Author's Note
Thank you to everyone who reviewed - it adds immensely to my enjoyment of the whole writing/posting process, believe me!
Now, this chapter is a little shorter than the first, but it had to end where it ends - and the next chapter is nearly three times as long (which I'll be posting next Thursday) so I hope that makes up for it! Cheers everyone, Janie xoxo
SORCERERS' NOOK
By JanieB
SECOND INTERLUDE
The Dark One whipped through the foul air of the realm in an uncontrollable fury. It had begun attempting many things in its quest to hunt down the Enemy, but had found the healing of the rift between the consciousness of the Voice of the One and the Darkness had altered its abilities almost beyond recognition. It could no longer do things in the same way as it had once taken for granted. This meant it had to spend precious time learning new ways and finding new paths to do what was necessary so that it could carry out its quest. And because the Dark One's monumental temper demanded a violent and vicious outlet, its fury was unleashed with cold indifference for the consequences. It never knew of the Muggle aeroplane flying from England to France which crashed inexplicably into the ocean, killing everyone aboard and even if it had, its only response would doubtless have been to laugh…
*
CHAPTER TWO
In which coffee is enjoyed, Hermione tells a story, revelations abound and a friendship is reaffirmed…
Hermione set their cups down before them and Harry and Ginny closed their eyes as they inhaled the aroma of freshly made coffee.
`Smells divine,' sighed Ginny.
`Thanks, Hermione,' Harry said as he raised his cup to his lips, sipping cautiously at the hot liquid.
Hermione returned with her own cup and gave them a small smile as she took her seat. `You're welcome.'
`So,' said Ginny, tilting her head and giving her friend a studied look, `what's the story with you and Ron?'
Hermione's smile faded as a look of lingering sadness appeared in her eyes.
`Do you know, before today I would've said there's nothing wrong. Because I didn't want anything to be wrong and I just plain refused to see that anything was wrong. But after today - well, now I can admit I've been… well, coasting I guess you could call it. So's Ron. And I'm positive he'd be even less aware of it than me.' Hermione paused, her eyes closed as though she was feeling the pressure of unwelcome revelations. `Things have been slowly disintegrating for months and neither of us have acknowledged it to ourselves, so naturally we've not said or done anything about it.'
`But why?' asked Ginny, looking distressed.
Hermione shrugged. `Why haven't we done anything? I suppose it's just easier to keep going, regardless. I mean, it's not as though we're arguing all the time or anything. We're just … slowly drifting apart, I guess.'
`But why?' asked Harry, echoing Ginny, his green eyes darkening with concern behind his glasses.
`Well, as you've noticed, things have changed. And I have to say that it's probably been since last Christmas…'
`We've wracked our brains and we can't think of anything that's happened since Christmas or New Year - you haven't had any major arguments or fights - you haven't had any, really,' interrupted Ginny, sounding distinctly uneasy.
`Probably because there hasn't been anything terribly noticeable to notice,' said Hermione wryly. `And to be honest, for sometime now I've been telling myself it's something that doesn't matter.' She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. `But it does. I've been fooling myself. Both of us have just let things slide…'
Ginny put a hand on Hermione's shoulder and gave it a sympathetic squeeze.
`Easy enough to do I imagine Hermione, especially when you've been together for a few years. I can believe it would be hard to let go…'
Hermione shook her head decisively. `No. I should've known better. I think I did know better, I just refused to acknowledge it! I should've done more!'
Harry reached across the table and gripped Hermione's wrist, reflexively moving his thumb backwards and forwards over her soft skin in a comforting gesture.
`Don't be so hard on yourself, Hermione! It sounds as though Ron has been doing exactly the same thing,' he told her, before withdrawing his hand after a final squeeze.
`But that's Ron,' replied Hermione, giving him a grateful glance, `I wouldn't expect him to notice.'
`My darling brother wouldn't notice anything unless it knocked him on the head. Unless of course it's a Quaffle or something else to do with Quidditch,' Ginny finished bitingly.
`Don't be hard on him,' said Hermione softly. `It's not his fault entirely, anymore than it is mine.'
Harry looked as though he didn't agree, but kept silent; Ginny looked at him as if to say "I told you so", although she managed to bite back the words.
Ginny turned back to Hermione, asking gently, `So what started it all? Do you know?'
Hermione nodded. `I'm fairly certain now that the real turning point was last Christmas…'
Last Christmas. And Luna.
`You remember the party we went to at Hogwarts, of course…'
Minerva McGonagall, still Headmistress of Hogwarts, had invited the former students of Harry's year to a special feast, which was held in the Great Hall on Christmas Eve. She'd explained to them that whilst there were countless acts of bravery by students and staff during the final war with Voldemort and his followers, those of Harry's year naturally seemed to stand out and she simply wanted to honour them; Harry thought that perhaps she just wanted to see everyone again. It had been a wonderful night and the five years since most of them had been at Hogwarts seem to vanish in the camaraderie and happy contentment that pervaded the air.
`And afterwards, there was dancing. And there were people wandering about everywhere and I wanted to take a walk around and - well, just reminisce, I guess…'
Hagrid had gone above and beyond the call of duty when it came to the decorations that year; aside from the usual trees in the Great Hall, every corridor seemed to be dripping with sparkling icicles and yards and yards of glittering tinsel. And mistletoe. Everywhere. Hanging from the ceiling, from wall sconces, above doors…
Hermione sighed and looked down into her coffee cup, picking up her spoon and stirring the contents needlessly.
`I made my way up to the seventh floor - I was planning on having a look in at our old common room. Professor McGonagall had told me that Gryffindor Tower was empty - all the students had gone home for the holidays that year. So she gave me the password and off I went.' Hermione put her spoon back on her saucer and gave Harry and Ginny a small smile.
`The Fat Lady was asleep and she was snoring, along with her friend Violet. There was an empty bottle of sherry beside them. I had to call out over and over before she stirred, and even then she didn't even ask for the password, she just opened up and let me in without even closing again.'
Hermione's gaze dropped to her coffee cup once more; she was surprised the memory of that night could rekindle the same constricted feeling inside she remembered feeling six months ago in the Gryffindor common room…
As the portrait swung open, she'd bent over and taken her shoes off before stepping carefully through the hole, thinking how much easier it would have been in sensible school shoes compared to her fashionable high heels. As she'd straightened up, she'd realised she felt cold - that there was no fire blazing. Of course - no students, no fire and no candles lit, she thought, although there was enough moonlight drifting through the windows so that once her eyes became accustomed, she wouldn't walk into anything. She stepped silently and carefully across the room towards the fireplace, standing there for some time, staring into the empty grate, remembering…
`I was standing next to the fireplace, just remembering.' She glanced up at Harry and Ginny then pushed her coffee cup aside and leant forward to rest her arms on the table, her chin resting in one hand. Staring at a point in space between Ginny and Harry, she sighed.
`For some reason, even though there were just as many happy memories as unhappy, if not more, I felt a little sad.'
She was surprised to find tears forming in her eyes as she stood there, her shoes dangling from her hand. Perhaps it was because this room had originally held her happiest memories of Hogwarts, from her first year when she'd made friends with Harry and Ron, although not as many from her second, which she'd spent the better part of in the hospital wing, Petrified. And her third - amongst everything else that had happened the year Harry had found Sirius, her exhaustion from using the Time Turner permeated her memories… The horror of Voldemort's return and Cedric's death in her fourth year overshadowed her joy in the Yule Ball… She shook her head. She thought that this might be "nostalgia" - that elusive feeling her parents often spoke of. Enough, she thought, this is making me maudlin! That was when she'd heard the sound…
`I'd decided enough was enough and I was just about to turn and leave when I heard voices outside in the corridor.'
Actually, she'd heard laughter at first. Whoever it was, they were making no effort to keep their voices down - not that there was any real need to do so, she conceded.
`I've never been in any other common room,' said a soft, female voice that Hermione knew she'd heard before.
`Me either. And look - my old one is open! Bet the Fat Lady's pissed again - she always was at Christmas.'
Ron!
`It was Ron.'
Hermione found herself dropping onto the familiar, old couch that faced the empty fireplace, crouching down so that she was out of sight of anyone entering the room.
`Oh, there's not much light, is there? No one here. Careful!' Ron's voice.
Hermione could tell from the sounds she could hear that they were stepping through the portrait hole.
`Ooooh! It looks really nice and cosy!'
`It was,' said Ron. `Come on, I'll show you -'
`Look! Mistletoe!'
`What?'
`Look - up there!' Giggles. `You know, I really rather fancied you at school.'
Silence.
Hermione slowly straightened up so that she was just able to see over the back of the couch.
`And Luna Lovegood.'
`What?' exclaimed Harry and Ginny together.
`Ron was standing there looking as though he'd been Petrified and Luna was smiling up at him.'
`You what?' Ron's voice came out as an undignified croak.
`Oh, you wouldn't've noticed, I'm sure,' Luna assured him, `and besides, I'm quite aware that I am a little, well, unique…'
Ron's mouth moved but no sound same out.
`Then she put her hands on each side of his face.'
Luna stood up on her toes and pressed her lips briefly against Ron's.
`And kissed him.'
Smiling at Ron's stunned, frozen expression, Luna obviously believed more was in order and kissed him again, longer and harder this time.
`Twice.'
Ron finally snapped out of it and stepped back, slowly shaking his head from side to side, managing a strangled, `No!'
`What's wrong?' asked Luna. Then her expression became one of resigned sadness.
`I'm sorry, Ronald, it was wrong of me to just kiss you like that without warning.' A small smile lifted the corners of Luna's mouth. `I think I had too many glasses of wine with dinner and, well, you are even more fanciable now than you were at school, you know.'
Ron's voice was a hoarse whisper: `Hermione!'
`Hermione?'
On the couch, a shocked and bewildered Hermione resumed her crouched position, her thoughts spinning crazily around inside her head; she wished she wasn't here - she wished she hadn't seen or heard - she wished -
`My girlfriend. Hermione. She's my girlfriend.'
`Hermione Granger? I thought that was just a school thing. Is she still? Really?'
Hermione realised Ron must've nodded when she heard Luna continue.
`I'm sorry. Oh, not because she's your girlfriend - for kissing you when you have a girlfriend. It's not right, at all.'
`Don't be sorry - I mean, you don't need to be sorry - you didn't know.'
`I didn't ask.'
`I didn't say.'
`Let's call it quits, shall we?' Luna laughed as she said it.
Ron's voice held obvious relief. `Let's!'
`And get back to the Hall before your girlfriend misses you.'
Hermione heard their footsteps move towards the portrait hole, Luna's lightly spoken words only just audible.
`By the way Ronald, if you and Hermione ever - well, if you're ever, hmmm, available again, let me know, will you?'
She heard the sounds of them stepping through the hole and of the portrait swinging shut. Ron's answer, if he gave one, was lost to her…
`What did he say when you asked him about it?' asked Ginny breathlessly.
Hermione shook her head as she sat back, dropping her arm to the table, `I never did.'
`What? Are you serious?' demanded Harry, his expression incredulous.
Hermione shrugged. `I knew it was an accident - it wasn't like Ron chased her or even expected her to kiss him. And she didn't know about me. It really didn't mean anything.'
`There's a huge, silent "but" at the end of that sentence, Hermione,' said Ginny evenly.
`Come on, Hermione! Something like that happening is going to have an impact on your relationship whether you talk about it or not!' Harry's voice held resounding exasperation.
`I really thought it wouldn't,' said Hermione, almost desperately, `I really did. But…'
`Ah ha! The "but"!' exclaimed Ginny. `I knew it!'
`At the time I thought it was best to just ignore it. And I think part of that was because I basically hid when they came in and then didn't show myself; I felt guilty. And foolish.'
`Everyone's had a similar dilemma at some time, I'm sure,' said Harry, his green eyes clouding momentarily with his own memories.
`You were waiting for Ron to tell you, though, weren't you?' said Ginny softly.
Hermione nodded, unsurprised at her friend's insight. `Something I didn't begin to dwell on until the next morning. I kept waiting for him to bring it up, but he never did. And the more time went past, the more impossible it seemed to ask him about it. I'd feel like an idiot admitting I knew all along because I'd been there.'
`So it was this whole Luna thing that set up a slow disintegration?' asked Harry.
Hermione looked steadily at Harry. `No, I don't think so actually - it's just now I realise that's the point in time from which I remember starting to feel different. And since then…you know, I think both our reactions to that night - or the fact that we've not spoken about it - is what shows up our problems the most. I mean, we've just both let it go. But without realising it until now - at least for me. And since then we've just grown apart even more over the last six months. Now I wonder if I ever really loved Ron the way I thought I did. Perhaps it wasn't because of that night, perhaps that night just gave me a reference point for awareness of the change in our relationship. That and the fact that I've realised I never once actually felt jealous about that night, and Luna kissing him.'
Harry's perplexed expression made Hermione smile. `How can you wonder about whether you love someone a certain way?' he asked. `Either you love them, or not, don't you?'
`It's not quite that simple, unfortunately,' Hermione told him. `I thought I loved Ron the way you love the person you're destined to spend your life with. But that's changed over time. I do love him, but not like that. It's letting go that's hard. It's almost like it's a habit - something I can't imagine not having in my life. I feel as though I won't know what to do if we're not together.'
`Hermione!' Ginny sounded shocked. `What do you mean you won't know what to do if you're not together? You get on with your life, that's what you do! You're not some helpless, emotionally dependent witch!'
Hermione nodded. `I know, and I would do that. It's just - hard. He's always been there, you know. It's just hard to imagine my life without him. And we've made some wonderful memories together. I suppose that's why I've been avoiding thinking seriously about it all. It's easier just to go along.'
`So what next?' asked Harry.
Ginny "tched" loudly at Harry, exasperated with his masculine straightforwardness.
`What?' he asked, bewildered.
Hermione gave a weak chuckle. `I don't know, to be honest,' she said. `I'm still coming to terms with everything.'
`Well, you've got plenty of time to think about it,' said Ginny, `with Ron away until the end of August.'
`And we'll help you fix things,' added Harry.
Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and giggled.
`What?' said Harry again.
`Can I hazard a guess?' asked Hermione, giving him a penetrating look.
Harry nodded, puzzled, and she continued, `You think that somehow we will "fix" things - that things will be patched up. And that everything'll be all right and life will return to the way it was. Am I right?'
Harry looked startled, sitting back in his chair and staring at Hermione.
`Well, I wouldn't've put it quite like that but - well…' Harry sat in contemplative silence for a minute before nodding, his eyes full of chagrin as they rested on Hermione. `You're right. I didn't realise…a bit selfish of me, really, I suppose.'
`Perfectly normal, because it would just be so much easier,' Hermione said soothingly. `I'd like it myself if things could go back to the way they were, too - if I could go back to feeling the way I did. But they won't and I can't. It's just not possible…' She sighed. `I just don't know what it's going to be like without him…'
Ginny reached out and put her hand on Hermione's arm, Harry following suit, his hand resting on top of Ginny's.
`Whatever happens, we'll always be friends,' said Ginny.
`Absolutely. Always friends,' repeated Harry.
Hermione put her hand on top of Harry's, full of enormous gratitude for their support, and smiled at them as she whispered, echoing their sentiment, `Friends. Always.'
TO BE CONTINUED…
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