Disclaimer: Mostly J.K. Rowling
The next morning, Harry woke up tired, hungry and confused. He had been unable to sleep because he was trying to decide what to do, and he never HAD gotten the food from the house-elves. He sat up, groaning and rubbing his head.
"Blimey!" said Ron. "You look like you slept in a tree! You look AWFUL!"
"Thanks Ron," said Harry, slowly getting out of bed. Since he had been tossing and turning all night, the sheets were bunched up. When Harry put on his glasses and looked in the mirror, he saw that his hair look horrible- even worse than how it normally looked.
Meanwhile, Hermione was nervous. She usually trusted Harry, but this, well, this was far more important than any secret she'd ever told him before. She gulped. She was terrified that he would tell the whole school and-well, what was wrong with that, a voice inside her reasoned. What was so terrible about other people helping her? She shook her head. She wasn't sure, except that maybe someone there would have known the now dead wizard. If they found out, they would make SURE that no one discovered any secrets.
There was another reason. Consciously, Hermione didn't think it at the time, but truly it was important to her.
If everyone were searching, the dead wizard and his murderer would be like a publicity scheme. Everyone would talk about it, and they wouldn't really care about him, they would just be looking for the sake of an adventure. Hermione didn't know the boy, but she didn't want his death turned into a joke, almost. She wanted him to be thought of as a person, not something that people thought about when they were bored. She wanted to find out what happened, but she didn't want it to turn into a shallow novel mystery.
Harry and Hermione came down, yawning and rubbing sleep from their eyes. Ron shook his head.
"Boy, you guys look like you were up all night! What's going on here anyway?"
Hermione inwardly sighed with relief. So Harry hadn't told Ron. . . yet.
"Nothing's going on, Ron. We're just tired! We'll meet you downstairs in a minute."
"K, Harry, but I seriously think something whacked in going on here."
After an eternity, it seemed, Ron left. Harry stood there awkwardly, scratching his head.
"Um," he said.
"It was a, uh, lie," Hermione told him. "I was tired, and bored, and my overactive imagination and sleepy mind were in a conspiracy against me and made up some dumb story to tell you. It's not true, I know now, but last night it was like. . . everything was real. I guess I dreamed that, you ever have a dream where it seems real during the night, then in the morning it's obviously fake? It's like that. Just like that."
"You know," Harry said, smiling, "I half-wish I could believe that! But you know I don't, and it's obvious why. You WERE telling the truth, so you can't make me not believe it. And don't worry about me telling anyone. I don't know why you care so much, but I won't breathe so much as a word about it even to Ron."
Hermione could tell he was being sincere. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Let's go to breakfast," she told him.
A/N sorry this chapter is so short, it's just that I can't really add on to this particular part after the last sentence. I'll try to keep the chapters coming pretty regularly. Thanks to all my reviewers!
The next morning, Harry woke up tired, hungry and confused. He had been unable to sleep because he was trying to decide what to do, and he never HAD gotten the food from the house-elves. He sat up, groaning and rubbing his head.
"Blimey!" said Ron. "You look like you slept in a tree! You look AWFUL!"
"Thanks Ron," said Harry, slowly getting out of bed. Since he had been tossing and turning all night, the sheets were bunched up. When Harry put on his glasses and looked in the mirror, he saw that his hair look horrible- even worse than how it normally looked.
Meanwhile, Hermione was nervous. She usually trusted Harry, but this, well, this was far more important than any secret she'd ever told him before. She gulped. She was terrified that he would tell the whole school and-well, what was wrong with that, a voice inside her reasoned. What was so terrible about other people helping her? She shook her head. She wasn't sure, except that maybe someone there would have known the now dead wizard. If they found out, they would make SURE that no one discovered any secrets.
There was another reason. Consciously, Hermione didn't think it at the time, but truly it was important to her.
If everyone were searching, the dead wizard and his murderer would be like a publicity scheme. Everyone would talk about it, and they wouldn't really care about him, they would just be looking for the sake of an adventure. Hermione didn't know the boy, but she didn't want his death turned into a joke, almost. She wanted him to be thought of as a person, not something that people thought about when they were bored. She wanted to find out what happened, but she didn't want it to turn into a shallow novel mystery.
Harry and Hermione came down, yawning and rubbing sleep from their eyes. Ron shook his head.
"Boy, you guys look like you were up all night! What's going on here anyway?"
Hermione inwardly sighed with relief. So Harry hadn't told Ron. . . yet.
"Nothing's going on, Ron. We're just tired! We'll meet you downstairs in a minute."
"K, Harry, but I seriously think something whacked in going on here."
After an eternity, it seemed, Ron left. Harry stood there awkwardly, scratching his head.
"Um," he said.
"It was a, uh, lie," Hermione told him. "I was tired, and bored, and my overactive imagination and sleepy mind were in a conspiracy against me and made up some dumb story to tell you. It's not true, I know now, but last night it was like. . . everything was real. I guess I dreamed that, you ever have a dream where it seems real during the night, then in the morning it's obviously fake? It's like that. Just like that."
"You know," Harry said, smiling, "I half-wish I could believe that! But you know I don't, and it's obvious why. You WERE telling the truth, so you can't make me not believe it. And don't worry about me telling anyone. I don't know why you care so much, but I won't breathe so much as a word about it even to Ron."
Hermione could tell he was being sincere. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Let's go to breakfast," she told him.
A/N sorry this chapter is so short, it's just that I can't really add on to this particular part after the last sentence. I'll try to keep the chapters coming pretty regularly. Thanks to all my reviewers!