Love and Other Misfortunes

Chapter 7

They were like—phantom emotions; vague, flickering in and out of range. Stronger ones were easier to notice, flashes of annoyance... Worry, that was a familiar enough... Others were too hard to discern precisely.

Where were they coming from? Had someone placed some sort of spell on her?

She cast a diagnostic charm on herself and studied it. Everything seemed normal. Her magic levels were unusually elevated, but that was likely because she'd been cooped up in the office so much she hadn't been using magic.

She cast a spell residue charm that would show any magic still clinging to her from the last day or so. There was the cooling charm she'd used that afternoon, the drying charm from after her shower, the spiky red signature was the residue from the pepper up she'd taken, and the green wobbly bit was from using the floo network.

There was nothing other than that.

She tried to think of anything else. It seemed like a type of consciousness sharing spell, but targeted only on emotions. How did that work? She didn't know of any types of spells that could sustain a bond like that that weren't highly advanced cooperative magic.

A bond.

She froze and then clapped her hands over her mouth. Had she bonded with a magical being? How?

Theo...

They'd kissed. A mutual exchange of saliva could suffice to create a temporary connection.

She felt ready to faint. Theodore Nott was a magical being. She had never suspected. But, why had he kissed her? Surely they weren't... mates?

They couldn't be. Theo was a good enough kisser but surely bonding magic had more... oomph to it.

It hadn't exactly been mind blowing.

She thought about it more.

No. It couldn't be. She was certain she had noticed the phantom emotions the day before Theo kissed her. It was something else.

Hermione sighed feeling at loss. She felt as though she were sitting in a middle of a puzzle but she still didn't know what the picture was supposed to be.

Her kettle was singing and she absent mindedly added the water to her teapot.

"Hermione! Are you home?" Ginny's voice broke into her thoughts.

"Coming!" she called and hurried into the living room to see Ginny's head floating in her fireplace. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course," Ginny said giving her an odd look. "I was calling because I wanted to ask if you were alright."

"Me?" Hermione said in confusion. "Why?"

Ginny made an incredulous expression.

"Why? I heard Draco Malfoy and Theo Nott got into a fight in your office today."

"Oh... That," Hermione said, blushing.

"What happened?"

"How did you hear about it?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.

"Padma is my neighbor. She asked me what I knew because Parvati told her about how Malfoy has been following you around the Ministry like an overgrown puppy, and then,when Theo tried to meet alone with you, he stormed into your office and threw him across the room so hard Theo was sent to St Mungos. She said he didn't even use magic! He went straight up muggle."

Parvati. Hermione huffed, she needed to have a word with her assistant about the concept of privacy.

"She could hardly believe it when I had to admit that you hadn't told me anything about it yet." Ginny pouted. "So, spill please, or I will be forced to tell everyone that I can neither confirm nor deny that you're possible dating one or both of them."