Disclaimer: I own Maria. You should no that by now.

A/N: I'm dividing all the plots from Ch. 5 into separate chapters.

Chapter 6: The Blind Won't See

The more Hermione thought about it, the more it seemed a good idea. She would just slip away with the diary for a few minutes, read it and see for herself what was going on. But Harry might not just let her see it after she had argued in favor of whoever owned that diary. So she would just have to steal it. He'd never have to know.

She climbed off the four-poster bed, and put on some house slippers. She crept out of the room, and jumped a little when Lavender Brown murmured in her sleep.

I wonder why sneaking always makes you paranoid, she thought. Maybe at some point she'd look up a spell to counter that. There could be one.

She stepped down into the common room. The fire was still burning merrily, despite the fact there was no one there to enjoy it. Except her. She started going up to the boy's dorm, when she decided to take another look at the common room.

Harry was still sitting in an armchair, staring at the diary. Hermione nearly yelled in surprise, but restrained herself to keep her presence unknown. It had to be nearly morning, and he didn't look as though he had gone to bed at all. What was he doing up this late, they had classes tomorrow! And the fact that he was still reading it made it harder to take it without him noticing. Go figure.

Hermione sighed quietly. She could either go back to bed, or wait for him to do so. She carefully found a spot where Harry couldn't see her, even if looked in her direction all the way up to the boy's dorm. Then she curled up, and listened.

"How can someone write a diary without writing anything about himself? It's almost a paradox. There has to be some sort of clue..." Harry retreated to incoherent mumbling. Hermione herself couldn't understand how this person could keep all personal information out of the book. Still, if he really was Voldermort's child, he certainly wouldn't want anyone to know who he was. Whichever side he was on, someone would be looking for him.

Harry set down the book for a moment. "Absolutely useless. There's nothing in here at all!" At that, he picked up the diary and slouched up to hid dorm room. Once Hermione heard the door shut, she crept up the stairs herself. She sat down next to the door, and listened for signs of harry going to sleep. She wasn't having much luck on this venture.

"Ron. Ron! Wake up, before I get Pig to twitter in your ear." Ron just mumbled something.

"Harry, you're an evil prick, you know that?"

"Not now Ron, this is important!"

"Did you find anything? Do you know who it is?"

"No, Ron! That's the problem! There's nothing in that diary. I don't even know what year he's in."

"So why wake me up, then? Why couldn't you tell me you found nothing in the morning?"

"Because...we need to do some snooping if we're going to find him. C'mon, under the invisibility cloak."

Hermione suddenly realized what was about to happen. As soon as Harry and Ron came out of their room, they'd see her. She needed to hide, and fast.

She could hear Ron say "You know, this cloak had more room when we were younger." A few footsteps, and the doorknob was turning. Hermione searched as quickly as she could for a hiding spot. It was to late to try to hide in the common room, they'd see her going down the stairs. The door creaked open, and it felt as if time were going in slow motion.

Hermione hid behind a plant pot at the other end of the hall just as the door was shutting. It would be a miracle if they hadn't seen her.

No, she thought with a small smile. Miracles came quite often to the trio. It would be much more than a maricle if Harry and Ron hadn't seen her obvious scramble. But she heard footsteps on the stairs, they had already left.

It's now or never, she thought grimly. Might as well see if they left the diary behind. She quickly opened the door. There, on the bedside table, was the diary. She would have liked to read it in the boy's dorm, so she could replace it without much trouble. But she didn't know how long the boys would be gone, so she picked up the book and sneaked back to her own dorm.

She opened the diary carefully, as if it were made of glass, or porcelain. She flipped to a random page. Might as well start wherever. It was dated for the day before, probably during the ride on the Hogwarts Express.

Dear Diary,
My life sucks. As I look back, I see these words written on every page. And why not? How else could I describe it? During the summer, my mother and I are constantly afraid that my father will return. Or worse, that he'll realize I exist. I mean, just look at what he is. At who he is.
Even at Hogwarts I'm not safe. Sure, he can't find me there. But I must fear him in another way. I can't even have any friends, because they would be the most likely to discover who he is. I've certainly lived up to the cunning name of Slytherin House, to have kept this secret for five long years. Especially from Harry Potter.

Hermione closed the diary without reading the rest of the entry. She had somehow known that this was what she'd find, and that the boys had been blind to it. Whoever this was, they were keeping themselves secret. And now she knew the real reason why.

She had to tell Ron and Harry!

Will Harry believe Hermione, or even what he finds in the book? And with the small hint she has gained, will Hermione be the first to find Maria?

A/N What do you think? I take questions, comments, and constructive criticism. I especially want to know about the little cliffy-thing at the end. Does that work or not?