Harry and Hermione laughed their way through lunch. They spilt at least three flagons of juice all over the table in their merriment. It got all over their friends until they were the only two sitting at the, wet, sticky table.
Harry skipped History that day to go to Runeology with Hermione and then they went to the dance together. They did the Hokey Pokey all night long and before they noticed it the sun was rising over the low hills just at the edge of campus. "Geez it's late," Harry said, "Lemme walk you to your room."
"Sure," Hermione blushed, "we're both Gryfindors so we'd have to go the same way to get back to our rooms anyway but I appreciate the offer, let's go." And they were off.
Harry's heart beat nervously in his chest, he wanted to hold Hermione's hand but at the same time thought it'd best to wait. Holding hands right after dancing was bad luck, and he waited for the agonozing window of safety to pass till it was would be safe to touch her palm skin.
They were almost close enough to the diagonal hallway to smell it when Harry spotted Ron Weasley out of the corner of his eye. What devilish timing! Here he was with the girl of his dreams when an opportunity to solve a mystery waddled right out in front of him. He couldn't possibly let the question of where Ron got his magic from go unanswered another day, but at the same time, he didn't want to leave Hermione's side.
Just then he got a dastardly clever idea. "Hey, Hermione," he whispered, "what say you we don't go to bed tonight and follow Ron Weasley around instead?"
Hermione grinned and nodded her head enthusiastically, "he'll love that, Ron is ever so much fun, let's!" She crouched low and together the two of them followed the red head all over the school.
"Yeah sure," Harry laughed, happy that his clever scheme had panned out so well, "but for now let's just follow him around quietly and see what he does."
Hermione loved fun pranks. She couldn't wait to get started, and, holding a hand to her face to hide her laughter she tugged him after her and they scuttled after their unsuspecting friend.
Finally!
Finally Harry could put aside that nagging question that had been plauging him since Ron came to him with his shocking confession earlier that summer.
Harry didn't know if he ought to warn Hermione that Ron could do magic or not. If she knew that she might not agree to shadow him so cheekily. He figured they'd probably be safe though, if any magic happened Harry could grab Hermione and run and yell a lot or something, anything, to distract her from the impossibility she would have then had recenlty witnessed. Such a sight would be sure to drive her mad and Harry couldn't bare to hang that on his concious.
Just then Ron went straight into the Gryfindor bedroom. "Well look at that," Hermione whispered gaily, "two birds one stone, we can go back to the dorms and follow Ron!"
Harry nodded his head eagerly, pushing away his earlier dobuts, "Yes! Let's!" And they crept on tiptoe into the bedrooms. Ron lay down right away and the two mischevious onlookers hunkered down silently beside his bed to observe him. Hermione giggled pretty much the whole time, Harry waited tensely for any sign of magic from Ron.
Just then, the lights shot on. Harry stumbled, reeling, light blinded away from Ron's bed, right into the arms of... Professor McGonagol! Harry couldn't believe his eyes. Hagrid was there, Cornelius Fudge too, and Dumblerdore. He spun in a shaky confused circle gapping and reaching for words. Hermione came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.
"We're here to help you, Harry Potter." Ron said, sitting up in bed. "You're a wizard Harry!"
Harry didn't know what was going on. "But... But... Hogwarts!...?" He sputtered, still spinning around slowly, meeting all their eyes one at a time. Once he'd spun to face Dumbledore, the old wizard finished for him..."is a school for magic Harry!"
"That means, all this time, the patronuses, the spells and potions... they were magic all along!"
"That's right, Harry, that's why everyone you konw at Hogwarts is a Wizard or a Witch," Hermione explained, patting his head. Everyone left them alone to it. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand, tears streaming fiercely from his pinched face.
"I had no idea, all this time!" He felt so foolish. Of course Ron was a Wizard, it all made sense now. "Well, I guess since that's all out in the open, I ought to come clean myself, Kraug..."
Hermione scrunched her face up in confusion, "Kraug? What's that?" She asked, leaning forward, completely entranced.
"It's... you. You're not really the original you, Hermione, I left you back in time with the other cave people because of how socially inept and volatile you were because of being raised in a basement with no human contact or stimulation of any kind for fourteen years. But when you went back in time you used magic to become the god of the cave people..."
"But Harry!" Hermione explained, grasping his shoulders in an explanatory grip that trembled ever so. "I can't have been raised in a basement, I remember almost all my birthdays and they were all at the zoo! Don't you see! It's me! The real Hermione!"
Harry began to cry even more. Hermione joined him, she was so confused. This mystery was too much for even her sharpened and honed intelect.
"Don't you see!" Harry wailed, miserably, "You weren't raised in a basement because in this timeline there's no taboo against magic and so you're parents raised you out in the open, because Kraug made everyone aware of magic back when they were still living in the caves!"
The two youngsters raised their heads and screamed in misery. What were they going to do now? How could they possibly go on, knowing what they knew now.