Finding Heather

Year 3 Chapter 7

Author's Notes: We've entered the phase of this year where my story takes something of a step back to continue the plot of the book. Obviously, I've made some changes to how some events happen to fit but overall, everything is left to happen in the order of the original canon. I hope you enjoy.

Harry Potter and his band of merry characters, places, etc, don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them from JK Rowling.

Chapter Seven

A silence filled the common room as Hermione stared at the cat hairs. Tears formed in her eyes but when she looked up at Ron, Harry could see anger growing there as well. Sensing a fight coming, Harry grabbed both of them by the arm, yanked Hermione to her feet, and pulled them towards the portrait hole. It wasn't easy as neither of them wanted to come, but Harry was determined that if they were going to have a blow out, it wasn't going to be in front of the whole of Gryffindor House. Halfway down the seventh floor corridor there was an empty classroom that he shoved both of them into.

"What's the big idea?" yelled Ron as Harry slammed the door.Ignoring this, Harry looked at both of them sternly, Hermione with her arms crossed, and Ron with clenched fists. "You two are going to have this out here and now, in private instead of in front of everyone. Ron, are you sure that Scabbers isn't in the dormitory?""Of course he isn't!" Ron yelled, "He's been eaten by that mad cat!""You don't have any proof of that" responded Hermione coldly, an icy look in her eyes, "Those hairs could have come from any time that Crookshanks has been in your dormitory.""You're still going to deny that your cat has been trying to eat Scabbers from the day we met him!" Ron cried exasperatedly."He hasn't done anything to him that any other cat wouldn't have done," said Hermione. "You've always been prejudiced ever since he landed on your head""Hold on, Hermione", said Harry breaking in. "Just because cats normally chase rats doesn't mean that its ok for Crookshanks to keep going after Scabbers like he has. Scabbers is Ron's pet just like Crookshanks is yours, and you wouldn't like it if a dog kept chasing your cat around and terrifying it.""He hasn't been chasing just Scabbers!" yelled Hermione at Harry, briefly losing her composure."Oh yes he has!" Ron roared back "Every time I've mentioned where Scabbers is around that cat he's attacked him. He's been bloody relentless!" "No, he hasn't Ron." Hermione replied, her voice dropping back closer to a normal level."Hermione," said Harry gently trying to keep them from yelling at each other further, "look at the evidence we have. Scabbers appears to be gone," he held up a hand to stop Ron from jumping in at that moment and continued, "and we have ginger hairs on the floor next to blood on Ron's sheets.""But that still doesn't prove that Crookshanks did anything!" replied Hermione."Maybe not, but it definitely looks bad." Said Harry, staring firmly at her. "I know we don't want to think the worst of our pets, but even if Crookshanks didn't do anything," again he held his hand up to Ron to stop him from interjecting, "Scabbers is still missing.""He's not missing he's been eaten!" yelled Ron, staring at Harry, "Why are you taking her side on this?""I'm not Ron. I'm trying to get both of you to get past your being angry at each other. This has been going on all year long. Hermione, you won't see that Crookshanks has appeared to be going after Scabbers since you got him, and not seeing how that's an issue. Ron, you've been using your grudge against Hermione to get mad at her for every little thing this year. You blamed her for me handing over the Firebolt to McGonagall even thought it was my choice. So, both of you," he paused and looked both of them in the eyes, "get your heads on right and remember that we are supposed to be best friends!" Harry hadn't meant to end that with by shouting but the emotions of the moment got the better of him.Both Ron and Hermione looked at him dumbstruck, then looked at each other. The anger that had been on both their faces a minute ago was gone, replaced with sadness. "I'm sorry about Scabbers, Ron" said Hermione quietly, "and I'm sorry if it seems like I care more about Crookshanks than I do him""I'm sorry for being a prat about the broom", Ron replied, not meeting Hermione's gaze."Good," said Harry, who relaxed muscles he didn't realize he was holding tense. "Now, Ron and I are going to tear apart our dormitory looking for Scabbers. Hermione, do us a favor and keep Crookshanks in your dorm until we find him alive or...." He trailed off without completing the sentence. "That way if he's hiding somewhere, he might come out if he doesn't see Crookshanks around." Everyone was whispering when the three returned to the Common Room. Everyone was asked to search their dormitories for Scabbers, even though the general concensus was that he had been eaten. Harry and Ron searched their dormitory, but no sign of Scabbers, either alive or dead, was found by anyone. Harry had a brief moment of panic when Ron asked to look through his trunk on the off chance that Scabbers had climbed in when Harry wasn't looking, but Harry managed to talk him into searching the bathroom while he checked his trunk himself. By bedtime that night few were convinced that Scabbers would be found, and even Hermione had grudgingly admitted there was a chance he was dead. The next day dawned grey, as if in mourning for Scabbers, but both Ron and Hermione were surprisingly civil with each other. Fred and George thought that trying to talk Ron into accepting that Scabbers was old and was probably going to die soon anyway would help him feel better, to which Ginny took a very dim view. Changing tack, the twins composed on the spot and started singing a slow ballad for Scabbers, featuring a rather interpretive version of the rat biting Goyle on Ron's first trip to Hogwarts. Ron wasn't very kind to Crookshanks, quite understandably, for the next few days, prompting Hermione to keep him locked up in her dormitory. To everyone's surprise however, the two remained cordial if not completely friendly, with Ron taking over the lion's share of preparation for Buckbeak's trial. It wasn't entirely comfortable between the three, but it was far from how bad Harry thought it could have been.The day before his match with Ravenclaw, Hermione pulled Harry aside outside the library and pressed a small wrapped box into his hands. Looking around to see if anyone was watching, he ripped open the paper to see a felt covered box. Inside was a small golden snitch hung on a gold chain, the wings of which were flapping idly as though in a breeze."It's my way of apologizing for the Firebolt, and to thank you for helping get my head on straight" she said with a smile.Harry hugged her like he hadn't been able to since Christmas. "It's beautiful" he said, "I can't wait to wear it. But you don't need to apologize Hermione. You were right, it was better to be safe.""Thank you Harry, and thanks for staying my friend all year. It's been a rough one on all of us.""Hermione, you caught me in a skirt and instead of freaking out you gave me more to wear. Of course I'm going to stay your friend." Harry whispered into her ear, checking again to make sure that no one was around to overhear."Are you going to wear that during the game?" asked Hermione after they broke up the hug."I'm not sure that's a good idea, it might get seen.""I guess that's true. Well, I hope you get to wear it soon." The match against Ravenclaw was better than anyone expected. Harry's new Firebolt secured Gryffindor a chance at the Quidditch Cup if they could beat Slytherin. Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, had taken up more of Harry's attention during the match that it should have, prompting Wood to shout that if he needed to Harry should knock her off her broom. The usual fantastic celebration in Gryffindor Tower followed the victory. Harry was eager to join in the celebrations, but felt too sweaty to be able to enjoy himself without a shower. Finding the dormitory empty he decided to celebrate in his own way. Carefully he pulled a pair of knickers, and the charm necklace Hermione had given him, and slipped them on before his muggle clothes after he was clean. Making sure nothing could be seen he came back down to the party. As usual the Weasley's had secured large amounts of Butterbeer and sweets, and the party was in full swing by the time that Harry came down the staircase. At the sight on him hands reached out to pull him into the throng. Several bodies ended up pushing against him and he received many slaps on the back, making him worry about the bra being felt through his shirt, but no one seemed to notice except Hermione. When she hugged him, he felt her hands find the bra on his back and she smiled at him. Hours later Professor McGonagall came up to shut the party down and send them to bed. Harry, who was in very high spirits, decided to wear the underclothes to bed, and even snuck a magazine under his pillow to read after everyone went to bed. That night was the night that Sirius Black broke into Gryffindor Tower, using passwords left lying around by Neville. Black had seemed to mistakenly attack Ron's bed, but fled when he woke suddenly. With tighter security on the castle after this, Harry and Ron were having trouble finding time to get down to Hagrid's to give him all the notes they'd found for Buckbeak's trial. Harry was still spending large amounts of time in the library with Hermione, which continued helping his grades in all his classes. One afternoon he was deep in the Transfiguration section, and as he pulled down a thick tome, he heard giggling coming from the opposite side of the shelf."Has anyone noticed that he's wearing his hair down?" a girl's voice asked."It almost looks girly," said another."I heard one of the boys from his dorm say that he's using girl's scented stuff to wash." Said the first voice"Looks like your boyfriend might not fancy girls after all, Ginny" said the second girl causing the rest of the girls to start giggling.It wasn't hard for Harry to figure out the girls were talking about him. Ginny Weasley's crush on him was well known across the entire school, helped along by that valentine she sent him last year. He leaned back against the bookcase, wondering how he felt about being noticed for girly things. It's not as though being gossiped about was new for him, after all whispered had followed him since his first day at Hogwarts. At the same time, hearing girls giggle and chat about him seeming girly felt different. Managing to not be seen by the gossipers, he crept back to the table he was sharing with Hermione. Slumping into the chair and staring blankly at the parchment laying in front of him, he didn't say anything. Hermione, who was deep in an essay entitled" Why do Muggle's need Electricity", looked up after a minute or two."What's wrong Harry?" she inquired."Hermione, can girls like other girls?" He asked quietly in a deadpan."Well, usually girls like boys but they don't have to. Why are you asking?" She replied looking slightly confused.Harry contemplated her words for a minute, wondering just how much of what was flying through his head he wanted to share. "I just heard some girls talking about me. They said that since I was using girls' shampoo and stuff that I might not like girls.""Do you like girls Harry?" Hermione asked."I do, at least I think I do" he replied quickly, thinking back to how he had looked at Cho during the match."Then that's what matters. Don't listen to anyone else and what they say about you." She said, smiling reassuringly at him."What's someone been saying about you?" said Ron's voice from behind them, making Harry jump. They hadn't heard his approach, and Harry silently wondered what he might have overheard."Just some gossiping girls," answered Hermione easily, brushing aside any awkwardness of Harry's.Ron didn't have a response to that as girls weren't very high on his list of priorities, particularly gossiping ones. He joined them for a while, trying to copy their Potion's homework. Finally Harry handed his over, in the hopes that Ron would choose to leave, letting Harry and Hermione finish their conversation. Questions still burned in Harry's mind that her words had not completely placated. After copying down Harry's answers, Ron continued to sit there talking about Gryffindor's renewed chances at winning the Cup until curfew was near and the trio packed up to head back to the tower. Unseen by Ron, Hermione slipped a piece of paper into Harry's hand, which he pocketed. On the way he stopped on the fifth floor to use the toilet and opened the note. Meet me in the seventh floor girl's toilet tonight at midnight. Hermione