Chapter 21 – The Cat Who Came to Hogwarts
It was late afternoon when Hermione made entry in Professor McGonagall's office, showing no interest to a dark-orange owl with vivid red eyes fluttering towards the sky as she walked inside. She wished she could fly away from the school junk haunting her brain and the vulgar Ron/Harry argument that was turning out to be a bigger disturbance to her than them. It's not an argument, but a war, she thought, as she ran her smooth fingers over Ron's diamond necklace.
Professor McGonagall departed from her seat, strolled forward, and leaned on her desk slightly to face Hermione. Pushing up her glasses, she said, "I promise this will be a short lesson, Ms.Granger, because I know you have other things to take care of. This is your last lesson."
"Yes!"
Professor McGonagall's eyes twinkled, making Hermione blush at her outburst, "Sorry."
The whole concept of transforming into an animal was stimulating; having done so into a cat in her second year, but there were only so many times a person could transfigure frogs and not lose their excitement.
"You know what to do," her teacher said, "but I will go through the steps one by one, and you follow. Do not be scared. Nothing is going to happen to you. Take deep breaths and stay calm."
The more McGonagall advised Hermione to relax, the more nervous she got. The way she was wording her sentences with caution, it led Hermione to think that this was something to be scared about. Normally, she faced challenges in life head-on and strong, but this wasn't something you could master after the first try.
"Ready?" asked Professor McGonagall, attempting to dispose her usual stern voice.
"Erm…yes." mumbled Hermione, and closed her eyes. Visualization was very important in transforming, and right now it would be very challenging because she didn't know what animal she was going to transform into. An otter, the form of her Patronus, would be the logical choice, but what if she turned out to be a rat? The thought made her puke, and her eyes instinctively flew open.
Studying Hermione's tense figure, McGonagall spoke, "You'll turn into whichever animal suits your personality best. If you apply the skills of transfiguring other objects without the use of your wand, you'll feel your body changing."
"Alright." said Hermione, closing her eyes once again.
"First, clear your mind and let the hollow feeling flow throughout your body…"
Hermione used her meditation technique and pictured a coiled circle in her mind, and at first, other images invaded, but she pushed them back. As a few seconds passed, Hermione felt the tightness inside her head loosen up as a rushing feeling replaced it. Like lightning, it traveled down to her torso and then rushed to her feet, giving them a tingling feeling.
"Now, pretend that you're not human. Picture yourself without your arms, legs…"
As Hermione followed Professor McGonagall's next set of directions, an empty sensation surged from her chest to both of her arms. It was unbelievable. Hermione couldn't feel the weight of her arms or the steady strain on her shoulders anymore. Next, she performed this on her legs.
"Feel yourself shrinking slowly, very slowly…"
Shrinking? I don't want to shrink.
"You're not doing it, Ms.Granger. Focus."
How did she know that? Ignoring this thought, Hermione took a deep breath and motioned the energy from her neck and her hips to her heart. Her body was withering piece by piece and she freed her mind to let it continue. Come on, Hermione; you have to get this right, she told herself.
"You're doing it…a second more…alright. Open your eyes."
Hermione did as she was told, only to find that she was staring at the hem of her teacher's robes. She leaped back in astonishment, and felt something waving in the back of her body, or whatever she was. Hermione elevated her arm, and gasped. She was looking at a white paw with razor-sharp claws.
"Don't be frightened." said McGonagall, conjuring up an oval mirror, and placed it in front of Hermione.
A medium sized white cat with bits of fur was facing the mirror. Hermione opened her mouth to say "Oh my god" but a pronounced purr came out and her prickly whiskers flourished. She approached the mirror more closely and gazed at her round gray eyes.
"Somehow I knew you would turn into a cat," said Mcgonagall, smiling, "Now I'll teach you to turn back."
…
Hermione couldn't believe how fast the time was flying around her. Her N.E.W.T's were thankfully over and only a month remained until she would have to leave Hogwarts. She was not looking forward to it. So many memories dwelled in this castle, such as making two lifelong friends and growing up from a young girl to a young woman. The unfortunate thing about this departing was that it would be a conflicting one.
Hermione felt like a monkey, or at least a monkey engaging in the game of monkey in the middle. Ron and Harry still weren't speaking to each other, and everyday they made her feel like she had to chose between her friend and her boyfriend. However, Hermione just stayed neutral, not saying anything to either of them. Yes, she had tried to convince them to forgive each other once, but that had failed. Personally, she knew who was in the wrong. The morning after the disaster, Hermione had made an attempt to get through Ron's head, telling him that Ginny was old enough to make her own decisions and liver her own life, but she was unsuccessful. Ron criticized her for always siding with Harry, and that made her angry.
Of course, she was still talking to both of them, but just separately, when the other one wasn't around. She had to watch what she was saying or they would probably stop communicating with her, which she didn't want.
Ginny was not speaking to Ron either, but Hermione wasn't so worried about this. Hey were siblings and would forget about the whole dilemma. She was more concerned about Harry and Ron. The last time they hadn't spoken to each other this long was in their fourth year when Ron had gotten jealous of Harry's over inflated publicity.
Feeling more confident from transforming herself into a cat, she decided that she would bring them back together today. Right now, Hermione was heading to Transfiguration class and when she entered it, she automatically sat next to Parvati. She, Ron, and Harry no longer sat together in any class. Harry would take place next to Neville and Ron would settle beside Seamus and wait for Hermione to join him, but she wouldn't. She didn't want Harry to think that she was taking Ron's side, so she sat next to Parvati or someone else every day. Once class was over, Hermione promised herself that she was going to talk to Ron first. She could have asked Harry first, but this fight wasn't really his fault, and also, he would lose his temper worse than Ron.
When Transfiguration class ended, Hermione got up from her seat and as she left the classroom, she saw Harry storm way ahead of her. When the coast was clear, Hermione put her plan in effect and sneaked up on Ron, who was walking alone, and hugged him warmly from behind. He jumped and turned around in surprise, and raised his eyes, "What? Come to yell at me some more?"
"No. I wanted to say sorry for avoiding you. Forgive me?" she said, looking at him with charming eyes.
"Ahhh…don't give me that look." said Ron, with a flicker of a grin.
"I'll take that as a yes." she said flirtingly and walked with him, hand in hand. Noticing that he was in a good mood, she decided to speak out.
"Ron?"
"Hmm?"
"Why don't you talk to-"
"No." Ron cut in brusquely, "If that's why you came to me, then forget it. I am not talking to him, and if you keep on bugging me, then I might stop talking to you as well."
Hermione let go of his hand. Not speaking to Harry was one thing, but being cold with her was going too far. What had she done?
But I'm not going to give up after one try, she thought, and came straight to the point, "Harry didn't do anything wrong!"
"Yes, he did! You saw them!" he said heatedly, as they turned the corner of the next corridor.
"Oh Ron, they're in love! Just like us! Why are you being so hypocritical?"
"You seem to have forgotten our vacation. When he went ballistic and attacked you? You do realize that he could have killed you, right? I was furious at him, but didn't say anything, thinking he didn't need to deal with me on top of everything else in his life."
"He was under Voldemort's influence, or anger, whatever. That wasn't his fault!" declared Hermione.
"So what? He could have hurt you. It's a good thing you were smart enough to withhold him."
Hermione wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. This was getting her nowhere, "Is there ANYTHING I can say to make you apologize to Harry?"
"Hmm…let me think," he put a finger on his chin, pretending to be in deep thought, "No."
"What about the Quidditch match that's coming up? How are you two going to work together and win if you're not even talking to him?"
"There is no 'working together'. I block the balls, and that's it. It doesn't require communication."
Hermione took a deep breath, trying extremely hard not to yell at Ron, and let it out in a huff. She walked in silence for the rest of the way to her next class, Potions. If no one was worried about this, then maybe she should stop playing mediator.
She thought they wouldn't be doing anything in Potions class since their exams were over, but she was wrong. Snape assigned them a Skin Color Potion, which could change the pigment of a person's skin tone for a certain amount of time after they drank the potion. Hermione partnered up with Dean in the back of the class, and as they put down all of the needed ingredients on their desk and sat down, Draco approached the desk in front of theirs where Pansy Parkinson was sitting. Hermione articulated a "hello" and he gave one back in return. Seeing this, Pansy threw her a nasty look, and Dean muttered under his breath, "What is this world coming to…"
The potion wasn't difficult to make, but it was pretty complicated enough to make after all of their studies were over. During the potion making, Draco would turn around when Pansy was babbling like crazy to observe her and Dean. Hermione caught his stare once and he rolled his eyes toward Pansy. Pansy stopped talking and twirled about to give Hermione another glare, "Why don't you concentrate on your own partner, you bitch."
"Maybe if you shut your mouth for once and stopped boring Draco, then maybe he wouldn't have to turn around and make me lose my concentration."
"Shut up!" Pansy's eyes flashed dangerously. She turned to Draco and shoved him to face forward. Draco shifted his hand to his back and made a claw like motion. Hermione understood.
She observed the students, who were chatting animatedly, and Snape, who was arranging some jars on his shelves, and decided that the coast was clear.
"What are you doing?" inquired Dean.
"Just watch." she replied, and transformed into a white cat. Dean recoiled and then marveled at the cat in front of him.
Hermione the cat leaped forward to Draco and Pansy's desk and was about to scratch Pansy, but she jumped and screamed and waved her hand past the glass jars on the desk, causing them to crash down on the floor. White gooze splattered all over and expanded, while the unusual bugs scurried across the classroom. All of the students turned to the back of the classroom at the sound.
Hermione ducked instantly under the desk and went back to human form, now standing straight behind Pansy.
"What was that?" said Snape ferociously, and began to make his way to the end of the classroom. Once there, he perceived the broken jars on the floor in front of Hermione's feet. Her heart jumped with fear as Snape glared at her in turbulence and opened his mouth, "Granger! How dare you make a mess in my classroom! 20 points from Gryffindor and a detention after school to clean this-"
"It wasn't her fault, Professor Snape." someone interrupted Snape. Surprisingly, it was Draco. Hermione stared at him, and she wasn't the only one. The whole class was observing the scene with open mouths, not believing what they were seeing and hearing.
Draco continued, "Yeah. She came to help us with the Potion and I accidentally hit my hand on the jars and they fell."
Hermione could tell that Snape knew Draco was lying, but didn't say anything negative after that. He told her to sit down and help Draco clean the mess up, but she didn't really take any of this in. Ron was staring at her suspiciously, and she knew exactly why.
…
The next day, they headed out to the small village of Hogsmeade. It shined against the scorching sun as Hermione walked on the main road with Ron by her side. It was an extremely humid day, causing sweat to drip down her face and an uncomfortable moistness in her armpits, and it got hotter and hotter as she further moved her body.
Hermione deeply absorbed her surroundings because she knew she would never see them again. It was hard to take in the fact that she would never be able to buy candy in Honeydukes or have a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks with her friends after today. Harry had Ginny were here together, and that lessened Hermione's guilty feeling of partiality.
"Let's go to the Broom Room for a minute," said Ron, swerving to the right, "I need some polish for tomorrow."
She nodded. Tomorrow, of course, was the final Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and she knew Ron was determined more than ever to win and beat Slytherin. While walking to the Quidditch shop, they ran into Mason VanCuren, one of the Chasers of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He pulled Ron aside and engaged in deep conversation about the techniques he was going to use tomorrow. Hermione, who was standing next to Ron, sighed and walked away from them for some space. They had Quidditch practice almost everyday; why couldn't they discuss it there?
She gazed past the shop and took notice of the copse of coarse trees staying still as a statue. A minute after, she saw Andrew Kirke exiting the Broom Room, humming to himself, and behind him came out Jack Sloper with a haughty expression on his face. What was this, a Quidditch reunion day?
Hermione averted her eyes suddenly. She could have sworn that she had seen something move in the scattered forest behind the Quidditch shop. She squinted her eyes and confirmed her suspicion. A black figure was limping deeper into the forest in the direction of her and Ron's special place.
This is my chance, she thought as she swerved and violently shook Ron's arm, "Ron! Look!"
"Yeah, hold on." he said without facing her, and continued his conversation.
But she couldn't hold on. Instinctively, Hermione sprinted across the off beaten path without checking to see if Ron had noticed her flight.
The figure, now about a hundred feet of her, cricked his neck and paced himself through the forest. Why was he running away? He could have easily captured her. Hermione was dismissive of the fact that she was an alone and unprotected young witch chasing a full grown Death Eater. Hermione didn't know what she was going to do once she caught him, but as she left Hogsmeade behind her, something peculiar about the figure caught her eye. He was limping.
Now only a several feet away from him, she yelled, "Hey! STOP!"
Expectedly, he didn't. Hermione couldn't figure out why he didn't just Disapparate, since they were in Hogsmeade and no spells could block it like it could in Hogwarts.
Even though the Death Eater was limping, he was advancing by the second and Hermione cried out in frustration. Suddenly, a mosquito flew past her and she realized that she was an Animagus. She transformed into a cat and dashed across.
Hermione caught up with the man, who had now reached her and Ron's lake spot, in no time. With all of his weight on one foot, he shambled slower than before and wasn't aware of her behind him. She closed in on his worse leg and dug her claws into his skin. He shrieked and fell flat onto the ground, clutching his leg in pain.
Hermione went back to her human form and stared at the person in front of her. This was it. She was finally going to find out who had been following her all these months.
She lunged forward and pulled his hood off. Hermione stumbled back a step, staring at the face, and totally flabbergasted.
Draco's once pale face was now clad in dirt and fresh blood, with a huge scar gashed on his left cheek and his purple upper forehead bleeding.
She clapped a hand to her mouth, "Oh my god…" She held out her other hand to help him up, and he lurched up, staggering from side to side. As soon as she retrieved her hand, he swayed down like a helpless little child. For the second time, she pulled him up and took a firm grip on his arm, causing Draco to wince in pain.
"Sorry," said Hermione, loosening her grip, "What in the name of Merlin happened to you?"
"Nothing, I just…tripped." replied Draco. He coughed roughly and examined the marks on his leg.
Hermione raised her eyebrows, "Don't forget who you're talking to. So, it was you. You're the one who's been stalking me all these months! I can't believe it! Why? Why did you do it? Who ordered you?"
"No! That was not me…it was-"
"Who?" demanded Hermione.
"Someone else." said Draco, putting his palm on his forehead to stop the bleeding. Hermione felt guilty as she examined his dirty hair and half-bloodied face. This was no time to investigate him. If he was really after her, he would have been doing the attacking, not someone else attacking him.
"We have to get you to the Hospital wing, Draco. You're bleeding like mad." she said seriously, wondering how he was going to walk all the way to the castle.
"No! I can't go there! They'll ask me all sorts of questions, and I can't answer them. You know how suspicious they are of me already."
"Are you planning to tell me?" interrupted Hermione, although she had a good idea about who had hurt him. She conjured up a cloth and pressed it against his forehead.
He squealed, "Ow! Watch it!"
Hermione grinned, "You're such a wimp. So, tell me who did this to you."
Once again, Draco's face distorted, "I can't."
"Fine…" she gave up on that, but as fresh blood leaked out of his forehead, "You really should go to the Hospital Wing. I think your brain's leaking."
"Very funny," said Draco sarcastically, "Don't you know any anti-bleed spells or something? You're like a walking encyclopedia."
"If I knew any, I would use them. And if there were such spells, then there wouldn't be Hospital wings." She moved the cloth to his lower lip and kept it there for a minute to let it absorb all the blood. As she did this, she found Draco gazing at her dreamily. She looked at him suspiciously, "What?"
Draco broke his gaze, "Nothing."
A peculiar silence hovered over them and Hermione began to feel a bit uncomfortable. She thought about Ron and hoped that he wasn't worried about her. Running here like a wild animal was wrong, and she ought to have told him where she was going.
Hermione put her attention back to Draco and said, "Why would they attack you? You didn't do anything."
"Exactly. I didn't do what I was supposed to." he said silently.
"And that was…?" said Hermione, waiting for him to elaborate.
His eyes made contact with hers, "I can't tell you that. I reckon I'd be killed on the spot if I did."
"So what are you saying? They're around here somewhere?"
Draco didn't speak.
"Oh, that's right. You can't answer to that either," she said, getting rid of the red cloth, "Well, now that I ran into you, I want to thank you for vouching for me yesterday."
"Mm…no problem. It was my fault to begin with." he mumbled, and went back to staring at her. She restrained herself from rolling her eyes with difficulty, "For the second time, why are you staring at me?"
As an answer, Draco closed in on her unexpectedly and kissed her lips. Hermione's eyes widened and she backed up immediately. She held up her hand and was ready to slap Draco, but her eyes traveled past him to someone standing a few paces away, leaving her hand right where it was in midair.
Draco narrowed his eyes at her and then turned to the direction of her stare. Ron gave Draco an evil glare and pivoted to storm off in the other direction.
Hermione lowered her hand slowly. Her heartbeat rose by the second and her mind swirled into consternation. What was she doing? Go after him! A thought commanded her.
"Look at what you did!" Hermione spat viciously to Draco, who didn't look nearly as upset as her. She blasted off after Ron.
What a mess…this is not going to go well…I should have just slapped Draco when I had the chance…at least Ron would have believed that Draco was the one who kissed me, but now…
"Ron, wait!"
Ron twirled around to face her. She expected him to be furious, but his face wasn't even read and his eyes showed not emotion. Even his docile hair seemed to be cooperating with his feelings.
Hermione waved her hands helplessly, "I'm sorry Ron, but he just kissed me out of nowhere, I didn't know he was going to."
He did not believe her. Of course he didn't. "Looks like the tables have turned. Do you really expect me to buy that?"
"You're calling me a liar? I'm telling the truth! Why would I want to kiss him?" seethed Hermione.
"Then what were you doing there?" Ron is about to explode. How was she supposed to convince him that she was telling the truth?
"I saw him in here and I thought it was that Death Eater so I went after him but it actually turned out to be-"
"Am I really supposed to believe that you went after him, just happened to be so close to him, and just happened to be kissing him when I came? AND ESPECIALLY AT OUR SPOT?" he bellowed, spit flying out of his mouth and his callous nature leaving him.
"Ron, you have to trust me. He kissed me, not the other way around. I love you, only you!" Hermione moaned desperately, tears streaming down her face.
"No. I don't trust you. I don't love you anymore." His cold eyes trailed down to her neck where her necklace was placed, and he yanked the necklace with full force. Hermione yelped from the instantaneous sting and grasped her bare neck. Once the necklace was in Ron's hands, he turned abruptly and dissolved out of her sight.