Unthinkable Thoughts

CHAPTER SIX

~

THE COUNCIL OF HERMIONE

Ron's bed was crowded.  He and Hermione sat at the pillow end, crossed legged, leaning back against the head.  Ginny lay propped up on her elbows at Ron's feet, and Neville sat opposite her on a chair jammed next to the bed with his feet up on the covers in front of Hermione.  Dean and Seamus had taken pillows from their own beds to cushion their backs as they each sat against one of the posts at the foot of the four-poster.  The hangings were tied back out of the way, but even so it was a cosy and intimate gathering.  A pile of cakes and sandwiches lay in the middle of all of them, together with a couple of flagons of pumpkin juice.  Once they were all settled, Hermione called the case conference to order.

'Right gang.  Listen to me.  I suggest that I do the talking first, telling you what I know, then what I suspect, and then if anyone's got anything to add we can take it from there.'

'Oooh, this is exciting,' said Ginny.  'I feel like we're planning a great adventure.  Seamus, can I tuck my feet under yours?'

The group all chorused their approval to this request, including Hermione who smiled at the look that was passed between Seamus and Ginny.  Once all feet and legs and arms were tucked comfortably wherever was appropriate, Hermione began to talk.  Everyone listened.

'First the facts.  Harry is not himself.  The evidence for this is chiefly as follows: he has not spoken voluntarily to any of us for a number of weeks.'

There was silent reflection on this sad fact.

'More than not talk to us, he has actually ignored us when we have tried to talk to him.  I know we have all tried.  We surely all recall the occasion near the very beginning of this sorry episode when Ron tried everything to get Harry to talk.  And then all the times in between then and now, all as fruitless as the rest.'

More silent thought.  Hermione continued.

'And it's not just us.  I've been watching Harry closely for ages.  He hasn't spoken to anybody at all.  Not even Hagrid.  Except, on Saturdays, he goes to the Shrieking Shack.  This gives me comfort for two reasons.   One, I expect he's meeting Sirius, and two, he has never got into trouble for leaving the school grounds in this way, which makes me think he is going with Dumbledore's blessing.  The thought that Dumbledore is also on the case is a good one, and I have another reason to think that, more of which shortly.'

'You're right,' said Ron.  'He always disappears on Saturdays.  How did you know where he was going?'

'Well, I first saw him leave that day we were cleaning up the mess in here.  He just walked out bold as brass, coming back several hours later, carrying what I'll now swear was a food parcel.  I noticed he went the following week again, so the week after that I followed him.   I didn't actually see Sirius, or anybody at all, but I still think that Harry has no other reason to go there.'

'Unless he's just going to be alone,' said Seamus.

'Yes, possibly.  But if he were just going for solitude, why go to the same place at the same time every week?  It must be a rendezvous.  Besides, I have written to Sirius twice outlining my worries.  And so did Ginny remember, that day he fainted in the Great Hall and you carried him to the hospital wing, Ron.  So we know Sirius isn't oblivious to the problem.'

'Oh yes,' said Ginny.  'I'd forgotten that.  And anyway, who else does Harry have in his whole life other than us and Hagrid and Sirius?'

'I've written to Sirius too,' said Ron. 'With little result I have to add.'

Hermione smiled at him.  'We should have coordinated our efforts.  Well anyway, it's got to be Sirius he's talking to.  There is nobody else.  Although, I did wonder about your parents, to be honest.  I think your mum is rather fond of Harry.  He might have turned to her.'

'More than rather fond,' said Ron.  'Mum worries about him like she does all of us.  I think she sort of thinks of herself as a stand-in mother for him.  Especially since the Triwiz debacle.'

'No go,' said Ginny.  'I wrote to mum about it a few weeks ago.  She said she hasn't heard a word from Harry since the summer.'

'Hmmm, we've all been thinking along similar lines I see,' said Hermione. 

'Seamus and I went to talk to Hagrid only last week.  He kept asking after Harry,' said Dean.

'Blimey, lots of duplication of effort I see.  I've been to Hagrid too,' said Hermione. 

'Me too,' said Ginny.

'Me too,' said Ron.

'He must wonder what on earth's going on,' said Neville.

'Well, we're all wondering that,' said Seamus.

'Actually I went to speak to Madam Pomfrey,' said Neville.  'I know she's bound by an oath of confidentiality and all that, but I was just hoping to find out if Harry had been to see her for any reason at all.  She didn't think she was giving anything away, but she did let slip that she hadn't seen Harry since that day he fainted.'

'Oh,' said Hermione.

Another pause.

'Other facts.  You may or may not believe me but Harry has dined with us for a total of only five times in the last five weeks.  I have kept track.  I went to see Dobby but he was rather protective of Harry and wouldn't let on if Harry had been down to the kitchens for food on his own.'

'He told me though,' said Ron.  'About twice or three times a week over the last month.  Eats like a pig for five minutes then leaves.'

'Even so,' said Hermione, slightly piqued that Dobby had not divulged this to her, 'he's losing weight drastically, and he doesn't have much to lose to begin with.'

'Well, without being crude, Hermione,' said Seamus, 'you only get to see him with his robes on.  We see him undress each night.  He's as thin as a rake.  He looks awful.'

'All bones and sadness,' said Neville.

'And then there's sleep,' said Hermione.  'You will know this better than me and Ginny.  But he looks like he doesn't get much.'

'He goes to bed OK,' said Ron, 'so I don't know if there's a problem there.'

'Ron, you can't possibly know about Harry's sleep patterns,' said Dean.  'You fall asleep instantly and snore till breakfast.'

'I do not,' said Ron, slightly smiling, as he knew this to be true.

'Yes you do Ron,' said Neville.  'I can tell you that Harry goes to bed every night and then lies awake for a while.  Then he gets up and goes out.  And he doesn't use the cloak anymore.  He comes back about 4 or 5 in the morning, then sometimes sleeps fitfully for a couple of hours.  He is absolutely exhausted, but doesn't, or can't, sleep like the rest of us do. It is very sad indeed.  Beyond sad.'

'Have any of you ever followed him?' said Hermione.

'I haven't,' said Dean.  'But I've seen him in the moonlight from the window, pacing the Quidditch pitch.'

'Alone?' asked Hermione.

'Oh yes, totally,' said Dean.

'So, no sleep, no food, no human contact,' continued Hermione.  'Also. He pulled out of the Quidditch team.  We all know how much Harry loves flying, loves Quidditch.  It's in his blood.  I was astonished that he pulled out of the team.'

This needed no comment from the group.  The vivid memories of the Gryffindor v Hufflepuff match were still fresh in all their minds, most especially Ron's.

'So, we know all those things.  But now here are some things that you may not know.'  Hermione had the complete attention of the group.  'It all started the day of the Care of Magical Creatures lesson when Hagrid got that herd of fauns in.  If I'm right in what I think, this is highly significant.'

'That was also the day that he fainted,' said Ginny.  'The day I first wrote to Sirius, and the last day Harry went to the hospital wing.'

'Hmmm, and the day I was put on the right track by Dumbledore,' mused Hermione enigmatically.

'And that was also the day...' began Neville.

'...When we gave him the book,' finished Ron.

'What book?' asked Hermione and Ginny in unison.

There was a silence in which all the boys smirked a little.

'It was a present for Harry,' said Ron. 'From all of us.'

'We wrote it,' said Seamus, 'with contributions from others, the twins and Charlie Weasley to name a few.'

'But what's in it?' persisted Hermione.  'It could be very important.'

'I really don't think you'd be interested,' said Ron, awkwardly.  'It was...boys' stuff.'

'You mean you're not man enough to own up to whatever smut it contains,' said Ginny.

'Exactly', said Hermione, grinning slightly.

After a pause, Neville ventured, 'I don't think any of us would be totally comfortable telling you what is in it.  It might be easier just to show it to you.'

'It's locked in his trunk,' said Seamus.  'And we don't know the locking spell.  Is it really important that you know?'

'Yes', said Hermione, seriously.

There was another pause while all the boys looked at each other.

'I can get it.' said Dean.  'Just call me the Artful Dodger'.

'Who?' said Ron, perplexed.

'Muggle book,' offered Hermione, by way of explanation.

Dean left the bed and went to Harry's trunk.  Within two minutes he had opened it and found the book lying on top just where Harry had dropped it shortly before.  He passed it to Ron, who reluctantly gave it to Hermione.

The boys found the few minutes that the girls flipped through the book excruciating.  Hermione had a look of surprise and amusement somehow penetrating her tightly pursed lips.  Ginny was sort of giggling and sort of not.

'So,' said Hermione, trying to adopt a matter-of-fact tone, 'this is a guide to magically enhanced masturbation.'  She and Ginny both goggled at each other.

'Blimey,' said Ginny, looking at one of the pages.  'Is that even possible?'

'My God,' continued Hermione, 'I just do not understand boys.  Why on earth is there a need for such a book?  Ginny, what do you make of this?'

'Erm, it's frankly too graphic for me to contemplate.  And worse still, it contains contributions from four of my six brothers, which is conjuring squicky images best left well alone.'

Ron squirmed awkwardly.

'Yick!' said Hermione.  'Nuff said, Ginny.  Pass it back here.'

'Do you lot really talk about that kind of stuff?' said Ginny.

'Well, no, not really,' said Ron, an odd shade of scarlet which sat uncomfortably with his hair.

'That was the whole point,' said Seamus.  'We don't talk about it.  Not ordinarily anyway.  That's why we wrote it down.'

Ginny didn't really grasp the subtlety of this distinction, but Hermione was still flipping through the book.  Each rustle of the pages turning was almost unbearable to the boys.  Then Hermione said, 'Well, I am glad I have seen it.  It makes a lot of sense now I put this piece into the overall puzzle.'

'Does it?' said Ginny.

'How?' asked two or three of the boys together.

Hermione paused and then carried on carefully.  'This must be what you lot were all talking and laughing about on the day of the Care of Magical Creatures lesson.  Tell me, if the question isn't too delicate, why was such a book necessary?  Why did the four of you, with accomplices, decide that this would be a good present for Harry?  Isn't he a boy like you?  Didn't he know?'

There was silence.  Then Ron spoke, very softly.

'Hermione, despite all the difficulty and hardship and pain and downright nastiness that Harry has caused over the last few weeks, if I answered that question, if any of us did, it would be a horrible betrayal of him.  When that book was written and presented, it was because of an astonishing honesty and openness that existed among all of us in the dormitory, and the very act of bringing that book into existence was not done for the sake of smut or filth, but because Harry was our mate.  There was no embarrassment or anything.  Well, maybe a little' - all the boys smiled - 'but the point is we can't tell the circumstances that led to the idea of the book, because it's just not right.  He would be mortified to know that you even knew of its existence, let alone had seen it, and I won't lay him bare here and now by telling you why we gave it to him.'

It was Hermione's turn to reflect.  She passed the book back to Dean, who went and secured it in Harry's trunk.  'OK, I understand.  Boys' Code of Ethics.  The girls have a similar code of course, and neither Ginny nor I would dream of going as far in divulging things as you have today.'  The two girls grinned at each other.  Ron's interest was again acute, but he said nothing.  Hermione continued softly, 'I have to say that he is incredibly lucky to have friends like you lot.'

'Pity he doesn't see it that way,' said Ron.

'I think he does,' said Hermione.  'I really do think he does.'

'Hermione, what did you mean by the book making sense in the larger puzzle?' asked Neville.

'Well, to tell you that I am going to have to surmise a few things.  You needn't comment, that way Harry's honour and privacy will be maintained.  But, I suspect that you gave Harry that book because he didn't know about magically assisted masturbation.  "Cretinously cute" was your exact phrase if I remember, Ron.  And don't think that I am scornful of that because that's a lot of what Harry's charm and appeal actually is, his not knowing things.  Just answer me one question that won't compromise Harry.  How much more intense is the magical kind than the regular kind?'

'Erm...' ventured Seamus, at the same time both embarrassed and amused at hearing Hermione say the word masturbation, 'potentially infinitely; depending on how good your wand skills are, and the strength of your innate magic.'

'Oh,' said Hermione.  'Well we know Harry's innate magic is very powerful.  He can resist the Imperius curse, and he can summon a mature patronus.  And he is exceptionally susceptible to Dementors, because he still carries some of his mother's innate magic. And in the regular classroom sense, his wand skills are excellent.  Oh dear; the poor boy.'

'Er, let us in on this, eh, Herm?' said Ron.

'Sorry, yes, back to my theory.  You gave Harry the means to achieve - what would have for him been - overpoweringly intense feelings.  Especially as, to him, I am guessing - no need for you to say anything! - that they would have been entirely new.  But the problem was the timing of this gift, not the gift itself.  Because on the day of the Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Harry was in a highly vulnerable emotional state, although I didn't realise that till afterwards.  And I bet he didn't either.  For evidence of that vulnerability, we have his fainting.'

'Herm, I just do not see what you are getting at,' said Ron.  'We didn't give Harry the book until the evening after the lesson, when he came out of the hospital wing.

'Yes, but if I am right, then what happened in the lesson is still having its effect now.  A few hours after the lesson would have made no difference.  Better would have been for you to give it to him the day before, although this is all with hindsight.  We can't change any of it, and I suspect that the book just acted as a catalyst rather than a cause.  Presumably Harry didn't actually er, 'use' the book until the next day at the earliest, but the writing was already on the wall.  It had probably been there for years.  Coupled with the extraordinary intensity the book would have helped him to, and what happened in the lesson, it's no wonder he has reacted strangely.'

'Herm,' said Ginny, 'you have completely lost all of us.  Go slower, and don't assume that we are taking things for granted.  I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.'

There were murmurs of assent from around the bed.

Hermione sighed.  'OK, but don't interrupt.  You are all going to find it quite difficult to accept the implications of what I think I know.  Just listen, and try to understand.'

More noises of approval.  Hermione started.

'Fauns are interesting creatures.  Crude, but interesting.  I know this from three sources.  First, from the library; I went there immediately after the lesson because, let's face it, that was one of the most extraordinary lessons we have ever had here, even by Hagrid's standards, and I wanted to know more about why they reacted the way they did.  In short, I wanted to know what had triggered the orgy.'

'And what was it?' said Seamus, but Ginny kicked him to shut him up.

'Second, from Dumbledore.  Remember I went to see him after Harry fainted.  He obviously knew loads loads more than he was letting on about the lesson and Harry's fainting.  Dumbledore himself directed me to the books on fauns in the library, saying that you could learn a lot from fauns, and sometimes some very interesting and unexpected things indeed.  Third, from Hagrid.  When I had read all I could, I went and spoke to him.  After all, he knows loads about all sorts of creatures.  And everything I learned about fauns added up to the same thing about Harry.'

The Gryffindors on the bed were totally silent, hanging on her every word.

'But before I tell you about the fauns, you need to know a little about something quite different.  About love.  Specifically, about love between people with innate magic.  In the Muggle world, love is a hit-and-miss business.  You just have to hope that you meet the right person at the right time, and love can take ages, perhaps years, to manifest itself fully, or it can be evident immediately and fade shortly afterwards.  In the magical world, this of course is also true; but there is another aspect.  The innate magic of two magical people can bind together so strongly that it creates couples who become stronger than the sum of their parts.' 

Hermione looked at Ron and Ginny.

'Your parents, Ron, Ginny, are a classic example.  You've probably heard the story of how they met so many times it doesn't mean anything any more, but I've only heard it once, last year when I was staying with you for the Quidditch World Cup, and when I think about it now, it is immensely telling.  Your mum said that she just knew, the second she first saw your father, that he was the one.  And he knew it too.  And they were both young, at school here of course, but it didn't mean that what they were feeling was immature or adolescent in any way.'

'Mum's always telling that story,' said Ginny.  'We just tell her to stop being soppy.'

'I'm glad now that I heard it,' said Hermione.  'OK, that can happen in the Muggle world too, although very rarely.  But for the Weasleys, both being purebloods, their magic bonded immeasurably strongly, making them emotionally perceptive, mildly telepathic, totally dependent on the physical presence of the other for their well-being.  Effectively they became, magically, a single unit.  They can use each other's wands, feel each other's moods, sense when the other is in danger, achieve magical feats they were not previously capable of, all because they are now both drawing on an exponentially enhanced pool of innate magic.'

'Mum can tell which room of the house Dad is in,' said Ron.  'And he can tell when one of her spells has gone wrong.  Funny, I've never thought about it before.'

'Really?  That's very interesting, in fact,' said Hermione, breaking her train of thought for a minute.  'And it may be unique to them, because the exact science of it is extremely complex and I think it is probably different for each couple.  But for now it is enough to know that when two magical people meet, there is the potential for their magical selves to bind together irrespective of what the rational mind is saying.  We know other magically bound couples of course, and I suspect that Harry's parents themselves were such.'

Hermione paused and took a sip of pumpkin juice.  The mention of Harry's own parents in this context was particularly poignant.

'Fauns act as a barometer of this magical attraction, and they can sense the auras surrounding magical people as clearly as if they were visible, in fact to fauns, such attraction-auras are visible.  Apparently they are even colour coded, with crimson being the strongest possible match.  Also, in totally exceptional cases of deep love between magical people, the 'crimson cloud' can actually become visible to the human eye.  Your mother in fact spoke of it herself, although I don't know if she expected me to understand its significance at the time.  What's more, fauns cannot help but react when they encounter particularly well-matched and vibrant auras.  The nature of such a reaction is nearly always a spreading of sympathetic joy, or lust if you like, throughout the entire herd.  They feed on this love energy as much as they do real food.  This perceptive ability, and the resulting orgies, is the very essence of fauns.'

'You had that book, Herm, on the day of the lesson!' said Ginny.  'The Crimson Cloud or something.  We looked at it at supper, when Harry fainted.'

'Yes.  And it is just about the most interesting book I have ever read.  And it was also by far the most relevant of all the books I looked at that day, or since.'

'Blimey,' said Ron.  'Imagine the library actually being useful for once!'

'Consequently,' continued Hermione, ignoring him totally, 'exposing a crowd of adolescents to a herd of fauns is a potentially dangerous exercise, although not quite as risky as you'd think, as fauns are not fooled by your average passing teenage crush or any effects of surplus hormones.'

Despite the seriousness of the moment, there was some giggling, during which Ginny wriggled her feet under Seamus's legs.

'However, Hagrid knew a thing or two about this, and in order to eradicate the risk of a dangerous full-blown faun orgy, he sent us into the paddock in single-sex pairs, knowing that if there were any potential magical couplings in the group, they would be left to develop at their own rate rather than be forced into the open by the fauns' reactions.  But Hagrid had overlooked one thing.  He watched all the couples go into the paddock and they were indeed all single-sex pairs, except for the last two.  He then split up me and Harry and paired us differently.  It was Harry's faun, Dixter, that started the orgy, in reaction, Hagrid says, to the strongest love-aura Dixter had ever sensed.  Vivid crimson, he told Hagrid afterwards.'

Hermione took a deep breath. 

'And on that afternoon, Harry's partner was Draco Malfoy.'

There was utter silence as this began to sink in.  Hermione gave them time to adjust to the fact, but there were no comments forthcoming, and she carried on.

'I am certain that at that point, neither boy had any idea of what had happened or what had caused it.  Also, until that time, and possibly still, Harry despised Malfoy.  But this is not that surprising on closer inspection.  The fact is that, like it or not, Harry and Malfoy are destined to be a couple as close and as loving as the Weasleys, but given the enmity that has existed between them since they first met, neither is about to let that happen, especially if they are not aware of it.'

'More than enmity,' said Neville.  'It's disturbing, the level at which that animosity is maintained.  I don't know how they find the energy to fuel the acrimony so heatedly.  It's like the existence of the ill-feeling is itself some kind of driving force in both their lives.'

'Exactly Neville,' continued Hermione.  'And let's think about how they met and what happened.  On the Hogwarts Express on the first day of our first year, Malfoy offered Harry his hand in friendship and Harry refused it.  He refused it because Malfoy had just insulted the friend he had just made: you, Ron.  You hate Malfoy because of the silly blood feud that goes back years between your two families.  Harry hated him because you did.  Harry had no reason to hate Malfoy himself.  Not then, not when he didn't know about Death Eaters and their role in his parents' deaths.'

'It is not a silly blood feud,' said Ron.  'If you knew some of the things Lucius Malfoy has--'

Hermione raised her hand sharply as a sign to stop.  Interruptions were obviously so unwelcome at this point that she couldn't even find the words to object.  Ron felt a little stupid and shut up.

'It makes more sense if you know that - as only Harry and Malfoy, and I think, me and Ron know - that on the train that day was not the first time Harry and Malfoy had met.   They had both been in Madam Malkin's robe shop on Diagon Alley about a month before, selecting their new robes for Hogwarts.  On that occasion, there was no actual hatred.  Certainly they did not hit it off well; Harry told us afterwards when he realised who the boy had been, that even from the very start he seemed cold and arrogant, and was already - at that age! - voicing his father's opinions about letting Muggle children into Hogwarts.'

Hermione consciously slowed down and let each snippet of information hang in the air, so the assembled Council could watch them assemble themselves rather than have to piece it all together in haste.

'But despite this, there was no malice or hatred between them,' she repeated.  'Malfoy did not know who Harry was, and Harry did not really have a reason to hate Malfoy.  It was only when they met on the train that Malfoy knew Harry would be better as an ally to him than an adversary, and that Harry felt indignant on your behalf, Ron.'

The significance of that moment all those years previously began to dawn on the group.  It was a distinctly uncomfortable feeling.

'And in that moment, that one refused handshake, the love that would ordinarily have started to grow as their innate magic bonded and combined, got twisted as the 'rational' minds got involved, and the coin that bears the love-hate thing got flipped over to the hate side.  And as the emotional intensity between them increased over the years, it increased as loathing, until Harry was worried by how much he hated Malfoy, and until Malfoy's only reason for existing became to bring down great, virtuous, honourable Harry Potter.  Until, as you say, Neville, the existence of the ill-feeling itself became some kind of driving force in both their lives.'

Ginny made some kind of gurgling in her throat.  It was the nearest she could get to speech.

'And perhaps it would have remained so for ever, with neither of them knowing what the real root of the strength of feeling between them was, until the day the fauns came.'

Not one of the Gryffindors liked the way this was shaping up.  Even in that moment, where they seemed to be sitting on the edge of something horribly new and uncomfortable, Ron recognised that Hermione was totally in control of the facts, and that nothing had escaped her keen thought processes.  Thank God someone is on top of all this!  He felt a rush of affection towards her, and looked at her closely.  But her eyes were closed as she was evidently going down some mental checklist, and unfortunately for her, she didn't see the glance.  After a glug more pumpkin juice, she was off again in full flow.

'So we come to Harry's current behaviour.  I honestly don't think that he knows all this.  He's never been one for looking things up in books and doing research, he nearly always goes with gut instinct.  He's a Gryffindor, after all.  Hatred between him and Malfoy has intensified even further since Harry came face to face with You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters on the day Cedric died.  That 'hatred' would have been burning brightly between them when they met Dixter, as Hagrid had forced them to spend the time together, and, tragically, together in the presence of a faun.  Dixter's reaction was bound to have affected Harry and Malfoy in some way.  And, in this highly vulnerable state, Harry sits down at supper, maybe catches sight of Malfoy, or maybe Malfoy is experiencing some, lets say,' - she felt herself blushing - 'some intense feelings of his own somewhere else in the castle, and the telepathic thing kicks in.  Result: Harry is overwhelmed; he faints.'

'Oh God, yes!', cried Ginny.  'Do you remember?  He just slumped forward without warning.  He said, "Where did that come from?" or something like that!'

'I think it's a compelling theory,' said Hermione.  'There was absolutely no obvious reason for him fainting that day.  So, I'm guessing now, but after the lesson, he probably understands nothing, but he knows Malfoy is involved somehow.  When it happened - the fainting - I went to see Dumbledore, and Harry was swept up to the hospital wing.  Dumbledore told me to look into fauns.  He knew, even then, for sure!'

'Oh blimey!' said Dean.  'I can tell what's coming now...'

'Yes. When Harry comes out of the hospital wing, you give him the book.  He's a boy, he's hormonal, and he's intrigued.  He tries out one of the spells.   I'm guessing again, but going on what you said about your parents, Ron, there is probably some kind of mental link between him and Malfoy, and maybe it is particularly strong at er, such times; but still neither boy understands it.  Immediately Harry sees the danger of the book and locks it away.  It's enough to drive him to despair: to be obsessed with someone he hates.  Surely that's what's happened!  The symptoms he's showing are classic depression.  He's terrified of what we, his friends - effectively his family - might think if we discover his secret, the secret that he himself hates and doesn't understand.  So he pushes us away: his logic being that he won't have to face rejection from us if he rejects us first.'

'Oh God...' moaned Ron, the awful realisation washing over him.

'And not just us, but everything.  He's built a new world, where he can wrestle with this without our knowing.  No schoolwork, no friends, no Quidditch, all by conscious decision: a textbook defence mechanism.  And conversely, because of the depression he's sunk into, no peace, no food, no sleep: just Malfoy in his head and the cloud that is drawing them together against both their wills.  There is only one person who he thinks won't judge him.  And he meets him every week to cry on his shoulder.  Except, if I know Harry, he won't cry, because it will be giving in.  So even Sirius is probably getting nowhere.'

Hermione seemed to have stopped talking for the moment.  There was an aching, oceanic silence, broken only by tiny sobs from Ginny, whose head was buried in Ron's chest.  It was a very long time before anybody said anything.  Eventually Seamus spoke.

'Herm, I think you're right.  When Harry came into the dorm earlier, when I accused him of not caring about Ron and the rest of us any more, he said that I was wrong, that he still cared, that he'd never stopped caring, but that he just couldn't be "that Harry" anymore.  But he wouldn't say anything further, and he just left.'

There seemed to be no way to view this other than as corroborative proof of Hermione's explanation.

'Also,' said Ginny extremely quietly, 'during the Hufflepuff match, Harry was hiding under the stands.  I saw him when I went to the toilet.  He didn't see me, and of course I didn't go up to him because he was House traitor and everything then.  But he was cheering.  He was shouting 'Go on, Ron' at the top of his voice.  I never told you Ron, because I thought it would have upset you.'

Ron moaned and buried his face in his sister's neck as Hermione held both his hands.  The boys ignored that fact that Ron was bordering on tears.  The Boys' Code of Ethics said that boys didn't cry of course, so when it actually happened, the form was to pretend that it wasn't.

Neville's voice came next, his voice too was shaky, but his words were sensible.  'Hermione, how much of what you have just told us is fact, and how much is guesswork?'

'Everything about the fauns, and the nature of magical love, and the auras, the Crimson Cloud, that is all fact.'  The stability of Hermione's voice had a vaguely soothing effect on the group, even though the words themselves were unwanted.  'So are naturally all the events that have happened, including the circumstances of Harry and Malfoy's first meeting, the Care of Magical Creatures lesson, his behaviour since.'

She pondered slightly, then carried on.

'Guesswork based on observation accounts for my explanation of Harry's actions.  Hagrid confirmed to me in tears that such a link certainly exists between Harry and Malfoy, based on what he remembers of the lesson and what Dixter told him afterwards.   I have checked Harry's symptoms in a Muggle psychiatry textbook.  I am guessing about the telepathy between them, but that guess is based on other textbook cases, and that seems to have been given more weight by what you said about your parents, Ron.'

Hermione took a deep, deep breath, and continued in a much more quiet, unsteady voice.  The others were totally still.

'I also know, again based on reading, that if the pair both reject the match, and try to stop the innate magic in both of them bonding, the magical self will become volatile, like a chemical reaction only half completed.  They have to accept it, or live in agony.  As far as I see it, the two are bound together, but they are neither likely to allow this to happen.  The book merely acted as an accelerator.  As long as they both deny it, they will each become more psychologically and magically unstable.'

Hermione was suddenly much more emotional, and she began to gabble, as if her control and logic had deserted her.

'Oh God, we've come this far, you might as well hear what I think the horrible deduction of all this is.'

Her breathing was quicker, her speech faster her hands moving agitatedly.

'It's impossible to ignore this instability in Harry any longer.  I'm sorry you have to hear this, I really am, but Harry may already be approaching a crunch moment.  He may in fact be actively considering what would for him be the next 'logical' step: the realisation, oh Jesus, the realisation that his depression may have triggered, the realisation that he has only two options, to give in and go with it, or...'  Hermione was starting to cry now.  '...Or, sorry, but it needs to be said, or to end it all.  I am almost certain that Harry does not have all the facts that I do, that we do.  He will be driven solely by emotion and instinct, and who dares imagine where the emotions and instincts of a self-hating teenage boy may lead him, especially one who has divorced himself from all the stabilising elements of his life and spends hours and hours on his own...at night...' 

She couldn't carry on.

'We've got to go to him!' cried Ron urgently, red-eyed.  'Tell him we love him no matter what!  Herm, if what you have said is true, every minute he is left alone he is in danger!'

'Oh God, no!' cried Hermione.  'We can't do that!'

'Why on earth not?' said Ginny, nearly shouting.  'And why haven't you told us all this before now?'

'Oh God!  I don't know!' wailed Hermione.  'Because, because, like Harry I guess, I was just hoping it would all go away!  That he would find a way round it himself, that things would go back to normal!  And we can't go to him!  Imagine what we would have to say!  We would have to tell him all this, and if, I as I suspect, he doesn't know, it may tip him over the edge, and then how on earth would we feel, if we had actually precipitated the crisis!'

'How we feel shouldn't matter now!' shouted Ron.  'What the fuck do we do then?  I'm not going to sit here and do nothing while my best mate is in this state!'

'Too right!  He's our friend!' shouted Seamus, 'we can't let him go through this alone!'

'He's loads more than a friend!' wailed Ginny, sobbing, 'he's our bloody family!'

'CALM DOWN!' bellowed Dean.

The yelling subsided.

'Herm,' continued Dean, trying hard to restore some calm to the group.  'I know I speak for all of us when I say thanks for telling us all that you know.  It cannot have been easy for you to bear this knowledge alone, and I personally apologise for not taking more notice of things and looking harder into them.'

Hermione, distraught, looked grateful for his intervention.

'Yes, well done Hermione,' said Neville.

Ginny and Ron snuffled their agreement.

A long deep silence settled over the whole group.  It was like time had stopped, and that nowhere else existed in the world other than Ron's bed.  The unthinkable consequences of what Hermione had suggested were just too appalling to consider, but they could hardly do otherwise.  After a long time, when the possibility for hysteria had passed uncomfortably, it was Dean who broke the silence.

'So, Herm, what do you suggest?' he said.  'You've done all the thinking on this one.'

With a monumental effort, she began to speak very softly once more.

'We can't go to Harry.  What he needs is stability, and if that stability means carrying on this seeming lack of care on our side, then it has to go on.  He engineered this current state of affairs, so somewhere in his mind it's what he wants.  Anything else could be a destabilising threat.   So we will let it continue.'

'That is not an option,' said Ron.  'Not from where I'm sitting.'

'Well, we could speak to Dumbledore...' said Hermione, although she did not seem convinced of this suggestion.

'I'm not sure I can face that,' said Ron, slowly.

'Why not?' asked Ginny.

'Because, this is kind of immensely personal to Harry.  It feels almost wrong that I know it all, and I'm closer to Harry than anyone.  The thought of speaking to a teacher is ghastly.  We'd have to lay open his innermost thoughts, and behind his back.  It would feel like betrayal.  Despite the seriousness of all this, that really is last resort stuff.'

'Aren't we at the last resort stage now?' said Seamus.  'It's been six weeks, after all.'

'Definitely feels like last resort time to me Ron,' said Ginny.  'Herm, what do you think?'

'I'm with Ron.  But for different reasons.  I just have this nagging thought in the back of my head that Dumbledore knows.  And that is comforting.  I guess the reason I haven't told you all this earlier is because I have secretly been hoping that Dumbledore himself would find a way out of this, or at least wouldn't let it get out of hand.'

'That would make him a logical person to talk to then, Hermione,' said Neville.

'Yes, I suppose that is true.  But, I don't know, instinct tells me otherwise.'

'So we just do nothing?' said Dean.

'Well, I didn't say that exactly,' said Hermione.

'What do you mean then?' said Neville.  'What do you instincts tell you?'

'I suppose, well, I suppose there is something we can do.'

'What?' said Ron.

'You won't like it'.

'What is it?'

Hermione hesitated.  'We can go to Malfoy.'

'Malfoy?!' snorted Ron. 'No bloody way.  And say what, exactly?'

'Ron!' sighed Hermione.  'For a start, all of us have got to get over our Malfoy prejudices.  If ever Harry is going to be the happy guy we know and love again, Malfoy is going to be involved.  Most likely as Harry's life partner.  And if we can't accept that, we are no friends of Harry's.  It's Harry's right to reject or accept him, not ours.  And we better pray that he accepts him, because the alternative will only put Harry more at risk.'

Another ghastly reality sank in.

'We can go to Malfoy and talk to him about this,' continued Hermione, thinking aloud, and seemingly gaining in confidence as she outlined her thoughts.  'Malfoy has no friends to push away, we know that.  He will have dealt with this on his own, like Harry.  But he's more aware and more shrewd than Harry--'

'You mean he's a Slytherin!' interrupted Ron.

'Yes, I suppose I do mean that, Ron.  He is bound to have seen the real situation sooner than Harry, in fact I know he's further down that particular path because the only two members of the school who have borrowed library books on fauns this term are me and Malfoy himself.  In fact I caught him reading up on fauns the very day that Harry first went to the Shrieking Shack.'

Her control and logic were returning with each word.

'So we can go to Malfoy and make a truce.  If Harry sees that we accept Malfoy it might make Harry less worried about the consequences of facing up to it all.  Malfoy is likely to accept a truce, because in all likelihood he understands as much as we do.'

Hermione seemed definitely to be increasingly convinced by this plan, and the hope in her voice was enveloping the other Gryffindors.

'In fact,' she mused, 'it is slightly surprising he hasn't acted on his own already: if Harry is Malfoy's only way out of discomfort, I would have expected Malfoy simply to go out and sort of fetch Harry straight away.  I suppose the delay in his doing anything is evidence that there may be a real person deep inside there somewhere, who is fighting as much as Harry is, but is just better at hiding it.  Or maybe for him there is just nobody to notice how much he is struggling.  Either way he's more likely to talk to us than ever before.'

'Are you saying, Herm', said Ron again, thinking hard, 'that in order to have Harry back as a friend, I have got to embrace Malfoy?  In order to have Harry back as brother-in-arms, I've got to accept Malfoy as brother-in-law?  For ever?'

Despite the tension around the bed, Hermione giggled.  'Hmm, yes, well put, Ron my boy.  You have it in a nutshell.'

'Oh Lord,' said Ginny.  'A Malfoy in the family.  Who would ever have thought it?'

'W-well,' stuttered Ron, 'I suppose, with a million years to get used to the idea, I might just be able to accept Malfoy myself.  But I refuse to accept him as Harry's lot for life.  Harry deserves so much more.  He deserves the happy ending: to fall in love with and marry my sister, a warm welcome into a family that already loves him, lots of little Potters running around their lovely large home, acres of love tying it all together.  That's what we all knew would happen, what we all wanted: for him to be happy, not be tied for life against his will to some arrogant asshole because of some stupid magical reaction.'

Ginny blushed but didn't say anything: she had already given up on that idea some time ago.

'Ron, wake up,' snorted Hermione.  'That is never going to happen.  Not now, not ever.  You have to decide, as do we all, whether your love for Harry is greater than your hatred for Malfoy.  Because that is all that matters now.  Harry and Malfoy are already an item.  Their magic is already bonding, may already have bonded.  It started to bond the day they met, in the same way it did with your parents.  The fauns did not manufacture this love, it was already there; they merely uncovered it.  And Harry has fallen in love; it's just that our presence in his life has meant that he can't accept it.  And maybe one day he will live in a large house, with a loving partner, and lots of - adopted! - kids, and be as happy as we have known him before.  And I for one will be delighted to go there for dinner and see him smile shyly in his innocent way, and hear him recall thrashing Malfoy at Quidditch.  And who knows, maybe Harry's presence in Malfoy's life will make Malfoy himself a better person.  But there is more chance of that happy ending - and that's the only one available, Ron - if we offer the hand of friendship to Malfoy.  So.  There.  Shit, am I hungry now.'

And she took up a sandwich as the rest of the Gryffindors sat on the bed and contemplated this brave new world.

Hours later, they were all more or less in the same positions, sprawled over Ron's bed.  The pile of food had gone and they had talked round and round the subject again and again.  The immediate crisis did seem to have passed, but the longer term awfulness of it still pervaded the group to the core.   Despite these hours of circular talking, or maybe because of them, no more had been achieved except for a vague plan to broach a conversation with Malfoy.   They had all wanted to go, but Hermione had insisted that it would be overwhelming for him.  Just Ron, she had said, and me.  After supper.  We'll grab him as he leaves the Great Hall, take him somewhere on neutral territory.  Not threatening, she had said.  Just open and honest.  It was the only way forward they had.

It was dark now and supper was not far off, and the group were just thinking about getting up and stretching their legs before the meal, when the door opened.