She gave him a hard look. 'Where's Harry?'
'I went with Harry to Quidditch practice,' said Ron slowly, 'But they cut it short because of the weather. You don't want to play Quidditch in a lightning storm.'
'Obviously,' said Hermione.
'Anyway, we were halfway back — I was talking to Fred and George — and I turned around and Harry was…well, gone.'
'Gone?' repeated Hermione in disbelief. 'He vanished?'
'Not vanished. Alicia Spinnet said she saw him racing off towards the Forbidden Forest.'
'Well…' said Hermione, unhappily, 'he must have had a reason…'
'That's what worries me,' said Ron. 'His reason.'
Hermione was about to ask what he meant, when the portrait swung open again and Draco stepped through.
Ron did not look happy to see him. 'Speak of the incredibly annoying person,' he said. Despite all that had happened, Hermione knew, Ron and his brothers still did not like Draco and never would. 'You can't just keep waltzing in and out of our common room, you know, you'll get caught.'
'Were you talking about me?' said Draco, unruffled. 'Because I heard a bit of your conversation, and it rather sounded as if you were talking about Harry. Gone and done something stupid again, has he?'
'Yes, and it's all your fault,' said Ron, rather unreasonably.
'My fault? How is it my fault?'
'It's this whole…' Ron made a sweeping gesture, 'Magid thing. He can't bear it that your powers work and his don't yet, okay? He's been doing everything he possibly can to try to jump-start them. He asked me to knock him off his broom…'
'He did what?' demanded Hermione.
'You heard me,' said Ron. 'And he's been reading up on Magids and their history, and it was talking about how various Magids got their powers, and one of them, I think it was Rowena Ravenclaw, was out in a storm and she got hit by lightning and — ' Hermione bolted out of her seat. 'You think he's gone off to try to get himself struck by lightning?'
'Even Harry isn't that big of a git,' said Draco.
'Not usually,' agreed Ron, 'but he hasn't been at all himself lately. It's your fault,' he said, turning on Hermione, 'going around with Malfoy, all kissy-kissy-' 'There has been no kissy,' said Hermione, strung by this injustice. 'Has there?'
she said, turning to Draco.
'Most unfortunately not,' he agreed.
Ron looked unconvinced.
'Are you saying that Harry's gone off in the middle of a thunderstorm to try to activate his Magid powers in order to make some kind of point about Draco and me?' demanded Hermione incredulously.
'He misses you, Hermione,' said Ron.
'And nothing says 'I love you' like reducing yourself to a smoldering pile of ashes,' added Draco.
Hermione turned on him in a fury. 'You are not helping!' she shouted.
'Look,' said Draco, surprised by her vehemence, 'we don't KNOW that that's what he's gone off to do, do we?'
'Well, what else would it be?' said Hermione, now nearly in tears. She stood up and began checking her pockets for her wand. 'I'm going after him,' she said.
'You two do what you like.'
She found her wand, and headed for the portrait. Draco followed her. 'I'll come with you,' he said.
Ron shook his head. 'I'm staying here in case he comes back,' he said.
'Fine,' said Hermione to both of them, and commenced running down the hall.
Draco, having much longer legs than she did, barely had to run to keep up with her.
'Hermione,' he said, as they skidded around a corner, 'calm down, would you?'
'You don't understand,' she said. 'This is all my fault.'
They raced down the wide staircase and out the front doors of the castle.
And ran smack into Harry.
He was soaking wet, his shirt and pants were plastered to him, and his hair hung in dripping black swatches over his forehead, but he seemed otherwise completely healthy. He was wearing his school robes over his Quidditch clothes. And he was carrying a wet Crookshanks in his arms.
'Harry,' said Hermione, half in tears, 'Are you all right? Are you all right?'
Harry looked at them both blankly. 'I'm fine,' he said to her. 'Your cat managed to get himself wedged up a drainpipe. I heard him yowling on the way back from practice, so I went and got him out.'
Crookshanks wiggled in Harry's arms, making a drenched sort of purring noise.
'He's too fat,' said Harry dispassionately. 'You ought to stop feeding him so much.'
