"It would've been nice if the twins had given me something more to work with." He said, running a hand back through his hair.
"Well," Tonks began, head tilted, "It'd probably be good to just sit and think of what it could be rather than what it couldn't. She can't apparate on school grounds. I doubt the house elves are helping her around. She can't be using the hidden passages in the school because someone would notice her entering and leaving..."
"So what does that leave us with?" Harry asked.
"Not much." Solieyu replied. "She's either making her invisible somehow - or using some form of disillusionment charm - or..."
"Or she's found a way to time travel." Luna finished. She was standing outside the Nest's room, leaning on the railing and watching the giant squid trying to catch some birds that were taunting it.
"Time travel?" Harry said. "...There aren't many ways to pull that off."
"You've researched it?" Tonks asked.
Harry smiled. "Yeah, a bit. I wouldn't mind going back and changing the past a bit."
"But if you did that, you would change the future... which means you wouldn't have needed to go back. Which means that you wouldn't really change anything." Luna said.
"...And that's why I only researched it a bit." Harry said. "Time travel gives me a headache."
"Well I say we go get some icecream from the kitchens, because I'm out of ideas." Tonks said, sighing.
"Luna, you wouldn't happen to know of any safe methods of time travel, would you?" Asked Harry.
The blonde tilted her head slowly. "Well... my father did a report in the Quibbler about the Ministry secretly using time turners to change the outcome of all major political events in the past fifty years... But Hermione Granger isn't involved in politics..."
Harry stared up at the ceiling, frowning. "No... but she may have a time turner. How do they work? Anyone know?"
"They're supposed to be pretty small." Solieyu said. "I hear all you have to do is turn something on them - hence the name - and off you go."
"I see I'm not the only one who wants to change things in the past." Harry said. He caught Solieyu's eye and jerked his head towards Luna. Solieyu shook his head quickly. Harry nodded once, then continued, "But how would she get ahold of one? It can't be easy, and I doubt the staff would be willing to call in any favors for her."
"Mmm, I dunno about that, Harry." Tonks said. "She's probably the smartest witch in the school. We should check her schedule or something, see how many classes she's got on her plate. If she is using a time turner, there's a pretty good chance her schedule will have her in two places at once."
"I'll head off and see if I can find Fred and George, then. I'm sure they'd be able to get ahold of it for us. At the very least, they could try getting Ron to." Harry said, getting up from the couch.
"I'll go and follow Hermione around a bit, see if I can't actually see her disappearing into thin air." Tonks said, also getting to her feet. "Luna, Leon, you two gonna do anything?"
Luna finally turned and around and walked back into the room, looking to Solieyu. "We could always try the direct approach, of course." She said, lazily.
"You'd probably be better off on your own for that one, Luna." Solieyu said. "It'd look suspicious if I was there, too."
"I suppose." Luna said.
"I'll head off to Hagrid's. If Ron and Hermione are visiting to comfort him, I'm sure he must know something... He is staff, after all. And he does let things slip when they aren't supposed to." Solieyu said, shrugging.
"Right then. Good luck to you all and we'll meet up here after dinner." Harry said. He opened the trap door up and headed out.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Later that night, Harry groaned as he flopped down onto the couch in the Nest again. Tonks sat down next to him, stretching her legs out over his lap. Solieyu sat in the chair opposite them and Luna, apparently caring little for causing Solieyu embarassment, flopped down onto his lap and practically curled up against him. The vampire blushed and refused to look in Harry and Tonks' direction, as they were grinning stupidly at him.
Clearing his throat, Harry said, "Well, did any of you lot manage to round up any useful information?"
"Well," Luna began, "I asked Hermione about it and she said she didn't know what I was talking about. But she seemed rather spooked about something. Perhaps she was being chased by a slithering sneakcat."
"Leon?"
"First, never eat anything Hagrid tries serving to you. Hard as bloody rocks and quite possibly the stickiest things on the planet. Second, I did learn something, actually. I told him that Hermione seemed a bit frazzled lately - I went down after Luna asked her directly, so it wasn't entirely a lie - and asked if he knew why. He said that she's been coming down to his hut to have a good cry every so often. It does seem like she's overworked or something, from what he said. He wouldn't tell me outright, so I'm not sure if he knows the inner workings of what's going on, though."
"Tonks?"
"Nothin'. I decided to tag along with those two. I followed Hermione after Luna asked her about the time turner. She rushed off and, after putting a few of those lovely silencing charms on my shoes, followed after her. I did pretty good for a while. Then Peeves came along." Tonks said, looking cross. "I had to duck into an empty classroom to avoid getting seen by him. I think he got Hermione with a water bomb or something, because there was a splash and a shriek shortly after I gave up the chase. What about you, Harry? Any luck getting her schedule from the twins?"
"It took a few hours, but yeah, I got it." Harry said. "You three might not have gotten much info seperately, but it all comes together rather nicely." He reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment. "They copied it over to this for me. Take a look."
Tonks leaned forward to read it, goggling quickly. "Merlin's bits, is she insane?"
Harry held the copied schedule out for Luna and Solieyu to take a look at. Solieyu raised an eyebrow after glancing at the parchment. "Potions and Charms at the same time on Mondays, Defense and Herbology at the same time on Wednesdays... and it goes on like that? Yes, I'd say all that work would be enough to make her need a good cry every so often. The stress is probably getting to her."
"She would have to avoid herself, you know." Luna added. "If she ran into herself, she might go mad."
"I think she's one more class away from 'mad' status, anyway." Tonks said. "Why is that girl not in Ravenclaw with us? Why did we hafta get Terry Boot?"
"I'm just glad he finally got expelled." Harry said. "Hope the little rat gets stuffed in Azkaban for awhile for trying to force himself onto every girl he ran across."
"Normally, I'd say that's a bit harsh, but..." Solieyu began, wrapping an arm around Luna protectively. "I happen to agree in this case."
The room went silent for awhile as the four Ravenclaws thought over what they had learned. Then Tonks blinked and turned to Harry. "Oi, that reminds me. Ever figure out whether you could trust what that daft old bat said?"
Harry had told his friends about his encounter with Trelawney the previous evening. Tonks had just gaped at him, while Solieyu and Luna thought it might be possible for her to actually have a true vision every blue moon. She had to have been hired for a reason, after all.
"Not a clue." Harry said, shaking his head. "Wish I did, though. I'm trying not to worry about it too much, since Dumbledore said he'd look into it, but... still. There's always gonna be a small part of me worrying about something like that happening. Anyway, I'd rather not spend the evening talking about 'mights' - what are we gonna do about Hermione?"
"I say you confront her, mate." Tonks said, prodding Harry in the shoulder. "She's bound to trust you."
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked.
"Because you're Harry Potter." Replied Solieyu, blandly. "Plus you've saved her a time or two in the past. That's got to count for something. You just have to talk to her like you know, you don't care, and you won't let anyone else find out."
Harry raised an eyebrow and grinned wryly at Solieyu. "What, again? Oh, very well. Tonks, swing your legs down. Apparently, I've been chosen for a mission here."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Harry wandered the corridors of Hogwarts, heading towards the library. If Hermione's schedule was as busy as it seemed, she would either be there or the Gryffindor common room. Of course, it would have been easier to do this if he still had possession of the Map. He briefly wondered if, had he been looking for such a thing, he would have spotted two dots marked 'Hermione Granger' on it.
"But I know where I belong..." Harry half sang, half mumbled as he walked along. It had been awhile since he belted out a tune in his horrible, off-key way. As he had nothing better to do en route, he figured it wouldn't hurt. Sure, he might get weird stares from random students that he passed. But he figured he got weird stares from random students all the time anyway, so who cared if they knew he liked to sing. What harm would it cause if the wizarding world knew that he was tone-deaf? Briefly, a mental image of a resurrected Voldemort coming after him with a radio cranking out glorious, horrible FUNK entered his mind and he couldn't help but snort. "Away from your gods... that heal all wounds and light this endless dark..."
He stopped his horrible singing a good ways before he reached the library. Madam Pince was an old buzzard who apparently had the best ears in the school. He had learned early on not to upset the woman if he wanted access to her domain. Quietly slipping into the library, it didn't take long to find his target. She was the only one with almost a dozen books and three long pieces of parchment spread out across a table.
Harry pulled up a chair on the opposite side of hers, sitting and watching the girl, who was oblivious to the fact that he was there. He hadn't seen her in awhile - far too long, apparently - because he didn't remember Hermione looking like this. There were heavy bags under the girl's eyes, her hair was more frazzled than normal, and she seemed to have developed a nervous tick.
"Hermione?" Harry whispered. Hermione jumped and stared up at him, her wide eyes reminding him of Trelawney's.
"Oh! Harry!" She said, her voice quiet as well. "What are you doing here?"
"That isn't healthy, you know." Harry said.
"What?"
"Taking on so much at once. Especially at our age." Harry said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Harry, and I'm very busy, so if you could..." Hermione began.
"I know. I don't care. And I won't tell anyone." Harry said, basically repeating what Solieyu suggested he say. "You know you can trust me. It's not like I'm going to run off and tell Snape that you're using a rare object to be in two places at once. I do commend you for baffling the hell out of Fred and George, though."
"I... I really have no idea--" Hermione began again.
"Hermione." Harry said, looking straight into her eyes. "Even if you don't come out and say it, the writing's on the walls. I'm not a Ravenclaw for nothing, you know. We've run a recon of sorts on you today, you know. Between everything we've learned, it didn't take much to figure it out."
Hermione blinked at him. "Is that why that strange girl with the blonde hair...?"
"Yup. Luna Lovegood. She fancies Leon." Harry said, grinning.
"What?" Hermione said, blinking again. "Really? But she's so... so..."
"Weird? Yeah, she's definitely a bit off-center. S'what makes her her, though. Just like you trying to take every class in the school is what makes you you, Hermione. How long?" Harry asked.
Hermione bit down on her lower lip, looking around frantically. Whether it was to check for eavesdroppers or to try figuring a way to escape, Harry wasn't sure. When she looked back to him, she quickly said, "Since the beginning of term, only McGonagall knows, she got it, I'm fine, and I've got homework in Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration to get done tonight, so if you'd please just leave me be, I can get them done!"
Harry held up his hands. "Fair enough. Just don't drive yourself insane, Hermione. I've read about people who've done that, you know. Hagrid isn't the only one you can talk to if you need to."
"...Thank you, Harry. I'm sorry I'm being so waspish. It's just..."
"You haven't slept much lately. You're probably either going to Madam Pomfrey for pepper-up potions or you've made a small supply yourself, judging from the nervous tick. It's a side effect of too many of those. Get some sleep tonight, Hermione. That thing can become permanent if you keep avoiding real rest." Harry said, getting up and returning his chair to its original position. "See you."
Harry left the library, nursing what he was sure was going to be a monsterous headache. He knew Hermione was smart - definitely smarter than he was, anyway - but she sure lacked common sense sometimes. What was she thinking, working herself to death like that?
But Harry was nothing if not truthful. He headed up to the seventh floor, making his way towards Gryffindor Tower. Now he wished that Hermione had been up there, as it would have saved him some walking. The only reason he knew where their common room was located was because Fred and George had happily informed him early on. He had never had any real use for the knowledge - or what the current password was, but he was glad they kept him up to date. He didn't feel like standing around and arguing with a portrait.
"Hello, my good lady!" Harry said, trying to be as cheerful as his aching legs would allow. "I don't suppose I could pop in and talk to the Weasley twins, could I?"
The Fat Lady glanced down at him. "Ahh, and you must be Harry Potter, yes? A shame you didn't make it into Gryffindor. You would look so good in red... In any case, I'm afraid I can't let you in without the password, dear."
"Snakeskin Boots." Harry said, smirking up at the Fat Lady.
"I'm betting those two gave it to you, did they?" She asked.
"They did!" Harry replied.
"Oh... very well. Give them a rap on the head for me for doing that, will you?" Asked the Fat Lady as her portrait swung open, revealing the path inward.
"Will do!" Harry said, heading on in.
The Gryffindor common room wasn't much different from the Ravenclaw one, color scheme aside. They lacked the giant couch the Ravenclaw common room had, but in all other aspects, they were very similar. Every head in the room turned to him as he entered. He cocked an eyebrow and declared, "I have come for the heads of Fred and George Weasley!"
"Someone call our names?" Came a voice from the stairs at the far end of the room. "Ah, Harry! What brings you all the way up here at this hour?"
Fred, followed by George, entered the common room and headed for Harry, who was trying not to chuckle at the baffled looks on the faces of the other Gryffindors. Once the twins got to him, they seemed to notice the silence as well. "Alright, you lot, back to what you were doing! Nothing to see here!"
Once people had determined that nothing spectacular would be happening just because Harry was there, they did indeed return to whatever they had been doing prior to his arrival. Once the common room was noisy again, Harry fulfilled his promise to the Fat Lady and promptly whacked each twin on the head. When they protested, he hiked a thumb in the portrait's general direction and simply said, "She made me do it!"
"Should we assume this has something to do with one Hermione Granger?" Asked George.
"You should." Harry said, nodding once.
"And should we assume this means you've found out how she's been so tricksy?" Asked Fred.
"You should." Harry repeated.
"And should we assume you're going to tell us?" They asked in unison.
"Not a chance!" Harry said, smiling pleasantly.
The twins nearly fell over.
"Why not?" Fred asked.
"Made a promise to her. Sorry, lads. I know I can trust the two of you, but I think it's best we left this one alone. I do have a request, though..." Harry began.
"Swipe her pepper-up potion?" George asked.
"How did you...?"
"Come now, Harry," George began, grinning slightly. "We're actually pretty good with potions, believe it or not."
"We just fool around in Snape's class to irritate him." Fred added.
"Yeah. We know the obvious side-effects of things when we see them. We'll go hijack the stuff as soon as you take off." George finished.
"Thanks, guys. Sorry I couldn't fork over any useful information. I think she's alright, lack of sleep aside. If she got herself a decent night's sleep, it'd probably do her a world of good. Think you two could replace a bit of her pepper-up potion with a dreamless sleep potion or something? Just enough for one dose, and just enough for a regular night's sleep. Don't want to overdo it. She's gonna be mad enough at us as is." Harry said.
"Sure thing. We've got a hidden supply of potions in our trunks. Useful for experimenting on new items!" Fred said, grinning.
"One of these days, we're going to open ourselves up a joke shop. Put ol' Zonko out of business." George said.
"And a fine addition such a place would make to our world." Harry said in a snobbish voice. "I take it you're going to use at least a couple of ideas from The List in your item research?"
"Indeed we are!" Fred exclaimed. "Ahh, only a couple years left here, then we can set out and make a name for ourselves outside of Hogwarts."
"Your legacy will live on through the products you sell to the students?" Harry asked, smirking.
"Too right it will." George said.
"Oi. Anyway, I'm a bit tired from wandering all over the place. I'm gonna head up to my tower and rest."
"Your tower? Being a bit cocky there, aren't you?"
"Ahh, but it is my tower. I found it, after all." Harry said, cryptically.
Fred and George looked at each other.
"You know..." One began.
"I don't think..."
"...Harry is talking about Ravenclaw Tower."
"Indeed I'm not. Good evening to you, lads!" Harry said, bowing with a flourish before quickly leaving Gryffindor Tower. He knew the twins would probably give chase, and he wanted a good head start on them. He didn't really care if they found out about the Nest, as they would probably find a way to put up mini-wards on the place to keep anyone that wasn't a Ravenclaw out of it. But that was entirely beside the point.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
When Harry opened the trap door and walked back into the Nest, he was panting heavily and about to drop. The chair was nearest the entrance, so he fell down onto it with a groan.
"What're you outta breath for, eh?" Asked Tonks, who was stretched out on the couch. She seemed to be the only one left in the tower. "Don't tell me Hermione went berserk and chased after you, hurling library books."
"Nah..." Harry said, trying to catch his breath. He also had a nasty cramp in his side. "Twins were after me."
"The twins? Why?"
"Because I found out what was up with Hermione and promised not to tell anyone. Plus when
I said I was going to 'my' tower rather than 'Ravenclaw' Tower, they got all curious and
decided to pursue me the entire way back. They didn't see me enter, though." Harry said,
grinning.
"Was it a time turner, then?" Tonks asked.
"Yup." Harry said. "And she's hitting the pepper-up potions pretty hard."
"Ooh, ouch." Tonks said. "...I thought you promised not to tell anyone."
"You, Leon, and Luna don't count since we worked it out together." Harry said. "Oi, budge over, the couch is comfier than this chair is."
Tonks rolled her eyes, but sat up anyway, letting Harry flop down next to her.
"So what've you been upto and where is the other half of our quartet?" Harry asked, leaning his head on the back of the couch and closing his eyes.
"Leon and Luna decided to head back to the Tower about a half hour ago. I figured you'd probably come here first, so I decided to wait." Tonks said.
"Yeah, you just wanted to be alone with me again, I bet." Harry teased.
"And what if I did? You know, we should rig up something on the invisible wall that tells us when someone's coming up." Tonks said.
"Oh? And what might you want to be so paranoid about?" Harry asked, cracking open an eye and glancing aside at her.
Tonks blushed, swatting Harry on the arm. "I just don't want to be caught on the floor in a ... in a near kiss again."
"Would you rather be caught in an actual kiss, then?" Harry asked.
"Quiet, you." Tonks muttered. "You know what I meant."
"Indeed I did. But I'm rather enjoying teasing you like this." Harry said.
"You're impossible, you know that?"
"Quite!"
Tonks rolled her eyes again, leaning up against Harry's side and closing her eyes as well. When she let out a big yawn, Harry said, "You should get back to Ravenclaw Tower too. Wouldn't do you good to fall asleep up here. You'll be late to classes tomorrow."
"Meh, Binns won't notice me gone and I won't miss hearing more about goblin rebellions." Tonks mumbled.
"True, true. But your back will probably hate you if you fell asleep sitting up." Harry said.
Tonks let out a 'hmm' then nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right. Here, scoot down to the left end of the couch, will ya?"
Harry blinked and did so. Seconds later, Tonks' head was resting on one of his legs, her eyes closed and a smile on her face. "There!" She said. "Now I'm not sitting up!"
"Oi! When did I volunteer for pillow duty?" Harry asked, glaring down at the girl.
"You brought it on yourself, I'm afraid." Tonks said. "You aren't allowed to complain."
Harry scowled, but went silent again, content on simply watching as Tonks clearly drifted off to sleep. He smiled down at her and muttered, "Crazy wench." He knew his back - and his neck, probably - were going to hate him come morning. But he didn't think it mattered much. It was a fair trade for getting to watch Tonks sleep. She looked... very peaceful. More peaceful than he would ever look, he figured. He had a tendency of having weird nightmares.
His mind started wandering, drifting back to when he had had a conversation with himself while he was recovering. Without really thinking about it, he brought a hand up and ran his fingers through Tonks' currently soft-brown hair. 'You can't fall out of love with someone, huh?' He thought, sighing quietly.
He supposed it was only natural. She did save him from his daily hell. And, while the Dursleys were still mean to him, they knew better than to try and do anything to him. It was a shame they weren't around when he had nearly killed his Aunt Marge. Though, he figured, they would all have probably been Obliviated. Harry entertained the thought of sending a mind-addled Lockhart after them to do the job.
"Some hero I am." He mumbled into the silence. "Can't even get up the courage to confess. Guess I don't want anything to change..."
It was true, in a way. It was the first year some form of Voldemort wasn't out to kill him. Sirius Black was out there somewhere, the Dementors were on the grounds, and there were a few minor things inside the castle walls that had to be dealt with... but in comparison to his first two years, he was having a peaceful time of it. It was the happiest he had ever been. A happiness that had only grown when he had managed to form his Patronus into something with a shape. He could keep the Dementors away... and he was confident he could do so long enough for Tonks and her mother to escape if need be. The fear of his happy memory being taken away gone, he was simply left with the memory itself. The day he had met Tonks had been the source of power behind his Patronus, but now he was wondering if he had chosen the right thing.
After all, the first time they had kissed - even if it was a spur of the moment, one-sided, and very quick thing - was something he would never forget. Fate might have hated Harry,but it couldn't take away the surge of emotions he felt when he was around Tonks. With a sigh, he gazed down at Tonks' sleeping face and smiled sadly. "I do love you." He murmured. "I just wish I could say that when you're awake... You'll have to wait a bit longer, I guess."
Harry leaned his head on the back of the couch once more, letting his eyes slip shut. He had faced down danger more times than he'd like to admit to and his biggest problem was telling his best friend that he was in love with her?
A groan escaped Harry's lips. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep in such an awkward position. Which meant he was going to be left with his thoughts, all of which were focused on the sleeping girl that was using his leg as a pillow.
It was going to be a long, long night.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Notes: I think my steam is starting to run out. This took a bit longer than expected to write. Still, it's another chapter, right? And now we've gotten two major things taken care of. One, Harry knows Hermione has a time turner. And two, Harry's finally admitted to himself that he really is in love.
This is the calm before the storm, folks. If I actually stick to my writer's guide - and I'm actually doing a good job considering the new one has been for 10 through 19 - I've got five chapters left. In the coming chapters, we're going to have Sirius make his move, Lupin shift into werewolf form, find out what form Harry's Patronus takes on, and what's going to happen to Harry over the summer! Good stuff. And, like I've said, I have a fun way of starting book 4 up.
And yeah, I know it was a bit silly to have the Quidditch fight going on. But it was fun to write and I figure that by the time Harry and Malfoy were actually low enough for anyone to really notice - Madam Hooch was probably just trying to keep track of the Slytherins playing the other positions - Harry had already slung the Bolt Thrower and was making an attempt in not plowing into the ground. And Malfoy was chasing the snitch shortly after, so he avoided a painful attack easily enough. I figure that anything Hooch found out AFTER the event was too late. In any case, it's said and done and, with any luck, I won't be writing any more Quidditch-related material for a good, long time.
So the update-o-rama continues and you lot get another chapter this week! I think I SHOULD blame the HIM music I got ahold of. I've got a playlist of nothing but their songs and it's well over 3 hours long. It usually takes me 1 to 2 hours to type up a chapter of decent length, and the music helps drive me forward. Until next time, folks, whenever that might be!