chap12pg1

�No!� cried Hermione. Ron just stood there, his mouth slightly open.
�I know it�s hard to believe, but why would they lie?� Harry asked despairingly. �Even with Dumbledore here, I�m sure Volde� I mean You-Know-Who could manage it.� He looked at his two best friends, who were both too shocked to speak. �It�s not like he hasn�t gotten in here before, he could easily do it again. He already knows how to kill me, now all he needs to do is figure out how to get back into the school. That�s why Sirius didn�t want me sneaking around the castle, I mean you never know when Vol� err, You-Know-Who could just slip in here and murder me�� Harry said, without thinking.
He stopped talking when he saw Hermione�s eyes welling up with tears. She glanced at him one last time before abruptly whirling around and bolting up the stairs to the girls� dormitory. Harry and Ron stared at her, too surprised to say anything. They looked at each other in disbelief.
�I guess that wasn�t exactly the best thing to say in front of her, was it?� Harry asked sullenly. Ron shook his head.
�Maybe you should go talk to her,� he said. Harry nodded as he got up from the couch. He climbed the stairs up to the girl�s dormitory, and put his ear up to the closed door. He didn�t hear anything, so he slowly creaked open the door, and peeked his head in. He searched the room for Hermione. He couldn�t see her, so he stepped into the room the dark room.
He sneaked past the sleeping girls, until he saw one of them moving. He peered closer at the girl, and saw it was Hermione. She was silently sobbing into her pillow. Harry�s heart sunk. Why is Hermione so upset, he asked himself. He tiptoed over to her bedside, and kneeled down next to her.
�Hermione?� he whispered, not wanting to wake up any of the other girls. She didn�t answer, so he continued. �Hermione, listen, I�m really sorry, I didn�t mean to frighten you. I don�t think You-Know-Who�s going to be able to get into the castle, don�t worry. I�m not going to die,� he said softly. She didn�t respond.
Harry sighed heavily, and then began to stand up. Suddenly, Hermione sat up and looked at Harry, her eyes red and swollen. She immediately forced herself into him, almost knocking him over, hugging him tightly. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and cried into his shoulder.
Although he was quite taken aback, Harry, after frantically trying to figure out what to do, hugged her back. After what seemed like forever, Ron creaked open the door to see what had happened. Ron saw Harry being hugged by Hermione, and started sniggering. Harry blushed furiously and gave him an exasperated look. Ron, smirking madly, left the room.
Harry felt the shoulder of his robe becoming slightly soggy. He wanted to know when Hermione would be done, because he was starting to feel very awkward. Suddenly, as if Hermione was reading his mind, she let go and looked at him strangely.
�Harry! What are you doing?� she asked quietly. Harry looked at her oddly. She broke into a smile. �You�re not supposed to be in this room!� she scolded mockingly. �Get out of here!�
Harry, grinning, sneaked out of the room and quietly closed the door behind him. He made his way to the boy�s dormitory. As he entered the room, he saw Ron laughing quietly in his bed.
�You two sure hugged long enough,� he teased
�Shut up, Ron,� Harry said, trying not to laugh.
�So are you going to see what Snape wrote in the letters?� Ron said, in a more serious tone.
�I think I�ll go tomorrow,� Harry said hesitantly.
�Good. I really want to know what�s in those letters,� said Ron.
�Then why don�t you take the invisibility cloak and do it?� Harry asked irritably, �Sneaking around at night isn�t exactly a walk in the park.�
�Well, because if I was caught, I�d be expelled,� Ron said with a hint of angry sarcasm. He turned over and faced the wall.
Harry knew better than to respond. He privately agreed with Ron about this, because Harry had been in countless situations where, if he had been anyone else, he would have been expelled. Yet, every time he had just ended up being punished. He rolled over in his bed, and thought about how lucky he had been. He decided that he would go look at Snape�s letters, and no one was going to change his mind.