Yuletide Blessing in Disguise

No Rest for the Weary (or the Wicked)

Hermione could often sense when something was bothering Harry; he would get that brooding, distant look in his eye. It had become even more apparent since he had started taking his schoolwork more seriously, as he was much less likely to let his attention drift these days as it was doing right now, unless he was disturbed about something.

And she wasn't quite sure why Harry was disturbed after what had been a generally pleasant day over all - even training with Moody and Dora was starting to become easier - well, not so much easier as slightly less painful - now that they had started practicing stunning and shielding spells too. The other fourth year Gryffindor boys had departed from the common room and headed up to their dormitory after having another good laugh about Malfoy being chased by the Unicorn, and Parvati and Lavender had said goodnight and retired to the girls' dorms shortly after that.

Gradually, the common room had emptied as the older Gryffindors set off for bed as well, eventually leaving Hermione alone with Harry, both of them with their heads in books, bathed in the warm orange glow of the dying embers in the fireplace. Hermione kept taking little peeks at Harry, her frown growing deeper; finally, unable to take the lack of communication anymore, she sighed.

"Harry?"

Silence!

"Harry, are you alright? What's wrong?" The distress in Hermione's voice seemed to finally trigger a reaction.

"Huh? What?" Harry looked up from his book, peering at her with concern. "Me? I'm fine! What about you?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed. "Harry! You've been staring at the same page of your Runes book for the last hour. What's going on with you?"

Harry flushed and averted his eyes. From his hesitation, Hermione surmised that whatever was bothering Harry had something to do with her.

"Please Harry! Whatever's wrong, we can work it out as long as we talk about it."

Harry sighed, letting his book fall in his lap, and rubbed at his scar with an anguished look as if it were paining him badly. For a moment Hermione wondered if Harry was sensing Voldemort again and simply didn't want to alarm her.

"It was something Fleur said while were swimming this afternoon," Harry finally said, as if each word were being pulled out by force. "... something about her sister, Gabrielle..."

"Something didn't happen to Gabrielle, did it? Surely Fleur would have mentioned it to me too?"

"No," said Harry quickly. "Nothing like that, Hermione. It was just an offhand comment about how she'd miss Gabrielle more than anything in the world - that's why Fleur's mum has been letting Gabrielle stay here with Fleur since Christmas. It...it just made me think... about that Mermaid song - that bit about 'what you'll sorely miss'...

"Maybe we've been thinking about it all wrong because the song says 'what.' ... But what if it's not really a thing or an object like my Firebolt after all? What if it's really a 'who'? ... There's nothing in the world I'd miss more than you, Hermione! I don't think I could bear it if something happened to you at the bottom of the lake!"

Hermione felt her heart flutter at Harry's earnest, tormented declaration. Biting her lip, she reached out her hand and caressed his clammy cheek.

"Oh Harry! Even if they do take me - and I expect you're probably right - I'm sure I'd be okay with the Merpeople. The Ministry wouldn't have made an arrangement with them if they thought the Merpeople would harm any 'hostages.' ... They'd be more likely to protect whoever they 'take' than anything.

"The risk of International Incident would be far too high if a non-participant got injured. I'm much more worried about you."

"Yeah, maybe," said Harry skeptically. "But even if the Merpeople do try to protect the hostages, something could go wrong. I mean, blimey Hermione, if Bagman or whoever tosses a load of Sea Serpents and Kelpies in the lake, anything could happen!"