Chapter Twelve
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The week passed without much error, and soon it was the night before Hogsmede. Paige had received her Howler, as Pepper found out, because Pepper had gotten a letter from Piper wondering what the hell it was. The subject of Ron and Hermione together was still nonexistent, and Pepper's O.W.L.s were coming up, though she wasn't too worried. It appeared to Pepper that Hermione wasn't following her advice to get Ron to notice her and pay more attention to her.
Homework was piling up, and Hermione was wondering whether or not she should go to Hogsmeade, but the others convinced her to, reminding her of the fact that she could finish it all in three hours, tops.
So on Saturday morning, the second Saturday of October, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Pepper all threw on Muggle clothes and met in the common room. They'd invited Ginny but she said she was going with someone else. It was a boy, they discovered, much to Ron's dismay.
They proceeded outside onto the grounds, where they were led to Hogsmede. It was a perfect day outside, and the students walked through the village happily, their moneybags being emptied.
Pepper looked at Hogsmeade with almost as much fascination as Diagon Alley. She was excited to spend her Wizard coins, which had been in her drawstring pouch since the beginning of the year.
Ron led the other three into the sweet shop first, and then Harry took them to a joke shop. The girls stood there patiently while the boys looked around the joke shop, but after a few minutes Hermione decided she was bored. Grabbing Pepper's wrist and yelling an explanation to Harry and Ron, she pulled Pepper from the shop and into another one that seemed to be full of writing tools.
Quills of every shape, size and color lined the walls. In the middle of the room were shelves upon floating shelves of all different kinds of ink. Rolls of parchment were in compartments labeled with the names of different countries.
"C'mon," Hermione muttered as she pulled Pepper to the walls of quills. "I need a new quill," she muttered.
Pepper pulled a particularly large quill made by a peacock feather from its holder and showed it to Hermione. "How bout this one?" she joked, knowing full well that it was much larger than the quills they normally used. "How can you tell what quill is what?" she asked Hermione. "I recognize this is peacock..." Pepper put that quill back and picked up a purple and white spotted one, "but I don't know what the heck this is."
"These containers are labeled," Hermione answered impatiently, pointing to the wooden container that held the quill Pepper was currently holding. "It tells you what the feather is from and what the quill is good for." Hermione returned to looking through the quills while Pepper read the uses for the purple and white quill.
"Beaumink feather," Pepper read, puzzled. "This quill allows you to write faster and is a great decoration for those boring hats...? I swear, these wizards are weird. Well, anyway, I think I'll get this quill, it sounds very useful. Plus, my hat could always use a little decoration."
Hermione let out an "Mmm" sound to show she wasn't really paying attention to anything Pepper was saying. She was just picking up quills, examining them and putting them back in their wooden boxes. Following Hermione's lead, Pepper also got a couple more standard quills, just for good measure.
Pepper walked over to the parchments to see if she found any that she'd like to purchase. There was a different fancy parchment for each county in the world. Pepper pulled the American one out of its slot. The parchment was thin and light blue with an intricate border of twinkling flags along its edge. Pepper rolled it back up and tucked it under her arm; she'd use it for a letter to her aunts. She also picked up one from Japan, since it said it was made from rice and fish skin.
The other rack of parchments she hadn't seen before were ones of different colors. Pepper selected out two pink ones and an aquamarine one.
Next was the inkstand, which contained all sorts of different inks. There were different colored ones, ones that changed colors, ones that disappeared, some that spell checked your work...there were too many different ones to count. Pepper chose a few bottles of normal black, a bottle that changed color, a bottle that spell checked essays and a bottle of disappearing ink.
With great difficulty, she carried her armful of items to the checkout desk and set them down. After the elderly wizard rang them up, she paid her four galleons and seven knuts and found Hermione once again.
Hermione had finally picked out a quill, and she'd also picked up some normal parchment and ink. When Hermione had paid for her purchases, she and Pepper exited the store, bags in hand, and entered the Quidditch store, when they saw Ron's red head in the window.
Harry and Ron were staring at the Moonbeam – the broom Pepper had fallen in love with the first time she saw it. "Bloody hell," Ron was muttering. "Loads of Galleons...Harry I don't even reckon you've got that many."
"Hello," Hermione said as she and Pepper came up behind them. The two boys turned around.
"Hi," Ron said. "Since neither Harry nor I have the gold to buy this broom what d'you say we go to the Shrieking Shack?"
Hermione gave Ron a significant look but Ron didn't seem to notice.
"I mean, we haven't been over there in a while and...Harry, what's wrong?" Ron asked, seeing Harry was now looking at the floor.
Pepper crossed over to him and touched his arm. "Harry...?"
"Mate, what's wrong?" Ron repeated.
"Snuffles," Hermione hissed at him. It seemed a light bulb had gone off in Ron's head, a look of understanding suddenly appeared on his face.
"Er, sorry Harry – " Ron began, but Harry cut him off by snapping his head back up and saying it was alright, he thought they should pay a visit to the Shrieking Shack. Pepper had no idea what the Shrieking Shack or Snuffles was, but all the same, she followed the other three out of the Quidditch shop and back into the village. She walked ahead, with Harry, who was still not fully back to earth, and Ron and Hermione were walking behind them, bickering as usual.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I forgot."
"How can you forget, Ronald! It hasn't been that long, you've got to keep Harry's feelings in mind!"
"I hate when they do this," Harry mumbled from beside Pepper. She walked closer to him, putting a reassuring hand on his.
"Lousy, that's how I think he feels! I know that's how he feels, because he's told me. I'm his best mate, Hermione!"
"Then start acting like it, for heaven's sake! You are so insensitive sometimes, you just need to – "
There was a sudden silence which Pepper and Harry found odd, so they turned around, not fully prepared for the sight before them. Ron's face was pressed against Hermione's...it appeared they were kissing. The mouths of Pepper and Harry dropped open, not believing what they were seeing. When Ron and Hermione finally broke apart, they were both flushed, slightly smiling and standing rooted to the spot. Overcoming her surprise, Pepper suddenly leaped and twirled around the two, chanting, "They kissed! They kissed!" over and over again.
Harry still stood with his mouth agape and Ron and Hermione were smiling fondly at each other while the human jumping bean danced around them. After a few minutes, Pepper fell onto the ground, panting and still chanting through gasps for air. "They kissed..." she finished feebly, getting to her feet. "Well, isn't anyone going to say something? Profess your undying love for one another?"
"Hermione I..." Ron started, but was soon interrupted by a drawling voice behind them.
"Isn't this cute?" it said, as Malfoy came into view, flanked, as usual, by Crabbe and Goyle.
"Yes, it is," Pepper said defiantly. "I didn't know you could recognize cute things, Malfoy. Do you have a heart, after all?"
"Shut it, whore, I wasn't talking to you," Malfoy sneered.
"Well, I'm talking to you," Harry said, getting closer to Malfoy. "And I'm telling you that you'd better leave before I hex you." He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Malfoy. Malfoy rolled his eyes, but turned and left anyway.
"Well..." Harry said to the other remaining three there. "Erm..."
"What were you saying, Ron?" Hermione wanted to know.
"Um, Harry," Pepper said quietly, grabbing Harry's arm and dragging him away from Hermione and Ron. "I think we should leave...they probably don't want us here for this...they're about to profess their undying love for each other...finally..."
Harry led Pepper to their original destination, the Shrieking Shack, to get away from Hermione and Ron. "Harry, if you don't mind my asking, why did you go all...mental...when Ron mentioned this place?" Pepper didn't see anything special about it, it just looked like a broken down building, even from as far away as they were.
"It reminds me of Sirius," Harry answered briskly.
"Oh..." Pepper said, also soft on that subject. So that's who Snuffles was. "Why?" she asked.
Harry was about to retort rudely, but then remembered that Sirius was Pepper's father; she probably felt a lot more grief than he did. "This is where I first met him. I thought he was trying to kill me, but it turns out he wasn't, he was trying to kill Peter Pettigrew. That night, after we'd stunned Snape, realized what Sirius was trying to do and finding Professor Lupin was a werewolf, Sirius invited me to come live with him."
"You've seen his house then?" Pepper asked. Harry nodded. "I haven't."
"It's actually his parents' house. Not very nice, I can tell you that. I didn't go in because I lived with him, it was the Order headquarters, well, it still is, actually."
"The Order? Is it that thing my dad told me about?"
"Order of the Phoenix, yeah. It's a top-secret organization fighting against Voldemort. I was there for a while this summer. I suppose the house has improved...though the Order doesn't need the best of headquarters. I bet Dumbledore will let you go there...Pepper, what's wrong?" he asked, realising Pepper was beginning to cry. "Wait, that's a stupid question. You miss Sirius, don't you," he said gently.
"I miss him so much, Harry," Pepper said weakly, taking a deep breath to try to stop the crying. The tears stopped falling and she wiped the back of her hand across her cheeks.
"I miss him too," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her. She looked up into his face and he leaned down, kissing her forcefully. They poured their emotions into each other. The kiss was bittersweet and full of anguish. As the kiss became more intense, Pepper clung to Harry, as if their kiss would bring Sirius back to life.
They stood there like that for an indeterminate amount of time, clinging to each other, until Hermione cleared her throat loudly. Pepper pulled away from Harry's embrace and looked around, as if checking to see if Sirius was there. It was like coming out of a dream.
"What?" she said dejectedly to Hermione and Ron, whom she noticed were standing closer together than was normal.
Hermione knitted her brow in slight confusion. "I was just going to tell you we should head back, it's getting late..." she said.
"Alright," Pepper sighed as she walked over to Ron and Hermione, hauling Harry along behind her by his hand.
"Pepper," Harry said, trying to get her to slow down; Ron and Hermione had to practically run to keep up with her fast walking and Harry was almost literally dragging on the ground. "What is it?"
"I felt that, Harry: your desire to bring Sirius back. That's why we kissed, and you know it. Just because we're magical doesn't mean we can bring him back to life, though..." she slowed down. "Dammit." Tired and confused by the emotions that were hitting her all at once and not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment, Pepper waved both of her hands so that Harry, Hermione, Ron and a few other people littered about the street froze in their tracks. "Dammit," Pepper repeated. She sighed heavily and realised that everyone was heading back to the castle...she'd have to unfreeze them or they'd all get in trouble.
Running down the street, she waved her hands frantically behind her, causing the street to unfreeze. She heard a shout that was undoubtedly Harry, but kept running, not really wanting to talk to anyone at the moment.
Upon entering the castle once again, she stormed into the Great Hall for lunch, following the mass of students. She took her old place at the Ravenclaw table, next to Luna Lovegood.
"Hello," Luna said in her normal dreamy tone. "I haven't seen you for a while. Did you have fun at Hogsmeade?"
"Yea," Pepper grumbled, piling mashed potatoes onto her plate.
Studying in the dormitory was next on Pepper's agenda list. She didn't want to talk to Harry because...well, she wasn't sure why. She just knew that conversation they'd had set off a lot of emotions in her and then that kiss...She could tell that Harry had been wishing the same thing as she had - she could taste it. She wasn't sure what she'd been thinking...they couldn't bring Sirius back. She'd just kissed him like that, with such urgency, because she was upset.
The curtains on her bed parted and Hermione sat down on the edge of the mattress, a wide smile on her face. The same smile, Pepper assumed, that she had worn in Hogsmeade. "Missed you at dinner. Were you at the Ravenclaw table again?" Hermione asked.
Pepper nodded. "And before you say anything else, Hermione, I just want you to know that I needed some time alone to think. You didn't feel that kiss...it was so weird, charged with energy or something."
"Witnessing it was enough for me, thank you. I'd say it was charged with lust, you two looked like you wanted to jump down each other's pants." Hermione wondered, closing the bed hangings behind her.
"We were talking about the Shrieking Shack and my dad...and a voice in my head said "Kiss Harry and your dad will come back to life!" So, I did, and I think Harry kissed with the same feelings I did...like that happened to him too. It was very weird. But, it's over now, so I think I'll forget all about it and go talk to Harry. Maybe he's forgotten..."
"Pepper," Hermione said, stopping the other girl from leaving the confines of the bed. "I've read about that...what you've described..."
Pepper looked at her quizzically. "What part of what I described?"
"It's called...oh, what is it called...I'll look up the name again. I know what it does, though. In situations of great grief over a dead person, two people who were related to that person can bring them back. I know there's a potion involved, that may be why it didn't work, because you didn't have the potion. The two people have to be soul mates...they kiss, pour the potion over their heads and the dead person comes back for...seventy-two hours, I believe. It's a very rare occurrence. A very complicated potion, too."
"W-Wait. Hermione, did you just say the two people have to be...soul mates?" Pepper asked, wide eyed.
Hermione's expression soon mocked Pepper's. "Yes, I did. That means, oh Merlin, you and Harry are – "
"SOUL MATES!" Pepper screamed. "No. No, there must be some mistake. The spell thing didn't work because we aren't soulmates. We CAN'T be!"
"That's the only way it could happen, or even come that close to happening. Pepper, you and Harry are soulmates."
Pepper shook her head violently. "We're not even together properly as boyfriend and girlfriend!"
Hermione nodded slowly. "I'm as surprised as you are," she said, her voice growing more high-pitched with each word. "Harry...has...a...soul...mate? I reckon we should tell him."
"Oh, I'll tell him," Pepper said, her voice lower than usual. "This is probably all his fault...if he hadn't kissed me this wouldn't have happened."
"But Pepper, aren't you happy, you know you have a soul mate."
"I'm sixteen! That means I'll have to fall madly in love with Harry, get married to him and have kids?" Pepper cried.
"Pepper, Pepper! You're getting ahead of yourself! I'm sorry! I take back what I said! Don't fly off the handle. Okay, calm down and back up. You haven't got to have sex with Harry unless you want to. This happened because, yes, Harry is your soul mate, but you may have another one. I don't think soulmates have to be romantically connected. You don't have to spend the rest of your life with Harry. Unless you want to, of course," Hermione assured her, trying to calm her friend. "Now, I think the first step is to tell Harry."
"Could I yell it to him?" Pepper asked.
"Er...I s'pose, but you might not want to do it in the common room if you don't want everyone knowing about it."
"Right," Pepper said with a quick nod. "Well, it seems Harry is a good person to yell at. Really, when you think about it, it is his fault. He was the one that kissed me in the first place. Well, I'm off!" And with that, Pepper exited the dormitory and went into the hallway. From the top of the small spiral case, she began to yell. "Harry! Where are you!" she cried, causing several people in the common room to stare at her.
Harry was sitting by the fire, enjoying a game of Exploding Snap with Ron, Neville, Ginny and Seamus. He was winning, (which Pepper didn't know, and she probably wouldn't have cared at that moment), when he heard a familiar voice bellowing his name. What've I done now? he thought. Suddenly, Pepper was pulling him up by his arm.
"Come with me!" she said through gritted teeth as she pulled him up the girls' dormitory stairs and back into her dorm room. Hermione was still on her bed, she saw, but she sat Harry down on it anyway. "Harry," she said forcefully. "You know that thing that happened by the Shrieking Shack?"
"That kiss?" Harry asked, turning a bit red.
"Yea, that," Pepper said. "Well, turns out it was some rare special something. Hermione will explain." Since that was her cue, Hermione began explaining the same thing to Harry as she had to Pepper. "And in conclusion," said Pepper dramatically. "We're soul mates."
Harry's mouth dropped open and Pepper thought his jaw would hit the floor. "Soul mates," he said shakily. "But...we're not even boyfriend and girlfriend."
"I know," Pepper told him slowly. She looked at Hermione pointedly and Hermione left the dorm room. "It doesn't mean we've got to stay together forever and have a perfect family or anything...that's not what I really care about at this point in our lives. I did freak out about it before, but now that I think about what Hermione said... you know what this means, Harry? We could bring my dad back to life for three days." She put her hands on his knees and looked him in the face to see what he was feeling.
"It does, doesn't it," he said. "But according to Hermione it's a really difficult potion..."
"We could do it Harry. After my O.W.L.s...I'm sure we could," Pepper said, sitting on Harry's legs and putting her forehead to his. "Please, Harry. I really miss him," she said quietly. "For your soul mate?"
He kissed her quickly on the lips in answer. She smiled. "I'd better get back to the common room before I arouse any suspicion."
"Or anything else..." Pepper added suggestively.
"See you at dinner," he said, choosing to ignore this comment, as she was arousing more than suspicion on her end.
He went back to the common room, happy that he was wearing his robes, and sat back down by the hearth to get back to the game of Exploding Snap. "What was that nutter on about?" Seamus asked. "She seemed angry at you Harry, what'd you do now?"
"Nothing," Harry said, deciding it would be best not to share the information he'd just received from Hermione and Pepper. "She just wanted to show me something."
Ginny caught his eye from across the circle of people. She looked doubtful, and he mouthed to her that he'd tell her later.