Of Wings in the Night

6

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As Hermione drifted into consciousness, her first thought was Oh no, I overslept. She always knew when she'd overslept. Normally, she woke up completely and suddenly at exactly six o'clock, but on some rare occasions in summertime or on a weekend her internal clock died and she woke up slowly and gradually at about eight or nine. And today Hermione Granger had overslept.

Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed at the blue and black curtains on the windows. Wait...blue and bronze? Hermione struggled up and discovered with an unpleasant shock that she was still in her cat form. Frantically, she tried to recall the previous day's events. Ginny...Ranger...flying...falling...and then nothing but the scent of...something indescribable...refined, elegant, sophisticated, yet sweet, warm, comforting, hinting of spices and sunshine but with the faintest tang of mint to keep the scent ever fresh and new... She smiled at the memory.

"Oh, is the kitty awake?" Padma hurried over anxiously. She scooped Hermione up and rubbed her behind her ears. Despite herself, Hermione began to purr. Then, as Hermione tilted her head to let the Ravenclaw scratch under her chin, Hermione saw Padma's face.

"Padma Patil?"

In one movement, Padma was against the opposite wall screaming and Hermione was barely managing to keep her balance after being unceremoniously dropped.

"DEMON CAT!"

Sighing, Hermione changed into her human form. Padma advanced cautiously. "Hermione Granger?"

"That happens to be my name."

Padma sat down with an _expression oddly reminiscent of Ginny's when the latter first found out about Hermione's Animagus status. For a moment, the room was utterly silent. Hermione, despite her cool exterior, was thinking furiously. Should I tell her? Should I do a memory charm? However, as if reading Hermione's mind, Padma broke the silence sharply. "Don't even think about doing a memory charm on me. I've got a feeling I had one of those already, and I hate it. If you try it, I will remember somehow, and I'll come back to pull out every one of those pretty brown curls."

"I won't if you promise to tell me what happened and why we aren't in classes right now."

"And you'll tell me everything?"

Hermione really, really did not want to hex Padma. Besides, Hermione was fairly sure that Padma wouldn't tell on her. "All right."

"It was in the middle of the night. I think someone did a memory charm on me because all I can remember is holding a wet cat and watching a cloaked figure fly away on a broom, I didn’t catch the make. Then it was dawn, and you woke up.”

For a moment, Hermione was silent, trying to fit together the pieces. "And why aren't we in classes?"

"It's Saturday. Now, your turn."

Hermione told Padma the same story she'd told Ginny, leaving out nothing. When the tale had finished, Hermione looked at Padma with mixed feelings; would the Ravenclaw divulge her secret? Would she live up to her reputation as the biggest--okay, third biggest if you counted Lavender and Parvati--gossip in Hogwarts? Hermione might have to practice some memory spells, and soon.

At that point, Padma squealed, "That's so romantic...a handsome, mysterious stranger and a cloaked mystery. Why couldn't it have been me? I can't wait to see how everything turns out..." Padma sighed dreamily. Hermione guessed that meant Padma could be trusted. This was all getting so complicated...only a week ago she was doing well in school, she had solitary nights, and she had three best friends, counting Ginny. Then Ranger came and turned her world upside down. And she wasn't sure she didn't like it.

"Hogwarts to Hermione? Hello?"

"Sorry, what was that?"

"I was just saying, 'How many other people have you told?'" Padma repeated patiently.

"Just you and Ginny."

"This is so exciting! Only we three know the true story of Hermione Granger's secret life. But I would have thought you'd tell Harry Potter and Ron Weasley...aren't they your best friends?"

"Other than Ginny, yeah. But...I don't know."

As if Hermione had just presented an excellent argument, Padma nodded. "You're right. They're guys; this is a chick thing."

Rolling her eyes and laughing, Hermione pulled a ponytail holder out of her robe pocket. "I bet my hair's a mess. I'll have to comb it when I get back." As soon as her hands touched her head, however, she froze. Very slowly, Hermione turned to Padma and said, "What did you do to my hair?"

Padma looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, while you were a cat, I figured the best thing to do would be give you a bath and comb out your fur—you were still asleep and I wasn't sure you'd let me when you were awake. And you should have seen yourself! You were filthy!"

Narrowing her eyes, Hermione replied, "When I wash my hair it doesn't turn out like this. You did something else."

With a resigned look on her face, Padma folded. "I used my own shampoo and conditioner for you and fluffed out your fur with a hair dryer, then I sprayed some curl control on your fur to relax the knots a bit, brushed it all out with my best brush, curled some of the longer sections, and set it. It looked good as a cat; it looks good as a human. Please don't change it...Hermione? Are you listening?"

Hermione shook herself out of her trance-like state. Although she didn't believe in 'mucking about' with her hair, she was female and human and a teenager. She couldn't help but feel...well, if her hair looked good who was Hermione Granger to interfere with the lot she'd been thrown?

Most of Hogwarts was at Hogsmeade; Hermione and Padma had virtually nothing to do, after Hermione finished all the work she hadn't already (which was, incidentally, ten inches in Transfiguration as Hermione had worked ahead so far that the professors refused to give her much more work) except wander the halls and talk. Padma was fascinated by the way Hermione seemed surrounded by a golden mist the instant before she shape-shifted, and had her change back and forth between human and animal several times.

At last, Hermione refused to change out of her cat shape. "I need practice flying anyway. And I can fly low to start out; this will be good practice. I definitely don't want to repeat last night ever again." So she flew a few feet above the ground and talked to Padma about the previous night's events. The Ravenclaw was a true gossip. She knew just about everything about everyone and was generous in sharing all unclassified knowledge. Together, the girls tried to work out who had brought Hermione to Padma...and why.

"I somehow don't think it was a Hufflepuff."

"Me either. Or a Slytherin. Think of what Zabini, for instance, would do to an unconscious cat."

Both girls shuddered. "I just realized how incredibly lucky I am to have been found by whoever did," said Hermione.

"And how lucky you are that you came to me and not some gossip." At the look on Hermione's face, Padma laughed. "Well, I only talk when I'm given permission. Anyway, it might have been a Gryffindor...or a Ravenclaw..."

"But why did whoever find me drop me on your windowsill? Why not look after me themselves?"

"Maybe they wanted to conceal their identity. I dunno."

Eventually, as students filtered in, Hermione found a quiet corner to change back to her original species and sadly parted with Padma. "I'd better go. See you around, Padma."

"Drop by any time, Hermione."

"I'd love to." Hermione tallied up the day's events: knocked unconscious by own stupidity, saved by mysterious cloaked stranger, made new friend. Not too bad for a Saturday.