Kindred Spirits

by Tailkinker

This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.

Moste Potente Potions

"To be fair, Ron," said Harry, "Hermione is the best student in our year." The three of them turned into the library, and Harry dropped his voice to match the quiet of the large room. "At least, in Gryffindor. I'm not sure about the other Houses. But Lockhart clearly thinks so."

"There!" said Hermione. "You see?"

"I never said she wasn't," said Ron defensively. "But come on, Hermione—how can you not see that he's a useless git?"

"If you would bother to read his books—"

"I did read his books," retorted Ron. "That's why I think he's useless."

Hermione threw up her hands, but in deference to the librarian, did not scream in outrage. Harry carefully repressed a chuckle, but not carefully enough—Hermione glared at him.

"Look," said Hermione. "Let me go get the book. I'll be back in a minute or two." She turned and walked towards the Restricted Section, her pass—freshly signed by Professor Gilderoy Lockhart—ready for inspection.

"She needs to relax," observed Ron.

"So do you," pointed out Harry. "I mean, we all know that Lockhart is useless—well, all us guys do. Most of the girls still seem to like him—"

"I don't."

Harry turned at the interjection, to see Hotaru standing behind him. She wore her Hogwarts robes, but had a beret perched on her head, rather than a traditional pointed witch's hat. Her arms were crossed over a large book that she held to her chest.

"Hotaru! Hi."

"Hello, Harry." She smiled. "I overhead your discussion. Sorry."

"No problem. It wasn't private or anything." He waved a hand towards Ron. "This is my mate, Ron Weasley."

"How're you doing?" said Ron.

"Quite well, thank you. Pleased to meet you." She smiled and bowed slightly.

"We're in Astronomy together, yeah?" He snapped his fingers. "You're the girl that wrote to Professor Flitwick, right?"

"Harry told you about that?"

"Of course I did," said Harry. "You got me out of a bad situation. Least I could do was make sure you got the credit."

Hotaru blushed slightly. "Well, I'm just glad I could help. But getting back to the topic at hand, I have to agree with Harry. Lockhart may be popular with some, but that doesn't change the fact that he's not a very good teacher."

"I expect that most of the girls like him because they fancy him," said Ron.

Hotaru shrugged. "There's some truth to that."

"Got the book!" Hermione walked up to the trio, then paused when she noticed Hotaru. "Oh. Hello, Hotaru."

"Hi, Hermione." She smiled.

"Well, nice to see you."

She didn't sound it, mused Harry.

Hermione turned back to the boys. "Shall we?"

"Hold on," said Harry. He turned back to Hotaru. "How good are you with potions?"

"Harry!" Hermione stared at him, aghast. "We can't talk about that here!"

"Hermione, I'm pretty sure we can trust her. She's helped me out in the past. And you said it yourself, it's pretty advanced. Another set of hands might help."

Hermione looked doubtful, but didn't argue further. "Let's find somewhere quieter to talk."

"Is there a reason we're hiding in a girls' lavatory?" asked Hotaru.

"Don't worry," said Harry. "Apparently, nobody ever uses this one."

"Why not?"

"Because of Moaning Myrtle."

"Who's Moaning Myrtle?" asked Hotaru.

A pale ghostly head emerged from a bathroom stall. Right through the door, of course. "I'm Moaning Myrtle! What are you four doing in—"

She came to a sudden halt, her eyes fixed on Hotaru. Then she pulled her head back quickly. A splash could be heard from within the stall.

"They always run away," said Hotaru quietly. "I don't know why, but no ghost will ever remain near me. Except Peeves."

"Well, Peeves isn't really a ghost," said Harry. "At least, that's what the Friar told me. He's a poltergeist."

"Anyway," said Hermione. "Let's get back to why we're here."

"Right," said Harry. "So, Hotaru. Any good at Potions?"

"Yes," said Hotaru. "I typically get decent grades on my brewing."

"Well, we're going to try brewing a really hard one," said Harry. "And I think Hermione's brilliant, but I'm not, and Ron..."

He tried to think of a kind way of putting it, but Ron butted in. "I'm complete pants at potions."

"Yeah, that."

"I'm guessing that it's a forbidden potion," said Hotaru. "After all, Hermione got the Potions book from the Restricted Section."

"Yeah," said Harry. "So let's put Hermione's mind at ease. You're Muggleborn, right?"

"It's possible that my mother was secretly a witch," said Hotaru. "She never told me, or Papa. But they met in Japan, and there, the witches and wizards marry non-magicals all the time."

"So even if you're a half-blood, you're Muggle-raised," said Harry. "What do you think of Draco Malfoy?"

Her expression darkened. "He's a bully. He's arrogant and conceited. He's got some talent, especially in Potions, but he's squandering it."

Harry turned to Hermione. "So since it's obvious that she agrees with us on most of these points, can we agree to trust her?"

"Well, I probably could use a hand," admitted Hermione. "And she's very clever."

"Okay." Harry turned back to Hotaru. "We think that Draco Malfoy knows who opened the Chamber of Secrets. We don't think it was him, but his family's been in Slytherin for generations, so he must know something.

"We're brewing Polyjuice potion." Hotaru gasped at this, but Harry went on. "We're going to break into the Slytherin common room and see if we can't trick Draco into telling us what he knows."

"Polyjuice is very complex," agreed Hotaru. "But I'm sure Hermione is up to it. She's top of our year in Potions."

"She's top of our year in everything," said Ron.

"Not quite," said Hermione, a bit sourly. "Hotaru's got me beat in Astronomy and Charms."

"Charms?" Ron looked shocked. "But you're brilliant at Charms!"

"Hotaru is in a class all her own," admitted Hermione. "Pure natural talent can match hard work and practice. But Hotaru puts in the hard work and practice as well."

Hotaru set down her book, and reached for the potions book. "Let's take a look at this potion."

Hermione's eyes, however, landed on the book Hotaru set down, and she gasped. "Is that Hogwarts, a History?"

Hotaru blinked at the non-sequitur. "Yes. It is. Why?"

"I've been trying to get a copy since Hallowe'en, and you've had it all this time?"

"Well, yes," said Hotaru. Her eyes widened. "Oh! No, it's not the library's copy. It's my own personal copy."

"Oh." Hermione looked abashed. "Sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"No problem," said Hotaru. "I'm sorry to say that it does not mention the Chamber of Secrets at all."

"Er—" Hermione looked down at her feet.

"Hermione's used to dealing with us," said Ron. "We're kind of slow."

Harry snorted at that, trying not to laugh.

"It does make sense, though," said Hotaru. "If the Chamber of Secrets was referred to in a book in the school library, it would be called the Chamber of Not-So-Secret Anymore."

Weak as the joke was, her perfect deadpan delivery broke Harry's resolve, and he started to laugh.

"I thought you two got along," said Harry. "But you seemed to really dislike her."

The threesome were seated in the Gryffindor common room. It was rather late, and the rest of their Housemates were all in bed.

"I never disliked her," said Hermione. "In fact, I quite like her. But we sort of competed for the top spot. And...well, I don't handle jealousy well."

"Jealousy?"

"She's effortlessly good in Charms," said Hermione. "We don't share Charms with Ravenclaw, so you wouldn't see it, but I'm in Charms Club with her. And she often gets most charms to work on the first try!" She shook her head. "It just seemed so unfair. I mean, we're both Muggleborns, so even given that she's very smart, we should be about the same place. But she's so far ahead of me that it...well, it seems like cheating."

"And we all know how you feel about cheating," pointed out Ron.

"But it's not that big a deal," said Hermione. "I mean, I've more or less gotten over that, since I learned that she's terrible at Transfiguration. It just means that she has a talent. But I don't really know much about her, so when you started talking in front of her, about our highly illegal plans—"

"And that's fair, but I do know her, at least better than you."

"Which is why I was willing to hear her out," admitted Hermione. "That, and she really is a pleasant girl."

"So are we good?"

"Yes." Hermione sighed. "We're good."

"Good. I'd hate to play tomorrow thinking you were still mad at me." He stood up. "And on that note, we all three ought to have been in bed an hour ago. Good night."