A/N: I am overwhelmed by the love this story has received over the past week — thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last. Huge shoutout to The Muse of Apollo for looking over this chapter for me.
Chapter 2 — Secrets Uncovered
Hermione quickly suppressed a scream and cast a glamour charm to cover up the mark. She had no plans on letting anyone else know about her little problem anytime soon. A trip to the hospital wing would be in her plans for the day though she would have to make up an excuse for Ron and Harry why she needed to go. Perhaps she could just say she wasn't feeling well after the task. Yes, that would work. It wouldn't tip them off to anything unusual happening, although they were usually oblivious to these types of things anyway.
Hermione quickly breezed through her morning routine and rushed out of the washroom before any of the other girls could drag themselves out of their beds. As it was Saturday, Hermione dressed in jeans and a jumper, grabbed her rucksack and went down to breakfast, intent on spending most of the day studying and perhaps researching what could have bitten her. The Great Hall was relatively empty, and Hermione was happy to keep it that way. Most were probably having a lie in after the excitement the previous day.
She pulled out her Arithmancy textbook and propped it up against the glass container holding the orange juice before reaching for a stack of toast and the small jar of marmalade. She spent several minutes scanning the page, but she wasn't consuming any information; her mind elsewhere. Realizing she wouldn't be able to focus until she made a visit to Madam Pomfrey, she quickly scarfed down some toast and rushed out of the Great Hall, intent on going straight to the infirmary.
Leaving the Great Hall, a gaggle of students were entering, and she waited patiently for them to pass and disperse to their house tables. Ron and Harry bringing up the rear, they stopped to talk to her.
"Already done with breakfast?" Ron asked, curiously, absentmindedly rubbing his stomach.
"I wasn't very hungry," Hermione admitted. "I think I am still off-kilter from the task yesterday." She wasn't really lying. Maybe just skirting around the truth a bit as she hadn't told either of her best friends that she was currently sporting a bite mark from an unknown entity.
"I still feel kinda weird too. Like my insides are still cold. I'm sure it will pass." He shrugged his shoulders, seeming unbothered by the fact.
"I am going to see Madam Pomfrey, and then I plan on spending the day in the library, studying and maybe getting ahead on some homework. Join me later?" she asked.
Harry nodded while Ron was completely ignoring the both of them, rubbing his stomach and staring at the Gryffindor table with longing. Typical. He couldn't focus on anything on an empty stomach.
"See you later then," Harry murmured to Hermione, before turning to Ron and lightly chucking him on the shoulder letting him know they were now headed to the Gryffindor table.
Hermione turned away and walked quickly as she could toward the Hospital Wing, her heart racing with anticipation. She climbed the stairs until she reached the second-floor landing and was relieved to see Madam Pomfrey already bustling around, prepared for whatever came her way for the day. Hopefully, she really was ready for anything because Hermione had a feeling this meeting had potential to become nasty, especially if her suspicions that the matron was lying to her were correct.
As Hermione stepped into the room, Madam Pomfrey said, "Good morning Miss Granger," without looking at her.
"How—how did you know it was me?" Hermione questioned the matron, stuttering over her words a bit.
"I had a hunch you would be coming to visit me today. And as you are usually on top of things, I knew it would be early in the morning," Madam Pomfrey said turning toward her. "Why don't we talk in my office." She gestured to a small room at the back of the Hospital Wing, and Hermione nodded. It would probably be best to talk about this delicate situation in private, especially since she was about throw out some accusations at the matron.
As they took their seats in the office, Hermione closed her eyes, took a deep breath, reopened her eyes and focused on the woman in front of her. Hermione was nervous and didn't want to cause any problems, but she wanted to make it clear that she wasn't here to mess around; she wasn't going to avoid a difficult conversation by gazing around the small room. She was here to get some answers.
"Why don't you tell me why you're here, Miss Granger." Madam Pomfrey leaned back in her chair as she asked the question and crossed her arms, as if she was settling in for a long and deep conversation. If Hermione wasn't so confused by her situation, she would find the casualness of the matron almost funny. They knew each other quite well; as far as a teacher/student relationship goes that is and even she had never seen Madam Pomfrey act so informal.
When Hermione started speaking, her voice was a little higher than usual revealing how nervous she was despite her strong exterior. She paused, took a deep breath and began to speak once more, hopefully sounding more confident than she had moments before.
"Yesterday when I was in your care after being pulled out of the lake, I discovered a bite mark on my neck. After expressing concern, you brushed it off like it was nothing and healed it. This morning when I looked in the mirror, the bite mark had reappeared. I had to cast a glamour charm to cover it up." Hermione pulled out her wand and whispered the charm to remove the glamour. She pulled down the neck of her jumper to show Madam Pomfrey the mark.
She was silent for a moment before continuing. "Why did you lie to me? I believe you know what this mark is but refused to tell me yesterday. Why?"
"I did not wish to speak about it in front of Mister Krum. I assumed you didn't wish for him to be involved in the matter. This isn't —"
Hermione interrupted, knowing she was disrespectful in doing so. "You could have pulled me aside or asked to speak with me later. Instead, you just brushed off this bite mark claiming it was Viktor's shark bite when clearly it isn't!" Hermione spoke quickly and loudly, her emotions pushing aside the logical part of her brain. Before, she was confused and a little upset, but now she was feeling those emotions more than ever. The fact that an employee of Hogwarts, especially the matron, who was supposed to take care of students, would potentially put her in danger by not informing her the truth of her bite mark pushed Hermione over the edge. She was succumbing to her emotions, turning frantic, almost hysterical over the situation.
"This isn't something to be worried about," Madam Pomfrey assured Hermione. "I will help you as much as I can, but we must approach this situation calmly. I know you can do that, Miss Granger."
Tears were falling down Hermione's face, but she nodded, afraid she would once against become flustered if she opened her mouth. She would gladly listen to any information the matron willingly gave up to her, always eager to learn.
"Now, as to what that bite mark is, I can only guess." She opened a drawer beside her desk and pulled out several stacks of parchment. "This," she said, gesturing to the papers," is my research regarding what happened to me when I was a student here."
"What happened?" Hermione asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"As I said, I am not entirely sure. I have the same bite mark as you," she admitted, and she pulled down the collar of her uniform showing Hermione. She stood up to get a closer look. It looked exactly like Hermione's right down to the color and the depth of the bite mark. Hermione sat back down in her chair as Madam Pomfrey continued. "After researching all these years, I can only come to the conclusion that I was bitten by something similar to a human."
Hermione reached up and felt her bite mark and nodded. "I thought the same thing."
"And? What conclusion can you come to knowing that information?" Madam Pomfrey asked, placing her elbows on the desk and leaning forward.
Hermione's brain was reeling; a frown gracing her features as she contemplated the information she had been given. And then it clicked. Her hand flew up to her mouth, and she gasped. "The merpeople?" she asked, incredulously. "But how? Why? They were supposed to be protecting us!"
"I don't know the answer to those questions, I'm afraid, Miss Granger. After several years, I pushed my research to the side, finding nothing of significance. I never exhibited any symptoms, so I left it alone. I assure you, you can live a normal life."
Hermione nodded, though was wary of the promise, knowing Madam Pomfrey couldn't possibly promise such a thing as she was basing the conclusion off of her own experiences. She got up from her seat, preparing to leave. Eager to consume more information on the subject, she asked to borrow the matron's research, planning to immediately go to the library. Madam Pomfrey stacked them up nicely and handed them over. "Do return them as soon as your done. I may need them one day."
"I will," Hermione replied, simply. Hermione placed the papers inside her rucksack and walked toward the door before turning back toward the older woman.
"And Madam Pomfrey?" The matron looked up at her. "I'm sorry for getting upset with you. I know you were just trying to protect me."
"I am sorry too, Miss Granger. Now, off to the library dear." She winked at Hermione and Hermione couldn't help but smile. Apparently she was predictable.
Hermione strolled toward the library, trying to filter through the information Madam Pomfrey had given her. A merperson had bitten her. Her first reaction was to of course, go to the library, but the second, was to storm up to Dumbledore's office and cause a scene though she knew it wasn't his fault. Dumbledore and the organisers of the tournament had trusted these merpeople to keep them safe while in their care. Everyone was under the impression that the merpeople had done their job; everyone except Hermione, Madam Pomfrey and maybe Viktor that is.
As the doors to the library loomed into view, she slipped inside and made her way to the very back, where she usually met Harry and Ron to study. They were already there, waiting.
"Hermione!" Harry whispered, motioning her to sit next to him. "How are you? Everything okay?"
Hermione nodded and took the seat next to him, dropping her rucksack next to the desk. "Madam Pomfrey thinks I just caught a cold from being under the lake for an extended period of time. I'll be okay in a couple of days."
"That's good. Well, as much as I would rather not, I suppose we should start with Snape's potion essay," Harry suggested. Ron nodded in agreement. They both reluctantly turned back to their notes sprawled out across the table and began rifling through them before picking up their quills and beginning to scribble away.
Hermione had already finished her Potion's essay and was already ahead on almost everything. She had other plans besides homework now. She pushed back from the table, told Ron and Harry she needed to do some research and ambled over to the magical creatures section of the library.
She scanned the shelves, searching for the letter M and then Mer. Once she found it, she frowned in disbelief. There were only two books with Merpeople or Mermaid in the title. She huffed. There were hundreds of books on other magical creatures, but the one she needed most had relatively nothing. Grabbing the two books, Hermione walked toward Madam Pince's desk.
"Madam Pince?" Hermione said, her voice barely above a whisper, knowing the librarian would appreciate her attempt to remain quiet. The librarian looked at her through her cat-like glasses and said, "Miss Granger, what can I do to help you?"
"I was just curious about merpeople or mermaids after the Second Task yesterday, and I only found two tomes on the shelf. That can't be correct can it?"
"I am afraid it is, Miss Granger. Both of those books are rather large and full of information; they should have the information you seek. I will look into ordering more on the subject." Madam Pince looked back down at the library catalogue in front of her and Hermione knew that was her cue signalling that the conversation was over.
She went back to the desk where Harry and Ron were studying and continued to hope that today was one of those days where they were so desperate to finish their homework that they were oblivious to everything else. If they saw she was looking up merpeople for no apparent reason, it could raise some questions.
Watching them both under hooded eyelids, Hermione was relieved that they didn't seem interested in whatever she was doing, too preoccupied with one of the most challenging potion's essays Snape had ever assigned.
Turning her attention to the book, she started at the beginning, curious about the past history of the merpeople. Assuming they probably weren't like the cartoons, she settled back into her chair intent on learning something, and perhaps to learn something about herself.