On Teenagers and Love
a story by anamatics
part three - the fog
Chapter 31 - On Apparation
The apparation test isn't long after she gets back from France, and Hermione, though a little hesitant to apparate after everything Fleur's described to her about its unpredictability, feels more confident than she has about the test than she did before the Easter holiday. She and Ron walk down to Hogsmeade together with Lavender, Hermione occupying the space between them. "Reckon Harry will be alright without formally taking the test?" Ron asks.
The part of Hermione that likes rules and order and logic doesn't like the idea of Harry probably not being able to acquire an apparation license after his seventeenth birthday passes and he's probably going to number one on Voldemort's kill list. "I think he'll be alright," she hedges. Harry had seemed off that morning, she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
Lavender is quiet for most of the walk. Ron gets slightly ahead of them at one point and Hermione glances over to her and asks, "Alright, Lavender?"
She doesn't have much to say then, just a jerk of her chin in the affirmative and keep walking. Hermione wonders what Ron's said to her now. She sits next to Lavender as they wait to get tested and hangs back when she and Ron speak in hushed tones, but finds herself alarmed when they increasingly grow in volume. She knew, from the conversation she'd had with Ron and Harry once she'd gotten back up to the Gryffindor common room after she and Pansy had parted ways some two weeks before, that Ron and Lavender had not had patched things up as she'd hoped, but rather had been fighting more than ever. She'd hoped – well, she really didn't know what she'd hoped would happen there. She just didn't want anyone to get hurt and it seemed as though it was too late for that.
She'd told them little of what had happened to her when she was in France, instead wanting to keep the details largely to herself. They didn't need to know that the error had nearly resulted in Hermione bleeding to death all over the Gringotts Paris catacombs, but they did need to know about the potential danger in curse wounds. She tells Ginny, later, that she'd met Fleur's parents again, and Fleur's grandmother formally. "What are veela like?" Ginny asked. Hermione had shrugged, said they just seemed very French – a family that liked to live simply and cared deeply for each other.
When Hermione's name is called, she nods to Lavender and gets to her feet, moving to stand in the designated spot. The ministry official looks harassed, telling her where she needs to apparate to across the village, collect a document, and then return to this exact spot. Hermione closes her eyes and complies with his request, thinking of the corner that led off the high street toward Hogsmeade's residential area. There's a faint pop and she's standing next to another ministry official, who nods to her and makes a note before handing her a green card upon which is printed with the word pass. She's so excited when she's told to return that she nearly overshoots the designated return point, steeling her will at the last moment to ensure she returns to the exact spot.
"Congratulations," the ministry worker says dully. "You'll receive your license in four to six weeks by post. Next!"
Ron takes his turn and heads up to the castle with Dean, leaving Hermione to wait for Lavender. Later, when they're back in the tower, Hermione's sitting on her bed writing to Fleur when Lavender bursts in and flings herself onto her bed. She's crying. Hermione sets her quill aside and gets to her feet, crossing the room to stand at the base of the bed. Lavender's body is shaking. Hermione reaches out, touches Lavender's shoulder. "Lav?"
"H-he did it," Lavender hiccups. "I've known he was going to do it for ages, but I wanted to think he was a better man."
"Oh, Lav," Hermione says, sitting down beside Lavender and pulling her into a hug. "He's a colossal tit. I'm sorry."
And when Lavender wails once more, throwing her arms around Hermione, Hermione just holds her and lets her cry.
She does, however, have some choice words for Ron the next morning after a surprisingly silent patrol with Pansy. Ever since she came back from Australia, Pansy's been very quiet around Hermione. Hermione isn't sure what to make of it, but isn't about to ask, the growing feeling of foreboding in her stomach catching her tongue and holding it silent. They're on their way to charms, Harry's going to meet them there, having slept through breakfast after a late night with Dumbledore given the discarded hall pass Ron had seen on his nightstand when he'd tried unsuccessfully to wake him. "I told you to handle it like an adult, Ron."
"She was suffocating me!" He protests. "I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. She was so weird about you and about Harry. I just wanted things to go back to how they were!"
She rounds on him, annoyance overtaking her sympathy for Lavender. "So you talk to her. You communicate what you're feeling, and you ask for space if that's what you need."
He throws his arms up. "Can't very well do that if I can't get a word in edgewise. Merlin, Hermione, she was halfway to planning our wedding."
Hermione doesn't respond as they're approaching the Charms classroom and Hermione's caught sight of Lavender and Parvati speaking with Parvati's sister and a few of their Ravenclaw friends. She doesn't want to say anything when Lavender might hear Ron's unkind words in response. "This conversation isn't over."
"You can't stand not having the last word, can you?" comes Harry's voice from beside her. His expression is fond, but he looks exhausted. "Alright Ron?"
"Been better," Ron says as they enter the classroom.
Professor Flitwick sets them to work on conjuring a fog spell and Harry casts muffliato once they start in on the practical so they can talk. He tells them about what he got up to while they were in Hogsmeade taking their apparation tests – evidentially, he'd been quite busy, having successfully convinced Professor Slughorn to share the fragmented memory. Dumbledore had explained the big mystery around Voldemort and the horcruxes, and how Harry's essentially opposite Voldemort for the power of love in his life. It all sounds like the cartoons and Disney movies Hermione watched as a child, but she bites back that comment. She's troubled though, flicking her wand and casting them into shrouded mist, thinking of what Dumbledore has set Harry up to do. She knows that Harry is the key to ending the fight with Voldemort, he's always been, but to use a child – who isn't even of age – as a soldier feels irresponsible.
"Wow," Ron says. "Wow, you're actually going with Dumbledore to try and… wow." He moves his wand lazily and snow begins to fall around them and outside of the circle the muffliato spell afforded them. Lavender turns, eyes still red, and glares at all of them. Hermione sighs.
"Ron, you're making it snow." She reaches up and pushes his hand down.
"Oh yeah. Sorry, it looks like we've all got horrible dandruff now." He looks at her, sheepish, and Hermione rolls her eyes. She bats at the snow on her shoulders and then makes quick work of both Ron and Harry.
Lavender, seated two rows ahead of them, busts into tears. Hermione winces, she'd wanted to avoid this. She shoves her hands into her pockets and looks away from Lavender. She knows that Lavender doesn't think there's anything between her and Ron, not anymore, but she does think the easy closeness she has with both Ron and Harry is the source of some of this sadness. Lavender lost all of that. It's a biting wound.
"We split up," Ron explains to Harry in an undertone. "Last night."
"Ah," says Harry. "Well, you've been looking for an out for a while, haven't you?"
Ron makes a noise that's somewhere between a grunt and a huff. Hermione flicks her wand experimentally to see if she can reproduce Ron's snow as opposed to the fog the spell called for. Ron's telling Harry that it appears as though Ginny and Dean broke up as well, and Hermione's so tired of it all. By the time she's figured out the difference in wand movement that produces snow, rather than fog, Harry's ears are red and Ron's glaring across the room at Dean, even though Hermione's fairly certain that it was Ginny who did the dumping.
After class, they walk back up to the tower, and Hermione's lost in thought as they settle down on one of the squishy sofas by the fireplace, she's following a thread of an idea though, but it won't come together yet. She needs to think more, needs to consider the variables. She knows her parents won't be safe, even if they have no idea who she is, if they remain in Britain. But where could they go? America?
She looks up, then, to see a group of seventh years all enter the room, chattering excitedly. There, in the middle, is Katie Bell. Hermione's heart leaps. They'd been waiting for news on how Katie was doing for weeks now. "Katie! You're back! You okay?
"I'm really well!" Katie answers. "They let me out of St. Mungos on Monday, I had a couple of days at home with Mum and Dad and then came back here this morning. Leanne was just telling me about McLaggen and the last match, Harry. . . ."
"Yeah," says Harry. He motions for her to come sit with them, and Katie comes and sits. She's lost weight, looks tired. Harry continues, "Well, now you're back and Ron's fit, we'll have a decent chance of thrashing Ravenclaw, which means we could still be in the running for the Cup. Listen, Katie, that necklace . . . can you remember who gave it to you now?"
"No. Everyone's been asking me, but I haven't got a clue. The last thing I remember was walking into the ladies' in the Three Broomsticks."
Hermione frowns. She'd been in The Broomsticks that day with Fleur. Who else was there? Who else would have been in the loo that early in the day? "You definitely went into the bathroom, then?" she asks.
"Well, I know I pushed open the door," says Katie, "so I suppose whoever Imperiused me was standing just behind it. After that, my memory's a blank until about two weeks ago in St. Mungo's. Listen, I'd better go, I wouldn't put it past McGonagall to give me lines even if it is my first day back. ..."
Katie collects her things and gets to her feet, looking briefly at Harry before adding. "When's practice?"
"Thursday at half seven," Harry answers.
She gives him a small wave and leaves through the portrait hole. Hermione taps her chin.
Ron rubs at the back of his head. "So it must have been a girl or a woman who gave Katie the necklace, then, to be in the woman's loo."
Hermione frowns. "It's just there in the hall Ron, anyone could have ducked in and hidden in one of the cubicles until they heard Katie come in. We don't even know if she was specifically targeted. Whoever hurt her could have been looking for just anyone."
"That doesn't make any sense, Hermione," Harry says. "Remember how Slughorn had us identify Polyjuice potion that day in class? Someone could have turned themselves into someone else and gone into the loo to wait for Katie. We know some got stolen…"
"I don't like the way you're implying that there are predators lurking in loos, Harry" Hermione answers. "Most people just want some peace and quiet to go about their business."
Harry shrugs. "Reckon I should take the rest of that potion."
"It'd be a waste, mate," Ron says. "Don't blow it…"
Hermione nods her agreement. "What if you need it when you and Dumbledore go off together?"
Sighing dramatically, Harry flips through his potions textbook, pauses for a minute on a dog eared page, before continuing to turn. Hermione's eyes narrow. What else had he found in the Prince's book? "Can't even make more – says here it's ruddy complicated and takes six months… got to stew apparently."
"Well then," Hermione says, still eyeing the textbook. "Best save it for when you really need it."
