another love; harry potter

fifty

Hermione let out a long, slow sigh.

"Of course," she breathed.

'"Of course what?" said Ron rather impatiently.

'"Ron, think about it... Sturgis Podmore was trying to get through a door at the Ministry of Magic ... it must have been that one, it's too much of a coincidence!"

"How come Sturgis was trying to break in when he's on our side?" said Ron.

"Well, I don't know," Hermione admitted. "That is a bit odd ..."

"So what's in the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked Ron. "Has your dad ever mentioned anything about it?"

"I know they call the people who work there 'Unspeakables,'" said Ron, frowning. "Because no one really seems to know what they do--weird place to have a weapon."

"It's not weird at all, it makes perfect sense," said Hermione. "It will be something top secret that the Ministry has been developing, I expect ...-"

"You're not okay, are you?" Pheobe said slowly, watching Harry run both his hands hard over his forehead as if he was trying to iron it, her eyes on his trembling hands. He sighed and leaned his head on her shoulder, shaking his head slightly.

"Take a bloody guess."

The four of them went down to the common room to finish the rest of their homework there, but the common room was packed and full of shrieks of laughter and excitement; Fred and George were demonstrating their latest bit of joke shop merchandise.

"Headless Hats!" shouted George, as Fred waved a pointed hat decorated with a fluffy pink feather at the watching students. "Two Galleons each, watch Fred, now!"

Fred swept the hat on to his head, beaming. For a second he merely looked rather stupid; then both hat and head vanished.

Several girls screamed, but everyone else was roaring with laughter.

"And off again!" shouted George, and Fred's hand groped for a moment in what seemed to be thin air over his shoulder; then his head reappeared as he swept the pink-feathered hat from it.

"How do those hats work, then?" said Hermione, distracted from her homework and watching Fred and George closely. "I mean, obviously it's some kind of Invisibility Spell, but it's rather clever to have extended the field of invisibility beyond the boundaries of the charmed object ... I'd imagine the charm wouldn't have a very long life though."

Harry didn't answer, staring at his books.

"I'm going to have to do this tomorrow," he muttered, pushing the books he had just taken out of his bag back inside it.

"Well, write it in your homework planner then!" said Hermione encouragingly. "So you don't forget!"

Pheobe winced, having opened the book only one time and had gotten yelled at in turn.

Harry, Pheobe, and Ron exchanged looks as he reached into his bag, withdrew the planner and opened it tentatively.

"Don't leave it till later, you big second-rater!" chided the book as Harry scribbled down Umbridge's homework. Hermione beamed at it.

"I think I'll go to bed," said Harry, stuffing the homework planner back into his bag and making a mental note to drop it in the fire the first opportunity he got.

Pheobe, Hermione, and Ron watched Harry go, and he had just disappeared into his dormitory when Pheobe suddenly experienced pain so severe she thought that someone must have sliced into the top of her head.

She did not know where she was, whether she was standing or still in the chair by the fire, she did not even know her own name.

Maniacal laughter was ringing in her ears ... she was happier than she had been in a very long time ... jubilant, ecstatic, triumphant ... a wonderful, wonderful thing had happened ...