Okay, not being able to indent my paragraphs any more is really throwing me. This just looks wrong. I may try something different next time.
Chapter 17:
Michelle got up early the next morning. She needed to meet up with Harry and his friends before everyone left for break. Her plan to avoid Harry effectively shot to hell, Michelle decided to start telling him the truth about why she had come to Hogwarts. They decided to meet in one of the greenhouses before breakfast. Michelle was the first to arrive, and she paced the floor waiting for the others. Harry entered first, followed by is friends. He smiled shyly at Michelle.
"Good morning...how do you feel today?"
"All right--can feel all my fingers and toes. How are you?"
"Pretty good. Should we sit down?" He motioned to some benches along the side of the building. Michelle nodded and went to sit. There was an awkward moment when no one was quite sure where to put themselves. Harry and Ron ended up sitting next to each other, while Hermione sat next to Michelle.
Michelle cleared her throat. "So, should I just start talking or do you want to ask a question?"
Hermione spoke first. "How did you know I was in trouble?"
Michelle took a deep breath. "Okay, you know how Harry is a pretty powerful wizard right? I mean, even as a baby he survived an assault by the strongest dark wizard of the time. There are other powerful wizards out there. Wizards, who when young, have powers as strong or stronger than other older wizards. Over the years, those exceptionally powerful wizards have been dwindling in number. Harry is one of the few." She looked directly at Harry. "So am I."
"What do you mean exactly?" Ron asked.
"When I was 5, I was able to do magic at the level of a 12 yr. old."
Harry's mouth dropped open, "How is that possible?"
"I'm not exactly sure. Not knowing my parents, I can't say if they were both wizards and I got all the good magic genes. Or, my folks could have been muggles and it was a complete fluke. Either way, I caused a lot of trouble before I started going to school."
"How powerful are you now?" Hermione was giving Michelle an odd look.
"I think I'm about 2 or 3 levels below someone in their late 20's..." her voice dropped off as Harry's eyes almost popped out of his head.
Hermione sat up, "Your wand...I've hardly ever seen you use it...is it because..."
Michelle interrupted, "Ooohh yeah, the wand...Well, I'm not supposed to use mine a lot right now."
"Why?"
"I haven't got complete control over my power. That's going to have to wait until I turn 18..." Michelle suddenly stopped realizing she'd started to say too much.
"18, what happens then?" Harry asked.
"Nothing...anyway, back to the original question...I knew Hermione was in trouble because I saw it. I'm sure you guys have learned about this sort of stuff in Divination." Michelle scanned their faces, and when they didn't seem to quite follow she told them how she'd seen the signs in the blood she'd spit out and the spider web. She had just started to tell them exactly what she was when the door opened. Prof. Sprout had come in to tend to some of her plants. She sent them back to the castle. During their walk back, Hermione kept looking at Michelle as though she wanted to ask more questions. Michelle hung back to walk with Harry, partially because she wanted to avoid Hermione's grilling, and partially because she just wanted to talk to Harry alone.
"I never did get around to finding out why Hermione went downstairs in the first place." She caught Harry's eye as they walked.
"She got a note asking her to meet Ron at the front doors, only Ron didn't write the note; it was a fake."
"Malfoy must have done a good job with the note if Hermione believed it was from Ron."
"I haven't seen it, but Ron said it looked like his handwriting."
"Wait a second..." Michelle smiled a little. "She went to meet Ron...alone...without telling you...thinking Ron had asked her to meet him..."
"Exactly." He lowered his voice, even though Ron and Hermione were far ahead of them. "I could tell they liked each other, but of course, neither one was going to do anything about it."
"Apparently, you weren't the only one to notice. How are you with them being together? Is that going to make things weird between the three of you?"
"I don't know. I hope not." Harry went quiet as he thought about the possibilities. Michelle decided to change the topic and asked him what he was doing for break. She found out he was going to stay with the Weasley family. Hermione would probably be coming to visit for a couple of days, or atleast that had been the plan before last night. They fell silent as they got closer to the front doors. Harry suddenly stopped in his tracks. Michelle continued for a couple of steps, but quickly turned around.
"What is it?" she walked back to him.
"What happened last night?"
"You mean with the blood and stuff?"
"No, with us?"
Michelle didn't answer, instead she stepped forward and kissed him softly.
"Been wanting to do that since you said good morning."
Harry smiled, "I guess that sort of answers my question." He reached out and took her hand as they continued walking.
Hermione was not satisfied. She had many more questions for Michelle. She hadn't even gotten to find out if Michelle was a Projector or not. She was also not satisfied with the way Ron was behaving today. He'd left her room not long after they'd kissed last night, but that was understandable. Her roommates had begun coming in and were giving them odd looks. But, this morning, he'd hardly said two words to her. Harry kept staring at them as they walked to the greenhouses. Ron had obviously told him what had happened. Hermione hadn't had the chance to get Harry alone to find out what Ron had said. And now, she was walking with Ron in complete silence.
"Ron..." she started quietly.
Ron looked at her briefly, but didn't say anything.
"Ronald..." her voice picked up a little in volume.
Again, he didn't respond.
"Ron, please just talk to me." Her eyes pleaded with his and she thought she saw him starting to give in before he looked away. She could feel the tears forming and she started to get mad at herself for being such a girl.
"Based on the way you are acting right now, I'm guessing you think what happened last night was a mistake. And I don't know, maybe it was...maybe you just want to forget it..." She could hear her anger spilling out through her words.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Ron finally spoke, his voice tinged with fear.
"If you think you made a mistake, you need to tell me...please." Hermione wiped away a tear that had fallen onto her cheek.
"It's not that...I mean, I don't think it was a mistake." He sounded worried. "You don't think it was wrong do you?"
Hermione made herself look at him, "No. I don't."
"I don't either. I just don't know what to say or do now. It's not like I've had a lot of practice at this girlfriend thing..."
"Girlfriend?" Hermione's face brightened just a little.
"Sure, you don't think I'd kiss just anyone now do you?"
"So you do like me...like that, I mean."
"I believe I just mentioned the kissing thing..."
"Sorry, I guess I just want to hear you say it. Just so I know for sure."
They had reached the front doors, far ahead of Harry and Michelle. Ron looked around, as though he were checking to make sure he wouldn't be heard.
"I like you Hermione. You drive me nuts, but I like you...alot." He kept shifting his gaze from her face to his shoes. "Just don't expect me to know what I'm doing is all I'm saying...I'm not exactly the gushy type and half the time I don't even know what I'm supposed to do normally..." He stopped abruptly as Hermione moved quickly towards him. She had a very determined look in her eye. He stepped back and was surprised to find he was up against the door in just a few steps.
"I'm not sure what to do either..." Hermione took hold of his jacket to steady herself. Going up on her toes, she kissed him aggressively. Instinctively, Ron's arms wrapped around her. Breaking off the kiss, Hermione looked as surprised as Ron felt. As she stepped back, she looked to the path and saw Harry and Michelle coming closer. "I guess now would be a good time to mention that I like you too..."
"Never would have guessed..." Ron had a silly grin on his face as he released her from his grasp. Hermione smiled back. Harry and Michelle joined them on the steps. As they went inside, Ron held the door so Hermione could go in. She waited for him and they began to go towards the Great Hall to have breakfast. Seeing several students coming their direction, Hermione started to move away from Ron. She wasn't sure how much he wanted this change in their relationship to be known to others. Her heart beat wildly as he reached out and took her hand in front of everyone, giving her a shy smile as he did. It was enough to make her forget all about her questions for Michelle.
