Chapter 46

Hermione awoke on 5 November to find a parchment coloured peacock waiting for her on her nightstand and smiled, holding out her hand to it. It bobbed and weaved for a moment, fanning its tail feathers for a few moments before it hopped into her hand and lay down, unfolding itself before her eyes to reveal a letter from Oliver.

5November 1993
Good morning lass,
How are you today? I hope you are well this morning. I apologise for not getting to write before now, particularly after our conversation on Halloween when we spent the night in the Great Hall.

Anyway, I know you asked not to talk about certain things, but I have to admit I am a bit confused by your request. Did you mean you didn't wish to speak on it at all, or just not where anyone else could overhear our conversation?
Hope you have a good day.
Oliver

Hermione sighed and let her hand fall heavily to the bed, or what she thought was the bed until she heard a disgruntled meow.

"Oh, I'm sorry Crookshanks," she apologised to the large marmalade cat that sat beside her and pet him, giving him scratches that soon had him purring. After a few minutes, she smiled down at him as he headbutted her hand. "Time for breakfast?" she asked, and laughed as he got wobbly to his feet and sprang from the bed. Swinging her legs out of bed, she dressed and fed him, putting Oliver's letter with the others in her trunk, and then packed up the books she'd need for the day. "See you later," she called to her pet as she made her way downstairs.

After breakfast, Hermione made her way to Potions and was surprised when Professor Snape barely gave anyone a chance to pack up their supplies before thrusting them, nearly bodily — from the room. She wondered what his hurry was, but didn't have to wait long because after lunch, she found herself following him to DADA class. She crept in right behind him, casting a silencing charm at the door as she opened and closed it behind her, before cancelling it quickly and moving to her desk.

"Werewolves?" Ron asked as she sat down, apparent surprise in his voice on the subject.

"But sir," Hermione said, turning to him to see his glare, which she assumed was due to her tardiness. "We just learned about Red Caps and hinkypunks. We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks."

"Quiet," Professor Snape said.

"When did she come in?" Ron asked, turning to Harry. "Did you see her come in?"

"Now," Professor Snape continued, heading to the front of the class as Hermione took out her book and turned to the page on werewolves. "Which one of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?"

Hermione raised her hand but the professor ignored her.

"No one?" Professor Snape asked. "How disappointing."

"Please, sir," Hermione interrupted. "An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice. With each full moon, when he transforms, he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he crossed his path. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind."

Draco howled from nearby and Hermione turned to glare at him.

"Thank you, Mr Malfoy," Professor Snape said threateningly, before turning to Hermione. "That is the second time you've spoken out of turn Ms Granger. Are you incapable of restraining yourself or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"

Hermione kept her eyes down feeling chastised, humiliated and angry.

"He's got a point, you know," Ron mumbled to her across the aisle.

Ron's comment didn't help Hermione's anger, but she stayed quiet.

"Five points from Gryffindor," Professor Snape said. "As an antidote to your ignorance, and on my desk, by Monday morning," he continued, "two rolls of parchment on the werewolf, with particular emphasis onrecognizing it."

"Sir," Harry interrupted. "It's Quidditch Saturday."

Hermione blinked, as Professor Snape swooped in close to him, invading Harry's personal space.

"Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter," he said threateningly. "Loss of limb willnotexcuse you. Page 394. The term werewolf is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon word 'wer' which means 'man', and 'wolf'. Werewolf, man-wolf. There aren't many ways to become a werewolf. The only ways currently known include being given the power of shape-shifting, or being bitten by a werewolf."

Hermione was relieved when class was over. That day was one that she didn't have to use the Time-Turner as she only had Potions and DADA. If she'd been able to use the Time-Turner, she could have beaten Professor Snape to her DADA class and likely at least evaded some of his wrath.

Sitting down in the common room after dinner, she opened her books and began writing her essay. What she found was shocking, but she kept her findings to herself since they should be part of the homework lesson, and she didn't want to condone cheating. Too tired after she was done, she retired for the night.

Friday she spent most of her time in the library working on her essay, and didn't really see anyone as Harry was out training with Oliver for the Quidditch game the next day against Hufflepuff. That night upon her return to the dorms, she found that Ron was out, serving detention from the DADA class the day before, for questioning Professor Snape's methods.

She hated to miss spending time with Oliver, but she was still confused about his note, and embarrassed to admit what she was confused about. In their conversation on Halloween, she had interrupted him, sensing that whatever he was going to say would devastate her, even though he said he didn't want to hurt her.

She thought she had heard him say over her pounding heart that he liked her, but she couldn't be certain and had sensed a but coming, and didn't think she could handle the blow of rejection. She was glad though that he said that he wanted to keep in touch with her even after he had left school, and so that gave her a glimmer of hope. She wrote her parents a note after visiting Hogsmeade and included a postscript to her mother that she had been right.

Hermione really didn't know how she felt about him, or what she really wanted yet, but to have him finish whatever he was going to say had a feeling of impending doom. So it was that she didn't go with Harry to his Quidditch practice that night, making the excuse to him that she had to finish her essay. In truth, she had it done that very afternoon, well before he had to go to practice.

She knew she really couldn't find a reason not to go to the game the next day, so she found herself in the Gryffindor stands with Ron, in the cold and rain, cheering on Harry and the Gryffindor team. It was raining so hard that she was surprised that any of the players could see what was going on with the rain beating down on their goggles. From what she understood, Madam Hooch didn't allow the use of spells for clear vision despite the weather.

It wasn't that far into the game however when they were shocked to see the Hufflepuff Seeker, Cedric Diggory was struck by lightning and fell with his broom. Hermione gasped as she watched, peering up through the rain, but was relieved to see that he was able to recover before he crashed. She hoped Harry was okay, she had seen the two headed in the same direction, but didn't see Harry come back down.

"Ugh," she groaned, peering up into the sky, leaning this way and that for a good view as she tried to find him in the cloud cover. "I don't see him, do you?" she shouted to Ron, next to her.

"No," Ron said. "I don't. But he'll be fine; he's Harry!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and then gasped again when she saw him tumbling to the ground,withouta broom.

"Aresto momentum!" Dumbledore's shout went out loudly over the stands.

Hermione covered her mouth in shock as Harry's descent slowed, but he still hit the ground hard. The stands were in shock as Harry landed on the grounds of the pitch but it soon became clear what had happened as the dark clad Dementors descended from the clouds surrounding the pitch.

Dumbledore cast a Patronus Charm, as did several of the teachers chasing them off, but Hermione wasn't paying much attention to who exactly assisted them as she pushed her way out of the stands and hurried to Harry's side in the pitch.

It wasn't long before others joined her and stabilised Harry, taking him from the pitch back to the castle to the infirmary. She followed quickly, intent to make sure her friend was okay, and was surprised when Ron, as well as the whole of the Gryffindor team joined her soon after, as they waited for some sign of Harry waking up.

"He looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?" Ron asked.

"Peaky?" Fred asked. "What do you expect? He fell over ahundredfeet."

"Let's walk you off a tower and see what you look like," George added.

"Probably a right sight better than he normally does," Harry said and grunted as he opened his eyes blearily.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked in concern, ignoring the others. Her focus was upon her friend as she studied him for any sign of something wrong.

"Oh, brilliant," Harry replied, pushing himself up from the infirmary bed.

Hermione glanced over to Oliver who stood a short way off, checking on another Gryffindor player who had been injured and smiled slightly before turning her attention back to Harry.

"You gave us a right good scare there, mate," George said sitting down on the bed next to him.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, you fell off your broom," Ron answered.

"Really?" Harry asked sarcastically. "I meant the match. Who won?"

Hermione glanced over to Oliver again before turning her attention back to Harry. It was good to know Harry wasn't injured enough to lose his sense of humour, so that was a good sign.

"Um," Hermione said, standing up, not certain how he'd react when they told him, and wanting to get some distance. "No one blames you, Harry. The Dementors aren't supposed to come inside the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. As soon as he saved you, he sent them off, straight away."

"There's uh, something else you should know, too," Ron said uneasily by her side. "When you fell, your broom... it sort of blew into the Whomping Willow, and..." He paused, holding out his arms and shifted the banner he'd had earlier, unwrapping it to reveal a broken broomstick. "Well," Ron said lamely, holding up a piece of the Nimbus 2000 handle.

Hermione bit her lip as she turned to Harry to see him looking at the broom in disbelief before he collapsed back to the bed.

It wasn't long after that, Madam Pomfrey chased them from the infirmary so that Harry and her other patients could get some rest. Though as she passed, Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat, getting Hermione's attention and inclined her head toward her office.

Hermione nodded and followed the matron as she stepped inside.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked, her fear for Harry's condition coming to the forefront of her mind. "What is it? Is Harry really okay?"

"Oh, yes," Madam Pomfrey said. "I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with you."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, and then relaxed with a smile. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Madam Pomfrey inclined her head toward the door. "I couldn't help but notice," she said.

"Notice what?" Hermione asked, puzzled when the woman trailed off.

"Mr Wood," Madam Pomfrey replied.

Hermione swallowed. "What about him?" she asked.

"I have to wonder," Madam Pomfrey said with a slight smile. "If you've not noticed the way he looks at you. Did you ever pluck up the courage to tell him anything over the summer? Something's changed..."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Hermione asked.

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "He may have been in here checking on Ms Bell as well as Mr Potter, but he had an awful lot of trouble keeping his eyes off you."

"Oh, no," Hermione said, flushing with embarrassment. "We're just friends."

"Are you sure about that, dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

Hermione swallowed nervously once more but nodded. "I thought you didn't get involved," she replied, looking at the woman shrewdly.

"You can go now, dear," Madam Pomfrey said and waved her away. "You're fine."

Hermione laughed and shook her head before heading for the door, leaving the infirmary after waving goodbye to Harry once more.

Arriving back in the common room, Hermione's head was still spinning with the observations Madam Pomfrey had made, and she headed up to her dorm and began a letter to Oliver.

6November 1993
Oliver,
I am glad that you and the rest of the team were safe, it was so scary that the Dementors showed up at the game, though I shouldn't be surprised, as they are drawn to happiness. We must have all been like a banquet to them.
I hope Katie's okay, I saw you with her after the match while I was checking on Harry. It's good you don't play favourites. I also briefly saw the Hufflepuff seeker, I think his name is Diggory, I'm not sure, but I saw that he was in the infirmary getting checked out and his team was there also. I hope he's okay, too. It's dangerous getting struck by lightning.
Anyway, I wanted to answer your letter. I would have to say that my reasons for asking are pretty much both... I'm sorry. I didn't want anyone to hear what we were talking about, and also... I know it's rather childish, but... I didn't want to hear rejection. I — I think I heard you say that you like me, but to be honest, I'm not sure. I really couldn't hear much over the pounding in my ears, and well, I like you, and Idowant to be friends, and I'm more than happy to keep writing, it's just... oh, I'm making a mess of this, aren't I?
I'm sorry. It's just... I've never liked anyone beyond friendship like Harry and Ron are to me, and never experienced even an inkling of desire to... maybe... some day... I don't know... be more than friends? If you know what I mean. All I can say is that...what I feel toward you has been changing and is all so new I can't even define it yet. I don't want you to think that I'm some little girl with a crush or puppy love to follow you around either, but to be honest, I find I get so nervous around you and I don't know why. It's never happened before. I just... I don't know, really, but I'd like to keep our friendship and keep writing if you're okay with that. I'm not being too forward about this, am I?
Hermione