The Gathering: The New Order of Merlin Book 1

65. Hermione's hair

       The common room was fairly empty this Saturday morning. Some Gryffindors were sleeping in late, the Quidditch team was out training, others got started on homework. Jack was too awake to remain in bed and wasn't ever in the mood for homework. He considered watching the team practice but that only reminded him of Colin again. It felt wrong to enjoy things Colin loved without him there.

Merlin had yet another tutoring session scheduled with Hermione, though Jack thought he'd seen him perform the spell in class already. As Merlin sat too close to a flaming fireplace, Jack sat next to Hermione Granger, who was violently brushing her hair. It looked like she was in full-on combat with it. He worried who would come out victorious and what it would mean to the loser.

"I can untangle it for you if you'd like," he offered.

She stared up at him with an open mouth, and he wondered if he had said anything wrong.

"If you think you can do anything about this mop, why not. I give up."

He happily sat down with one leg folded beneath him and took her brush. She sat with her back to him as he tried to untangle her brown wavy mess. Her hair was very different from his sister's. It was dry and frizzy where his sister's was smooth and silky. The brush kept getting stuck in it. Simple combing was not going to work but he had an idea. He ran his fingers through her hair, releasing a faint amount of frost on them. He combed the worst tangles out with his fingers and resumed brushing. As expected, the hair became slightly damp and he was able to run the brush through it easily now. Hermione sat patiently as he did this and occasionally gave tips to Merlin who looked utterly bored.

"You untangled it," she said when Jack finished. "Wow. You have magic fingers."

He chuckled. "You have no idea. Do you want me to braid it for you?"

"You know how?"

"I've always done it for my sister."

She beamed. "Yes. Let me get a hair tie."

As soon as she ran to her dorm, Merlin dropped his wand and slumped in his armchair.

"Why do you need tutoring?" Jack asked.

Merlin groaned. "To get good grades or something. I forget."

Hermione ran back down, holding a hair tie and two mirrors. "Merlin, get back to work. That pebble doesn't look anything like a button. Ensure you're pronouncing it right."

"Sure thing, Hermione," Merlin replied with a forced grin and picked up his wand.

Hermione sat down with her back to Jack again. "I really like how you combed my hair. It didn't hurt at all."

"Combing shouldn't hurt. Wet your brush next time or ask me. I'll gladly do it for you. So, how do you want it braided?"

"I don't know. You choose," she said cheerfully.

Jack assessed the situation. She had a lot of hair. It would make sense to start in more than one spot at a time and then join it all together. "I'll think of something. If you don't like it, we can always do it over again differently."

He got started and easily fell into the routine he'd done with his sister for years. He missed it. He missed her.

"Since when do boys braid hair?" a voice sounded above him. Ron Weasley.

Jack didn't like his tone. "You've got a sister, don't you? You never helped her brush it?"

Ron scoffed. "Ginny wouldn't want me to do her hair any more than I would've wanted to do it."