Nose to the Wind // tomarry

Chapter 14: Camouflage Denial

While sending Hermione back to Hogwarts that September was hard, Harry felt far better about it than he had after the winter holiday. For one thing, he knew she had friends now – even if he had bought some of them with sweets – and a prefect in her own house who was determined to look out for her. Too, she'd become good friends with Ginny over the summer, who was starting that year with Luna.

Luna and Hermione had made each other's acquaintance a few times – she was a not-uncommon feature in the Burrow, since her mother's death – but Harry knew his best friend had some...concerns, regarding the blonde.

"She's a bit...not all there," Hermione had commented in response to Harry's inquiry, while he was helping her pack the night before the train.

Harry didn't bother suppressing a smile. "She has a habit of living in her head, rather than the physical world."

"And here I thought she was away on Mars," Hermione muttered.

Harry laughed.

Hermione moaned and covered her face with her hands. "Oh my God. I'm turning into a bigot."

"A little bit," Harry admitted and she moaned again. He rolled his eyes and gently pulled her hands away from her face. "Hey, you put up with my particular brand of insanity–"

"Please don't remind me," Hermione complained, though Harry knew she was mostly resigned to his friendship with Voldemort, any more.

"–I think you can play friendly with Luna while you're at Hogwarts," Harry finished, ignoring her complaining. Then he sighed and rubbed his thumbs against the backs of her hands, where he still held them. "You don't need to be best friends, Hermione, but I think Luna could use someone who's watching out for her, especially at first."

"What, you're not going to bribe Fred and George to keep tabs on her?" Hermione muttered, but her expression said she knew exactly what abuse awaited Luna at the castle.

Harry pressed his lips together and shook his head. "They already know she's going to have trouble, I don't need to tell them that, but they weren't the only thing that got you through second term, and you know it." Because that had been Hermione's boosted confidence and Ron and Penelope Clearwater, as much as it was the twins serving as a deterrent against people thinking her easy prey.

Hermione sighed. "I'll try," she offered, and Harry nodded. "I don't suppose there's much chance of her ending anywhere but Ravenclaw, the way she is," she added, her tone resigned.

Harry snorted, ever unable to imagine Luna in any house other than Ravenclaw. "Not a chance."

Hermione stared at Harry for a long moment, her eyes seeming almost to see through him, and Harry forced himself not to tense as he cautiously asked, "Hermione?

Hermione shook her head. "I still can't see it, you being a Slytherin."

Harry blinked. "No?" he asked. "And what house do you see me in, then?"

Hermione frowned and she turned away, back toward her packing. "I don't–" She curled her hand over the spine of a book, not picking it up, just holding it. She glanced back at him, her expression troubled. "I don't know. But not Slytherin. They're always so...mean."

"Cunning and ambition," Harry returned quietly. "The drive to come out ahead, no matter what it takes." He snorted, remembering something Albus had told him in his first reality. "A certain disregard for the rules. They might come across as mean, and they're too oft painted with shades of cruelty, simply because they don't baulk at being in the wrong to get what they want."

Hermione swallowed. "Maybe..." She allowed quietly, before shaking her head again. "No. You're...you like your secrets–" Harry couldn't help an amused smile at the disgusted look she shot him "–and you... Well, there's the...the dark lord, but you're not–" She let out an irritated sound. "You don't care," she settled on. "About being the best, about being at the top of everything, of everyone. Will told me, that you were happy to let him be the best skier."