Notice: Next update may take up to next November 4th. Please bear with me, thanks.
Author's note: Thanks to Ridxwan and PottersPrincess again for their review! Your two thumbs ups and comments had an inspiring effect. It meant that I've at least kept the story interesting for readers, and I thank you for it! I hope this chapter will be interesting to everyone, too, because the plot keeps on thickening here. Of course, if you find something wrong or bad in this chapter (or if I've overdone portraying Harry and Hermione's growing affection towards each other) please let me know! Thanks!
Chapter 12
Recurring Lapses
The news about the arrest warrants issued against the people Harry and Hermione knew is what made them more afraid of than Fudge's declared state of emergency itself. They thought they were relatively safe when they were in Hogwarts from any of Fudge's policies outside of it, and they should worry more about the immediate things like the new interior rules being enforced against the students and faculty (though they also kept wondering what was going on right now in the wizard world outside Hogwarts). They had also thought of being more especially concerned about the pressure that was being brought on the Order of the Pheonix.
Although Olga, Ramius (who had been wanted by the Ministry in the first place), and Nikolai weren't full-fledged members of the Order, Dumbledore had lost some valuable assets that could have contributed immensely to the cause nevertheless. The immediate question that came into Harry and Hermione's mind was that how could anyone have known Lupin and Podmore were actually involved in a secret group for a specific purpose of existence? They both accounted for almost a third of the active members of the Order they knew. Of course, the Order of the Pheonix was not at all formed against Fudge, but to fight Voldemort. Harry and Hermione could not help but think they've been infiltrated by someone. But who?
"Could it be Nikolai?" Hermione suggested in a hushed tone as they sat on a bench at the courtyard. She and Harry left their breakfast untouched and decided to discuss the current situation in a quiet place, where no one can hear them. They still had about 20 minutes to talk before their first class. "I mean, he's the new one, isn't he? Olga and Ramius brought him in…"
"But I don't think it makes sense, Hermione," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's among the wizards wanted by the Ministry…"
"But that could be just a cover," interrupted Hermione. "Isn't it?"
Harry thought more deeply again. That was possible, but at the same time, he found it hard to believe. "I don't think someone who had gone through all the lengths to save a Muggle-born like you might be a Death Eater," he said, "but let's not rule him out just the same. Anybody else?"
Hermione thought deeply again. "There could be other members in the Order we haven't met yet…"
"That's possible, too," agreed Harry. "D'you think we should warn Dumbledore, and tell him who we're suspecting?"
"We could," Hermione said, but she shook her head, "but I'm he's already thought of that. It's not hard to think a thing like a mole inside his own Order after what's happened. It's obvious. I trust Dumbledore's in control…"
Harry nodded and sighed deeply. "Olga and the others might have been up to something already, and these warrants just stopped them from going on any further. A clever trick - I'd love to think Lucius is behind this. Consider this, Hermione: his spies might have informed him about some names in the Order, and he suggests to Fudge to declare a state of emergency, and issue arrest warrants to capture them effectively preventing them to continue with their mission."
"Brilliant theory, Harry," Hermione grinned. "But what are the odds of Fudge declaring a state of emergency at once and having the Governing Council approve it immediately just because Lucius suggested it? Such declarations need to have some tension building up over time until a boiling point is reached…I just can't believe he could do it overnight."
"Lucius could have bought some of them…"
Hermione smiled again. "Okay, let's say that's true," she said, "but we just don't know what the real reason is behind the state of emergency and how it came about yet. I never heard of any news about some brewing tensions in the wizard world. Have you? Dumbledore and the Order could have discussed it in Grimmauld, but they didn't. It came as a total surprise, even for Dumbledore like you told me, but your theory might be correct. Let's try to gather up the facts first and then we'll think of something…"
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry sighed. "No point of zeroing in on one theory, which just comes from our own imagination, right?"
Hermione didn't say anything further though she rested her head on Harry's shoulder in a friendly manner and giggled, because she thought Harry's way of thinking was rather cute to her. Harry didn't actually mind that at all; he didn't fidget, wrapped his arm around her neck, and made a mess of her hair with the other playfully, which she mockingly protested. For a moment they just froze…feeling and enjoying the warmth of each other amid the snow. Lots of things played around in each of their minds, such as how really good it felt when they sat together this close. They didn't choose to speak about it - they just allowed their inner feelings to flow. The wonderful thing for each of them was they seemed to have temporarily forgotten about the threat around them when they were in this state. For Harry, feeling Hermione's hair brush against his face had a fantastic effect on him that he couldn't explain. Hermione felt the same as she felt Harry face pressing the top of her head. She could have wrapped her arms around Harry's waist if not for…
"Darn," Harry breathed. "Blinky and Dinky's coming towards us…"
"Who?" Hermione said, breaking away, sitting up straight, and looking around.
"The wizards I saw talking to you yesterday after supper…I gave them those names."
Hermione found them walking to their direction from their flank. She let out a breath of disappointment. "Oh, no! What do they want this time?" she said, looking away from them, frowning.
"Why, what did they talk to you about last night?" Harry asked, but Hermione couldn't answer his question anymore because they had now come within earshot.
"Miss Granger, we've been looking around for you. Assistant Administrator Seymour requires all the prefects' assistance urgently…" said Blinky. "Sorry to break the mood…"
"Yes, sir," Hermione replied, stood up, and gathered her things from the bench. She turned to Harry. "I think I'm going to be late for Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Harry. I'll meet you there then?"
Harry nodded, and stared at Blinky and Dinky. They didn't look stern at all, but rather courteous.
"Our apologies, Mr. Potter," said Dinky. "Duty calls for all prefects. She won't be gone for long."
"What's going on?" Hermione asked casually, picking up her last book and faced them.
"We'll talk about it on the way," Blinky said. "We'll save time if we do. We don't want you to miss your class, though you're fully excused."
Who says? Harry asked to himself. Now they're dictating a student's class hours…
"Bye, Harry," Hermione said, winking. Harry thought it was a signal to him that she may be in for a scoop today. Hermione left with the wizards back towards the castle. Harry sighed. If only the wizards hadn't interrupted them, he would have chosen to sit on the same spot with her all day and forget about everything (including the whole day's worth of classes). Knowing Hermione, he was sure she wouldn't have liked that and they would've gone to the classrooms anyway.
Which Harry reminded of something; he jumped when he took a look at the clock tower. He had only five minutes to hurry up to the DADA classroom, which would take more than that if he walked normally. He slung his bag on his shoulder and ran full out the opposite direction of Hermione.
He made it to his fist DADA class of the year panting. The whole class was already at their seats, and Professor Russelpunk was taking his folders out of his bag.
"Just in time, Harry," Russelpunk said happily. "We're just about to get started. Take your seat."
Harry nodded and sheepishly walked towards his assigned seat. His eyes caught Ron, who took Hermione's place away from Harry's seat (they had been sitting together since September), but Ron didn't seem to want to look at Harry. Harry understood how Ron was feeling, too, after their recent exchange at the Great Hall. Ron, however, didn't scowl - he looked peculiarly guilty. Harry didn't mind him at all this time and proceeded to sit down on his chair and placed his bag on top of now-Hermione's seat.
"Great," Russelpunk started. "Let's get on with our lessons. As you well know, as I've told you countless times, Defence Against the Dark Arts is one of the most important subjects you must dedicate learning in order to prepare for any threats that come your way in your life as a wizard. Dark forces are out there just waiting, looking for the perfect opportunity to do bodily harm on each and every one of us and you must not let your guard down at all times…"
"Oh, please, Professor!" interrupted Zacharias Smith disrespectfully. "Don't tell us more about You-Know-Who's back again - I'll report you to the security wizards!"
Harry closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Smith was getting on his nerve again this early during the day, and Harry didn't know how long he could hold on to himself. He stared at Russelpunk, expecting him to do nothing, but the look on the professor's face suggested something different.
Russelpunk just stared at Zacharias, who folded his arms arrogantly, and said, "Mr. Smith, I didn't refer to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You suggested it. I said 'Dark Forces'. You spoke out of turn - report to Professor McGonagall immediately! And take one hundred points from Hufflepuff for disrespect!"
Harry gasped and held open his jaw out of surprise, because he had not seen Russelpunk tell off a student before. Ever. The rest of the Gryffindors were impressed, and the Hufflepuffs had nothing else to do but vented their ire on Zacharias, who was too shocked to even move from his seat. Ernie McMillan, the Hufflepuff prefect, angrily took him by the ears and dragged him out of the classroom leaving some of his classmates cheering. Zacharias was apparently not so endearing even for them.
Russelpunk's face was void of emotion, and returned to his lesson as if nothing happened, earning the growing respect of the class, well, except for the Slytherins who looked unfazed.
"The lesson for today is the Flamer spell," Russelpunk announced. "It's an offensive spell that shoots a violent flame out of your wand, scorching anything at the end of it."
At this point most of the class edged away from the front fearing another disaster coming in this lesson. But to everyone's surprise, Russelpunk demonstrated the spell perfectly, with the incantation "Imflamaren!", gently burning the parchment inside a waste bin for ten seconds and also performing its reverse spell, which was a gush of high-pressure water from his wand. Everybody was excited to try the spell, but Russelpunk promised they would do it outdoors in another time unless they wanted to transform Hogwarts into ashes, much to the student's disappointment.
Russelpunk also taught the class the "Whip", a fiery-blue strand of power to electrocute anyone caught within its grasp. Due to popular demand, he let everyone try it on a poor dummy, and this took the whole double period. At last, this year's Defence Against the Dark Art class had become interesting, making everyone excited of the next lessons, except of course the Slytherins who were trying hard not to look disappointed seeing Russelpunk redeem himself.
The bell rang for break time, and for the first time Russelpunk relished the moans and groans from the class. He had never heard them do that before, and it satisfied him immensely. "Don't fret, class," he said proudly, "the next lesson will be much more interesting, I promise you. Remember, it's 'Lartigo' for the Whipslasher. Class dismissed."
"This was probably the dullest two hours of my whole life!" complained Draco loudly as he passed by Russelpunk, which was followed by the expected laughter from Crabbe and Goyle.
Harry was the last to stand up from his seat because he wanted to congratulate Russelpunk with today's excellent lesson.
"Hard to please, aren't they, those Slytherins," said Russelpunk cheerfully to Harry after he closed his portfolio.
"Don't mind them, sir," Harry said, "they just like to put down anyone who's looking good. I'm proud of you today, Professor!"
Russelpunk looked flattered. "Without your and Hermione's efforts to help me think of these spells and prepare well for them, I wouldn't have done it. Thanks a million to you both! I guess everything will be better from now on…"
Just then a girl from Hufflepuff approached Russelpunk sheepishly and told him he was cool before running off.
"I think I won't have to try to seek the attention of the students anymore," Russelpunk said to Harry as soon as the girl disappeared from sight. "Things are looking up - oh, by the way, believe it or not I still don't understand the rules of Quidditch. I've taken the interest in the sport, and if you don't mind, could you run me through it today - I mean, just an introduction will do."
"Of course, sir," replied Harry. "But did you say once you were one of the most decorated Beaters in the United States?"
"Oh, did I?" Russelpunk laughed nervously, and he turned red. "Uhm, you know, it's - uh - been so long and people like me do, uh, forget…and lose their skills over time…"
"Uhuh," said Harry slowly, but he shook it off because he felt that the Professor was only bragging about his skills in Quidditch to impress the students in one of his classes one time. "Okay, it's simple…" Harry told him the rules in just a couple of minutes, remembering Oliver Wood's same words in his first year.
"Wow, thanks!" Russelpunk said. "You're right, it's that simple to understand, and what interests me most is the Golden Snitch. Cool."
"Sorry, I got to go, Professor," said Harry, looking hurried. "I just remembered to write to someone today, and I have only half an hour left to do it…" They both bid goodbye and Harry went on his way.
Harry thought of writing a quick letter to Sirius to ask him about how Lupin was, and he had to go to the Common Room to get his stationeries. Along the way, it suddenly occurred to him that Hermione had missed DADA today. The prefects meeting could have dragged on longer than expected and she had no chance to attend the rest of the class. The common room was also crowded by other students for the break. Harry looked for a place to start writing, and he found it in a lonely corner. Moments later, Hermione had come in the common room, too. She looked extremely confused.
"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione said to him after she went over to Harry's spot.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking up at her.
"Have classes been suspended or something?"
"Of course not," Harry said, mystified. "We had two hours of DADA and it's break time. Where have you been? You missed it."
"Missed it?" Hermione gasped. "You can't be serious! It couldn't be break time already! I went straight to our classroom after I was dismissed in the meeting and found it empty. Everybody was out of the corridors! I swear the meeting only took a couple of minutes!"
"I don't understand it…" Harry said, "What was the meeting about?"
"They just instructed us to help them enforce the two-man rule, which is giving the wizards severe headaches," replied Hermione distractedly.
"Serves them right…" Harry commented.
Hermione waved her hand impatiently. "Yeah they deserve it, but that's not important, Harry…I'll tell you about it later - how could I not remember where I've gone during my last two hours?" Hermione then paused. They both sunk into a moment of silence when it struck them.
"Oh, no!" Harry exclaimed. "You had another memory lapse! I was hoping that was behind you already!"
It hit Hermione like a gong. She sank down on a couch and suddenly looked worried.
"We'd better see Madam Pomfrey…"
"Was Professor Russelpunk angry about me?" she interrupted apprehensively, seemingly less concerned about her ongoing condition than her schoolwork (as usual). "I hope his lessons today couldn't have been good like it's always been…"
"He didn't mention anything about you, actually, but I'm sorry to break it to you, Hermione, it was one of the best DADA classes we had in years. Russelpunk was simply fabulous today!"
"O-M-G, O-M-G, O-M-G!" Hermione wailed, covering her face with her hands. "I gotta look for Russelpunk now and apologize to him! I gotta go!" She sprang up her seat and started to run towards the portrait hole.
"See you at Herbology!" Harry cried after her. She made a u-turn, ran up the spiral staircase, and got back down, now clutching her work robes with her.
"See you later, too," she panted as she hurriedly passed Harry again, her bushy hair flying behind her, and disappeared through the portrait hole.
Harry blew out a breath, shook his head, and returned to writing his letter to Sirius (though he started worrying again about Hermione's condition at the same time). Because of his limited time, he had to write it as shortly as he can.
Dear Snuffles,
Have you heard of what happened? How's Moony? Where is he now? I hope you could answer as soon as possible. We're all worried here. Things are not looking too well.
Love,
Harry
He reread his letter in the point of view of a stranger, and thought he wrote it as vaguely as he could but enough for Sirius to understand at once. His letter could be intercepted because of the tight security measures around Hogwarts, and the state of emergency. Harry was confident that Hedwig couldn't be caught by anyone midway, but he didn't want to take any chances. It was better to be safe.
Despite the fact that his letter was only very short, Harry thought he wouldn't have enough time to go to the Owlery to call Hedwig down and still make it for Herbology, which was located at the opposite side of the castle so he decided he'd do it later. He gathered up his work robes and headed towards the greenhouses. He hoped he could meet Hermione along the way, but there was no sign of her.
Professor Sprout called for attendance, and Harry took his place at Greenhouse Three. Hermione had arrived just in time to catch up before her name was called, and she was spared of being late. Aside from heavily panting beside him, Harry noticed that she looked distressed.
While the rest of the class' names were being called, Harry hissed to her, "How did it go with Russelpunk?"
Hermione hesitated, but finally said, "He gave me extra work! Six feet of essays for the Flamer and the Whipslasher spells."
"That's not bad at all for you, isn't it?" Harry tried to lighten her up. "I mean, you enjoy doing these things…you're Hermione Granger."
"But that's not what's bothering me," she replied. "It's how Russelpunk looked at me. He's quite different - he seemed to have become stricter and less friendly to me than before. He was always so pleasant to talk to but not this morning…and I don't understand it…"
Harry didn't like that. Not that he expected Russelpunk should have been partly indebted to Hermione for helping him fix his very own problems with teaching, but he hoped they had not made a monster out of him now that he was beginning to be successful in lessons. Today, Russelpunk seemed to have treated Harry the same way he had since the classroom mishap with Hermione, but why did he now show a different view on her? He swore he heard him acknowledge Hermione's help in preparing his lessons as a big part of his success in redeeming himself in front of the fifth years.
Harry couldn't answer her at the moment, and thought that he was now beginning to dislike the professor, not just because of his treatment with Hermione, but for other reasons he was beginning to realize as well. He glanced over to Hermione, and she looked real troubled because her eyebrows furrowed while she cut off the excess growth of her Windyweed plant (a weed that produces its own spurt of odorless air when bothered by gardeners, but its growth is highly useful as an active ingredient for potions brewed to fight constipation). Her bushy hair flew back while the weed tried to discourage her from pruning it by blowing strong gusts of air at her face. Everybody else looked like they were riding in cars without windshields. Harry wished he brought along his Quidditch goggles, but that was too late already.
It was hard to breathe because of the overload of excess air whirling around the greenhouse, but this didn't deter Harry from thinking more about Hermione's recent troubles while he did his work. Poor Hermione, he thought. Everything seemed to go wrong for her lately ever since she told him her wand was malfunctioning.
Now whatever happened with her wand? Harry asked himself. He needed to ask her that help Hermione resolve her other lingering problems as much as possible. He thought he should help her as much as he could and wished his Windyweed would've stop blowing his face with air to allow him to talk to her. What happened next almost placed Harry in a fit of despair.
"OW!" Hermione cried, and froze as she watched some blood ooze out copiously from her middle finger. She had cut herself with her pruning tool. Harry immediately dropped everything he was doing and tried to see how bad it was, ignoring the laughter from Draco and his cronies.
"Let me see it!" Harry said forcefully as Hermione tried to hide her injury away from him, but she relented and allowed him to inspect it after moment. Harry took out his hanky and wrapped it around the wound, which was big enough to be an emergency, to help stop the blood flow. Blood had gradually soaked his hanky, and it seemed there was no stopping it for now.
"You better go to the hospital wing this instant!" a frightened Professor Sprout said to Hermione. "Harry, you better escort Hermione…you may be excused from Herbology today…go!"
Hermione was silently crying while Harry guided her protectively towards the hospital wing, wrapping his arms behind her back and holding her wounded hand with his own free hand.
"Don't worry," Harry said soothingly as they walked towards the castle, "Madam Pomfrey will fix this in no time at all…"
"I just don't know what's wrong with me lately, Harry," she sobbed. "It's like…it's like…"
"Like you're not being yourself?" Harry suggested. "Or it seems like everything's gone wrong for you?"
Hermione sniffed and nodded.
"I don't believe any of that baloney," Harry said, trying to help Hermione think otherwise. "They're all just coincidences…" Harry, however, could not help but agree with her, too. He thought about it himself - many things were going wrong for her lately. While Harry kept supporting Hermione in their trek towards the hospital wing, he tried to enumerate in his mind her recent troubles. Hermione's misfortunes seemed to have started during her accident in DADA last year (if he didn't count the time when she complained about her malfunctioning wand before that). The accident was the cause of her current troubles with her memory lapses (that was another, not counting how many times it had attacked her). Then she had this sudden fever back at the Burrow and that got worse in Grimmauld.
Harry didn't know if he'd count Russelpunk's changing view towards Hermione. For all he knew, the professor might only have been angry with her for missing his class and Hermione had misinterpreted it for something else, but she did feel bad about it. Cutting her finger in Herbology was purely an accident, but it still counted as one of her troubles nonetheless. Harry couldn't help but feel pity for his best friend, and the bad thing he felt was he wasn't doing good enough to help her…
They had gotten to the hospital wing within minutes, and Madam Pomfrey dropped everything she was doing to give Hermione medical attention.
"Whoa! That's some nasty cut you have here," Madam Pomfrey commented while she cleaned the wound to prevent infection. "But you'll live, of course - too far from your own guts. I'll use magic to close it, as usual, and it'll be good as new."
Madam Pomfrey expected Hermione to calm down already through her words, but she just kept crying. "What's wrong?" she asked her. "You can stop crying - it's nothing…"
"She's been through a lot of bad luck lately, Madam," Harry told her for Hermione.
"Oh, is that so?"
"Y-Yeah," Hermione cried. "I didn't just cut my finger in Herbology - I don't remember what I did the whole double period of DADA…" she trailed off and sobbed.
"She had another memory lapse early this morning," Harry explained slowly. "Hermione forgot about what she did from eight to ten."
Madam Pomfrey frowned. "That's strange…" she said as she kept fixing Hermione's wound.
"Wh-What's strange?" sniffed Hermione, now looking alarmed.
"You should have recovered by now," Pomfrey replied. "But this could mean it has taken much longer than I expected."
"You mean to say it's permanent?" asked Hermione, her eyes wide, though still teary eyed. "Please say it isn't so…"
"No, no, no, it's not that. Chances of this going permanent are very, very slim. But we need to extend your medication if this is the case. When was the last time you had an attack other than this morning?"
"Just before Christmas, I think," Hermione replied. "Or maybe just after - I'm not sure…"
"Well, I find that slightly encouraging," Pomfrey said, sounding as confident as she could. "I mean, it shows that it's tapering off over time. Soon it would just go away and never bother you again."
"Do you really think so?" Harry asked, hopeful that Madam Pomfrey was right.
"I expect that to be, at least. Hermione, I think you need to take your potion regularly for an additional week…"
Hermione nodded, but still looked extremely worried.
"If the lapses occur again or more frequently than normal, you must see me again as soon as possible so that I could give you additional treatment, okay? Promise me."
Harry didn't like the sound of that at all. It meant Hermione was not out of the woods yet with regards to her condition. If he heard Madam Pomfrey right, it also meant it was possible it could get much even worse. Harry was too distraught that he had neither heard Hermione reply nor had seen her nod her head in response to Madam Pomfrey's instructions.
"Here, you should take this," Madam Pomfrey said to Hermione, handing her some pills. "Take one each day…"
"What's this for, to help me get rid of my memory lapses?" asked Hermione.
"No, they're to stop you from worrying about it," Madam Pomfrey said, shrugging. "You look like you're beginning to from the look of your face…"
"No, thanks," Hermione said, putting them on a side table. "I absolutely don't need anti-depressants…"
"Okay, that's fine. So, aside from your recurring memory lapses, you're okay now, Hermione. Just don't forget to see me at once if it's still bothering you…"
-o0o-
Harry thought Hermione should have accepted Madam Pomfrey's pills because she looked as if she needed it now. She hadn't talked much at all since she was discharged from the hospital wing after her wound was healed. Hermione had fits of anxiety attacks that left her silent for long periods of time, obviously thinking about her condition all to herself very seriously. Harry was worried even more for her than he'd already been before this.
"What can I do to help?" Harry asked Hermione concernedly as they walked slowly and silently for over an hour around the snow covered grounds (there were less students around because of ongoing classes).
"Oh, Harry," she sighed, smiling for the first time since the last saw each other at the common room, "You've done so much for me already, ever since I started goofing up before Christmas - I thank you for everything…"
"But you're still not well, Hermione," Harry said gently, looking at her eyes as they kept walking slowly together. "I just can't get myself to leave you all alone like this…"
Hermione laughed softly. "It's ironic, isn't it? I should be the one worrying about you, not the other way around…don't forget about what Voldemort's wwanting to do to you…"
"But I don't care if I die in the process…it's nothing compared to what you're going through…"
Hermione fell silent. She thought this was the sweetest thing Harry had told her ever since they became friends. She couldn't answer him, because it would only make her voice choppy if she talked back. She didn't show Harry the tears that were streaming down from her eyes at the moment by facing away from him and pretending to look at the frozen lake they were passing by. She was so happy Harry could disregard his own safety, even putting the possibility of his own death aside for her, but she knew she wouldn't permit that at all because she cared for her best friend very much, too.
She thought it wasn't really fair if she allowed herself to forego her responsibility to help ensure Harry's safety just because she had her own problems that Harry thought was more important to take care of first than his. Because of this, it helped her decide to stop worrying about her memory lapses and other bad luck. She would just have to deal with them when they came. Harry's words gave her the renewed strength she needed so badly to take her out of her stupor. She had to take control of herself again, and she had to do it for Harry. She took a deep breath.
"Thank you, Harry," she said, smiling and wiping her tears, "you're such a very good friend - I…I'm all right now. What you said really means a lot to me. You made me realize that I can't afford to be weak at a time like this because you need me as much as I need you."
"Yeah, I admit I need your help, especially since we don't know what's going on around us or what's going to happen to us. But you can count on me, too, because I'll protect you with my life even if it's the last thing I'll ever do…because…"
"Yes?" Hermione said, waiting for Harry to say his reason.
"Because…because…you're special to me…" Harry said carefully.
Hermione gave him a wide smile. "You're very special to me, too, Harry," she said rather awkwardly, though this didn't stop her from kissing Harry on his cheek for the third time in her whole life. "You're so very sweet…"
They both walked ahead together silently for some time, grinning like there was no tomorrow. They felt rather good being alone together again…
"Tell you what, Hermione," said Harry a little later, "if Russelpunk's still bothering you, I think he deserves a closer look from us…"
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, looking clueless at Harry.
"I have a bad feeling about him. I just can't make it out."
"Harry, I hope you're not doing this just to make me feel better," Hermione said seriously. "I mean, I've thought he might have been only angry with me for missing his first ever successful class in his career, and I don't really mind that at all…I already brushed that aside."
"No, it's not that. When I met him last night in the halls alone hovering by himself, I just couldn't help it but keep thinking he's up to something ever since. Did you know he asked me to teach him about Quidditch? He said he was specifically interested with the Golden Snitch. There's nothing really wrong about that in itself, but if he's being friendly with me, I think he's trying too much. I've just got a bad feeling about him…"
"I see…" Hermione said. "So you're suspecting him to be part of the plot? Is that it?"
"I guess," Harry said uncertainly. "It won't hurt if we go careful with him - if he turns out clean, so much the better…"
"Okay," Hermione nodded. "We'll do our investigating together - it's absolutely not safe if we each go doing it alone."
"I think we need to know what he might have been doing outside Filch's broom closet in the dark," added Harry. "It's close to Whipple's assistant's office - a Seymour or something. I think we need to look there, too. I don't know what Seymour looks like - I haven't seen him yet."
"I think you already did this morning - he's one of the couple wizards who met us in the courtyard," Hermione said. "You know what? Those were cute names you've given them…" she chuckled.
"You mean Blinky and Dinky?" asked Harry, surprised. "Which of them was Seymour?"
"He's the one with the scar on his face."
"Ah…that's Blinky. So what do you think of him?" Harry asked. "Blink…Seymour, I mean?"
"Well, he's surprisingly mild mannered and soft spoken," Hermione said, thinking deeply, "not unlike the other wizards who seem to think they're the masters of the universe in Hogwarts. I just don't like the extra work they're giving me and the other prefects. I'd rather worry about homework…"
"I agree he was kind of polite with me today," Harry said, nodding. "Do you think Seymour's one of the people Olga and Dumbledore thinks aren't Death Eaters?"
"Possibly, but I still don't want to bet on it," shrugged Hermione. "It's better not to trust anyone of them until we're absolutely sure…"
"I agree, I agree," Harry said, smiling at Hermione. "Good thinking."
"Thanks - this is a good way to keep my mind busy and keep me from worrying about my memory lapses - let's see what we can discover tonight, after dinner… we'll do it together later when we're free. I know you too well that I trust your instincts. And let's not forget - we still have to go to the Library and see what we could dig up about the Metavira potion, maybe before supper…"
"Darn! I just remembered! I still have detention tonight…" Harry groaned
"Then let's do it after you serve detention…"
"Then, how about the curfew?"
"You have an invisibility cloak, don't you?" Hermione pointed out. She looked as if she couldn't believe Harry would've forgotten about that. "Let's use it."
"Yeah, but remember what Moody warned us about relying on it too much…"
"Nah, I'm sure only about three people in the wizard world can see through invisibility cloaks," Hermione said confidently. "Dumbledore and probably Voldemort. Moody can see through cloaks because of his magical eye…"
"I suppose…" Harry said uncertainly. "Okay, we'll get my cloak just before dinner, and I'll meet you outside the second floor boy's bathroom - I'll start cleaning up from there."
"No way I'm keeping you out of my sight that time of night, Harry," Hermione said severely. "They could get you easily when you're alone serving detention. I'll stay in the bath room with you…"
"But that's a boy's bathroom, Hermione. You're a girl…"
"You're cleaning it, right?" Hermione argued. "I could conjure an 'out of order' sign and hang it outside the door and nobody will come in…"
"Okay, okay, you win!" Harry laughed. "It'd be lonely cleaning the bathroom without company, I admit."
"I won't forgive myself if they got to you tonight because I wasn't there for you…"
Harry didn't say anything further, though he smiled in appreciation to Hermione's concern for him. "Oh, I just remembered something," he said shortly. "I think this will be my only chance to send this letter to Snuffles." He took out an envelope from his robes and showed it to Hermione. He told her he wanted to know how and where Moony was after the warrants were sent out against him, and Hermione confirmed his letter's contents were safely too general from an outsider's point of view.
When they reached the Owlery, they found it crowded with some students who were calling down their own owls to send letters to their relatives. They found Ginny among them.
"I'm anxious to know how Mum and Dad are, and how the state of emergency's affecting them," Ginny explained as she waited for Pig to finish showing off his excitement of being given another assignment. "I hope they're all right. I think this would be a good way to know what's going on out there in the wizard world. I don't understand what it's like being under a state of emergency."
"Good idea, Ginny," said Hermione. "Could you tell us what they say and how they are after you get a reply? We're worried about them, too."
"Sure!" Ginny replied, smiling. "No problem!"
After seeing Hedwig fly off towards the horizon, Harry and Hermione got to the castle just in time for lunch at the Great Hall. Along the way, they witnessed a wizard leading three Ravenclaws and bringing them to some place they had no idea where. The students looked worried on their faces.
"What do you think that was all about?" Harry asked Hermione while he looked darkly at the wizards.
"I guess they're showing they mean business about the two-man rule now…" she replied grimly.
They both saw Professor McGonagall and Snape walking briskly behind at the wizards' wake. When they passed Harry and Hermione, they heard McGonagall say, "We got to see what they're going to do with our students - but if they'll start manhandling them or giving them trumped up charges, let's give them hell!"
Harry then noticed the students around didn't dare getting more than two in a group, and they had thought of a way to circumvent the rule by occasionally transferring groups. One example was Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. While the twins walked alongside each other, Lee was not far behind by himself. Fred would sometimes leave George for a while to go to Lee, and vice versa. But it still wasn't the same as being a whole trio altogether. Harry knew he didn't need to worry about violating the rule for now because Ron had separated himself from him and Hermione.
The talk over lunch among the students seemed to have been concentrated on the detention of the three Ravenclaws. Harry and Hermione, on the other hand, ate their lunch much more heavily than usual because foregoing breakfast made them so hungry.
"Glad you're eating properly, Potter," said Angelina Johnson from behind. "You need all the extra calories today - we'll be having an extensive practice session at three o'clock today in the Quidditch pitch…"
Harry choked out his boiled potatoes. "But Quidditch always doesn't start until March!" he said. "That's still three months from now…"
"Quidditch season has been moved up," Angelina said disappointedly. "Fudge announced that Hogwarts should show normalcy in these 'difficult times' and he insisted in demonstrating it by reopening the season this early. First match of the year is this Friday…Gyrffindor versus Hufflepuff."
"In the snow???" Harry said incredulously. "We'll freeze to death in this weather! Fudge's crazy!"
"Shhhhh!!!!" Hermione said forcefully at Harry, looking around nervously for nearby wizards. They fortunately didn't hear their conversation. "Watch your mouth - they might hear you!"
"But…but…" Harry said as quietly as he could. "In the snow???"
"As much as I want to, Harry, I don't want to call it off," groaned Angelina. "If I do, Gryffindor will forfeit the game, and we need all the points we could get to move ahead in the standings. Sorry, but we don't have any choice but to play this Friday. I'm expecting you this afternoon at the pitch. This is our only chance for practice aside from next Wednesday - the administrator only authorized us to use the pitch for those days. Don't let us down." Then she walked off.
"I don't believe this," Harry growled. "I just don't believe this!"
"Harry," Hermione said, ignoring Harry's unfinished tirade, "if you're really worried about freezing to death under the snow, I could research for a spell to add more warmth to your Quidditch garb for the game - it won't be difficult to find something." Hermione took out her wand to illustrate her point.
Harry, however, looked apprehensive as he stared on Hermione's wand. "Not that I've lost confidence in your magical prowess, Hermione, but h-have you taken care of that already?"
"Oh, you mean my wand?" Hermione said, laughing a bit. "Yeah, I did. I went to see Mr. Ollivander with Mum and Dad the day after we got home for Christmas, didn't I tell you? Sorry, I think I didn't…he replaced my old wand with a new one, but it still has the same core and wood material - only it's just half an inch longer than my old one. He told me I had a very rare case of a failing wand, so he let me get chosen again. Don't worry about it."
"Glad to hear that," Harry said, finally getting happy for Hermione. "I mean, it's bad you had to spend more for a new wand, but at least we're sure you're back doing proper magic without worrying about creating accidents anymore…"
After they finished eating their lunch, Harry and Hermione went back to their dormitory to clean up for afternoon classes. Since Hermione would be having Arithmancy at the same time Harry would be in the pitch for Quidditch Practice, she insisted that she'd fetch him at around five in the afternoon at the north stadium entrance hall and that Harry shouldn't go anywhere without her. Harry agreed and chose not to argue with her.
Harry and Hermione both had Potions from one to two-thirty in the afternoon. As usual, Snape was still unpleasant as ever especially for the two of them, but this didn't seem to deter Hermione from approaching Snape to talk to him after dismissal.
"I don't know what interest you have in the Metavira potion, Miss Granger," said Snape impatiently to her at the teacher's table while Harry looked on at a distance. "As far as I'm concerned, it's useless and has no real value to me or to anybody else. Please don't waste my time asking about its derivatives, too, because it's not worth it."
While they walked together along the corridors, Harry said to Hermione, "I think it's useless to Snape because he's jealous about Willard's baby - he couldn't have been given lots awards for it if it wasn't useful, right?"
"That's right," Hermione said. "I expected not to get something out of Snape, but it didn't hurt to try. Besides, we still have the Library. We'll look it up after I fetch you at the Quidditch Stadium, okay? Remember, north side entrance hall…"
They now separated because of their differing schedules. Harry had to hurry up to change into Quidditch clothes in the dormitory to prepare for his - freezing - practice. Thinking that he or Hermione wouldn't have the chance to be back at the Gryffindor tower anymore after practice because of their tight plans, he decided to bring along with him his Invisibility cloak like Hermione had suggested now just in case it was needed tonight.
-o0o-
Like Harry had known all along, Quidditch under the snowy weather was the worst time ever to play the sport. He thought playing the game in the middle of a cyclone was much more preferable than this one. Team members practicing their moves in the freezing weather seemed pointless because they all felt stiff and couldn't maneuver well without bending their bodies to perform their wild turns. Harry's team mates often chose not to do a speed boost, a critical move in Quidditch, because the chilly wind hitting their skins was simply too unbearable.
The only advantage in this snowy weather was that Harry could see the Golden Snitch more clearly in contrast with the snow (the extreme vibration brought about by its wings kept snow from building up on the ball), and his sun goggles helped him spot it more frequently than usual. Angelina didn't complain of Harry's performance the whole time, because on average the Snitch usually didn't escape him more than twenty seconds after letting go of it again. Within two hours, Harry had caught the Snitch at least a hundred times.
Harry's performance in practice today was enough to satisfy Angelina and she dismissed the whole team on schedule, much to everyone's relief. At least they only had to endure the cold weather again twice after this on Wednesday and Friday.
Harry waited for Hermione as agreed at the north entrance after a welcome hot shower. The north entrance hall was a vast space with a forty-foot high ceiling and six double doors placed side by side leading outside to handle a large group of people going in and out without overcrowding. Two massive stairs flanked the entrance leading to upper level floors and vomitories to efficiently distribute spectators around the pitch. Harry looked like a tiny dot as he stood all alone in the middle of the silent entrance hall.
It was already half past five and there was still no sign of Hermione. The rest of the team had already left minutes ago, and Harry wished he had decided to just go with them back towards the castle, but an agreement was an agreement and he knew Hermione would've been hurt if she found out he left without waiting for her. Besides, if she failed to show up, he had his invisibility cloak with him.
So Harry sat down on a bench nearby and inspected his Firebolt to wait for Hermione.
"Mr. Potter," said Madam Hooch, stopping by him while she carried the chest containing Quidditch balls. "What're you doing here alone after practice?"
"I'm waiting for HHGhhskjsdHermione, Madam Hooch," replied Harry. "We agreed to meet here around this time, but I think she's running late."
"Okay, but don't stay here too long - there aren't any other people around for half a kilometer and I know Headmaster Dumbledore doesn't want that, right?"
Harry just nodded.
"Very well, I'll just return this chest in the ball room right there and be on my way," she said, smiling. "Take care, Potter."
Harry watched Madam Hooch get in and out of the ball room, lock its door, and got out of the stadium. Soon, Hermione was running hurriedly towards Harry, looking drained."
"S-sorry about this H-Harry," she panted, and bent down to regain her breathing. "I swear I'll never be…be late again for you!"
"It's okay - but where have you been?" he asked, but he wasn't angry with her.
Hermione didn't answer at once, perhaps because she was still preoccupied with taking back her normal breathing, Harry thought. But Harry couldn't help but suspect she may have forgotten what time it was, or…
"Hermione, did you just have another memory lapse?"
"No-no! Of course not!" she said severely, yet sounding slightly hurt. "How can you say that? You'd know if I did because I'd tell you at once, Harry. I just had to do some extra prefect work and it took a lot of time than I expected…"
"Okay, sorry if I brought that up…" but Harry hoped Hermione didn't now choose to hide her memory attacks if it happened to keep herself from being treated further by Madam Pomfrey. He knew this wasn't a good thing at all though he decided not to pursue it.
"C'mon, let's go, and thanks for picking me up…"
That made Hermione smile and Harry allowed her to pick the route she wanted back to the castle. Hermione thought they'd save time walking through the interior walkways and exit at the south entrance, which was at the other side of the stadium. But to their disappointment it was sealed so they were forced to double back to the north entrance, hoping they weren't locked in already.
When they were almost out of the north entrance (they were glad it was still open) they caught sight of someone outdoors at a distance walking towards the stadium. Harry, by instinct, pulled Hermione back and hid her behind the walls, hoping they weren't seen.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione hissed.
"I think I just saw Russelpunk walking towards here." Harry replied. "Now what's he doing here?"
"So? That's not strange at all, isn't it?"
"It's not, but we'll just try to see what he's doing here alone at a time like this," Harry said looking around. "I'm interested…"
"Well, okay, but did he see us?" asked Hermione.
Harry peered out ever so slightly from the edge of the entrance's doorway and saw Russelpunk walking closer. The professor was strangely looking back too often as if he was making sure he was alone that made Harry suspect even more he was probably up to no good.
"He didn't see us," Harry replied, facing Hermione again, "and he's coming this way!" He opened his satchel and took out his invisibility cloak. "Good thing you suggested bringing this along," he grinned, and wrapped the cloak on himself and Hermione, completely rendering them invisible.
After a couple more minutes, Russelpunk had gotten in the stadium. He kept looking around making sure no one saw him. Hermione immediately thought that it was mightily peculiar for someone to do this if his only purpose was to have a lonely afternoon stroll at the Quidditch pitch, and teachers weren't restricted from visiting the stadium at all.
"I'm convinced, Harry; let's see what he's up to," she whispered, catching on her interest to observe Russelpunk like Harry.
Russelpunk silently went over to the ball room, and when he found out it was locked, he took out his wand and muttered "Alohomora!" The door clicked open. Before he proceeded inside, he made a final check for any sign of other people outside and went in, closing the door behind him.
Harry turned to Hermione under the cloak. "Do you think it's safe to get in and see what he's doing there?"
Hermione considered it for a moment. "Maybe," she then replied. "He might just think the wind blew the door open - okay…let's go before we miss anything…"
They moved fast towards the ball room's door, opened it gently, moved in, and positioned themselves quickly, as quietly as they can at a corner. Russelpunk was startled when the door opened wide, and pointed his wand at the ready as if he was expecting to be attacked. But after a few moments of silence and no sign of anyone, he moved over to the door, wand still at the ready, and looked carefully outdoors. Deciding no one was really around he shook his head and closed the door again.
"This door is probably a thousand years old," laughed Russelpunk nervously, and went straight to the narrow section of the room where the chest containing the Quidditch balls was resting on a niche. When he succeeded to open it, he laughed as if he was like a kid in the act of creating a nasty practical joke.
For Harry and Hermione, hearing Russelpunk laugh like this while doing something they could not see was very eerie as it was scary. Just as bad was they couldn't squeeze themselves at the narrow space near the chest without being felt by Russelpunk to have a closer look. The professor kept on laughing for a few more moments like an excited little tyke, then finally closed the chest, and started his way back towards the door. He opened it, and before he got out, he again looked around to make sure he wasn't seen. At last he was outside and Harry and Hermione heard the door lock again after it was closed securely.
Harry removed the invisibility cloak over his and Hermione's heads, and stared at the chest.
"What do you think that was all about, Harry? And why was he laughing that way?" Hermione hissed, looking extremely puzzled and shocked after witnessing Russelpunk's highly suspicious behavior with her own two eyes.
-o0o-
Chapter 13 coming soon. New messages from the author will be posted on top of this chapter, so you may want to check it out to know when to expect the next chapter would be coming out. Again, I thank you for reading this story.
To some of the readers of this fic, I'd really appreciate it if you drop a review, too. Thankssss!