Disclaim Her: I love cheesecake!1
Chapter 11: More Secrets?
Detention was rather boring actually. I arrived in Snape's classroom just after dinner, with my invisibility cloak tucked into my robe pocket so I wouldn't have to go back to the tower before meeting Hermione. I was wondering what she had found, since even Dumbledore had no idea what had happened to me. Snape had been sitting at his desk grading papers and only paused to glance up and shoot a quick glare at me before instructing me to clean out all the cauldrons. Menial labor I was used to, so I finished it up pretty quickly and made my way to the library under my cloak.
It was mostly empty, except for Madame Pince, Hermione, and some Ravenclaw fifth year. I headed over to Hermione's corner, poking her shoulder to let her know I was there. She nodded slightly and walked over to the Restricted Section, showing a pass to Madame Pince on the way. When we reached the roped off area she grabbed me and pulled me into an aisle that was out of the view of the rest of the library. I tore off my cloak and began questioning Hermione.
"What did you want to tell me? And why did I have to wear the cloak? Couldn't you have just shown me what you wanted in the common room?"
"No, because this is a book that you can't take out of the library without express permission. It's about Necromancy, and there are very strict rules about that sort of thing at Hogwarts."
"Necromancy? As in, raising the dead as minions? I'm no one's minion, Hermione."
"I know!" Hermione looked tired. I wondered how long she had stayed up the night before researching this. "But there's a passage in here about a species of creatures that inhabit human forms, but who's powers only manifest after the body dies!"
"So...what? I'm some type of creature that has to die before it gets any powers? This is some major shit, Hermione. Are you absolutely sure?"
"How can I be sure? They're only vaguely mentioned, but the book referred to them as Daemons, and they supposedly remain conscious and unchanging for hundreds of years after they physically die."
"Great. Apparently, not only am I some kind of wierd creature, I'm an evil being from Hell."
"I didn't say that, Harry. I just said that's what they were called. And I'm not saying that that's what you are, I'm just saying that it's the first thing I've found that describes anything remotely like your situation."
I sighed. I just wasn't going to get a break, was I? "Okay, first, we talk to Ron. I'm going to tell Malfoy tomorrow and see if he has anything to add, if he's even heard of these 'Daemon' things. Then, we go to Dumbledore and ask him what he thinks. Okay?"
Hermione smiled lightly. "Sounds like a plan."
She didn't know I could smell the fear and apprehension rolling off her in waves. She was hiding something from me, and whatever it was, it was scaring her.
BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK
When we got back to the Common Room, Ron was asleep in one of the chairs by the fire. After deciding that the invisibility cloak was too small to cover the both of us safely, Ron had agreed to wait for us in the Common Room until we got back.
"Ron!" I poked him hard with my wand, accidentally shooting off some sparks.
"Bloody hell!" Ron jumped up and quickly put out the very small fire that had started burning on his shoulder. "What was that for?"
"I was just trying to wake you up," I said apologetically. "Sit back down. We have something to tell you."
We explained what Hermione had found, and what we were going to do. I have to say, Ron took it amazingly well, considering. He only referred to me as a beast from Hell once, which was a lot better than I expected. Then he threw a lamp at me telling me to stay back, and backed up into a corner as if he expected me to blow him up or something. Typical Ron overreaction. Finally, he calmed down enough to demand that he go with us when we went to see Dumbledore.
Of course I told him he could go with us, but just as with Hermione, he seemed scared of something. I didn't know what they both knew that I didn't, but I was going to find out as soon as possible.