DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. does, and she has every right to do whatever she thinks is best for Harry Potter. I just love writing. So sue me. Wait, seriously… don't.
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The inconsiderate adult, if he even thinks like one, would see them in just one turn.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
A low growl escaped from Snape's lips as he turned around. "What is it?" he hissed as the door opened revealing the Ravenclaw Prefect, Alfred Olsen.
With dignity and poise, the boy puffed out his chest and stood straight. "Sir, you are wanted for the Faculty Meeting right now," his stance was tall, but his voice had quivered and had pitched higher.
"I'll be there in a short while," he grunted, waving him away. "You may go."
"I'm sorry, sir, but Professor Dumbledore specifically instructed me to return with you," he said with a slight swallowing caused by his fear of refusing to comply with the venomous professor's command.
At first, Hermione thought Snape would be likely to react furiously, but to her relief, she heard him speak. "Very well," With an angry sigh, Snape walked out of the room with his cloak rustling behind him.
Hermione sagged as the door shut; clearly stating they were already safe. She moved away from the shelf, leaving Ron, who was clutching his chest tightly as if letting go would cause his heart to collapse.
Hermione giggled. "That was…close."
Ron shot her a look. "Too close," he stepped away from the shelf. "What would me mum tell me if I came back weeks before graduation?"
Hermione laughed. "Relax, Ron. It's over."
He just shook his head and waved his hands to quiet her.
"I wonder how the fireplace shut by itself, though," Hermione muttered greatly after.
Ron turned around to look at the hearth himself. With a slight frown, he also remembered something very mysterious--something he didn't want her to know. It was how he witnessed the fireplace close by itself--or rather how someone closed it.
It was better she didn't find out about it or else there would be a lot of problems. She also needn't know he noticed the times she was spacing away, hearing things away from them.
It was only when he saw the fireplace close by itself that Ron had finally confirmed that someone was really following them…but it wasn't Harry.
At least he didn't think it was Harry.
And it couldn't be him because he saw Harry run up to the castle just before he had crashed into Hermione and he would have never caught up in time to see them go down that pit. And Harry wasn't the type to follow someone discreetly…
He just wasn't…
"Could it have closed automatically?" Hermione asked no one in particular.
"No," Ron countered. "I reckon something else."
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After Hermione and Ron had pondered on how the fireplace closed by itself, they decided to get out of the place before anyone else came back. With Ron almost finally getting over it, he and Hermione laughed their heads off at the close call they had met as they dashed towards the Gryffindor dormitory.
The long run from the dungeons to the top of the tower caused them to lose their breaths. Passing through the portrait hole, they dragged themselves towards the empty couch in front of the fireplace and breathlessly collapsed on it. The common room was free of people as it was a Sunday and students were outside enjoying their free time.
"Ron?" Hermione spoke, staring at the fire, unaware that she said his name in an anxious manner. It sounded as if merely addressing it verbally would endanger whatever it is she wanted to tell him.
Ron, however, heard the great deal of caution in her voice and looked at her, alarmed. She had straightened up, but hadn't removed her eyes from the fireplace.
"Hmm?" He answered, looking at her even as she continued to gaze pensively at the flames.
"Did you notice something odd back there? In the cave, I mean." Hermione asked, this time meeting his gaze. Though she was looking at him, her voice still contained the same amount of uneasiness.
Ron took his time in answering and when he did; his voice was deep and serious. "For a moment there, I did."
"Do you think someone was following us, then?" Hermione asked fretfully, biting her lip.
He was about to say `yes' when he stopped and reminded himself that telling her he was convinced someone had followed them would only increase the troubles she was facing. So instead, he lied.
"No," he tried to keep his voice laid-back and explained further his supposed theorem when Hermione gave her a look that was clearly asking `why'.
"Just think of it like this, the cave is underground and the place probably hadn't been passed by for years now, if it had been actually passed by people. So maybe, it was just, you know, ghosts."
"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Hermione certainly cocked her head to one side, a teasing smile playing at the corner of her lips.
"No--just wanted to say something." Ron shrugged. "It's up to you to consider it a possibility or not. And besides it doesn't really matter because no one was following us anyway."
"All right, all right." Hermione gave up and slouched back again. "You don't have to get so harsh on me. I just don't want to be caught."
"Wish you'd thought of that when you nearly got us in trouble awhile ago," Ron nagged again for the umpteenth time.
"I thought you'd already gotten over that?" Hermione looked at him disbelievingly. " "We're fine. We didn't get caught."
It was Ron's turn now to give up. Laughing, he held both his hands up in front of her in surrender and said, "Okay, okay. I was just playing with you."
"It didn't sound like you were," Hermione piped in quietly then sat in silence once more.
After a while, Hermione's eyelids began to get heavy, prevailing as it closed, once, twice, thrice…losing count as she nearly fell off to one side of the couch. She tried to keep her eyes open, but the fire added to the comfortable atmosphere around her, making her want to doze off.
She took a deep breath and sighed, releasing the carbon dioxide in her system, remembering an instant where she had been in the same place, feeling the same thing.
"Before you float away into your own little island, Hermione," she heard Ron's voice and stirred. "Why don't we finish first what we have started?"
She straightened up and looked at him annoyed. "Spoilsport," Hermione muttered heatedly.
"Hey, I'm tired, too, you know," Ron quickly said when he saw the look Hermione was giving him. "But weren't you the one who told me to get things done, we shouldn't waste time, especially if we don't have anything better to do than sit all day and do nothing?" Ron urged her. "What's the next ingredient?"
Muttering silent complaints, Hermione opened the Tome Aloc Lution and read the next ingredient. "Phoenix feather," Hermione said,
"Ok. Let's go."
"Where?" she asked.
"As far as I know, there's only one phoenix in this place."
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Hermione and Ron stood in front of the portrait where Dumbledore's office was. They had dashed towards it as soon as they saw that the hallway was deserted and waited until they made sure no one else was coming their way.
"Are you sure about this, Hermione?" Ron asked nervously, as Hermione thought of the password through Dumbeldore's office that was told to her since she was the Head Girl.
"Dumbledore, nor anyone else, would be there. They're all in the Faculty Meeting, remember? And judging by the fact that Snape had just been called, it'd be a while before they even finish it." Hermione explained.
"I don't know about this…"
"Be quiet for a moment, will you?" Hermione warned. Then tipping up her chin, she said, "Sour Succulent?"
The gargoyle leaped aside knowingly, revealing a staircase ascending the narrow passageway that led to Dumbledore's headquarters. Hermione and Ron stepped up on it and waited until it reached the top. Once the staircase had stopped moving, they stepped inside and closed the door behind them.
"Maybe it'd be better if you stay here and look out if anyone's coming." Hermione suggested.
"Why?"
"We're two people…Fawkes might get really violent if there were so many."
"I wouldn't call two many."
"Just wait there, all right?" she said, getting impatient. "And besides, what if Professor Dumbledore suddenly turns up? Who would be able to warn us if you're with me?"
Ron looked at her reluctantly and leaned on the wall. "Ok. But hurry up."
"I'll try."
He barely heard her as she now silently approached a sleeping Fawkes on top of a timber shaft for birds. She tried to quietly reach out and pull one feather without waking him up. However, it seemed like her feathered friend had some imaginary alarm system that sensed her presence amidst him.
This caused him to open his round eyes and as soon as he saw her standing just a few feet away from him, he flapped his wings, ready to fly off.
Knowingly, Hermione tried to keep the bird from lifting from its resting place, all the while crying out loud. Not to her astonishment, it not only managed to lift from the bar, but also had the strength to pull her up easily as if she was as light as a feather.
While still not that high, Hermione decided it was now or never and pulled one feather from his tale and placed it in her robe pocket.
The sudden plucking caused Fawkes to react wildly and he flew off to the direction of the shelves, Hermione, not knowing what to do, had released her hold from the bird and her fell knocked a few manuscripts off the mantelpiece.
She stood up and dusted herself using her hands and began to place the books back where they came from.
But as she picked up the last book, the title caught her eye.
Tyro Elucidates After Hogwarts
She scanned the pages and to her delight, the book was about the graduates of Hogwarts. It showed their current positions (the book kept on updating itself), their spouse, their children, their dwelling place and other sorts of information.
Hermione continued to sift through the pages until the page of James Potter caught her eyes. She stared at Harry's father and went through his biography with interest. As she read his tales, Hermione found herself laughing at some of his comments with his days with Sirius, Remus, and to her disgust, Peter.
She sighed distantly as she read his story about how he and Lily had ended up together. It was a brief one-paragraph statement, but it was descriptive and truthful that she could actually feel the love he had for her.
And in the corner of her eyes, opposite the information on Harry's father, was a slightly big portrait of James. He looked very formal and was smiling simply at her. But as seconds passed, his image had faded; leaving a space where his picture had once been.
Then, in came another portrait. This time, it was a casual picture with his friends. They were all laughing in front of the camera; looking so carefree…then the portrait went black again.
Hermione waited, eager to see more pictures, wanting to see Harry's parents and more of the Marauders. And she would have been able to see them if Ron hadn't called her.
"Hang on!" Hermione reluctantly closed the book and placed it back on the shelves.
"Did you get it?" Ron asked when she reached his side; a hint of anxiety could be noticed in his voice.
"Yes," she looked at him heatedly as they stepped on the stairs that were starting to descend. "Why were you in a hurry?"
"I wasn't," he said, looking puzzled. "You were taking so long and I was getting impatient so I decided to ask if you were done."
"And what if I hadn't been?"
"Well, I could have waited more," he shrugged.
"Figures." Hermione muttered and said nothing anymore.
She was slightly upset that she didn't get to see more graduates from that book. What was its name? Tyro…Tyro…something. She grumbled, wishing she had read the title again to remember the name.
Half of her was curious about what kind of information was displayed there, and the other half wanted to see more of the pictures of Harry's parents. She wondered if after this year she'd receive one.
She closed her eyes and pictured Harry's page. She saw his future easily as if it were her own. And his pictures, it was as clear as if she was there with him. But it was quite difficult to picture her name right beside the title, wife, and it was harder to ignore the pain that hit her when what she saw there instead was Cho's name.
She fumed, hating the idea of it.
A slight thud on the floor made her realize they had finally reached the ground. Using a simple detecting spell, Hermione checked if the hallway along Dumbeldore's office was free from students and having confirmed there wasn't anybody wandering outside, she summoned the portrait to open and they exited. They made their ways towards the Gryffindor tower, trying to walk casually in case anyone ever came along.
"Are you okay?" Ron asked as they nearly reached the tower.
"Yes…why?" Hermione asked looking at her with confused eyes.
He looked at her and smiled gently. "You were spacing out on me again. I was calling your name but you didn't seem to notice."
Hermione shook her head. "Just thinking."
"About what?" He asked.
"Things." Hermione shrugged it off. "Nothing to worry about."
Ron, although not believing her bluff at all, realized he couldn't talk it out of her no matter how much he wanted to, so he decided to leave her alone to handle her confusions by herself.
He understood her and also believed that sometimes, people go through instances wherein they had to solve their own problems. And as far as he was concerned, that time has come for Hermione.
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A few hours later, after having changed their filth-covered robes, Hermione and Ron went into the Great Hall for dinner, where they approached the Gryffindor table where Dean, Neville and Seamus sat.
"I'm so hungry I could eat all night!" Ron exclaimed as he motioned for Dean to scoot over to make room for him and Hermione.
"You always eat all night even if you aren't that hungry." Dean commented as he looked unbelievably at Ron who had stuffed his mouth with chicken even before he could sit down comfortably.
Hermione grinned as she took her place beside him.
"Where's Harry?" Neville asked her as she got some food of her own.
"I have no idea," she answered in a cold voice.
"O-kay." Neville said as he caught Dean and Seamus' eyes, clearly understanding what was going and went back to chewing his chicken wing.
Half an hour later, Harry arrived in the Great Hall, panting. He was very dirty and sweaty; his robes were completely stained with dust and dirt, easily passing himself for a caveman in his get up.
As he made his way towards the Gryffindor table, he saw Hermione and Ron seated together with Dean, Neville and Seamus.
Ron, as usual, was pigging out while Hermione sat there, demurely consuming her dinner like she always did. She was laughing and smiling at some comments the boys made, looking indifferent as all males surrounded her.
He strode over to them and sat down beside Ron, hoping to get at least a `hello' from him. He looked at him expectantly and his face contorted in disappointment when Ron said nothing. It was as if he hadn't arrived and hadn't taken a seat beside him.
"Hey, Harry." Seamus greeted, acknowledging his presence.
He nodded austerely in return. Although someone greeted him, there was no reason to jump up and down for joy in celebration. Not because he didn't appreciate Seamus for trying, it was just that it would have been different if Ron or Hermione were the ones who acknowledged his presence.
"What's up?" Dean asked.
"Nothing much." Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.
Noticing Harry turn slightly red, Seamus leaned slightly so that Ron and Hermione wouldn't be able to hear, and asked, "What are you up to?"
"Nothing." Harry looked at him.
"Aren't you planning to apologize?" Dean asked, joining the conversation.
"I already did."
"And?"
"No use." Harry said to all three (Neville had been listening all the time).
"She seemed to have taken it too seriously."
"Of course she did. That was some nasty stuff you mentioned about her."
"Yeah…but…" he gave a gloomy fleeting look at Hermione as she ate slowly. "She shouldn't have believed it. I mean, we've been friends for years, she knows I couldn't say that…deliberately."
"Maybe it's because you've been together for years that she trusted you not to say it, intentionally or not."
"I don't know," Harry said. "I've tried everything, but it's no use."
"How many times have you approached her?" Dean asked.
"Once," Harry said hesitantly.
"Once?" Dean scoffed. "How can you know you've tried everything when you've only approached her once?"
"Because I know her." Another perturbed glance towards the girl beside Ron. "If she has her mind set onto something, it'll be hard to convince her to do something else."
"That's true," Said Seamus. "But she does get convinced after you badger her about it, doesn't she?"
"Well, yeah…but…"
"And you know exactly what goes on in her mind, right?"
"I guess…but…"
"So what's your problem?"
"It's not that easy. I've never had a fight this serious with her. So I'm really clueless about what to do."
"Just think of it this way. You understand her so much to know exactly what she needs to cool down every time she and Ron argue. So use that as your advantage, Harry. Don't think that knowing her too well would draw her near you. You need to make the move."
"I still can't see why she didn't accept my apology," Harry said dryly.
Dean and Seamus rolled their eyes and, as if they've been planning on doing it, they nodded to Neville who spoke. This time, in a clear, loud voice.
"Where've you been all afternoon?"
Harry was surprised to hear Neville speak at full volume, not bothering to mind if Ron and Hermione heard him. And as he looked at Dean, Seamus and Neville, he had a strong and sudden feeling that he was being baited. Not that he cared or anything. He didn't even know why Neville had asked the question and what his answer would mean to anybody who would hear.
"In the Gryffindor Tower," he said confidently.
"And the Gryffindor Tower can make you look that way?" Seamus asked innocently, flashing him a sneer as he did.
"Well, I've been cleaning my stuff," Harry shrugged, not bothered by what they were doing. "Some of my things got too nasty stuff on them I don't even want to know what they were."
A prickling sensation at the back of Harry's neck made him realize Ron was looking at him intently with a burning gaze, and the deep and shallow breathing of Hermione was creating a cloud of tension in him.
"Anyone see you?" Neville asked.
"What--?" Harry was about to ask him when Ginny arrived to sit beside them and rescued him from further interrogation.
"Hey, guys," Ginny said as she took a slice of cake from the platter and served it onto her plate. She turned to look at Harry and her nose wrinkled in amusement. "So, you still haven't finished cleaning your stuff, then?"
Harry sent a smug smile at the others as he answered Ginny in a confident tone. "I have. Why?"
"I reckoned you would have changed robes after you did."
"I just finished and couldn't wait to eat," he said. "All that work really drained the energy out of me."
"How much energy do you have to spend in cleaning your trunk?" Seamus asked, incredulous.
"I haven't fixed it for ages." Harry explained.
"So he was there all afternoon?" Dean asked Ginny.
"Didn't see him come down," she asserted and Harry sent her a silent and discreet appreciative look. "I left the common room before he did though, and that was just a few minutes ago."
"But he was here first," Seamus alleged. "Shouldn't you have been the one before him?"
"I met Luna on the way," Ginny said nonchalantly but she was a bit red and Harry couldn't help but notice her uneasiness after she said that. But she didn't say anything anymore and just continued eating, unaware of the interactions going on around her.
Ron, on the other hand, was thinking twice as hard now to even notice anything odd about Ginny except her confirmation of Harry's excuse.
If she had said it, then it was true. She wasn't a part of this ordeal; only he, Hermione and the other boys knew about what they were going through, aside from the plan, of course, so she didn't have any reason to lie about anything.
If this is so, then who had been following them all afternoon?
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