Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, setting, etc., only the plot.
Chapter 9
Strange Behavior
A/N: It's my birthday today (9/10), so you can all send me a review as a birthday present.
It was one morning at breakfast that Harry noticed the difference. Hermione was acting very strange. The thing was, he had been so preoccupied with his relationship with Ginny to notice the distance that had grown between Hermione and the rest of the group. It seemed like any other morning; they all sat at the Gryffindor table chatting about potions, divination, homework and the upcoming holidays. The only thing that stood out as odd was that Hermione did not join in the conversation of their schoolwork. Usually, she became highly animated when the table conversation turned to school, but this morning, Harry noticed that she seemed completely oblivious. As he pondered this, he realized that Hermione hadn't really spoken up much in the past week or so. However, he didn't have time to consider this, since the meal was over and Ginny was pulling on his hand, hoping for a few minutes to themselves before they had to go to their respective classes. Harry resolved to talk to Ron later and ask if he knew anything about Hermione's strange behavior.
Harry kept an eye on Hermione for the rest of the day. She seemed to be acting normally, she raised her hand consistently, though not as vigorously as she had at eleven, she was still the only one who continually perfected the art of transfiguration, and she still managed to be the only Gryffindor to earn house points in potions, however begrudgingly Snape awarded them. Even so, she was unusually quiet around Harry and Ron. After class, Hermione darted out of the classroom calling over her shoulder to Ron and Harry that she was going to the library. Well, here was Harry's chance to talk to Ron about Hermione's behavior.
"Well, that was weird," Harry started.
"What was weird? Hermione going to the library? I don't know where you've been, but she's been doing that as long as we've known her."
"Not the library exactly, but don't you think that she's been acting . . . different lately?"
"Well, I guess she's been kind of quiet lately . . . but I didn't think you had noticed that."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, I just thought I was imagining it or something."
"I just noticed this morning. It's almost like she's avoiding us."
"Well . . . she did the same thing last year, remember?"
"Last year she was studying for the O.W.L.s constantly and she WAS avoiding us."
"Only because she thought we would get her into trouble, and she was a prefect and everything."
"Maybe it's nothing, but I definitely think something's going on."
"Why don't we ask her?"
"Like I said, maybe it's nothing. I don't want to make her think we're attacking her."
"What are you getting at?"
"You ask her."
"Are you out of your mind?! Have you forgotten that every conversation I've ever had with her ends up in an argument?"
"That's not entirely true."
"Alright, almost every conversation. Besides, why can't you talk to her? She'll tell you more anyway."
"Nope, sorry. I promised Ginny we would go to Hogsmeade tonight."
"There's no trip to Hogsmeade tonight!"
"When has that ever stopped us?"
Finally, Ron resigned himself to the task. Harry grinned as they approached the Gryffindor common room. They settled down at one of the tables and began to work through the mountain of homework they had been assigned that day. Ron heaved a great sigh as he worked through his herbology paper.
"Harry, ARE there even ten uses for sage?"
"There must be, unless Professor Flitwick just wants us to suffer."
"I wish Hermione would get back from the library, I'm sure she's probably known them all since second year."
"Maybe we should go to the library to find her. You know, you might even find a book on sage."
"If there is one, every other sixth year in the school wants to check it out."
Harry sighed and went back to his work. After a couple of hours, he looked up and realized that Hermione still had not returned from the library. Now that was definitely strange! Hermione may spend a lot of time in the library, but on any other day, she checked out half the library and returned with them. Harry's puzzlement turned into worry.
"Ron, maybe we should go find her. She hasn't spent this much time in the library since first year."
Ron looked up at the clock and quickly agreed. They piled up their books and scrolls, and headed out toward the library. Just as they reached the library door, they came face to face with Hermione.
"Hi guys. If you need a book for any of our homework, I think I have everything we need."
"Actually," Ron said, "we came looking for you."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, we . . . you . . . just haven't spent so much time at the library in a long time."
"What are you talking about?"
"Um, nothing I guess."
The three friends walked back to Gryffindor Tower in silence. As soon as they returned, they found the common room nearly emptied. Harry made a quick exit, saying he needed to go find Ginny, while Ron and Hermione remained in the common room. A few minutes later, Harry and Ginny came walking back through, Harry carrying his invisibility cloak. They didn't quite escape without one of Ron's big brother looks, but said goodnight anyway. Ron had long accepted Harry's relationship with his younger sister, but couldn't help still feeling protective of both of them. Once they had left the room, Ron turned to look toward Hermione who was diligently taking notes out of one of their books. It was true that since Harry and Ginny had started dating, there was more time with just him and Hermione; however, he still had never managed to tell his best friend how he really felt.
"Hermione?" Ron began.
"Hmmmm?" she replied not even looking up from her book.
"Is everything alright?"
She looked up surprised. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know, you just haven't been talking to us as much. You aren't mad or anything. I mean . . . I can't think of anything I did . . . or that Harry did. You just seem . . . I don't know, kind of distant . . . and Harry noticed it too, it just took him longer to notice. I guess that's because of Ginny, but really, are you sure everything's all right?" The words came tumbling out before he even knew what he was saying. Hermione looked at him with half shock and half amusement.
"No," she sighed. "There's nothing wrong. I guess I have been a bit . . . distant lately."
"Why?"
"Er," she hesitated. "Just school, we have much more work this year, and I really have to concentrate."
"What else?"
"What do you mean what else?"
"You're not telling me something!"
"Well, if you know so much then what am I not telling you?"
"How am I supposed to know? I wouldn't ask if I knew!"
"Maybe there is something else and I just don't want to tell you!"
"What wouldn't you tell me? I'm one of your best friends!"
"There's no law that says you have to tell your best friends everything!"
"Then what's the point of having best friends if you have stuff you can't tell them."
"Fine! There is something else, but I don't want to tell you. You're not ready to hear it!"
"WHAT?!"
"I'd tell you, but I don't want to have to deal with your reaction just yet. I'll tell you when I'm ready. Right now, I don't want to tell you anything!"
"Would you tell Harry?"
"What is THAT supposed to mean?"
"Would you?"
"Why? Are you jealous?"
"No! I'm not jealous, tell him anything you want!"
"Maybe I will!"
"You know, I only asked because I cared. Then you make this big deal out of it!"
"You were the one that made a big deal out of it. Why should I have to explain myself to you all the time?"
"You don't have to explain anything!"
"Then I won't!"
With that, Hermione grabbed her books and ran up to the girl's dormitory. The rest of the Gryffindor's ignored the entire scene, they had long since gotten used to Ron and Hermione's fights. Ron put away his stack of books and papers; there was no way that he was going to concentrate on his homework now. He hated making Hermione mad, but he really didn't think that he'd done anything wrong. After all, he had just asked. Hmmmmph. She was probably expecting him to apologize! Well, that certainly wasn't going to happen. Ron decided to go upstairs and wait for Harry to get back, although who knew when that would be. He really didn't want to think about when Harry would be back or what he was doing in the meantime. There were certainly disadvantages to his best friend dating his sister.
When Harry did return, Ron was already asleep. It was too bad, he'd wanted to ask if Ron had talked to Hermione. On the other hand, he was glad he didn't have to face the "do you know what time it is?" talk. Harry noticed that two of the other beds were still empty. Dean and Seamus were still out practicing Quidditch. They had gotten into the habit of late night practices that sometimes including Ron and Harry and sometimes did not. Harry was tired and settled into bed.
*Everything was completely black. Harry did not know where he was or how he had gotten there. There were sounds all around him, breathing, movement, a grunt or two. Harry reached for his wand and whispered the light spell, "Luminos."
Harry gasped at the scene around him. He was in the center of the cave where Voldemort had spoken to him. Only this time, there were demons encircling him and slowly closing in on him. Even though they had covered a variety of demons and other creatures of the night in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they had never covered anything like these creatures. Human- like in stature, they had reptilian features and red scaly skin. One of them opened his mouth, letting out a constant shrill sound. Harry covered his ears, but would not close his eyes. For one, he was afraid that if he closed his eyes, the demons would attack and second because he was transfixed by the sight of the rows razor sharp teeth. Harry racked his mind for a spell or anything he could use to fight off these creatures.
Slowly, the demons transfigured and morphed into more human-looking beings, but their eyes still glowed in a unnatural yellow color. This time, Harry recognized them as zombies, but he did nothing, knowing that they weren't really what they seemed to be. Harry raised his wand as they closed in on him. "Petrificus . . ."*
Harry gave a start as he woke up. There was no doubt that the nightmares were getting worse. He wished that he could write to Sirius and ask what he should do, but what can anybody do about bad dreams. At least he wasn't dreaming about Voldemort anymore. However, Harry resolved that the next day, he would go look up demons and see if he could find anything that looked like the creatures in his dreams. He had been warned about his dreams, but couldn't figure out what that might mean. For the time being, it just meant that Harry would take anything he dreamt very seriously.
A/N: Sorry this took so long to get this chapter out. Like I said, I had to pack everything and I haven't been able to write for several days. Anyway, I hope you like it. I'd love to hear what you are all thinking about the various mysteries. Review and let me know where you think the story's going, I love it when people try to guess! Thanks to my two reviewers for chapter 8, I really appreciate it. Anyway, it really is my birthday, so send me a gift: review! Just so you know, the next chapter should be pretty funny, I'm looking forward to writing it.
~~butterflystarr
Chapter 9
Strange Behavior
A/N: It's my birthday today (9/10), so you can all send me a review as a birthday present.
It was one morning at breakfast that Harry noticed the difference. Hermione was acting very strange. The thing was, he had been so preoccupied with his relationship with Ginny to notice the distance that had grown between Hermione and the rest of the group. It seemed like any other morning; they all sat at the Gryffindor table chatting about potions, divination, homework and the upcoming holidays. The only thing that stood out as odd was that Hermione did not join in the conversation of their schoolwork. Usually, she became highly animated when the table conversation turned to school, but this morning, Harry noticed that she seemed completely oblivious. As he pondered this, he realized that Hermione hadn't really spoken up much in the past week or so. However, he didn't have time to consider this, since the meal was over and Ginny was pulling on his hand, hoping for a few minutes to themselves before they had to go to their respective classes. Harry resolved to talk to Ron later and ask if he knew anything about Hermione's strange behavior.
Harry kept an eye on Hermione for the rest of the day. She seemed to be acting normally, she raised her hand consistently, though not as vigorously as she had at eleven, she was still the only one who continually perfected the art of transfiguration, and she still managed to be the only Gryffindor to earn house points in potions, however begrudgingly Snape awarded them. Even so, she was unusually quiet around Harry and Ron. After class, Hermione darted out of the classroom calling over her shoulder to Ron and Harry that she was going to the library. Well, here was Harry's chance to talk to Ron about Hermione's behavior.
"Well, that was weird," Harry started.
"What was weird? Hermione going to the library? I don't know where you've been, but she's been doing that as long as we've known her."
"Not the library exactly, but don't you think that she's been acting . . . different lately?"
"Well, I guess she's been kind of quiet lately . . . but I didn't think you had noticed that."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, I just thought I was imagining it or something."
"I just noticed this morning. It's almost like she's avoiding us."
"Well . . . she did the same thing last year, remember?"
"Last year she was studying for the O.W.L.s constantly and she WAS avoiding us."
"Only because she thought we would get her into trouble, and she was a prefect and everything."
"Maybe it's nothing, but I definitely think something's going on."
"Why don't we ask her?"
"Like I said, maybe it's nothing. I don't want to make her think we're attacking her."
"What are you getting at?"
"You ask her."
"Are you out of your mind?! Have you forgotten that every conversation I've ever had with her ends up in an argument?"
"That's not entirely true."
"Alright, almost every conversation. Besides, why can't you talk to her? She'll tell you more anyway."
"Nope, sorry. I promised Ginny we would go to Hogsmeade tonight."
"There's no trip to Hogsmeade tonight!"
"When has that ever stopped us?"
Finally, Ron resigned himself to the task. Harry grinned as they approached the Gryffindor common room. They settled down at one of the tables and began to work through the mountain of homework they had been assigned that day. Ron heaved a great sigh as he worked through his herbology paper.
"Harry, ARE there even ten uses for sage?"
"There must be, unless Professor Flitwick just wants us to suffer."
"I wish Hermione would get back from the library, I'm sure she's probably known them all since second year."
"Maybe we should go to the library to find her. You know, you might even find a book on sage."
"If there is one, every other sixth year in the school wants to check it out."
Harry sighed and went back to his work. After a couple of hours, he looked up and realized that Hermione still had not returned from the library. Now that was definitely strange! Hermione may spend a lot of time in the library, but on any other day, she checked out half the library and returned with them. Harry's puzzlement turned into worry.
"Ron, maybe we should go find her. She hasn't spent this much time in the library since first year."
Ron looked up at the clock and quickly agreed. They piled up their books and scrolls, and headed out toward the library. Just as they reached the library door, they came face to face with Hermione.
"Hi guys. If you need a book for any of our homework, I think I have everything we need."
"Actually," Ron said, "we came looking for you."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, we . . . you . . . just haven't spent so much time at the library in a long time."
"What are you talking about?"
"Um, nothing I guess."
The three friends walked back to Gryffindor Tower in silence. As soon as they returned, they found the common room nearly emptied. Harry made a quick exit, saying he needed to go find Ginny, while Ron and Hermione remained in the common room. A few minutes later, Harry and Ginny came walking back through, Harry carrying his invisibility cloak. They didn't quite escape without one of Ron's big brother looks, but said goodnight anyway. Ron had long accepted Harry's relationship with his younger sister, but couldn't help still feeling protective of both of them. Once they had left the room, Ron turned to look toward Hermione who was diligently taking notes out of one of their books. It was true that since Harry and Ginny had started dating, there was more time with just him and Hermione; however, he still had never managed to tell his best friend how he really felt.
"Hermione?" Ron began.
"Hmmmm?" she replied not even looking up from her book.
"Is everything alright?"
She looked up surprised. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know, you just haven't been talking to us as much. You aren't mad or anything. I mean . . . I can't think of anything I did . . . or that Harry did. You just seem . . . I don't know, kind of distant . . . and Harry noticed it too, it just took him longer to notice. I guess that's because of Ginny, but really, are you sure everything's all right?" The words came tumbling out before he even knew what he was saying. Hermione looked at him with half shock and half amusement.
"No," she sighed. "There's nothing wrong. I guess I have been a bit . . . distant lately."
"Why?"
"Er," she hesitated. "Just school, we have much more work this year, and I really have to concentrate."
"What else?"
"What do you mean what else?"
"You're not telling me something!"
"Well, if you know so much then what am I not telling you?"
"How am I supposed to know? I wouldn't ask if I knew!"
"Maybe there is something else and I just don't want to tell you!"
"What wouldn't you tell me? I'm one of your best friends!"
"There's no law that says you have to tell your best friends everything!"
"Then what's the point of having best friends if you have stuff you can't tell them."
"Fine! There is something else, but I don't want to tell you. You're not ready to hear it!"
"WHAT?!"
"I'd tell you, but I don't want to have to deal with your reaction just yet. I'll tell you when I'm ready. Right now, I don't want to tell you anything!"
"Would you tell Harry?"
"What is THAT supposed to mean?"
"Would you?"
"Why? Are you jealous?"
"No! I'm not jealous, tell him anything you want!"
"Maybe I will!"
"You know, I only asked because I cared. Then you make this big deal out of it!"
"You were the one that made a big deal out of it. Why should I have to explain myself to you all the time?"
"You don't have to explain anything!"
"Then I won't!"
With that, Hermione grabbed her books and ran up to the girl's dormitory. The rest of the Gryffindor's ignored the entire scene, they had long since gotten used to Ron and Hermione's fights. Ron put away his stack of books and papers; there was no way that he was going to concentrate on his homework now. He hated making Hermione mad, but he really didn't think that he'd done anything wrong. After all, he had just asked. Hmmmmph. She was probably expecting him to apologize! Well, that certainly wasn't going to happen. Ron decided to go upstairs and wait for Harry to get back, although who knew when that would be. He really didn't want to think about when Harry would be back or what he was doing in the meantime. There were certainly disadvantages to his best friend dating his sister.
When Harry did return, Ron was already asleep. It was too bad, he'd wanted to ask if Ron had talked to Hermione. On the other hand, he was glad he didn't have to face the "do you know what time it is?" talk. Harry noticed that two of the other beds were still empty. Dean and Seamus were still out practicing Quidditch. They had gotten into the habit of late night practices that sometimes including Ron and Harry and sometimes did not. Harry was tired and settled into bed.
*Everything was completely black. Harry did not know where he was or how he had gotten there. There were sounds all around him, breathing, movement, a grunt or two. Harry reached for his wand and whispered the light spell, "Luminos."
Harry gasped at the scene around him. He was in the center of the cave where Voldemort had spoken to him. Only this time, there were demons encircling him and slowly closing in on him. Even though they had covered a variety of demons and other creatures of the night in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they had never covered anything like these creatures. Human- like in stature, they had reptilian features and red scaly skin. One of them opened his mouth, letting out a constant shrill sound. Harry covered his ears, but would not close his eyes. For one, he was afraid that if he closed his eyes, the demons would attack and second because he was transfixed by the sight of the rows razor sharp teeth. Harry racked his mind for a spell or anything he could use to fight off these creatures.
Slowly, the demons transfigured and morphed into more human-looking beings, but their eyes still glowed in a unnatural yellow color. This time, Harry recognized them as zombies, but he did nothing, knowing that they weren't really what they seemed to be. Harry raised his wand as they closed in on him. "Petrificus . . ."*
Harry gave a start as he woke up. There was no doubt that the nightmares were getting worse. He wished that he could write to Sirius and ask what he should do, but what can anybody do about bad dreams. At least he wasn't dreaming about Voldemort anymore. However, Harry resolved that the next day, he would go look up demons and see if he could find anything that looked like the creatures in his dreams. He had been warned about his dreams, but couldn't figure out what that might mean. For the time being, it just meant that Harry would take anything he dreamt very seriously.
A/N: Sorry this took so long to get this chapter out. Like I said, I had to pack everything and I haven't been able to write for several days. Anyway, I hope you like it. I'd love to hear what you are all thinking about the various mysteries. Review and let me know where you think the story's going, I love it when people try to guess! Thanks to my two reviewers for chapter 8, I really appreciate it. Anyway, it really is my birthday, so send me a gift: review! Just so you know, the next chapter should be pretty funny, I'm looking forward to writing it.
~~butterflystarr