New Romantics | Hermione Granger Book IV

|29| Chapter Twenty-Nine

T W E N T Y  N I N E 

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Trying to put all the boy related thoughts to the back of her mind, Saffron walked back into their compartment to find three people who weren't talking to each other. Hermione was buried behind her book. Ron was fiddling with his Viktor Krum figurine. Harry stared into space. Unfortunately, Draco had put a damper on all of their moods, excluding Saffron who had that damper put on her mood by Padma, and that dampness continued into the evening, as the physical manifestation of their moods had coincidentally translated into the weather.

Making their way to Hogwarts was quite the struggle, the winds were some of the strongest Saffron had ever endured, the rain was thick, heavy and fast and lightning flashed above them threateningly. There was a dash for the carriages and Saffron sighed with relief once inside one, as it took them right up to the stone steps leading up to the castle and once inside the warmth of the castle, she felt much better.

"Blimey," Ron sounded breathless and shook his head, causing water to go flying everywhere "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak - ARRGH!"

Saffron screeched as she felt a tonne of water splash into her side and looked at Ron to see that Peeves the Poltergeist had dropped a balloon onto Ron's face. She let out another shriek when she saw another huge balloon making its way down, with her as its target so Saffron ran into Hermione and pushed her against the wall in order to evade it. She avoided it going right over her head but got hit by the water shrapnel after it exploded on the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Saffron apologised to Hermione frowning. "I panicked,"

"Don't worry," winced Hermione, walking around the puddle of water that had now formed on the floor. Professor McGonagall had arrived on scene and was yelling furiously at Peeves. "I probably got less drenched because of--- ahhh!"

Saffron tried to grab out for Hermione to stop her from falling to the ground as she saw Professor McGonagall skid on the wet floor and grab onto Hermione's neck to stop herself from falling. It was like McGonagall had done some sort of ballroom dance lift as she simultaneously managed to spare herself from falling and dragged Hermione back up when she was only mere inches away from the floor.

"Ouch - sorry, Miss Granger -"

"That's all right, Professor!" replied Hermione breathlessly, clutching her throat in pain.

"Come on," Saffron said quickly, taking Hermione's spare hand as Professor McGonagall screamed up at Peeves. "I'm not in the mood to get something else thrown at me, who knows what else he has up his sleeves,"

They saw what else he had up his sleeve a few seconds later when he hurled yet another water balloon at a group of fifth-year Ravenclaw girls, including Cho Chang, all of whom dived into the Great Hall for cover. Saffron noticed Harry's eyes following her all the way into the Great Hall. She watched him until he looked away and then his eyes met hers. He knew exactly what she was thinking and rolled his eyes in annoyance and denial, making Saffron snort playfully. She didn't mention it again. After all, it was his 'secret' to share, not hers. She wasn't going to let it be common knowledge for Ron, who Saffron knew probably didn't know. Or maybe Harry just hadn't told her that he told Ron. Either way, Saffron stayed quiet as they took their seats in the Great Hall.

Being back in the Great Hall certainly did feel like going home. There was a familiarity about it that was both comforting and exciting. It was as beautiful as ever with the shimmering golden plates and goblets and candles lighting up the room from the sides and above. Saffron found herself considerably warmer than she had become in the entrance hall but she still asked Hermione to use a hot air charm on her as her clothes and hair were still dripping wet. As was her mother's red ribbon, that Saffron took off to dry properly.

"Thank you," said Saffron to Hermione appreciably once she finished, as Harry engaged in conversation with Colin Creevey, a third-year Gryffindor who idolised Harry. "I hate being wet like that," She sighed. "Hopefully they'll hurry up with the sorting, I reckon everyone'll be pretty rowdy tonight after that rain,"

"I don't envy the first years having to go across that lake tonight," pouted Hermione.

Saffron shuddered at the thought of it. "Hopefully they're not rigid on tradition because it could actually be quite dangerous if they're not careful," She then lowered her voice, aware that Harry was sat right opposite her and that if he heard what she was about to say, he'd bite her head off. "And let's be honest, it's Hagrid who's taking them. I wouldn't trust him out there by himself, let alone with a bunch of first years,"

"I can't disagree," said Hermione fairly, tapping her foot and looking over her shoulder, watching the closed door of the Great hall, hoping it would open. She then turned and looked up at the teacher's table. She furrowed her brow at the sight of it. "Where's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher? Maybe they couldn't get anyone!"

Hermione was right. When Saffron looked at the table, it was the same old faces with the absence of Professor Lupin from last year, which was a great shame seeing as he was perfect for the job. But Professor Snape, who sat beside their Astronomy teacher, unveiled his secret that he was a werewolf forcing Lupin with no choice but to resign. Saffron hoped to see Amanda up there, knowing that she had returned for her third year of assistant matron duties but she wasn't to be seen. She was sure she would catch up with her later but would have liked to have offered her a warm smile to let her know that things had gone well on her end with Sirius and Sage.

"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned in desperation. "I could eat a hippogriff."

Just then, the doors to the Great Hall opened and the first years flooded into the hall. They were completely and utterly drenched but in a painful way. Saffron didn't need to think about them not having gotten the boats over to the school as the sheer extent of their wetness gave her that answer. As did Colin's brother, Dennis, who was draped in Hagrid's moleskin coat which Saffron would have wagered a bet as being twenty sizes too big for him.

Professor McGonagall placed the three-legged stool on the ground and placed the sorting hat on top of it. Everyone stared at it, the older students awaiting its song and a lot of the younger ones awaiting something to happen. It was then that Saffron spotted Locklan Jowett amidst the crowd. He stood huddled between a tanned girl with a long plait and a dark-skinned short-haired boy. He kept on sniffling, highlighting the toll that the weather had taken on them whilst in the boats. Saffron wasn't sure if the school were trying to make their new students sick or not but was she was sure about was that Locklan had reminded her of his older brother and at that thought, Saffron looked over to the Ravenclaw table.

Scanning the table, she saw Rowan sat between his friend Emilia and Luna Lovegood, Brynn Weber sitting amongst girls Saffron knew to be sixth years and she followed the line of them to see Maya. She was beginning to get frustrated by not being able to pick him out until finally, quite far down she saw him, but only just. His hands were placed on his mouth as he waited on for his brother.

She bit her lip, satisfied. One look at him let her know that the feeling had been well and truly elevated.

And Saffron had no idea what to do about it. She could tell that the boy opposite her, who too was glancing longingly at the Ravenclaw table felt exactly the same which provided her with some sort of comfort. They could be lost with love or lust or whatever the hell they were feeling together, just as they had been together through so much else in their lives in Hogwarts thus far. The only catch was that Saffron had absolutely no intention of telling him about his feelings out of embarassment, for whatever reason. In spite of that, she still had him in the same boat, even if he didn't re alise it and she was going to need him to help storm the weather that was outside at that very moment in her newly-fond 'love life', as she was sure she had as many obstacles as there was with the weather right now on her quest to her desired end goal: Telling the Ravenclaw boy what she felt and having him say it back.