The Sense

Once again she had narrowly escaped the temptation to spill her secret. There were so many wrong ways her friends could take it, and she just as not ready for that problem right now. Especially after Aberforth Dumbledore was attacked and Harry revealed the Prophecy. It was all just way too much weirdness for one night. Hermione jogged up the stairs to the room she and Ginny shared, where she figured Crookshanks had taken refuge. She found the ginger cat curled up at the foot of Ginny's bed sleeping.

"Crookshanks?"

“Mreeoowwwrr!” Jeez!

"Sorry. I just wanted to know - "

If I heard anything the grown-ups said before they left? Crookshanks propped himself up lazily and yawned.

"Well, yes. How did you know?" Hermione asked.

I'll be damned if you kids ever just let the grown-ups handle anything. "Nosy little snots, they are." That's what the drunk fellow said.

"Right, well, Mundungus isn't exactly the picture of perfection either."

True. But once or twice he's slipped me some brandy. He's all right in my

book.

"Crookshanks!"

Bloody hell, Hermione. Don't give me any of that proper nonsense. I heard you down there. Cussing like a pissed sailor! My Hermione!

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well?"

Well, I think you could have been more creative. Though that first "bullshit" was a kicker. I didn't know you had it in you!

"Not about my cursing, Crookshanks, about Aberforth!" Hermione said exasperatedly. "Did you hear anything?"

Crookshanks cocked his head to face the ceiling, as if he were deep in thought. Well, I got the impression that old Abe was still alive...

"Thank goodness! What makes you think that?"

They said, "He's alive."

"Oh." Hermione bit back a snappish remark. Her cat was being very smart-alecky, rude, even. He was practically an exact reincarnation of Ron Weasley.

And they said that Aberforth was guarding something. That's why he was

attacked.

"Guarding what? Did the Death Eaters get it?" Hermione asked. This was interesting. Even though she had never met the man and heard very little about him, Aberforth Dumbledore was playing an active role in the Order. His job was important enough to make him a target for the Death Eaters and bring them out of hiding.

No clue.

"Do you know where Aberforth was? Or where he is now?"

No.

"Oh." Hermione was disappointed. She hadn't learned much from this conversation. "Do you know anything else?"

Nah. Oh! Wait. Crookshanks casually licked his paw clean, as if they were talking about something as serious as breakfast cereals. Someone said that when they found him, he was babbling Latin things.

"Latin? Well, that's not too strange. Lots of spells are derived from, if not completely from the Latin language."

Not spells - He was speaking clearly and coherently as if he was speaking English. Only he wasn't, and he couldn't understand why people didn't understand a damn thing he was saying.

Hermione stared at her cat.

Yeah, I know. Fuckin' freaky, isn't it?

~*~

When Hermione returned to her friends, she found Ron and Harry engaged in a game of Wizard's Chess while Ginny looked on, waiting to play the winner.

"Hey, Hermione, come watch my knight mutilate Harry's king," Ron gloated as he nudged the chess piece forward. Harry groaned as the king fell in pieces.

"My turn!" Ginny cried gleefully.

Hermione smiled and took a seat. How would she tell them what she had learned from Crookshanks? The time wasn't quite right yet to tell them about her Sense. It was just a gut feeling. She felt Harry's eyes studying her closely, like they always seemed to be recently. Hermione looked up and met his emerald gaze. He quickly looked away.

"So how was Crookshanks?" Harry asked carefully.

"Fine." Change subject for now, change subject. "Did I miss any interesting theories and speculations about Aberforth's attack?"

Harry waved his hand at the two youngest Weasleys who were currently trash-talking each other. "They've just been trying to intimidate each other over the stupid game. Ginny can talk as dirty as Ron, you know."

"Really."

"Hah!" Ginny crowed as one of her pieces destroyed one of Ron's. "You suck, Ronnie!"

Ron scowled. "Yeah, well at least I'm not the one with the Gilderoy Lockhart poster under her bed."

"I DO NOT!" Ginny cried and looked around at Harry and Hermione. Hermione was unable to hide her snicker. Sleeping on the floor of Ginny's room, she had caught several glimpses of the narcissistic pretty boy under her bed. Ron looked empowered.

"Lockhart? Really?" Harry's eyes smiled in a very Dumbledore-like way.

"Well, since we're sharing secrets and all..." Ginny batted her eyes innocently. "You should all probably know...Ron's drawing a comic book series with him as a superhero."

"WHAT!?" All attention to Ginny's secret crush was diverted as they all laughed at Ron's expense. He glared angrily at his sister. "I DO NOT!"

"Then you wouldn't mind if we took a peek into your pillowcase..." Ginny started to get up.

"No!" Ron cried, looking murderous. "All right, okay...it's...just a hobby of mine!"

"His 'hobby' has got a red cape that clashes with his hair and goes by the name of - "

"ANYWAY!" Ron darted to his sister and clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Mmmmlerrrfff" Harry and Hermione were laughing practically in convulsions as Ginny tried to wrestle away from her brother. The problem of how to tell what she learned from Crookshanks was completely pushed from Hermione's mind.

"Oh Ron, leave her alone. We don't care about the Scarlet Mage!" Hermione snickered through her fingers.

The two Weasleys stopped fighting. Ron released Ginny from his headlock and she fell to the floor clumsily. Harry looked curiously at his friends. Ron had turned a bright red and Hermione looked stricken, as if she had just committed some criminal act.

"How did you know he's called the Scarlet Mage?" Ron demanded. Harry and Ginny sat confused and set their gaze on Hermione.

The truth was, last week before Hermione had much practice at controlling her Sense, Ron had been pondering new adventures for the Scarlet Mage at the dinner table. She couldn't help but read his mind, and she had learned all about the Scarlet Mage and his powers, deeds, and...popularity with women. She had done very well in keeping this information to herself, but now she was horrified that she made such a slip.

"I...I came across it when I was straightening your sheets. I went in there to borrow Hedwig..." Hermione glanced at Harry "...and saw some of it sticking out of your pillow."

Ginny grinned. "Did you read about how the Scarlet Mage - "

"Shut it, Gin," Ron growled.

"Oh, was that why you were so flustered the other day when you borrowed Hedwig?" Harry wondered, remembering the day of the "accident" and discovering Hermione's odd behavior.

Hermione nodded. That seemed reasonable. Good old Harry. "Yes."

Ron crinkled his forehead. "Wait...when was this?"

"Last week, that day I fell off the broom."

Ron stared suspiciously at Hermione. "Hold on. That day it wasn't in my pillowcase. Mum was going in there later to clean up my room, so I moved it. It was in my closet."

Hermione recalled seeing how untidy it was in there that day and how she figured Mrs. Weasley hadn't been in there to clean it yet. She cursed herself for making such a fatal mistake. There really was no backtracking without being a blatantly obvious liar, and everyone was already staring at her now. She supposed she had no choice; this was the time.

"Hermione, how did you know about the Scarlet Mage?" Ginny asked slowly.

Hermione looked back at all her friends. They were all expecting a huge revelation, and she knew it. Harry had already worked up the courage to tell them about his secret. It was her turn.

"Okay...I know you all have been...anxious...to know what's been going on with me lately..." Hermione began, still very unsure of where to begin, or how to tell her story. Harry seemed to perk up in interest more than the other two. "Well, after I fell off that broom, when I regained consciousness...I started to hear things."

Everyone knew this was going nowhere good. As Hermione once pointed out in 2nd year, hearing things is never good, even in the wizarding world.

"What things?" Harry asked, dreading the answer. As his best friend, he knew that she could easily be marked as Voldemort's enemy, and he had lots of experience with Voldemort's mind games. He and Ginny both knew what dangerous mental things the Dark Lord was capable of. His mind ran with horrible thoughts of what could possibly be wrong with his friend.

"I think...it was you guys - your thoughts and emotions." Hermione said quietly. There it was. Out in the open, her darkest secret revealed in about ten simple words. She couldn't believe it was that easy to phrase.

Her statement was met with the same silence that greeted Harry's revelation. Harry was taken aback. This was certainly not what he was expecting. "How did - was it the fall? Was it Volde -?"

"No, no. Dumbledore told me I was born with it and it develops around, well, my age."

Ron and Ginny had unreadable expressions on their faces. Clearly none of them had fully expected this. She sensed slight fear from them, even with her mental blocking up. That was the reaction she had been dreading all along. Fear. Fear that her friends would fear her and her Sense - that they would no longer feel comfortable around her and try to avoid her as much as possible. It was what Hermione was afraid of all along. The fear was the curse that came along with this gift. Only Harry had no emotions coming from him. Hermione was still puzzled as to why she never got the slightest feeling from him and, since she couldn't tell, was he afraid too?

"So...are you doing...it...now?" Ginny asked in a tone that sounded almost frightened.

"Oh, no! Of course not! I'm very strict about sensing, now that I can control it. I would never, EVER invade someone's privacy. I swear to you. I would never - "

"But you can," Ron said monotonously.

"What?"

"You can read our minds - whenever you want," Ron repeated in the almost robotic tone that pumped dread into Hermione's mind.

"Yes, but no. Well, yes, but I've been working quite hard to control it. I'm no longer Sensing - that's what its called - at every given moment. I have blockades up in my mind to protect myself from outside emotional assault, and they're getting even stronger! Dumbledore's been helping me. That's what we've been doing, he's - " she paused her rambling for a moment. " - he knows a lot about the Sense." Hermione figured it wasn't her place to tell them Dumbledore was a Sensor as well.

Ginny let out a nervous laugh. "So, so you can just...like, let down the mental block thing and just see what we're thinking?"

"Yes, but I would never - "

"Bullshit," Ron growled angrily. Hermione was shocked at how angry he looked. "You do read people's minds. That's how you knew about my comic, and how you knew about my letter to Luna! You could be reading our bloody minds right NOW, and we wouldn't know!" His words began to rise to a shriek.

"Ron, please, that was before I could control it! You have to trust -

Ron exploded. "For over a whole fucking week you've been probing our minds and looking at all our deep dark secrets, haven't you!? Bossy, nosy little nerd just HAS to know EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING about EVERYBODY!"

Hermione was being hurt now. What hurt even worse though was the unblockable feeling coming from Ron. He was just as hurt, and he felt betrayed, so he reacted with anger. Ginny's fear was unsettling, but nothing compared to Ron's rage.

"NO, Ron, that's not true! I would never - "

"Don't lie, Hermione. You had yourself a pleasant little laugh at everything going on in our heads, didn't you? Bloody thought it was HILARIOUS, didn't you!?"

Hermione was starting to cry now. She couldn't think of anything to say. She was now in physical pain as the barrage of negativity flooded her brain. Her mind went blank as she focused on blocking out all the negative feelings coming from Ron. "No! No, Ron!" She clamped her hands over her ears as if this would mitigate the pain.

"Ron, shut up!" Ginny stood up on trembling legs and wrapped her arms around Hermione's quivering shoulders. "I think you're hurting her!"

"Then she should stay the fuck outside my head!" Ron yelled.

"RON! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Harry roared, speaking for the first time. Ginny was so stunned by his outburst that she released Hermione's shaking form and fell back. Harry took her place and hugged her protectively. "Get the hell out," he whispered threateningly.

Ron stared at Hermione, his best friend shaking and crying on the floor. He swallowed hard, then hurried out of the room and up the stairs with an unreadable expression on his face. Ginny looked back and forth between Ron's retreating shadow and Harry and Hermione. She shot a pained, but apologetic look at Hermione, then went after her brother. "Ron, you insufferable wanker..." Their voices faded as they went upstairs.

"It's okay, Hermione, it's okay." Harry whispered gently into her ear. It killed him to see her hurt like this, it always had. It was as if he never truly knew how much he cared for Hermione until she was in some sort of pain. Then he knew for sure that there was more than just "best friend" type feelings for her there. He couldn't take this any longer. He couldn't take only being allowed to hold her, to comfort her, to embrace her, after she had been hurt. Harry wanted to do this all the time. Not only when she was in pain - all the time. He needed to be allowed to love her. "It's all right. It's okay..."

His breath caused her own tangled hair to tickle against her neck. Her tears were staining the shoulder of his shirt, but he did not seem to care. Hermione sniffled. The pressure was gone. She was alone in her head now. She could no longer Sense anyone's presence. Not even the mind of the one comforting her, hugging her protectively right at that moment. It was his mind that was really the most important to her. She desperately wanted to know the truth about how he felt, but she knew that even if she tried she would get nothing. Something was up with Harry Potter, but she didn't care right now. All Hermione wanted to know was that she truly still had a best friend.

"Harry?"

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, Harry. Thank you."

She felt his shoulders relax, but he still refused to let her go.

"Harry? Aren't you...scared of me?" Hermione's voice trembled as she asked.

Harry finally pulled away and met her gaze. "No, Hermione."

She quickly looked down, afraid to know what was really hidden in those emerald eyes. She could always tell how he was feeling by looking directly into his eyes, even without the Sense, and she feared the truth that was revealed in them.

"You should be. You should be mad. Like Ron."

"Of course not," Harry said gently, holding back his first thought which was "Don't be daft, I am not! I think I love you!"

"Ron hates me."

"No he doesn't. He's just being a stupid prat, and he will come to his senses."

"Ginny is scared of me."

"No she isn't."

"Yes she is! I felt it, Harry. It was so strong that I could sense it even with my block up. She's scared. He's furious." Hermione's brown eyes began to tear up again. Harry would have given anything in the world for her to never have to do that again.

"It's temporary. This is new; They'll come around. You're their friend. Our friend." Harry insisted. It was true. He knew it was.

"You should be scared."

"Stop saying that, Hermione!" Harry grabbed her shoulders. "Look at me. No, LOOK at me!" Hermione still avoided his eyes. "Then read me."

"What?"

"Read me, Sense me. Whatever. Take off that wall or whatever and read my mind. I. Am. Not. Afraid. Of you." Harry shook her shoulders gently. "Come on, if you don't believe me, just bloody Sense me!" He was desperate now - desperate for her to look at him.

"I - I can't."

"You can't? Or you won't? Hermione - "

"Just - just...Leave me alone! I have to - I have to..." Hermione didn't finish her sentence. Instead she pulled away from Harry's grasp and ran up the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her. Harry watched her go and heard the bathroom door slam shut. He suspected she didn't want to go to Ginny's room yet. Harry just stood there, alone in the living room.

Mundungus Fletcher barged into the living room noisily. "Bloody hell you kids yell a lot! Are you SURE there aren't any Death Eaters around here?"

Harry didn't even bother to answer him as he trudged up the stairs, unsure of what he was going to do.

"Hey, Harry! Did you hear what I said? Where is everybody?"

Mundungus's call was answered only by a flutter of snowy white wings in the living room window and the soft pitter-patter of an orange cat slinking out from under the couch.