Cabin Fever
Jessie is a friend,
yeah, I know he's been
a good friend of mine
But lately something's changed
that ain't hard to define
Jessie's got himself a girl
and I want to make her mine
(Jessie's Girl-Rick Springfield)
"Grimmauld Place, huh?" Ron said quietly.
"Yeah," Harry grimly confirmed.
"We think Kreacher may have stolen the locket while we were cleaning the place a couple of years ago," Hermione added.
The trio was in Harry's room, Harry sat on his bed, Ron sat on a backwards turned chair while Hermione sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Ron had returned later in the day, armed and heavily loaded with food from the burrow. He had lain thick the story of how poorly the Dursley's were feeding Harry, knowing full well how to play on his mother's sympathies. Mrs. Weasley didn't disappoint and had cooked up a culinary first-aid kit in no time.
Harry and Ron were currently indulging themselves in one of her Shepard's pies as they told each other of the day's events. Hermione, to the utter disbelief of Harry and Ron, seemed to be quite satisfied with the leafy greens that Aunt Petunia kept feeding them and didn't join in the feast. Though she did have a couple of the cookies that Mrs. Weasley did bake.
Ron sighed wearily, acknowledging that the summer was over and the long adventure of hunting the horcruxes was about to begin. "When should we leave?" he asked.
"I don't think it would be wise to leave while Harry is still under the protection of his aunt," Hermione piped up.
"We're losing time," Harry said, frustrated. "Voldemort could already have the horcruxes in his hands by now."
"You would know if he did, Harry," Hermione leveled. "It's too dangerous right now. You aren't even allowed to do spells outside of school yet."
"I think the ministry would overlook something like that at a time like this," Ron spoke up.
"Do you really think so?" her eyes narrowed. "The Minister would love to have Harry under his thumb and force him to be a poster boy for the Ministry. Not to mention the fact that it would do us a fat lot of good trying to find those horcruxes while Harry is locked up."
"I'm right here you know," Harry said irritably. "You don't have to talk about me as if I'm invisible. And furthermore, Hermione, I know very well the reasons why I need to stay here until my birthday. I don't need it shoved in my face." Hermione pursed her lips tightly as if biting back a response, reproach shown in her eyes and she looked away and gazed out of Harry's window into the night sky.
"She wasn't shoving it in your face, Harry," Ron defended. "She was only concerned about you."
Ron's words stung him. Harry knew that Hermione had only good intentions but it hurt to hear Ron defend her. He was usually the one to do that.
"I don't see how that is possible since every spare moment she has, she's too busy sucking your face," he lashed out. He immediately regretted those words the moment they left his lips.
Hermione inhaled sharply as she looked at him. She scrambled to her feet and left the room in a huff, slamming the door behind her.
"Nice job, Harry," Ron said sarcastically as he got up from the chair and went after her. He stopped at the door and looked at his friend. "Maybe this will put you in a better mood," he said as he dropped something in Harry's lap before he, too, left the room with a slammed door.
Harry cursed softly as he hit the back of his head lightly and repeatedly on his headboard. The sound of heavy footfalls soon followed, as he expected, and he barely had time to stuff the left over food underneath his bed before his uncle burst into the room.
"What did I tell you about keeping it quiet?!" he spluttered at Harry.
"Sorry, I had the window open. It was a gust of wind," Harry lamely explained.
"Not another peep," Vernon warned before he closed the door.
Harry sighed heavily and looked down at what Ron had dropped in his lap. It was an envelope, his name written in the familiar curly handwriting of his ex-girlfriend Ginny. But he wasn't in the mood to read it at the moment and put it away in a drawer as he readied himself for bed. He hadn't meant to snap at Hermione like that, nor did he mean to say the things he did. The end result had been an unpleasant one. Hermione, pissed off at him in the other room with Ron doing his best to "comfort" her.
Ron did eventually return to his room after what seemed like forever. Harry did his best to keep his imagination from running wild wondering what they were doing all that time. But most of all, he felt absolutely horrible and guilty.
"I'm sorry," Harry said to Ron as he climbed into the bed on the other side of the room.
Ron looked apologetically to his friend. "It's not me you have to apologize to. I rather took it as a compliment," he grinned and turned over.
~*~
Harry met Hermione the next morning in the hall as they were going to breakfast. Ron made himself scarce, leaving the two of them alone together. She was wearing a white button down shirt with sleeves that ended just below her elbows. She looked casual and relaxed in her jeans, not at all angry like she was last night.
"Hermione," Harry began awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm so sorry about what I said last night. I didn't mean it. I know you have the best intentions it's just…maybe it's because we're trapped in this house and…"
"I understand, Harry," she said smiling softly and Harry let out a breath he'd been holding. "Which is why I'm leaving," she finished.
"Leaving?" Harry cocked his head forward, not sure if he heard her right.
"Yes," she reaffirmed. "It's like you said, we've been trapped in this house and maybe the cabin fever is getting to us." She shrugged and moved on her way.
"Cabin fe…what? What are you talking about?" Harry reached out for her arm and stopped her.
"I'll only be gone for a couple of days. I miss my parents and I want to check in on them and let them know I'm okay."
"We have owls for that," Harry countered, sounding like a pouty toddler. "Look, I said I was sorry. I didn't mean what I said."
Hermione sighed. "Harry…I think it would be best if I left for a couple of days, anyway, before we say or do something that we can't take back."
Harry looked at her, wondering at the meaning behind her words, looking into her eyes. But she turned away from him. He let go of her arm.
"Be careful," he said softly.
"I will," Hermione replied, looking back at him.
Harry watched her as she walked down the stairs to the front door where Ron was waiting for her, holding her bags. There were some whispered words between them before they leaned in toward each other for a quick kiss and she walked out of the door.
Yes, perhaps it was best if she went away for a little while, Harry thought as he fought down the jealousy that swelled within. He really needed to get a grip on himself.
But the day reflected his somber mood and by noon it began to rain. Although he still had Ron to keep him company, a part of him acknowledged the fact that he missed the third part of the trio. But the day did pass quickly when you were having some fun, he and Ron challenged each other to a game of chess, talked about Quidditch and went through the latest innovations of Fred and George's.
"It's unbelievable, really," Ron said over breakfast the next morning. It was just the two of them at the table. Aunt Petunia had left to do her errands while Vernon was at work, Dudley was sequestered upstairs in his room. "I mean how much work can one wedding be?" Harry shrugged over his cereal. "I'll have to go back again in a couple of days," Ron muttered. "How many fittings can my dress robes have? You're still coming right?"
"Of course I am," Harry answered. "It will be nice to see that good things are happening amidst all this mess." His gaze drifted out to the window to the grey sky, Hermione would be coming back tomorrow.
Hermione was gazing outside her bedroom window at the same sky, listening to the raindrops begin to tap on the glass. Her parents had been surprised but delighted at her appearance on their doorstep. She had told them she wanted to check in on them, which was a part truth but really she just needed to get away from Harry and Ron. Mostly Harry. Things had become awkward and strained between the two of them and she was beginning to feel this subtle tension bubbling underneath the surface. Feelings long thought lost were beginning to reemerge.
She remembered it vividly. She, terrified and frightened, hiding in the bathroom with a horrendous troll. The feeling of helplessness, of terror, her time as a witch and student at Hogwarts about to be brutally cut short. Until he arrived. Ron was with him of course but she remembered Harry. The look of shock on his face as seeing a large troll in front of him was brief before he bravely leapt on the hideous creature, brushing aside any fear he might have had so he could save her. A girl he really didn't know at the time.
That was when it happened. Her first girl crush on a boy who was brave and selfless. A girl crush that grew and blossomed with their friendship and culminated with the look on his face when he saw her at the Yule Ball. The ghost of a look that held the promise that they could, just possibly, be something more than friends.
But that was also the year that their childhood ended, the year that the most terrifying wizard, and Harry's nemesis was reborn. The seed that had been planted in her heart lay dormant and forgotten, replaced with feelings for her other best friend and the excitement that comes with a new and budding romance.
And now, being with Harry again sparked something within her again, making her remember those feelings long forgotten. Simple touches between them sent fire through her skin, a simple look would send her heart racing, words that were spoken stung more than they should have. When Ron had kissed her goodnight on her last night there, for just a moment, Harry flashed before her eyes. Harry leaning in toward her for a simple kiss and the guilt flooded over her. She knew what she had to do, she needed to get out of there and clear her head. She couldn't feel this way over Harry. Doing that would only result in her being hurt, ruining her friendship with Harry and destroying Ron. She couldn't do this now that Harry needed them the most.
"Morning darling!" her mother's cheerful voice greeted her when she finally made her way downstairs for breakfast. "Having a bit of a lie-in?"
"It must be this weather," Hermione replied as she took a seat at the table.
She at her eggs and toast as she listened to her parent's chatter about work and what they should do this coming weekend. She had just taken a drink of her coffee when something caught her eye. An article in the Telegraph that her father was holding.
"Let me see that," she said and swiped the paper from her father's bewildered hands.
"Hermione, darling!" her mother gasped.
Another break-in at a pawnshop. No suspects. Nothing taken.
"Hermione what is it?" her mother demanded.
"What?" Hermione looked up. "Oh! Er…," she fumbled around her brain for something to say. "Just the…advert for Harrod's. I was thinking of buying myself some clothes. Sorry…I got a little excited there." She handed the paper back to her father.
"Oh," her mother seemed satisfied with her answer.
"Would you be wanting the car then?" her father asked.
Maybe Harry was right. Maybe they were wasting time waiting for him to come of age so they could set off on their own. Well, Harry was stuck at the Dursley's but that didn't mean she couldn't leave and do a little work on her own.
"Yes, I think I might. Thank you," Hermione replied sweetly.
She pulled the grey sedan up to the curb and parked it the best way she could for a teen with limited driving experience. She pulled out the map of London she had bought at a convenience store and traced her finger down the listing of the phone book she took from home. The large red letters P-A-W-N were displayed atop the dodgiest looking storefront she had ever seen.
Bells above the doorjamb gave a tinkle as she made her entrance. There were glass displays filled with various valuables, most likely stolen and she had a brief thought to the safety of her parents' car outside.
"Can I help you, miss?" The man's voice made her jump.
"Oh! Um, yes. I was…looking…for a gift for my mother," she began, tentatively. "Jewelry," she said with more confidence. "A gold locket to be specific." She smiled her sweetest smile.
~*~
Hermione didn't return when she said she would and it bothered Harry but he didn't worry about it too much. Maybe he had misjudged the amount of days and she would be actually returning the next day. But when that day passed without word from Hermione, he began to worry.
"I sent her an owl," Ron said to him. "But she hasn't replied back. You don't think anything's happened to her, do you?"
"Can't you apparate there and find out?" Harry asked, irritably.
"I don't know where she lives!"
"Right here!" Harry dragged Ron over to the map and jabbed at her marking.
"But I've never been there before!" Ron protested and shrugged Harry off.
"Then go there on foot!" The feeling of helplessness at being trapped in this house and unable to do magic to help out his female best friend, who was probably in a world of trouble, was beginning to wear on him.
"Hsssst!"
The hiss from Crookshanks, who Hermione had left behind, caught the boys' attention.
"What?" Ron snapped irritably at the animal.
Crookshanks had a small envelope in his mouth and lay it down at the boy's feet before turning with a swish of his tail, looking back once at Ron with a reproachful look in his eyes.
"It's another invitation to Mrs. Figg's,," Harry said.
"The Order? You don't think…" Ron didn't dare voice it.
"Hermione," Harry breathed and the boys tore out of his room and raced down the stairs. Uncle Vernon bellowed at the racket they were making but Harry didn't care. Horrible thoughts filled his head and he had flashes of the time when Hermione was hit with an unheard curse in the Department of Mysteries. She had lain so still. But he put a block up, he couldn't think of her lying cold and still somewhere, he just couldn't.
"Well, hello boys!" Mrs. Figg greeted them when they banged on her door.
"Hermione? Is she safe?" Harry asked as he burst into the home, looking for Professor Lupin.
Professor Lupin looked at the boys with a surprised look on his face. "Of course she's safe. She has some of the Order watching over her." He looked at the relieved looks on the boys' faces. "Has she not talked to you lately?" he asked.
"She wanted to go home for a few days," Ron explained. Remus looked to Harry for an explanation but Harry avoided his gaze and looked determinedly at the tea tray set up on the small table.
"Harry," Professor Lupin said with a serious voice as he placed one hand on his shoulder. "I need to know what you and Dumbledore were up to that night. It's important."
Harry looked up at his father's friend but said nothing.
"There was another burglary," he changed the topic, "two more of them in fact. Kingsley was able to obtain muggle surveillance video from both of them and a very familiar face popped up on one of them. Not the perpetrator, of course, but…there the day of." He drew out a photograph from his robes and looked at the two of them sternly. "Harry, why is Hermione in this photo?"
"No way!" Ron said in disbelief as he took the photo from Professor Lupin.
"DAMN IT!" Harry cursed angrily as he kicked the coffee table.
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