HERMIONE
Hermione gave a startled jump when Ginny slammed her bag down with considerable force, given her size. Her cheeks and forehead were deep red under her freckles. Her post-Quidditch hair spilled out of a loose braid in all directions, making her look as if she'd been electrocuted.
"Here, I saved you a plate. Might want to use a Heating Charm on it though, it's gotten a bit cold," said Dean, pushing a plate to Ginny.
"Thanks," she said shortly.
"What took you so long?" he asked.
"Sent a letter," Ginny said through a mouthful of food. Her face smoldered with a glare that was aimed across the table. Hermione followed its trajectory, landing on Harry. Thinking this was odd, Hermione made a mental note to ask her about it later in private.
"Oh, okay," Dean said slowly, following Ginny's gaze as well. "Anyway, did you see the bulletin? The next Hogsmead weekend has been canceled. I was planning to take you on a late Valentine's Day date, but we'll have to think of something else."
A great clattering of dish ware came from the opposite side of the table. Hermione peered down past Seamus and Parvarti to see Harry push his plate away. He stood up to leave.
"Where are you going?" Ron asked.
"To bed," Harry grumbled.
"But you've barely eaten anything!" exclaimed Ron.
"Not hungry."
It took only an instant. Less than the time it takes for a thought to fully form. Hermione met Ron's worried expression with a What's-Going-On-With-Harry look. In response, Ron shrugged, apparently just as clueless as her. Their eyes lingered on each other momentarily. Ron's face then slipped easily into a small rueful smile.
In response, Hermione set her jaw forward and quickly turned her head to return to her reading.
Later that week, Hermione left the Common Room and headed for the base of the faculty tower where prefects typically met when beginning their evening rounds. She'd just reached the bottom of the stairs when Draco Malfoy exited the archway leading to the professors offices.
"Nice of you to show up to rounds for once," she said, pulling the prefect's schedule out of her robes pocket.
"For this waste of time position? No, Granger. I'm not staying. Have fun handing out maps and handkerchiefs to first years."
"But you're on the schedule for patrols tonight."
"Am I?" He avoided her with exaggeratedly wide radius and continued walking down the corridor. A secret door pretending to be a painting opened up beside Hermione, revealing Ron.
"And tell your scarhead boyfriend to stop following me, will you?"
Ron moved quickly to stand in defense between Hermione and Malfoy, despite him walking away from them with his back turned. Nevertheless, Ron bellowed after him, "Fuck off, Malfoy!"
"Oooo, I'm scared now, Weasley," said Malfoy. He made a rude hand gesture over his shoulder and kept walking.
Ron turned to her with a look of concern. "You okay? Did he say anything to you?" he asked.
Hermione didn't bother to respond to his questions. Instead she asked, "Has Harry started following Malfoy?"
"I suppose so, yeah," Ron replied, seeming not to give it a second thought. "Hermione, can we -"
"I'll take the Bell Tower Wing this evening and round near the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Common Rooms as well. You can have the dungeons. I've been informed that Peeves is chasing first year Slytherins with the old restraint chains and attempting to coerce them into bungee jumping off the stairwell. If you finish early, then you'll cover near the greenhouses too - as we are one short. We'll meet back here at midnight to give report."
"Okay," he said miserably. "What am I supposed to do about Peeves?"
"Gee, if only it were your job to figure it out," she said and turned on her heel, leaving a miserable looking Ron in her wake.
The next day, Hermione and Harry went to the second floor study hall during their free period. Usually this small study hall was too crowded to focus during regular breaks. It had a beautiful view of the greenhouses perched atop the rocky cliff descending down to the lake below. Despite being a gloomy day, an impressive collection of dark clouds hid the peaks of the mountains that surrounded the school. But this was a free period for only sixth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, so they had no competition for a place to sit. Out of habit, they automatically chose a table in the corner far enough away from the entrance to not be overheard.
Hermione did not feel the need to beat around the bush. "Harry, have you been following Malfoy?"
She watched as a sullen frown directed at her settled on his face, as if he preparing to receive a lecture. "Yes."
"Harry."
Her tone of voice must have set him off, because he immediately jumped to defend himself, "I want to catch him at it, Hermione! I know he's up to something. I just know it."
"Don't you think this is getting out of hand?"
"There are times he's simply not on the Map. Even during the day, between classes! Don't you think that's curious?"
"You're using the Map to spy on him between classes?!"
He ignored her question. "Aren't you even a little suspicious? You have to admit it's strange. He's ditched Quidditch, I know he's skived off classes, and sometimes he's just simply missing on the Map. He's been acting all paranoid and cagey with Crabbe and Goyle. I overheard them in Apparition lessons."
Hermione took a deep breath, knowing she would regret telling him about the night before.
"Now that you mention it, he is neglecting his prefect duties. Which is odd, seeing as he's always enjoyed the abuse of power."
"What?"
"He hasn't been participating in patrols," Hermione explained.
"What's he been doing?"
"I wouldn't know, would I? I have to cover his hours!" she said shrilly.
"Maybe when you're making your rounds you can-"
"Absolutely not. I'm not going to take advantage of my post to run around chasing people just because you have a hunch!"
"Fine, then. Maybe I'll just ask Ron to-"
Hermione gave derisive scoff. "Ron's got as much stealth as an Erumpent."
Harry continued to glare at her for a moment before shaking his head. Sensing waves of anger and frustration emanating from him, she couldn't help feeling like she was letting him down somehow. For the millionth time, she wished Ron were here to balance them out. He was their intermediary, the one who changed the subject or helped Harry see reason.
Instead, Hermione and Harry descended into tense silence.
It bothered her when he got like this. And it seemed to be more frequent this week for some reason. During the summer and previous term he'd been much more calm, much more himself. After being sulky and constantly on edge last year, the change had been an enjoyable one. Her heart ached recalling this past summer. It'd been the first time she could remember all four of them- her, Ron, Harry and Ginny - going more than two days without tossing around theories or plotting dangerous missions. They could just be friends. Sleep in late, play games all night. Sure, Quidditch during the day had been a chore, but it led to the most wonderfully relaxed evenings.
Now look at them. Ginny typically spent all her time studying or with Dean - although she'd been on edge this week, about what Hermione didn't yet know. Harry was rapidly becoming obsessed with tailing Malfoy. And of course, she hadn't properly spoken to Ron in weeks.
He was supposed to be here. Everything felt insurmountable without him. How could he do this to her? Leave her to deal with it all on her own.
Her mind drifted again to the prophecy. The part that didn't make sense to her.
The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal.
However flighty Divination was, the prophecy was exceedingly detailed and specific. Everything made sense. Harry's parents. Harry's birthday. Power he knows not. Either must end the other. Everything …except this piece.
Mark him as his equal.
What did it mean by that? She didn't believe it meant just Harry's scar. Even though that was the most obvious conclusion. If it were just the mark, then surely Voldemort would have an equal scar. Maybe he did? Somewhere hidden. Hermione shivered and cringed at the thought.
What part of Harry was equal to Voldemort?
She loved him, but she wouldn't say he was exceptionally academically gifted or powerful. Maybe in Defense and when he actually put his mind to something. But Tom Riddle had been the top of his classes since his first year. Finishing off at Head Boy. That didn't sound like Harry. Again, she credited him with being talented and a wonderful teacher in the D.A. But really, Riddle had seemed exceedingly talented and gifted at school.
Mark him as his equal.
Again she wondered if it was to do with Voldemort making Harry an orphan, like him. Two outcasts coming to Hogwarts. There had to be plenty more cases of something like that happening. It didn't seem specific enough. And Voldemort wasn't really an orphan until he murdered his own father.
Equal in temperament? Maybe Voldemort caused Harry to have certain personality traits.
In truth, and she would never ever admit this to anyone in her life. Sometimes Harry genuinely scared her. When he got fixated on an idea, it was like stopping a moving Hogwarts Express. Impossible to divert. Useless to stand against. But Ron knew and understood. He was the only one who had experienced it all with her. It wasn't because they didn't love Harry. They did. And it wasn't even really Harry that scared them. Just what he might be capable of.
They were a team. She figured out the plans. Ron tamed and supported Harry. Harry dealt with being Harry. That's how it worked. That's why it needed to be them three.
It was during the TriWizard Tournament that she first really, truly realized it. It wasn't just that these things happened to Harry. He also reacted without thinking through the consequences. Challenging Malfoy to a duel first year. The flying car. Running away from home during third year. Wasting time figuring out the egg.… The Department of Mysteries.
When she was younger, she had known all of it was dangerous. But now she saw that they were reckless, all these experiences that the three of them flew into without just stopping to think or ask an adult for help. Hermione did not hold the Department of Mysteries against Harry. But she'd also be lying if she said that she didn't hold partly responsible for what happened.
Of course, she wouldn't tell him that. Hermione knew Harry well enough to know that he blamed himself more than anyone. To send him spiraling because of perceived mistrust could be even more dangerous. But he should have known better. He should have given more pause. It wouldn't have happened if he'd exhausted all possible resources - or just waited - to determine Sirius' whereabouts before rushing to the Department of Mysteries.
Was that what it was? That he, like Voldemort, was impulsive and unpredictable? Was that just a Harry thing, or was that something Voldemort somehow caused?
Dumbledore had explained that Voldemort was using Occlumency against Harry. By that logic, the connection was coming from Harry. She was sure the equalness had something to do with this unexplained connection between them. Harry's scar hurting, his realistic dreams last year, visions he'd had throughout the years. In the past they'd always assumed that they came to him from elsewhere. But what if it was coming from him?
Mark him as his equal.
What if there was a part of Harry that even he, himself could not control?
Hermione looked across the table at her best friend. He was reading Beating the Bludgers - A Study of Defensive Strategies in Quidditch, every so often pushing up his glasses and writing in his Quidditch notebook. She smiled to herself and rolled her eyes. If he'd only give half as much attention to school, he wouldn't need to cheat from that wretched book.
Then again, he was only sixteen and dealing with prophecies, dark magic, and death of people close to him. Not to mention the certain future of murder or being murdered. It wasn't fair. He should only have to think about his studies, his friends, and being Quidditch Captain. And they should get summers to lounge at the Burrow without this hanging over them.
After all, Ron seemed to be having the time of his life going around dating floozies and bimbos. How refreshing for him to be able to separate himself from all of this. Leaving her the double job of puzzling out fine details of the darkest wizard in modern history and keeping Harry under control. Both equal tasks in themselves.
Hermione picked at the cuticles around her nails and peered at Harry through her lashes. She needed to be more like Ron. If she wanted to keep Harry de-escalated, she needed to think about what Ron would say to him. They needed him in this group. But she couldn't even stand to hear his voice without being furious with him.
"Look, I don't know if Malfoy is up to something. Even if he is, I'm sure it's not as bad as you suspect," Hermione took a deep breath. "But, I'll look out for anything suspicious when I'm on patrol."
"Really?" he said hopefully.
"Yes. As long as you promise to just stick to watching him on the Map. Not running off and getting yourself into anything alone."
He considered her offer for a long stretch. "Alright. Thanks, Hermione." He smiled at her appreciatively and returned to his doodles on defensive plays.
It wasn't until Sunday when Hermione found Ginny in the library that she finally got to speak to her alone.
"Hey, where's Dean?"
"He and Seamus are practicing Apparition," she said shortly.
"Oh, good for them. It's not going too well for any of us. The instructor is wholly inadequate and not fit to teach. I mean he doesn't give any other instruction than -"
"Look, Hermione. I'm really busy. Is there something else you wanted?"
Hermione was taken aback and slightly hurt. She knew Ginny could get combative, but it was normally short lived, well meaning and was so rarely directed at her. This irritable Ginny had been going on all week.
"Did I do something to upset you?"
"No, I'm just trying to finish this all so I can have at least one hour to relax tonight before Monday begins and I have to do this shit all over again."
"It must be a lot to have to deal with examinations, schoolwork and Quidditch practice."
"Plus a boyfriend who expects me to spend every spare second I have with him. I never get a moment alone," she said gruffly.
"I can leave -"
"No, you're fine," she said. Realizing how she sounded, Ginny gave me a sympathetic smile with the corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry. You didn't do anything. I'd be lost without your help, honestly."
"Okay, is something else bothering you?"
"No."
"The other night you came in looking upset from practice, did something happen?"
"No."
"Oh, okay." Hermione pulled out her books, a quill and some parchment to begin on the Transfiguration assignment due in two weeks. "I couldn't help but notice you were glaring at Harry that night." Ginny's eyes narrowed infinitesimally. "Did something happen between you two?"
"No," Ginny said forcefully.
Hermione was unconvinced, but did not want to continue pushing the issue. At least she had gotten some information. Ginny did seem to be upset with Harry. And it was bad enough that she didn't want to speak to her about it. And that she was bristling about it all week. That hadn't happened before.
Hermione realized with a start that Harry was also much frostier this week. Perhaps it was related. This actually gave her some relief, knowing that it may be explaining his sudden moodiness. Something appeared to be going on between Harry and Ginny. And neither of them wanted to speak about it. Interesting.