On Storm Tossed Seas

Chapter 7: The Necklace

The time was 11:00. After Potions, Draco and Hermione had planned to meet in the Astronomy Tower at 11:15. She slung the heavy bag of navigation instruments over her shoulder, and tucked her Astronomy book and thick cloak under her other arm.

"Hermione, are you sure you don't want one of us to come with you?" Harry asked for the thousandth time. When she had told Harry and Ron what Madam Sinistra had said, they had both paled in anger. It was bad enough that she already had to spend time in sailing class with Malfoy, and one evening a week completing homework. They couldn't believe that she would have to spend a half hour alone with him every night on top of that.

"Harry, look, it's not that big of a deal. We'll be too busy learning how to use the equipment to allow any time for him to harass me. Besides, I have my wand, and I know more hexes than Malfoy has probably even dreamed of." She gave her friend a winning smile.

"You're right, you know. You always are," Harry grinned back at her. "Oh, hey, you wanted to borrow my Cloak again, right?"

"Yeah, but not tonight. I'm tired. I just want to get the navigation stuff out of the way and go to sleep. I'll let you know when I need it."

"What do you need it for? You never told me."

"Remember the orb thing that I showed you and Ron earlier?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, I want to see if I can find any information about it in the Restricted Section." She rehoisted the heavy bag on her shoulder. "Harry, look, I would love to tell you all about everything, but I don't want to be late tonight. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow, okay?"

Harry gave her a grin, and walked over to a table where Ron was setting up a game of Wizard's Chess. Hermione turned to leave, first checking that the pass Madam Sinistra had given her was still in her robe pocket. She pushed open the portrait door and started towards the tower.

It felt strange walking down the hallway after curfew without the Cloak as cover. The only time she had ever been allowed out of the common room past curfew was when the Gryffindor's had their Astronomy class. Her nerves were a bit jumpy as she sped through the empty hallways.

"A student out of bed? Well, well, Mrs. Norris, it looks like a detention is in the works for tonight." Filch's gravely voice caused Hermione to come to a sudden stop. "And look, it's not only a student, but the ever perfect Ms. Granger. If you will come with me, we will get the pleasantries started." He turned, expecting the recalcitrant student to follow.

"Um, Mr. Filch, sir?" Hermione squeaked, her voice sounding small in the empty nighttime hallway. "I have a pass." She produced the pass from her robe.

Filch snatched the pass suspiciously from her outstretched hand, and stared at the offensive slip of parchment. "So you do, so you do. Well, you just be certain that you never let me catch you without a pass after curfew. I have some wonderful detentions cooked up that I can't wait to try out." He roughly pressed the pass back into her hand, motioned to Mrs. Norris, and continued on his watch.

Hermione took off at a run to make it to the Astronomy Tower in time. The last thing she needed was to be late. Draco would never let her live that down.

She reached the door to the platform, gasping for breath. Pushing it open, she saw Malfoy already standing at the other end, his book out, and a nocturnal grasped in his hands.

"Late, Granger?" he questioned, not turning from his calculations. "Not the best example to be setting."

"Filch stopped me. Besides, I'm still on time. You must have been early." She stepped through the doorway and stalked across the stone floor.

Draco, finished with his first set of measurements, put down the nocturnal and looked over at Hermione. She had put down her load and was shrugging herself into her cloak. The waning moon glowed on Hermione's face, softening her features. Draco felt a strange flutter in his stomach at the sight. His eyes slowly drifted along the contours of her cheeks to the soft fullness of her lips. He didn't know why he'd never noticed just how enticing she looked. Her voice interrupted his reverie.

"What are you staring at, Ferret Boy?" she snapped at him.

"Nothing. Just waiting for you to get to work." Embarrassed, he quickly turned back to his book, ostensibly reviewing the next step in his readings with the nocturnal.

The rest of the half-hour passed smoothly. They spoke only when necessary, and finished their calculations quickly. Hermione used a soft cloth to carefully clean her instruments and packed them back into their cases. She noticed, from the corner of her eye, that Draco skipped the cleaning part.

"Malfoy, you're supposed to clean them each time."

"Shut up, Mudblood. I'll do as I please."

"You're instruments won't remain accurate if you refuse to clean them, Malfoy," she said, with a sigh of exasperation.

"What, are you going to tell on me?" he gave her a glare.

"No, I wouldn't do that. But, if you don't get into the habit of cleaning them now, it will be hard to get into that habit when we are taking measurements four times a day on the ship." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Whatever. I'm leaving." He snatched his packed bag up, and strode across the platform entering the doorway. With a sigh, Hermione picked up her heavy bag and her book, and headed back indoors.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

The rest of the week flew by. Hermione got wrapped up in the increased challenges of her studies. Dr. Branefeld taught wonderfully exciting Arithmancy courses. He challenged the class beyond what Hermione could have even hoped. He often commented on the work that Hermione was turning in, both to her embarrassment and her pride.

She enjoyed learning how to use the various navigation instruments each evening, and found that she had a special aptitude with the sextant. Draco appeared to really enjoy using the nocturnal, and they fell into a comfortable rhythm with each other, laughter actually occurring at times. They seemed to enjoy being around each other, at least when the audience was comprised of the stars, sky, and moon. During the rest of the day, they regarded each other with glares and muttered curses.

Tuesday, the 19^th of September crept up. Hermione awoke on the morning of her 15^th birthday ready for the challenges that lie ahead. A particularly difficult quiz had been scheduled that morning for Transfiguration, and she was looking forward to tackling the task. Springing lightly out of bed, she rushed off to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

"Hey, Hermione!" Lavender's voice rang out. "There's an owl here to see you."

Hermione, towel wrapped around her wet hair, exited the bathroom while drawing on her bathrobe. A large barn owl was sitting on her bed next to a small package. She went to her trunk and pulled out a couple of knuts which she wrapped in a piece of cloth and gave to the fowl. The bird gave a small hoot and flew back out the window it had come in from.

"Oh, who is it from?" Parvati squealed as both she and Lavender leaped from their beds.

"I don't know." Hermione picked up the small package, and looked at it. It was wrapped in gold paper with a beautiful silver bow. "I suppose I'll open it." She carefully opened the paper, and took the lid off the small box. Inside she found a necklace. She pulled out the delicate gold chain upon which was strung a clear glass globe in which sparkled a miniature star.

Lavender and Parvati shrieked with excitement when they saw it.

"Wow, that is so cool. My mom has one of those." Parvati reached out to take the necklace, looking closely at the dangling globe. "It's an actual star, Hermione. They are only made in Sweden. They're really expensive. Did a note come with it?"

Hermione looked back into the small box. She pulled out a small piece of parchment. Opening it she saw written, in an unfamiliar hand, a simple message.

Happy Birthday

"Is it signed?" Lavender asked, reaching for the necklace, which Parvati was holding.

"No, it's just has happy birthday written on it."

"You have a secret admirer, Hermione!" Parvati screeched, grabbing Hermione's hands, and spinning her about the room. Hermione tried to extricate herself from Parvati's grip, but failed as Lavender joined them. For the next few minutes, she was spun about the room with the two overly excited girls. They finally calmed down and released a relieved Hermione.

"So, who do you think it is?" Lavender aksed.

"I don't know."

"Well, the necklace is really expensive, so we know who it probably isn't," reasoned Parvati. "I mean, it couldn't be Ron, he's too poor. It wouldn't be Neville; he's too unromantic. It couldn't be Dean, he's dating that Ravenclaw girl." Hermione amusedly turned from Parvati as she continued her mental checklist, and began to dress for the day. She finished running her brush through her hair just as Parvati completed her list of all the Hogwarts boys it couldn't have been. She reached for the necklace and hooked it around her neck.

"I've got to run, girls. I'm meeting Harry and Ron for a special birthday breakfast." She turned to leave, when Parvati's hand grasped hers.

"Oh my gosh! Hermione, we are so sorry. Happy birthday!" she shrieked, Lavender joining her. "We have a present for you, too."

Lavender dashed over to her trunk, threw it open, and retrieved a package wrapped in a beautiful blue paper. Hermione opened it to reveal the latest edition of ::Hogwarts, A History::. She gave the two girls a huge grin.

"Thank you! I love it. I can't wait to read the new stuff in it." She gave them each a big hug, put the book on top of her bed, and left the room.

Harry and Ron were waiting for her at the foot of the stairs.

"Happy birthday, Hermione," Ron said, a grin lighting his face.

"Happy birthday," Harry repeated.

"Thanks guys. Let's go."

The three friends walked across the common room and pushed open the portrait.

"What's that around your neck, Hermione?" Ron questioned as they walked down the hall.

"Oh, it's a birthday gift." Hermione, unsuccessfully, tried not to blush.

"From who?"

"I--I don't know," she stuttered.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Harry asked, a puzzled look crossing his face.

"It came this morning, by owl. There was a note, but it was unsigned."

"And you're wearing it? You don't know if it's cursed or something," Ron argued, trying to keep a grin from his face.

"It's perfectly fine, Ron."

"I don't know, Hermione. You wouldn't let me keep my Firebolt when I got it." Ron nodded his agreement with Harry's statement.

"Oh, come off it!" Hermione growled. "That was a whole different set of circumstances. I mean, you were in danger that year. For goodness sake," huffed Hermione.

As they reached the door to the Great Hall, Harry and Ron burst out laughing. "Sorry, Hermione! We're just picking on you." Harry managed, through his laughter. "Of course the necklace is perfectly fine. You've got to stop taking everything so seriously."

Hermione scowled at them, which only caused them to laugh all the harder. Finally, Hermione realized how silly she was behaving, and her scowl melted into a smile, before morphing into laughter. The three laughing friends made their way to their table, oblivious to the glare of a blond headed Slytherin across the room.

"Oh, look!" exclaimed Hermione, when they reached the table. "Belgium Waffles with fresh strawberries! My favorite!" She sat down, and reached for the platter.

"I talked with Dobby and asked him if he could whip you up your favorite, you know, it being your birthday and all." Harry grinned at the happy expression on Hermione's face as he took his seat.

"Thank you, Harry. You're the best," she mumbled, through a mouthful of waffles.

Draco watched the happy trio continue their morning feast. He still couldn't figure out what had possessed him to send a gift to Hermione. He squinted, and could see that she was wearing the necklace. An unbidden sigh tore from him.

"What's the matter, Draco?" Blaise questioned, slipping onto the bench opposite him.

"Huh?" he replied, looking at her.

"I said, what's the matter. It looks like your upset about something." Blaise grabbed a large blueberry muffin off the platter in front of her, and slathered it with butter.

"Nothing. I'm just tired." The lie rolled easily off his tongue. "So, are you ready for another fun-filled morning learning about Billywigs?" he questioned, pouring himself another glass of pumpkin juice.

The two Slytherin's spent the rest of breakfast discussing the day's classes. Draco kept slipping glances past Blaise, however. He couldn't seem to stop checking on the progress of Hermione and her friends. When the morning warning bell rang. Draco stood, said bye to Blaise, and left for his Ancient Runes class, Hermione, annoyingly, still in his mind.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Students stumbled out of the Transfiguration class. Their quiz had lasted a full thirty minutes of their forty-five minute class, and they were exhausted. As usual, Hermione had done a stunning job on her quiz, receiving a full 120%. Ron, however, had failed miserably, his attempt on the quiz having resulted in a purse with teeth.

"I'm telling you, this class makes no sense. It's not like I'm ever going to need to turn a mink into a purse, for crying out loud."

"Well, Ron, if you would actually study for Transfiguration instead of always playing games in the evening, you might do better," Hermione said, receiving a glare from Ron.

"Hey, you guys, let's hurry to Hagrid's. Remember, he wanted to have a us over for Hermione's birthday before class started," Harry interrupted. The two arguing students gave nods of agreement and the three quickly moved through the entrance hall and out the doors to Hagrid's hut.

" 'ermoine, 'appy birthday!" bellowed Hagrid as he opened the door to his hut. "Come in, come in! I 'ave made some fresh treacle fudge for the birthday girl." Oblivious to their hesitant smiles, he held out a plate of treacle fudge as the three sat down around the table. Politely, each took a piece and placed it on their plate.

Hagrid then poured some tea into four cups and placed them around the table. "It's good ter see you. How's school treatin' yeh so far?"

"School's going really well, Hagrid." Hermione took a sip of her tea.

Hagrid looked over at Harry and Ron who both gave the same answer. For the next twenty minutes, the hut rang with mirth as stories about the summer break were shared. By the time class was ready to start, the four headed out of the hut, and Harry, Ron and Hermione moved towards the group of Gryffindors.

"Granger, I need to talk to you," Draco said, walking towards her, his myrmidons flanking him.

"What about, Malfoy?" Hermione sighed.

"We haven't figured out a time to do our sailing homework, yet." He paused, his eyes glancing at the necklace. He wondered if she'd be wearing it if she knew he'd given it to her.

Hermione watched his eyes. "What are you looking at, Malfoy?"

"Just admiring your necklace," he said, carefully lacing his voice with sarcasm. "Did poor Weasley sell his body to get it for you?" Crabbe and Goyle chuckled stupidly at this comment. Ron's face went brilliant red and Harry grabbed a handful of his robe to keep him from springing forward.

"Malfoy, you can be such a jerk." Hermione said this without a trace of emotion. "It was a gift from someone, and it's none of your business. Now, did you want to make plans for completing our homework, or do you want to continue to harass us? Because, I warn you, I am not afraid to hex you." She said this while pulling her wand out, and pointing it directly at Draco's face.

With a smirk, he pushed the wand away. "Meet me in the library at 11:45. That will give you enough time to eat lunch, won't it?" He turned, not waiting for a reply, and imperiously strode back to the group of Slytherins, Crabbe and Goyle faithfully following in his wake.

"Why, that good for nothing, ferret faced, slimy, pathetic--," Ron paused when he saw Hermione glare over at him.

"Ron, he's not even worth get worked up over. Just let it go."

She turned around, just as Hagrid stepped up to the head of one of the tables. They spent the rest of the class feeding the Billywigs, which they had discovered were fond of lemon grass, and talking quietly amongst themselves.

When they returned to the Great Hall for lunch, Hermione ate quickly, and left to head up to her dorm to get her book for her sailing homework. She arrived at the doors of the library at the same time as Draco.

"By all means, Granger, ladies first," he smirked, pulling open the large wooden door for her, while giving her a mock bow. She narrowed her eyes at him and flounced through the open door.

"Let's make this quick and painless, Malfoy." She continued to glare at him as they sat at a table near the back of the library.

Without a word, Malfoy threw his book on the table, pulled out a clean sheet of parchment, unstoppered his inkbottle, and dipped his quill in.

"I'm ready. So, what's first?"

With a final glare, she looked down at her own book. The two finished their labeled diagram of the inner hull of a ship in record time. After cleaning up the table, they sat in uncomfortable silence.

"Uh, Granger?" Hermione looked over at him. "I guess, uh, happy birthday." He stood, pushing his chair back, and turned to leave.

"Wait," Hermione said. He glanced back at her. She didn't know what to say, but she didn't want him to leave, for some unknown reason. "Um, you know, I was wondering if you could help me with my nocturnal this evening. I just can't seem to get it."

He turned around to face her. "So, the perfect Gryffindor isn't so perfect after all?" Draco drawled, instantly sorry when he saw the scowl on her face. "Sure, I suppose I could help you," he quickly added. Her face softened a bit, and her hand strayed to her necklace. She fingered it absentmindedly for a bit.

"Really, that's a nice necklace," he said. "Whom did you get it from?"

"I thought you already knew," she spat out at him.

"Look, Granger, it was a joke. Geez, can't you take a joke?"

"It was mean," she stated, a glare forming on her face.

"Fine," he said, taking his seat again, "it was mean, but could, quite possibly, be true." Her glare deepened. "Okay, look, it was a joke. All right, let's get past that. Whom did you get it from?" He didn't know why, but it was important for him to know what she thought.

"I--I don't know. An owl appeared in my room this morning with a package. This necklace was in it," she held the necklace out a bit, "and a note."

"Any guesses?"

"Why are you so interested? Afraid that I may have a secret admirer? Afraid that I may not be swayed by your charms?"

"You saying I have charm, Granger?"

"Shut up, Malfoy, you know what I mean. Why are you so damn interested in my necklace?"

"Just friendly curiosity," he said, sarcastically. "But, we need to go, unless you want to lose points for Gryffindor by being late to Potions." He smirked at the panicky look that crossed her face. She quickly pushed her chair back, slung her bag over her shoulder, and bolted for the library door, an amused Slytherin following after her.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Potions slipped by quickly, with the exception of Snape taking twenty points from Gryffindor when Ron spouted off at Draco. The Gryffindors then headed in the opposite direction of the Slytherins to sit through another long History of Magic. After Charms, Hermione talked Harry into going to the library to work on their homework before dinner. Ron stammered about needing to work on some stuff with his brothers, quickly retreating before a confused Hermione could question him. She shook her head and muttered about Ron not taking his studies seriously. Harry held the door open for her and the two spent the next hour working on their homework.

"Well, I need to go, um, do some stuff. I'll see you at dinner?" He waited, preparing himself for an onslaught from Hermione about being just as bad as Ron. Being involved in her Dark Arts homework, however, she simply nodded, and continued her work. Harry got up and left.

She turned back to her work, carefully rereading a passage on vampires, when she felt someone watching her. She looked up and saw two gray eyes staring down at her.

"What?"

"Nothing. Do you have time for me to give you some help with the nocturnal?"

"Malfoy, we can go over that tonight, when we are doing are navigation work." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know, I just figured that I would go over the book stuff before we went up. Oh, and maybe we should meet a little earlier, so that we can still get all the other measurements done." He looked at her with that expression that she couldn't quite read. "Unless, you really don't need help with the nocturnal."

"No, you're right. Sure, let's look over the stuff in the book. When do you want to meet?"

"Eleven o'clock?"

"Fine. Let's get to work." She closed her Dark Arts book and pulled out her sailing book. She opened to appendix C, and Draco began to explain to her the finer details of the nocturnal. He noticed that she was playing with her necklace again, and fought to keep the smile from tugging at his lips.

"Okay, so sidereal time is four minutes less than solar time. Got it. And when I turn the dial to Ursa Minor, the time is automatically corrected. That it so easy. I don't know why I'm struggling so much with this." A frown creased her forehead. Draco looked askance at her, and felt that increasingly familiar tug in his heart.

"Yeah, so, I'll see you at 11:00? Then I'll give you the hands on instruction, okay?" He waited for her nod; she was still absorbed in the book. He sat back and studied her quietly. She was deeply involved in the book, and she chewed on her lower lip while twirling a bit of hair around her finger. Her cheeks were slightly flushed giving her a rosy glow. He felt his heart thump a little quicker in his chest. Breaking his reverie, he repeated his question. "Uh, Granger? I'll see you at 11:00?"

Without breaking her eye contact with her book, she gave Draco a nod. He stood, gathering up his books, and shoving them in his bag. With a last glance at Hermione, he turned, and left.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

"Come on, Hermione, let's go." Ron insisted.

They had rushed her through dinner that evening. She noticed, too, that many of the other Gryffindors ate quickly, or were mysteriously absent. She didn't dwell on it much, though.

"Ron, I'm moving as fast as I can. Geez, do you want me to run?"

"No, just, come on." He grinned over at Harry, who was carrying Hermione's bag.

They reached the Fat Lady.

"Pegasus," Harry said, maneuvering himself around the edge of the frame as it opened. He moved into the common room, Hermione and Ron following him.

"Happy birthday, Hermione!" yelled everyone in the crowded room.

She paused, her eyes going wide. A sea of ribbons was hanging from the ceiling in the common room. When she looked closer, she saw that the ribbons were attached to red and gold balloons, which covered every inch of the high ceiling. Ron and Harry were grinning from ear to ear. On a large table sat a huge chocolate frosted cake with 'Happy Birthday, Hermione' written in a pink script.

"Oh my gosh, you guys!" She threw her arms around Harry and Ron simultaneously. "You're the best friends ever."

"Hey, Hermione!" Fred called. "What about us?"

"Fred, George, thanks. Everyone, thank you, this is the best birthday I have ever had." She grinned so hard, she felt like her face would split.

Harry and Fred had snuck off to the kitchens to get some food, while Ron and George used the secret passage to get into Hogwarts. They had brought back a supply of butterbeer and a ton of sweets from Honeydukes.

The Weasley twins newly mastered glitter balls were floating about the room, exploding with showers of red and gold confetti, in special honor of Hermione.

She had received some wonderful gifts from her closer friends. Among her favorites was a book on the history of Wizarding England from Harry, and a beautiful set of writing quills from the Weasley brothers.

The party wound down around ten o'clock. Hermione was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Harry, Ron, Fred, and George, and doing badly at it. The boys refused to allow her to win, even if it was her birthday. Absentmindedly, she continually played with her necklace.

"Hey, who gave you that?" Fred asked, pointing at the necklace.

"I don't know," she answered, letting go of the necklace.

"So, you have a secret admirer?" George gently teased.

"I guess. It's a little weird to think that someone likes me, and I don't know whom."

"Well, we'll keep an eye out for you, Herm. And we are always ready to lend a helping wand for any and all hexes." George pulled out his wand and did a little 'swish and flick' motion.

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione interjected, looking at the clock, which read 10:45. "I have to go! I have to go do my Astronomy homework."

"Don't you guys do your homework at 11:15?" Harry furrowed his brow.

"Well, we're meeting early tonight." She tried to keep an uncomfortable blush from her cheeks.

"Why? Who would want to spend more time with Ferret Boy than necessary?" Ron made a face.

"Well, we, uh, we are trying to figure out how to use an instrument, and we need the extra time." She stood quickly, knocking some cards to the floor. Without another word, she bolted to her room to get her bag. Moments later, she raced through the common room, and out through the portrait, completely oblivious to the stares of the four boys at the table.