Finding the Muse
By Rain Fletcher
Part 3
The next few days passed with no further music, accidental or otherwise. Homework and practice conspired to rob Harry of any free time he might have otherwise had, the situation made even more dire by his earlier procrastination. He barely saw Luna at all except in passing, and his time in Hermione's company was spent with noses in books, leaving little time for idle conversation. For her part, Hermione did not bring up the events of Monday evening, and Harry followed her lead. As much as he hated to think such things, he found himself reluctant to bring it up in Ron's company: he couldn't help but wonder whether Ron would find Hermione's piano playing laughable, never mind Luna's surprising talent.
As much as Harry liked Ron, as much as they had experienced together, and as close as they were, Harry's recent episodes with Hermione and Luna seemed like something he just couldn't share with his red-haired friend. Their conversations were about quidditch, and classwork, and teachers, and Ron's sometimes overbearing family. How could Harry explain something as intangible and emotional as this to him?
Either Ron wouldn't get it, which would make Harry feel foolish, or he'd get suspicious that Harry and Hermione were doing something without him, which would make Harry feel badly for leaving Ron out, or worst of all, Ron would possibly laugh the whole thing off, which Harry uncomfortably realized would make him angry.
And of course there was the matter of Ernie's appearance at the Room of Requirement, and the odd expression he'd given them as he'd left. How long before the entire castle was gossiping about musical interludes with two Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw? And how would Ron react to finding out about it from the rumour mill? This, as it turned out, was not nearly the problem Harry had feared: either Ernie had told nobody at all, or those who had heard weren't going out of their way to tease Harry, Hermione and Luna about it. Since the latter possibility was patently ridiculous, Harry could only conclude that Ernie was keeping their secret, at least for the time being.
He was therefore taken somewhat by surprise when, at Friday breakfast in the Great Hall, he suddenly heard Ernie's voice over his shoulder. "Harry, Hermione, might I have a word?"
Harry and Hermione, seated together at the Gryffindor table with Ron opposite them, looked first at one another, then back at the Hufflepuff prefect, who stood behind them with his hands across their shoulders, smiling pleasantly. "Hullo, Ernie," Hermione said. "Is there something wrong?"
"Oh, nothing at all, nothing at all," Ernie replied in his usual airily dramatic voice. "I just wanted to… ask something of the two of you, based on our last meeting."
Harry again exchanged glances with Hermione. He couldn't help noticing that Ron was looking at Ernie with open suspicion, no doubt wondering at the nature of this "last meeting."
Oblivious to this, Ernie leaned in closer, and spoke in a conspiratorial stage-whisper. "Hufflepuff House wishes to request the honour of your company this evening in our common room at eight o'clock, along with the charming Miss Lovegood, whom I might add has already accepted. Would you be so kind as to grace us with your presence?"
"Er- what for?" Hermione asked.
If anything, Ernie's smile deepened. "More, I cannot say, except that I believe you will enjoy yourselves."
"Can Ron come too?" Harry asked, suddenly. He immediately wondered if he should have asked, given his lingering doubts about Ron's possible reactions, but when it came right down to it, Ron was his friend, and he couldn't bear the idea of willingly excluding him from anything.
The smile flickered, and Ernie looked up at Ron, seemingly noticing him for the first time. "Oh… Er- I… I didn't ask… It was, er, only the three of you Monday night, so I asked permission for just you. I'm sorry, that was silly of me, wasn't it? I should have assumed that you'd want him to come as well."
"Come where?" Ron snapped, sounding very annoyed. "And what happened Monday night? What are you three going on about?"
"We'll explain later, Ron," Hermione sighed. "Ernie, we couldn't possibly go without Ron."
Ernie nodded, working his jaw silently for a moment as he thought about this. "I'll need to ask. The invitation is not mine to give, you see. It was already a bit… unusual for me to request permission for the three of you. It shouldn't be a problem, though." He said the last hastily, giving Ron an ingratiating smile.
"Well, far be it for me to cause a problem," Ron scowled in reply. "Don't put yourself out on my behalf. You two just go on and have a good time with Looney and the Hufflepuffs." He tossed his fork onto his plate, stood, and stalked off, muttering under his breath.
"I'll talk to him," Hermione said, automatically, getting up and following Ron out of the Great Hall, leaving Harry and Ernie to share an awkward silence.
"Sorry about that, Harry," Ernie said at length. "That really was quite dim of me. But… if you don't mind my asking, why wasn't he with you Monday night?"
"He was having a nap," Harry said truthfully.
"I see. Well, I'll ask, at any rate. Honestly, it shouldn't be any trouble."
Ernie beat a hasty retreat, and Harry took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. He had the sinking feeling that there would be trouble, whether Ernie thought so or not.
* * *
Harry didn't catch up with Hermione and Ron until Care of Magical Creatures, by which time Hermione had apparently managed to smooth Ron's ruffled feathers.
"What did you tell him?" Harry asked Hermione when he was able to catch her alone in the common room later.
"Well, I told him the truth - that we don't know what Ernie's up to, but that we wouldn't go unless he came with us."
"And what did you tell him about Monday night?"
She frowned, and he could tell that this had been difficult for her. "I told him that Ernie had interrupted… a conversation you and I were having with Luna, and that whatever's happening tonight probably has something to do with that conversation."
"You didn't tell him about playing the piano, then?"
She flushed very slightly. "I couldn't. It's… still something very private. Music, I mean. I was worried that he wouldn't understand."
"I know," Harry nodded. "I'm not so sure I understand it myself."
"Harry, whatever's happening at Hufflepuff tonight, it must have something to do with music. Why else would they have just invited you, Luna and me?"
"More to the point, why didn't they just invite you and Luna? You're the ones who actually have talent."
"For heaven's sake, Harry," she frowned. "You really need to stop speaking so poorly of yourself. You were… a part of things, like Luna said."
"Look, first thing, you're actually agreeing with Luna a lot lately, and it's getting a bit scary. Second thing, I was just sitting there, listening. How was I a part of it?"
Hermione's features fell, and she suddenly could no longer meet his eyes: her gaze went to her hands, which were clasped in her lap.
"You… didn't laugh at us," she said, finally.
Harry gaped for a moment, then made a liar of her and laughed. "Hermione, why on Earth would I have laughed at you?"
"People don't always need a reason. What's important is that you didn't. You
listened."
There was something left unsaid, and it didn't take Harry long to pick up on it. "Do you think Ron would have laughed?"
For a while, she bit her lower lip and said nothing. "I think he might have," she then whispered. "Honestly, Harry, I think sometimes he lives for the chance to belittle the things I find important."
The words hovered between them painfully, made even more so by the fact that Harry could not bring himself, on the inside, to disagree. "I don't know that I'd go that far," he said, lamely. "Ron's a good guy."
"Of course he is," Hermione replied, though her words did not at all match her expression.
A few awkward moments passed, and Harry was about to speak again when he heard the sound of the portrait hole swinging open. Ron's head of messy ginger hair poked in first, looked around to find the two of them, and then the rest of him followed. He took a seat in one of the nearby armchairs and gave Harry an unreadable expression.
"Hey, Ron," Harry said, because someone needed to.
"I just saw Ernie," Ron told them. "He said he got permission for me to come to whatever it is tonight." His brow furrowed. "Though I have no idea why in Merlin's name anyone would want to spend a Friday night in the Hufflepuff common room."
"Well, we don't have to go," Harry shrugged.
"I… think I'd like to, though," Hermione said then, with some difficulty. "You know, to get to know them all better outside of classes and DA meetings. There's been so much talk about trying to unite the houses, and… I think it'd be nice to accept their hospitality."
Ron looked at her with the expression he typically wore whenever Hermione perplexed him - a look Harry was finding increasingly familiar. He then shrugged. "Guess there's no harm in it, though I can't bloody well imagine what their idea of a good time might be."
* * *
The evening meal passed, followed by some studying (at least, Hermione studied Arithmancy while Harry studied new and different ways to lose to Ron at chess), and eventually, it was time to head out.
To his own chagrin, Harry found that he only had the vaguest idea of how to get to Hufflepuff's portrait hole. Here he was, well into his sixth year of study at Hogwarts, owner of the most detailed map of the school ever made, and he didn't know where a quarter of his classmates even lived. Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to have the route mapped out in her head (probably along with every other detail of Hogwarts: A History), and he was content to follow her lead.
They passed through several unfamiliar corridors within smelling distance of the kitchens, and at last reached an immense painting of a tiny rocky island jutting up from stormy seas.
"Should we knock?" Ron asked.
Without warning, a stunningly beautiful golden-haired mermaid emerged from the choppy seas and perched on the rocks, smiling as she looked from Ron to Harry.
"Password?" the mermaid asked them in a many-toned voice, sounding like an otherworldly choir.
This caught Harry somewhat off-guard, as Ernie had never mentioned the password. He looked from Ron, who was staring agog, to Hermione, whose frown was bordering on a scowl.
"Er- we were invited to come over tonight," Harry tried to explain as the mermaid cocked her head to one side. He had to struggle to look her in the eyes as her gesture made her long hair shift and fall in ways that…
The painting suddenly swung open from inside, and Ernie poked his head out, smiling as he saw them. "Hermione, Harry, Ron, Luna! So glad you could make it."
Harry was about to say something about Luna not having come with them when he heard the Ravenclaw's voice behind him. "Thank you, Ernie. May we come in?"
"In a moment," he assured them, pushing the door to and standing (mercifully) in front of the sighing mermaid, who flounced back into the ocean behind him. Harry chanced a glance sideways to see that Luna was standing between him and Ron as though she'd always been there, clasping what looked like a small instrument case in both hands. She smiled at him.
"There is one… formality we need to observe before you can join us," Ernie explained, clasping his hands before him. "I need to ask each of you to make a promise."
After a suitably dramatic pause, he went on. "As you may know… well, Hermione certainly knows… giving your word has a magic all its own. I must ask each of you to give me your word that you will divulge nothing of what you see and hear tonight in Hufflepuff House. To break that word," he smiled devilishly and waggled his eyebrows at Hermione, "well… let's just say that Miss Edgecombe knows the perils of that all too well."
"I give you my word," Luna said, without hesitation. Harry felt the hairs on his right arm stand up, as though the air around Luna had become electrically charged.
"Thank you," Ernie smiled, then looked expectantly at the others.
"I… I give you my word," Hermione said next, looking somewhat puzzled. Harry again felt the tingle in the air, this time to his left, where she was standing.
Wondering what he might be getting himself into, Harry nodded to Ernie and said "I give you my word." This time he felt a surge of magic within quite unlike anything he had ever felt as a wizard. The only comparable feeling was the moment he had chosen (or been chosen by) his wand: it felt almost as though it were a magic more ancient than Hogwarts itself.
This left only Ron, who looked skeptical (as Harry had expected), but did not protest. "Okay, I give you my word."
"Excellent," Ernie smiled as a fourth rush of magic faded. "Hufflepuff House bids you welcome, honored guests. Please, follow me."
He swung the portrait door open and slipped back inside. Luna entered at once, followed by Hermione.
"Mate, what have you gotten me into this time?" Ron sighed.
Harry shrugged, somewhat humored by the fact that he had been asking himself the same question moments before. "I dunno, Ron. Let's find out." He stepped through the portal, Ron a stride behind him.
Next: Hufflepuff's Secret
Author's Note: Ah, the dreaded Setup Chapter. This was originally intended to be the first part of a much, much longer episode, but in the interest of getting some more of it posted, I went for the only suitable breaking point and split it up. Consequently, this could be considered one of those fanfic chapters in which Nothing Actually Happens. My apologies for that. Thank you very much for reading.