Inside the Blackest Heart (Edit, Not Update)

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 21 ~ Hermione and Harry Do Some Research

When Hermione returned to the common room, she discovered Harry sitting there, waiting for her, a very serious look in his green eyes. She walked over to the sofa, took off her backpack and set it on the floor, then sat down beside him.

“Hey Harry. Where’s Ron?” she asked him.

Harry looked at her soberly.

“He’s in the infirmary, Hermione,” he replied, adjusting his glasses and looking at her intently.

“In the infirmary? Why? What happened to him?” Hermione asked, worry etched into her face.

“His head turned into a donkey’s head. An ass’s head. After you left the Great Hall. McGonagal and Flitwick took him to Pomfrey to see if she could change him back,” Harry said.

Hermione tried to hold her laughter back because of how serious Harry looked, but she couldn’t and burst out in hysterics.

“An ass’s head! Oh gods. I wish I could have seen that. Who transfigured him?” she asked, trying to stop laughing.

Harry looked at her.

“I think you did,” he said softly.

Hermione stopped laughing.

“Me? How could I have done it? I wasn’t even there. And I don’t know a spell to transfigure someone’s head anyway,” Hermione said, looking at Harry with a slight frown. He wasn’t Ron. He wouldn’t say something like this unless he thought it could really be true.

“Hermione, have you noticed anything strange happening around you? Anything magical that you can’t explain? Or maybe not even magical. Just strange?” Harry asked her.

Hermione thought about it. The door to her room opened by itself earlier, and Professor Snape’s ink dried out twice when he was trying to write a list to Filch. She told Harry about this. He looked thoughtful.

“You really needed to get into your room, and the door opened, even though it was locked and warded. You didn’t use magic?” he asked her.

“No, I was about to get out my wand, when it opened,” she said.

“And with Snape’s list. You really didn’t want him to write it, did you?” Harry asked her.

“No. He was being an idiot,” she replied, scowling, “trying to make my detention extra hard.”

“And his ink dried up, just like mine and Ron’s polish did, when you told us we shouldn’t be polishing our brooms in the common room,” he observed.

“It could all be explained somehow. I don’t know what happened to the polish, but Snape probably had some bad ink. And maybe the door wasn’t warded,” she said, an odd feeling beginning in her stomach.

“You told Ron he was an ass, then he practically turned into one,” Harry said to her softly.

“Someone else could have hexed him. Maybe the Slytherins. They’re always doing something to Ron,” she said.

“That’s what Dumbledore tried to tell us. But I really don’t think so, Hermione. I think something is going on with you. Maybe you are doing wandless magic without knowing it,” he said.

“No. I would still have to use a spell. Plus I can’t do wandless magic,” Hermione replied, nervously rubbing her palms together.

“Those donuts you tried to cast a spell on, moved. They didn’t explode but they definitely moved. Something you did affected them, Hermione,” Harry said. Hermione looked at him. She could see her image reflected oddly in his glasses.

“It still wasn’t wandless magic,” she said stubbornly. She didn’t want to think Harry might be right.

“You don’t know what it was, Hermione. But it was definitely something,” Harry said, his green eyes intent upon his friend. She looked different somehow. Older. More mature.

Hermione was looking thoughtful now.

“Harry, have you ever heard of magic being performed without spells or charms?” she asked him.

Harry shook his head.

Hermione grinned at him.

“That’s because you always slept in Professor Binns class,” she said, “but I distinctly remember him saying something about witches who could perform magic without spells. There was one, a Lily…no…Lilith someone, who was an empress or something. She could work magic without spells. So spell-less magic is possible.”

Hermione stood up, grabbing her knapsack.

“Where are you going?” Harry asked her.

“Back to the library. I want to look this Lilith up. Find out about the possibility of performing spell-less magic,” she said.

“I’m coming with you,” Harry said.

He hadn’t been to the library with Hermione in a while. Normally it was pretty boring, but this could be interesting, particularly if they found something that could explain what was happening with his friend.

“Come on then,” she said, taking his arm.

Together they exited the common room, making a beeline for the library.

Hermione told Harry about her meeting with Dumbledore, though she left out the part about Professor Snape. Harry would be horrified to know she had let the Potions Master fuck her.

“He actually agreed that you could take a year off?” Harry said, amazed.

He knew Dumbledore rarely allowed his plans to be changed. He himself had been practically imprisoned at twelve Grimmauld place for the past three years, and the Headmaster would hardly give an inch. It took Molly Weasley browbeating the wizard to get Harry off to go to the Burrows for a couple of weeks. He had enjoyed his stay. Ginny had enthusiastically introduced him to the joys of sex, on several occasions. She was something else. But she wasn’t interested in a real relationship. She just liked to shag. He was glad Ron never found out about them. Friend or not, he would have tried to kill Harry.

“Yes. I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“It’s pretty hard to believe, all right,” Harry responded.

They turned down the hall that led to the library.

“I hope we can find something on this,” Hermione said, pushing open the library doors.

Madam Pince looked up from her cataloguing.

“Back so soon, Miss Granger? You just left,” she said, smiling at the witch. Hermione was one of Madam Pince favorite students. She had a love of books almost equal to her own, and always returned them in perfect condition.

“Yes. I need to look something up. Do you have any books that tell about spell-less magic?” she asked the librarian.

“Why, yes I do,” replied Madam Pince, walking toward the glass case. Harry and Hermione followed her. “Seems like spell-less magic is a popular topic today,” the librarian commented as she performed the intricate pattern needed to open the case.

“Really?” asked Hermione, very interested.

“Yes. Professor Snape was in here earlier, looking up the same subject. He found what he was looking for in this book,” she said, picking the book up carefully and setting it on the table.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other.

“Professor Snape was in the common room earlier, looking for you,” Harry said to Hermione as they sat down.

“The Gryffindor common room?” Hermione asked him, looking shocked. Harry nodded.

“Did he say why?” the witched asked her friend.

“No. You know how he is. He said that was his business and left,” Harry replied, looking at the book in front of them.

Hm. Snape must have been leaving Gryffindor Tower when the Dark Lord summoned him. She wondered why he was looking for her? She thought about it. He must have come to the library before going to the common room to look for her. It couldn’t have been afterward because he had to go see the Dark Lord. Suddenly she looked at the book in front of her with a bit of apprehension.

“Go on, open it Hermione. Let’s see what it says,” Harry urged.

It didn’t take the witch long to locate the passage Snape had found. She and Harry read it over. Harry looked at Hermione with wide eyes.

“Hermione, could you be a Primordial?” he asked her in an awed voice.

Hermione stared down at the book, then turned frightened eyes on Harry.

“I…I don’t know,” she said in a low voice.

“Well, the book says you wouldn’t know you even had the power until you reached maturity. When did these strange things start happening?” he asked.

“Today,” she said a bit weakly.

“So you must have reached maturity today,” Harry said. “You’re eighteen after all. And you’ve always been more mature than Ron and me, even when we were first years.”

Hermione hardly heard Harry. She had matured overnight, thanks to the sexual ministrations of the Potions Master. He must have triggered this, then seen what happened to Ron in the Great Hall and come to the library to find out about spell-less magic. So he knew she could be a Primordial.

“It isn’t definite I am a Primordial, Harry,” Hermione said, “The things that are happening around me can be explained away by other means.”

Harry looked at Hermione with narrowed eyes. She was trying to find excuses, reasons not to believe this.

“Yes, maybe. But Snape coming here too makes it a distinct possibility he believes you are a Primordial. Maybe that’s why he was looking for you. To tell you,” Harry said, blinking at her.

Hermione just stared at him. Harry knew that look. She was afraid.

“Don’t be scared, Hermione. If you are a Primordial, you will be able to do amazing things,” he said. Then his eyes grew round.

“You’ll be able to stop Voldemort!” he breathed.

For Harry, this was a rather joyous revelation. He might be off the hook. He stood up and grabbed Hermione by the arm.

“Come on,” he said, “let’s try to test your powers.”

Hermione barely managed to grab her backpack as the boy who lived dragged her unceremoniously out of the library and down another familiar hallway. They stopped in front of a nondescript door.

The Room of Requirement.

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A/N: Harry helped Hermione out a lot here. Please review.