Secrets
Chapter 1
"Hermione! Are you awake?" Hermione could hear her mum's voice calling to her and she startled awake. Looking at the clock, she couldn't believe what time it was. It was nearly 10:30 am! She was supposed to meet Ron and Harry at Diagon Alley in half an hour.
"Yeah, mum, I'm awake!" Calling back to her, Hermione sat up on her bed and tried unsuccessfully to run her fingers through her hair and straighten it out. What had she been thinking? She was glad that she had packed the previous night before she went to bed, there wasn't time for it now.
Hurriedly dressing in some muggle clothes, she made a mental note to get some new robes at Madame Malkin's and also some of that potion to tame her hair. Looking at herself in the mirror, she decided she looked too pale and put on some makeup to give herself some color.
Hearing a knock at her door, she knew that it was her mum checking on her, "Mum, I'm all packed, I'll be out shortly!" Her parents had been giving her worried looks since she came home from Hogwarts, and she really longed to tell them what was going on but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Fooling her parents was going to be a whole lot easier than fooling her friends, though.
Half an hour later, she found herself in Flourish and Blotts bookstore, her favorite store in Diagon Alley. Her parents had given her the money she would need for her supplies and some extra for her birthday, since she would not be there for it. After picking up the books she needed for lessons that year, she went to the medical section. She wasn't exactly sure what kind of curse had been used on her, but she needed to see if she could figure it out...
"Hermione! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Ron said, startling her from her search, "Might have known you would be in here."
She looked up to see Harry, Ron and Ginny's grinning faces, "Hey guys, how are you doing?" She said, trying to hide the book at which she was looking.
"Mine was better than usual. I think Moody and the others really scared my aunt and uncle cause they were practically nice to me," Harry said, grimly, "I couldn't help thinking about Sirius though."
Hermione nodded and put her arm around Harry, comforting him, "Harry, we all miss Sirius, he was a great guy," She said sadly, "Anytime you want to talk to someone about him, just come find me."
"Thanks, 'Mione," Harry said, a sad smile upon his face.
They talked a few minutes about their summers and finally they noticed what section she was in.
"What are you doing in the medical section, Hermione?" Ron said, looking at her in a concerned way, "You're not sick, are you?"
"Oh, no, I have been thinking about becoming a healer for my profession, that's all. I thought I would start reading up on it now and get ahead."
The other three laughed, that was definitely something that they could believe. Hermione was the smartest witch in the 6th years, and quite possibly in the school.
"What say we go to Florean's and get a bite of ice cream after we leave here? Then we can go get the rest of your stuff," Ron said, smiling at her.
"That sounds like a good idea. With mum and dad being dentists I don't get sweets very often at home," Hermione got a couple of likely looking books and paid for the lot, then headed out with her three friends.
They were all sitting around eating strawberry and peanut butter ice creams at Florean's when the familiar icy pain sensation hit her again. Gasping, she looked around at the concerned faces and shrugged it off, "Went down the wrong pipe. I'll be right back, I'm going to the ladies room."
By the time she reached the ladies room, her forehead was beaded with sweat and she was having trouble catching her breath. Taking a paper towel and wetting it with water, she sat down on the cushioned bench and put the towel over her forehead, closing her eyes and wishing the pain would go away.
"Hermione?" Ginny said, coming into the rest room, "Are you okay?" As soon as she saw Hermione, she knew the answer was no. Going over to her friend, she put her arm around her, "What's wrong?"
Hermione opened her eyes, looked at Ginny, and sighed, "Remember that night at the Department of Mysteries?"
Ginny nodded, it wasn't easy to forget.
"Well, I've been having problems all summer. My parents don't know, I couldn't tell them or they wouldn't let me come back to Hogwarts. But I have pain in my chest and sometimes it feels as if ice water has been poured over my heart."
"Hermione, you need to tell someone. Tell Harry, Ron, anyone..."
"No! I can't tell Harry. He's going to blame himself. I can't let him do that. Please...promise me that you won't tell him," She said, right before she blacked out.
