A Dark Surprise

They sat in the hospital wing all the rest of the day, eating candy and talking about anything but the position that they had found Harry and Hermione in that morning. When Ron and Ginny left to get their homework, an awkward silence filled the room. 

            “So... er...” stumbled Harry.

            “Yeah,” said Hermione, as if she fully understood what he had meant, “It was probably just some kind of... fluke, in the spell.”

            “Have you ever read of er, this happening before?” said Harry worriedly.

            “Well, no, I suppose not... it is quite odd,” she answered, and Harry was glad to see that she was turning the awkward moment into a problem solving question, “The only thing that I can think of would be our subconscious trying to, erm, tell us something.”

                She looked at Harry out of the corner of her eye, to judge what she should say next. Harry seemed to be in deep thought as well, and she didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.

                Harry knew how he felt for Hermione, but he also thought there was no way a girl like her could fall for a guy like him. She was too smart and good-looking, and he was just: Harry. He watched her cautiously, her every move was so perfect and graceful, he felt he would never be worthy.

                Hermione pushed her curly hair back behind her ears, and stared at her feet while thinking. She thought there was no way that Harry could like a girl like her, she was too ordinary... and he could get any girl in the world he wanted. Walking up to a girl and saying ‘Hey, I’m Harry Potter’, would guarantee him a date. So why would he bother with her?

                The door to the hospital wing swung open, and in came Fred and George, each carrying a large stack of textbooks. Behind them were Ron and Ginny, both with large bulges under their cloaks, obviously hiding candy. The twins placed the stacks of books on the end of each bed.

                “Awkward moment?” said Fred, although he obviously wasn’t bothered by it in the least, “Ow!”

                He rubbed the spot on his arm where Ginny had punched him, and gave her a “What was that for?” look. She traded that for one of her vicious stares, which she had picked up from her mother.

                 “What’s with the books?” asked Harry, changing the subject.

               “Books? Ha!” replied George.

                He pulled open the cover of the top book, and then stuck his hand down into the stack, and his arm disappeared. When it came out, he was holding two Butter Beers.

                “Butter Beers for everyone! Straight from the Three Broomsticks!” said Fred, opening his own stack and passing around the drinks to everyone.

               Smiles spread across Harry and Hermione’s faces, and they grabbed their drinks eagerly. Harry took a sip of his, and instantly a warmth filled his body.

                “This is even better than the stuff Madam Pomfrey gave us,” he commented.

                “Sorry for the short visit, but we’ve got some business to attend to. Just don’t let Pomfrey see the Butter Beers,” laughed Fred, and him and his twin left with a wave.

                  Ron and Ginny zipped down their cloaks, and even more candies and chocolates appeared.

                 “We couldn’t possibly eat all those! And how on earth did you buy all of them?” asked Hermione.

                 “Oh, these aren’t from us, this is just a part of what all the Gryffindors have been giving us to give to you,” explained Ginny.

                  Madam Pomfrey appeared out of her office, holding a large crate in her arms. Ron snapped the book covers closed, and Harry and Hermione stuck their drinks under the pillows.

                 “How are you too feeling? You seem to have your strength back,” said the Healer, referring to the mounds of candy on each of the beds.

                 She pulled out a small animal out of a box in her hands. It was an odd shade of purple, and looked like a mix between a mouse and a cat. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all pulled a disgusted face at the animal, but Hermione sat up excitedly.

                 “Aww... it’s a Saniecoot! I’ve always wanted to try one of those!” she exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

              “Well then, stick out your wrist dear, and it’ll tell us if you’re well yet,” said Madam Pomfrey.

             Hermione did so, and then the Healer, holding the squirming animal by its tail, placed it onto the inside of Hermione’s wrist. The animal became still, and held onto Hermione’s arm tightly. Harry looked to see if she was cringing, but it didn’t seem to be hurting her at all. The tiny mouse/cat closed it’s little beady eyes as if thinking hard, and then his entire body turned to a vibrant shade of pink.

             Hermione’s eyes looked like they were about to burst out of their sockets, and her lips turned in to form a tight line.

             “What?! What’s wrong?” asked Ron, looking at Harry and Ginny for answers, but they were as bewildered as Ron.

             Madam Pomfrey took the saniecoot off of Hermione’s wrist, and plucked it back into her box. She pulled out another one, and placed it where the old one had been. It’s tiny eyes squinted, and instantly, it was also bright pink.

               “I’m afraid I’ve never seen any of these to be wrong, but maybe...” said Madam Pomfrey, but she was interrupted by Hermione.

                “No. No, it’s fine.”

                “What’s happening?!” said Harry, getting scared at the awkwardness in the room.

                “Here, I’ll just take him off of you,” said Madam Pomfrey, and she pried the animal off of Hermione “Well, at least you’re well, you can go up to your dormitory when you’d like.”

                She turned to Harry, and he held out his wrist. Again, she put the squirming animal on his arm, and it grabbed hold of him with it’s paws. After only a short moment, it turned a bright, glowing, red.

                Madam Pomfrey let out a tiny chuckle, but Hermione just stared at Harry, wide-eyed.

                “Will someone please tell us WHAT’S GOING ON?!” shouted Ron.

                “Honestly Ron, if only you’d listen in class,” said Hermione.

                “You see dear, the Saniecoot tells us the health of the patient. It changes colours depending on their health status, blue being healthy, and green being sick. However, sometimes it changes into other colours, like purple, which means, well, death,” Madam Pomfrey explained, “and then there’s red and pink which mean... is it alright for me to say?” she added to Hermione.

                 Hermione nodded shyly, and so she continued, “Pink and red mean in love.”

                Ron pulled a face; for the second time that day, he was totally confused. Ginny smiled calmly, as if she’d planned the whole thing, and once again, Harry and Hermione avoided looking at each other as their cheeks turned as red as the Saniecoots.

              As Madam Pomfrey bustled back to her office, taking the red and pink animals along with her, Ginny got up from Hermione’s bed, and said, “Excuse us,” as she drew the curtain around Hermione’s bed. Then, with a wave of her wand to the curtain, she said “Silencio”, and all noises from the rest of the room were blocked out. On the other side of the curtain, Ron figured out what was going on, and did the same thing.

              “So?” asked Ginny expectantly, after a few moments of silence.

              Hermione looked up from her feet, “‘So’ what?”

              Ginny rolled her eyes but kept the amused smile on her face.

              “So, why was that sanie-whatever turning pink?” she asked, even though she knew the answer, she wanted to hear it from Hermione.

              “I don’t know,” mumbled Hermione.

              Ginny simply raised her eyebrows, and crossed her arms over her stomach in mock-annoyance.

              “It’s just that... oh, never mind,” said Hermione, but Ginny prodded her silently until she said, “He’s my best friend!”

              “So?” said Ginny, plopping herself down on the end of the bed.

              “So, it would be weird,” answered Hermione.

              “Not if you love him. You do love him, right?”

               Hermione looked back down at her feet, they were getting more and more interesting by the second. She knew the answer to Ginny’s question, but she was afraid saying it out loud would make it final... it would make it real. So, instead, she pretended to be counting the number of freckles on her toes.

                Ginny rolled her eyes again, “Oh come on, you know you do. And by the looks of it, Harry loves you too.”

                Hermione looked up at her last sentence. Was it true? Could Harry Potter really love her?

- - - - - -

                On the other side of the curtain, Ron was eating gummy worms patiently, he wasn’t going to bother Harry; knowing him, it would come out eventually.

                Harry sat on his bed, biting his lip. He knew Ron was expecting him to say something... but he didn’t know what to say. He finally looked up at his red-headed friend, and Ron turned to look right back at him, with his eyebrows raised in question.

                “Yeah, I do,” answered Harry, even though Ron hadn’t asked him anything.

                “You gonna tell her?” said Ron.

                “Why? What would that do?” asked Harry, knowing perfectly well what that would do.

                “I suspect you’d say it to her, and then she’d say it back, and then the next thing we know, you too are walking down the aisle,” teased Ron.

                 Harry pulled the pillow out from under him and whacked Ron over the head.

- - - - - -