Chapter Five
"He's just about the saddest little fuck ever put on this planet!" Harry raged once out of the lesson and back on his favourite subject: Malfoy's supreme bastard-ness. "I can't believe Lupin let him get away with shit like that! And then he tells me off!"
"Relax, Harry," said Ron calmly, well aware that it was not the right moment to say that he, too, thought Harry had earned the reprimand. Right now, all you could do was try to calm Harry down a little. "It's OK. You know I don't listen to a word the twit says."
"THAT'S NOT THE FUCKING POINT!" Harry yelled, red-faced with anger. "It was the way he used the word werewolf, like it was a dirty word or something! There's nothing wrong with Lupin!"
"We know, Harry," said Hermione soothingly, wondering why Harry always seemed to think that he was the only one who knew Lupin, or Sirius, or whoever was the subject of conversation at the moment. "We both know Lupin as well as you do. But Malfoy is just an idiot. Don't let him get to you. It's just Malfoy being a prat, as usual." Far from reassuring Harry, however, this only seemed to fuel his anger.
"It's not just about Malfoy!" he exclaimed, turning on both of them. "Neville and Parvati just walked out on him! Half the people in our class didn't meet his eyes! They all think he's some kind of monster! And I mean what the hell is Neville's problem! He had Lupin for Defence Against the Dark Arts for a year and had no trouble with him! And suddenly just because it turns out he's a werewolf, now Neville's all like Ooh, I can't be in his class..."
"Damn it, Harry, he's scared!" Ron yelled, making his friend stop in shock. Hermione bit her lip, fearing for the worst. Ron had been keeping all his frustration over Harry's behaviour bottled up lately, and she was afraid he might really blow up this time. "Is that so damn hard to get through your head? Werewolves are dangerous, there's nothing else to it! Everyone's not comfortable with that, OK? There's practically no education about werewolves because it's always been such a sensitive subject, so no one knows what it really means to be one. For Neville it's like being asked to attend a lesson with a tiger! I'd probably feel the same if I hadn't known Lupin! Fuck, Harry, just get that stick out of your ass and realize that not everybody can be as perfectly fucking brave as you!" He stopped, almost panting after his outburst. Harry, stunned into silence, simply stared at him for several long seconds. Then he turned on his heel and left them, stomping up towards the castle. Ron glared after him, but after a moment the anger left his expression and he turned a worried face on Hermione.
"Think I was too hard on him?"
"Tell you the truth, I think he deserved that," sighed Hermione, stepping up to Ron and wrapping her arms around his waist. "I just hope he isn't going to blow on Neville later..."
"He won't. I'll make sure of that." Ron ran his hands through her hair, smiling tiredly. "And to think that just this morning I was starting to believe he was actually getting over it."
"Yeah, me too." Hermione sighed again, deeply, leaning her head against him. "I'm starting to get really pissed off here, Ron. I'm just so tired of it all. The diplomacy, the soothing talks, the constant worrying that someone will say a word out of line... and the looking after him. I mean, just take this moment now – all I'm thinking about is that he'll probably skip lunch again. I'm turning into my mother..."
"Worse yet, you're turning into my mother," grinned Ron, making her feel better. "Well, at least he hasn't cursed anyone yet. I wish I could say he'll calm down in a while, but I said that at midsummer too... anyway. We're back at Hogwarts now, and that's something to be happy about."
"Yay, we're back at school."
"Don't sound so sarcastic. You know you feel like a fish out of the water when you don't have homework and teachers all around you."
"You are such a bastard! Shut up!" Hermione bit his arm and scowled up at him playfully. "Is that any way to talk to your girlfriend?"
"You've got to be kidding me."
Hermione and Ron sprang apart as quickly as if an electric charge had passed through them and turned to face Malfoy, who was standing a couple of metres away, with his arms crossed over his chest and an expression that was a curious mixture of astonishment, mockery and almost anger.
"You mean someone actually wants the rodent?" he said, grinning crookedly. "Sheez Weasley, kissing that thing must really be a mouthful."
"You shut up right now," snarled Ron, reaching immediately for his wand. But he wasn't as fast as Hermione, who walked briskly up to Malfoy, raised her hand and slapped him so hard that his head snapped back.
"Fuck, that hurt!" she exclaimed, shaking her hand. Ron grinned. "Malfoy, you're not exactly in a position to call anyone rodent. Keep that in mind. And don't insult me again, or I will break my hand next time... Ron, let's go." She turned from the shocked Malfoy, who couldn't seem to find the words for even a single insult, and skipped up to her boyfriend, very obviously took his arm and steered them both away.
Once inside the school they started laughing so hard Professor Flitwick asked if Harry Potter had been practising Cheering Charms again.
………………………………
"Hey, Brainy." Hermione started as the voice spoke from the shadows, instantly on the alert. Two weeks had passed since she had slapped Malfoy, and she couldn't help being a bit nervous about retaliation. Not that Malfoy had ever hurt her physically before, but you never knew... However, it wasn't Malfoy or his cronies who stepped out from behind a statue – it was Rachel Nott.
"Rachel? What are you doing here?"
"I need your help." The words were said so quietly that for a moment, Hermione wasn't sure that she had heard correctly. Rachel didn't look too happy about it either; her eyes were angry and she was blushing. "There's this kid in our house, don't know if you know her... Sarah Aniki."
"Oh, one of the twins!" said Hermione happily. She had talked to the twin in her own house, Christine, several more times since the Welcome Feast and found her to be a smart kid. Also, since the girl was muggle-born like herself, Hermione had felt a kind of kinship with her, and had been happy to help her with any questions she had. She and her sister often walked together in the school, accompanying each other to classes that the Slytherins shared with the Gryffindors, and reluctantly parting company when they were due in different classes. It was strange to see two girls from the rivalling Houses being so close, but Hermione had grown used to it quickly.
"Yeah, well she's a bit upset." Rachel frowned. "A little dick called Grant Pucey said something about her being from a muggle family and now she's crying like crazy. She wants her sister." She paused and looked expectantly at Hermione, who felt that her part in all this had not entirely been made clear.
"And?" she asked.
"And, Brainy," Rachel continued, looking annoyed, "I need you to get her, don't I? Even if I could find the Gryffindor common room, I'd hardly be let in."
"But – "
"Look, I wouldn't be asking you if I had a choice!" Rachel snapped. "Just get the kid for me, OK? I'll be waiting here." She hesitated, then bit her lip and reluctantly said, "Please."
It was this more than anything else that convinced Hermione about how serious the other girl was. She hurried back to the common room, checking her watch to see how much more time until she had to stay inside the Gryffindor tower. It wasn't that late, so hopefully she'd have no trouble. She walked into the common room to find Harry and Ron engaged in an animated chess game (Harry was, not surprisingly, losing). They hardly seemed to notice her presence, a fact for which she was glad – then they wouldn't ask questions later. Just like in her earlier encounter with Rachel, she felt that it was something she should keep to herself.
Christine was sitting by the fireplace, laughing with some girls in her year, their homework forgotten by their side. "Christine?" said Hermione, making the other girl look up quickly and smile happily.
"Hi!" she said cheerily. "We've been talking about Professor Dumbledore. Do you have him in anything? He is so funny!"
"Yeah, but he doesn't teach," smiled Hermione, somewhat ruefully. She had been hoping that Dumbledore would take on the job of teaching the Defence Against the Dark Arts, but sadly that had not been so. Instead they had a young warlock called Marco Shivers – not exactly an inspiring last name, considering the subject he was teaching. But he had turned out to be good, very structured and orderly. And he smiled a lot.
"Could you come with me, Christine? I need you for something," Hermione continued, not wanting to discuss Sarah in front of the other girls. Thankfully, Christine didn't ask why, merely followed her out of the common room. Once out of earshot of others, Hermione explained what Rachel had told her.
"...so that's why she wanted you to come. She probably wants someone who your sister feels at ease with."
"Yeah, I guess." Christine nodded. "Can you come, too? I don't think I can find my way back to the common room alone."
Hermione had expected this and dreaded it. Of course she would have to say yes, but it would be awkward for her and she'd have to put up with the company of the Slytherins, whereof approximately seventy percent regularly spent time daydreaming about her sudden and painful death.
"Of course," she smiled.
…………………………………
"Sorry, no pets allowed in here," sneered Pansy Parkinson, blocking the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. Hermione didn't answer but merely gave the other girl a very tired look. You'd think that she could at least come up with one new joke…
"I'm surprised they let you in every evening then, Pansy," snapped Rachel, unexpectedly coming to Hermione's aid. "Having a face like a dog's arse should naturally exclude you as well, shouldn't it?"
Pansy snorted derisively, but her eyes flicked with a hint of uncertainty from her house mate to Hermione and back again. Then she seemed to find her bearings again, and settled easily back into insult mode. "Started licking Gryffindor ass, have you?" she smirked, the look of unease changing subtly into calculation. "Chose the wrong one, though. If you wanted to get yourself up in the world you should have jumped into bed with Potter the Hero instead – no one likes Granger anyway. Or are you thinking she'll do your homework for you?"
"Merlin, how old are you?" Rachel sighed with obvious fatigue, seemingly not bothered in the slightest by Pansy's insinuations. "Brainy here is only with me because she's helping out with the kid. If you have a better plan to get her out of that room you are free to go ahead with it. Better not trust in your magical powers to do it though – we want this fixed before next week, after all. Now get your face out of mine. It's not very decorative."
Christine giggled.
"Go screw yourself, Rachel," said Pansy, but stood aside a little. "Alright, she goes in. But if she can't be of any help can I please practise Unforgivables on her?"
"Sure," said Rachel easily and added to Hermione in a not-quite-silent mutter, "It's unlikely you'd get more than a slight headache anyway."
As Hermione passed the disgruntled Slytherin girl (who was glaring at her with undisguised menace), she couldn't help wonder if her appearance alone had been enough to trigger such a storm of insults, or if this was just normal Slytherin niceties.
Then she realized that was House stereotyping and cursed at herself.
She stepped into the common room with the strongest feeling of dread she had experienced since she faced the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Expecting to see only hate, she hardly dared look at anyone. How did this happen? she thought. How could simple competition between two goddamn Houses develop into this enmity? Since when do kids have to be scared of their schoolmates? It's so damn wrong... However, some of those she looked at as they passed through the room didn't look hostile when they saw her and Christine, but rather... relieved?
"Hey, what's up with that boy?" she asked Rachel, nodding towards a little kid who was bawling in one corner of the room, comforted by an older boy. "Someone else who's upset?"
"Yeah, and rightly so." Rachel scowled. "That's Grant Pucey, the brat."
"What's happened to him?" asked Hermione in surprise. Rachel looked very deliberately away from her, and Hermione finally began to put two and two together. So maybe she wasn't always as clever as everybody said... "There's something you didn't tell me, right? What's Sarah done? Why didn't you tell me?" She grabbed Rachel's arm, but the other girl yanked herself out of her grasp.
"Look, Brainy," she snarled, turning towards Hermione and narrowing her eyes. "If I'd have told you that Grant Pucey was bodily picked up and slammed into a wall by something invisible but no less strong for that, then held there until he was nearly suffocating, what would you have done? You'd have said, "Tell a teacher". But we don't want to involve the teachers, OK? If this kid," she indicated Christine, who was skipping along a few metres in front of them, "can help out, then that's good. If we can't calm Sarah down even with her help, then maybe we'll go to Professor Snape. But if you say anything to anyone, there are lots of people who won't hesitate to make your life hell. Got it?" She didn't wait for an answer, but quickened her pace to catch up with Christine. Feeling upset and unwelcome, Hermione followed suit.
They stopped in front of a door and Christine turned to Rachel, frowning in concern. "This is Sarah's room, right? The other girls who live with her, are they there now?" When Rachel shook her head she smiled. "Good. I don't know how to unlock the door, can you help me?"
Rachel bit her lip, disappointment evident. "I was hoping you'd know," she muttered, and then turned to Hermione. "We tried the most. Blaise says it's some kind of curse. We tested most Upheavals, but nothing worked."
"What?" Hermione stared at her. "Who – wait, are you saying Sarah performed this curse? To lock herself in? How is that even possible? That's strong magic!"
"We haven't done curses yet," said Christine, matter-of-factly.
"Can you get this door open?" Rachel hadn't taken her eyes away from Hermione. "Like I said, we really don't know what to do anymore."
"I – " Hermione hesitated. Well, since Christine didn't seem to have any plan, it was probably up to her. But what kind of girl was this Sarah? To react so strongly, to be so magically powerful... The door was protected by an unusually strong curse. What curse? And how could it be broken? They had been working with Upheavals quite a lot, but if none of those worked...
Well... there was one other way.
Possibly.
"What's your wand core?" she asked, turning to Rachel.
"Dragon heartstring," answered Rachel promptly. "Bought it in Romania."
"Can I borrow it?"
"What?" Rachel looked surprised and suspicious, seemingly reluctant to part with her wand. Not strange – the wand was something very personal, after all. After a few moments of hesitation however, she offered it up.
"Thank you." Hermione smiled, then closed her eyes, trying to recall the incantation she needed. "Requiescat Pacetim... um... Spiritus?" She bit her lip and added, "Finite Incantatem."
Nothing happened. Rachel, who had tensed up, breathed out in a sigh and snorted in derision. She opened her mouth to say something, but Christine reached out for the door handle and turned it, opening the door as naturally as if nothing had ever happened. She looked over her shoulder at Hermione and the stunned Rachel and smiled.
"Thanks for the help! I'll try to be quick." She grinned happily, stepped through the door and closed it behind her. Hermione breathed a deep sigh, thanking her lucky star that it had actually worked. Rachel was looking at the door with her mouth still open.
"You sure live up to your reputation." Hermione turned quickly, to see Blaise Zabini, without either hat or long cloak for once, standing by the wall. "Very clever," he said. "What did you use? We even asked Draco and not even he could get that door open."
"Well, it's because you said it had to be a curse," said Hermione, eager to explain. "I thought that then it had to be one of the Suicidal Curses, and with them you have to pacify the soul before you can finish the curse. The Requiescat Pacetim spell is just one way – it's a way to calm down someone who is very unhappy, that builds on companionship. To perform it you have to use another wand than your own, preferably one with a wand core that is not very similar, to symbolize cooperation. After that it was just a simple Finite Incantatem – the actual curse is not very strong, but it builds on the person's emotions. I'm surprised it worked through a closed door though. Usually, like the Cheering Charm, you have to be close to the person..."
"I asked for an explanation, not a lecture," Blaise interrupted, raising an eyebrow. Hermione angrily opened her mouth to answer, but then thought better of it and closed it again. Blaise raised his other eyebrow, too, but didn't comment. "Well, I didn't think I'd ever say this to you, but thanks. I hope your housemate can calm her sister down now. We didn't really know what to do until Rachel recalled Sarah had a sister."
"Why – " Hermione began.
"Why do we even care? Well, she's in our house, isn't she? If you found out one of the Firsties in your house was showing suicidal tendencies, would you just get on with your stuff and don't give a damn? Just because we happen to be Slytherins we're not inhuman, you know."
"That's not what I meant," muttered Hermione quietly.
"Yeah, whatever." Blaise snorted and turned to Rachel (she had closed her mouth by then). "Will you show them back or should I?"
"I will. I don't think you can get back to Gryffindor on your own, can you?" She looked at Hermione, who shook her head emphatically. It was one thing to find the way to and from the Slytherin common room with Harry and Ron – which they had done on occasion – but quite another to it on her own, in the dark, and with the staircases in an extremely vindictive mood. "I'll take you then. I'll be OK." This last sentence puzzled Hermione, until she realized it was said to Blaise, not to her. But what the hell... "I'll be OK"? Did they expect her to pull a wand and attack Rachel right there and then, or what? Sheez...
Ten minutes later the door opened and Christine stepped out. "She's sleeping now," she said quietly, and closed the door softly behind her. "Just leave her alone for a while and she'll feel better. She was pretty upset about what that boy said, but she won't do anything to him again. She just sort of lost control... that can happen sometimes. If it does again, just hug her. She likes hugs. If she's in danger of hurting anyone, don't hesitate to... what's it called... oh yeah, Body Bind her or anything like that – she won't be mad at you for it. And if you need me again, just send me word and I'll come as fast as I can." She smiled prettily at the two Slytherins. Blaise smiled back.
"Thanks, kid. Rachel here is going to guide you back now. Thanks for the help."
"You're welcome," said Christine seriously.
They walked back towards the Gryffindor part of the castle in silence – or at least Hermione and Rachel were for the most part silent, while Christine kept up the conversation for all three of them. They stopped near the entrance hall, Rachel fidgeting a little.
"From here you can make it yourselves. I've got to get back before I run out of time, too."
"Thank you for everything, Rachel!" grinned Christine, extending her hand. Rachel took it, smiling.
"I'm not about to die or anything, kid. "Thank you for everything", sounds like the last line in some soppy movie. Sheez. And anyway... I'm the one who should be saying thanks. And," she stood up, "that includes you too, I guess." She looked balefully at Hermione, who was about to snap back when she realized the other girl was actually trying to thank her – although Hermione had never seen someone so awkward since Ron had asked her to a Chudley Cannons game back in their second year. (It had been a horribly embarrassing date and one they had both preferred to forget as quickly as possible. All considered, Hermione sometimes thought, it was pretty amazing that they had managed to become a couple at last.)
"You're welcome," she said lamely, feeling like an idiot. Rachel held her gaze for a few seconds, held it with those strange, yellow eyes, and then she looked away, out of the window close nearby.
"The moon is very beautiful tonight," she said suddenly and without warning. "But it's almost full."
And with that cryptic remark, Rachel Nott turned and walked away into the darkness.
…………………………………
That was a nice long chapter, right? Hope you liked it. Sorry for the long break though. It's because a) I haven't had access to a computer for a while and b) I sort of lost interest… a little… after reading the sixth Harry Potter book. My story feels drab in comparison.
But I fight bravely on!
My foot's a bit better.
Anyway.
Bye!
