A/N: Third chapter! Yay! I hope you didn't have to wait too long…
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Have fun!
* * *
Harry wanted to keel over and die right then and there.
"Come with me, you two," said Professor McGonagall sternly, and turned around, brushing past Hagrid's motionless, staring form, which was hunched over because of the cavern's diminished height.
Harry and Hermione didn't look at each other as they followed her back through the cavern. Harry's stomach clenched uncomfortably from nerves, and he wished Professor McGonagall would say something, anything that would reassure him even in the slightest. But their professor just strode onward, muttering distractedly under her breath.
They reached the cavern entrance sooner than Harry wished, and as he stared blinkingly out into the sun's blinding light, he realized that everyone in the meadow, including the Slytherins, had come to stand around the entrance to the cave. Professor McGonagall swept passed them, beckoning Harry and Hermione to follow. Harry heard whispers, and was uneasily aware of the amount of stares he and Hermione were receiving.
"Harry! Hermione!" Ron shoved through the crowd violently, and ran up to greet them, breathless and looking anxious. "Where were you? You in the cave for nearly an hour!"
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again, and shook his head. He saw Hermione turn in the other direction.
"Mr. Weasley, please," said Professor McGonagall. "Mr. Potter and Miss Granger, come with me. Now."
"But Professor -,"
"If you say one more word, I will give you detention, Weasley!" Professor McGonagall snapped.
Professor McGonagall breathed furiously through her nose, shot a piercing stare at Harry and Hermione, and strode off toward the castle.
* * *
"Sit," Professor McGonagall ordered.
They sat on the two wooden chairs. Harry tried to breathe, but every time he drew breath, he erupted into a coughing fit. Hermione, on the other hand, was sitting silently, her hands clasped firmly over her lap. Her face was expressionless.
"Now, there's no point in beating around the bush," Professor McGonagall said severely, "I saw you two... well…" She fell silent and seemed determined not to say anything more.
Hermione's eyes fell to her hands. Harry was sure his face was bright red.
"I am… to say the least… shocked at your behavior," she said, pausing slightly, "I understand that there are certain… issues adolescents have to go through, of course, but this was extraordinarily -,"
Harry cut in, "Professor, it was the fairies! They did something to me - us… We were under some sort of spell or something!"
Professor McGonagall sighed. "Mr. Potter, there are no fairies. Hagrid merely gave your class the assignment because he had a feeling that they were there…"
"What about Dumbledore, then?" said Harry wildly, "Hagrid told us that Dumbledore gave him permission!"
"Professor Dumbledore's mind works in complicated ways. It would be in vain to try and understand it."
"But -,"
Professor McGonagall cut him off with an annoyed snap. "There are no fairies, Mr. Potter! You have acted upon your own will! It would be best to just admit that to yourself!" She turned to Hermione aggressively. "And you, Miss Granger! I expect more of you!"
Professor McGonagall said sharply, "I will not punish you this time, but be warned: if this happens again, I will have to inform the Headmaster. Good day."
And with that, she ushered them out of her office.
Harry and Hermione walked down the corridor, towards the Great Hall, an embarrassed silence in their wake.
Unbeknownst to the pair, Professor McGonagall smiled gleefully and turned back into her office.
* * *
"Is it true you were attacked by a Chimera?" Neville asked anxiously as soon and Harry and Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table for lunch, "Someone said they saw a creature run off into the woods after you came out…" He said the last part in a whisper so quiet half the table leaned forward to hear it.
Harry looked down at the food on his plate. Didn't answer.
Hermione said quickly, "Oh, don't be silly Neville. We were quite all right. We -," She glanced Harry's way subtly, "We got a bit lost."
Ron speared a potato and stuffed it into his mouth. "What did you see? Anything interesting?"
"Nothing," Hermione lied at once.
"McGonagall looked livid when you came out." He glanced at Harry with a raised eyebrow. "What'd you do?"
Harry went red. He felt oddly claustrophobic.
"Well, I didn't see anything either," said Dean, coming unknowingly to Harry's rescue, "I wonder why Hagrid had us go in there in the first place. Seems like a waste of time to me."
Ron shrugged. "Free time? A little inter-house bonding?"
He shuddered and brutally mashed his peas into his plate with Hermione's unused spoon.
Harry pushed away his plate, realizing he couldn't eat one bite, and announced his departure quickly. Before anyone could ask any questions, he whisked out of the Great Hall, his cloak trailing behind him.
Hermione waited exactly thirty seconds before she too pushed away her plate and hurried after him.
"Well, that answered absolutely nothing," said Ron cheerily.
* * *
Harry, upon reaching the vacant common room, immediately retired upstairs to the boys' dormitories. He walked across the space that he shared with Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville, and plopped unceremoniously onto his four-poster, staring up at the bottom of Ron's bunk.
How was he supposed to feel?
Sad? Angry? Happy? Apprehensive?
Sad, yes. Sad that he could no longer glance at Hermione without looking away. Sad that his friendship, though definitely not ruined, would be strained and awkward. It had been wonderful then… at that moment, but the consequence was terrifying. It was not like with Cho Chang - he wasn't worrying whether or not he was a bad kisser (though the thought still lingered heavily in his mind), but whether or not Hermione would forgive him.
Yes, Harry thought, but didn't she kiss me first? Either way, she knew we were under some sort of spell…
Or was she? Harry's mind reeled. She read all those books… but then… didn't she tell me there weren't any spells to stop fairies even if we wanted to?
They do what they think is right, Harry's mind responded pointedly, They don't interfere, right? They determine. So doesn't that mean that they're speeding up the process a little?
Harry contemplated this, and muttered, "But - but that's just guessing. Nobody can see into the future…"
He didn't have an answer for himself.
"Maybe they do know something," Harry said aloud.
But that didn't help his fluttering, nervous stomach in the least. They weren't here now, the fairies - in fact, the last time Harry saw them was before he and Hermione kissed… He was distracted during…
Professor McGonagall said there weren't any fairies, but what did she know? She hadn't seen them. But it was peculiar.
He pinched himself. No, it wasn't a dream.
Then another thought came to his aid. Maybe the fairies were misguided… maybe they got the wrong people… Maybe everything was one giant mistake…
Maybe -
"Harry?" called a tentative voice.
He had half a mind to pretend he was asleep, but it was too late. Hermione pushed the door open and stepped into the room.
"Harry, we should -,"
"I don't want to talk."
Harry spun around so that he was facing the wall, but it was not quick enough to disregard the look of hurt that crossed Hermione's anxious face. He felt irritated. He wanted to be alone. And why shouldn't he?
"We can't just toss it aside," he heard Hermione's voice say from the doorway, "It happened, no matter what we want to think."
Harry recognized that she wanted to communicate with him, but that still didn't make him any less happy about the situation. He frowned.
"I'm not going to say what I'm thinking," Hermione started stonily, "because I know you'll just blow up at me."
Harry turned around and snapped, "You know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking that girls shouldn't be allowed into boys' dormitories!"
Hermione smiled grimly at his outburst. "Do you really want me to leave you alone? Do you really want me to leave you to wallow in self-pity? You know, Harry, you're not the only one affected by this."
Slightly ashamed, Harry turned away again. Hermione sat down at the foot of his bed; he heard the springs under his bed creak quietly.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"Oh, no matter," Hermione answered quickly. "I knew we would have to talk sooner or later. At least no one suspects anything."
"Ron," said Harry.
"Ron," Hermione agreed.
They sat in awkward silence for a moment.
"Why did they do it though?" Harry asked after a moment. He looked to her for consolation.
She shrugged, but it was plain the same question had been nagging her too.
"I mean, fairies don't just… do that… for fun, right?"
Hermione paused for a second, listening, then said, "No."
"So there must have been a reason," Harry pressed.
She stared at him intently. "Harry, if you're trying to get the answer out of me… it won't work. I don't know any more than you."
"So what do we do?" asked Harry.
"Do?" repeated Hermione, aghast, "We're not doing anything! We're leaving it to everyone else to sort out. I don't want anything more to do with fairies! Besides," she said, recovering herself, "I think we've had enough excitement for today, don't you think?"
Suddenly, there was a huge crashing sound and the pounding of feet on the stairs. The door burst open, and Ron stumbled through, breathing in ragged gasps.
"Is it true?" he rasped wildly, choking on air, "It's not true, is it?"
He stared feverishly at Harry, who was leaning against the headboard; and Hermione, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed.
"Come again?" asked Harry slowly.
Ron sunk onto the bed across from Hermione.
"I am never eating lunch without you two again," he said, "It was awful."
"What happened?" Hermione asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
He gave a little hysterical laugh. "It was actually funny, really. They said - that - you… you two… snogged in the cave!"
He was bent over in laughter. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other quickly, each one wondering how someone could have possibly known such information. Ron stopped laughing for a moment to look upwards at his two best friends. Their faces were stony.
"I mean, it's funny now," Ron said quickly, misreading their expressions, "After you've gotten over the shock. How Malfoy expected me to fall for that I'll never know…"
"Malfoy?" Harry said, stunned.
"Yeah… what's wrong?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other.
"Damn," Hermione said harshly, and swept out of the room.
Ron looked dazedly at Harry. "Did she just…?"
"Yeah…" Harry answered distractedly, "Listen, Ron, I'll see you later."
He pushed himself off the bed and sprinted after her.
"Fine, I'll just wait here!" Ron called after him sarcastically.
He shook his head. "This day is just getting weirder and weirder…"
* * *
Next part up soon! Thanks for reading and for the nice `happy birthdays'! You guys are just too sweet. ^.^
Love,
-Lauren