A/N: Thanks to chem prof for his beta work.
The chapter song title is from the Australian band "Silverchair".
Chapter 4: Strange Behavior
It was Saturday morning and Harry and Hermione were seated at one of the tables in the common room. Hermione was absorbed in her homework and Harry was leaning back on his chair, idly toying with his quill, trying to formulate a letter to Fleur Delacour.
The Beauxbatons alumni and Harry's fellow Tri-Wizard champion was currently working at Gringotts with her fiancé, Bill Weasley. Harry considered her to be someone sympathetic outside of Hogwarts. The summer at the Burrow had formed a rapport between the pair. He did genuinely like the part-Veela – at least now he did, after she had dropped much of her initial icy attitude towards him – and even if she declined his offer to help, creating some correspondence between the two of them wouldn't be a bad thing.
Sighing, Harry quickly scribbled down a few lines. It wasn't anything grandiose, or even informative, but it got the point across – he wanted to talk to her about something important that he couldn't discuss in a letter.
"Is this okay?" Harry asked Hermione, palming off the letter to her.
Hermione ignored Harry for a minute as she finished off her parchment, pushed it aside, and finished a sentence at the top of the next one. Harry shook his head at his best friend, her writing was miniscule and she'd already written an entire page of her twenty-inch Arithmancy assignment. It wasn't due for another week.
A cursory glance is all Hermione offered. "It's fine." Without further word, she passed the letter back and returned to her assignment.
Shaking his head, Harry rolled up the parchment. When Hermione was at work, she had a one-track mind. It was best to leave her to it.
The corridors leading to the owlery were quiet at this time of day. Breakfast was an hour past, and those who were out and about were enjoying what warm Scottish weather they could salvage. Harry's trip was quiet.
Katie, Neville, Hermione and Harry returned to their common room shortly before ten – curfew. A small party was underway, a mini-celebration of surviving the first week back. Most of the students were still awake. Hermione had taken in the sight, bitten her lip, noting the lack of room to work, and almost immediately bade goodnight. Ginny and Dean weren't inconspicuous with their public displays of affection in one of the armchairs in front of the fire. Harry noticed Ron was watching them with an ever increasing scowl on his face. Showing a rare fit of wisdom, he left the room rather than make a scene.
Surprisingly, when Harry entered their dormitory a short while later, the curtains around Ron's four-poster bed were shut. Ron's unusual actions had left Harry confused. He'd decided to leave the redhead alone. The DA was left unmentioned again.
Thoughts of said DA had kept Harry awake for awhile. The group he'd organized was formed without nearly as much difficulty as he'd thought. Did he really have such little faith in his peers? Were his bad experiences with Malfoy and the Ministry coloring his perceptions of the world? If so, he was glad to be pleasantly surprised.
The sounds of Harry's footfalls echoing off the empty corridors gave way to the constant hooting of the owlery. The smell of owls and their droppings hit him like a physical force. A number of carcasses from the previous nights hunting crunched beneath Harry's shoes as he crossed the circular tower, searching the rafters for the familiar snowy white plumage of his owl.
"Hedwig," called Harry, and the second he'd called her he saw her swoop in from outside in the corner of his eye. He extended his arm and Hedwig at once perched herself on him. She titled her head and gave him an affectionate nip on the ear.
"Hey girl, it's good to see you. Are you up for a trip?"
The stupid question earned him an indignant hoot, as if she were insulted at Harry's implied suggestion that she wasn't. Harry grinned and tied the letter to her leg. "The letter is for Fleur Delacour. She may be at the Burrow; otherwise her home is in France."
A second nip to the ear and a hoot was the response Harry was given. Harry walked to the edge of the owlery, leaned out and watched as Hedwig spread her wings and took flight. Harry watched her until she was naught but a speck in the distance and turned to return to the common room.
Cho was blocking his route.
"Hi." They said at exactly the same time, both a little too high pitched to be normal.
An awkward silence followed.
"Not going to have Filch up here questioning your correspondences, are we?" joking asked Cho. Her hands were fidgeting.
"I doubt it." Harry replied, and it came out stiffly.
"Ah. That's good." A nervous laugh. "I'll just post my letter now."
A tawny owl hooted loudly and flew down from the rafters onto Cho's arm. "Hey there, are you up to for a trip home?" Cho busied herself stroking the owl and talking to it. Harry noticed how easygoing she was with the owl. They'd never have such dynamics.
Harry began to feel uncomfortable standing by watching and moved to leave.
"Uh, H-Harry," stuttered Cho. Harry stopped and faced his ex. Her owl was watching him intently. Cho was avoiding his gaze, staring at the floor instead. "Will the DA be on again this year?"
Harry stood still in thought for a moment. What did he think of her? He hadn't thought about her in a romantic way in months. For certain he knew they would not and could not work. Besides, Michael Corner was supposed to be dating her now after leaving Ginny. Harry felt… nothing about that.
Could he work with her, in life or death situations? The answer came surprisingly quickly. Cho could barely talk to him right now, she was so nervous (and embarrassed, maybe?). How could two people work together like that?
Harry made his choice.
"No."
-x-x-x-x-x-
Dumbledore's first 'lesson' was that evening. Harry hadn't known what to expect. A memory of Voldemort's family was most certainly not something he would've guessed. Certainly, it was interesting to learn his background. However, it was Harry's turn to question the relevance of what he was being told.
Waiting in the common room was Hermione. She was sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs in front of the fire reading the Ancient Runes book she had to have finished by Monday, completely oblivious to throng of students still working and chatting around her. Judging by how few pages she had left, she'd be finished her book within the hour.
It took only several minutes for Harry to relate what occurred in Ogden's memory. The next half an hour was spent discussion the memory and formulating theories.
"Merope Gaunt must have been desperate to use a Love Potion." Hermione said. Was that pity Harry heard in her voice?
"Compulsion was the only way she could get Tom Riddle Senior to love her." Harry shook his head. "The way Riddle and the village girl were speaking about the Gaunt family made that perfectly clear."
Hermione nodded in silent agreement.
"Dumbledore suspects that Merope couldn't bear to lie to Riddle anymore and stopped feeding him Love Potions." Harry added. "There were rumors that Riddle had been 'hoodwinked' into the marriage in the first place."
"It's kind of sad." Hermione said softly. "Voldemort was an orphan, wasn't he? That means Merope died."
Harry didn't say anything.
"So she had Tom Riddle Junior alone and died either at birth or soon after," Hermione deduced. "Then he grew up in an orphanage, without loving parents…" She then added in a whisper, "His childhood sounds like yours."
Harry nodded solemnly; the thought had crossed his mind.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Sunday was Quidditch tryouts.
Katie out flew all her competition and retained her spot as a Chaser to nobody's surprise. Ginny and Demelza Robins, a third year who flew a little recklessly but had magnificent hand-eye coordination, were the other two. Katie immediately took them aside and began to teach them a few moves.
Sloper and Kirke had both lost their spots to fellow third year hopefuls Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote.
Ron managed to secure his role as Keeper after a close competition with a seventh year by the name of Cormac McLaggen. Both saved their initial five shots that narrowed down the competition. The rematch and eventual sudden death lasted ten minutes before McLaggen missed a save. Unluckily, the Quaffle bounced off the edge of his fingers and went through the goalpost to his right. Furious, McLaggen had started throwing insults at Ginny for going easy on her brother. Ginny retaliated in due course. McLaggen spent the next several minutes under the Bat-Bogey Hex.
Afterwards, Ron apologized about his behavior over the first week of term. He declared he had been going down to the pitch to practice every night to keep his spot. Harry and Hermione were too wrapped up in the celebrations to even think of cluing Ron into what they were doing with the DA. For once it wasn't on their minds.
Hedwig returned on Monday morning with the regular owl post looking exhausted. Harry fed her same bacon and some pumpkin juice before she flew off to the Owlery for a long sleep.
Hermione shuffled over to the read the letter.
Harry,
Bill and I are well thank you.
You're letter was vague. However, I have the weekend off from Gringotts. I told Bill I would be coming to Hogwarts and he wishes to make a weekend of it. Professor Dumbledore has allowed us to stay over night.
Fleur.
"Bill too?" asked Hermione, glancing at Harry.
"That might be a good idea," replied Harry, thoughtfully. "We don't know the older Weasley's very well. It can't hurt to invite him in either, could it?"
Hermione nodded and turned back to her breakfast. Harry was left to consider what he would tell Fleur and Bill when they arrived at the end of the week.
Tonks had finally replied to Harry's apology letter earlier in the week. She had apologized for now replying sooner, however her Auror and Order work had exponentially increased and would be unavailable for awhile. She also tried to console Harry with the knowledge that she wouldn't have spilled any secrets. He half believed her.
"Who's the letter from, Harry?" asked Ron, leaning over Hermione to take a gander. He was between inhuman sized bites.
"Fleur." Harry replied without looking. He folded the letter and pocketed it. "I asked her to marry me while I was at the Burrow and I finally got her reply."
There was a silence from the other side of Hermione. After several moments, Harry turned to see why. He immediately wished he hadn't.
"Bloody hell, Ron. Close your mouth already. Nobody needs to see that."
"Are you all right, Ronald?" asked a worried Hermione. "You're looking pale."
"I was joking!" Harry backtracked quickly, worried that Ron had actually believed him. "Remember Bill? He and Fleur are the ones getting married."
That seemed to bring Ron back online. He laughed a little too loudly, drawing a dozen or so odd looks.
Harry and Hermione exchanged concerned looks.
There was something strange about Ron these days.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Hermione received a package on Wednesday. The official looking owl left the moment her package was removed.
"What's that?" whispered Harry, leaning in for a closer look.
"The rings I ordered."
The rings were to be the new method of communication between the new DA members. Using the old charmed galleons wouldn't work. That would alert all former DA members to their activities.
"How long will it take to charm them?" Harry sat back and began picking at his food.
"I can have them done by tonight if I work on them during lunch."
Harry nodded.
"Charm them for one p.m. on Sunday."
Ron interrupted their whispered conversation by plopping himself next to Hermione. "Harry, mate, can I talk to you after Charms?" he asked, not looking at him.
Harry shot a questioning look at Hermione who shook her head. "Sure," he answered uncertainly.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Extra lessons with Professor Flitwick were progressing relatively well in Harry's opinion. His new focus on performing in class didn't go unnoticed. Ron had even made several further comments about Harry becoming the male version of Hermione. Ron walked away from that conversation rubbing his right shin. Surely he knew Hermione would react…
After covering only theory the previous week, Flitwick announced he would test Harry's current abilities. Flitwick proclaimed a master duelist could fight with everything in his repertoire and utilize everything in the surrounding area.
Harry learnt this lesson the hard way.
The first of two duels had gone poorly. Harry had cast a stunner, followed by an Impedimenta Jinx and a Reductor Curse. The spells that Harry had relied on at the Department of Mysteries were useless against Flitwick. All three spells were shielded or parried. Flitwick had then cast an Atmospheric Charm, creating a torrent of rain directly over Harry. The torrent was so strong that even an Impervious Charm left his vision completely obscured and the next thing he knew he had been laying on the ground, soaked from head to toe.
The second duel wasn't any better. Harry had managed to dodge and shield his way through a short barrage of spells, only to find himself cramped up against the wall. He'd managed to destroy the first table sent his way, but completely missed the one coming from his side.
Despite the horrendous, and embarrassing, defeats, Harry was learning. The next time they would duel he would not make the same mistakes.
Regular lessons were rapidly becoming easier. Tuesday's Charms lesson was learning the Aguamenti Charm. Non-verbal spells were required now, not only in Defense but Transfiguration and Charms as well. Most of the year was still unable to perform non-verbal spells and got by by whispering incantations and hoping the teachers hadn't noticed. Ron was one of those people.
"Aguamenti," Harry heard Ron whisper. Little more than a trickle escaped his wand. Ron let out a frustrated grunt and cast a Scourgify spell to clear up the mess.
Harry's free time was still spent reviewing previous year's spells silently. He was beginning to find it easier and easier to learn the simple spells. Some of the stronger spells, like his Shield Charm, were noticeably weaker, however, when cast silently. Hermione reassured him that this was a normal phenomenon and that he merely required practice to give strength to his non-verbal spells.
"Aguamenti," Harry thought strongly in his mind. Confidence was also a factor. If one was not confident in one's abilities, if one didn't believe the magic would work, if one didn't picture the result in their mind, the magic wouldn't respond. Wizards were deeply in tune with their magic. Their state of mind affected their ability to perform magic.
A steady flow of water expelled from the tip of Harry's wand for ten seconds before it lost power.
Beside him, Hermione cast the charm silently, creating a steady flow of water that lasted roughly the same amount of time.
Ron noticed the respective successes of his two friends and erratically cast a whispered Aguamenti. The seven people in the row in front of the trio were soaked within seconds. The spray died down and left a tense silence as everyone turned to look at Ron and at their soaked classmates.
"Oh dear." Hermione whispered, and she erected a shield. Harry did the same, and Neville followed suit.
The following two minutes was pandemonium as the entire front row of students cast their own jets of water directly at Ron.
"You have to admit, you had it coming after spraying everyone," said Harry after class. He couldn't resist grinning at his friends' misfortune.
"Suppose I did," Ron replied with a shrug. "But did Susan and Hannah both have to go for my face? Their jets were bloody strong!"
Hermione refused to say anything but couldn't keep the grin off her face. She bid the two farewell and disappeared off to Arithmancy.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Harry asked after a moment of silence. The two of them kept walking, headed nowhere in particular.
"Well, you see… Um. Erm."
Harry raised an eyebrow at this but didn't say anything. It was a rare sight to see Ron so flustered.
"It's, um, well, it's about Hermione." Ron eventually managed. Harry grimaced.
"I figured so, since you didn't want her around."
Ron's face became redder than he'd ever seen it. "Erm…well, I…I-I um…t-think I-I fancy her."
This didn't come as a surprise. His feelings for her, although poorly expressed, had been evident since the Yule Ball his and Hermione's massive fight. Harry didn't know what to say or what he should do. Ron and Hermione bickered and fought all the time (surprisingly not once yet this year). Was their friction an actual sign of affection towards each other and not a marking of how little they had in common or how little they got along?
Harry knew he should be supportive of his friend's feelings, yet both he and Hermione had neglected to Ron about the DA. The rare occasions they were alone, something always interrupted him. It was like something was trying to stop Harry from mentioning it at all.
But why was that? Ron was someone he could trust to stick with him.
Wasn't he?
An answer took longer to come than Harry wanted to admit.
Ron had proven that his jealousy would override his common sense, his logic. Harry's contempt for his fame, Ron knew. Yet he still claimed that Harry had entered himself in the Tri-Wizard Tournament to get more.
That was not the action of a true friend, someone who could be trusted in the tough times.
"Harry?"
"Oh, sorry," said Harry half-heartedly. He couldn't erase the unfriendly thoughts from his mind. "I already knew."
"Am I that obvious? Does Hermione know? What does she say about me?"
Ron's flurry of questions caught Harry off guard.
"Calm down. You are, she does, and I can't say. It's her place to tell you how she feels." Harry paused. "I've noticed you haven't been bickering since we came back."
"She does?" said Ron, panicking. "Merlin, she probably hates me. But I've been trying hard not to argue with her. What should I do?"
Harry was tempted to mention that Ron and Hermione had also spent far less time together but figured that would create unnecessary worries for his friend. No matter what unfriendly thoughts he was having, Ron was still his friend, his first friend,and he would try and maintain that.
"Do you think you can survive an entire day around her, alone, without getting into an argument?" asked Harry.
Ron looked thoughtful for a moment, an expression Harry couldn't honestly say he'd seen often. Harsh yes, but true nonetheless. "Yeah, I think I can."
Harry couldn't help but doubt it. "Then you have to tell her."
"But… but what if she says no?"
Harry sighed, resisting an odd temptation to whack his friend over the back of the head. "What if she says yes? If you don't tell her, someone else will come along."
"Like who?" asked Ron, his voice filled with a mixture of disbelief, scoff and threat.
"Doesn't matter."
"How doesn't it?"
"You're missing the point, Ron," Harry sighed exasperatedly. "If you don't ask her out and find out if you two can work or not, you'll miss your chance."
"If… What if she says no?"
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
"Then your friendship will either be over. Or at least be strained for awhile."
"Really?"
"Really."
"So, I either tell Hermione I fancy her and she says yes, so we go out, I tell her and she says no and things will be weird between us for awhile or forever, or I don't tell her and someone else comes along and steals her from me." Ron summed up.
"She won't be stolen from you. Hermione isn't a possession. If you don't act and tell her, then you can never claim she was 'yours'."
Ron didn't seem to notice Harry's irritation. "Right. Blimey this is difficult stuff this girl business."
Harry thought of Cho, his only real experience on the matter, and couldn't help but agree. "Are we done?"
"Yeah," said Ron, much happier than he had been in some time. "Say, did you read the Quddditch scores in the Prophet yesterday? The Cannons just moved into the top ten for the first time…"
Harry tuned out the rest of Ron's obsessive discussion of the Canons.
He had been supportive. He had encouraged Ron to relate his feelings to Hermione and let that be the end of it one way or another. So why did he feel like he had just made a huge mistake?
-x-x-x-x-x-
Ron and Hermione weren't the only Gryffindor relationship in Hogwarts that crossed Harry's path that day. Harry had left dinner early to give Ron ample time to talk to Hermione. Taking a shortcut back to Gryffindor tower, Harry crossed a sight he rather wished he hadn't.
Ginny and Dean were snogging right in front of him.
It took several moments for Harry to recover. He cleared his throat.
The couple jumped so high Harry had to wonder if they were wearing springs. The two nervously stepped apart. They relaxed slightly when the saw who had caught them.
"Um, hi, Harry," Ginny mumbled, not meeting his eyes, and flushed the Weasley shade of red Ron was so well known for.
"Harry …" Dean mumbled, also not meeting his eyes.
"You're rather lucky it was me and not a prefect," said Harry in a strange voice that surprised him, and by the looks of it, Ginny too. "Find somewhere a little more secluded," he added in a more normal voice.
Harry left them there and returned to the common room in a bit of daze. Neville was working on an essay for Snape and Harry sat with him. It took mere moments to finagle what was bothering Harry out of him. Apparently Ginny and Dean weren't the only couple snogging around the school. Neville had walked in on Seamus and Parvati earlier in the day.
Hermione turned up half an hour later. She zeroed in one Harry the moment she saw him.
"We need to talk."
Neville and Harry exchanged looks. The tone was foreboding, to say the least.
The pair found themselves alone a minute later in Harry's dormitory.
"What did you say to him?" shrilly asked Hermione the moment she was sure they wouldn't be overheard. Harry winced at her tone. He had an inkling this would happened.
"I suppose Ron tried to, or did, ask you out?"
"Yes, he did! And I know you had something to do with it." Hermione wasn't angry, but she was visibly distressed. Her hands were making eccentric movements to punctuate her words and she started pacing. "Ron would never go out on a limb and ask me out unless someone," she gave Harry a glare, "convinced him too."
"He told me he fancied you after Charms."
"What did you tell him?"
"That if he wanted to know if you felt the same, he had to ask you and if he waited too long, someone else would come along." Harry sighed. "Some of the things he said make me believe he doesn't appreciate you properly."
Hermione ceased pacing. She didn't say anything.
"So what did you say?" asked Harry, his curiosity overpowering.
Hermione didn't answer. Harry didn't push.
"He was stuttering the entire time," she said after awhile, looking up at the ceiling. "Told me he fancied me and asked me on a date with him for the Hogsmeade weekend in two weeks. I… told him I'd answer later." Her gaze roamed the room before locking eyes with Harry again.
"I need help, Harry," her eyes were pleading with him. "What should I do? I don't even know if I fancy him or not. Would you be okay with that? Would our friendship survive if Ron and I were together?"
Harry reached out and grabbed Hermione, silencing her. With a hand on each shoulder, he bent slightly to Hermione's eye level and stared into her brown eyes that were glistening with confusion, heartache and fear. Harry didn't know what to say. He was never good at consoling someone. Would he be okay if his two best friends got together?
Harry decided, again, to be the supportive friend and let what would happen, happen.
"I'll tell you basically what I told Ron," he calmly said. "You won't know unless you try."
Hermione looked slightly crestfallen for a moment, and then righted her features into a guarded expression. The changes were so quick that Harry would've missed it if he hadn't been searching her face for a reaction.
"I should say yes then?"
Confused at her expression, he took a moment to respond. "I can't answer that, Hermione. Do you think that you can last a day without arguing with him? Are you comfortable with him alone? Do you trust him? This is something you have to figure out for yourself."
Hermione gave him a wry smile. "When did you learn anything about relationships?"
"From what I did wrong with Cho," he replied. Hermione cringed. "The one good thing that came out of her was learning what not to do."
Harry leaned into Hermione's shoulder, his arms around her in a semi-awkward hug, and closed his eyes. "If you say yes," Hermione's breath hitched, "Then you'll find your answer one way or another."
The two of them shared a moment of silence before parting. Hermione bade Harry goodnight. Half an hour later, while Harry was failing to distract his troubled mind with non-verbal spells, Ron entered, almost skipping across the dorm.
"She said yes!" said Ron in a loud, excited whisper.
"Good for you, mate." Harry said tiredly. Ron didn't pay him any mind as he went about preparing for bed. He was so elated he didn't notice that he was putting on his Quidditch robes until Seamus pointed it out.
Harry readied himself for bed. He couldn't concentrate properly on his non-verbal spells while thinking about his two friends and what this meant for them.
What now? Hermione and Ron would naturally spend more and more time together. Would they stay friends?
His parents had loved him, he was sure of that, but Harry couldn't remember what it felt like to be loved. Seamus often bragged about his conquests, though Harry didn't believe he loved any of them. Nobody had ever realized that he had never felt love in living memory. His friends and classmates were beginning to pair off with one another. Dean and Ginny, Seamus and Parvati and now Ron and Hermione… how could he fall in love without knowing what love was?
When Harry finally drifted off to sleep, his dreams were turbulent. At one point Dean and Ginny and Ron and Hermione were laughing, drinking Butterbeers together, while Harry watched from the side, alone.
Ron found Harry the next morning, sitting up in bed, staring at his bed sheets.
"Alright, mate?"
Startled, Harry noticed Ron watching him. "Yeah," he replied. Ron shrugged, put on his robes and left.
It's too late now.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Transfiguration was rapidly becoming the most difficult class for sixth year Gryffindors, save for Hermione and Harry. Hermione's natural studious nature and Harry's continued practice of non-verbal magic in much of his free time enabled the pair to adequate perform living-to-non-living and non-living-to-living transfigurations.
Other Gryffindors weren't quite as adept. Several could be seen in the corners of the common room in evenings with strained expressions, attempting fruitlessly to transform their pets into opera glasses, as had been the latest lesson. Harry had managed to transform Hedwig completely, except for four feathers protruding from the outside corners of the lens. McGonagall claimed it was an incomplete transfiguration, but was pleased with his progress nonetheless.
Tonks had yet to reply to Harry's summons. It seemed ever more likely that she was preoccupied with Auror or Order business. Harry wasn't worried.
At lunch on Thursday, Hermione took Harry aside and passed him several rings.
"They're charmed?"
"Of course," replied Hermione, rather proudly. "The process took a little longer than I estimated because of… well, we were busy last night." The two fell silent for a moment.
"We have Potions this afternoon; we can give Ernie his, Susan's and Hannah's, and Padma hers, Su's and Luna's," Harry figured.
"I already gave Neville and Katie theirs."
"And Daphne?" asked Harry. "You're done with Ancient Runes for the week, aren't you?" Hermione nodded. "I'll find her with the Marauder's Map, then."
With that sorted, the two fell into an uncomfortable silence. Harry examined the rings. There was little special about them except for the engraved numerals and letters. They were silver and looked to be amongst the cheapest one would sell. That didn't matter as long as they worked. Looks didn't take a high priority.
Harry looked back up at Hermione, fiddling with the ring with his fingers. He'd never worn any jewelry before and could already envision himself being fidgety with the piece.
Hermione was looking uncomfortable, uncertain. That was a first for the two of them. They had always been comfortable together.
"Is this how things are going to be between us now that you and Ron are… dating?" asked Harry, his voice filled with regret. This wasn't what he had thought would happen when he had encouraged Ron and Hermione the previous day.
Hermione couldn't honestly answer that and Harry knew. "You convinced him to ask me, even if you were just being supportive…"
"Yeah, I guess I did."
That thought offered no comfort as the two of them fell into another uncomfortable silence, both realizing that their friendship, which had risen to new heights not even a fortnight ago, might seriously suffer during the coming trials.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Potions was no longer a subject Harry would dread to attend. Although Slughorn's personality was overbearing on the best of days, Harry was learning a lot more now that they had a capable teacher.
The Half-Blood Prince's Potion book was proving to be a valuable find. Harry had attempted to prepare the potion in their third class following the same instructions as everyone else. Hermione was pleased when she was awarded first place for the day and didn't mention the book. The fourth class for the year, Harry had been unable to decipher the old instructions from the Prince's scribbling out. He contemplated asking to borrow Hermione's book but one look at her face filled with complete concentration over her own potion prevented him from disturbing her. Harry was awarded first place again much to Hermione's dismay.
"Don't you remember Riddle's diary?" asked Hermione with contempt as she eyed the book in his hand. "How do you know that that book is safe?"
"Hermione, I'm not writing in it, it's not writing back," Harry patiently reminded her. "It's not a piece of someone's memory, just an old schoolbook that someone used and forgot to take – hey!" Hermione grabbed the book from Harry's bag and cast several spells on it, like she had done after the first lesson and with the Diary four years prior.
"Let it go, Hermione," Ron unwisely added. "It's a useful book, Harry was just lucky enough to get that one while I had one that somebody puked on." Ron and Harry winced simultaneously.
Ignoring Ron, Hermione cast a few more spells, sighed and gave back the book. "Just be careful, Harry," She whispered to him so quietly that he nearly missed it. He nodded, confused at why she was so worried.
"What's this about a book?" a voice behind Harry said.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Ginny," Ron muttered. Harry turned to face the year younger redhead, who didn't look him in the eye. "Let's go Hermione, we've got patrol." Ron put an arm around her shoulders as he spoke. Hermione shrugged it off and give him a glare. The two of them started walking off together.
"Harry," called Ginny impatiently.
"It's nothing like Riddle's diary," said Harry, turning to face her before Ginny could say anything more. "It's a potions book where someone has changed some of the instructions to work better. Why are you and Hermione so convinced the book is evil?"
Ginny harrumphed and started to walk by him. "Please don't tell Ron about what you saw yesterday." Then she entered the classroom and left Harry alone in the corridor.
He looked at the empty corridor and wondered: Is it this what it's going to be like from now?
Feeling that some target practice might be a good way to relieve his frustrations, the Room of Requirement became Harry's destination. It was only when he was standing outside the room that he realized he'd forgotten to give the rings to Ernie, Padma, Su and Daphne.
The Marauder's Map was invaluable in situations such as these. Harry retrieved the artifact from his trunk and muttered the phrase to active it.
A brief scan of the map established Susan and Hannah in their common room, Ernie patrolling the second floor, and… hang on.
Ron and Hermione were in an unused classroom on the third floor, alone, standing very close.
He watched them for a full minute before he tore his eyes away in disgust.
You should have expected this. His mind told him. They're together now; of course they'll go off and start snogging. That's a part of being boyfriend and girlfriend.
Those thoughts did little to appease his darker thoughts.
Everyone's changing. I know I'm different, Neville's stronger, more confident, Ginny's more outspoken than she used to be, Luna is more open to people now that she has more friends. I suppose that leaves Ron and Hermione moving closer together.
He avoided the part of the map where Ron and Hermione were. Padma and Su still needed to be found. He switched his entire focus onto them. Su was in her common room, and Padma was in a room on the fifth floor, probably making her own rounds.
Harry his dorm and descended several sets of stairs to reach the fifth floor. A second cursory look at the map found that Padma hadn't moved from the room.
He knocked on the door.
Footsteps, and then, "Harry?" Padma was clearly surprised to see him. She wasn't wearing her robes, either; she wore a navy blue top and blue jeans.
"Hi, Padma," said Harry a little awkwardly. He hadn't expected to come across her like this. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
She was silent for a moment and then smiled. "Not at all. Come in. I'm just surprised you knew I was here." Harry didn't miss the subtle question in her tone.
The room Harry believed to be unused in fact contained a fireplace, a pair of tables, two bookshelves, a filing cabinet, several wooden chairs, and a pair of comfortable looking burgundy armchairs. Parchment and textbooks were scattered over one of the tables, and her robes were strewn over the other. The room was warm and cozy. It felt like someone had made it their hideaway.
"Wow," remarked Harry, genuinely surprised. "Has this always been here?"
She shook her head. "I asked Professor Flitwick for a place to study by myself when I received my Prefect badge" she explained, leaning against the now closed door somewhat nervously.
"I can understand not wanting to study in the common room, but why not the library?" He turned to face her as he spoke.
She gave him a small smile.
"I find it too constricting in there." Padma admitted. "I need a place to relax, otherwise I can't work properly. Madam Pince hovers too much. She makes me nervous."
Harry could understand that.
"Besides," she continued with a dark eyebrow raised. "Just because I'm a Ravenclaw doesn't mean I spend all my spare time in there."
"Right, sorry."
Padma smiled at him gently, finally stepping away from the door. "You need to lighten up a little, Harry. I was only teasing you."
"Err, yes, well, here." Harry said, flustered. He pulled out three of the rings he had and passed them to Padma.
"For Su and Luna?" she surmised, holding two of them up. Harry nodded. "I'll deliver them," she promised, placing them in a pocket. She toyed with her own for a moment and reached to her neck, removing a necklace chain.
Harry found himself captivated as Padma placed the ring on the chain and put it back around her neck. He completely missed the smile on her face.
"Ah, yeah, that's all I needed to do." Harry said after a moment. He gestured meekly at her work and made motions to leave. "I'll just leave you to it."
"Nonsense, Harry." Padma said, stepping in front of him. "Stay. Let's talk for a bit. I barely know you and you me." She then added with nowhere near as confidence, "Unless you have somewhere to be…"
Harry thought of Ron and Hermione alone in a classroom together.
"Okay."
Padma grinned and practically bounced over to the second armchair, bringing it closer to the fire. "Take a seat."
Perplexed at her attitude, Harry agreed without protest. Padma essentially fell onto her armchair, letting out a sigh, and made herself comfortable.
"Tell me, why did you leave out so many details in your background?"
Harry grimaced. "You noticed."
"Please, Harry. I'm not one of the brightest of my age for no reason." She gave him a smile to show she wasn't offended.
He sighed. "The details aren't common knowledge and not something I want to share with just anybody." He then added more to himself than her, "Not if they have the relevance I'm beginning to believe they do."
Padma seemed to accept this response. She switched positions on the armchair, sitting side on, legs over one arm. Harry purposely avoided looking at her.
"All right, I guess I can accept that for now. Now, it's your turn."
"My turn?" Harry faced her; she was studying him with surprising intensity. What is she doing?
"Ask me a question. I asked you, now you ask me. Ask me anything and I will try and answer whatever it is." She shook her head. "There are a few things I won't answer. Just like you, I imagine."
Harry felt that was only fair. He also felt that he was being trapped, but no idea how or to what end. Not really concentrating, he asked the first thing that came to mind.
"Why are you and Parvati so different?"
Padma rolled her eyes.
"I suppose you get this question a lot?" asked Harry, cringing a little.
Padma paused for a moment, staring into space, lips moving silently. "Forty-seven times in the first term alone our first year. I've never answered any of them."
"I'll ask something else then."
"No, you've shared with me more than I have you. I'll tell you this story."
The dark-skinned girl sat up and faced Harry properly.
"When we were a lot younger, Parvati and I were on holiday in Germany." Padma said. Her tone was slightly airy as she recalled the day. "Our parents took us to the Quad to pick us out birthday presents."
"While we were there, I was separated from my parents in the crowd." Padma elaborated a little after seeing Harry's blank expression. "The Quad is a magnificent centre of architecture and wizarding culture, but it's horribly easily to lose someone in the throng of people. It's Europe's largest wizarding shopping district."
"The Quad being unfamiliar territory, and three times the size of Diagon and Knockturn Alley combined; I was in a bit of a fix." Padma smiled a little at her recollection. Harry didn't say anything, curious as to where this was leading to, and as to how wizarding children spent their time before Hogwarts. "I wandered into this book store while trying to find Parvati and my parents. The man in there came over, seeing a little girl by herself, no doubt looking lost, and talked to me. He sent a Patronus to alert my family where I was. While I waited he showed me around the store." Padma shook her head, smiling. "I was instantly enthralled. I'd read through half a French history book by the time my parents picked me up."
Padma leant back into her chair and closed her eyes. "Parvati had walked passed a seamstress and was in love with a dress she was making at first sight. My parents bought it for her and ever since she's been obsessed with clothing and fashion. Me? I have yet to lose my passion for learning"
"Does that suffice, Mr. Potter?" she asked teasingly.
"Yeah," said Harry distractedly. It was strange how one event could set people on completely different paths. Had Padma not entered that book store, she wouldn't be who she was.
"Does that mean it's my turn again?" she asked rhetorically. "Well, I have a question that I'm sure half the school wants to know. What's your relationship with Hermione Granger?"
Harry raised his eyebrows. "You weren't taken in by Rita Skeeter, I hope," he said a little heatedly.
"Not at all." Padma replied without missing a beat. "I want my information first hand if I can have it. Books are excellent sources but are subject to too much bias to be entirely accurate."
Wow. Hermione would be livid at such a view.
"You don't have to answer." Padma added in an apologetic tone. "I have no right to pry. I'm just curious."
"It's okay." Harry said with a careless wave of his right hand. "I asked something personal."
He considered his answer.
My relationship with Hermione? There's no relationship beyond friendship. Ron is the one who fancies her. They're together now, after all.
Unconsciously, Harry's expression darkened the more he considered Ron and Hermione together.
"There's no relationship between us." Harry said. It came out a little forcefully, and the next part a little bitterly. "We're friends, nothing more. Ron is the one in a relationship with her."
The relaxed, friendly atmosphere that had grown since the conversation began dissipated almost instantly. The pair sat in silence, something Harry was becoming all too familiar with.
Padma, risking a negative response, asked, "You're feeling left out?"
"Hermione's been my friend since that first Halloween." Harry replied darkly. "Ron's been my friend since the train ride here. They were my first two real friends."
Padma struggled with her curiosity. Harry didn't have any friends before he came here? How can that be? He's the most famous wizard this century, how could be friendless until he was eleven? Did his relatives really treat him so poorly? I know what he has said, but still…
"I'm sorry," said Harry suddenly, startling Padma. The young man was shaking his head. "I don't mean to bother you with this. I'd better go and let you finish your homework." Before Padma could say anything, Harry was out the door and gone.
Padma sat in her chair a little stunned. Their talk had been shorter than she would've liked, but informative nonetheless.
Harry Potter…she mused, leaning further into the chair. Just what has happened to you in your life? Shaking her head to clear her mind, Padma returned to her homework with renewed determination to discover more about Harry Potter.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Well done, Harry, you just pushed your problems on to a near stranger. Bravo.
The self-chastising went on for nearly a minute. However, the reason Harry had gone to find Padma in the first place returned to the forefront of his mind and provided something else to focus on. The Marauder's Map showed the three Hufflepuffs in their common room and…
Well, that's interesting.
Daphne was in a room in the dungeons with Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott and Tracey Davis. Malfoy, flanked by his goons, were standing in front of the other four sixth year Slytherins.
What was going on there? Had she been found out, or was she all along working for him?
But what could see reveal? The oath she took prevented her from mentioning anything he had discussed and who the other members of his group were. This had to be about something else.
The decision to do a little reconnaissance was an easy one. In the several minutes it took for Harry to reach the dungeons the Marauder's Map showed little movement. Harry also encountered few people on the way, and nobody once beyond Slughorn's classroom. The rooms here, on route to the Slytherin common room, were unused – or at least no classes were in them. Malfoy was using one these rooms.
A whispered Silencing Charm on his feet enabled Harry to approach the door to the room silently. Unfortunately, he couldn't hear a word through the thick wooden door. And a likely Imperturbable Charm, of course.
Footsteps hit Harry's ears and he panicked. He was out in the open, without his Invisibility Cloak. He drew his wand, silently cast Alohomora on a door a dozen meters ahead of him and hid himself inside, cursing his lack of his Cloak. A pair of seventh year Slytherins passed him by, talking loudly about something inane.
Before Harry could consider another course of action, the door to the room Malfoy was in opened and the ferret in question, and his goons, left. He had a disgustingly smug look on his pale face. Crabbe and Goyle, still looking as gorilla like as ever, were chortling at something. Nott, Parkinson and Davis appeared moments later and the six of them headed past Harry back to their common room. Daphne emerged a minute later; her face was set hard, and she went off in the other direction.
What was that all about?
Harry, after checking to make sure the coast was clear, followed her. It took a minute and the map to find her and catch up. She was leaning against a wall in an unused corridor, eyes closed.
"Daphne." Harry said, announcing his presence.
She didn't open her eyes. "What did I say about talking to me in public, Potter?"
Harry scowled a little. "We're completely alone here. I checked."
"What do you want, then?" she asked, her tone less than inviting. However, she opened her eyes and faced him.
Harry glared at her. Hermione better be right about her.
"Here." Harry tossed her a ring. "First meeting date is on there. It'll warm up when the date changes, so keep it on you. Don't let it get into the hands of someone else."
Daphne gave the ring a cursory examination and stuck it in her pocket. She pushed herself off the wall and started walking towards him.
Harry said nothing until they were level.
"Don't suppose you want to tell me what all you sixth year Slytherins were up to."
Daphne stopped in her tracks just behind him. She didn't move. At all. "How?"
"I have my ways." Harry replied cryptically. "Care to enlighten me now?"
Harry had no way of being ready for it. It took less than a second for Daphne to turn, grab his right arm and push him up against the wall. Harry's mind clouded with the sudden pain, and his vision blurred as his glasses became askew.
"What the hell, Daphne?" whispered Harry furiously.
"I made an oath to keep your business quiet." Daphne whispered into his ear. Her breath was warm on his ear and it tickled, despite the situation. "I made no such agreement about you entering my business. This doesn't concern you. Go back to Granger and Weasley." She paused and then added, "Or are they too busy with each other now? Try Abbot or Bones, then, I'm sure they'd love your company."
How'd she known about Ron and Hermione? They hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet. And just what was she implying about Susan and Hannah?
"Understand me, Potter?"
Harry didn't reply at first. Daphne pushed harder at his silence and the pain returned in full force.
Angered, he demanded her to let him go.
"Not until we've reached an understanding."
"If Malfoy is up to something, it's my business." Harry snarled.
Daphne growled and pushed him against the wall once more, then let go. Harry reacted in an instant, spinning and grabbing her, pushing her up against the other wall. He had her hands trapped up against the wall.
"Let go, Potter," said whispered. Her tone promised pain if he didn't comply.
"Answer me first."
"Let go, Potter."
"If he's planning to hurt people, I have to stop him."
"Harry, let go."
Harry was caught off guard at having her call him by his real name and paid for it. Daphne, using her legs, pushed him off of her.
"You do not touch me. Got it?" Daphne demanded. Harry glared at her, his breathing surprisingly heavy. "And let it go, Potter. If someone finds out what he's up to, he'll know one of us leaked it and won't rest until he knows who. That'll be far worse for both of us."
She turned to go.
"Damnit, Daphne." Harry said in desperation. "We're long past the schoolyard prank or fight era. He's a Death Eater. Whatever he's up to will hurt innocent people."
"You know, huh," she said, surprised. She'd stopped moving again, but didn't face him. "Well, I can't say anything even if I wanted to."
"What do y–oh." Harry stopped mid-sentence as understanding flooded him. "He's using oaths too."
Daphne didn't respond – probably couldn't – and after a moment, left. Harry stood in the corridor alone, confused and irritated.
"Great. Just great."