Chapter 16: "Facing Him Again"
"Where were you last night?" Ron asked to his best friend once he managed to get to the Great Hall in time to at least get a bite to eat, and without tripping into anything.
"Sorry?" Harry's heart skipped a beat. He certainly didn't want to tell Ron about his rendezvous with Hermione last night, which had been strictly platonic of course.
"Last night. You didn't return until late."
"I was reading, alone. You know, second task," Harry managed to say without actually stuttering.
"Oh. Looking forward to it?"
"What?"
"The task."
"Oh, yeah," Harry responded absentmindedly. His mind was in another place at the moment; or rather, somebody else.
"You know, I was thinking of asking Hermione to be my girlfriend. What do you think? I know she's into me anyway."
"Are you? Good for you," Harry tried to smile thinly, but found the task impossible when he felt his insides were threatening to explode. Relax! She's just your friend! That's all she'll ever be!
And speaking of the devil…
"Hermione!" Ron was able to spot her hidden behind her books, as usual.
Hermione jumped, barely managing to crab her books before they fell to the floor. Harry turned around and there she was, in person, his other best friend, who had been his just last night. But just to remove the spell, he reminded himself.
"Oh, hi Ron," she said distantly.
"Let me help you with those," Ron offered.
"No. Don't bother," she said as she caught sight of Harry.
"Good morning," Harry smiled thinly at her. He was suddenly caught between awkwardness and curiosity about how she would react. Would she remember the spell? Anything at all? A question he had forgotten to ask Fleur, to his misfortune.
"Hi," Hermione lowered her head.
At least she's not under the spell anymore.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked. Just to make sure.
"Fine," she squeaked. Then she remembered the point of confronting her friends, or rather him, during what was bound to be an awkward morning. "Harry, could you…? I got something of yours."
"Sorry?" As a response, Hermione took him by his robe, successfully getting him out of his seat and
EXTREMELY close to her for comfort. "What?" She remained quiet as she handed him his glasses. "Oh,
thanks," he whispered, noticing that her eyes were keen to avoid his, which meant that memory lost was not an
effect of the `antidote'. " `Mione, I'm…"
"What are you two up to?" Ron interrupted before Harry could go any further.
"I've got Arithmancy. See you guys." Hermione took the first opportunity and rushed out of the Great Hall without so much as a pumpkin juice.
"What's with her?" Ron asked, puzzlement evident in his eyes.
"Beats me. Come on, we have class too."
****
"Mr. Potter!" Professor Snape barked, "A word if I may."
Harry stayed behind as the other students left the Potion's classroom. He gulped. What did he want now? First, Hermione had avoided him all day, and now this? What could possibly get worse? Wrong question.
"Professor."
"How's Miss Granger?"
"What?"
"Granger! The bushy- haired girl who keeps you company!" Snape shouted.
" Oh, Hermione?" Harry's brow furrowed. Since when did Severus Snape care about Hermione? Nevertheless, he proceeded to answer the question. After all, the sooner he got out of there the better. "Ahem! Fine. Why?" Maybe Snape had noticed the change
on Hermione too these past couple of days. The question was, why mention it now?
"Did she cry? She couldn't stop complaining when I gave her the potion," Snape confessed bitterly.
"What?" Harry asked. Frankly, he couldn't be more lost.
" Oh, never mind. You must had spent the day crying some more about poor
James. Just give her this," Snape commanded, giving Harry a flask that contained a pink liquid.
"What is this?"
"The antidote Potter! Tell her she can stop crying now. Make sure she drinks it. Oh, and to make sure it works, try any spell on her, will you? I expect you have learned something during your stay at school."
"Wait a minute, this is a Protection Potion antidote."
" Good Potter. At least you learned something from my class. I gave it to her last Wednesday."
"Wednesday? But…"
"What did she do?"
"Well, I accidentally conjured the Accio summon on her…"
"Enough said Potter. That potion protects against spells, not summons, or conjures."
"Oh. Can I go now?"
"Please do!"
Harry got out of Snape's classroom just as Snape closed the door in his face. Needless to say that he spent quite a while looking at the pink liquid. Was it true? Had she been under a Protection Potion? Because if she had, Draco's spell couldn't have worked on her, meaning that…. the Protection Potion hadn't worked. She wasn't the kind of person that would joke with a spell. No, she wouldn't do that. Why would she? He put the antidote in his bag and went to look for her.
****
Hermione was seated in her usual chair at the library. No surprise there. Harry grabbed a chair and sat across her.
"Hey," he greeted her.
After a light gasp, she looked at him with a nervous expression, forcing a thin smile, and continued reading.
"Snape sent you something," Harry interrupted her once more.
" Sorry?" she asked, turning her full attention to him. She had to face him sooner or later after all.
" He wants you to drink this," Harry put the flask on the table," The antidote to his Protection Potion."
" I'm sorry, what?" Hermione's eyes opened wide. That was definitely not the start she had in mind for the dreaded conversation.
"The one he gave you…last Wednesday, if he really did."
"Oh, well…Ahem!"
"Because if he did, it didn't work, because you were under a spell since that Wednesday, so I don't think that…. "
Hermione cleared her throat once more, effectively interrupting him. It was about time that he knew the truth. Things had gotten out of hand last night. That she had liked it was not in the bargain.
" There was never any spell Harry. "
A/N: Okay! Here is another one for you to hate me for. I want to apologize for submitting this chapter so late, but I have been sick and busy. Anyway, Happy Holidays everybody. Hope the New Year brings lots of blessings for each and every one of you. Until next time. I'll try to update before I go back to College. Thanks for the reviews and don't hesitate to drop me a line! I still answered each one of them!
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