Delayed Friendships

Hermione awoke early on the first day of term, eager to begin work as soon as possible. As she slid back the heavy velvet curtains which surrounded her bed, she noticed that the four other girls who shared a room with her had not yet stirred. The sky outside the window beside her bed was murky, and held the threat of a late summer thunderstorm.

Hermione pulled herself up and headed towards the small bathroom the girls shared, where she showered quickly and dressed. Examining herself in the mirror, she noticed for the first time that she had changed over the summer; her hair seemed less wild and the bone structure of her face was more defined. She was just peering critically into the glass when she heard a shriek from the bedroom, which caused her to lurch forwards and bang her head against its reflection.

'Ouch!' Hermione said, rubbing her forehead. She sighed, and headed back into the bedroom, where she found Parvati Patil jumping up and down on Lavender Brown's bed (which Lavender was still sitting in), pointing to the floor with one hand and covering her mouth with the other.

'What's going on?' said Hermione, trying not to find the situation amusing.

'April's mouse has chewed its way out of its box,' piped up Rosie Marsh, another Gryffindor sixth-year. Her best friend April Tainton, Hermione noticed, was scrabbling about on the floor, desperately trying to locate the missing creature before Parvati had a seizure.

'Find your stupid pet and find it NOW!' Parvati shrieked.

Hermione winced. Parvati's temper had earned her a reputation across the school, and most people avoided angering her at all costs. April, however, seemed nonplussed by the girl's mood.

'Kindly refrain from calling my pet 'stupid'. Maxwell is an incredibly clever animal,' April said, glaring at the jumping Parvati before peering under Hermione's bed.

'Animal?!' shot back Lavender, who was sitting on the bed with her arms tightly wrapped around her knees. 'Rodent, you mean. Merlin knows why Dumbledore even allows such things to be kept in school.'

Rosie immediately shot to her friend's defence. 'Leave it out, Lav,' she said, and smiled as Lavender grimaced at hearing the nickname she detested so much. 'Maxwell's not doing any harm. Anyway, he's a lot more human than some of the boys you've dated.'

Suddenly, Lavender appeared to have forgotten her fear of the mouse, and leapt out of bed towards Rosie. Hermione decided she'd had enough of this, and headed towards the door. On the way she passed April, who was sitting beside Rosie's bed, a bemused expression on her face.

'See you at breakfast, April,' Hermione whispered, so as not to disturb the fighting. 'I hope you find Maxwell.'

'Oh, I found him already,' she said, holding up her hands. Sure enough, a small white mouse was wriggling between them. 'It's just funny watching them fight. See you later.'

Hermione laughed as she pushed the door open and started down the stairs. She was still quite early for breakfast, so took her time, and thought about how this year would turn out. Every year, it seemed, Hogwarts was at the centre of some great event. And every year it would get through it, usually by Harry Potter saving the day. From years of watching Harry, just as she watched everyone else she met, Hermione had noticed how at the end of each year Harry would leave Hogwarts in dampened spirits, and return in September full of renewed life.

This year, however, was different. The Boy-Who-Lived had returned to school looking like someone who could fight no longer. His sparkling eyes were dull, and his face wore none of its usual signs of life. Hermione had heard him speak only twice since they had arrived; at dinner he asked Ginny to pass the salt, and later that night she had heard him tell Ron he was going to bed. Ron had taken it upon himself to tell all that came near Harry that he didn't need to be harassed, it was none of their business, and if they didn't want to get hurt, they should 'piss off, now'. He had reserved that last comment for constant pests, and not surprisingly, they didn't return.

Hermione arrived in the Great Hall sooner than she had anticipated, and took a seat near the end of the Gryffindor table. She ate in silence for a few minutes, and kept her head down. This was normal practise for Hermione; it was no secret that she had no close friends. After a while in her first year she had learned that if she didn't try, others wouldn't either, and things had stayed that way ever since. Of course, she had some friends. She got on with the other sixth-year girls in her house, April especially, and was quite good friends with Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley, both of whom she had tutored lower down the school. However, the common consensus amongst her housemates was that she should be in Ravenclaw, where all the clever people went. Privately, Hermione disagreed. She believed she had some bravery in her somewhere, it just hadn't shown itself yet. And the Sorting Hat was never wrong, was it?

'Ah, Miss Granger,' came a voice from behind Hermione. She turned round to see Professor McGonagall standing behind her, holding several sheets of parchment in her hand. 'Here are the Gryffindor timetables for this year. And do give some to Mr Weasley, won't you? When he eventually decides to grace us with his presence, that is.'

'Of course, Professor,' she said. 'Thank you.' Professor McGonagall gave a curt nod and walked off.

The table was beginning to fill up, so Hermione hurriedly finished her sausages and began to distribute the timetables. She had already handed most of them out when Ron strode into the room and came up to her.

'Do you want me to help you with those?' he said, holding out his hand and taking the last few sheets from her.

'I was doing fine by myself, actually.'

'Yeah, well, McGonagall told me to get in here and help you.' He grinned. 'She obviously thought you couldn't do it on your own.'

Hermione folded her arms. Ron was just so rude sometimes. 'Or maybe she thought it was fair if you gave me some help, for once.'

'Right,' he said absently. 'Anyway, she also said there's a prefect meeting at lunch, ok? Usual place.'

And with that, Ron walked casually along the table, handed out the remaining timetables to latecomers, and sat down to eat. Honestly, Hermione thought. Why couldn't Dumbledore have picked someone responsible?

***

Later that day, Hermione arrived in the Transfiguration classroom, ready for the meeting. Even though she had practically sprinted from Potions for fear of being late, there were still only three others there, all of whom were Ravenclaws. Professor McGonagall was sat at the front of the room, writing on some parchment. She settled herself into a seat and waited for the others to arrive. Slowly they trickled in, and after ten minutes, Ginny came rushing in, red-faced and gasping for breath. The professor shot her a stern look.

'Sorry,' she panted. 'Didn't realise the time. I was a bit busy. Really sorry,' Ginny finished as she took a seat next to Hermione.

'Right, now that we're all here,' Professor McGonagall said, glancing in Ginny's direction and causing the girl to blush furiously, 'Let's begin. First of all, here are the new rotas for your duties.'

Professor McGonagall handed a stack of rotas to a fifth-year Hufflepuff prefect seated at the front, who found his and passed them along. Hermione received hers and looked over it as her teacher continued.

'As you can see, you will patrol the corridors in pairs twice weekly, and you have all been assigned areas. Naturally, your partner will be in your house and year. In addition, it will be your responsibility, as role models for your house, to form a united front. There will be no petty squabbles in corridors,' she glanced at Ron as she said this, and then at Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin sixth-year who liked to think of himself as Harry's arch-nemesis, but probably couldn't hurt a fly.

Professor McGonagall indicated that they were free to go. 'Remember your Headmaster's words at yesterday's feast,' she said, as they rose from their seats. 'Professor Dumbledore depends on you, as prefects, to set examples. Ensure you do so.'

Hermione nodded, and left the room with Ginny at her side.

'I'm so embarrassed,' Ginny said. 'Did you see her face when I came in? I'm going to have to work seriously hard in Transfiguration now, just to get back into her good books! When are you first patrolling, then?'

Hermione glanced down at her timetable. 'Tonight,' she said.

'Looking forward to it?'

'What?' Hermione shot Ginny a look. 'Why on earth would I be looking forward to spending two hours in uncomfortable silence with your brother, who doesn't even like me?'

Ginny shrugged. 'Good point. Still, it's only two hours, twice a week. Although that is four hours a week, sixteen a month, of total silence. You could try talking about Quidditch,' she suggested.

'I hate Quidditch,' replied Hermione, a subtle but undeniable feeling of dread entering her stomach at the prospect of the coming evening.

'Ah.'

***

That evening, Hermione headed down the stairs from the dormitories to the common room feeling unpleasantly nervous. She'd been worried about patrolling with Ron again since her conversation with Ginny earlier in the day, and had no idea how the evening would go.

She found Ron sitting by the fire, playing Wizard Chess with Harry, who didn't seem in the least bit interested. Hermione stood back at watched them for a while - they didn't have to start patrolling for another five minutes anyway.

'Okay Harry, I've moved,' Ron said. Harry turned his head towards the game.

'You've left your queen wide open,' observed Harry in a dull tone.

'Oh yeah. Didn't notice. Oh well, I've moved it now, you're free to take it. It's not my turn anymore,' Ron said in an overly cheery voice, which gave Hermione the impression it might not have been an accident.

'Right,' said his partner who sighed and ordered his bishop to take Ron's queen. 'Don't you have to go now?'

'What?'

Harry indicated Hermione standing a few feet behind Ron. 'You know, duty.'

'Oh yeah,' said Ron as he stood up. 'I'll be back in a while, okay?'

'Fine,' Harry replied, sounding a little irritated.

Ron walked over to Hermione and together they stepped out of the portrait hole. They continued along the corridor for a few minutes in silence, the only sound being the gentle tapping of their shoes against the stone floor.

'They're making us do a lot, now, aren't they? Patrolling twice a week?' Ron surprised Hermione with his comment, and she nearly tripped over in shock.

'Oh, I suppose,' she answered after a moment. 'But I don't really mind.'

'It's just - I've got other things I could be doing, you know?' Ron continued as if he hadn't really heard her response. 'Other people I could be spending time with.'

'I won't pretend to understand,' said Hermione quietly.

Ron realised his last statement might have come out wrong, and to Hermione's astonishment, he tried to correct his mistake. 'Look, I - er - didn't mean it like that,' his face began to redden as he attempted to get the right words out. 'I just - '

'It's okay,' Hermione interrupted him, with an air of finality. They spent the rest of the evening in silence, but she discovered that it wasn't the same uncomfortable lack of words they had experienced throughout their fifth year, it was something ... different.