Author's notes: And here we are again gang with Chapter 09 of A Fair Life. I really enjoyed pieces of this chapter. We're coming down to the wire, the big explanation is coming up NEXT chapter and this one sets up us getting to that discussion as well as throwing in a few other things that should be lots of fun once we get there. Ten chapters just to get to the explanation for Hermione. Jeez.
Some of you might have noticed that at this point in the story not even a full week has passed by since chapter 02. I am happy to say that that kind of pace won't be staying around for long. Things are going to pick up and we'll be moving along through fourth year with a bit more speed soon enough. There has just been a lot of set up and stuff to get through before now so things have needed to progress without skipping over much time in story.
Disclaimer: I own my phone, my computer, and my motorcycle. That's about it.
Now, without any further delay, here is chapter 09 of A Fair Life. Please, enjoy.
A Fair Life
Confrontations and Surprises
by,
Rtnwriter
Thursday morning, Harleen opened her eyes, slowly coming awake to a strangely empty feeling in her chest, one she'd only felt one other time before. After last night's argument with Ron, she was positive that her friendship with the lanky redhead was utterly shattered beyond any hope of repair. Despite her misgivings about him, it still hurt to think she'd completely lost the first friend her age that she'd ever had.
Sighing dejectedly, she pushed herself up to a sitting position in her bed and reached for the house robe that she found lying next to her. Shrugging into the garment to cover her nearly naked form before pulling aside her curtains and slipping out of bed, intent on a hot shower to help her wake up.
Can I just have one calm day? she mentally pleaded. Just one day where nothing crazy happens and no one yells at me? Please?
"What in the bloody hell do you think you're doing in here?"
Harleen sighed again, closing her eyes as if hoping that the owner of that voice would simply disappear if she didn't acknowledge her. Knowing that was unlikely to happen, and cursing the universe at large for ignoring her plea for a quiet day, she opened her eyes and turned to face a scowling Lavender Brown. The girl was wearing a robe similar to her own, arms crossed over her chest, anger pouring off her in waves, as she seemed to be trying to kill Harleen simply by the intense heat of her glare alone.
"I was sleeping," Harleen replied to the girl's question. "Now I'm thinking of going to take a shower. What does it matter to you?"
"How did you get in here, Potter" Lavender snapped.
Harleen frowned and glanced around the room, noting Parvati and Fay nearby, both girls sitting on the edge of their beds as if they'd just woken and watching the confrontation with wide eyes. The door to the showers swung open and Hermione stepped into the room, already dressed for the day, her hair tied up in a loose ponytail and she came to an abrupt stop as her gaze landed on the scene before her.
"Uh… I walked up the stairs?" Harleen finally said, turning her attention back to Lavender.
"How did you trick them?" Lavender demanded, taking a threatening step closer and Harleen realized belatedly that the blond was holding her wand in one tightly clenched fist.
Bewildered and off balance, Harleen backed up a step. "Trick who? What are you...?"
"The stairs, Potter! How did you trick the stairs to let you up here?"
"What are you talking about, Lavender?" Hermione cut in, moving over to stand near them. "Why would Harleen need to trick the stairs?"
"How else would Harry get up here?" Lavender spat. "Get out of here, Potter! Go back to your dorm before I get McGonagall!"
"Professor McGonagall is the one that told me that this was my dorm," Harleen said quietly, almost like she was talking to herself.
Lavender's eyes narrowed and she started to take another step forward when Hermione suddenly put herself between the two of them. Harleen jerked back, startled by her friend's sudden interjection between her and Lavender, as well as the fact that Hermione had her own wand in hand and pointed at the irate blond in front of her.
"You don't belong here, Potter! This is the girl's dorm!"
Harleen looked down at her chest for a moment then turned her gaze back to Lavender. "I- I am a girl," she said.
"Hippogriff shite! You might look like a girl right now but I'm not buying it. You're a boy, you've always been a boy, and just like every other boy, you're nothing more than a perverted little freak! I'm not sharing a dorm with someone that'll be trying to peep on me while I'm changing or in the shower, so get your arse out of here!"
It was like a punch to the gut. Harleen, shocked by the hate and venom dripping from the usually bubbly blond's voice, stumbled back another step and felt the stone wall of the dorm against her back.
Freak!
She couldn't say the thought hadn't occurred to her. She'd been denying the possibility, ignoring the voice in the back of her head that kept repeating the Dursleys' favorite slur for her. A freak. When she'd had no explanation for her accidental magic as a child and the strange things that happened around her, she'd almost believed them. She was a freak. Then she found out about magic and for a brief moment, she'd thought she might not be as different as her relatives thought.
She would find people like her. Coming into the wizarding world had dashed the hope that she could be normal. She was famous. Known the world over. She was a parselmouth. Now, she was a boy that had become a girl. She really was nothing more than-
"- Harry!"
A hand on her cheek and the sound of her name in her ears drew her from the spiraling depths of her thoughts to find herself sitting on the floor, a stinging pain radiating from her back where it had scraped against the rough stones behind her. Her heart was racing, she couldn't seem to catch her breath, and it felt as if something heavy sat on her chest, constricting her lungs.
"Harleen, you need to try to slow your breathing. You're having a panic attack. Slow, deep breaths. Come on…"
The voice, that she recognized as Hermione's continued a litany of soothing words and calming advice and slowly, as she did her best to follow that advice, the pressure on her chest began to ease, her heart rate began to slow, and she found herself able to take longer, more even breaths.
A loud bang echoed through the room as the door flew open and their Head of House suddenly filled the doorway, a thunderous expression on her face as her strident tones rang out. "Just what in Godric's name is going on in here?"
Harleen was finally able to take in the room around her again and found her eyes practically bulging out at the scene before her. Parvati and Fay were both standing as far from the other girls in the room as they could get, with Harleen and Hermione against the wall furthest from the door. In the very center of the room stood Lavender, though much changed from the last view Harleen had of her.
The girl was yelling, that much was evident by the way her mouth kept opening and closing, but no sound escaped, probably the result of a silencing charm. Her skin cycled through a dizzying mix of colors. One moment bright orange with silver stripes and the next green with pink polka dots dancing across every bit of exposed skin. Her slippers were shredded from where her feet had morphed into cloven hooves, a forked tongue darted out of her mouth now and then as she ranted in silence and her clawed hands were helping to support her head which was now weighed down by a massive pair of ram's horns.
"Miss Granger, would you care to explain to me what has happened to Miss Brown?" Professor McGonagall asked in a dangerous tone.
Harleen and Hermione exchanged a look before, surprising herself, Harleen burst into tears.
#####
Minerva McGonagall let out a long breath and sat back in the chair behind her desk, eyeing the two girls in front of her critically. In a school that taught magic to children, magic that regularly laughed and thumbed its nose at the laws of physics, the only hard rule was to expect the unexpected. Despite this well learned expectation, Minerva felt that there were simply some things that she could count on to be immutable constants of life.
Things like 'water is wet', or 'the Sun always rises in the East', 'ice is cold', 'fire is hot', 'Hermione Granger is a level headed witch who would never lash out at someone in anger'.
It was mildly disconcerting for the stern educator to be faced with a previously unknown exception to one of these closely held beliefs. Lavender Brown had been sent to the Hospital Wing, barely recognizable as the cheerful and bubbly witch that she usually was. The mixture of charms, hexes, and human transfiguration used on the girl would have been impressive were it not for the fact that it was one of her lions that was attacked, and another that had done the attacking.
As an educator and disciplinarian, she could not admit to being impressed in any way, despite the fact that it was a fourth year student using a branch of magic that they wouldn't even begin studying in class until sixth year!
"So, Miss Brown was upset that Miss Potter slept the night in the girl's dorm?" she asked for clarification of the story she was being told.
"That's what I was able to gather, Professor," Hermione agreed quietly, her hands balled into fists on her thighs. "She kept asking how Harleen was able to trick the stairs to let a boy up into the dorm. She was extremely hostile and insulting and something she said caused Harleen to have a panic attack. I… I used my wand but I wasn't really paying much attention, I was more worried about Harleen."
Minerva nodded. "Yes, that much I was able to piece together from speaking to Miss Brown, once her tongue was returned to normal," she said with a stern frown in Hermione's direction that had the girl shrinking in on herself in her seat. "It is also clear that she does not believe that Miss Potter is truly female. She appears to view the whole thing as an elaborate ruse by a boy to attempt to take advantage of the girls in the dorms."
"I would never do something like that, Professor!"
"I believe you, Miss Potter," she said gently to the disheveled and despondent looking girl. "I have always considered you to be a person with strong morals, and you have never given me any reason to doubt you. This situation does present several issues that must be addressed however."
"What kind of issues?" Harleen asked, leaning, almost unconsciously, toward Hermione in the chair beside her. Whether she was doing so to offer protection for the other girl, or seeking comfort for herself, Minerva couldn't really say.
"First, while I commend you, Miss Granger, for defending your friend, I cannot allow your using magic against another student go without punishment." She paused as Hermione's face paled considerably. "I believe that thirty points from Gryffindor as well as a detention this evening with me, immediately following dinner should suffice."
Hermione and Harleen both let out a relieved sigh at the relatively light punishment.
"Second," Minerva stated. "Miss Brown has made it clear that she is unwilling to share a dorm with Miss Potter. I cannot punish a person for how they feel, as long as she makes no further attacks against Miss Potter's person… that leaves us in a slight quandary as to how to handle the situation."
Both girls were silent for a few moments.
"I… I could go back to the boy's dor-"
"Absolutely not, Miss Potter!" Minerva barked out, stunned by the very suggestion of such a thing. "A young woman sharing living space with multiple teen boys? Why, the very idea is outrageous."
"Not like I'd be sleeping with any of them," Harleen tried to argue. "Beside, I've already been sharing a living space with them for three years now."
"While your body was male," Minerva pointed out. "Miss Potter, your new status precludes you from acting as you used to. Even if nothing untoward went on, if you returned to your old dorm, rumors would undoubtedly crop up and your reputation would be tainted."
"My repu… are you kidding me?" Harleen burst out. "This is absolutely ridiculous, who cares about my reputation?"
"It's pretty common, Harleen," Hermione cut in. "Even if you don't care, how people perceive you, what they think of you, it'll all color how they treat you. If people think you have a reputation for a certain kind of behavior… it would make the rest of your life more difficult in ways you don't want to have to deal with."
Harleen growled under her breath before turning her attention to Minerva. "Do you have any suggestions?" she bit out.
"Two immediately come to mind, Miss Potter. Both, however, have issues with them being implemented. First, we could give you your own private quarters, both as a champion and as a means to avoid further confrontation with Miss Brown."
The girls exchanged a look. "That actually sounds like a really good idea, Professor," Harleen mused. "What seems to be the problem?"
"I would think that having your own quarters would put a rift between you and the rest of the House. You would be apart from them, no longer seen as one of the House if you lived separately. I feel that it would be better for you to remain in the Tower so that you do not drift apart from your Housemates."
"That makes sense, Harleen," Hermione murmured. "We still need to take the temperature of the rest of the Tower and see where they land on the two major issues." At Harleen's questioning look, she clarified her meaning. "The fact that you didn't put your name in the goblet and the fact that you're not the same gender that you were last week. Obviously, we've seen different parts of the spectrum now. The Quidditch team seem to be behind you all the way. Ron still doesn't believe you about the tournament but didn't seem to much care that you're a girl, and Lavender… well…"
Harleen grimaced during the explanation but eventually let out a long sigh and nodded. "Professor? Can we set that idea aside but possibly revisit it if living in the Tower becomes a hostile environment?"
Minerva considered that for a moment before nodding her head. "That would be acceptable. Which leads us to our second option. There is a second dormitory directly across from the one you girls currently occupy. We could open that dorm and allow you to move in there, along with any of the other girls that may wish to do so."
Harleen winced at that, telling Minerva that the girl had already spotted the issue.
"With that idea, anyone willing to move into the new dorm would basically be declaring a side between me and Lavender. She would probably view it as a betrayal and that could raise tensions within the Tower."
"Well spotted, Miss Potter, that is precisely the concern."
"I don't really see that we have a great many options. We'll have to go with the dorm and hope that things can be kept civil," Hermione stated and Harleen turned to face her.
"We?" she asked.
"If you honestly think that I won't be moving into the new dorm with you then you obviously don't know me half as well as I thought you did," Hermione sniffed disdainfully.
Harleen shrugged her shoulders. "W-well… I didn't want to make any assumptions…"
"I've stood by you through some pretty hair raising things already, Harleen. I'm not about to abandon you over something as simple as switching dorms."
Minerva quietly cleared her throat, drawing the girls' attention back to her. "I shall have the dorm prepared and your trunks will be moved before lunch today." She paused, studying the two of them carefully before she turned her attention to Hermione. "Miss Granger, if you would head out? I would like to speak to Miss Potter alone. Breakfast is being served and you have plenty of time to eat before my class."
She appeared reluctant to do so, but eventually, Hermione stood and left the room, her bag thrown over one shoulder and a concerned look in her eye as she glanced back at her friend just before the door closed. A quick call to one of the Hogwarts house elves had both student and professor supplied with a goblet of pumpkin juice as well as a plate piled high with a full English breakfast.
"I feel that this discussion may just take a bit of time and it wouldn't do for either of us to miss breakfast," she said by way of explanation at the questioning look the girl gave her. "Poppy would have my head if I caused you to miss a meal," she added with a rare grin.
Harleen smiled back, feeling a bit more at ease, it seemed, and the two began eating. Minerva used the first few minutes to organize her thoughts, making sure to list in her mind the various points that she wanted to touch on during their discussion before she started.
"Miss Potter, I owe you an apology," she started, causing the girl to look up from her plate in confusion.
"What for, Professor?"
"I have been thinking over the last few days, contemplating my actions over the last three years, and more than that beside. I've realized that I have consistently failed you at almost every turn since the night that your parents died."
Harleen opened her mouth, her expression stating clearly that she intended to protest, but Minerva raised one hand, gesturing for her to wait.
"It's true," she said. "The night you were left at your relatives' home… I spent the entire day observing them in my animagus form and I know that they were terrible people. But I did nothing to stop the Headmaster from leaving you there beside a verbal protest. Then I didn't check on you even once over the years. I did nothing where I should have acted.
"Then you returned to us, and I have continued to fail you ever since you stepped foot in this school. I did nothing to interfere with Severus and his poor treatment of you. I didn't listen when you and your friends tried to warn me about the danger to the Stone in your first year. I did nothing to curb the rumors in your second year, that Heir of Slytherin nonsense. As Professors, the entire staff failed to protect our students and it fell to a twelve-year-old child to end the situation that year, and you very nearly lost your life because of it.
"Last year… it never once occurred to you to come to me, did it?" she asked, sighing when Harleen winced and avoided her eyes. "I didn't think so. I don't blame you, I have given you little reason to think that you could come to me. I have failed, not only you, but my House and this entire school for some time now; and I would like to thank you, Miss Potter, for bringing my failures to light. I now am presented with the opportunity to improve and to do better than I have in the past. I want my students, regardless of their House, to feel that they can come to me with their problems. I will also be speaking to the other Professors and I will do my best to impress upon them the need for us all to do better."
The girl before her looked shocked when she finished, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open slightly for a moment before she suddenly shook herself, her mouth snapping closed.
"W-well… um… you're welcome?" It came out as more of a question than anything else, but Minerva accepted the sentiment with a quiet nod of her head.
Minerva pushed aside her empty plate and leaned forward in her seat, her hands clasped together on the table in front of her. "Take your potions, Miss Potter, and we'll move on to a… well, a rather more delicate matter."
Harleen nodded and took out the box of potions from the inside pocket of her robes, expanding it as Minerva continued speaking. "Miss Brown… from what I was able to gather in speaking to her while you showered and dressed this morning… it appears that her primary concern in sharing a dorm with you is that she is uncomfortable sharing a space with someone that she thinks might look at her in a… less than platonic manner. Now, while I do not believe that you would ever use your situation to take advantage of any of the other girls, I fear I must ask if there is any truth to Miss Brown's concerns?"
Harleen squirmed in her seat, her cheeks flushing a brilliant red as her eyes darted about and her fingers plucked nervously at the potions vials in the box in front of her. "Uh… i-if you're asking if I'm at-attracted to girls… well… well, I'd have to say yes," she admitted meekly. "But I swear, I would never-"
"I have already said that I believe you, Miss Potter, let us let that lie. This does present a small problem however. The boys and girls dorms are separate in order to help discourage any… explorations amongst the students, however there is no such consideration for students of the same gender." She fell silent, thinking carefully for several seconds as Harleen selected the proper potion from her box.
"Are you quite certain of your… interests?" she asked. "Is it at all possible that once you have spent more time being female again that your tastes might change?"
Harleen shook her head vehemently. "No, Professor. Really, I have no interest in men at all. In fact… in fact there's a girl I am interested in, I just… I haven't decided how to approach her quite yet."
Which falls directly in line with what I've observed since Monday evening, she thought as she hummed wordlessly under her breath for a moment. "Well, if you are quite certain, I can certainly see the attraction, though I do not recommend that you keep Miss Granger waiting for long."
Harleen nearly spat the potion she'd just poured into her mouth across the desk, barely managing to swallow the foul tasting concoction before gasping out, "I never said anything about Hermione!"
"Oh, please," Minerva said with a scowl. "You are not nearly as subtle as you seem to think you are," she added in a dry tone. "I have long suspected that the two of you would make an excellent couple, and since your change it has only become clearer than ever that the two of you are rather drawn to one another. I admit that I wasn't entirely certain that wasn't just a result of the uncommonly close friendship that the two of you share, but I can see now there is much more there than simple friendship between you."
She leaned back in her seat and eyed the gaping girl in front of her. "I feel that I should warn you. Wizarding society has never shown itself to be kind to those who are… different. Your social status would also put you and Miss Granger under a great deal of scrutiny should the two of you be public with your relationship. You should both be sure that you are ready to deal with the consequences before anyone else finds out."
"We don't exactly have a relationship, Professor," Harleen pointed out. "At least, not yet; but I understand your point."
"Something for the two of you to discuss in the future."
"We will."
"Once you have reached a consensus as to the status of your relationship, can I trust that nothing untoward will be going on in the dorms?"
Minerva hid a smirk as, right on cue, the girl's cheeks reddened and she stammered out a slew of assurances to her Head of House. She was tempted to push, to tease the girl just a bit, but, at the last second, she thought better of it, and simply let Harleen recover her composure.
By the time the girl's complexion had returned to something approaching her normal skin tone, Minerva was ready to continue. "The last thing that I wish to bring up is in regards to what you said to the Headmaster yesterday," she began. "I am curious about this war you mentioned as well as the role you seem to feel that you will play in it."
Harleen let out a long breath, sitting up as tall in her seat as her diminutive stature would allow, and fixed her Head of House with a steady gaze. "It shouldn't be a secret from the staff that Voldemort isn't dead," Harleen started, ignoring the way Minerva couldn't help a wince at the name, despite the many times she'd heard Dumbledore use it. "If it is, then you'll really want to question the Headmaster on that since the last two incidents involving him happened here at school in my first and second years."
She paused for a moment, her head tilting to one side slightly in thought. "Well… admittedly the second one had nothing to do with him now, but the version of him from fifty years ago, so I guess that's not entirely fair… still… talk to Dumbledore."
She straightened up again. "Personally, I'm not against cooperating with the Headmaster, I just need to see some effort from him that he's not going to continue acting as he always has in trying to control me and my life. That isn't his place and I won't put up with it any longer. That being said, I don't want him knowing how much I know, or how I know it. I'll tell you what I can if he doesn't come clean with you himself, but for right now, I think I need to play things a little close to the vest. There's a bit of time yet."
Minerva met a calm, green eyed stare, such an abrupt shift from the nervous and embarrassed teen she'd been speaking to before that point, and couldn't help but wonder over the changes she'd observed in her student's behavior, changes that couldn't entirely be accounted for by her physical transformation.
Eventually she nodded her head. "I will do that, Miss Potter." She pulled open a drawer in her desk and retrieved a small stack of parchment that she handed over. "The introductory student packet that we give to our muggle born and raised students," she explained at the questioning look on the girls face. "I do believe it is far past time that you should have this."
"Thank you, I'll be sure to read through it," Harleen said as she tucked the information into her bag where it sat on the floor next to her chair.
With her main points covered, Minerva ushered the teen from her office and the two began to make their way through the halls towards the Transfiguration classroom.
Something is very different about you, Miss Potter, Minerva thought as she walked alongside the young witch, eyeing the pensive seeming girl curiously. Something is different, and you're trying to hide just how different you are. I may not know you as well as Miss Granger, but the adults in your life have failed you far too much, young lady. Don't think that I won't figure out what you're hiding, if for no other reason than so that I can offer the support you've been missing all these years.
#####
After the initial chaos that was Thursday morning, Harleen was relieved to find that the rest of the day actually went rather well. The double length Transfiguration class that morning meant her mind was kept too occupied to stress over the various worries and concerns plaguing her. Yes, Harleen had already had this lesson in her previous life, but she was attempting to focus more on the theory this time around than she had in the past and that made for a far more challenging lesson.
Hermione had been impressed, even pleased, with the change in her focus, and wasn't even annoyed when Harleen was the first in the class to successfully change her guinea pig into a guinea fowl. The day passed quickly, despite the looks that she continued to receive from the majority of the other students, as well as the heated glares coming from Ron and Lavender, once the other witch was released from the Hospital Wing and was able to rejoin their lessons.
Harleen counted herself lucky that they had Transfiguration and Charms that day. While both classes were with the Slytherins, Malfoy and his cronies didn't cause any trouble in either of those courses. She knew it wouldn't be the same once their next Potions lesson came around, but she hoped that Professor McGonagall had made good on her threat to curb Snape and decided to wait and see what happened. A confrontation with the pale boy was coming, she knew, she just wasn't entirely sure how she was going to deal with him when it happened.
Right after lunch, Professor McGonagall showed her and Hermione their new dorm. It was identical in design and decoration to the previous dorm, only a mirror image of it. Hermione thought it would take her a little getting used to with things on the opposite side of where she was used to them being, but insisted that being away from Lavender and Parvati would make it worth the little confusion she would need to deal with while she adjusted to the new living arrangements.
Charms class that afternoon proceeded much like Transfiguration had, with much praise from a delighted Professor Flitwick over her improved wand work. Neville spent most of the class sitting with Harleen and Hermione, flushed with a mixture of pride and embarrassment as Flitwick heaped unaccustomed praise on the boy over his own phenomenal improvements in the class, now that he had a wand that responded to him properly. Neville was so thrilled with his new wand that during his exuberant thanks after class Harleen was worried for a moment that the boy might try to kiss her.
All in all, by the time Harleen crawled into her bed that evening, she was pleased that a day that had started out on such a horrid note had actually ended rather well. She fell asleep with a small smile on her face, very much looking forward to the next day, and the surprise she had in store for her best friend.
#####
"You really don't have to walk me to class, Harleen," Hermione commented to the girl beside her as the two said goodbye to Neville and left the Great Hall on Friday morning.
"I know, but I want to," Harleen chirped back. The girl was in a surprisingly chipper mood and Hermione couldn't help but find herself feeling a touch suspicious of her friends behaviour.
She was practically bouncing with each step and the small smile on her face grew broader the closer they got to the Arithmancy classroom.
"Well, class is about to start," Hermione said once they reached the door to her class.
"Have fun and learn lots," Harleen responded, grinning so widely that Hermione was honestly worried the girl's face was going to start hurting.
"I'll see you later," Hermione told her, still uncertain over her behavior, before she pushed open the door and stepped into class, moving immediately to her preferred seat in the front row. Sitting down next to Susan Bones, she placed her bag beside her desk and started pulling out her supplies, carefully arranging them before her on the desk's surface.
"All right, let's settle down, everyone," Professor Vector called as she came into the class and moved to stand near her desk at the front of the room. "I understand that everyone has been all atwitter over recent events but I will have all of your complete focus."
The professor set down a stack parchment that she'd been carrying on her desk as she spoke. I have the results of your last quiz here and I have to say that I'm very pleased with how everyone did."
Hermione couldn't help a small smile over Professor Vector's words. She knew they were intended for the class as a whole, but that didn't stop her from feeling a touch of pride over her performance in her classes.
"Miss Potter. I'd like to welcome you to my class and I'll have your quiz graded for you by tomorrow. From what I could see at a glance, though, I think you'll do quite well in this course."
What? Hermione thought with a frown until another voice spoke up and her head whipped around toward the speaker.
"That's fine, Professor, I understand I'm coming in late to the party," Harleen said from her seat at the desk immediately to Hermione's left. "Thank you again, for giving me the opportunity."
"Well, I did test 'Harry' Potter on Monday, not 'Harleen' Potter. But you passed the assessment so you have earned your place in this course. Don't let me, or Professor McGonagall, down."
After a stern glare that didn't quite match up to one their Head of House could have produced, Professor Vector waved her wand, sending the stack of quizzes on her desk whipping through the air, each to land on the proper student's desk before she launched into her lecture for the day.
Hermione realized that her mouth was hanging open as she stared at her friend in shock and she made a conscious effort to carefully close her mouth without snapping her teeth together, her parents would have lectured her for at least twenty minutes if she'd done something like that.
"Harleen!" she hissed. "What are you doing here?"
Harleen's response was to wink, a mischievous grin in place on her lips and mouth 'later' before she turned her attention back to the lecture, leaving Hermione to struggle to pay attention even as her mind spun in a dizzying whirl.
Later, she would be mortified to realize that she'd been so shocked that she actually hadn't heard most of the lesson that day and it was only Harleen's notes that would help her catch up to what she'd missed in her surprise over the other girl's presence.
Once the lesson was over and they were dismissed from class Hermione was one of the first ones out the door, practically dragging Harleen behind her as she went. Just down the hall from her Ancient Runes class, Hermione opened the door to an empty classroom and practically shoved Harleen inside.
"Okay, start talking," Hermione demanded. "What is going on with you, Harry?"
Harleen stood near the teacher's desk and slowly set her bag down on it's dusty surface.
"I'm sorry," she said in a low, despondent tone that actually pained Hermione to hear. "I didn't mean to upset you."
Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing herself to calm as best she could as she slowly let herself sink into one of the student desks near the front of the room. "I'm not upset," she said.
Harleen gave her a pointed look and she sighed.
"Okay, yes I'm upset, but I'm not angry. Not with you. I'm confused and I'm worried. So much has happened in the last few days and a lot of things are going to continue to happen. It seems like, this tournament, whoever put your name in the goblet, that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg from what I can see, and I'm scared. I'm scared for you and for what's going to happen. I'm scared that you haven't been acting like yourself. I don't know what's really happened to you. What's still happening, and I don't know how to help. Please, could you just explain this to me?"
Harleen leaned against the teacher's desk. "Remember on Monday when I told Ron that I was rethinking my academics?"
Hermione nodded.
"Well, this is what I was doing. I talked to Professor McGonagall and dropped Divination, and then tested into the fourth year Arithmancy and Ancient Runes courses."
"Why? And why didn't you tell me?" Hermione asked, a little hurt at being excluded.
Harleen shrugged, her eyes dropping to study her shoes. "Divination is useless unless you're actually a Seer, and I was tired of having my death predicted in every class," she muttered. "Also, from everything I've heard, and from some things I've learned recently, my mum and dad were both great students. I… well, I didn't think they'd be happy with how I've been approaching school. I want to feel like they'd be proud of me and… honestly, I wanted you to be proud of me, too. So, I decided I needed to try harder.
"As for why I didn't tell you… I wanted it to be a surprise." Nervously, her fingers toyed with the fabric of her skirt, her eyes still directed away from the witch across from her. "I guess that wasn't a very good idea," she muttered.
Apparently finished with her explanation, Harleen fell silent.
You've spent three years telling her to take her studies more seriously and when she finally does the first thing you do is jump down her throat about it? Hermione thought as a pained grimace twisted her features. What the hell is wrong with you?
"Harleen…" Hermione sighed and pushed herself from her seat, moving a few steps closer to the other girl. "Harleen, I'm sorry. I've been on your case for years to take school more seriously… I was surprised, and it really is a good surprise, I just didn't react well. I didn't mean to attack you like that."
While she spoke, Harleen had lifted her head, and by the time she finished the other girl was smiling softly.
"Well, to be fair I know how much you dislike surprises. I just thought a good surprise might make up for that a bit."
"It is a good surprise," Hermione insisted. "Really it is. I'm thrilled that you're taking your studies more seriously. I've always known that you could do so much more than you have been. You're much smarter than you let on. I think… honestly I think there's just been so much changing in the last few days that I was just at my wits end."
Harleen seemed to be considering what Hermione had just told her carefully, her brow furrowed in thought for several long moments before she blew out a long breath, her eyes moving to meet her friend's gaze.
"It's driving you spare, not having the answers to all your questions, isn't it?"
"You have no idea!" Hermione burst out. "Harleen, I've been very patient, but I'm going to burst if I don't get some answers soon!"
Hermione had closed the last few feet between them as she spoke, both hands fisting into the front of Harleen's robes as she practically shook the other girl in her frustration and exasperation. Harleen burst out laughing even as Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I'm sorry," she said between chuckles. "I'm sorry, it's not funny and I'm not really laughing at you, but you getting so worked up is a little amusing."
"Harleen!" Hermione growled. "I'm about two inches away from looking up the recipe to veritaserum! I think I've earned a few answers."
A gentle touch against her cheek snapped Hermione out of her fervor as she realized, belatedly, just how close the two of them were to each other and a sudden bout of nerves struck her. Her grip on Harleen's robes loosened, though she made no move to back away from the girl she was practically pinning to the desk behind her.
"I owe you more than a few answers," Harleen admitted softly, "and I know I keep saying 'later', but I hope you know that I'm not trying to get out of talking to you. Right now… I've just got a lot going on and…" She trailed off, her fingers gently stroking Hermione's cheek, almost absently.
"I hate to say it, but I haven't been entirely honest since Monday morning in the Common Room."
"W-what do you mean?" Hermione stammered.
"I've been very careful not to lie to you," Harleen hastened to say at the hurt expression that stole over Hermione's features. "I never want to lie to you, but I haven't exactly told the entire truth either."
"So tell me," Hermione pleaded even as Harleen gently pushed her back, giving the smaller girl room to straighten up.
"I can't. Not right now."
Hermione frowned, opening her mouth to argue when Harleen kept talking.
"It's too long a story for right now and we have to get to class. I promise, I haven't been trying to get out of talking to you about all this, Hermione. Really. I haven't. I'm just… it's such a strange story, I'm worried you'll think I'm crazy."
"I won't think that," Hermione insisted, warring with her desire for answers as it came into direct conflict with her need to be in class where she was supposed to be.
Harleen snorted. "If it hadn't happened to me, I'd think I was crazy." She turned and picked up her bag off of the desk. "I'm not actually a hundred percent certain that I'm not crazy anyway. Either way, tomorrow. I promise you, tomorrow you'll get all the answers that I can safely give you."
"You swear?" Hermione pushed, a desperate note creeping into her voice despite her best efforts to hide it.
Harleen nodded. "I do. Keep in mind, there are some things I can't say, but I promise I won't lie to you. If I need to, I'll tell you if I can't explain something."
Hermione didn't particularly like the sound of that, but resigned herself to accepting it as unavoidable, for now.
#####
Is it tomorrow yet? Hermione wondered as she lay in her bed later that night, restless and completely unable to get to sleep. A quick check of the time told her that, while yes it was technically tomorrow, she didn't think that Harleen would appreciate being woken up at a quarter past one in the morning just to answer her questions. She turned onto her side, groaning quietly in frustration as she stared at Harleen's bed, just visible through a small gap in her own bed hangings.
It wasn't just her anxiousness that was keeping her up. She'd had similar problems the night before, and had similar problems the first few days she returned home from school each summer. With only her and Harleen in the new dorm, it was much quieter than usual and she'd long gotten used to the sounds of other people in the dorm with her. Lavender's quiet snoring was absent, as was Parvati's humorous tendency to speak in Hindi in her sleep. It always took her a bit to adjust to her bedroom at home being so quiet before she would be able to get a full night's sleep.
"Nn…"
Hermione blinked, surprised at the sound that suddenly floated through the room and she slowly sat up in her bed, pushing aside the hangings to give her a better view of the bed beside her's.
"No… No!"
Later, Hermione would have no memory of leaving her own bed, or approaching her friend's, just the memory of yanking aside the hangings to the sight of Harleen twisting and turning beneath her tangled bed covers, her hair sticking to her forehead and neck by way of a layer of sweat as a pained sounding groan escaped the other girl, her eyes clenched tightly shut.
"Harleen," she murmured, reaching out to shake the other girl's shoulder. "Harleen, wake up."
"No! Leave… leave her alone!"
"Harleen!" Hermione tried again, louder.
"Her… Hermione… leave her…"
Muttering gave way to a loud scream and Hermione shook away the shock at hearing her own name and sat on the edge of the bed, leaning over to grasp both of Harleen's shoulders as she shook the girl with a bit more force.
"Harleen, it's just a nightmare. Wake up!"
At her shout, bright green eyes snapped open, staring into her own cinnamon irises with a dazed look of incomprehension for a moment before clarity snapped into place and Hermione let out a startled 'eep!' as she found herself being grabbed and yanked into a tight embrace.
Harleen trembled beneath her, her entire body shaking as some great emotional turmoil rippled through her. Despite being half smothered against the pillow Hermione did her best to soothe the girl, whispering calming words and letting her hands gently rub whatever portion of her friend she could reach. She caressed Harleen's shoulder, wiped her hair away from her face, and gently stroked her cheek.
"It was just a nightmare," she whispered, turning her head so that she was speaking into the smaller girl's neck. "Everything is fine, Harleen. You're safe."
Harleen shuddered again, her arms tightening around Hermione's middle as she shook her head minutely.
"Nothing is really safe," she muttered, still sounding a bit dazed. "You aren't safe."
"We're both safe enough here. I know you'd do everything you could to protect me and I'll always do my best to protect you. We'll keep each other safe, yeah?"
Nearly a minute passed before Harleen let out a shuddering breath and she nodded.
"Yeah… yeah we will," she murmured. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you u-"
"I was already awake," Hermione interrupted. "Haven't been able to get to sleep yet actually."
Harleen's grip on her loosened and Hermione was able to sit up, though not so far that she wasn't still half lying across her friend.
"Why not?" she asked, a concerned expression flitting across her face. "What time is it anyway?"
Her right arm came away from Hermione's body and a loud click sounded as she flicked her wrist, her wand shooting out of the sleeve of her pajama top and into her hand. A quick wave showed the time floating in front of them.
1:32 a.m.
"You wear your wand holster to bed?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, arching one brow in surprise at the other girl.
Harleen's cheeks darkened in the dim light given off by the floating numbers and she quickly vanished them with another wave of her wand. A second later the wand shot back up her sleeve with a second click.
"Habit," she muttered. "I don't like letting my wand be too far away."
When would she have developed a habit like that? Hermione wondered, even as she thought of her own wand where it was lying in its holster on her nightstand on the other side of her bed.
She banished that thought and pushed herself up into a fully sitting position. A quick look showed that Harleen's top was plastered to her body with sweat and the girl was starting to shiver as the damp material cooled in the evening air.
"Why don't you go clean up and change into something warmer?" she suggested. Harleen nodded and silently slipped out of her bed. Change of nightclothes in hand, she disappeared into the bathroom while Hermione considered the bed itself.
A moment later she looked up from the bed and spoke quietly to the empty room, "Dobby?"
With a muted crack, the eccentrically dressed elf appeared on the floor near her, staring up questioningly at her.
"Missy Miney calls for Dobby?" he squeaked out.
"Yes, Dobby, thank you so much for coming and I'm sorry if I woke you," she said, smiling softly at him.
"Not at all, Missy Miney. House elves is not needing much sleep, is a part of our magic."
That was certainly a relief to Hermione. She needed some help, but she didn't want to deprive the little guy of his rest. "I was wondering if you could get me some clean sheets and blankets? I'd like to change Harleen's bed for her. I would just use a cleaning charm but it's not quite the same as fresh sheets."
Dobby hopped up and down a couple of times, almost violently shaking his head. "Oh, no," he exclaimed, "Missy Miney should not be doing elf work. Dobby cans be doing it."
"No, Dobby. It's late and I don't want you to have to-"
Before she could finish speaking, Dobby snapped his fingers and the smell of freshly laundered linens suddenly reached her nose. Turning toward the bed, she was only slightly surprised to see that the sheets and blankets were perfectly arranged instead of the disheveled mess that they'd been in before and there even appeared to be new pillows on the bed as well.
"Is being no trouble, Missy Miney," Dobby told her. "Dobby is being happy to help the Great Harry Potter and her Missy Miney. Just call for Dobby if you be needing anything." With that he offered her a small smile and snapped his long fingers again, disappearing with another crack, leaving her alone in the darkened dorm.
Hermione huffed, slightly frustrated that Dobby hadn't let her do the work herself, but she couldn't deny that he'd certainly made it a very simple endeavour. After spending nearly a minute practically scowling at the perfectly made bed, she sighed and went about turning down the blankets and the top sheet.
When Harleen returned, wearing a clean nightgown, Hermione was sitting on the edge of her own bed, her own wand holster now strapped to her arm. She stood as the other girl came into the room and gestured to the bed with one hand.
"Lay down," she practically ordered the girl.
Harleen arched one brow, giving her a quizzical look, but silently complied with the command, climbing up into the large bed and burrowing her way down beneath her blankets. She stiffened in surprise, and perhaps a bit of fear, Hermione thought, when the bushy haired witch suddenly climbed into the bed and sat up against the headboard next to her friend.
"Hermione?" Harleen asked in a hesitant tone.
"Yes, Harleen?" she responded.
"Umm… what are you doing?"
"I'm going to sit here and keep you company until you fall asleep. It's something that my mother used to do for me when I was a little girl and I had a nightmare. I always found it very soothing."
Hermione found that she couldn't really name the expression that came over her friend's face at that admission, but the girl flushed slightly, visible even in the dim light, and went about making herself comfortable, turning onto her side and looking up at the girl beside her.
"Do you think you could lay down?" Harleen asked after nearly a minute of silence passed them by. "It's a little weird looking up at you like this."
Hermione considered the request for a moment before she shrugged and slid down a bit in the bed, though her shoulders and head were still propped up slightly by a couple of pillows. She turned slightly and her free arm came up, almost without her consciously willing it to, and began to thread her fingers through Harleen's hair.
She almost didn't hear the soft sigh that escaped her friend, but the way the girl's eyes drifted closed and how she leaned her head into Hermione's hand was unmistakable.
You make it very difficult to give you space to adjust, Harleen, she thought, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Feel up to talking about it?" she murmured softly.
Harleen's face scrunched up and a disgruntled mewling sound escaped her.
"It was terrible," she whispered.
"You were saying my name."
Harleen was silent for such a long time after that that Hermione was beginning to wonder if she'd fallen back to sleep. Just as she was beginning to consider heading back to her own bed, Harleen spoke up.
"Have you ever heard of Bellatrix Lestrange?" she asked and Hermione silently shook her head even though the other girl's eyes were still closed.
"She's completely mad, and before she went to Azkaban, she was one of Voldemort's top followers. Completely devoted and completely deranged."
"How did you learn about her?"
Harleen hesitated for a moment. "That should be part of the discussion tomorrow," she said. "It'll take too long to explain otherwise."
Hermione didn't protest, but she did frown at yet another of her questions going, at least temporarily, unanswered.
"Anyway, we were… we were captured. You, me, and Ron, by some of the Death Eaters. Ron and I were in a cell in a basement and they'd dragged you away." Harleen's arm rose and snaked around Hermione's waist, gripping tightly to her as the girl spoke. "I could hear you screaming. Bellatrix kept asking you questions, and you kept telling her you didn't know, and she'd cast the Cruciatus at you. I got the cell door open, somehow, and Ron and I ran upstairs but something stopped us. I was frozen, just watching her torture you, listening to you scream, and there was nothing I could do.
"I kept yelling at her to leave you alone but it was like no one could hear me. She'd just pulled a knife and was walking toward you when you woke me up… I… I have never been so scared before. Not even fighting the basilisk or facing Voldemort in our first year was as terrifying as that." Bright green eyes opened, shining wetly. "You know, I want nothing more than to tell you to stay as far away from me as possible if it would in any way keep you safe. I know that wouldn't really work, you're too well known as being close to me, but the thought of something happening to you... anything happening to you... terrifies me."
They were quiet for a moment, Harleen studying the girl in her bed carefully while Hermione simply considered the dream her friend had described.
"Some Gryffindor I'm turning out to be, huh?" Harleen snorted a second later. "Scared out of my wits by a stupid dream."
"You are probably the most Gryffindor person I know, Harleen," Hermione shot back without even a moment's thought. "Being a Gryffindor isn't about not being afraid. Only stupid people that don't know better are never afraid. You're smart, you know how bad things can be, so you're right to be afraid. It's being afraid and not letting that fear stop you that really makes you a Gryffindor. That's part of what makes you such a wonderful person. Don't ever doubt that."
Hermione's hand stopped threading its way through Harleen's hair and she slid a bit further down the bed until the two of them were lying face to face, Hermione meeting the other girl's gaze as calmly as she could.
"I'm not going to try to pretend that it isn't possible I'll never get hurt. I'd be lying to you if I said something like that. But I will promise you that what I said still stands. There isn't a scenario that exists that I won't be there for you. You want me to be safe, well I want you to be safe too. You're too important to me and it kills me a little bit every time you get hurt."
Harleen opened her mouth but Hermione covered the girl's lips with her fingers, stopping her before she could start.
"I'm not blaming you. Most of the time it's not your fault when you've gotten hurt, but that doesn't mean I don't worry. I don't ever intend to let you deal with any of this alone if I can possibly help it. I want to help you. I want to be there for you. That's my choice. My decision to make. You can disagree all you like, and if you're worried I'll get hurt then help me get better. We can help each other practice and train and be prepared for whatever the world throws at us.
"But I'm going to warn you right now, as important as you are to me, as much as I love and care for the best friend that I've ever had, if you try to keep me away from whatever danger there is out of some stupid idea of 'protecting' me, I will hex you so badly that you'll be in the Hospital Wing long enough to have to start paying Madam Pomfrey rent. Do you understand me?"
Harleen's face cycled through a myriad of expressions and emotions while Hermione spoke, and by the time she'd finished she'd settled into something like resigned acceptance. Gently, she took hold of Hermione's wrist and pulled the girl's hand away from her mouth.
"I understand, but I'm not going to promise that yet. Wait until after we talk, and if you still feel the same way, I'll promise it then, fair?"
"I don't think there's anything that you could possibly say to me that would make me want to run away or abandon you, but I can accept that, for now."
Harleen said nothing, she simply closed her eyes again and moved closer to Hermione, her arm still wrapped tightly around the other girl.
"Do you think you could stay here?" she whispered a moment later. "At least until I go to sleep?"
Hermione nodded, letting her hand brush through Harleen's hair again, smiling when the girl's body relaxed against her.
Just until she falls asleep, she thought. She never noticed when Harleen's breath evened, nor did she notice her own eyes drifting shut as sleep took her. Both girls slept, tangled in the arms of their fiercest protector, safe in the knowledge of who they were with.
#####
Saturday morning, Harleen opened her eyes and slowly blinked several times, groggily attempting to make sense of the image before her.
There's no way Hermione is actually in bed with me, is there? she wondered, still more asleep than awake. If this wasn't simply another dream, or the product of her imagination, then yes, Hermione was lying in her bed, her eyes closed as she peacefully slept on.
Harleen knew that her friend was not the great beauty that some of the girls in the school were. Her hair was rarely neat or orderly. At best her wild mane could be described as controlled chaos. Her brow was usually creased with lines from frowning, either in concentration or worry. She hated how her front teeth were a bit large, and Harleen couldn't blame her, as they'd always been one of those things people pointed out when they wanted to criticize or insult her.
She wasn't as thin as some girls, though she was by no means overweight. She had flaws, problems, and insecurities. All those things combined made her one of the most amazing girls that Harleen had ever known, and to her, by far, the most beautiful.
Harleen blinked again when the girl next to her moved, her body shifting just slightly, her face scrunched up in annoyance as she was drawn from her restful slumber and into the land of the conscious. Her eyes fluttered open, bright cinnamon irises meeting Harleen's own emerald green gaze, and after a momentary confusion, a small beatific smile turned up the corners of her full, pink lips.
Later, Harleen would swear that she had no control of herself. Her body moved entirely on its own, though even if she'd thought to try and stop it, she really didn't want to.
Her arm tightened, where it was still wrapped around Hermione's waist, pulling herself closer to the older witch. Hermione's lips parted, as if preparing to speak, when Harleen lifted her head and, gently but firmly, pressed their lips together in an undeniable kiss.
As kisses went, it wasn't a heated, passionate thing. It was gentle. It spoke of care and devotion. It was even relatively chaste. There was something, however, that made it easily the most amazing kiss that Harleen could remember.
She vaguely recalled Reaper calling it a 'spark'.
The term made sense all of a sudden to her as her muscles tightened when a feeling perhaps akin to being struck by a bolt of lightning shot through her, an electric, tingling sensation that spread from the point where their lips met outward across her entire body. All sense of drowsiness vanished instantly and she felt almost hyper aware of the girl in her arms.
By the way Hermione's body stiffened against her, her friend was experiencing the same thing.
Or she's furious and is about to slap the hell out of me, she thought as she slowly pulled back, the elation that was filling her giving way to a sense of trepidation as she waited for Hermione to react.
'React', is precisely what Hermione did. When Harleen pulled away, Hermione, her eyes closed, let out a small, distressed sound and leaned forward, attempting to pursue Harleen's retreating lips for a moment before her eyes abruptly blinked open and she stopped herself.
"Why did you kiss me?" she breathed, her face a study in conflicting emotions that Harleen couldn't make heads or tails of.
"Why did you stop?" Harleen asked back, slowly letting herself lean closer to the other girl again until a hand against her shoulder stopped her forward progress. A pang shot through her at that, but Harleen fought it down. She knew that Hermione wanted her, she knew Hermione was interested in her, and perhaps, if Reaper was as correct on this issue as he'd been on everything else, she knew that Hermione loved her.
Obviously there was something that was holding the girl back, but she wouldn't jump to any conclusions until she knew for sure what issue was at the center of her reluctance.
"Harleen… why did you kiss me?" Hermione demanded, more firmly.
Harleen let out a small sigh and lowered her head back to her pillow, never breaking eye contact. "I'd think the why would be obvious," she whispered, somehow feeling that to speak any louder would risk breaking the fragile bubble that seemed to surround them. It was early in the morning and there were no demands on their day. She was lying in bed with the woman she loved more than her own life and wanted nothing more than to explore the girl in front of her.
"Harleen!"
Hermione apparently didn't agree with Harleen's feelings on volume level.
Harleen huffed. "What, Hermione?" she asked. "I kissed you. There's usually a reason when someone kisses another person. Is it really so difficult to think that I might have feelings for you beyond friendship?"
Hermione blinked several times, startled by the vehemence in Harleen's tone and she leaned back slightly. Harleen let out a disgruntled noise.
"If you're going to back that far away from me, can you at least hand me my glasses so I can see you?" she grumbled and Hermione nodded absently, rolling onto her back to reach for the silver framed glasses where they rested on the nightstand. Turning back, she handed them over to Harleen who slipped them on, settling them carefully on her nose.
Hermione was chewing pensively on her lower lip, her eyes worried as she considered her friend.
"Harleen, I'm really not sure it's a good idea for you to be exploring a relationship right now," Hermione started.
"Why? And how is it up to you to decide that's what is right for me? Just like you won't let me keep you away from danger, I won't let you just dismiss how I feel about you."
"And how do you feel? When did that start? Because you've gone through something life changing and I can't know for certain that you're not attempting to latch onto me as someone you know and are familiar with."
Harleen sat up, looking down at the other girl in her bed incredulously. "You think I'm interested in you because I changed? Because I got my proper body back and this is a response to… what? To trauma?"
"Well you've never shown any interest in me before the other day," Hermione defended herself.
Harleen considered that and had to admit that she had a small point. Problem was she couldn't exactly explain that she realized what it was she'd been feeling for Hermione in their sixth year that hadn't happened yet.
"I promise you, I've felt something for you for a long time, I just didn't really know how to define it or what it really was," she admitted. "I've never had any good examples of what a healthy relationship looks like. I've never had any good examples of love. I… dammit, I can't properly explain this so you'll understand or believe me!"
Frustrated, Harleen climbed out of bed and stomped over to her trunk, almost flinging it open to the second compartment. "Who gives a toss that I'm the Lady of my House?" she muttered. "I want to be comfortable and I don't give a damn what anyone thinks."
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"I'm getting dressed," Harleen said over her shoulder to where Hermione had just sat up in bed, staring, bewildered at the sudden rush of motion that Harleen had turned into. "You get dressed too. I promised you answers, and some of those answers are tied into how I feel about you. Or how I understand it, at least."
Dammit, Potter! You just couldn't control yourself. Couldn't approach her a little more cautiously. Had to throw yourself into the deep end, like always, and it looks like you're going to foul everything up!
"Harleen, I think we need to finish this conversation first," Hermione tried, though she had already moved over to her own trunk.
"No. Look, Hermione… I know how I feel. I know what I feel. It took me a long time to figure it out, longer than you can imagine, and it'll all make sense, but I need to give you the answers I've been promising first. Thing is we can't have that conversation around here. We need someplace private that we're absolutely guaranteed not to be interrupted."
"Someplace like that exists in this school?" Hermione asked, scoffing quietly.
Despite her concerns over the upcoming discussion, Harleen couldn't help a grin.
"You'd be surprised. Hold onto your hat, Hermione. You're gonna love this place."
