Chapter 39

"Ms Granger."

Hermione blinked, opening her eyes and stretched, her moving her arm up by her head, blinking again and moving her fingers. Realising what she'd done, she turned to stare at her flesh coloured hand and moved her fingers independently once more.

"Ms Granger."

At the sound of her name, she turned back and saw Madam Pomfrey was standing at her bedside, looking at her expectantly.

"Good morning," Hermione told her and sat up. She blinked again, and took in the fact that this morning, she was indeed back to normal.

"Good morning, Ms Granger," Madam Pomfrey said. "You may return to class today, it is nearly time for breakfast, but before you go, I would like to speak with you in my office."

"Alright," Hermione said with a nod.

"I will leave you to get dressed and meet you after I check on my other patients. You can let yourself in and wait for me there."

Hermione nodded once more and the matron was gone. Reaching under her pillow, Hermione collected the letters she had received from Oliver and reached over, picking up the animated sketch of the cat, placing it on top before putting them back on the bedside table. She swung her feet out of bed and sat on the edge, wiggling her toes for a few minutes before she got up and picked up the uniform that was lying in the chair by the bed, freshly laundered and waiting for her.

Once she was dressed, she combed her fingers through her hair, trying to smooth it out and flatten it a bit. Though she was loath to admit it, that was one thing she missed about being a cat, at least she'd had smooth fur. She picked up the stack of letters and folded them, tucked them into the pocket of her robes before making her way to Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Thank you for meeting me, Ms Granger," Madam Pomfrey said when she entered her office to find Hermione sitting there.

"Of course," Hermione said.

Madam Pomfrey sighed and sat down, studying her a moment before she spoke.

"You know, Ms Granger," she said calmly. "I really wish you had more faith in me."

"I'm sorry?" Hermione said, wrinkling her brow in confusion.

"I have to admit that you have some good, devoted friends," Madam Pomfrey clarified. "Friends willing to put their own academic careers on the line for you when you make a mistake, friends willing to help you through the time when your own academic career could suffer. I must say that not many people have friends like you do. Now, I won't say anything to Professor McGonagall about anything that has occurred, that is on your conscience, not mine. However, I wish that you had enough faith in me after I had helped you in the past to warrant telling me about the mistake made in the Polyjuice Potion."

Hermione swallowed, paling and blinking in surprise, before lowering her head as shame filled her. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I-it was stupid," she admitted. "I should have come to you about it."

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey agreed. "You should have. I could have helped correct the situation sooner, had I known. You would have still missed out on some classes, but not as many as you did."

Hermione swallowed again and nodded her head.

"Now, as I said, I won't say anything to Professor McGonagall, I will leave it to you whether or not you do. I don't know for certain why you were making Polyjuice Potion, but I have my suspicions. I assume that Mr Potter and Mr Weasley were involved since they came to visit you?"

Hermione nodded.

"And they took the potion as well?"

"Yes," Hermione said quietly.

"Well," Madam Pomfrey said. "Then I should congratulate you on brewing such a successful batch of Polyjuice Potion."

Hermione looked up, blinking in bewilderment.

"What?" she asked, surprised.

"Well, since you were the only one to be admitted to the infirmary, I know that the mistake came in the final stage of the potion, when you put in the bit of someone you were changing into. Since they weren't admitted also, that tells me that the potion was separated out and that over all, the potion was successfully created. I want you to understand something, Ms Granger," Madam Pomfrey said and waited until she had the girl's attention. "I should say something of this to both Professor McGonagall as well as Professor Dumbledore, but you have my word that I won't say anything and let you make the decision of whether or not you do. It is a testament to your intelligence and magical ability that you were able to create a successful batch of a potion in your second year, that most witches and wizards dread to make even though they are taught in their sixth and seventh years. I do hope that the reason behind making the potion was successful?"

Hermione sighed. "Unfortunately, it wasn't," she admitted. "Although it confirmed my suspicions about who wasn't involved."

"Well, that's something at least," the matron said. "But I hope that you've learned your lesson about the dangers of this potion and won't try using it again — at least not for a while? Though I hope there's never another reason to do so."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

"Very well then," Madam Pomfrey said. "You may go. It's nearly time for breakfast. I'm sure your friends have missed you."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said, and rose, turning to leave.

"Oh, one more thing," the matron called, drawing Hermione's attention once more.

"Yes?" Hermione asked.

"You might want to talk to Professor McGonagall or even Hagrid about feline behaviour. As you know, Professor McGonagall is a registered Animagus who's form is a cat, and Hagrid, well, he knows a lot about animals."

"Really? Why is that?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"You might want to ask them about what it means when a cat purrs, in particular if it's loud," Madam Pomfrey said with a slight smile.

Hermione nodded, a look of confusion still on her face as she turned, leaving the woman behind though her mind was spinning with what the woman had said.

"Hey, Hermione!" Harry called when he saw her enter the Great Hall, and waved her over.

"Hi, Hermione," Ron said. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks," Hermione said, and squeezed Harry's shoulder as she moved past him with a smile to sit with Oliver, though she was glad to see Harry and Ron sitting closer to them.

"Hi Hermione," the twins greeted her as she neared them.

"Welcome back," Lee greeted.

"Hello, little kitty cat," Oliver said, and gave her a one armed hug, pulling her into his side as she sat down next to him. "We've missed you."

"I'm sure," Hermione said with a grin as she blushed pink at the nickname in public.

"Kitty cat?" Lee said looking between her and Oliver, then to the twin and Harry and Ron who all appeared to be holding back laughter. "Am I missing something?"

Hermione sighed. "Well, I might as well tell you beings they all know..." she said in frustration. "I had a bit of a potions accident at Christmas."

"Okay?" Lee said.

"Yeah," George said with a laugh. "She ended up looking more like the feline persuasion."

Lee blinked.

"Cute little ears," Fred said.

"Don't forget the tail!" Ron added with a chuckle.

"Okay! Okay!" Hermione said. "That's enough!"

"What I don't get is," Harry said. "Why were you larger than the size of an actual cat?"

"We know," the twins said with matching grins.

"Really?" Ron asked. "Why's that?"

"You were going for a change in Bulstrode, right?" Fred asked Hermione.

"Yes," she replied, blushing again.

To her horror, Fred turned around and faced the Slytherin table across the hall and yelled,

"Oi! Bulstrode!"

"What?" a tall, bulky girl with black hair yelled back. "What do you want, Weasley?" she yelled again, making a face when she noticed that it was a Gryffindor talking to her.

"Heard you got a cat," Fred yelled. "What kind is it?"

The girl glared. "None of your business, why?"

"Heard it might be exotic," George joined in. "So we were wondering if it was true or not."

"It's a Savannah," Bulstrode confirmed, and then added, "Crossed with a Bombay - that's a black cat, for you imbeciles."

"Thanks!" The twins shouted together and turned back to their table with grins after Bulstrode waved them away. "See," George said. "There's your answer."

"So wait," Lee said. "You all saw her?"

Hermione groaned and put her head in her hands.

"No," Oliver said.

"Yes," Harry, Ron and the twins chimed in, nearly in unison.

"Aww," Lee said. "Way to make us feel left out!"

Hermione huffed. "Someone had to help me with my homework, so yes, Harry and Ron saw me. The twins only saw the beginning of it. Can we just drop it please?"

"Yeah guys," Oliver said, and tousled her hair on the top of her head. "While I'm sure she was cute, we should quit embarrassing her. She's back now, and that's all that matters."

Hermione's breath hitched at his movement, and she sighed, before realising what she'd done, and prayed no one heard it as she stiffed again and batted his hand away.

She thought about what Madam Pomfrey had said about talking to Professor McGonagall or Hagrid about feline behaviours, but knew that it would make it difficult to keep use of the Polyjuice Potion a secret, nor did she want to get the twins in trouble for nothing. She knew that if she went to Hagrid, while he seemed knowledgeable about animals, she might also not get away from him as soon as she needed to in order to make it to classes on time or catching up on what little left over homework she had. To her relief, her teachers — even Professor Snape — never brought attention to her absence from class, though Professor Flitwick welcomed her back — and she was glad that Harry and Ron had helped her with her homework, dreading how far behind she would have been if they hadn't.

Valentine's Day was upon them before she knew it, and while she received friendship cards from her friends that reminded her of her potions mishap — the twins sent one that said "You're a purr-fectly excellent friend", Lee's said "I think you look purr-fectly fine", the one she got from Oliver took the cake... and made her blush so hard she had to excuse herself to the dorms for some alone time to calm down.

Pulling his out of her stack, she saw he'd sketched a black cat with deep golden eyes that was again animated. This one showed the cat to be the proper size of the larger Savannah cat and that it was playing with a ball of yarn, and running around before curling up beside a self-portrait of Oliver, who began petting it and scratching its head and stroking along its back and side as it relaxed against him, laying its head on his leg.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, or ashamed," it read. "I'm sure you looked perfectly beautiful as a cat."

While she blushed at the actions of the animated Oliver as he stroked the side and back of the cat, she was relieved he had left out the cat puns.

Harry seemed rather excitable the next morning at breakfast.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, puzzled, when she noticed that his excitable behaviour stemmed from worry.

"On the way to class," Harry murmured, keeping his voice low.

Hermione nodded and she and Ron hurried to finish breakfast.

"It was Hagrid," Harry said abruptly as they made their way outside across the middle courtyard. "Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets 50 years ago."

"It can't be Hagrid," Hermione said, shaking her head, remembering Madam Pomfrey encouraging her to talk to him as she was leaving the infirmary. "It just can't be."

Harry had told them about the diary and what had happened to him the night before on the way to the courtyard after they'd left the Great Hall, when the hallways were empty.

"We don't even know this Tom Riddle," Ron agreed. "He sounds like a dirty, rotten snitch to me."

"The monster hadkilledsomeone, Ron," Harry argued. "What would any of us have done?"

"Look," Hermione said, trying to bring calm and logic to the situation. "Hagrid's our friend. Why don't we just ask him about it?"

"That will be a cheerful visit," Ron groused. "Hello, Hagrid," he continued in singsong. "Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?"

"Mad and hairy?" a voice thundered behind them, and they jumped, turning in surprise to see the man they'd been talking about. "You wouldn' be talkin' about me, would ya?"

"No," they replied in unison, looking guilty.

"What's that you got there, Hagrid?" Harry asked, trying to deflect from the awkward silence that had taken hold between them.

"Oh! Uh, it's Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," Hagrid said, holding up the container briefly so they could see it better. "For the mandrakes, you know. Now, according to Professor Sprout, they've still got a bit of growin' up to do, but once their acne's cleared up, and they start moving into each other's pots, we'll be able to chop 'em up and stew 'em, and then we'll be able to get those people down in the hospital unpetrified. In the meantime," he said, looking at them meaningfully. "You three best be looking after yourselves, alright?"

They nodded and he headed back toward the castle, greeting Neville as the boy ran past.

"Harry!" Neville said, coming to a halt and panting for breath. "I don't know who did it, but you better come! Come on!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at Neville in confusion before they hurried off after him. They followed him all the way back up to the tower and to the boy's door before they halted in surprise. The room was in shambles but it appeared only Harry's things had been touched.

Harry picked his way through the mess and began cleaning up his books that were scattered on the floor.

"It had to be a Gryffindor," Hermione reasoned after getting over her surprise at the scene. "Nobody else knows our password - unless it wasn't a student."

"Whoever it was," Ron said. "They must have been looking for something."

"And they found it," Harry revealed after sorting out his books and looking through what was left in his trunk. "Tom Riddle's diary is gone."

15February 1993
Oliver,
I wanted to thank you for the Valentine's Day card and the drawing you did. I'm sorry I ran out afterward. I know I shouldn't be embarrassed about what happened, but it's harder not to be than it is saying I shouldn't be. I didn't want you to feel bad that I didn't like it because I think it was very nice, and thank you for not throwing in the cat puns like the twins and Lee did. You're very good at drawing.

I also have some news for you. Harry said he came looking for me in the common room last night after I'd already left. Today, he told Ron and I why he had been looking for me. He came to me while I was in the hospital wing and told me he and Ron had found a diary belonging to a boy named Tom Riddle. Does that name sound familiar to you? It doesn't to Ron and I.
Anyway, Harry said they'd found it when Myrtle — the ghost that haunts the second floor girl's bathroom — you know, the one that's marked out of order a lot and no one goes into, where we brewed the potion — had flooded the bathroom again.
Harry said that last night was the first time he'd gotten a chance to look at it after it had dried and it was kind of like a Portkey or a Pensieve in that he seemed transported into Tom Riddle's memory where he showed Harry something that pertained to the Chamber of Secrets. Nothing that really helped us, but something that I plan to use as direction in my research, so I suppose that at least is something good. However, Neville found us today, and we came back with him and found that the 2nd year boy's dorm was ransacked. I don't know if you had heard or not, but only Harry's stuff was touched and Harry said that whoever it was, they took Tom Riddle's diary.
I don't think it was anyone from another house because no one else knows our password, and the only other option I can think of is if it wasn't a student who was looking, but they knew Harry had it. Do you think you could keep an eye out for anything suspicious and let me know?
Hermione

15 February 1993
Hello little kitty cat,
I am glad that you liked my card, and I have to admit that yes, I was wondering. I didn't mean for it to embarrass you, I just wanted to show you that I like cats. I even have a couple at home. Yeah, Fred, George and Lee showed me their cards and I thought they'd covered the puns well enough.
Tom Riddle? Hmm, the name sounds vaguely familiar... Maybe I've seen it somewhere before? I don't know for sure. To be honest, I don't pay attention too much other than keeping up with schoolwork to pass my classes and Quidditch.
It is interesting that it worked in such a way. I've never heard of such a piece of magic before. No, I hadn't heard about what happened in the boys' dorm. Perhaps Neville reached you guys and got back and it was cleaned up before Percy got wind of it? I'm sure I'd have heard about it otherwise, as Percy would have been ranting about it to everyone in the common room.
Sure, I'll try to keep my eyes and ears open and let you know if I find out anything. Can't make any promises though. Our match with Hufflepuff is coming up soon and the team needs to get in a lot of practice before then. You're still welcome to come out and watch us, by the way. -smile- Good luck with your research though.
Oliver