Heartbeat

Chapter 2- Some Things Never Change

Hermione

It's funny really, how some things never change.

"Harry! It really wouldn't kill you to help out around here!" I yell in frustration, struggling with a stubborn Doxy in the kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. 

"I'm coming!" he yells back, his voice carrying down the floors. 

"You too," I add to a sniggering Ron.  

Harry bursts into the kitchen, and I don't miss the layer of sweat on his neck. 

"What have you been doing? Why are you sweating?" Ron asks curiously. 

Harry looks up, eyes bloodshot. 

"Harry," I start tentatively, exchanging a worried glance with Ron. "Have you been crying?"

"No," he says firmly, but his voice wavers, and he stuffs something into his pocket. 

"What's that?" I ask sharply. 

"What's what?" he asks, trying to make his tone innocent. 

"Get it, Ron!" I order.

Ron makes a lunge for Harry's pockets, pulling out whatever he's crumpled inside. Ron bounds to my side, un-wrinkling it. 

It's a picture of James, Sirius, Pettigrew, and Lupin. They all have careless smiles on their faces, hair blowing in the wind. Sirius seems to be squinting into the sun, with his arm around James. 

"Harry-" I say softly, but he's already gone, and I can hear him stomping up the staircase. 

"Filth! Mudbloods! Scum!" screeches the portrait of Sirius's mother. 

Harry, Ron, and I race to it, wrenching the curtains shut with difficulty. 

"We better go to sleep early," Harry says abrubtly. 

"Let's go over the Ministry plan one more time," Ron says nervously, hurrying back into the basement kitchen. 

We go over the Ministry plan for hours, and Ron keeps on insisting that we call it, 'Mission Impossible.'

"Ron, that's a muggle film!" Harry and I say at the same time. 

"I know. Came out in 1996 and everything, didn't it? Dad took me and Charlie to see it the first week of summer," Ron says, looking a little proud of his muggle knowledge. 

I roll my eyes. 

"It's weird, isn't it?" Harry asks suddenly. "To think that everyone is at Hogwarts now, and we're not."

"Weird?" I laugh. "You two have been wanting to ditch school ever since we started!"

But I do get what Harry's saying. It feels wrong, not being at school. 

"Seeing as you just said that we're not smart enough for school, I'm off to bed then," Ron says dryly, leaving the kitchen. 

Harry remains, and he leans back on his chair, closing his eyes. I sigh, and get up, ready to leave too.

"Hermione," he says suddenly, his eyes boring into mine. "Are you feeling alright? Strange, perhaps?"

"No . . ." I trail, confused.

"Are you sure?" he presses. "No strange symptoms?"

"Ron!" I yell, frustrated. "Get back down here!"