Hermes' Secret

Chapter 12 - Acting weird

A/N: This has been dedicated to Anahita975 for commenting on my chapters!! 

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Enjoy the chapter!

~*~

Blaise and Pansy were arguing... as normal.

"I do not talk like that!" Pansy screeched for the millionth time at Blaise, who was chuckling affectionately.

"You so do" he accused, nudging Hermione as he did so "Don't you think, Hermes? Hermes? HERMES?"

"What?" Hermione asked, startled out of her stupor. "Did you say something?"

"What has happened to you all?" Blaise asked, tapping Draco and Theo who were also staring off into space, both, though they didn't know it, thinking about the same girl.

"Nothing," Theo replied, rubbing his eyes.

"You've all been acting weirdly ever since Hogsmeade. There wasn't anything in the drinks, was there?" Pansy asked.

"Hermes didn't drink anything," Blaise shook his head in exasperation "He was off with the Weaselette"

"Oh, yeah. What did you two get up to?" Pansy asked.

"Ummm, uh. She wanted to show me her Halloween costume" Hermione replied before blushing deeply and looking anywhere but at Draco, who was looking at her with narrowed eyes. "Well, I've got to go" She got up from the table.

"Your food. You haven't eaten a thing" Theo called, but Hermione didn't answer. Either she couldn't hear or she didn't want to.

"I'll go see what happened. He hasn't eaten a thing since lunch." Theo said before leaving the table himself.

"I'll go too" Draco announced, after a moment of apprehension, running after his two friends.

"They all haven't eaten a thing" Pansy whispered to herself, picking at her own food "I do hope they're feeling alright" She looked towards Blaise for a reply, but Blaise wasn't listening to a thing she said, too occupied by his plate full of food. "Boys" she took her head with exasperation, only a hint of affection in her eyes.

Blaise Zabini was really some boy.

~*~

"Theodore Nott!" Draco called after Theo, who was speed walking through the halls after Hermes, who was nowhere to be seen. "Theo!"

"What!" Theo asked, exasperatedly, turning around and glaring at his childhood friend. Draco said nothing. Instead, he dragged Theo into a nearby empty classroom, locking and soundproofing the door. "Didn't know you swung that way mate?" Theo joked, absolutely perplexed at what was going on.

"Stop fooling around," Draco said with finality. "I want to know what's been going on"

"Going on?" Theo asked, trying to hide his apprehension. "Nothing is going on. Everything's fine"

"Don't lie, Theo" Draco shook his head seriously. "What have you been doing in the library all these nights? I've seen you staring at Hermes, as well. Does he know about what is going on with you? Should I ask him?"

"No!" Theo cried, as Draco made to get up. "Don't tell Hermes! I want to try and sort this out myself before I tell her!"

"Her?" Draco asked with confusion. "Hermes is a boy. What are you talking about?"

Theo took a deep breath. "I guess I should tell someone and you're so eager-"

"Just get on with it!" Draco snapped, absolutely frustrated at having to run around in circles.

"I shouldn't know this, but when I was out on one of my nightly walks, I heard..." And then Theo explained. He explained what he had heard that night; what he had found out from his research and how the library was proving a futile information source. "There haven't even been any photos of her. Not one."

"So Hermes Orion is actually a girl and none other than the Hermione Granger?" Draco asked. Theo nodded. There were a few moments of silence before Draco stood up in a rage and stormed towards the door, ready to throw it open.

"No" Theo held him back. "There must be a reason for her... for her deceit. Draco, listen to me, remember what she did for us. She found that black cassette thing. She obviously cares about our relationship. She must have a valid reason for all this. Draco, listen to me" Draco ripped himself from Theo's grasp but thankfully didn't proceed to bang open the door. Instead, he sat down in a nearby chair and held his head in his hands, panting heavily.

"Alright" he said eventually "I won't tell, but don't expect me to keep this up for much longer"

"I don't think we're going to have to. Sooner or later, we're going to find out her reason. We'll have to!"

"Well, what have you found so far?" Draco asked. Theo pulled out the short list he had found out about Hermione Granger and showed it to Draco. The rest of the night, they placed their heads together in bid to figure something about Hermione Granger but to not much avail.

Hermione Granger was a really tricky crossword puzzle.

~*~

Hermione looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. The boy reflected back at her looked like a completely different person, but she knew it was her. Tilting her head from side to side, Hermione inspected her gelled hair. Theo had insisted on helping her with it and she had to admit, he had done an amazing job. The fake fangs she wore on her canines glinted in the harsh light of the bathroom as she twirled around, her cape flying about her. Patting her chest for the last time, Hermione emerged from the bathroom and into the dormitory. She was met with the face of Draco, who narrowed his eyes for a moment, inspecting her costume before returning his attention to the full-length mirror in front of himself.

"You look amazing, mate," Blaise said, clapping Hermione on the back "but not as good as me" Hermione chuckled at that before turning serious once more.

"You sure, right?" Hermione asked, nervously, fingering the seam of her cloak.

"Fishing for compliments, eh?" Theo chuckled before smiling "You really do look fine. Stop worrying"

"Yeah, you look just like a guy" Draco called from his place in front of the mirror.

Hermione froze. What was that supposed to mean?

There was a tense silence for a few moments before Blaise broke it, completely oblivious to the tension between his three friends.

~*~

A/N: I simply cannot wait to write the next chapter! It is going to be so fun and hopefully, it means that we can get to the fun part really quickly after that. I can't give anything away though. My lips are sealed.

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Sam <3