Taboo

The next morning, the three of them woke up tired and puffy-eyed from staying up late to hear about Harry's first private lesson with Dumbledore. Hermione was so distracted that she accidentally spread marmalade on her sausages instead of her toast.

"Is that good?" asked Ron, pointing at her marmalade-smothered sausages.

"What?"

"Marmalade on sausages."

"Oh," she said, looking down at her plate and realizing her mistake. "You can have them. I'm not really hungry."

"Cool," said Ron, tipping the sausages onto his own plate. He speared one with his fork and examined it. Shrugging, he took a bite, chewing with a thoughtful expression. "Hey, not bad."

"That's disgusting, Ron," commented Ginny, who had just arrived. "I don't know how you can stand to eat that."

"You don't know what you're missing," said Ron, enthusiastically putting more marmalade on his sausages.

The morning post began arriving, owls of all breeds and colors streaming in from the windows. Harry heard laughter from some of the other tables and saw students pointing toward the ceiling. He followed their gaze and saw what they were pointing at. Two owls were struggling with the weight of a large box and a bunch of red flowers. They got closer and closer and finally landed in front of a flabbergasted Hermione.

"This is for me?" she said dubiously.

"Who is it from?" asked Ginny. Other Gryffindors crowded around, intrigued by the presence of a dozen red roses and the mysterious box. "Open it!"

She opened the box and found that it was of Honeydukes chocolate.

"Oooooh," squealed Lavender Brown. "I wonder who sent it?"

"What's going on here?" Professor McGonagall had appeared.

"Hermione's got a secret admirer," chirped Lavender. She and Parvati dissolved into giggles.

"That's enough now," said Professor McGonagall, repressing a smile. "Let Ms. Granger open her mail in peace." The crowd dispersed, looking disappointed.

"Hey, there's a note!" said Ron, peeling an envelope off the inside of the box's lid.

"Ron, let Hermione open it," said Ginny, snatching it from him and handing it to Hermione.

"Careful," warned Harry, remembering the bubotuber pus incident.

"All it says is 'Sorry.' There's no signature," said Hermione, holding it up to the light to see if there were any secret messages.

"Invisible ink?" suggested Harry. Hermione tried several spells, but the parchment revealed nothing. She sighed.

"'Sorry'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Ron," said Ginny sarcastically. "Generally when people way they're sorry, it means they're trying to apologize for something..."

"That's not what I meant," said Ron irritably, as Harry, Ginny, and Hermione burst out laughing. "I meant--why would they want to apologize? What've they done to you? We've only been here for a day..."

"I don't know," murmured Hermione.

"Well, can I have some of that chocolate then?" he asked hopefully.

"Ron!" said Ginny reproachfully.

"What? I was just asking..."

"Oh, never mind."

"C'mon," said Harry to Hermione, who was still staring at the roses. "We'll be late for Transfiguration."

"Oh, yes, I'm coming," she said, trying to fit everything into her bag. "Harry, can you hold these for me? Thanks." She handed him the bouquet of roses.

All through Transfiguration she had to endure Lavender and Parvati's teasing and pleading.

"Oh, please tell us!" they begged. "We promise we'll keep it a secret!"

"I don't know who sent it," she said truthfully.

"We know you went out with Viktor Krum," prompted Lavender. "He sent it, didn't he?" Hermione refused to answer, focusing resolutely on Vanishing her mouse.