Chapter 10 Find My Heart
The rooster was right, Harry did not like being awakened by Crookshanks. The process started with Crookshanks jumping on him, which was rather like a punch to the stomach. Harry lay in bed trying to catch his breath, but only for a short time because Crookshanks sank his claws into Harry's leg.
"Ow, you stupid cat!" Harry shouted, waking up Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus.
"Come on Ron," Harry said with a yawn, "time to escort our nurse home."
Ron mumbled something as he got up, but Harry didn't understand him.
They arrived at the hospital a few minutes late. Hermione was waiting at the door.
She waved from the other end of the corridor and started towards them. But she had walked only a few steps from the hospital door when a suit of armor shot her with a crossbow. She spun around a quarter of a turn and fell to her knees.
Harry pulled out his wand and ran towards her, Ron was right beside him.
Three suits of armor were converging on Hermione. One had a pike, one a mace and the closest one a sword.
“Expelliarmus!” Hermione shouted, sending the sword flying across the corridor.
The swordsman went to retrieve his weapon. The pike and the mace were very close to her now and the bowman was cocking his crossbow.
"Ron, get the bowman!" Harry shouted. “Wingardium leviosa”, he chanted.
An alarm bell sounded as the suit of armor with the pike was levitated and sent smashing into the armor with the mace. Ron destroyed the bowman with the Reducto spell. Dobby and five large house elves charged out from behind a tapestry and began pounding the unarmed swordsman with sticks.
Harry dashed over to Hermione. The crossbow bolt was in her left shoulder, just above her breast. There was a lot of blood.
"Oh not again," she moaned. "Thanks for saving me Harry," she said as she passed out.
Madam Pomfrey came out of the hospital immediately and cast a spell to stop Hermione's bleeding. Professors Lupin and Flitwick came running up.
"Harry Potter cast a Levitating Spell and Ron Weasley cast a Demolition Spell," Lupin told Flitwick.
They carefully moved Hermione back into the hospital and Madam Pomfrey started working on her wound.
The house-elves attached broom heads to their sticks and began cleaning up the mess.
Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived and the teachers began discussing what to do. There was a killer in the castle. One who was very good at enchantments and whose wand did not set off the alarm.
Morning classes were cancelled and students were confined to their dormitories. Harry and Ron waited in the hospital with Hermione. She had a serious wound, close to her heart. Madam Pomfrey estimated that Hermione would be in the hospital for thirty hours. Because of the battle with the murderous armor, Harry and Ron did not get in trouble for setting off spells outside of class. This greatly disappointed Mr. Filch.
The order was given for all of the armor and weapons in the castle to be checked for enchantments and moved to storage. Harry and Ron spent half of the day helping to levitate potentially dangerous objects to locked rooms. It was late morning when Ron finally got to pull Harry aside.
"Did you notice that nothing was ever said about Hermione using a Disarming Spell," Ron whispered.
"The alarm sounded when I set off the Levitating Spell," Harry observed.
"At the Start of Term Banquet, when our wands were being registered…" Ron began.
"Hermione was in detention," Harry finished.
Harry and Ron stopped by the hospital just before lunch to check in on Hermione. They were enormously relieved to see that she was conscious and half sitting up, but she began to cry as they approached.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I'm sorry. It was my fault."
"What?" Harry said, in confusion. "No, it wasn't…"
"I should have waited for you," she stammered. "I was so tired. I wasn't thinking."
"No, Hermione," Ron said, "it wasn't your fault. Someone tried to murder you."
Harry stroked her hair while Ron held her hand and they tried to calm her down.
Madam Pomfrey appeared carrying a tray and a bowl of soup.
"Boys, you saved her life this morning," Madam Pomfrey said. "Now go to lunch. She needs her rest."
As Harry and Ron left the hospital they heard Madam Pomfrey chiding Hermione to drink her soup and to stop crying, she had lost enough fluid for one day.
"She's cracking up," Ron observed sadly.
"Four attempts to murder her since June, her Family’s gone, her home’s destroyed, she was tortured, is it any wonder she's upset," Harry said.
"It didn't seem to be a good time to ask to borrow her wand," Ron stated.
"Borrow her wand?" Harry asked.
"It's time we went on the offensive, put it back on Malfoy and his gang," Ron said bitterly.
Afternoon classes were cancelled for a special faculty meeting. All of the students were ordered to remain in the Great Hall after lunch. Professor McGonagall asked Harry, Ron, Ginny and Colin to fetch Hagrid. As the four left the Great Hall Professor Lupin scanned them with one of the silver instruments from Dumbledore's office.
"Why did Professor Lupin search us?" Ginny asked as they walked across the lawn to Hagrid's hut. "What are they looking for?"
"Hagrid," Harry called, when they got to his cottage. "You need to come up to the castle."
"I'm not surprised," Hagrid answered him. "I 'erd about 'Ermione bein' attacked again."
He had his crossbow and Fang with him, like he was going hunting.
It was a warm sunny day. There was a cloud of dust in the air from the wagon going to fetch groceries. Birds were singing. It would have a great day to be out of classes if they could go down to the Quidditch pitch. But they would be spending the afternoon crowded into the Great Hall with all of the other students.
They were met at the castle door by Professor Lupin.
"Ah Hagrid, you've brought Fang and your bow. Good," Lupin said. "They could come in handy if we find an intruder."
"Professor Lupin," Harry interrupted, "What exactly are you doing?"
"Well Harry, you don't need to worry about it," Lupin said. "But we're searching the whole castle for a wand or enchanted item that could have been used to animate the armor. The attack on Hermione this morning was very similar to the attack last week on Professor Fudge. You four need to go to the Great Hall with the rest of the students."
The students spent the afternoon sitting at their house tables. A few tried to read or catch up on their class work. Some of the students at the Ravenclaw table may have actually studied some, but mostly there was too much talking and teasing for anyone to get much done.
Harry looked up at the clock, only one boring hour had gone by. How long would it take to search the whole castle for a wand?
"So Ron, shall we play Naughts and Crosses?" Harry asked.
"No," Ron said. "I'm in the mood to attack. Let's try some psychological warfare."
He looked over at the Slytherin table.
"Let's take a walk," he said to Harry.
So Harry," Ron said loudly so the Slytherins would be sure to hear him over the noise.
"What sort of wizard would try to kill Hermione twice in two weeks?" Ron asked.
"A bastard," Harry replied.
"I was thinking it was an incompetent bastard," Ron said looking at Draco.
"I agree with your assessment, Ronald," Harry said loudly. "Only a group of twits could fail to murder a school girl four times in a row. It's too bad Lord Voldemort isn't here. I'd love to watch him punish his idiot followers."
Harry loved to watch the way the Slytherins cringed when he said Voldemort.
"Those guys that beat her up in the bathroom and then didn't finish the job," Ron said angrily, "they were sloppy."
The hall began to go quiet as students stopped talking and started watching the drama near the Slytherin table.
"They were stupid," Harry said, "like that fellow that got killed by Muggle gunfire. Now he's famous for being careless. But I can't think of his name right now. I guess it's not important."
"You're on thin ice, Potter!" Theodore Nott said rising to his feet."
"What are you going to do Theodore?" Harry asked. "Hex me? I dare you! Give the authorities an excuse to question you. Go ahead. Do it! They use Veritas serum now."
"I'm not afraid of Veritas serum!" Nott said shaking.
"A smart fellow like you or Draco probably could fool them," Ron said to Theodore. "But Goyle would spill it."
"Vincent, are you going to follow Draco to the grave the way your father followed Lucius Malfoy?" Harry asked Crabbe. "The Arch and the Veil are waiting for you."
Crabbe stared at them. Harry wasn't sure Vincent understood what he had said.
"You could save yourself, Crabbe," Ron said loudly. "Rat out these losers, before they rat out you."
Malfoy, Nott, Crabbe and Goyle rose to their feet with their fists clenched.
The entire Gryffindor house, most of the Hufflepuffs and about half of the Ravenclaws stood up too. Lots of fists were clenched. Lots of eyes glared at the Slytherin boys.
"You're making noise Potter!" Malfoy hissed. "You're disturbing our studies."
"Ronald!" Harry said triumphantly, "we must let Draco return to his books."
Harry and Ron returned to their seats, the hall was a lot quieter than it had been.
The teachers returned to the Great Hall. Dumbledore took a second year Slytherin boy away for questioning. The students were searched as they left the Great Hall. When the hall was emptied of students, the teachers searched the room. They didn't find the wand they were looking for.
On Thursday evening Harry, Ron, Colin and Dennis escorted Hermione and Susan from the hospital to the Great Hall for dinner. The Gryffindor table was decorated with signs and balloons that said Happy Birthday Hermione there was a cake and presents too. Ginny gave Hermione some red and gold ribbons to tie back her hair. Harry noticed with a shock that Hermione's hair was tied back with a sock. He breathed a sigh of relief that no words were visible. Neville gave Hermione a little necklace pendant of a Gryffindor lion.
"I saw you wearing one at the trial, I thought you looked cute," Neville said shyly.
Ron was embarrassed because he also had bought a Gryffindor lion pendant for Hermione.
Harry gave Hermione a white dress, just like the one she had worn at the trial in July. Then he gave her a big box that contained three stuffed animals, the Precious Puppies: one yellow, one green and one purple. Their popularity had peaked years ago but Mrs. Figg had outdone herself shopping. The kids from wizard families had no idea what those stuffed animals were about and Hermione had long since outgrown playing with stuffed animals, but it earned Harry a hug and a kiss. Then Harry gave her the Comet 260 LE.
"But Harry, I'm not much of a flyer," Hermione admitted.
"I'll teach you to love it," Harry promised. Then he whispered, "Mexico is looking better every day."
"Mexico?" she said, "I sort of prefer Hawaii."
"We can cross the Atlantic via the Faeroes, Iceland and Greenland, but there are no islands between San Francisco and Hawaii," Harry explained.
"OK, Mexico's fine," she agreed.
"A donde esta la hermosa bruja?" Harry whispered.
"I didn't know you spoke Spanish!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I don't,” Harry admitted. "I just figured out one sentence and it's probably not grammatically correct."
A group of boys from Hufflepuff made sure that Hermione arrived back at the hospital safely for her Thursday night shift while Harry and the Gryffindor Quidditch team headed for the pitch before they lost all of their daylight.
It rained on Saturday but on Sunday the weather cleared up and Harry decided that Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper needed some Bludger whacking practice, so he took them to the Quidditch pitch. Hermione was disappointed, but Ron agreed to stay in with her. Later that day Dennis Creevy and his gang reported to Harry that Hermione had indeed talked Ron into taking her to the kitchen so she could read to the house-elves. Dennis also told Harry that Ron seemed to be a bit put out that he and Hermione had been followed all afternoon.
The following week they were surprised by the appearance of Arthur Weasley as a guest lecturer in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Professor Lupin had to take a few days off. Mr. Weasley talked about evil enchanted items and how to deal with them. Most of the examples he discussed were Muggle artifacts, but Harry recognized a few of the items he described as relics of the Black house.
Quidditch practice on Thursday lasted until well past sunset, thanks to a full moon.
Harry and Ron were awakened before dawn on Friday so they could go to the hospital to escort Hermione to Gryffindor tower. Fortunately, the rooster did it.
The Daily Prophet reported that an "owl bomb" had killed an employee of the Ministry of Magic. The official killed by the evil spell was Mr. Perkins, who had shared an office with Mr. Weasley. The paper advised anyone who received a howler that was attached to an enchanted item to dive for cover immediately.
On the last Saturday of September there was magic in the air. Of course there was always magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but this day felt special. The weather was perfect, sunny and crisp. The trees were turning colors, and Harry's friends were all excited about the upcoming wedding between Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. Fleur's status as the Triwizard Tournament Champion from Beauxbaton Academy made it something of a celebrity event.
Harry walked to Hogsmede with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Dean Thomas, who was Ginny's current boyfriend. Luna Lovegood also joined their group for the walk to the wedding chapel. She was covering the wedding for Witch Weekly.
Harry and his friends were all dressed in their very best clothes. Ron was in a rented set of formal robes that matched the wedding party's, he would be acting as an usher. Ginny was one of the bridesmaids and she looked very pretty in her formal dress. Harry was wearing the formal robes he had worn to the Yule Ball during his forth year, though they were beginning to look a bit short on him. Hermione was still short of clothing and wore the white dress that Harry had given her for her birthday. She looked a bit out of place at a witch's wedding, but Harry thought she looked cute.
The wedding ceremony was beautiful. Afterwards the crowd gathered in the garden behind the chapel for the reception.
"We want to take a few more pictures of the wedding party," boomed Mr.Weasley's amplified voice. "Then we'll do the Cognoscere charm, the bouquet and dinner. The band will start playing at about eight o'clock, and the dancing will go on for as long as it goes on."
A look of dread came across Ginny's face, she looked at Harry and then at Dean. "Oh no, they're not going to do that silly Cognoscere trick," she moaned.
"I've never heard of the Cognoscere charm," Hermione said in surprise. "What is it?"
" The incantation is Cognoscere Mea Vita. They'll make all of the girls do it," Ginny said fearfully. "It's a stupid parlor game for silly little girls. It has no meaning. It causes nothing but trouble," Ginny sputtered.
"Whatever it is, I won't be able to do it," Hermione stated nervously. "I don't know how it's done. Am I going to look like an idiot in front of all of these people?"
"What's the matter girls? You look distraught," Molly Weasley interrupted as she walked by.
Mrs. Weasley was beaming with happiness and excitement about the wedding. She had no understanding of Ginny's fear. Ginny took a deep breath and pursed her lips. She said nothing to her mother, so Hermione spoke first.
"Ginny was explaining Cognoscere Mea Vita to me Mrs. Weasley. I've never heard of that spell," Hermione said.
"Oh it's just a cute little divination spell that young witches play at," Ginny's mother explained. "I'm sure you can do it. I'll show you how."
"Do you think that's wise mother?" asked George.
"After all, you and dad have been married for quite a while now," added Fred.
"Quit teasing me you two. It always works for your father and me," Mrs. Weasley said indignantly. "I'll get Arthur away from that crowd of men so you'll see how it works," she gushed at Hermione.
She poured her punch into Harry's empty glass and waved her cup in the air.
"Oh Arthur Dear," she sang across the lawn. "Would you fetch me another glass of punch, I've spilled mine."
"Certainly dear," answered Mr. Weasley as he walked over and took his wife's cup.
As her husband walked across the lawn towards the punch bowl, Mrs. Weasley leaned towards Hermione and explained, "You just hold out the palm of your hand nice and flat like this. Then you spin your wand on your hand as you say the incantation. There are two parts to a happy result. First, the wand points to your true love. Then the feedback signal causes it to glow."
She spun her wand in her outstretched hand and said "Cognoscere Mea Vita".
Her wand came to a stop pointing directly at her husband and then it began to glow a lovely shade of rosy-pink.
"Oh Arthur," she called in a singsong voice.
Mr. Weasley finished filling her cup from the punch bowl and turned around. When he saw Molly's wand pointing at him and glowing pink he grinned and walked over.
"Oh you sentimental old girl," he said, as he took her arm and they walked together towards Bill and Fleur.
"They normally don't make married witches do it," said Fred.
"It could be embarrassing if her wand doesn't point at her husband," snickered George.
"And it's sad if the wand points at her husband, but the glow is gone," finished Fred.
"It's stupid," Ginny said forcefully. "Wizards just like to see little witches act like fools."
Harry felt himself being pulled aside.
"Fred and I have a little bet going, and you are the subject, Harry," George said mischievously.
"George thinks there will be seven or more wands pointed in your direction, while I say it will be six or less," Fred stated.
"You're kidding," Harry groaned.
He took a gulp of punch and began coughing.
"Watch out for that punch mom gave you, Harry," Fred warned, "I put a shot of Firewhiskey in it."
"You don't say!" exclaimed George. "Harry, be careful with that punch, it's got two shots of Firewhiskey in it.”
"What makes you two think that any of the girls' wands will point at me?" Harry croaked.
"We're both certain that there will be at least three," Fred said.
"Ginny's still stuck on you Harry. She's afraid it'll make Dean mad when her wand points at you instead of him," George said holding up one finger.
"Everybody but Ron knows that Hermione's wand will point at you mate," Fred added, holding up two fingers.
They heard Mr. Weasley's amplified voice calling for all of the fair young maidens to gather around the bride for the Cognoscere charm. Hermione and Ginny moved nervously towards the group of girls.
"And Harry, guess who is working with the catering service. Maybe you didn't see her, but she's been watching you," George laughed, holding up three fingers.
Harry looked over to the buffet table. Cho waved back at him. Harry took another gulp of punch and only gagged a little this time.
"The only question is how many other lovely ladies have a crush on you, Mr. Hero. I'm betting on at least four or more," George stated definitely.
"And I think he's being cynical," Fred replied. "Five or six girls sure, but seven or more? I don't think so."
"I can't believe that seven or more girls here are in love with me, that's ridiculous," Harry stated emphatically.
"Are you confident enough to wager ten Galleons against me?" taunted George.
"Alright, ten Galleons says Fred is right," Harry said downing the rest of his punch.
The bride spun her wand first. When it stopped it was aiming directly at Bill Weasley, and then it started to glow a beautiful and bright shade of rosy-pink. Everyone in the crowd clapped as the bride and groom moved towards each other for a bit of hugging and kissing.
Then wands were spinning everywhere.
Harry looked for Hermione and to his horror saw that she was standing near Ron.
Some wands had stopped spinning, a few were turning pink.
Hermione was crying a bit.
Ron was staring at her.
Hermione's wand spun in her outstretched hand. Then it came to an abrupt stop. It was pointing directly at Harry.
Then Harry's view of Hermione was blocked by Ginny. She had tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. She flung her arms around Harry and kissed him passionately on the lips.
"Oh Harry, you've made me the happiest girl alive," she blubbered. "I didn't know I meant so much to you."
Then she kissed him again and again as a burst of pink fireworks erupted behind her.
She broke away, tears on her face. "I'm sorry. I'll be back. I've got to talk to Dean now."
She moved away, leaving Harry too stunned to speak.
Harry heard a girl cry out his name. Was it Hermione? It sounded like she was in pain! He heard several girls call his name.
He tried to move through the crowd, but suddenly someone grabbed him in a tight hug and kissed him repeatedly. She smelled of something delicious and spicy, sort of like the buffet table.
He managed to focus his eyes and mumbled, "Cho?"
Cho was crying. All she could manage to say was "Oh Harry, Oh Harry that was beautiful." Then she kissed him some more.
He heard Ron shout, "Hermione!"
Cho let go and sniffed, "I'm sorry Harry. I've got to get back to work. Later."
"It hurts! It hurts!" Hermione screamed.
Harry spun towards the sound of Hermione's panicked voice. She was over by the fireworks. The crowd blocked his view. Then little Gabrielle Delacour threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tight.
"Oh Harry, Harry my hero, my savior, I sought zat I meant no theeng to you. I am so happy zat you love me too," she gushed.
"Harry, this is very strange," George said loudly over the noise of the pandemonium that was breaking out all around them.
"Harry! Ron! Please! Help!" Hermione cried out.
"I weel go to Ogwartz insteed of Beauxbaton!" Gabrielle promised. "I weel grow up as fast as I can for you, Harry, my beeg strong hero."
"There are a lot of wands pointing at you. I predicted that. But they are ALL glowing! That's impossible!" George exclaimed.
"Ow it's hot!" Ron yelled.
"How can you love so many girls at once?" Fred asked.
Gabrielle had no more than let go of Harry when a girl with curly red hair practically smothered Harry with a kiss.
"Oh Harry! This is like a dream!" she said. "I thought you didn't even know my name."
Harry looked at her. Was she a cousin of the Weasleys?
"I don't know your name," he told her.
She kissed him again anyway.
"Oohh!" Hermione cried in pain.
"Bill's friend, that fellow Pye from St. Mungo's, get him over here!" a man shouted.
Harry broke away from the red headed girl and tried to move towards the spot where he had last seen Hermione. He got about two steps through the crowd when a tall athletic girl wrapped him up in a hug.
"Oh Harry! It was just a girlish fantasy! I didn't dream that you cared about me!" she said.
"Damn you Harry! You owe me ten Galleons!," George shouted angrily. "Alicia Spinnet! We have issues to discuss!"
"Wow!" Fred exclaimed. "We lost the bet in a big way! There were at least seven wands pointing at you. And every one of them glowed like the Bride's! I didn't see what happened with Hermione. Was she number eight? Oh crap… It's nine! Get out of here Harry," Fred said as he shoved Harry and then moved to head off Angelina.
Harry broke through to where he thought Hermione should be, but she wasn't there. Through the crowd he saw Ron moving away. Was Hermione with him?
"Harry, that was amazing," Luna Lovegood said in her typical dreamy way.
"Did your wand glow too?" Harry demanded to know.
"No, he doesn't even know I exist," she admitted sadly.
"What happened to Hermione? Did you see?" he asked her, trying to remain calm.
"Her wand pointed right at you," Luna calmly reported. "Then she got the feedback. On a scale of one to ten, it was about two hundred. I've never seen anything like it. It was quite beautiful but I think her hand was burned."
A pretty girl grabbed Harry, kissed him, and began babbling in French. Harry forced a polite smile and gently pushed her away.
He tried to move in the direction he saw Ron. After a few steps through the crowd, and some more kisses from yet another girl, he saw Ron coming towards him. Ron looked very angry.
"Ron!" Harry shouted. "Where's Hermione? What happened?"
"You Asshole!" spat Ron. "What did you do to her? You hurt her!"
"I didn't do anything!" Harry pleaded.
He stepped to his right through a gap in the crowd that gave him a view of Hermione. A tall wizard was holding a wand over her hand. There was a person between him and Ron so he dodged safely towards Hermione.
"Hermione!" he cried. "What happened?"
She looked up at him. There were tears on her face.
"Harry, I called for you. Why didn't you come?" she asked sadly.
"I was attacked," he said.
He thought that sounded better than saying he had been hugging and kissing other girls.
"What did you do young man?" demanded the healer. "How did you amplify your feedback signal? More that half a dozen girls got feedback from you! This girl had third degree burns on her hand! How could you do such a thing?"
"I didn't do anything!" pleaded Harry again.
Ron tried to grab Harry by the arm, but Harry jumped forwards to Hermione's side. He went down on one knee beside her and gently grasped her forearms.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he said, "I'm so sorry. What happened? What does it mean?"
Ron glared down at him.
Harry gave Hermione a hug and she put her head on his shoulder.
"If you ever hurt her again, I'll hex you so bad you won't be able to sit down for a month," Ron warned Harry.
"Oh Ron," Harry said, "I don't want to hurt Hermione. I don't want her to ever be hurt. I love her."
"You have a strange way of showing it," Ron snarled.
Harry held Hermione's hand in his and examined her palm. The healer had done a good job but her palm was pink and there was a scar where her wand had burned her.
Hermione gently touched Harry's face and quietly asked him, "Who attacked you? What happened to your face?"
Harry gazed into her eyes for a moment and then looked down in shame.
"A bunch of girls kissed me," he confessed.
"All of this is lipstick!" Hermione gasped. "I thought it was just blood."
They sat quietly for a few minutes, holding hands, trying to figure out what had just happened. Hermione spoke first.
"I'm pretty sure now that the mysterious power you've got is Love," she said calmly. "That was an awfully strong feedback signal you were sending out. I don't fully understand it. Maybe it has something to do with your mother's sacrifice, or maybe it's just you. I don't know where all of this power comes from, but this is what you need to learn to control. There must be some spells that you can use. I need to find the right books."
In the uproar that was created by the Cognoscere charm, there had been only one island of peace in the garden. While everybody else moved about and shouted, Bill and Fleur just held each other and kissed, oblivious to the turmoil around them.
When things had calmed down a bit, it was time for Fleur to toss her bouquet. As at a Muggle wedding, the girl that catches the bouquet is supposed to be the next one to get married. But there are some differences between a witch's wedding and a Muggle’s wedding. For one, the bride casts an enchantment on the bouquet to guide it to the right maiden. Also a levitating charm is used to send the flowers high into the sky. Finally all of the young witches hold up their wands and cast summoning charms as the flowers sail through the air.
Hermione would have nothing to do with that spectacle. She stood to one side with Harry and spoke quietly about sympathetic magic. She didn't care who caught the bouquet, so she didn't watch the flowers ascending into the sky. She didn't see it curving through the sky and accelerating like a mad Bludger. She was still quietly talking to Harry when the bouquet smacked her hard in the face.
Harry and Hermione left the party after dinner when the dancing began and walked back to Hogwarts. Since it was Saturday night, Hermione had to work in the hospital wing. Harry could not dance and did not want to face all of the girls who now thought he loved them.
Harry knew for sure now that he loved Hermione and that she loved him. That worried him. He had hurt her today and their love would probably get her killed before the war was over. Ron was jealous and angry and wouldn't talk to him. For that matter Ginny, Fred and George were all mad at him too, and he hadn't done anything.
Harry said good night to Hermione at the entrance to the hospital wing. He should have given her a long and romantic kiss but it was done quickly and nervously. They were both a bit scared by it all.