Hermione sat down by the fire reading. She'd gotten permission from Professor Sinestra to get some books out from the restricted section. And she was going over the section about the binding runes typically used in ancient marriages.
She'd copied them down to take with her to her next lesson. There were a few minutes where she could ask the professor what they meant.
"Miss?" a small high pitched startled voice said.
She lowered the book. "Winky?"
The house elf shook its head. "Dobby miss."
Dobby. The name sounded familiar. She tried to remember, and then it came to her. Dobby was the house elf that had used to work for the Malfoys and then had been freed at the end of second year thanks to Harry.
"Did you want to see Harry?" she asked.
Dobby shook his head, his ears flapping slightly. "No miss. Dobby was trying to do his job. But miss is in the common room rather late."
She looked at the clock, realizing that it was late, later than she had intended to stay up. But her mind was full of questions and it wasn't quieting down.
"Dobby, Winky mentioned soulmates to me. What can you tell me about them?"
Dobby scratched his head for a second. "Which kind?"
"There's more than one kind?"
"Of course. Just as there's different kinds of relationships," Dobby said as if it was common knowledge. "There's the romantic soulmates, which was probably what Winky was talking about. And Winky would only say that if you had one."
Hermione pulled her left sleeve up a bit, revealing the half washed away remnants of a conversation between her and Viktor.
"Ohh, miss does have a soulmate!" Dobby was excited. "Dobby hasn't seen this for some time."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Not everyone has this kind of soulmate," Dobby explained. "Everyone has the other kind, or can. Because friend soulmates, those are grown. They bloom like flowers, after you meet each other and plant the seed. Harry Potter and the red haired boy are a great example."
"I knew it," she whispered.
"But this, this is special. It is ancient magic, the kind that was used to create house elves." He grew solemn for a moment, wanting to say more. But he kept quiet.
"You can say more," Hermione said.
"No," Dobby whispered. "Dobby fears he has said too much already."
Hermione picked her book back up from where it had fallen to the floor. "Thank you anyways," she said.
She walked up to her dorm where everyone was asleep except for Pavarti, who was sorting papers and writing a last minute essay.
"What are you up to?" Hermione asked.
"I totally forgot this essay, and it's due tomorrow. At least Padma will proofread it for me, since I'm not sure I can string two sentences together tonight." She covered a yawn with her hand.
"What class is it for?" Hermione asked. "I might be able to help."
"Arithmancy. I know we normally only have worksheets, but I forgot to do a few of them, and so I have this essay to do on the theory," she answered.
Hermione set her book on her bed, and sat down on the floor. Looking at the essay, she could already find a few flaws. But she ignored the grammatical errors, and focused on the points that Pavarti was trying to explain.
It was easy to find where she had derailed. Hermione carefully noted out what points would be the most advantageous to her, and left them on the floor. Pavarti scribbled away as Hermione got herself ready for bed and tucked under her covers, book ready to be read.
She fell asleep reading. At least it was in her bed, where she wouldn't get a crick in her neck the next morning.
Padma Patail was sitting at the Gryffindor table the next morning, carefully checking an essay as she ate breakfast. Somehow she managed to listen to Neville, and make insightful comments, at the same time.
Hermione sat down next to Neville, looking at the Ravenclaw. She was wide awake, probably having gone to sleep early. And she managed to look so similar to her sister that if it weren't for the blue accents on her robes, Hermione would have likely gotten them confused.
"Good morning Hermione," Neville said.
"Morning," Hermione mumbled, never fully awake before a mug of tea.
"This has your name written all over it," Padma mumbled. "Pavarti never writes this well when she procrastinates. Part of the reason I try to get her to finish her homework earlier."
"I've tried doing the same with Ron, but it never happens. So I just help him outline and proofread. At least then he shouldn't fail," Hermione said.
"That's a good point. I guess I can see how we wound up in different houses."
"You and Pavarti?"
"No," Padma said. "We always were going to be different. But you and I. We're a lot more similar than I realized, but you care about your friends in a different way."
Hermione thought about it for a moment, then nodded her head. "I guess so." She finished her tea and started dishing herself some eggs and toast.
She had taken a few bites of her breakfast when Padma let out a gasp.
"Is that the marriage runes book?"
Hermione looked at the book which she had laid on the table. "Yes," she said softly. She really didn't want the rest of her house to know that she was interested in such a thing.
"I've been fascinated about those since Professor Sinestra mentioned them in class. How ever did you manage to get your hands on a copy?"
"It's pretty easy to get a book from the restricted section if you ask the right questions," Hermione said. "And reading it, it's fairly easy to understand why it's in the restricted section."
"Oh I don't doubt that," Padma said. "After all, there are tons of girls who would try to bind certain boys to them. But I think there has to be intent on both sides for such a thing to work."
Hermione nodded. "Intent, and honest intent. So no love potioning a guy. But that wouldn't stop half of the girls from trying."
"But hopefully, the guys are smart enough to notice," Neville added.
Both of the girls had to agree with him. If a guy was desirable enough to attempt such a thing, he would notice that something was off when the potion was administered.
From there the conversation devolved until they were laughing over nonsense. And it was time to go to class. Potions for the Gryffindors, and herbology for Padma.
The day passed without incident. Ron had even made up with Harry, admitting that whoever put his name in the goblet was trying to get him killed.
Hermione was glad that they were friends again. But after the previous night, she was fairly certain that after Ron was done being angry they would have made up. There wasn't a lot that could be done to irreparably break their friendship.
When classes were done for the day, she headed to the library. She wanted a place to read, and she was fairly sure that the strict rules Madame Pince enforced would keep the space quiet. She couldn't have been more wrong.
Viktor Krum, international quiditch superstar and leader in the triwizard tournament, was sitting at a table working on homework. Just a few tables away, a group of girls sat giggling and talking in what could hardly be described as whispers.
She glared daggers at them, but found a quiet enough spot that she shouldn't be disturbed.
I really hate your fan club, she wrote to Viktor.
Same here, but you get used to it.
She smiled a tad, and cracked open her book. Eager to finish, she managed to read the rest in just under an hour.
She turned the book into Madame Pince, and checked out another book on runes. It wasn't in the restricted section since it didn't deal with any practical uses of the runes. Just theory. But it was still on marriage runes.
She walked up to the Gryffindor common room. Settling down on the couch she cracked open the new book, and found writing on her arm as her sleeve slid up.
Is that book what I think it is?
She looked at the book, and back at her arm. And since when did what I read interest you?
Only when I think I have a book that will better answer any questions you might have.
She looked at the book in front of her. It looked like there would be a few questions left unanswered at the end of the pages. But she wasn't sure that she could find the answers to the questions she had in any book.
Is there a way to get this book? she asked.
If you can meet me in the courtyard, I can give it to you. It's written in Bulgarian, but I doubt that will be a problem for you.
She looked at the clock, and decided that there wouldn't be too many people outside. Although, most people wouldn't be outside in the middle of November anyways. She pulled a cloak on over her sweater, and headed down the stairs.
She bumped into Lavender and Pavarti.
"Where are you going?" Lavender asked.
"Outside."
They looked at her like she was crazy. And she might have been. But she hurried down the steps, her thoughts of information, and a certain hunky Bulgarian, overriding her worry of being crazy.
She reached the courtyard, and practically spun around. It was nice to feel the warm sun on her face, even if the air was bitter cold. The juxtaposition of the two, made her smile, even as she was certain her cheeks were growing pink.
"Hello," Viktor said. "I haff the book for you."
He handed her a volume that was about twice the size of the book she had just finished.
"Thank you," she said. She opened the book, vaguely aware that he was watching her. But she managed to read through the first page without looking at him. But she had to turn the page, and she wound up looking at Viktor.
He had been watching her with such intensity, that it was hard to meet his gaze. But she wasn't the kind of person to back down, particularly when she liked looking at him as much as he enjoyed looking at her. And he looked like he had something to ask her.
"Yes?" she said.
"Her-moninny," he said. "I haff a question."
"I have an answer," she said facitiously. "We'll see if they match." She giggled a tad.
"Okay. There is going to be a ball, the yule ball. And I vas vondering, vould you Miss Granger, accompany me?"
Her answer of "yes" bubbled out of her mouth without a second thought.
A/N: Apparently I've been spelling "Quidditch" wrong. I'll fix that at some point. And I hope this chapter clears up some questions.