock?" Ron asked.
"I mean the specific lock in which the key fits," Hermione said slowly. "Does Harry have the key, or do you know where he keeps it?" She emphasized the latter and raised one eyebrow at him. "What was the story with that, anyhow?"
"Oh, the cloak?" Ron questioned, and as Hermione nodded he gave a short laugh. "Harry does have it at school, like I said." He gave her a pointed look. "He just took it with him before dinner last night. He was going to give it to us, but he forgot. Snorglebat."
This caused Hermione to look worried. "He seems to have a lot on his mind lately. Has he said anything?" She turned to face Ron as they entered the Common Room.
"No." Ron said. "Maybe it's just the whole thing with the key. It's a really weird situation. Maybe he'll get back to normal once we figure this whole thing out."
"Hmmm," she mused. "You're probably right. But he has been through a lot, you know."
"Yeah, I do know." They sat down next to one another on a comfy sofa in the corner of the room.
"Okay," Hermione said as she opened the book. "We're looking for an old lock. Ron, would you get the key? We need to be able to match it up with a drawing in the book."
Ron started for the boys' dorm. "Want to come?" He gave her a devious grin.
"No, thanks, I'd rather not." She returned his grin with an equally mischievous one.
Ron ran up the stairs and returned a moment later holding the key within its envelope. He sat back down on the sofa, much closer, Hermione noticed, than he had been before. "Here," he said, laying it on the table.
"Okay, good," she said. She was slightly breathless, and her heart had begun to beat just a bit faster. She tore open the book, turning once again to page 23. Then she pulled up the key, studying it.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked. "Hermione, it looks like you're memorizing the dumb key."
"No," she said, giving him a look. "I need to know exactly what it looks like so I can find its exact copy in the book." She turned back to the book, slowly flipping through its pages. "Here, look!" she exclaimed.
Ron looked over her shoulder. He was so close Hermione swore she could feel his breath on her neck. She didn't want to admit it, but it felt good.
On the page was a picture of the exact kind of key they had, and a picture of the sort of lock it went into. The year at the bottom read 1973.
"These locks are old!" Ron said.
"Yeah, I know." Hermione leaned back from the book. "That's just the thing. Where are we going to find a lock from all the way in 1973?"
Ron thought for a second. "Maybe in Hogsmeade? That is where the man gave it to us, so maybe it means something."
Hermione thought before nodding. "That must be it. Not only that, but everyone knows it's the only place Hogwarts students have access to. Unless it's somewhere in the school." She glanced at Ron.
He shook his head. "I doubt that. The locks here are all brand new."
"How do you know that?"
"Filch was muttering about it last night in the corridor."
There was a brief, tensed silence after this statement. Neither spoke until Hermione chose to say, "So it's most probably Hogsmeade then?"
"I'd say so," Ron agreed.
"Let's see." she muttered. "The only place I can think of that would have locks that old would be the Shrieking Shack."
"But doesn't Dumbledore replace it with new, magical locks every year?"
"On the outside, yes. But the locks inside would still be quite old. Probably not changed since Remus Lupin's day. What year did he graduate, again?"
"1973." Ron said slowly. Wow she was smart.
"Exactly. So we have to go to the Shrieking Shack to find the lock."
"But how do we get there? Wait till another Hogsmeade weekend?"
"Don't be stupid, Ron, you know we can't get inside the Shrieking Shack from Hogsmeade. The locks are too powerful. Besides, we could get caught."
"Fine then, we use the invisibility cloak."
"Actually, that's not quite what I had in mind."
"Then what?"
She grinned. "If you'll agree to it, I daresay teleportation is the best method."
Ron's eyes grew wide. "No," he protested. "No way. I can't even teleport across a room, let alone to Hogsmeade."
"Oh, come on, Ron, it won't be so bad. It's a lot easier than getting out the cloak and under the Whomping Willow, you know the routine. It might even be fun," she wheedled.
"You're pushing it," he warned. "And the answer is still no."
She sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, so maybe I am, but I promise! Teleportation is really all right once you get used to it. Besides, if you really think you can't do it, well. I guess you just aren't good enough." Hermione had decided on reverse psychology, the only method she could think of.
"What do you mean not good enough?" he asked infuriated.
Hermione knew the plan was working, but she had to keep going. "Well, you know, I bet any one of your brothers can do it. And so can Harry." She knew she had hit a weak spot now.
Ron's face turned red in his fury. "I can too! You just watch and see! I'll be right back." She watched as his eyes closed and heard him mutter the phrase under his breath. Then, he was gone. Hermione waited a few minutes leafing through the book of locks, and heard the door to the portrait hole open and shut.
"There," Ron said as he walked toward the sofa once more. "I told you I could do it."
Hermione stood up and went over to meet him. She smiled. "I knew you could." She said it very softly.
Ron, suddenly realizing the trick, said, "I can't believe you did that!"
"What, Weasley?" she challenged. "Can't take something for your own good?" She threw a playful punch into his shoulder.
Ron looked up from his shoulder to Hermione. "I cannot believe you just did that!" he said again.
"You can't?"
"No," he said, staring straight at her, "And now you shall pay!" He dove at her, his arms grabbing her waist and tickling her sides. She yelped loudly and turned around, pushing him to the floor.
"Ha!" she said triumphantly. "I've got you pinned, Weasley." She lay on him a second longer before sitting up and saying, "So, you agree to teleportation?"
He seemed to think on this, and so, to prod him, began to tickle him. "Fine, fine!" he yelled. "I agree already!"
She stopped at once. "Good." She was about to get up, but a pair of hands pulled her back down.
"Who says this tickle fight is over?" Ron said. He pushed her down onto the floor, so that now he had pinned her, and Hermione couldn't help but notice that now he was directly on top of her. She swallowed. Good thing no one is around, she thought.
It was unfortunate she didn't see the Weasley twins watching from the other side of the room.
Yes, I know I promised you more plot but there is going to be plenty of romance, I did promise that too. The next chapter is going to be more of that, and then we'll launch into some serious plot. Some of you may be wondering what the deal with Ms. Harper is, but that will come up soon! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next morning things went quite normally, without any uncomfortable moments between Ron and Hermione. Ron willingly followed Hermione's lead of pretending nothing happened, although nothing really had happened.
Ron found himself wishing something had.
Hermione, on the other hand, behaved as her usual self, only slightly more chipper than usual. As soon as Harry and Ron came down for breakfast (late as usual) she seemed to be quite bright and energized.
"Hello, Harry! Hello Ron!" she exclaimed as they sat down.
"Well, someone certainly seems bright this morning," Ron said groggily.
"Don't blame me if you're not, I told you to get to bed early," she said in her bossy voice.
Ron glared at her. Here we go, Harry thought to himself. He decided to change the topic before an argument broke out.
"So, you guys went last night, didn't you?" he asked in a mildly rushed voice. He glanced quickly at Ron, who, to Harry's slight surprise, was tinging a light red.
"Yeah, we went." Hermione seemed to be as usual, however.
Harry chose to ignore Ron's strange behavior. "Well, what did you find?" He had more important things to worry about, anyhow.
"Oh!" Hermione said, and at once she delved into her beige satchel. She retrieved a dark green book entitled Muggle Studies: Muggle Locks. "Here it is."
Harry looked at it, taking the book into his hands. "So, it's not bewitched, but." He placed the book down and looked at Hermione. "How do we know if it says anything about old locks?"
"Oh, well." Was it just Harry or was Hermione's voice dropping a slight notch? However, realizing this, she quickly returned to her normal tone. "Ron and I went through it last night. There's a whole chapter on old locks. Maybe two."
"Good. So when can we look at it?"
"How about Saturday morning?" Ron asked with his mouth full.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Ron?" Hermione said in an exasperated voice. "I'm tutoring Neville!"
"And we can't do a decent job without Hermione," Harry mused. Hermione blushed at this. "But we have to find out this week. If this key has anything to do with." Harry let his voice get lower "Voldemort, then I want to know now."
"But you have Quidditch practice this week, don't you Harry?" Hermione asked, confused.
Harry sighed. He wondered why he was doing this but. "I guess I'll leave it to you to then. You can do it together or just one of you. I'm not going to be around so it doesn't really matter." He stood up and shrugged.
"Well-well, all right," Hermione said slowly. "Harry are you okay? You seem to be acting strange this morning."
He was acting strange? Him? Well, wasn't that the irony of the year. He chose not to remark on this, however, and simply shook his head Yes. "Come on," he said. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning, and I don't want to miss a thing."
"Today, class," Ms. Harper began, "we will be taking our first real lesson in wandless magic: teleportation."
"Like Apparating?" Neville asked.
Ms. Harper tilted her head. "Somewhat, because it is transportation. But Apparition is instant; teleportation takes a few minutes. It's best for those who don't have Apparating licenses. Apparating involves higher risk because it's instantaneous. Teleportation's risk is much lower. When you find yourself in a situation where you need to run quickly, you will want to teleport. It is a very important skill used by many wizards who don't have Apparating licenses." She paused. "I take it all of you have your basic wandless magic rules memorized and understood, because that is pretty much all you need for teleportation. It is the simplest form of wandless magic around. Now, of course there is a process." She smiled. "Oh, yes, one more thing. The only people who can teleport onto or within Hogwarts grounds are registered teachers and students. So you're all safe." She glanced at the famous trio.
Harry copied down several complicated teleportation methods Ms. Harper wrote on the board, and knew right away he would not be able to do this. In addition to locating your own magical powers, there was a complicated process involved. When time got to actually teleporting (and to stop copying), all Harry wanted to know was whether teleportation could give you motion sickness or not. He decided to try method one first. He closed his eyes, focused completely (or at least tried to focus completely) on the spot he was in, and repeated the phrase "Lochna teleportania" over and over. He managed to get on top of his desk, rather than next to Neville's, which had been his goal.
He was pleased to see, however, that he was not the only one struggling. Ron had not moved at all in the past ten minutes that the class had been trying. Neville managed somehow to split his body in half, and there were now two halves of Neville walking around. Hermione, though, had managed to teleport on her first try, and was now going left and right across the room. She kept insisting to Ron it was really quite easy.
Yeah, right.
Harry decided to try method two. He closed his eyes, focused on the spot he was going to, and repeated "lochna teleportania" four times. Suddenly, everything around Harry was spinning quite fast, and he was off the floor, moving high above the ground. Now he could feel himself being split into billions of tiny particles, and he wondered if this was supposed to happen, but kept muttering the phrase. Billions of Harry particles zoomed across the room, and finally.he was on Neville's desk. He did it. He successfully teleported. And honestly, it wasn't that bad.
He did it a few more times just to be sure.
He teleported himself to Ron during the last twenty minutes of class they had. Hermione was standing there as well, and Ron kept saying the phrase, but nothing seemed to happen. He had only managed to move to the desk in front of his own.
"At least you moved," Harry tried encouragingly.
"Ron, it's really quite simple," Hermione persuaded. "Have you tried method two?"
"I've tried every damn method!" he said furiously. "The only thing that actually got me to move was method two."
"Well, then stick with that one."
Ron tried again, and actually managed to jump three desks. By this time, however, class was over. Luckily, Ron was not the only one who was still confused, and Ms. Harper promised they would spend more class time on it next time.
As the three were leaving, Ms. Harper noticed the book of locks under Hermione's arm.
"Where'd you get it?" she asked, the amused look taking over her face once more.
"Oh.the library," Hermione replied, looking very flustered.
"All right. Well go on, you three." And she winked.
The three left, and as soon as they were outside, Ron said, "I swear that woman knows something."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I think so too."
"Gee, you all catch on fast," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "Hasn't it been obvious since the first day we had her?"
"Yes, but what could she know?" Ron asked.
No one knew what to say.
Later, after dinner, Harry went straight to Quidditch practice while Ron and Hermione took their time returning to Gryffindor Tower.
"We really need to investigate what is going on with that key, and I do mean seriously, Ron," Hermione said.
Ron nodded. "I know."
Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled. "As soon as we find out what kind of lock fits that key, then we just have to find the lock."
"What do you mean the lock?" Ron asked.
"I mean the specific lock in which the key fits," Hermione said slowly. "Does Harry have the key, or do you know where he keeps it?" She emphasized the latter and raised one eyebrow at him. "What was the story with that, anyhow?"
"Oh, the cloak?" Ron questioned, and as Hermione nodded he gave a short laugh. "Harry does have it at school, like I said." He gave her a pointed look. "He just took it with him before dinner last night. He was going to give it to us, but he forgot. Snorglebat."
This caused Hermione to look worried. "He seems to have a lot on his mind lately. Has he said anything?" She turned to face Ron as they entered the Common Room.
"No." Ron said. "Maybe it's just the whole thing with the key. It's a really weird situation. Maybe he'll get back to normal once we figure this whole thing out."
"Hmmm," she mused. "You're probably right. But he has been through a lot, you know."
"Yeah, I do know." They sat down next to one another on a comfy sofa in the corner of the room.
"Okay," Hermione said as she opened the book. "We're looking for an old lock. Ron, would you get the key? We need to be able to match it up with a drawing in the book."
Ron started for the boys' dorm. "Want to come?" He gave her a devious grin.
"No, thanks, I'd rather not." She returned his grin with an equally mischievous one.
Ron ran up the stairs and returned a moment later holding the key within its envelope. He sat back down on the sofa, much closer, Hermione noticed, than he had been before. "Here," he said, laying it on the table.
"Okay, good," she said. She was slightly breathless, and her heart had begun to beat just a bit faster. She tore open the book, turning once again to page 23. Then she pulled up the key, studying it.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked. "Hermione, it looks like you're memorizing the dumb key."
"No," she said, giving him a look. "I need to know exactly what it looks like so I can find its exact copy in the book." She turned back to the book, slowly flipping through its pages. "Here, look!" she exclaimed.
Ron looked over her shoulder. He was so close Hermione swore she could feel his breath on her neck. She didn't want to admit it, but it felt good.
On the page was a picture of the exact kind of key they had, and a picture of the sort of lock it went into. The year at the bottom read 1973.
"These locks are old!" Ron said.
"Yeah, I know." Hermione leaned back from the book. "That's just the thing. Where are we going to find a lock from all the way in 1973?"
Ron thought for a second. "Maybe in Hogsmeade? That is where the man gave it to us, so maybe it means something."
Hermione thought before nodding. "That must be it. Not only that, but everyone knows it's the only place Hogwarts students have access to. Unless it's somewhere in the school." She glanced at Ron.
He shook his head. "I doubt that. The locks here are all brand new."
"How do you know that?"
"Filch was muttering about it last night in the corridor."
There was a brief, tensed silence after this statement. Neither spoke until Hermione chose to say, "So it's most probably Hogsmeade then?"
"I'd say so," Ron agreed.
"Let's see." she muttered. "The only place I can think of that would have locks that old would be the Shrieking Shack."
"But doesn't Dumbledore replace it with new, magical locks every year?"
"On the outside, yes. But the locks inside would still be quite old. Probably not changed since Remus Lupin's day. What year did he graduate, again?"
"1973." Ron said slowly. Wow she was smart.
"Exactly. So we have to go to the Shrieking Shack to find the lock."
"But how do we get there? Wait till another Hogsmeade weekend?"
"Don't be stupid, Ron, you know we can't get inside the Shrieking Shack from Hogsmeade. The locks are too powerful. Besides, we could get caught."
"Fine then, we use the invisibility cloak."
"Actually, that's not quite what I had in mind."
"Then what?"
She grinned. "If you'll agree to it, I daresay teleportation is the best method."
Ron's eyes grew wide. "No," he protested. "No way. I can't even teleport across a room, let alone to Hogsmeade."
"Oh, come on, Ron, it won't be so bad. It's a lot easier than getting out the cloak and under the Whomping Willow, you know the routine. It might even be fun," she wheedled.
"You're pushing it," he warned. "And the answer is still no."
She sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, so maybe I am, but I promise! Teleportation is really all right once you get used to it. Besides, if you really think you can't do it, well. I guess you just aren't good enough." Hermione had decided on reverse psychology, the only method she could think of.
"What do you mean not good enough?" he asked infuriated.
Hermione knew the plan was working, but she had to keep going. "Well, you know, I bet any one of your brothers can do it. And so can Harry." She knew she had hit a weak spot now.
Ron's face turned red in his fury. "I can too! You just watch and see! I'll be right back." She watched as his eyes closed and heard him mutter the phrase under his breath. Then, he was gone. Hermione waited a few minutes leafing through the book of locks, and heard the door to the portrait hole open and shut.
"There," Ron said as he walked toward the sofa once more. "I told you I could do it."
Hermione stood up and went over to meet him. She smiled. "I knew you could." She said it very softly.
Ron, suddenly realizing the trick, said, "I can't believe you did that!"
"What, Weasley?" she challenged. "Can't take something for your own good?" She threw a playful punch into his shoulder.
Ron looked up from his shoulder to Hermione. "I cannot believe you just did that!" he said again.
"You can't?"
"No," he said, staring straight at her, "And now you shall pay!" He dove at her, his arms grabbing her waist and tickling her sides. She yelped loudly and turned around, pushing him to the floor.
"Ha!" she said triumphantly. "I've got you pinned, Weasley." She lay on him a second longer before sitting up and saying, "So, you agree to teleportation?"
He seemed to think on this, and so, to prod him, began to tickle him. "Fine, fine!" he yelled. "I agree already!"
She stopped at once. "Good." She was about to get up, but a pair of hands pulled her back down.
"Who says this tickle fight is over?" Ron said. He pushed her down onto the floor, so that now he had pinned her, and Hermione couldn't help but notice that now he was directly on top of her. She swallowed. Good thing no one is around, she thought.
It was unfortunate she didn't see the Weasley twins watching from the other side of the room.
Yes, I know I promised you more plot but there is going to be plenty of romance, I did promise that too. The next chapter is going to be more of that, and then we'll launch into some serious plot. Some of you may be wondering what the deal with Ms. Harper is, but that will come up soon! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!