Chapter 15: Horrified!

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I watch a few moments, vainly hoping the color will improve. It doesn't comply. "Any idea where I went wrong?"

She looks at me strangely. "Well I think you went a bit heavy on the porcupine quills, and the temperature was a bit too high for the initial stirring. You could have gone a bit slower, too; I think you overshot the seventh stir."

I turn off the burner. "That's...quite meticulous."

She blushes. "I was watching closely. Of course, I haven't made this myself; so I can only tell you what I think I would have done differently. I'm not really sure I would have done any better."

I doubt that, but I'm not supposed to know how good she is. "I'm afraid I didn't have any idea where I was going wrong, so I may need to rely on memorization and references myself. That bodes ill for me. Well, next time you give it a shot and I'll watch and learn."

"Sounds good," she says, smiling.

"We'd better head back, wouldn't you say?"

"What about that?" She gestures to the stinky, yellow, ruined Draught of Peace.

I shrug. "The room should make it disappear, unless you want to do the honors."

She pulls her wand without hesitating. "Evanesco."

I whistle as the potion completely vanishes. "Very nicely done, I don't see a single drop left."

"Thank you," she says with another blush.

"After you?" I ask, making the door appear and holding it open.

"Such a gentlemen!"

"Don't tell anybody, I have a reputation to uphold, after all."

She giggles. Giggles! Hermione doesn't giggle! Damn it, again with the flirting, Lerner?

"Hermione, I..." Really shouldn't be doing this. But I can't say it. How can I? "I'm glad you came after me tonight." I scowl. Way to go, Lerner, hope you were going for the exact opposite effect!

"You don't look like it."

"No, it's not that..." I exhale in frustration. Damn it, how am I supposed to say this? "I'm not...maybe you were right. In fact you were right, you should be scared of me. I mean, I want to be your friend, but I'm just..."

"Confusing?" she offers with a smile.

"Confused," I correct her. I open my mouth to say more, but I can't make any words come out.

"It's okay. I don't think I should be scared of you, and I want to be your friend, too."

I look at her and she's giving me what I suppose is a friendly smile. I hope I didn't hurt her feelings, and I don't see any hint that I did. I smile back. "I'm glad." I know she's sensitive about her femininity at the moment, but I don't know what to say that won't either hurt her feelings in some way or encourage her the wrong way. Damn it, how did this get so complicated?

"I'm glad you showed me the Room of Requirement. Next time I want to try and make the room."

"Okay then, it's a da—I mean, sounds good to me. What are you going to make it?"

"A library."

I laugh. "Of course."

"I was wondering if all those books were in the castle, or if it can get books that it doesn't have. For example, if I try to conjure actual scrolls from the Library of Alexandria?"

"I think they were probably all in the castle, but it would be a fun thing to try." I ponder that a moment, and stop suddenly. "Actually, that could be bad. That could be very bad."

She squints her eyes, probably trying to fathom how more books would be bad. "How so?"

"Suppose I try to conjure your diary?"

Her eyes bulge out of her head.

"Not that I would! I wouldn't, but think about it, what if someone like Malfoy got in there and thought of that."

She looks even more ill.

"Yeah..."

"I don't think Malfoy could get my diary open, but..." She shakes her head. "I see what you meant before. It would be very bad if word of that room got out. I'd never heard any inkling of it before, and we tend to suss out the secrets in this castle."

I smile and raise an eyebrow. "Do you now?"

She makes a face that tells me she didn't mean to say that much.

I take it easy on her. "Well I'm glad to contribute to your record then, now that you know about that," I say, jerking my thumb over my shoulder.

"I suppose you have." She looks thoughtful, so I let her stew and enjoy the eerie glow that the torches throw around the darkened corridors.

When we reach a particular corridor, she glances down it and breaks the silence. "You never went to see Professor McGonagall."

"No, she said she'd get back to me. Of course, if she tried she wouldn't have been able to find me very often today." I say with a smile.

She gasps. "You lied!"

I smile softly. "Sorry, I was too embarrassed to admit what I was really doing, which is trying to avoid embarrassment later."

She purses her lips at me. "Well I suppose I can let it slide. What are you going to tell Harry and Ron?"

"What do you think?" It occurs to me that she doesn't know how easily I lie. That might be a bad thing. Or a good thing, to drive her away.

She bites her lip. "As close to the truth as possible. You didn't get to talk to her. Say she wasn't available."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "And why were we gone so long, then?"

"We...went to look for her?"

The trouble she has with that makes me chuckle. "Hermione Granger, are you telling me you're a good liar?"

She looks horrified.

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