Hermione Granger and the Paradigm Shift

Chapter 7 - Part 2

"I need to do it in private and it's past curfew," he supplied.

"That's never stopped us before," she answered determinedly, "go get your cloak and meet me back here in five minutes."

She knew it could wait and that it was a silly excuse to break curfew. But while Prefect Hermione would and should rightfully object, Janey easily won out. Spending time with and encouraging Harry more than justified the excursion in her opinion. Besides, they'd become quite adept at sneaking around the castle over the years...the chances at getting caught were slim to none...and the risk of losing house points seemed trivial at this point.

She quickly made it to her dormitory to drop off her things and found Harry waiting for her near the door when she returned. As they made to leave they were stopped by a familiar voice.

"Right, what's going on and why didn't you invite me?" Ron asked in a hush.

Hermione couldn't help from smiling.

"Nothing life threatening," Harry replied quietly, "I just need to call Kreacher so he can look for something at Grimmauld."

"Cool," Ron replied exuberantly, clearly excited about having a bit of an adventure, "what is it?"

Harry suddenly became apprehensive and Hermione realized he more than likely did not want to have to share his failure in judgment once again.

"Sirius told Harry about some mirrors the Marauders had enchanted when they were in school so they could communicate with each other. We're going to try to make something similar for us and Harry thought Kreacher might be able to find Sirius' mirror at Grimmauld."

"You convinced her to break curfew for that?" Ron replied disbelievingly.

"She actually convinced me. I was going to wait until tomorrow morning," Harry beamed.

Ron let out a whoop of laughter before quieting himself. "Right, you lot don't get to do something foolish and irresponsible without me. Give me a minute," he commanded before quickly walking back to his girlfriend.

She watched as Ron whispered something to Lavender, presumably telling her why he was leaving for a bit. She expected an eruption from the girl but was met by the exact opposite as Lavender smiled and nodded her agreement before giving Ron a quick kiss.

Five minutes later the trio had made their way to a nearby abandoned classroom without incident. While Harry was busy placing a locking charm on the door, Hermione sought an answer to the riddle of Lavender Brown's reaction.

"What did you say to Lavender to convince her so easily?" she asked quietly.

"The truth, actually," he answered. "She knows we help out with secret Harry things from time to time and understands why she isn't included. She only gets upset when she thinks I'm excluding her from the other bits."

"Suppose I've got you and Harry to thank, actually," Ron continued as Harry finished up his casting, "she's been loads more relaxed since we included her for the Prince's spells."

As Hermione thought back to the last few weeks she had realized she had been much less annoyed by Lavender's behavior. She had chalked it up it to her own maturity and development but now realized Lavender may have equaled her efforts over the last month.

"We ready?" Harry asked as he bounded back to them. "Kreacher!"

A few seconds later, the weary elf popped into the room, clearly dreading having to listen to Harry once again.

"What can Kreacher do for Master and the Mudblood?" the elf spit out.

"Hey!" Ron interjected, "don't forget the blood traitor!" Based on the elf's expression he did not find the joke humorous, his scowl deepening as he remained silent.