The Inscription
It started with a bang. Literally.
The seventh year Gryffindors were in Herbology, handling dangerous plants called the "Exploding Tentacula"; flowers that held ethereal beauty with their brightly coloured petals and intricate curls in their vines...but when approached, exploded in a shower of flames and sparks. Not to mention their waving tentacles that threatened to set fire to your robes. The class was divided into threes and Parvati had been working with Lavender and Susan Bones from Hufflepuff.
Her dragon hide gloves were secure, as were the goggles on her face, and the ten-foot tongs they were using to pluck the flowers from the earth were held tightly in her hands. Lavender and Susan were at the next flowerpot, ready to bury the spontaneous combusting flower in dirt as soon as Parvati dropped it in. They gave a thumbs-up to signal that they were ready, so she nodded and gripped the tongs tightly.
Pluck and drop. It's very simple! Professor Sprout had exclaimed. A bead of sweat trickled down Parvati's forehead as she shook her head at the words that echoed in her brain. Professor Sprout was mad if she thought that this, of all things, was "simple".
Ten feet away, she saw that the tongs had a secure hold around the stem of the plant. The petals were rapidly changing from deep violet to vibrant red; the sign that they had less than a minute before it exploded. Parvati tried to work fast, but due to the immense size of the plant, the tongs were wobbling...and it was hard to control the thing properly from ten feet away.
Other groups were turning to watch Parvati struggle. The flower wobbled over to the right...to the left. Once, it almost made contact with Dean, Seamus and Neville's group (Seamus had emitted a very feminine scream, but everyone was so engaged in Parvati's struggle with the flower that no snickers were made). But finally, Parvati was able to place the plant into the pot of dirt.
Lavender and Susan hurriedly covered it with the soil and stepped back to admire a job well done.
"Stupid plant," Parvati said, striding towards it, evidently not hearing the cries of alarm and warning directed towards her. "Who in their right mind would want to keep these in health--"
BANG!
Flames exploded before her very eyes and sparks showered from above. The heat was intense. The next thing she knew, something gooey was being sprayed into her face and pain sprung up from where it made contact.
The whole class stared, dumbstruck. It even took Professor Sprout a second to focus her attention on the screaming pupil. "Oh dear," she muttered. "Erm...as you can see, class," she said, now wiping the goo off of Parvati's face. "The Exploding Tentacula also has another defense mechanism. It's special juices cause boils to appear when made contact on flesh. See? You can see them appearing on Parvati's face now..."
Parvati gave a scream of rage, her hands attempting to cover the horrible mess. "Er...right. Miss Brown! Escort Miss Patil to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey should have a remedy that'll fix those up in a jiffy."
Lavender immediately took hold of Parvati's arm (her hands still covering her face) and dashed out of the greenhouse.
"Poor Parvati," Hermione said, peering at the retreating figures of Lavender and Parvati. "I hope she's alright." She shook her head, tutting slightly. "Well, she should have listened to Professor Sprout. She said not to approach it. Let's get back to work then!"
Ron eyed the plant that he, Harry and Hermione were working on. "You really expect us to return working after seeing that?"
* * *
Parvati lay in the hospital wing, face boil-free. Madam Pomfrey had insisted that she stay for the rest of the day however, and Parvati did with no complaint (Potions was the next class. She could do with missing that).
Only flaw was that the hospital wing was incredibly boring. The least Madam Pomfrey could do was put Crossword puzzles or Word Searches or something...
Parvati turned over impatiently in her bed. She looked at the dull gray of the steel bed frame. Dull...like everything else in here, she thought.
Just then, something on the bed frame caught her eye. She shifted over to take a good look and gasped at what she saw.
Carved into the steel bed frame (Parvati didn't know how they did it...must have been some charm or just one hell of a sharp object) were the words:
Harry + Hermione
How surprising! A secret affair, right in their humble Hogwarts? How juvenile too...who went around carving their names into things nowadays?
Parvati turned over again, staring at the ceiling, hardly able to contain her excitement. She had just got hold of the greatest piece of gossip since the time she had seen Neville (of all people) sneak out of a broom closet with a girl.
Harry and Hermione were having a secret love affair!
* * *
The news spread like the plague. Parvati showed no shame by telling every person she saw that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were secret lovers. Harry and Hermione, however, were part of the few that were the last to know. Naturally.
"Why is everyone staring at me?" Harry asked, as he, Ron and Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table for dinner.
"Because you're Harry Potter?" Ron offered. Harry scowled.
"Well, yeah, but nobody has stared at me like this since something involving Voldemort has happened," he said.
"Come to think of it, you're right," Hermione said, looking out at the sea of eyes that were directed in their direction. No wait...in her direction. "Why are they staring at me too?" she asked.
"Who knows?" Ron said, tucking in without a second thought. Just then, Ginny came running up to them, dropping into the seat next to Ron. She gave one disgusted look at Ron and his eating habits before eagerly turning towards Harry and Hermione, who were sitting across from them.
"Is it true? Why would you keep something like this from us?"
"Something like what?" Harry, Ron and Hermione said at once (though Ron's sounded more like "Someting li wha?" due to his full mouth).
"You know!" Ginny said, her eyes just begging to know more. The three of them stared blankly at her. She bent her head down and whispered, "About you and Harry being secret lovers!"
Ron spit out the pumpkin juice he was just in the middle of sipping. Harry and Hermione's eyes widened and their mouths opened in shock.
"You and Harry being what?" Ron gasped out. Ginny looked confusingly between the three of them.
"Secret lovers?" Harry exclaimed indignantly. "Where the hell did someone get that idea?"
"You mean it's not true?" Ginny asked. "You guys aren't doing midnight escapades for hot and heavy flying lessons or something like--"
"NO! Of course we're not!" Hermione said, outraged. "Where did you hear that?"
"Oh, well a fourth year Ravenclaw swears she saw you two sneaking out to the Quidditch Pitch. A sixth year Hufflepuff says that she walked in on you two snogging in the library and Malfoy says that he's been busting you two out of broom closets during his Prefect rounds--"
"Malfoy!" Harry mumbled, quickly getting out of his seat. Hermione tugged his arm and he sat back down obediently.
"Were any of these sources actually reliable?" Hermione questioned, her voice a little high-pitched.
Ginny bit her lip in thought. "Now that you mention it, most of them started out as 'a friend of a friend said...' so I guess not. The only direct statement I got was from Parvati."
Hermione laughed. "Parvati? Do you really trust her?"
Ginny shrugged. "No, probably not. But she did say that she, herself, saw your names carved into one of the bed frames in the hospital wing."
Harry's eyes bugged out. Hermione's face paled. Ron stood up.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's so see if Parvati is telling the truth. If she's not, then this is all just some stupid story someone must have started to poke fun at you two."
"It has to be Rita Skeeter..." Harry mumbled.
"Harry, now's not the time to be jumping to conclusions. L-Let's just let this thing blow over. Ron is probably right and--" Hermione said pleadingly.
"What? You're not even going to go see if your names are really carved in the hospital wing?" Ron said, slightly put out.
"Hey, I figured you two would get together. Knew it from the moment I saw both of you covered in blood which attracted the Thestrals." Luna Lovegood sauntered over from the Ravenclaw table, a jovial smile in place, which did not faze though she saw how distressed the others were.
"Luna...Harry and I are not together. It's just some rumour flying around and--"
"Are you sure? Because I'll know if you're lying. My Dad passed down this special gift to me which can detect who's lying or not. It's how he found out about the Snorkacks and--"
"Luna, not right now, please..."
"Harry? Hermione? You two are together? Wow, didn't see it coming!" Neville joined their little congregation, which was beginning to bother Harry.
"Does the whole bloody school believe this?" he yelled. Chatter and utensils clinking on plates ceased and a unified "YES!" echoed throughout the Great Hall. Harry sunk low into his seat.
"This. Is. Not. Happening." He rubbed his temples with his eyes closed.
"Harry...really...we can get through this..."
"This is fourth year all over again!" Harry said, brushing Hermione's words out of the way. "Come on, Ron, let's go to the hospital wing."
"No, wait! Harry, you sure you want to do that? I mean, Madam Pomfrey, she'll--" Hermione began.
"She can stand letting me in for a few seconds. Besides, that's like my second dormitory." He set off at a jog, with Ron following close behind. Ginny looked at the rest of them, shrugged, and took off after them.
"I don't bloody believe this!" Hermione exclaimed, also going after them.
Luna looked over at Neville, who shuffled nervously underneath her stare. "Well, are you coming?" she asked.
"Er...I dunno...I don't think--"
"Come on," Luna said, grabbing hold of Neville's arm and dragging him with her as they exited the Great Hall towards the direction of the hospital wing.
* * *
"Who would do this?" Harry asked, his eyes fixed upon his name and Hermione's carved upon the bed frame.
Ron stepped up next to him and gave a low whistle at the sight. "Wow, looks like Parvati was telling the truth...for once..."
"Is it true?" Ginny asked as she came rushing into the hospital wing. "Did you find your names on one of the bed frames?"
Ron nodded and Ginny stepped to the other side of Harry and peered closely at the inscription. "Yikes. You sure you didn't do that?" she asked, looking intently at Harry. Harry mutely shook his head.
Hermione walked into the hospital wing, breathless. "This--this is all rubbish!" she said.
"Oh yeah? How do you explain that?" Ron said, pointing at the inscription. Hermione shut up and stood very still when she saw it.
Just then, Neville and Luna entered. Luna pushed everyone aside and inspected the carving carefully. After a full ten seconds of looking at it she faced Harry and Hermione and said, "Yep, these are your names all right!"
"So neither Harry or Hermione did this?" Neville asked.
"No! Why would we do that?" Harry said. "Look, I don't know who did this. But all I know is that...that someone is out there!" He took a deep breath. "Someone is out there and is playing a horrible prank on me and Hermione. But let the record show that Hermione and I, are not an item!"
"That's all very well and nice, Mr. Potter, but I do not appreciate it when a party breaks out in the hospital wing without my knowing." The five of them slowly turned around and were met with the furious gaze of Madam Pomfrey. "Out. Now." They did not need to say anything. They hurriedly exited the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey slammed the door shut.
"Wow, very crabby. You don't think that she samples those medicines herself, does she?" Luna said in genuine wonder. The other four ignored her.
"Come on, let's go back to the Common Room..." Harry said, making his way up to Gryffindor Tower.
"Well goodbye then!" Luna called to them, waving cheerfully. Ron, Neville and Ginny waved back awkwardly but Harry and Hermione were too locked up in their own thoughts to pay attention to any of this.
"Ah, young love," the Fat Lady said as they approached her.
"Not now," Hermione said wearily.
"Elephant Ears," Harry said, wanting to get in as quick as possible.
"Sorry, dear, but the password was changed."
"What? Then what is it?" Harry turned towards Hermione and Ron, since they were Prefects.
"Oh! Right...the password is being changed today," Ron said as he fumbled around in his pockets. "Now where did I put that piece of paper? Ah, here it is!" He faced the Fat Lady. "Lovebirds," he said.
Harry and Hermione inwardly groaned. Was the whole world out to get them?
"Aw, how fitting!" the Fat Lady exclaimed. "The password is lovebirds while we are in the presence of two love--"
"Just open up, will you?" Harry snapped. The Fat Lady clucked her tongue in disapproval, but swung open to let them through.
"I just want some peace and quiet. No one mention anything about me and Her--"
Catcalls and whistles met their ears as they entered. Dinner must be over, for the Common Room was quite full and they all broke out into "Ooooh!'s" and such when Harry, Hermione, and the others entered.
"Perfect," Hermione said, burying her face in her hands.
"Wow, Harry! Never thought you'd get together with Hermione!" Dean said as he and Seamus walked up to them.
"Yeah, Harry! Wow, I've heard that it's always the brainy ones that you have to watch out for. Hah! Eh? Eh?" Seamus said, elbowing Harry hard in the ribs.
Hermione swatted hard at Seamus and he clutched his arm that she had just hit. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What was that for?"
"Degrading language," Hermione said. "Now Ron, I-- Ron?" She had just been about to say something to Ron, yet he wasn't right behind her like he was a moment before.
"What is he doing?" Ginny said under her breath. Hermione followed her gaze and saw that Ron was standing up on one of the tables, towering over everyone present in the Common Room.
"May I have your attention, please?" he said. Everyone became silent and listened intently. "I just want to say that my two friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger -" all their heads whipped in their direction, so Harry and Hermione gave feeble waves - "are not together. I repeat, not together! Yes, so...that's...erm, that's all!" He stepped down from the table.
Everyone's eyes were still focused upon Harry and Hermione. Harry cleared his throat and said to all people gathered, "Ron is telling the truth! Hermione and I are not a couple. The idea of it is quite laughable really..."
Those that were staring shrugged and turned back to what they had previously been doing. Harry gave a small sigh of relief.
"I think they sort of believed me," he said. His eyes then came to rest upon Dean and Seamus who were making kissing faces and gesturing towards he and Hermione. "Sort of."
"Harry, you...you really meant what you said up there?" Hermione asked slowly. Harry looked at her, puzzled for a moment then rubbed her back.
"Oh, I didn't mean for it to come out rude, Hermione. I just wanted to get the message across. You don't have to thank me though," he said. "Come on, Ron, let's just go to the dormitory." He, Ron and Neville left.
"Yeah...thanks," Hermione whispered bitterly.
Nobody heard.
* * *
The next day was no better. In Divination, Professor Trelawney swept up to Harry and Ron's table proclaiming that she had seen this romance occurring long ago and that it came as no surprise. In Potions, the Slytherins were even fouler than usual and Snape seemed to have it in for Harry and Hermione for he took points off for every little thing they did, including "breathing too loud". By the time dinner rolled around, every single mouth in the school was muttering "Harry and Hermione".
"I am so sick of telling people that you're not my girlfriend," Harry said, in an aggravated voice, to Hermione. She had been silent all day, only speaking to certain people and choosing not to say anything when someone questioned about the so-called relationship she had with Harry. She nodded mutely as Harry said this, somber.
"It's amazing how gullible this school can be in matters like this," Ron said. "I mean, it took them a long time to believe Voldemort had risen...but one mention of Harry and Hermione and bam!" He pumped his fist into the air.
The Great Hall became considerably silent when Harry, Ron and Hermione walked in. Harry and Hermione avoided eye contact with everyone and just flopped into their seats at the Gryffindor table. As soon as they did this, flutters of "Oooh, they're sitting next to each other!" met their ears.
"Are they going to watch every bloody move we make?" Harry said, his nerves already on end. He stabbed his food menacingly.
"How is Hogwarts' poster couple?" Ginny said jokingly as she settled in at the table.
"We are not a poster couple!" Harry spat. Stab. Stab.
"Alright, alright. I was only kidding," Ginny reassured him. "Don't need to get all moody."
"How are the little love bugs enjoying their dinner?" The four of them turned around to see Luna Lovegood, sitting down at their table and joining them for dinner.
"We are not love bugs!" Harry muttered angrily. Stab. Stab.
"Are you even allowed to be sitting here?" Ron asked. Luna stopped scooping food onto a plate and looked at him intently.
"Well you're sitting here, aren't you?" she said. Ron just shrugged and let her be. He turned towards Harry and Hermione.
"You know, all this talk about the two of you going out...I'm starting to think that maybe it is a possibility--"
"It is not a possibility!" Harry said very loudly. Several heads turned to look in their direction but he didn't care. "Look, Hermione and I are not a couple. She is not my girlfriend. I have said this millions of times already! We are not and never will go out!" He sat down in a huff.
It was rather silent as everyone dared not speak after this abrupt explosion from Harry. Hermione stared down at her food, then without warning, tore from her seat and bolted out of the Great Hall. They all stared after her.
"Hermione must be as sick of this as I am..." Harry mumbled.
Ron shook his head. "I don't think so, mate."
Harry looked curiously up at him. "What do you mean? Why else would she be upset?"
Ginny sighed. "Harry, did you hear what you just said? You said that the chance of you ever going out with Hermione is zero! Do you know how much that would hurt?"
Harry was still confused. "Hurt? Why would it hurt?"
Ron shook his head again, looking helplessly at the food in front of him. "Gee, Harry, you just don't understand."
"Understand what?"
Luna stood up and looked him straight in the eye. "If you took off your blinders, you'd be able to see that maybe, just maybe, Hermione has feelings for you. You didn't even know you were doing it, but you basically just broke her heart with the words you said." Everyone stared at Luna. That was probably the most sense she had ever made to any of them.
"Hermione has feelings for me?" Harry said, completely shocked.
"Better believe it!" Ron said, raising up his goblet and nodding curtly. Harry was dumbfounded. The more he thought about it, the more it sort of made sense. Throughout the day, whenever someone asked whether they were really boyfriend and girlfriend, she never out rightly said "no". It had always been he who did it. She just remained silent. While Harry complained relentlessly about convincing all of Hogwarts that the two of them weren't involved in a relationship, Hermione kept quiet. Almost as if she didn't mind being known as his possible girlfriend.
It was just then that Harry didn't know what his own feelings were. Now that Ron, Ginny and Luna mentioned that Hermione had feelings for him, he didn't know how to react. Did he like Hermione in that way? One part said no, not really, yet the other part said sure, why not? It was a raging internal battle that he never knew about until now.
"I - I got to go to her..." he said, getting up from his seat and speeding out of the Great Hall.
* * *
Harry found her by the lake. The moon was high and full, casting an eerie reflection onto the water. She was sitting forlornly on a boulder and throwing the occasional pebble, causing the reflection of the moon and stars to ripple. He walked slowly towards her, unsure of what he should say. He still didn't know if he liked her or not. The possibility of being "more than friends" with her was steadily growing though. The closer he approached, the more he thought about it.
"Hermione," he began. "I - I'm really sorry--"
"Don't be, Harry. I understand why you said that. It's alright, really. You were just telling the truth, is all," she said bluntly, not turning to face him.
Harry didn't know what to say to that. He was expecting her to demand why he would say such words...to cry even! He wasn't prepared for her dull reaction and fast acceptance of the situation.
"No, Hermione, I didn't...I didn't mean to--"
"No, no, Harry. It's like you said. We are not and never will be a couple. That's that." She threw another pebble into the water viciously. It traveled a fair distance. "I was the one who carved that thing in the hospital wing. It was a spontaneous, juvenile thing that I did...you know, writing the name of the person you have a crush on with yours next to it. It was stupid, really." She then turned to face him for the first time. There were no tears...but the look in her eyes was a thousand times worse. It was almost as if you could see her heart broken. Harry's own heart gave a wrench.
"I did that at the end of fourth year. Ron and I snuck down when nobody was around you. And well...Ron left to get something and it was just me and you, and... seeing you lying there like that. So vulnerable. You had just faced Voldemort, and you were only fourteen. We were only fourteen." She wiped her eyes hastily with the back of her hand. "But just tell me this, Harry," she said quietly. "Is it me? Like...you know how you said that there's absolutely no chance of us getting together--"
"I didn't--!" Harry began but Hermione shook her head.
"No wait, listen. I just want to know if it's because I'm ugly or something. Am I not girlfriend material? Will I forever just be 'one of the guys'?" She turned away and bitterly threw another rock. Harry waited for the ripples to subside before he said anything. He chose not to sit next to her just yet, but opted to leaning against the tree very close by. He took a deep breath.
"It's not that at all, Hermione. You're beautiful..." Harry said dreamily. Hermione gave a scoff. " It's just...I seriously didn't think that there would be anything between us at all. It was only until Ron and the others told me that--"
"Ron..." Hermione said, almost as if it were poison. "I thought I could trust him. I can't believe he told you!" Unable to hide her embarrassment, she buried her face in her hands. "Oh gosh, Harry, you weren't supposed to find out from Ron and the others...they shouldn't have said a word!"
Harry quickly strode to where she was sitting and sat next to her. He gently peeled away her hands that were hiding her face and said, "Hey...don't say that. I'm glad they told me."
She looked at him strangely.
"If they hadn't told me, there would have been no way for me to see what was there all along! Hermione...I only said those things back there because I didn't think there'd be anything like that between us. But now that Ron and them said something, I can actually imagine it happening." His heart was beating rapidly against his chest. A million thoughts were zooming through his head, yet none of them were of doubt of him feeling this way, all of a sudden, for Hermione. He tentatively took her hands into his own. "And you know what?" he whispered, looking down at their joined hands. "I kind of like the idea..."
His head raised up so he could look at her through his green eyes. The moonlight cast an iridescent glow upon her features, making her look so unrealistically beautiful. Almost like a Veela...
Their eyes met, and Harry could tell that she was still unsure. There was only one way he could think of convincing her that he, indeed, wanted to see what it would be like to be "more than friends". Their faces drew closer together.
Finally, their lips met and they moved naturally against each other. The two of them were able to experience sweet tastes of the other and relish in the feeling of what it was like to have each other's lips covering their own. Harry's hand slowly came to cup her cheek as they continued to rain sweet kisses upon each other's lips. They pulled away, Harry's hand still resting upon her cheek.
"Do you mean it?" Hermione whispered, looking into his blazing, green eyes intently.
Harry rested his forehead against hers and whispered in reply, "Of course I mean it."
And they kissed again.
* * *
After they left their spot by the lake, hand-in-hand, the moonlight shone upon the tree Harry had been leaning against earlier. Very clearly, was the inscription carved into the tree's trunk:
H + H
End
Acknowledgements:
This piece was dedicated to Kaze, for the amazing things that come out of her quill and for dedicating one of her pieces to me before too, back on the HMS Pumpkin Pie's seventh ficlet thread on FAP.