DISCLAIMER: I have no idea about the set up of the Hogwarts academic year at NEWT level. The timetables I use from here on in are based on mere speculation and guesswork.
Chapter 7: Secrets and Lies
As first days of term go this one was up there with the most exhausting for Harry. The set up of the NEWT years meant that all lessons were now an hour and a half long and they now were in each class three times a week. Harry had decided to take Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against The Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures (if only to see Hagrid regularly) and Potions, though quite how he scraped an 'Outstanding' grade to make it into that class was a matter of some conjecture.
Unluckily for Harry, Potions would be inflicted on him later that first day. It began with Care of Magical Creatures, followed by Charms and ending with the visit to Professor Snape. After breakfast, Harry led the way down to Hagrid's hut with Hermione trotting along at his side. Ron, who was again wearing his disgruntled look, loped along slightly behind them. Every time Harry turned to speak to him his eyes seemed to be in other directions, mostly where Hermione was walking, obviously concerned at her close proximity to Harry.
During the lesson, Hermione made a point of standing next to Harry so they could work in together as a pair. She smiled elatedly when paired with Harry and he had to shoot her a warning look and give a small nod at Ron, who had luckily turned away.
'Why do you keep doing things like that?' Harry breathed at her, 'Ron's suspicious enough already without you fanning the flames.'
'What's he got to be suspicious about?' she said shrewdly, her coy smile surprising Harry as it sent a tingle of electricity along his spine. Unfortunately, he didn't have an answer for Hermione's question. She, on the other hand, seemed to understand perfectly well Harry's concerns over Ron. She seemingly decided to become playful; Harry feeling it was as much to tease him as anything else. She stood so close during their pair work that Harry could see her skin twitch. Several times she brushed her foot against Harry's, wearing a cute, but maddeningly innocent, look every time he told her to stop it. She even ran her fingertips along the back of his hand once of twice, promptly causing Harry to shiver all over and drop whatever he was holding.
Charms didn't improve the situation either. It soon became apparent that Hermione's covert teasing hadn't been very well concealed. Several of their classmates were casting them oddly suggestive looks, the girls in particular as they whispered behind their hands. Hermione blushed at the attention but was undeterred. Harry, who got quite enough attention without being the latest topic of romantic gossip, tried to sit away from her at a table with Ron. Harry should have learned then that a woman's will is not to be tested.
'Harry,' Hermione said airily and loud enough for the whole class to hear, 'are you going to come and sit next to me or do I have to use a Summoning Charm on you?'
Lavender and Parvati burst into a fit of spluttering giggles as Harry made his way across to Hermione. Professor Flitwick squeaked over the top of the giggling that he, himself, would like to see that charm, pointing out that using it successfully on an animal the size of a human was a particularly advanced skill.
At that moment, Harry really wanted to be angry with her, wanted to feel some resentment towards her for humiliating him in front of all the class. But he couldn't; he looked into her eyes and saw the things he had seen during the summer and the sensation was overpowering. Truth was, he wanted to sit next to Hermione, even after being embarrassed by her in front of all his friends.
Throughout the lesson Harry kept glancing at Ron, his thoughts consumed with the angry expression on his face. Hermione didn't seem to have noticed; as usual, she had mastered the charm of that lesson with consummate ease and proceeded to spend the remaining time twiddling her fingers around in her hair and fluttering her eyelids at Harry with a shameful over-exuberance. Every time she did this she laughed hard and clung onto his arm, comforting him that she was only playing.
'Yeah, well,' Harry said under his breath after one such fluttering, 'I don't think Ron is taking it as a joke. Look how angry he is.'
'I'll sort that out,' Hermione said, 'Watch this. And remember to play along.'
Hermione made quite an effort of looking over Harry's shoulder at Ron. She pushed Harry's head close to his parchment to make it look like he was working and made animated facial expressions in Ron's direction. Eventually, he looked up at her, his expression changing from mad to puzzled, to laughing. Harry snuck a glance at Hermione who was raising her eyebrows exaggeratedly, looking like she was trying to fight the giggles and pointing at Harry's back. He looked up at her and she stopped suddenly, as if she had been caught doing something. Ron wore the same look when he glanced at him, a strained expression as though trying not to laugh.
Then he understood. Hermione was trying to make it seem like she was playing with Harry for some kind of joke. It didn't seem a great idea but Ron seemed to have bought it totally. Harry couldn't shake the impression that Ron would have believed anything to ignore the possibility that what Hermione was doing was for real.
'Harry,' Ron said suppressing a smirk, 'Hermione's bag seems heavy there…why don't you carry it for her?'
'Yeah,' Dean Thomas added with a snigger, 'We've got Herbology after lunch, why don't you both join us and make daisy chains or something?'
'No, he can't,' Ron said in a voice of strained seriousness, 'they've got Potions. He might need an Anti-Whipped Draught or something.'
Dean snorted so loudly that several people voiced their disgust. Harry felt very red but still, if it distracted Ron it was a good plan. Hermione pointed out its brilliance soon after.
'I know it's a pain,' she said, before adding huskily, 'but at least now I can hold you and stuff without too much suspicion.'
The secrecy was starting to kill Harry. The pretence of what both he and Hermione seemed to feel for each other was tempered by some sort of non-verbal code that said they could neither mention it to each other nor announce it to everyone else. Not that there would be anything to announce, they hadn't actually defined the new nature of their relationship. They just seemed to have fallen into a deeper state of intimacy.
Increasingly throughout the day, the real communication between them came from their eyes. For the rest of Charms, then through the lunch hour, Harry had to play along with Hermione's little joke on Ron, listening to him making suggestive comments that descended further and further into the vulgar and smutty. He put up with it by looking at Hermione for reassurance that she knew what she was doing. Eventually, Hermione put a stop to Ron's comments when Crookshanks was brought into the farce. Whether faked or not, Harry was glad of Hermione's naivety; he really didn't think she understood the true meaning of Ron's comments concerning Harry and her cat…
After lunch, Harry and Hermione parted with Ron at the Entrance Hall; they were heading down to Professor Snape's dungeon while Ron was off across the grounds to the Herbology greenhouses. Harry never knew what Ron's Potions OWL score was, taking his word that, 'mum would have sent me a howler if I'd been in school,' and leaving it at that.
As they parted, Harry felt a wave of relief that finally the pressure of keeping up the charade for Ron was finally off. This despite the knowledge that Snape was bound to round on him in class, no doubt telling everyone who'd listen his distaste and shock at Harry's OWL score. Hermione seemed pleased too; although she had let go of Harry's arm he sensed it was for his benefit only, at least in the full gaze of the rest of the school. She did, nevertheless, keep her vigil at his hip, brushing her hand against his as much as she could get away with. Harry was sure that, if she'd been free to, she would have snatched up his hand as quickly as she would a new textbook.
When Professor Snape breezed into the dungeon shortly after they'd arrived, Harry's feeling of dread returned. Snape seemed in a particularly vindictive mood and Harry was sure that he must always make this happen to Snape. Maybe it was like a reverse Patronus to him; he appeared to Snape and immediately made him volatile and evil. He certainly seemed to have that effect on Uncle Vernon, could lightening really strike twice?
'Right,' Snape said, his voice icy as ever, 'As you are in my NEWT Potions class I can only assume you are the most proficient potion-makers in your year, though experience has taught me that this may not be much of a compliment, considering the abysmal potions I have been forced to grade for five years.
'But, you all achieved an 'Outstanding' grade on your OWL papers so I can only assume that you must have some talent, though I make one obvious exception to this speculation.'
As surely as the sunrise, Snape's gaze flicked over to Harry and Malfoy, in the front row, turned around to snarl in what he must have thought was a menacing fashion.
'I must say, Potter, quite how you managed such a grade is quite unfathomable. For a while, I considered the possibility that Miss Granger may have brewed a Polyjuice Potion and sat the exam for you. But then I remembered, she wouldn't be able to procure the ingredients to brew such a potion, would she, Potter?'
'I wouldn't have thought so, sir,' Harry answered, in a would-be-innocent voice, his palms claming up profusely.
'This idea soon left my mind, however, as I remembered that, of course Mrs. Potter…I'm sorry, Miss Granger,' Malfoy sniggered hard, 'was unable to turn time.'
'I wouldn't have thought that either, sir,' Harry hissed.
What was Snape playing at? Why bring up things that happened long ago that he shouldn't even know about?
'I wish to impress on you, Mr. Potter,' Snape said as he swept across the dungeon to Harry, 'that although some may consider you a…now don't all laugh at once class…a teacher,' Malfoy took the chance to laugh first, longest and loudest, 'you are not to expect any special treatment from me. I have never treated your celebrity status as anything to warrant special consideration and Dumbledore handing you this very undeserved new responsibility will not change my attitude to you.'
'What a surprise,' Harry retorted.
'You will still address me with the respect a senior teacher deserves, though you are to expect no such respect from me.'
'Wouldn't dream of it.'
'Good, the thought of you dreaming about me is a particularly disturbing and unpleasant one. Much like your woeful potion-making skills. Regardless of this oversight,' Snape said as he returned to his desk, 'we will be attempting to brew highly difficult, delicate and advanced potions in this class. So, I expect to find Potter way behind before we hit Hallowe'en. Inquiries for Potter's whereabouts when that happens can be sent to the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, I'm sure they will find him from there,' the Slytherins at the front bawled with hysterical laughter.
'Today we will be brewing veritaserum, a truth potion. The brewing procedure depends intrinsically on the lunar cycle, so any errors today will ruin your work for the next month in this class. Do you want to copy that down, Potter? Before we begin, I must make something clear to all of you. Despite Miss Granger's obvious enthusiasm for them, we shall not be brewing Love Potions in this classroom,' he swung a snide glance at Hermione and her eyes fell to her cauldron, heavy and humiliated. Harry wanted to insult Snape with incredible ferocity, but Dumbledore's words rang in his ears. He resolved to work doubly hard, not only in his Occlumency to earn the right to abuse Snape to his face, but also in Potions to give Snape as little ammunition for his own insults as possible.
The common room was filling up steadily as Harry and Hermione met there after depositing their bags in the dormitories. They hadn't mentioned Potions once, neither seemed to have the words to break the dense awkwardness that had sprouted up between them. It was getting to a pretty desperate stage, Harry had decided, when they couldn't even conceal what they were feeling from the teachers, how could they possibly hope to hoodwink the students, and Ron in particular.
Ron, himself, was nowhere to be found; he had been called to see Professor McGonagall after his Herbology lesson and hadn't been seen since. Harry had the fleeting thought that maybe he had been told about Snape's assault in Potions and was off sulking somewhere. Ginny mentioned seeing him chatting to Luna as he made his way towards McGonagall's office but there had been no sighting since then. The reason for his disappearance became apparent on the way to dinner and Harry, for his part, was elated. It would distract Ron for a considerable time.
'Harry! HARRY!' Ron yelled as he bounded down the stairs after he and Hermione, 'You are never going to guess what's happened. I can't believe it!'
'What? What is it?' Harry asked, rapt.
'Well, McGonagall sent a message for me to go see her after my lesson,' Ron said, panting, 'Anyway, I went up there and guess what? Don't bother, you never will. Well, you know Angelina Johnson left last year? Well, McGonagall called me into her office to ask me to be…wait for it…the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain! Isn't it amazing!'
'Wow!' Harry said astonished, but also with the sudden leaden feeling of inadequacy that he had felt at Grimmauld Place when he discovered he hadn't been chosen to be a prefect, 'Well done, mate! That's fantastic!'
'Isn't it?' Ron beamed, 'I had to make a sacrifice though.'
'Really?' asked Hermione, 'Like what? Did she stop you being a prefect?'
Harry wished she had concealed her hopefulness a little better.
'No,' said Ron sounding slightly affronted, 'She gave me a choice: Quidditch Captain or Head Boy next year. No contest really, is there? She said something about Dumbledore having someone else in mind from Gryffindor for Head Boy. Hey…its probably you!'
'I doubt it,' Harry said, the lead rising on the wings of hope, 'But if it is, don't get mad!'
'Get mad!' Ron cried, 'Why would I be mad? I'd take Quidditch Captain over Head Boy any day. The job's yours if you want it. I wouldn't…Fred and George would never let me live it down. Anyway, now that I'm Captain I've already started thinking about changes to the line up. Luckily, Katie and Alicia are still here, but they'll have to be replaced when they leave next year. I thought I'd bump Ginny up to Chaser, she prefers playing as one anyway, and drag you back on as Seeker. What d'you reckon?'
Harry reckoned that dinner that night would taste sweeter than it ever had before.
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