Chapter 7 - Birthday
Another week passed. Hermione trained during that week in her free time with Chomper to learn Dragon Rage. After several hours of hard work, he was finally able to pull it off.
Hermione had noticed that Neville seemed more jumpy than usual. This concerned her. What was wrong with her almost friend? Hermione headed for the Great Hall, even though it was still early, knowing that he would have to stop there at some point to eat breakfast. She had managed to map out the areas of the castle that she went to in her head. This kept her from getting lost. Hopefully. It hadn't let her down since she had taken the time to explore the castle properly.
A while after she had gotten to the Great Hall, the mail arrived. It had been surprising at first, but she had gotten used to the flock of bird Pokemon that flew in from the windows. To her surprise, one of the bird Pokemon landed in front of her and offered its leg. She untied the package. Wondering who it was from, as her parents sent her mail on Mondays, she opened the package.
Inside were two boxes and a letter. Opening the letter, she found that the package was indeed from her parents. It was a birthday gift. She had forgotten her own birthday! With a quiet giggle at her silliness, she opened the boxes.
She stifled a gasp. Inside of the larger box was a bracelet. She recognized it immediately. She had been eyeing it from the window of Pokemon Enhancements. It didn't actually change the Pokemon, like TMs. It was a Z Ring. Inside of the smaller box were a set of Dragonium Z Crystals. One for her bracelet and another for Chomper to wear in a matching bracelet.
She quickly affixed both bracelets onto herself and Chomper. It was a good thing that he had learned Dragon Rage, so he could use the Z Crystal.
Hermione was about to go back up to her dorm room to write her parents a thank you note when she remembered why she was still in the Great Hall even after she had finished her breakfast. The welfare of a potential friend was more important than writing a thank you note right away. She could always write it later and include it in her usual Friday letter home.
It was almost a quarter hour until class started and Hermione was getting antsy when Neville showed up. Deciding that getting to class on time was more important than fixing out what was bothering him right that second, she helped feed his Pokemon while he ate.
After Tracking, Hermione managed to corner Neville alone in his dorm room by following him down the stairs.
"Neville," Hermione began as gently as she could, "what's wrong? You've been acting much more scared than usual. Did something happen? Did someone threaten you?"
"N-no! Nothing like that! If I tell you, do you promise to not tell anyone?" Neville replied.
Hermione was conflicted. What should she do? Finally, she came to a decision. "As long as no one will in any way get hurt, I'll keep whatever you tell me to myself."
Neville looked relieved. "Okay, so you know how I broke my wrist?" At her nod, he continued. "Well I was released later that night, I forgot the password, so I couldn't get into the common room. Then, Harry and Ron came out, but they closed the entrance before I could get in. By then, the Jinx had already left to go socialize with other Pokemon, so they couldn't let me in.
"They were going to meet with Draco for a Pokemon battle. I didn't want to be left alone, so I went with them. We went to the meeting place, but Draco wasn't there. We waited until Filch came. We ran away. We hid in a room that had three large dog Pokemon guarding a trapdoor. It was realy scary." Neville ended.
Hermione thought. If there were three Pokemon guarding something, then surely the Professors already know about it. "Were the Pokemon in the forbidden corridor?" Neville nodded. She would probably get in trouble for reporting it seeing as the corridore was forbidden to students. "I won't tell anyone," Hermione decided.
The two of them spent the rest of the day studdying together. Hermione noticed that Neville was more relaxed now that he had gotten his story off of his chest.
