Where the bloody hell could she be? Ronald Weasley thought as he stabbed his eggs viciously. The last time he saw Hermione was the night before at dinner. How could he forget, they had quite a heated conversation:
"-but why do you have to go with Malfoy?" Ron complained
"-Since when did I get to chose who Snape paired us with? It's not like I want to be paired with the Muggle-born hating thing. Besides, it's not like we are spending free time together. And since when did you start caring?" Hermione asked pointedly.
"-I don't care who you spend your time with, as long as it isn't that prat!" Ron spat back.
"-I can hang out with whomever I choose, Ronald! And if you are really so obviously jealous of Malfoy getting to be alone with me, well then, maybe you should have done something about it!" Hermione snapped right before stomping out of the Great Hall.
And he didn't see her the rest of the night. Plus she was with Draco Malfoy. Of all the gits she could have broke curfew with, why'd it have to be that one?
"Ron, are you alright?" Harry's voice broke into the ginger's angry thoughts.
"Oh, ya, just peaches and cream over here," Ron mumbled darkly into his scrambled eggs. He hardly touched breakfast, a first for him.
"Your worried about Hermione too?" Harry asked. Ron didn't realize until that moment that Harry actually noticed Hermione's disappearance. Ron tended to do that, treat Harry like he had a famous thinking mind. That never turned out well in the end, always ended in fights. Like last year at the Triwizard Cup. It took a whole dragon battle to make Ron remember that Harry wasn't the type of guy to go fame hunting. Especially when it came to putting his name in a competition so dangerous.
"Ya. Where could she have gone?" Ron responded a little less poisonously to his best friend.
"I was thinking she could have skipped breakfast to study for the O.W.L.s, you know with them coming up," Ron noticed Harry too hardly eaten, but that wasn't as unusual.
"They're not till spring. It's November. How could anyone study for them this early?"
"Well, you know Hermione. Remember how extreme she gets when normal exams are coming up? I'd be surprised if she didn't start studying at the end of last year!" Harry chuckled slightly and Ron couldn't help but join in. Oh Hermione…
"Tell you what, if she doesn't show up for morning Charms lessons, we'll take a break and try to find her on the Map," Harry whispered as students started to shuffle out of the Great Hall. The ceiling was overcast today with formidable clouds. Really set the mood for a crummy day, thought Ron.
Hermione, as it turned out, was not there for the first class of the day, and this did not go unnoticed. It's not everyday Flitwick's top student doesn't show. So, as Harry said, right before double Transfiguration, the two 5th years sprinted back up to the Gryffindor common room, bolted up to Harry's trunk, and practically set a bomb of clothing off trying to find that Map. Of course it was at the very bottom.
"Murphy's Law," Harry mumbled to himself as he got his wand out to perform the incantation. Ron just shook his head, muggles and their silly sayings.
"Okay, look for Hermione," Harry spread the Marauder's Map over the red comforter of his four-poster bed. The two boys searched for the bushy haired friend and were well aware that McGonagall was probably ready to eat them alive for their tardiness. But they couldn't find Hermione anywhere!
"It is like she completely vanished!" Ron pouted as he threw himself down on the bed.
"But that isn't possible unless she left Hogwarts all together," Harry was still studying the Marauder's Map with much more focus then Ronald could ever posses.
"You don't think Hermione would sneak off of campus?" Ron looked up at his best friend with a newfound concern.
"Ron, this is Hermione were talking about. They only way she would be off campus without permission is if she was kidnapped by Voldemort himself," Harry told Ron, only half kidding. As predicted, Ron flinched at the use of You Know Who's name, but he let it slide this time.
"You don't think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named really-" Ron started
"Think about what you are saying before you finish that thought," Harry interrupted the worried ginger, "If Voldemort-" Ron flinched "-really came to Hogwarts, why would he steal Hermione? Why wouldn't he just come after me if he were already here? And anyway, he is in hiding remember? He wouldn't want to blow his cover," Harry finished. And he was right, of course.
"We should go tell McGonagall!" Ron was struck with the idea to tell their head of house. She would know what to do, for sure.
"And say what? 'Excuse me, Professor McGonagall? Back in my third year the twins gave me this map that shows the movement of everyone inside Hogwarts, and we can't seem to find Hermione on it. Do you think you could look it over?'" Harry asked pointedly.
"Well we don't have to phrase it like that!" Ron snapped back. "We should just tell her that we've noticed Hermione has been gone since last night, and we were worried."
Harry stared down at his father's old map on last time before tapping it with his wand and muttering, "mischief managed." He grabbed his school bag and headed out the boys dormitory with Ron close on his heals.
"Do you have any idea how late you are?" Minerva McGonagall whispered as the two 5th years walked into her Transfiguration class. Harry looked down at his watch (wind up of course, batteries didn't work in Hogwarts) and moaned. Ron peeked at it over his shoulder and let a similar noise escape. They were so caught up in their search they hadn't realized it.
45 minutes late. For McGonagall's class!
"How dare you even come to class? If you really cared about your studies, you would show up on time. A little late if you have a valid excuse. But under no circumstances do you show up to class 45 minutes late. Either you come or if you obviously don't care, you don't come," McGonagall's voice was in a deadly whisper. But no matter how quiet she became Ron and Harry could hear her perfectly, the class went silent as her rage drifted through the room.
The rest of the class, who were suppose to be transfiguring snails into coat buttons, instantly forgot of the project. It was always entertaining to see two children in trouble. Harry and Ron were no excuse despite the fact they were being lectured by their own head of house. On the contrary, that just made it more exciting.
"But Professor-"
"NO EXCUSES MR. WEASLY! Alright," McGonagall took a deep breath in to calm herself. Ron never seen her lips any tighter, it was like they weren't even there, "Mr. Weasly, Mr. Potter, you two may go sit in my office and wait there until I am ready to deal with you," Professor McGonagall gestured to the office door. Normally the boys would protest, but after a display like that they did not need to be told twice.
As they passed down to the front of the class where the office stood a few Ravenclaws, who they had Transfiguration with, laughed at the foolish Gryffindors. Neville cast the two a sympathetic glance and Seamus gave Ron (he was still mad at Harry) an encouraging nod.
It seemed like a good hour before Professor McGonagall slammed her office door shut as she entered.
"Now," McGonagall said just as Ron opened his mouth, "I don't want to hear anything about how a Slytherin caused this," oh, she knew the Gryffindors far too well.
"Actually, it was another Gryffindor that caused this," Harry grumbled to his knees. Ron shot him a look that plainly said unbelievable.
"Professor, we noticed Hermione wasn't at breakfast or in the common room last night," Ron started, but very quickly for fear that McGonagall would cut him off, "And then she didn't come to charms this morning, which is what really got us thinking something was wrong." McGonagall nodded her head in agreement. If it was Hermione, then not in class was the best red flag there was, "So we decided to uh…investigate a little. And we lost track of time," Ron looked at Harry quickly, hoping he didn't give up too much information.
But McGonagall didn't seem to notice Ron's hesitation to telling her exactly how they investigated. Instead, she took off her square framed glasses, wiped them on some cloth, readjusted them onto her face, and looked at Ron square in the eyes. Ron will never forget how frightened he was at that moment, it was almost as bad as the Whomping Willow incident…but not nearly as horrifying as Aragog.
"Now, even though it was very valiant of you two to go try and locate Miss Granger, tardiness, especially at this level, will not be tolerated in this classroom. If you were really very concerned for Miss Granger, you would have come to me directly," McGonagall's voice was trembling with pent-up rage. She had to deal with a lot of stuff, namely Fred and George, so Ron had to remind himself that McGonagall might just be overacting a tad bit, especially if she was involved with the twins earlier on.
"Well, Professor, we just figured you would be as in the dark as we were, so…there was really no point in coming to you if we were going to be trying to find her anyway," Harry said innocently. Ron mentally gave himself a face palm. There was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and with Harry that line was practically invisible.
McGonagall's lips tightened even more if that was possible, "As a matter of fact, Mr. Potter, seeing as I am a teacher I do have quite a bit more information then you do."
Harry opened his mouth to speak right as a slam of a door echoed through McGonagall's office followed by an irritated "Mr. Potter!"
Out of everyone who could have come through that door, it had to be this prat, Ron sighed mentally as Snape marched to the side of the desk. His hair always fascinated Ron, it was almost as if he didn't wash it on purpose…
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. I thought I'd find the two of you here, cowering under your Head of House," Snape sneered at Harry and Ron who immediately put on innocent expressions. They haven't even done anything wrong, yet with Snape it was just habit to look absolutely innocent to anything that could have possibly gone on.
"Eh-um," McGonagall coughed, "Severus I think you might want to fill me in on why these two need to cower under their Head of House."
"Oh, so you're lying to you Head of House? Well, I figured out your little scheme. Tell me, at this moment where is Draco Malfoy?" Snape smiled in victory at the surprised looks on Ron and Harry's face. He felt his victory grow and power him, "That's right. Draco's gone missing and the only two with a motive was you! So what did you do to him?"
Harry was the first to speak, as he was always trying to humiliate Snape legally, and how could anyone pass up this opportunity?
"Sorry to disappoint Professor, but Ron and I haven't seen Draco since last night in the Great Hall. And if we have done something there, I think the observant teachers would have noticed," Harry gave a slight smile of his own.
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure every house besides Slytherin had a motive to get rid of Malfoy," Ron added. Snape gave him a stare that could make a mandrake become silent with fear. Ron pushed back as far into the seat as possible.
"And, may I ask Severus, on what grounds are you accusing these Gryffindors of this crime?" McGonagall was seated more rigid then a cat. For now she had a job more important then punishing her Gryffindors, now she had to protect them from the snakes.
"On the grounds that he went disappearing last night. And earlier that day I partnered him and Granger together for an assignment. These two must have got rid of him so she wouldn't have to work with him. Am I wrong?" Snape pointed at Harry. But Harry was unnerved; he seemed to be the only student who could stand that venomous glare given by those black eyes.
"Yes sir, you are. Hermione went disappearing as well. That's why we're here," Harry replied coolly.
"You know, now that I think about it, wasn't Hermione leaving to go study with Malfoy?" Ron thought out loud. Then he smacked himself right on the forehead, "Yeah, she was! How could I forget, we got in a huge fight about it right before she left!" How could I forget that? Stupid, stupid, stupid! Ron scoffed at himself.
"And you're sure she did not return to the common room last night?" McGonagall's voice was softer then it was a minute ago. Whether is was because Snape was now here or because they finally found a lead, Ron didn't know. Honestly, he didn't care. McGonagall was scary when she was mad, absolutely horrifying. Almost like spiders.
"Yeah, we stayed up pretty late waiting. What time was it when we turned in?" Harry turned to Ron.
"Um, about 2:00 I think" Ron thought carefully. He was messing with a time telling spell at the time, so he was pretty sure. Of course he could have always cast the spell wrong. It was actually quite probable.
"I think I know where our missing students have vanished to," McGonagall seemed…scared. Why was she scared?
"Where?" Snape turned on his co-worker with a billow in his cape.
"It depends on what they wanted when they entered," McGonagall said gravely.
Ron and Harry let out a simultaneous "Bloody Hell."