Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
ANCIENT RUNES IN THE MODERN WORLD
Chapter Three: In Which Hermione Has a Cunning Plan
"I'm impressed."
Blaise looked up from where he had been picking through a box of Every Flavour Beans. Hermione was stood at the end of his bed in the Hospital Wing, half-obscured by the curtain. "You can sit down if you want," he said quietly.
Rather than sitting on the chair, Hermione perched on the end of the bed; Blaise shifted his feet out of the way. She put a piece of parchment on his knees. "Ancient Runes notes," she explained. Then, "Although you did do it in your sleep, so I'm going to take points for that."
"And I thought that was going to earn me bonus points," he deadpanned. He flexed his fingers experimentally before picking up a brown bean. He was trying to find a chocolate one, but had so far only succeeded in finding mud and carob.
Hermione kept her voice low. "I was rather surprised that you were a cat," she admitted. "It makes sense, though."
"What does?"
"That I was attracted to you." Blaise felt a pang of annoyance at her use of the past tense. "There must have been some kind of animal instinct or something." She seemed to brighten. "I'll have to do some research into it. There's bound to be some books in the Library."
"Trust you to get excited over research," said Blaise, offering her the box of sweets. She refused his offer with a shake of her head. "So what do you reckon the odds are, then?" he asked, putting the box back and looking at her quizzically.
"Of what?"
"Of there being three cat Animagi in such a small vicinity."
"Oh." Hermione looked thoughtful. "I don't know. I don't think anyone could give exact figures, seeing as Animagi are so rare in the first place. It's bizarre, I'll give you that."
Sighing, Hermione said, "What am I going to tell Millicent? She probably thinks that I'm some kind of mad cat-woman for making her chase a cat all over the castle."
"She could probably do with the exercise," Blaise said dismissively. To his surprise, Hermione did not admonish him for this comment. In fact, she looked slightly amused.
Somehow, Blaise had managed to complete the Animagus transformation. Unfortunately, this event had occurred while he was sleeping and, repressed by the animal's instincts, Blaise had been unable to turn back. He had wandered the castle all that time until Hermione had realised he was the black cat that kept following her.
"But what do I tell her?"
"We tell her the truth," said Blaise simply, trying not to yawn. He was exceedingly tired, having lead Hermione and Millicent on something of an expedition while they endeavoured to catch his feline form.
"The truth?" Hermione repeated, eyes wide. "The real truth?"
"The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Blaise could not remember where he had heard that before, but it seemed an appropriate response.
"Are you sure?"
Blaise selected another bean, this time a pink one. He rolled it between his fingers as he said, "I don't remember a lot from being a cat, but I do remember how separate the houses are. I mean, I notice it when I'm human, but it just became more apparent. You thought I was a Slytherin. The Ravenclaws thought I was Hufflepuff. Hufflepuffs that I was Gryffindor… no one's listened to the Sorting Hat."
Her brow creased for a moment in confusion. "You mean when it said the houses need to unite?"
"Exactly." He gave a resigned sigh. "You're a bad influence on me. You've given me a conscience."
Hermione looked puzzled. "I'm not sure that that's a bad thing."
"It is for me. I never wanted to be socially aware. I was perfectly happy in my little bubble, but now it's…"
"Burst?" Hermione suggested with a sly grin. She seemed to be growing more comfortable in his presence. She paused, licking her lips. "Maybe telling Millicent is a good idea. And Pansy, Ron and all the others." Nodding, she said, "This will be a good thing. A step towards bringing the houses together."
Hermione spoke more confidently and Blaise could practically see wheels turning in her head as a plan began to form. He coughed: he could feel another hairball.
Names were written in neat columns in Hermione's notebook. She stared at them, then used her wand to move a couple of names to a different column. She sighed. It would work, hopefully; people were surprising sometimes.
It was just initiating the plan that was the trouble. Some people would not be happy, and she still had to speak to Harry, but Hermione was confident that her plan would succeed. The plan was a bit strange, she supposed, but that was possibly what made it so appealing.
"Hermione, can you help me with my Defence work?" Ginny Weasley asked. A heavy volume landed next to Hermione, nearly knocking her bottle of ink over. "What are you doing?" The redhead peered over at Hermione's notebook.
Looking up, Hermione closed her book, hiding the lists from Ginny. "Do you still have your Galleon?" she asked.
Bemused, Ginny asked. "The DA Galleon?"
"Yeah."
For a moment, Ginny fished around in the pocket of her robes. She pulled out the gold coin. "I carry it with me all the time. Why?" Her eyes brightened. "Are you thinking about starting up the DA again?"
"Would you be interested if I was?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"Of course." Ginny's Defence Against the Dark Arts work was apparently forgotten. "I think there are a few other people who'd be interested in it as well."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Have you been talking to anyone about it?"
"No," Ginny scoffed. "Do I look like a sneak?" She was right: there was a distinct lack of curse-induced spots. "I've heard people saying that it would be good if there was a Duelling Club or something."
"Thanks, Gin," Hermione said with a grin. She stood up. "I'm going to go and find Harry and Ron." She made to leave, then turned back to Ginny. "Do me a favour and don't lose that Galleon."
Ginny watched as Hermione exited through the portrait hole. With a sigh, she looked at the book she had put down. "I hate homework," she grumbled.
Hermione thought it rather ironic that she found Harry and Ron near the Room of Requirement. She ushered them into it, despite Ron's protests: "But we've got Quidditch practise!"
"Practise doesn't start until six," she said gruffly. She was not going to take 'no' for an answer. Inside the room, there was a table that looked as though it had been taken straight out of the Library. There were three chairs around it, and Hermione took a seat.
Harry and Ron followed suite, looking at her expectantly. "Do you have something that you need to tell us?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Hermione said with a nod.
"Then tell us," prodded Ron. "We're not going to hurt you."
Hermione was not sure whether he would keep to that after she had finished tell them. She told them about Professor McGonagall's proposition to train her. How she finally succeeded only to be told that she was harming herself and had her ability blocked.
"Wow." Ron kept to a monosyllable.
Harry stared at the table. "Please say something," Hermione begged.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"McGonagall asked me not to tell either of you. I think that she didn't want to get anyone's hopes up."
"But you could have told me!" he said, glaring at her. "I could have helped you!"
Hermione bit her lip. That was not entirely what Harry meant, and they both knew it. "I'm sorry." She reached, covering his hand with hers. He flinched slightly, but allowed her to touch him. "There's more."
"More?" Ron seemed even more surprised.
"Blaise." Hermione told them about the agreement. She told them everything, up until her conversation with Blaise in the Hospital Wing. Then, she explained her plan.
Ron's mouth hung open. "You're mad. Brilliant, but completely nuts. People'll kill each other or end up like Malfoy." He snickered at his own mental image of the blue Slytherin: Snape still had not been able to reverse Crabbe's spell, much to the chagrin of Malfoy and the delight of the other students.
"Harry?" asked Hermione uncertainly, looking to him for support. He was vital to the plan.
He took a deep breath. "I'm not happy with you for not telling us about the Animagus thing, but," he gave her a small smile, "I think you've got a good vision. I'll help if the Slytherins are willing to come."
"You'll do it?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes."
"Thank you!" She practically knocked the table over in her haste to hug him. Harry gave her a lopsided grin.
"No more secrets?" he asked hopefully.
"I'll try," she promised, which caused Ron to laugh.
The two looked at him and he shrugged. "That sounded very Slytherin. I think they're having an influence on us."
Daphne was gaping.
"Close your mouth, it's most unbecoming." Pansy turned her attention from Daphne to Blaise, who as still in the Hospital Wing. Daphne was sitting primly on the chair beside Blaise's bed, while Pansy and Millicent were perching on his bed and forcing Blaise to pull his knees up to make room for them. "Are you sure that you haven't been hallucinating?" she asked.
In a low voice, Millicent, "It all sounds like some crazy dream to me." She popped a piece of Blaise's chocolate into her mouth.
"It isn't. Granger's been teaching me to become an Animagus."
"I thought you two were just, y'know," said Daphne, blushing at the very thought. Millicent rolled her eyes.
"We're not," Blaise said gruffly.
Pansy looked pensive. Quietly, she pushed her hair behind her ear. "I think you're right. The houses need to stop all this stupid rivalry."
"Are you just saying that because of your relationship with Weasley?" asked Millicent darkly.
"My parents were Ravenclaws. They were ashamed when I was put in Slytherin. They were ashamed of me." The prefect took a steadying breath, her eyes wet. "I want it to be different for our children."
"Your and Weasley's children?" Blaise asked languidly, reclining on a lumpy pillow.
She scowled. "No. You know what I mean, though." She turned to Daphne. "If you'd been put in Hufflepuff, how would your parents or grandparents have reacted?"
Daphne popped the bubble that she was blowing, pulling the gum back into her mouth. "Granddad Greengrass would have taken me out of his will. There's some kind of stil…stip…"
"Stipulation," Pansy supplied gently.
"Stipulation," said Daphne nodding, "that Greengrass heirs can't be Hufflepuffs." Leaning forward and in a hushed tone, she said, "Daddy thinks that Uncle Albie is going to get written out because he's married a Hufflepuff." She sat back in her seat looking expectantly at the others.
Pansy looked satisfied with this. "Exactly my point. We've all got far too many prejudices." Millicent opened her mouth, as if to protest, but Pansy continued, saying, "Everyone hates us because we're Slytherins. No one trusts us, and with the current situation I think we need all the allies we can get."
"We're not doing ourselves any favours by keeping ourselves segregated from the rest of the students." Blaise held back a yawn.
"I'm in," said Millicent, frowning. "Granger's plan sounds completely barmy, but we should probably give it a go."
When Justin took her hand after they left the Ancient Runes classroom together, Hermione could feel herself blushing. He smiled warmly at her. "Is it me," he asked, "or is Professor Mayfair getting more and more boring by the day."
"We're just not studying the most interesting topic at the moment," said Hermione cautiously, wondering how she could get Justin to let go of her hand.
"I suppose." He shrugged. "Do you want to eat lunch with me today? I'm sure my friends won't mind you joining us."
Hermione did not particularly want to sit at the Hufflepuff table. They were perfectly pleasant - although Ernie was constantly spouting off his conspiracy theories - but if she sat with them, Hermione felt sure that she would be subject to a barrage of gossip.
"I told Harry and Ron that I'd meet them at lunch."
In truth, Hermione had merely said the perfunctory "I'll see you later," to the two Gryffindors after breakfast that morning. Justin was, thankfully, not to know this.
He looked at her expectantly, but the invitation never came. Justin was silent for a moment before saying, "We could meet up later. You've got a free lesson this afternoon, don't you?" Hermione nodded. "So've I. We could go for a walk - I could show you my Herbology project…"
On their way to the Great Hall, Justin talked solidly about his Herbology coursework and how she should not have dropped the subject. "It's really fascinating," he insisted, running a hand through his blond hair in annoyance that Hermione could not see this.
Just outside the Great Hall, they stopped. "I should go and join my friends," said Hermione quickly, spotting Harry and Ron as they took their seats.
"Okay," he said with a grin. "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall at about three." Justin looked around briefly, before quickly kissing her. He took her stunned expression as a good sign and smiled before releasing her hand and wandering off to the Hufflepuff table.
Inwardly, Hermione groaned in realisation at what she had just agreed to.
She knew from Neville that the NEWT level students kept their private work in a small greenhouse behind the other ones.
She knew from Ginny what this greenhouse was used for when there were no other students there.
The members of the DA who were still at Hogwarts were talking amongst themselves. As usual, the Room of Requirement had provided them with a suitable place to practise in and the members were getting themselves reacquainted with it.
Harry had noticed Hermione's smile when she saw that the room had put up banners for all four of the houses. It seemed that even the room knew what was happening.
Twisting the cuff of his robe, Ron asked, "How much longer do you think she'll be?" Hermione had departed a few minutes earlier to retrieve the new members of the DA, parchment and quill in hand.
"Not long, I expect." He was gripping his wand tighter than was absolutely necessary. He sighed. "Let's get this over with."
When Harry failed to attract the attention of the other DA members on his first attempt, Ron stepped in. "Oi, shut up, will you?" A hush fell over the other students, broken by Ginny's sniggering. Ron just glared at her briefly before turning back to Harry. "They're all yours, mate."
"Er, thanks," said Harry. He gave the other students a wary smile. "Hi, everyone. Welcome back." There were a few cheers, making Harry redden. "We'll get started with going over a few spells that we practised last year when Hermione gets back. She's gone to get a few new members."
A couple of people started whispering. Who? Some fifth years probably. Maybe a couple of younger students.
"When they get here, I want you to pair up with someone from another house," Harry announced. Seeing Parvati start to edge towards her sister, he cast her a sharp look. She stopped, looking sheepish.
Hermione stepped into the room, the others entering behind her. The DA members stared. Justin Finch-Fletchley stepped forward.
"What," he asked, eyes narrowing, "are they doing here?"
"They worked for Umbridge last year," Padma Patil spoke out; Pansy seemed to shrink, but Millicent held her head up.
"That was last year," said Ron. Justin's eyes widened.
"You're not serious about letting them join us, are you?" he asked, turning to Harry. "For all you know, they'll go out and betray us to…"
"To whom?" asked Hermione shrilly, having finished putting the parchment back it her bag. It had four new signatures. "In case you hadn't noticed, Umbridge isn't here anymore."
"The enemy is a bit bigger than that," said Harry patiently, resisting the urge to curse Justin so he would be quiet. "Voldemort isn't some ambitious little Defence teacher." There were a few gasps; there was mostly stunned silence. "We need to band together. I don't know about you all, but I'm tired of avoiding people because of the house that they're in."
"Or keeping secrets," Blaise spoke up.
Harry nodded. "Or keeping secrets. If any of you have a problem with Slytherins joining the DA, I suggest you leave now." He looked sharply at Justin and the Hufflepuff took a step backwards.
The members of the DA exchanged glances. Was anyone going to leave? No.
After the third DA session, the group had grown by about ten people, all of whom had been hand-picked by Hermione. Harry had to agree that she had made some interesting choices, but everyone seemed to be cooperating.
He brushed some dust from his robes; they had been practising the Patronus Charm and the other members were just now starting to file out of the Room of Requirement, most of them pleased with their progress.
Harry, too, was happy with how things were going. People did not seem to have forgotten everything, so that was helpful.
"You're a very good teacher," a voice said behind him. He turned around, surprised.
"Oh, thanks," he said, seeing Daphne Greengrass beaming at him.
"I was wondering," she continued, "well, actually, me and Luna were, if they come in other colours."
"If what come in other colours?" Harry was definitely perplexed by the Slytherin girl. What had she just asked?
"The Patronuses. Patronii." Her brow wrinkled as she puzzled out the plural of 'Patronus'. "If you can make them come in other colours," she said.
"Er, no," said Harry. "Just white, I think."
"Okay," Daphne grinned. "That's nice to know." With a last toothy smile, she left.
Harry blinked. That had been bizarre. Why would you want to make a Patronus a different colour? It must be a girl thing.
"Do close your mouth, Potter, you're going to let flies in." Blaise looked over at Harry from where he had been adjusting one of the banners - a waywardly-aimed Patronus had knocked it off the wall.
Looking at him, startled, Harry said, "I wasn't… my mouth…"
Blaise raised his eyebrows. "Honestly," he remarked, shaking his head, "it's no good gawping after her. As nice as Daphne is, she's not the brightest star in the heavens when it comes to that sort of thing."
Scowling, Harry said, "I wasn't gawping."
"Of course you weren't," Blaise said dismissively. "You were just inhaling deeply."
Thank Yous: Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter two: Gremlyn, kiss-of-cuteness, professor-fidget, Disty, Dagorwen of Ithilien, kiki4x3, Shattered Immortality, charming flirt, f a e r i e . i v y, death is only a phase, sugerplumfairy, Novemberkind, Under-the-Moonlight, Procella Nox-noctis, slytherinphoenix7, Tinas74, KateM, Slytherin-Ali, Ali, JellyBellys, Flavagurl, katherose, TomsGirl07, KagomePotterFan, The-Ever-Lazy-One and Zaralya.
Love and hugs and coffee,
silvernatasha