Forbidden Love
Chapter 12
It had been a couple of weeks since she and Harry had their talk in the common room that night. At first Hermione had been nervous and afraid that things wouldn't be able to return to normal. Not to mention her worry that Harry had heard the comment that she had spontaneously made on her way out the door. She still couldn't believe that she'd said what she had, especially after she had convinced herself that it wasn't true. Luckily for her, however, Harry hadn't seemed to have heard. He had ran and caught up with her a few moments after she had departed, immediately chatting about what he was going to eat at dinner and how completely ravenous he was.
From there everything had returned to normal. Ron, Harry, Ginny and herself had become as close as ever and had even developed a nightly habit of studying together in the common room in front of the fire. Ginny would curl up in the chair with Harry sitting at her feet and she and Ron would sit closely together on the couch.
"Aren't you guys ready yet?!" a voice said loudly, effectively bringing Hermione back to the present.
She abruptly looked to her left where Ginny stood, a small frown marring her features. Harry and Ron came down the stairs a moment later having heard the other girls' bellowed question.
"I've been ready," Harry said with a smile as he joined them.
"Well I would have been ready too, had someone woken me up," Ron replied, turning and shooting a glare at the dark haired boy next to him.
"No way! Last time I tried to wake you up you almost gave me a black eye!" Harry responded, holding his hands up defensively.
"It's not my fault I had that stupid spider dream again," Ron grumbled, averting his gaze and jamming his hands into his pockets.
"Of course not Ron," Hermione said, giving him a small pat on the back while Harry and Ginny laughed.
"Yeah, it's not your fault you're a scaredy cat," Ginny added mocking her brother with a look of sympathy, to which Ron responded with a vicious glare.
"Ginny leave him alone," Hermione said to the younger girl with a somewhat straight face.
"What?" she responded wide-eyed "I was being helpful".
"You were being a git," Ron retorted.
"Yeah, well you were being a wuss," Ginny replied.
"Yeah well -"
"-we're going to be late," Hermione interrupted.
"I'm ready, she's the one holding us up," Ron said jabbing a thumb in his sisters' direction.
"Oh really," Ginny responded.
"Really," he replied.
"Look, can we not start this again?" Hermione cut in, rolling her eyes at the siblings and giving Harry a small glare for laughing. "Ginny, leave Ron alone. Ron, go put on your tie so that we can go."
Ron gave her a startled look before giving a quick glance down and seeing his tie was in fact missing. Heaving a dramatic sigh he ran back up the stairs to the boys' dorm, giving the sniggering Ginny a small shove along the way.
As he disappeared up the stairs Hermione put her head down and rubbed her temples. Somehow when she pictured her first real boyfriend she had thought of someone a bit more.... mature. Giving a small sigh she allowed her eyes to drift closed and she willed the headache that she could feel fast approaching away. Why couldn't Ron be more mature, more scholarly, more compassionate, more perceptive, more like Harr- her eyes snapped open. 'No, no more of that type of thinking.' she silently reprimanded herself. However, lifting her head she couldn't resist giving a quick look to the boy in question, and then promptly wishing she hadn't.
Harry was standing just in front of her with Ginny wrapped in his arms. The red-headed girl's head was tilted back causing her silky hair to ripple over her shoulders. She was smiling up at Harry with a dreamy look while he spoke softly to her, barley containing a smile of his own. All in all they looked extremely cozy together, a realization that caused Hermione to suddenly become quite nauseous. The brown-haired girl placed a shaky hand on her stomach and took a deep breath to help squelch the feeling. However, when Ginny got on her toes and placed a small kiss on Harry's lips the urge to spew dissipated as quickly as it had emerged, leaving only the urge to grab the other girl by her hair and pull her the hell away from her Har-
"Ok, I'm ready to go!" Ron called out, bounding down the last few stairs.
Hermione jump and emitted a small, surprised squeak as her gaze snapped to her boyfriend, who gave a teasing smile at her expression. Looking back at Harry and Ginny, she saw that they had finally disentangled themselves from one another and were now headed towards the door holding hands.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Ron asked walking up to her and placed a hand on her back, a worried expression on his face.
"Yeah I'm fine," she responded giving a small smile.
"Are you sure? You look a bit pale," Ginny inquired, giving her a worried look.
"I said I'm fine!" she snapped.
The others cringed slightly, surprised at the sharpness of her tone, "Ok, sheesh, I was just worried, won't make that mistake again," Ginny mumbled, giving a small frown and turning to walk out the door.
Ron and Harry both gave Hermione curious looks before Harry followed his girlfriend into the hall. Though she could feel him staring at her, Hermione chose not to acknowledge her boyfriend, instead opting to look straight ahead as they left the common room and walked in silence towards the Great Hall a few paces behind Harry and Ginny.
She knew that she should say something to Ron. She also knew that she was wrong to snap at Ginny and would have to apologize later. She was aware she had no right to be upset at Ginny for kissing Harry, after all she and Harry were just friends, they had even discussed it. She was also aware that Harry had put the weird feelings that they had been feeling aside and she should too. She was aware of this because her brain told her, and her brain was usually right, she knew that... so why didn't her heart seem to care?
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"Today we're going to be going to be discussing the identification of vile poisons," Professor Prophyria Cypher said in a strong, husky voice. "Who can tell me what some of the attributes that you would commonly find are?" she asked, her ruby colored orbs scanning the classroom.
Hermione's hand immediately shot up and, with the exception of Harry's, was the only one in the air.
Professor Cypher's eyes darted between them for an instant before she finally called on Harry.
"Well vile poisons are not easy to recognize," he responded immediately. "They are often mixed in with other ingredients and look just like a typical potion that you would take for anything. However there are a few things that can stick out. For one, there's the texture and consistency- sometimes more dangerous poisons, like Aconite, are oily and don't mix well with other ingredients. There's also a sweet smelling aroma that's similar to honey which is common due to a chemical reaction between ingredients. Lastly, there is a very distinct aftertaste that has been described as similar to Quidditch socks and sandpaper." Harry gave a wry smile "Though to be honest if you've reached the last one, it's probably too late for you anyway."
Professor Cyphers' blood red lips curved at one end as she graced him with a half smile and several students sniggered. "Very good, Mr. Potter," she said in the same low tone. "You've just earned twenty points for Gryffindor."
Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry blushed and looked down at his desk and scoffed when Ron cast him an envious look. Boys! Did they have to spend every class ogling the Professor? They hung on her every word like a bunch of poor enslaved house elves.
"Now who can give me examples of some of these poisons and their effects?" the Professor asked as she gracefully walked back and forth in front of the desks, with the eyes of every male in the class following her movements.
Hermione's hand once again shot up, but to her surprise it was joined by the hands of Ron, Neville, Harry, Seamus and pretty much the remainder of the male populace of the class. The Professor looked around the mass of eager students for a moment, deciding who to pick. After a few seconds of deliberation her gaze stopped on Hermione.
"Ms. Granger, since this is your second time with your hand up I'll let you answer. What are some of these poisons and what are their effects?"
"Well Professor," Hermione respond in a matter-of-fact tone "there's Aconite which Harry mentioned earlier; Aconite is an extremely poisonous plant with the ability to kill you with even a small dose. Myphur is another, it has the ability to cause one to be put in to a sleep which is so deep that none can wake from it, so it is considered by most to be fatal. There is Nepthertal which if swallowed causes the unlucky person's throat to swell shut in a record breaking zero point three-eight seconds. Lastly there is Enthoral which causes breakage or ruptures in the skin and if swallowed can create a reaction that's similar to being eaten from inside to out," she answered, counting the list off on her fingers.
"Very good, Ms. Granger," the professor said with a nod "fifteen more points to Gryffindor."
"Geez Hermione, leave something for the rest of the class," she heard Ron grumble beside her; she shot him a glare.
"Yes Mr. Potter?" Professor Cypher asked.
Hermione's gaze went to him; she hadn't even realized that he'd had his hand up.
"I was just wondering Professor, isn't Hyroclytrate also considered a vile poison? You know, since it has the ability to cause the person to fell as though thousands of tiny bugs have been released into their body. Causing it's victims to go so insane, that most times they try to kill themselves just to make it stop." Harry questioned, tilting his head and lightly brushing his lower lip with bottom of his quill.
A few strands of messy black locks fell into his eye and Hermione found herself with an overwhelming urge to push them away.
"Why yes Mr. Potter, you are correct," the Professor responded looking at him briefly, before addressing the class. "Even though Hyroclytrate does have a cure, since it can be as dangerous to the person making it as the actual poison is to its victim, it is not often sought. So therefore victims of this particular poison, though not instantly killed, do often commit suicide. As for the few who do not, they're no longer able to function in society and are usually left to live out their grim futures in the mental health ward at St. Mungos. And Hyroclytrate earns a well deserved but little known spot on the list of vile poisons, how very astute of you," she said, turning and gracing Harry with a rare full smile.
Though the smile only lasted for a mere second or two Harry still blushed crimson in response and not unlike earlier with Ginny, Hermione suddenly had the strangest urge to hurt Professor Cypher.
As if she could sense the girls' thoughts the woman looked over at her. Their eyes locked for a moment and the Professor raised a brow before once again looking at Harry. "That's another five points to Gryffindor Mr. Potter, nice job." She then turned and walked back up to the front of the class, taking a seat on the edge of her desk. "Now who can tell me," she held up a finger "without looking in your texts, some of the known cases in which vile poisons were used? ...Okay, only one case per person," she said when yet again a sea of hands went up.
**
"Alright, for homework," Professor Cypher said an hour or so later "I would like you to research vile poisons, tell me in great detail how you would most likely come across them and to list one fact about each not stated in class. Also state what antidotes-" she smirked "if any, there are and how they would be created. Don't forget, if there is a time frame in which to take said antidote you better say what it is. I am not going to give you a word limit on this essay, but I will say that I don't expect anything less than your best work. Do I make myself clear?" the Professor asked looking over the class until she felt she had received suitable conformation that everyone understood. "That is all, class dismissed."
With that she turned and began gathering her papers to prepare for the next batch of students. Hermione quickly grabbed her books and parchment and made her way to the door. She was almost there when she noticed that Harry and Ron seemed to be lingering at their desks.
"Are you guys coming? It's time for lunch you know," she stated in a matronly tone before frowning and walking over to them when they didn't respond. "Hello? Are you in there, let's go."
Instead of acknowledging her comment, Ron continued to stare at the professor, who was bending over slightly at her desk organizing odd looking figures for the next class. After a minute or so of Hermione just glaring at their backs Harry finally pulled his eyes away from Professer Cyphers' bum long enough to throw her a look over his shoulder. Seeing her expression he gave a sheepish smile and a red flush crept up his neck.
"Er...in a minute Hermione, I wanted to ask the professor if she had any ideas on things we could teach in the D.A. meetings," he said, while giving Ron a not so discreet punch in the arm.
Hermione frowned "Why do you need to ask her? We just came up with ideas for the next two lessons last week. Besides we can normally work that out between us without any problem."
"Yeah but she might have some fresh new ideas, after all she has more experience in these matters than us," he responded standing.
"That's rubbish, we've had plenty experience and you know it. Look, I have several ideas for the meetings; I was going to tell them to you after lunch."
"That's great Hermione and I want to hear them...later," noticing her frown deepen he quickly continued. "Hey, we can't have too many ideas. I mean the D.A.'s going to be meeting for the rest of the year so we'll need plenty of material to..." Harry trailed off as he looked over his shoulder.
When he didn't resume his sentence Hermione looked over at Ron to see if he noticed Harry's strange behavior and quickly saw that his attention was directed in the same location as the other boys. Following their gazes she saw that they were once again watching the professor. The raven haired woman pulled her long tresses so that they draped over one shoulder and turned to make her way up the stairs. Hermione could practically feel the steam rising from her ears as Harry and Ron stared open mouthed at the sway of the professor's hips as she made her way up the stairs and to her office.
"Fine!" she exclaimed; Harry's gaze flew back to her, his eyes wide with surprise. "If you don't want my ideas then I'll keep them! Who knows if you ask nicely enough maybe she'll help you run it too then won't need me for anything!" she finished in a loud angry whisper.
Looking over, she noticed Ron giving her a strange look, but before he could say anything she turned and ran out of the classroom.
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Harry and Ron watched Hermione disappear out of the door with wide eyes, only coming out of their surprised stupor when it slammed shut behind her.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" Ron asked standing from his desk.
Instead of responding Harry quickly grabbed his stuff and rushed out the door. Walking half-way into the sea of students, he looked frantically around the crowded hallway for any sign of the brown-haired girl.
"I thought you were going to ask Professor Cypher about ideas for the D.A.?" Ron asked catching up with him a second later, while trying to balance his books and put his wand in his pocket at the same time.
"I was, but…" Harry hesitated and looked at his mates expectant face "-but it's time for lunch and I'm starving," he finished with a shrug.
Ron's brows rose in response, but before he could voice any questions his Transfiguration book slid off the top of his pile and onto the floor, almost getting trampled by an overexcited first-year. Harry waited patiently while his friend glared at the younger student and picked up the item that he had dropped, using the distraction as an opportunity to do another quick sweep for Hermione.
"Anyway," he started again, once Ron was situated "who knows how long it would take to talk to the Professor? After all, we do have Quidditch practice this afternoon, so do we really want to run the risk of missing lunch?" Harry questioned as the two of them began to make their way though the crowd and towards the Great Hall. "I mean, if we did then there's no way we'd have the energy to make it through practice playing our best. Which, is exactly what we need to do now that our first match against Slytherin is just around the corner. You know how dirty those tossers play," Ron nodded "which is exactly why we need be at our top during practices, so that we can see how good our team really is," he threw a smirk over his shoulder. "This is something we can't do with your stomach growling like an angry mountain troll all through practice."
Ron blushed faintly but instead of commenting, he gave a small shrug and nodded in agreement. The red-haired boy then quickened his pace, passing Harry and practically running to the Great Hall. Having made his point Harry followed quietly behind him, when they entered Harry's eyes swiftly scanned the loud crowded room but he didn't see Hermione anywhere. Giving a small frown he followed Ron to their usual spot at the Gryffindor table and took a seat next to Ginny.
"-it's not poisonous or anything is it?" she was asking Neville as he and Ron sat down. Seeing Harry take the spot next to her Ginny gave him a smile before leaning over and placing a small peck on his lips.
"N-no not at all," Neville responded blushing a bit and redirecting his attention to his sandwich when they kissed.
"Well then it sounds wicked cool," Ginny responded, reaching out and giving him a pat on the hand and an impish smile.
The other boy's faced turned a deeper shade of red and he cast Harry a somewhat nervous look. However, there was no need since the dark-haired boy hadn't noticed the interaction as his gaze was once again on the entrance to the Great Hall.
"Are you looking for someone?" Ginny inquired from next to him, as she leaned back a bit in her seat to look at the door also.
"What?...No, not at all just ..." Harry trailed off and shrugged.
"Just..." Ginny prompted raising a brow.
"Just- observing my surroundings, I like to be aware of what's going on," he answered shrugging again.
"Oh..." she responded chewing on her lip for a moment. "Well, you just missed Neville here telling me that there is a plant that can make your skin glow. It's called the lumo...lumiere...uhh..." she grimaced and looked at Neville "what was it called again?"
"The Luminestria, it- it mainly grows in southern Poland," Neville responded while fiddling with his sandwich. "It's not a strong glow- just a dim one, however it really stands out in the dark."
"That's nice," Harry responded in a distracted tone, looking toward the door again.
"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny asked, lightly touching his arm.
"Oh- who- me? Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, giving a small smile.
"You just seem distracted," she continued in a whisper, her gaze probing. "It's kind of like how you were when we first got back to Hogw-"
"Hey, have you guys seen Hermione?" Ron asked, interrupting his sister and Harry's softly spoken conversation.
Ginny huffed and looked around Harry at her brother. "No, the last time I saw her she was headed off to class with the two of you."
"Yeah, well then she got in some tizzy about the D.A. and left in a huff," Ron responded.
"She's been in a huff all morning," Ginny replied making a face.
"So you haven't seen her at all?" Ron asked, popping another chip into his mouth.
Ginny glared "That's what I said."
"Geez don't get your knickers in a knot, too," Ron retorted before turning back to his plate and finishing loudly "women, always so bloody moody."
"Hey!" Ginny yelled.
Harry sat leaned back on the bench, so that he was out of the line of fire. Quietly chewing on his sandwich he let the siblings bicker with one another while he pondered where Hermione could be and just why she had gotten so upset. Well, he knew why she was upset and it had nothing to do with the D.A. but the...er, attention he and Ron paid to the Professor. The thing that bothered him was he wasn't sure- was she upset about Ron... or him?
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"There you are," Ginny said as soon as they walked into the common room after lunch.
Harry looked past her to see Hermione sitting on the couch, her warm chocolate colored hair unbound with the mass of bushy curls resting around her shoulders. She had removed her robe and thrown it over the back of the couch, leaving her clad in only her school uniform which she had rolled up the sleeves on, and her long legs were bent and tucked under her as she worked from the many books that were scattered about. At Ginny's comment Hermione turned her head and gave them a curious look, but when her eyes connected with Harry's she immediately looked back down at the text she had been reading.
"You missed lunch," Harry stated when she looked away, he felt like an idiot for saying it but he didn't have anything better to offer.
Hermione held up an apple in response to his comment "This'll hold me over until dinner," her eyes flicked between the three of them. "I thought you guys had Quidditch practice."
"We do," Ginny answered sitting down on the couch and making a face "but Slytherin still has the pitch for another twenty minutes, so we decided to head up here."
"So..." Ron started, looking at her as though she had gone mental "are you....you know, okay?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at him before turning back to her book. "Of course I'm ok Ronald, I'm just a bit stressed, all of these advanced classes come with advanced assignments you know." She responded, not even bothering to look at him.
"So is that why you blew up at Harry and Ginny?" Ron pressed, taking a seat on the back of the couch.
"I did not blow up at Harry or Ginny," was the indignant response.
"Sure sounded like you did to me," was the mumbled reply.
Hermione glowered at Ron for a minute before looking past him at Harry. The dark haired boy was looking at her as though she were a puzzle that needed solving. She did not like that look.
"I did not, or- at least I didn't mean to," she sighed and looked at Ginny. "I'm sorry if I was rude earlier, I hadn't been able to get much sleep last night and was feeling a bit... grumpy this morning."
The other girl gave a small smile "That's ok, I forgive you- this time, just give us some warning next time that happens so we know to steer clear, ok?"
Hermione smiled in response and nodded before looking once more at Harry. "I also apologize if I... snapped at you earlier. It's just that I had put a lot of time that I could have used studying into those lesson plans and it annoyed me- just a bit- that you wanted to use Professor Cypher's ideas instead," she finished once again looking down at her book.
"Eck, Professor Cypher… doesn't she think she's high and mighty," Ginny chimed before Harry could respond, while picking up the other girls apple.
"She does not," Ron retorted "she's just... cool and aloof. Snape, now he's the one who thinks they're high and mighty."
"Please, she's just as bad, strutting around with her nose in the air like a snob with that bright red lipstick on. Who wears lipstick that matches their eye color anyway? You don't see girls walking around with blue or black or green lipstick on. If you ask me it makes her look as strange as she acts," Ginny responded making a face and tossing the apple back and forth between her hands.
"Hey! She's not a snob and it's not her fault she has red eyes," Ron said snatching the fruit mid-air. "Girls wear red lipstick all the time, besides if you ask me she looks wicked hot."
"Well who asked you?" Hermione responded snatching the apple back from Ron and setting it on the table.
"You guys have the strangest conversations," Harry said laughing. "Come on lets head to practice, Slytherin should be done by now and we need to get in as much as possible with the game so close. After all we're heading to Hogsmeade tomorrow we won't have time then."
"Sure," Ginny replied bounding off the couch and out of the portrait hole. Ron gave Hermione a quick kiss on the forehead and then followed behind his sister attempting to rekindle their argument.
"Oh and Hermione," Harry said pausing at the exit and looking at her "I didn't talk to Professor Cypher," she rose a brow but didn't comment. "What I mean is- if it's a choice between working with you or her on the D.A. well…" he left it at that. Then giving her a small smile he turned and headed out the door just missing the grin that descended upon Hermione's lips.
Author's Note: That's if for this chapter. Next chapter will have a trip to Hogsmeade and an interesting piece of plot development. Stay tuned and PLEASE REVIEW. Ja ne!!
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