The following events take place during Harry Potter's fifth year at
Hogwarts. This chapter's events occur simultaneously with the events
narrated in Chapter Twenty-Nine of "The Order of the Phoenix", "Careers
Advice".
***
A Couple out of a Trio
Chapter Three
"I can't wait until tomorrow, Hermione", Harry said impatiently, "I'm going to ask Lonely Roderick about those pictures. He must be able to confirm if it was Malfoy who took them."
Hermione knew, as well as Harry, that Malfoy surely was involved in this photo' thing, but she also knew Draco couldn't have done all that alone. Someone had sent pictures through the window of the first-years' room just before someone else - whose voice sounded kind of familiar to Hermione - cast the spell that made almost a hundred of letters come flying from the Common Room door.
"Lonely who?!" she asked.
"Lonely Roderick. He guards the entrance to the outside showers. I am going there." Saying this, Harry started moving towards the door.
Hermione stared at him for an instant, then looked at her watch. It was past eight-thirty, they were not at all supposed to be out of their Common rooms. She could remind Harry that Umbridge was looking for a reason to expel him, but she knew nothing would stop him now.
She followed him out of the room, and as she heard the door swinging closed behind them, Hermione added "Harry feels bad, we're going to the Hospital Wing", and kept walking, but after noticing no answer came from the Fat Lady's portrait, she turned back and realized it was empty.
"Harry - look!", said Hermione, and Harry stopped and looked back too. "We cannot go back now!", she said.
Harry came back a little, staring at the empty portrait.
"I wonder what happened to her." Hermione said "I mean, what could Malfoy have done -"
"Just stay here, Hermione. Stay here and wait for the Fat Lady. If someone sees you out here, just say I disappeared and you were looking for me - I don't want you to get in trouble. But I am going there, and please don't try to stop me."
Hermione gave him a serious look, then added irritated "You're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you do this. alone! I am going with you, and I'd ask *you* to not try to stop *me*."
Now it was Harry who stared Hermione for a while. "Let's go, then", he said shortly after a moment, and they started walking together.
There was nobody in the corridors, and more than twice Hermione thought about asking Harry to walk more quietly, but she decided it was better not to bother him.
She couldn't imagine how bad Harry was feeling. *She* would have been totally disturbed, would probably want to leave Hogwarts, if pictures showing her naked were all around the school.
When they turned in a corner, Harry and Hermione stopped at once. Hermione gasped as she saw Mrs. Norris the cat, her yellow eyes shining, staring at them.
The cat remained still for a few seconds, probably enjoying this moment - two students walking around the school after bed-time. Her owner, the hideous school caretaker Argus Filch, would be so pleased for having a reason to punish students. The cat had just turned back and prepared to run for her owner when Hermione saw Harry raising his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!", he said angrily, and the cat stopped, totally immobile. Hermione went pale and looked scared at Harry, whose face opened in a brief smile. "Always wished to do this", he said.
Hermione smiled falsely. She was deeply concerned about anyone having heard Harry's spell. And then she heard - quick footsteps were getting closer to them.
"Norris, are you there, my dear?"
"Run!" Hermione whispered to Harry, and they started running as fast as they could. Harry only stopped once, to kick Mrs. Norris as they passed by her.
"Harry!" whispered Hermione angrily, without stopping.
"Couldn't control myself. It was stronger than me." he added sarcastically.
Hermione and Harry were almost to the end of the corridor when the caretaker got to its beginning and saw Mrs. Norris petrified and laying in the floor, her paws raised to the air. Then, Filch looked up for an instant, and saw Harry and Hermione for a brief moment in the end of the corridor, before they turned left.
As they got out of Filch's sight, Hermione put her hands on her knees and took some deep breaths.
"He cannot. have. recognized us." she said breathlessly.
"Of course he didn't, we were too far. but he is coming after us.", Harry said, and Hermione kept taking deep breaths, "Come on, Hermione, we are pretty close now. This corridor will lead us to the staircases, then -"
Harry fell silent as he heard footsteps, but they didn't seem to come from the corridor where Filch was supposed to be. The footsteps' sound seemed to come from behind the walls.
Hermione pointed to the wall behind Harry and as he turned back he saw the outlines of a hidden door. A second later, it swung open violently.
Hermione gasped as Filch walked out of the hidden shortcut and stopped in front of Harry. He was holding his petrified cat in his arms like a child and looked at Harry with the most hideous face Hermione had ever seen him doing.
But, to Hermione's surprise, Filch's lips opened in a smile - a disgusting and terrible smile.
"I cannot believe my eyes" said Filch "Harry Potter!" he said emphatically, and burst out laughing.
Harry, however, didn't say a thing.
"Will we. get expelled?" Hermione asked, shivering.
Filch gave her a sadistic look.
"Yes, you *will* be expelled, but before this you two will be receiving the worst punishments the Headmistress and I will be able to come up with", and he roared with laughter again.
Hermione started crying right away. She would be punished, and worse, much worse, she would be expelled. She would be sent back to the Muggle world, to where - she knew - she didn't belong.
"I don't think so" Harry said, and both Hermione and Filch looked amused at him.
"What are you saying, you silly boy?" Filch asked.
"I said I don't think you will be able to punish us."
"Don't be naïve, boy, Headmistress Umbridge would let me turn you into a slug and throw salt over you." Filch said it and then looked up, imagining the scene. "Hmm. It'd be so pleasurable, to see Potter the slug melting slowly and painfully."
"I know she would let you punish me." Harry said, calmly, "But even though I know you can't turn me into a slug, nor cast the simplest of the spells, I will not *let* you tell Umbridge anything." Harry said, and before either Filch or Hermione could understand what he meant, Harry raised his hand and shouted "Petrificus Totalus!" one more time.
This time, it was Filch who got petrified, and both him and his cat hit the floor with a loud bang.
Hermione couldn't believe what Harry had just done.
"Harry, he will kill you! He will tell Umbridge, and not even McGonagall will support you, attacking a staff member -"
"Argus, are you there?" They heard Umbridge's annoying voice coming from the corridor where they had been spotted by Mrs. Norris. Hermione thought very quickly about what to do. "Obliviate!", she shouted, and a jet of light came from her wand and hit Filch in the head.
Now it was Harry who wouldn't believe his eyes. He gave Hermione an amazed look and said, quietly, "A Memory spell? It is amazing the things you can do in order to not to be expelled."
"Well, Flitwick was giving me extra-lessons, but of course it was before that stupid decree -"
"Students out of bed, I can hear them.", shouted Umbridge.
"Professors, come to the second floor! Argus, where are you?"
"Let's get out of here!" Hermione said as she took hold of Harry's hand and they started to run. She saw a corridor to their right that she had never seen before. Before walking into this corridor, she turned back to Filch's and Mrs. Norris' bodies and shouted "Finite Petrificus Totalus!"
As they entered the dark corridor, Harry and Hermione ran as fast as they could for more than a minute. It was empty - there were no doors nor paintings in it.
When they got to the end of the corridor, they found a door.
Hermione tried to open it, but it was locked. "Alohomora!" she tried it twice. "It won't open" she cried. But while Hermione let herself fall to the floor and was thinking of all the ways she could persuade McGonagall to let her stay at Hogwarts was a staff member - 'they let Hagrid, after all' - Harry noticed a small shining image on the wall.
"Look, Hermione", he said, and pointed to it. The only lights there came from the entrance of the corridor, so it was pretty hard to see what was that shining image. "What does it represent?"
"Lumus!" said Hermione. "Hm. It is a. a hourglass."
As Hermione interrupted her spell, leaving herself and Harry in darkness again, they heard Umbridge yelling at the beginning of the corridor. "Who's there?"
Hermione and Harry crouched against the wall.
"Show yourself, or I will have to go there and get you!", she shouted, but Hermione had the impression that Umbridge was kind of afraid of coming in alone. "Stupefy!" Umbridge shouted, and her spell flew through the whole corridor and hit the locked door.
Harry and Hermione remained crouched below the hourglass symbol. Then they saw Filch getting to Umbridge. They could not see the expression on his face, so they were not sure if the Memory spell Hermione had cast on Filch had worked or not.
Filch started talking to Umbridge, and soon another person joined them.
"Professor Sinistra", muttered Hermione.
It was the Astronomy teacher indeed. Sinistra, in sleeping clothes, talked to Umbridge and Filch very quickly, but they were so far from Hermione and Harry that Hermione couldn't hear a single word of what was said. The next moment Filch and Sinistra were walking to the end of the corridor in which Hermione and Harry were.
Hermione and Harry didn't move or make any sounds. They remained crouched against the wall, watching Professor Sinistra and Filch walking quickly in their direction. Hermione looked again to the beginning of the corridor, and there she saw Snape, in sleeping clothes like Sinistra, talking to Umbridge. This hideous couple now started to walk fast after Sinistra and Filch, in Harry and Hermione's direction.
Hermione and Harry would not be able to fight and modify the memories of four staff members. They had nothing left to do. Hermione closed her eyes, and another tear went down her face. Sinistra and Filch had probably not seen them yet due to all the darkness, but they'd be reaching them in no time.
Hermione heard her watch beeping, and opened her eyes instinctively. It was exactly nine o'clock. The last thing she saw was Sinistra and Filch getting really close to them, but then she felt the wall behind her moving.
A part of the wall opened and moved circularly, pushing Harry and Hermione in a secret area. The wall completed its circular move and was back to its original position.
"Did you hear that?" Sinistra asked before getting to the end of the corridor.
Harry and Hermione were in a chamber even darker than the corridor where they were before. They could barely see each other or have an idea of how big the room was.
They heard Sinistra's and Filch's footsteps dying as they got to the end of the corridor.
"There was someone here, I'm sure", Filch complained angrily.
Then they heard another set of footsteps. Umbridge and Snape had just got there. All four of them started talking loudly, and Hermione could not understand much. Then she heard Snape saying "Argus, where were you the time you heard there was someone walking through the school?"
Now Filch would say he couldn't remember it, Harry thought, and Snape would realize Filch's memory had been erased. Then all Snape would have to do would be reverse the spell, and Filch would remember what really had happened.
"Er, I was walking around this floor to see if everything was right, and then I heard students casting spells near here, so I came to check what was going on."
Harry gave Hermione a wondering look, as if asking why Filch hadn't said he could not remember anything.
Guessing Harry's doubt, Hermione whispered, as quietly as she could, in Harry's ear. "I did not erase his memory, I modified it so that he thinks he was sleepy and sat on the floor, before falling asleep."
Amused by Hermione's intelligence, Harry wished he could congratulate her, but as he thought it was better not to make any more sounds, he kissed her on the cheek.
'Lucky it's so dark here', Hermione thought, feeling her face blushing.
"Hey, now I remember", Harry and Hermione heard Filch say, and they didn't breath for a second, "what corridor is this." he continued, and Hermione and Harry breathed relieved.
"We *know* what corridor this is, Argus", said McGonagall, who had just joined them. Sinistra and Snape greeted her as they noticed her presence. "But we all know no students would have been able to enter this door", McGonagall continued.
Hermione someone trying to open the door in the end of the corridor, unsuccessfully.
"Just to be sure", said Umbridge.
"No, listen to me!", said Filch again. "I am not talking about the door, I am talking about *this*" Filch was probably pointing to the hourglass symbol.
"What is *this*?" asked Umbridge, annoyed.
"It's a secret chamber, nothing really important, though I don't remember exactly what's in there. My memory is really bad lately." Harry gave Hermione a naughty look, "but I do remember how to get in it. Its door opens every full hour."
"So we will have to wait for almost another hour until we can find who is in there?", asked Professor Sinistra, and the teachers started to argue about who would remain there, waiting.
Hermione wanted to walk around and see how big was this room and what was in it, but she wouldn't dare move at all. Suddenly, she felt Harry grabbing her hand. She looked at him, and could barely see the expression on his face, but she was sure something was not right. She felt him grabbing her hand tighter, as if he was making a struggle to avoid something -
And he was, indeed. His scar was aching, harder and harder. Hermione understood Harry, and grabbed his other hand instinctively, trying to tell him to be strong, to fight the pain.
But it didn't work. Harry released a yell of pain, and then let himself fall on Hermione's shoulders.
"Did you hear it? Did you hear it?", asked Sinistra.
"It's Potter!", shouted Snape. "I am sure, it is Potter who is in there, he and that friend of his, Weasley! Always breaking the rules, those two!"
"Severus, I must remind you you're making unfounded accusations about two of my students.", said Professor McGonagall, softly.
"Okay then, you don't need to believe me, we can go to Potter's dormitory right now and you will see he is not there!"
"As a matter of fact," said McGonagall "I just came from the Gryffindor Tower. I needed to talk to Mrs. Dalfovo, that sixth-year, well it doesn't matter, the fact is that I couldn't enter the Tower, because its guardian is not there. I was looking for the Fat Lady - that's how she is known - in other paintings when I found you all here."
Snape shouted a bad word, and Professor Sinistra replied "Snape!", but McGonagall said simply "Anyway, I am going to the kitchens, I'm needing some tea, but you all wait here while time passes."
Hermione and Harry remained still. Harry didn't take his head off Hermione's shoulder, and after a few seconds, Hermione had the brief sensation of something wet falling in her neck. Was it a tear?
Hermione hugged Harry even tighter. She understood him, she'd be weeping after so many intense feelings. Having pictures of you naked all over the school, having hit your best friend and attacked a member of the school staff, almost being caught and now having nothing to do but wait until the time that door would open and they would be caught.
Besides that all, Hermione knew Harry was going under very difficult times lately. He had been banned from Quidditch and his team was losing all matches without him, Cho was not talking to him anymore, Dumbledore was gone because of Harry's D.A. idea, and Harry had also found out some bad things about his dad's behavior when a teenager. And besides all that, there was Voldemort breaking into his mind, and Snape, who had stopped giving him occlumency classes and was trying to find a way to punish Harry for watching some of his worst memories.
Actually, Harry was doing really well for someone who was having to face so many hard moments, Hermione thought.
***
Ron was in the Yule Ball, wearing the new dress robes his brothers had bought him. Everyone else seemed to be there, students from Durmstrang and Beauxbattons, but he couldn't see neither Harry nor Hermione.
He started walking around the Great Hall, and then he saw Ginny. She was with that jerk she was dating, and - oh! He was kissing Ginny now, he was kissing Ron's only sister, that guy was!
Ron thought about going there and hitting the boy, but someone touched his shoulder before he could move.
"Don't do zis!"
He turned back. It was Fleur, Fleur Delacour, the most beautiful girl Ron had ever seen. Even though, Ron realized he didn't feel attracted to her anymore. Yes, Ron was totally in love, he didn't even go crazy after seeing Fleur.
"What did you say, Fleur?"
"Don't do zis, don't hit'im! It's not zis fault, evrybory dates, it's jus' norrmal. Look, zer ar your friends, 'Arry and 'Ermione. See, *zey* are norrmal, zey date too!"
And Ron turned back and saw Harry and Hermione, kissing. Harry was hugging Hermione and she had her hands around is neck, and they just wouldn't stop kissing.
Now Ron really got really angry, angrier than after seeing his sister kissing that guy. He started pushing everyone between him and Harry and Hermione, but the more he walked, the farther his friends seemed to be from him. And they just wouldn't stop kissing.
"Aahhh!!"
Ron yelled, and realized he was back in his bed, sweating. What a stupid dream this one had been.
But he looked to Harry's bed and saw he was not there yet.
"Where are they?", he asked to himself, and stood up. He thought about going downstairs, to the Common Room, but it would be to ridiculous, he'd get there, see them kissing and they'd notice he was there, and they would look at him and start blushing. - Ron wouldn't bare this.
"The Invisibility Cloak", Ron thought, and then he went to Harry's trunk and got it. Wearing it he would be able to check what Hermione and Harry were doing and they would not see him there. Putting the Cloak on, he went down to the Common Room, and found it empty.
'They left. They can't be in Hermione's dormitory either, Harry can't go in there, so they left the tower.' Ron thought about going and asking the Fat Lady, but she wouldn't be able to tell him more than he already knew - they had left the tower.
Oh, why did it bother him so much? Why couldn't he just accept that Hermione and Harry would be together, maybe soon, maybe later. But Ron cared about this, because he was in love - as he had never been before. Besides, Ron wanted to kiss as well. Harry had kissed Cho, and Ron was sure Hermione had kissed Viktor Krum last year. As Fleur Delacour said in his dream, Ron and Hermione date too, they are "norrmal". 'I wish I was "norrmal" too.', thought Ron.
"Wow, and Harry didn't even remember to take his cloak with them", Ron said to himself, sitting in one of the Common Room's sofas.
Then it came to his mind. Harry surely hadn't taken the Marauders' Map either. Ron went back to his dormitory and after looking for the Map for a while, he found it. He took another minute to remember how to use it, but he did.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good!"
The Map revealed its secret, and revealed something else to Ron. Harry and Hermione, in an empty chamber, together. Their dots in the map were so close Ron was absolutely sure they were *at least* hugging.
***
Harry had still not removed his head from Hermione's shoulder when they heard a loud echoing "crack" next to them.
"Did you hear it? Did you hear it?", asked Sinistra, outside the chamber.
"Oh, where is me?." said someone in a squeaky voice, next to Harry and Hermione.
"Dobby?!" Harry asked, a little louder than he should, and his face opened in smile.
"Did you hear it now, Professor Snape? Did you?", asked Sinistra again.
"Professor McGonagall sent Dobby here", the house-elf said, facing Harry, "'cause she thinks Harry Potter is in need. Dobby will take you to your Common Room, sir!"
"Did you hear it *now*, Professor? Didn't you?"
"Shut up, Sinistra", replied Snape, angry.
"Shh!" made Hermione, and Harry whispered, really close to Dobby, "I don't need to go to my Common Room. I need you to take me and Hermione out of the castle, right now!"
***
A Couple out of a Trio
Chapter Three
"I can't wait until tomorrow, Hermione", Harry said impatiently, "I'm going to ask Lonely Roderick about those pictures. He must be able to confirm if it was Malfoy who took them."
Hermione knew, as well as Harry, that Malfoy surely was involved in this photo' thing, but she also knew Draco couldn't have done all that alone. Someone had sent pictures through the window of the first-years' room just before someone else - whose voice sounded kind of familiar to Hermione - cast the spell that made almost a hundred of letters come flying from the Common Room door.
"Lonely who?!" she asked.
"Lonely Roderick. He guards the entrance to the outside showers. I am going there." Saying this, Harry started moving towards the door.
Hermione stared at him for an instant, then looked at her watch. It was past eight-thirty, they were not at all supposed to be out of their Common rooms. She could remind Harry that Umbridge was looking for a reason to expel him, but she knew nothing would stop him now.
She followed him out of the room, and as she heard the door swinging closed behind them, Hermione added "Harry feels bad, we're going to the Hospital Wing", and kept walking, but after noticing no answer came from the Fat Lady's portrait, she turned back and realized it was empty.
"Harry - look!", said Hermione, and Harry stopped and looked back too. "We cannot go back now!", she said.
Harry came back a little, staring at the empty portrait.
"I wonder what happened to her." Hermione said "I mean, what could Malfoy have done -"
"Just stay here, Hermione. Stay here and wait for the Fat Lady. If someone sees you out here, just say I disappeared and you were looking for me - I don't want you to get in trouble. But I am going there, and please don't try to stop me."
Hermione gave him a serious look, then added irritated "You're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you do this. alone! I am going with you, and I'd ask *you* to not try to stop *me*."
Now it was Harry who stared Hermione for a while. "Let's go, then", he said shortly after a moment, and they started walking together.
There was nobody in the corridors, and more than twice Hermione thought about asking Harry to walk more quietly, but she decided it was better not to bother him.
She couldn't imagine how bad Harry was feeling. *She* would have been totally disturbed, would probably want to leave Hogwarts, if pictures showing her naked were all around the school.
When they turned in a corner, Harry and Hermione stopped at once. Hermione gasped as she saw Mrs. Norris the cat, her yellow eyes shining, staring at them.
The cat remained still for a few seconds, probably enjoying this moment - two students walking around the school after bed-time. Her owner, the hideous school caretaker Argus Filch, would be so pleased for having a reason to punish students. The cat had just turned back and prepared to run for her owner when Hermione saw Harry raising his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!", he said angrily, and the cat stopped, totally immobile. Hermione went pale and looked scared at Harry, whose face opened in a brief smile. "Always wished to do this", he said.
Hermione smiled falsely. She was deeply concerned about anyone having heard Harry's spell. And then she heard - quick footsteps were getting closer to them.
"Norris, are you there, my dear?"
"Run!" Hermione whispered to Harry, and they started running as fast as they could. Harry only stopped once, to kick Mrs. Norris as they passed by her.
"Harry!" whispered Hermione angrily, without stopping.
"Couldn't control myself. It was stronger than me." he added sarcastically.
Hermione and Harry were almost to the end of the corridor when the caretaker got to its beginning and saw Mrs. Norris petrified and laying in the floor, her paws raised to the air. Then, Filch looked up for an instant, and saw Harry and Hermione for a brief moment in the end of the corridor, before they turned left.
As they got out of Filch's sight, Hermione put her hands on her knees and took some deep breaths.
"He cannot. have. recognized us." she said breathlessly.
"Of course he didn't, we were too far. but he is coming after us.", Harry said, and Hermione kept taking deep breaths, "Come on, Hermione, we are pretty close now. This corridor will lead us to the staircases, then -"
Harry fell silent as he heard footsteps, but they didn't seem to come from the corridor where Filch was supposed to be. The footsteps' sound seemed to come from behind the walls.
Hermione pointed to the wall behind Harry and as he turned back he saw the outlines of a hidden door. A second later, it swung open violently.
Hermione gasped as Filch walked out of the hidden shortcut and stopped in front of Harry. He was holding his petrified cat in his arms like a child and looked at Harry with the most hideous face Hermione had ever seen him doing.
But, to Hermione's surprise, Filch's lips opened in a smile - a disgusting and terrible smile.
"I cannot believe my eyes" said Filch "Harry Potter!" he said emphatically, and burst out laughing.
Harry, however, didn't say a thing.
"Will we. get expelled?" Hermione asked, shivering.
Filch gave her a sadistic look.
"Yes, you *will* be expelled, but before this you two will be receiving the worst punishments the Headmistress and I will be able to come up with", and he roared with laughter again.
Hermione started crying right away. She would be punished, and worse, much worse, she would be expelled. She would be sent back to the Muggle world, to where - she knew - she didn't belong.
"I don't think so" Harry said, and both Hermione and Filch looked amused at him.
"What are you saying, you silly boy?" Filch asked.
"I said I don't think you will be able to punish us."
"Don't be naïve, boy, Headmistress Umbridge would let me turn you into a slug and throw salt over you." Filch said it and then looked up, imagining the scene. "Hmm. It'd be so pleasurable, to see Potter the slug melting slowly and painfully."
"I know she would let you punish me." Harry said, calmly, "But even though I know you can't turn me into a slug, nor cast the simplest of the spells, I will not *let* you tell Umbridge anything." Harry said, and before either Filch or Hermione could understand what he meant, Harry raised his hand and shouted "Petrificus Totalus!" one more time.
This time, it was Filch who got petrified, and both him and his cat hit the floor with a loud bang.
Hermione couldn't believe what Harry had just done.
"Harry, he will kill you! He will tell Umbridge, and not even McGonagall will support you, attacking a staff member -"
"Argus, are you there?" They heard Umbridge's annoying voice coming from the corridor where they had been spotted by Mrs. Norris. Hermione thought very quickly about what to do. "Obliviate!", she shouted, and a jet of light came from her wand and hit Filch in the head.
Now it was Harry who wouldn't believe his eyes. He gave Hermione an amazed look and said, quietly, "A Memory spell? It is amazing the things you can do in order to not to be expelled."
"Well, Flitwick was giving me extra-lessons, but of course it was before that stupid decree -"
"Students out of bed, I can hear them.", shouted Umbridge.
"Professors, come to the second floor! Argus, where are you?"
"Let's get out of here!" Hermione said as she took hold of Harry's hand and they started to run. She saw a corridor to their right that she had never seen before. Before walking into this corridor, she turned back to Filch's and Mrs. Norris' bodies and shouted "Finite Petrificus Totalus!"
As they entered the dark corridor, Harry and Hermione ran as fast as they could for more than a minute. It was empty - there were no doors nor paintings in it.
When they got to the end of the corridor, they found a door.
Hermione tried to open it, but it was locked. "Alohomora!" she tried it twice. "It won't open" she cried. But while Hermione let herself fall to the floor and was thinking of all the ways she could persuade McGonagall to let her stay at Hogwarts was a staff member - 'they let Hagrid, after all' - Harry noticed a small shining image on the wall.
"Look, Hermione", he said, and pointed to it. The only lights there came from the entrance of the corridor, so it was pretty hard to see what was that shining image. "What does it represent?"
"Lumus!" said Hermione. "Hm. It is a. a hourglass."
As Hermione interrupted her spell, leaving herself and Harry in darkness again, they heard Umbridge yelling at the beginning of the corridor. "Who's there?"
Hermione and Harry crouched against the wall.
"Show yourself, or I will have to go there and get you!", she shouted, but Hermione had the impression that Umbridge was kind of afraid of coming in alone. "Stupefy!" Umbridge shouted, and her spell flew through the whole corridor and hit the locked door.
Harry and Hermione remained crouched below the hourglass symbol. Then they saw Filch getting to Umbridge. They could not see the expression on his face, so they were not sure if the Memory spell Hermione had cast on Filch had worked or not.
Filch started talking to Umbridge, and soon another person joined them.
"Professor Sinistra", muttered Hermione.
It was the Astronomy teacher indeed. Sinistra, in sleeping clothes, talked to Umbridge and Filch very quickly, but they were so far from Hermione and Harry that Hermione couldn't hear a single word of what was said. The next moment Filch and Sinistra were walking to the end of the corridor in which Hermione and Harry were.
Hermione and Harry didn't move or make any sounds. They remained crouched against the wall, watching Professor Sinistra and Filch walking quickly in their direction. Hermione looked again to the beginning of the corridor, and there she saw Snape, in sleeping clothes like Sinistra, talking to Umbridge. This hideous couple now started to walk fast after Sinistra and Filch, in Harry and Hermione's direction.
Hermione and Harry would not be able to fight and modify the memories of four staff members. They had nothing left to do. Hermione closed her eyes, and another tear went down her face. Sinistra and Filch had probably not seen them yet due to all the darkness, but they'd be reaching them in no time.
Hermione heard her watch beeping, and opened her eyes instinctively. It was exactly nine o'clock. The last thing she saw was Sinistra and Filch getting really close to them, but then she felt the wall behind her moving.
A part of the wall opened and moved circularly, pushing Harry and Hermione in a secret area. The wall completed its circular move and was back to its original position.
"Did you hear that?" Sinistra asked before getting to the end of the corridor.
Harry and Hermione were in a chamber even darker than the corridor where they were before. They could barely see each other or have an idea of how big the room was.
They heard Sinistra's and Filch's footsteps dying as they got to the end of the corridor.
"There was someone here, I'm sure", Filch complained angrily.
Then they heard another set of footsteps. Umbridge and Snape had just got there. All four of them started talking loudly, and Hermione could not understand much. Then she heard Snape saying "Argus, where were you the time you heard there was someone walking through the school?"
Now Filch would say he couldn't remember it, Harry thought, and Snape would realize Filch's memory had been erased. Then all Snape would have to do would be reverse the spell, and Filch would remember what really had happened.
"Er, I was walking around this floor to see if everything was right, and then I heard students casting spells near here, so I came to check what was going on."
Harry gave Hermione a wondering look, as if asking why Filch hadn't said he could not remember anything.
Guessing Harry's doubt, Hermione whispered, as quietly as she could, in Harry's ear. "I did not erase his memory, I modified it so that he thinks he was sleepy and sat on the floor, before falling asleep."
Amused by Hermione's intelligence, Harry wished he could congratulate her, but as he thought it was better not to make any more sounds, he kissed her on the cheek.
'Lucky it's so dark here', Hermione thought, feeling her face blushing.
"Hey, now I remember", Harry and Hermione heard Filch say, and they didn't breath for a second, "what corridor is this." he continued, and Hermione and Harry breathed relieved.
"We *know* what corridor this is, Argus", said McGonagall, who had just joined them. Sinistra and Snape greeted her as they noticed her presence. "But we all know no students would have been able to enter this door", McGonagall continued.
Hermione someone trying to open the door in the end of the corridor, unsuccessfully.
"Just to be sure", said Umbridge.
"No, listen to me!", said Filch again. "I am not talking about the door, I am talking about *this*" Filch was probably pointing to the hourglass symbol.
"What is *this*?" asked Umbridge, annoyed.
"It's a secret chamber, nothing really important, though I don't remember exactly what's in there. My memory is really bad lately." Harry gave Hermione a naughty look, "but I do remember how to get in it. Its door opens every full hour."
"So we will have to wait for almost another hour until we can find who is in there?", asked Professor Sinistra, and the teachers started to argue about who would remain there, waiting.
Hermione wanted to walk around and see how big was this room and what was in it, but she wouldn't dare move at all. Suddenly, she felt Harry grabbing her hand. She looked at him, and could barely see the expression on his face, but she was sure something was not right. She felt him grabbing her hand tighter, as if he was making a struggle to avoid something -
And he was, indeed. His scar was aching, harder and harder. Hermione understood Harry, and grabbed his other hand instinctively, trying to tell him to be strong, to fight the pain.
But it didn't work. Harry released a yell of pain, and then let himself fall on Hermione's shoulders.
"Did you hear it? Did you hear it?", asked Sinistra.
"It's Potter!", shouted Snape. "I am sure, it is Potter who is in there, he and that friend of his, Weasley! Always breaking the rules, those two!"
"Severus, I must remind you you're making unfounded accusations about two of my students.", said Professor McGonagall, softly.
"Okay then, you don't need to believe me, we can go to Potter's dormitory right now and you will see he is not there!"
"As a matter of fact," said McGonagall "I just came from the Gryffindor Tower. I needed to talk to Mrs. Dalfovo, that sixth-year, well it doesn't matter, the fact is that I couldn't enter the Tower, because its guardian is not there. I was looking for the Fat Lady - that's how she is known - in other paintings when I found you all here."
Snape shouted a bad word, and Professor Sinistra replied "Snape!", but McGonagall said simply "Anyway, I am going to the kitchens, I'm needing some tea, but you all wait here while time passes."
Hermione and Harry remained still. Harry didn't take his head off Hermione's shoulder, and after a few seconds, Hermione had the brief sensation of something wet falling in her neck. Was it a tear?
Hermione hugged Harry even tighter. She understood him, she'd be weeping after so many intense feelings. Having pictures of you naked all over the school, having hit your best friend and attacked a member of the school staff, almost being caught and now having nothing to do but wait until the time that door would open and they would be caught.
Besides that all, Hermione knew Harry was going under very difficult times lately. He had been banned from Quidditch and his team was losing all matches without him, Cho was not talking to him anymore, Dumbledore was gone because of Harry's D.A. idea, and Harry had also found out some bad things about his dad's behavior when a teenager. And besides all that, there was Voldemort breaking into his mind, and Snape, who had stopped giving him occlumency classes and was trying to find a way to punish Harry for watching some of his worst memories.
Actually, Harry was doing really well for someone who was having to face so many hard moments, Hermione thought.
***
Ron was in the Yule Ball, wearing the new dress robes his brothers had bought him. Everyone else seemed to be there, students from Durmstrang and Beauxbattons, but he couldn't see neither Harry nor Hermione.
He started walking around the Great Hall, and then he saw Ginny. She was with that jerk she was dating, and - oh! He was kissing Ginny now, he was kissing Ron's only sister, that guy was!
Ron thought about going there and hitting the boy, but someone touched his shoulder before he could move.
"Don't do zis!"
He turned back. It was Fleur, Fleur Delacour, the most beautiful girl Ron had ever seen. Even though, Ron realized he didn't feel attracted to her anymore. Yes, Ron was totally in love, he didn't even go crazy after seeing Fleur.
"What did you say, Fleur?"
"Don't do zis, don't hit'im! It's not zis fault, evrybory dates, it's jus' norrmal. Look, zer ar your friends, 'Arry and 'Ermione. See, *zey* are norrmal, zey date too!"
And Ron turned back and saw Harry and Hermione, kissing. Harry was hugging Hermione and she had her hands around is neck, and they just wouldn't stop kissing.
Now Ron really got really angry, angrier than after seeing his sister kissing that guy. He started pushing everyone between him and Harry and Hermione, but the more he walked, the farther his friends seemed to be from him. And they just wouldn't stop kissing.
"Aahhh!!"
Ron yelled, and realized he was back in his bed, sweating. What a stupid dream this one had been.
But he looked to Harry's bed and saw he was not there yet.
"Where are they?", he asked to himself, and stood up. He thought about going downstairs, to the Common Room, but it would be to ridiculous, he'd get there, see them kissing and they'd notice he was there, and they would look at him and start blushing. - Ron wouldn't bare this.
"The Invisibility Cloak", Ron thought, and then he went to Harry's trunk and got it. Wearing it he would be able to check what Hermione and Harry were doing and they would not see him there. Putting the Cloak on, he went down to the Common Room, and found it empty.
'They left. They can't be in Hermione's dormitory either, Harry can't go in there, so they left the tower.' Ron thought about going and asking the Fat Lady, but she wouldn't be able to tell him more than he already knew - they had left the tower.
Oh, why did it bother him so much? Why couldn't he just accept that Hermione and Harry would be together, maybe soon, maybe later. But Ron cared about this, because he was in love - as he had never been before. Besides, Ron wanted to kiss as well. Harry had kissed Cho, and Ron was sure Hermione had kissed Viktor Krum last year. As Fleur Delacour said in his dream, Ron and Hermione date too, they are "norrmal". 'I wish I was "norrmal" too.', thought Ron.
"Wow, and Harry didn't even remember to take his cloak with them", Ron said to himself, sitting in one of the Common Room's sofas.
Then it came to his mind. Harry surely hadn't taken the Marauders' Map either. Ron went back to his dormitory and after looking for the Map for a while, he found it. He took another minute to remember how to use it, but he did.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good!"
The Map revealed its secret, and revealed something else to Ron. Harry and Hermione, in an empty chamber, together. Their dots in the map were so close Ron was absolutely sure they were *at least* hugging.
***
Harry had still not removed his head from Hermione's shoulder when they heard a loud echoing "crack" next to them.
"Did you hear it? Did you hear it?", asked Sinistra, outside the chamber.
"Oh, where is me?." said someone in a squeaky voice, next to Harry and Hermione.
"Dobby?!" Harry asked, a little louder than he should, and his face opened in smile.
"Did you hear it now, Professor Snape? Did you?", asked Sinistra again.
"Professor McGonagall sent Dobby here", the house-elf said, facing Harry, "'cause she thinks Harry Potter is in need. Dobby will take you to your Common Room, sir!"
"Did you hear it *now*, Professor? Didn't you?"
"Shut up, Sinistra", replied Snape, angry.
"Shh!" made Hermione, and Harry whispered, really close to Dobby, "I don't need to go to my Common Room. I need you to take me and Hermione out of the castle, right now!"