Chapter 12

Hermione found herself avoiding the ways she knew Draco walked, and told herself that she was simply taking the scenic route, refusing to admit that she didn't want to face him.

It grew harder and harder in class to ignore him. Every time something interesting happened she wanted to catch his eye and make faces at him, but now she couldn't, and she had to be satisfied with giving knowing glances to Pandora, Harry, and Ron.

Most of all, she didn't want to admit that she missed him. She repeatedly told herself that she was better off without him, and that he was a heartless jerk. But she knew this wasn't true; he had been loving and supportive before. So she continued to delusion herself.

But despite the fact that she no longer associated herself with Draco, she progressed in her spying on Professor Santisi.

It was clear that Professor McGonagall had been wrong about Lucius being Santisi's first cousin, because both Lucius' first cousins were dead. But something kept nagging at the back of Hermione's mind. She desperately wanted to know, who Professor Santisi was, and what he was doing at Hogwarts.

The Gryffindor Gang was now whole again, and Hermione began spending more and more time with Harry. They had always been good friends, even best friends, but things and people had interfered.


"Hey Hermione," Harry said one afternoon as they were heading to Transfiguration after lunch. "You know Pan?"

"Of course I know Pan," Hermione replied irritably. "She's one of my best friends."

"No, I meant that, as I want to talk about Pan, do you want to as well?" Harry said patiently, switching his book bag to his other shoulder nervously. "Since she's off talking with Dumbledore, I thought today would be a good time to talk about her."

"What did she do?" Hermione asked in a rather patronizing tone. "I'm sure it's not worth talking about her behind her ba-"

"She didn't do anything," Harry said hastily. "I was just wondering if you knew what she thought about me."

"Oh," Hermione said suddenly. "I get it. You like her."

"Shush!" Harry said violently.

"Well, why don't we talk about it after dinner," Hermione said. "Ron's coming and if you don't want him to know yet…"

Ron came running up. "Thanks for waiting you guys," he muttered. "Glad to know I'm loved."

"You are," Hermione replied flippantly.


Dinner was a quiet affair, Pan was too busy eating to really talk, Harry was clearly on edge about Pan, and was too nervous to say anything remotely intelligent.

After dinner, Hermione grabbed Harry by the elbow and dragged him to the tower.

Once they were out of hearing range, she turned to him.

"What is it about Pan?" she asked, pushing him down on the couch. "You should tell me before you burst."

Harry did indeed look like he was going to burst, his cheeks were flushed, his lips pressed together tightly.

"Okay," he said finally letting out a great rush of breath like he'd been holding it. "I really like Pan."

Hermione was expecting more, and she waited for him to continue. Eventually what he had said stank in, and she sat back in slight surprise.

"Well," she said slowly. "I'm not sure that's a good idea… Since you have a girlfriend back on Privet Drive and stuff."

Harry blushed. "I broke up with her."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged hesitantly. "I don't know, you seemed to be pretty preoccupied with Draco, and now that you guys are over, you seem to be a lot less worried."

"You could say that," Hermione replied glumly. "I miss him though. It's very strange, not having a boyfriend anymore. But the more I think about it, we weren't ever really boyfriend and girlfriend. More like friends with benefits."

Harry shook his head. "You guys were made for each other: you're both very know-it-all, you love being right, and you share the same interests."

"Nah," Hermione said tiredly. "Let's talk about you and Pan. That's much more interesting."

"Sure," Harry moaned gloomily. "She doesn't like me, I know it!"

"Harry don't be so negative," Hermione said, putting her arm around his shoulders and motioning to the air in front of them. "It's entirely possible that she likes you; you're just too scared to do anything that would interest her. Ask her to the next Hogsmeade trip."

Harry pushed away her arm. "Aw, Hermione, what if she says no? What happens then?"
"You'd be disappointed," she said with a slight shrug. "But you don't have anything to lose."

"That's easy for you to say," Harry retorted.

Hermione had to laugh, because he was right.


Hermione lay in bed listening to the birds singing outside the tower, even though it was long past dark. She wondered what kept them up, and why they were plaguing her sleep.

"Go away," she muttered, slamming the window shut with a loud clang. "What the hell is your problem?"

The birds were silenced and she was trapped in a cocoon of warm air. She quickly cast a circulation spell, and lay down to sleep.

"Hermione," a familiar voice came from the blue, scolding her. "What have you done?"
She opened her eyes and found that she was sitting on a cliff. Ocean stretched as far as the eye could see, blue and green, beautiful. Mist rolled off with each crash of a milky green wave, and she could see seaweed drifting in the foam.

"I haven't done anything," she said to Persephone, who was sitting next to her. Persephone shook her head, her golden curls brushing against Hermione.

"Don't be foolish Hermione. You know what I'm talking about."

Hermione was slightly affronted. "If you're talking about Draco, it was more his choice than mine. He wanted to put our relationship on a break, not me."

Persephone pursed her lips angrily. "Hermione, stop being so mule headed. There is more at work here; Draco is not speaking of his own free will."

"He hasn't been possessed or anything, has he?" Hermione asked, exasperated.

Persephone shook her head. "Luc."

Hermione awoke with a start and suddenly everything was clear.


A/N: Once again, thanks for all the support! You guys rock! Okay, just leave a review and all... You know the drill. :)