Chapter 765 - 765: 0765 The Exam

Sunday.

Sherlock, Hermione, Ron, and a handful of other sixth-years who would turn seventeen within the next two weeks set out together.

They were headed for Hogsmeade, where they would undergo special training in Apparition under close supervision.

Watching his friends get ready to head into the village, Harry couldn't help feeling a twinge of envy.

After all, the weather today was unusually fine—a rare clear day, the kind they hadn't seen in a long while, with spring fully in the air.

"Never mind—don't you have Cho to keep you company?"

Seeing the look on Harry's face, Hermione couldn't resist teasing him.

At her words, both Harry and Cho Chang, standing beside him, went faintly red in the face.

Cho was a year older than Harry and had already passed her Apparition test, so she was in a perfect position to share her experience with him now. Just then, the small line ahead of them, in front of Filch, shuffled forward a few steps.

Terrified of being overheard by the caretaker who was, as usual, poking and prodding everyone with his detector—Harry hastily called out a goodbye to Sherlock and Hermione: "See you later—good luck, both of you!"

Then he pulled Cho along and turned to climb the marble staircase.

"Those two really do suit each other, don't they?"

Watching Harry and Cho's retreating figures, Hermione said, sounding rather moved.

"Not just them." Sherlock shook his head.

Hermione looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Sherlock didn't answer. He simply looked toward the castle.

Following his gaze, Hermione suddenly understood.

Ginny was standing there.

Watching this, Hermione remarked, not without a certain pointedness, "Ginny isn't going to give up—"

As for the trip to Hogsmeade itself, there wasn't really much to say about it, as far as Sherlock was concerned.

After all, he had already Apparated successfully more times than he could count.

This time the task was to Apparate to just outside Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, and Sherlock managed it flawlessly.

The Ministry instructor overseeing them, a man named Twycross, couldn't stop praising him, saying he'd never seen a student with such natural talent. By comparison, even Hermione who was doing equally well was completely overshadowed.

As for Ron, whether it was Lavender lending him some hidden strength or not, his performance turned out to be passable, at least.

In this unusual setting, he finally didn't just spin on the spot the way he always did back at school for the first time, he managed to Apparate successfully, landing only a little past the required distance, right beside the Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.

"At least I moved!"

Ron said cheerfully.

"Won-Won, my Won-Won, you were simply amazing!"

Lavender, for her part, seemed even happier about it than if she'd Apparated successfully herself.

"They really do suit each other too."

Watching the scene, Hermione couldn't help but remark on it.

Seeing that Sherlock gave no reaction—the same lack of reaction he'd given earlier when she brought up Harry and Cho Hermione decided to just come out and say it directly.

"Sherlock, do you remember what you promised me before?"

"I've promised you a lot of things. Which one do you mean?"

"The one about love!"

Since she'd already come out and said it, Hermione figured she might as well lay it all out: "If you ever want to try what love feels like, you have to come to me."

Sherlock looked at her, a little taken aback, as though he hadn't expected her to actually say it.

After a moment's thought, he shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Hermione."

"What, are you going back on it?"

At his words, Hermione bristled at once.

"No, it's not that I'm going back on it," Sherlock sighed. "It's just that, as things stand, I probably won't be having thoughts like that for a long while yet."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Because of that unknown enemy?"

"That's right," Sherlock said seriously. "You might not believe this, but I keep feeling that he's a greater threat to me than even Voldemort—"

"No, I believe you."

Hermione looked at him and said earnestly, "Whatever you tell me, I'll believe it."

"Hermione—"

In that moment, Hermione noticed his eyes had gone faintly damp.

Even after six years, even though Sherlock's character had changed considerably since the day they'd first met, this was still something rarely seen.

"And—I can wait," Hermione went on. "Until the day you take an interest in love."

Sherlock: "..."

Seeing the look on his face, Hermione suddenly laughed. "So you'd better not make me wait too long or I really will hold you to it!"

With that, without waiting for an answer, she went bounding off.

But—Where Sherlock couldn't see her anymore, Hermione could feel her own heart pounding away.

As for her cheeks, they were burning fiercely.

She'd said it!

She'd finally said the words she'd been holding down in her heart all this time!

So it was true when it came down to it, a person really did have to force themselves.

"Gemma, this time I've finally gotten ahead of you!"

Hermione clenched her fist quietly.

Even though she'd already resolved to be in this together with Gemma, side by side, some part of her still couldn't help wanting to compare herself to her. In the times before this, she always seemed to be the one falling behind.

It wasn't until Gemma graduated and left school that Hermione had slowly started catching up.

But then, once Gemma came back from Romania on the strength of the Triwizard Tournament, and Voldemort's return brought her into the Order of the Phoenix on top of that, the gap seemed to hold steady once more.

Until today!

Not far off, Sherlock watched Hermione's retreating figure and let out a sigh.

He took a piece of parchment from inside his robes.

It was the reply Gemma had sent him the day before.

He'd told her about his suspicion, and asked her to look into it a little through her own channels as well.

[All is well, this in haste — I'll look into the matter with everything I have. Also as for trying love, you really ought to put it on the calendar soon. If you can't manage it yourself, I'll take matters into my own hands.]

"Why is it that everyone's started in on this at once—"

Sherlock shook his head and put the matter out of his mind.

Once the special training was over, the Ministry and Hogwarts arranged to have them all sent back to the castle.

What was unexpected was that Harry and Cho didn't come find him until he was already halfway through dinner in the Great Hall.

Sherlock's gaze swept over the two of them, and understanding dawned at once. "By the look of it, you ran into someone you know—someone unexpected, at that?"

"That's right, it was Tonks."

Harry didn't bother asking how Sherlock had worked that out, and went straight to the answer.

"She said she'd come to see Dumbledore but I couldn't shake the feeling something was off about her."

"She's been like that ever since she got back from that trip with Lupin," Hermione said, frowning. "Although I thought her job right now was supposed to be guarding the school why would she suddenly abandon her post to go looking for Dumbledore?"

"I think it might have something to do with Lupin," Cho spoke up. "Of course, this is just my own theory—she might have fallen in love with him."

"What did you say?"

Both Hermione and Ron looked startled.

But Sherlock and Harry didn't.

Harry's reason was simple—Cho had already told him what she thought.

As for Sherlock, he simply had no thoughts about love whatsoever.

But Hermione and Ron were both very interested in the subject, and Hermione couldn't help asking:

"Cho, what makes you think that?"

"It's mostly instinct, I suppose. Every time one of us mentions Lupin, she gets a little strange."

Cho went on slowly:

"And there's this—Harry said that over Christmas he overheard Sirius mention that Tonks's Patronus had changed shape.

"It used to be a rabbit, but after she came back with Lupin, it turned into some large four-legged creature.

"Harry originally thought that meant it was a nod to Sirius as the black dog, but given how strangely she acts whenever Lupin comes up, I think it's more likely to be a wolf..."

"That's certainly one theory," Hermione said thoughtfully. "If that's really it, it would explain why she came looking for Dumbledore."

"Still," Cho said, a bit hesitantly, "isn't Tonks Sirius's niece?"

Nymphadora Tonks's mother was Andromeda Tonks.

Before her marriage, Andromeda's full name had been Andromeda Black.

Because she married Ted Tonks, a wizard of Muggle birth, she'd been burned off the Black family tapestry.

But disowned or not, the blood tie still remained.

She and Bellatrix and Narcissa were sisters.

The father of the three Black sisters—Tonks's grandfather was Cygnus Black III. And Cygnus happened to be the full brother of Sirius's mother, Walburga.

Looking at it that way, from the side of Sirius's mother, the three Black sisters were Sirius's first cousins because their father was the younger brother of Sirius's mother, making him Sirius's uncle.

But because the Black family kept up a tradition of marrying within the family, between cousins, to preserve their so-called pure blood—

Take Sirius's mother, Walburga, for instance—she'd married her own first cousin, Orion Black, who also belonged to the Black family. Which meant that she and her husband were both descendants of Phineas Nigellus.

Looked at that way, from the side of Sirius's father, the three Black sisters became Sirius's first cousins again for a different reason this time because, besides being the children of Sirius's mother's own brother, their father was also a cousin of Sirius's father.

The end result was that the three Black sisters and Sirius were related by blood twice over.

Both as first cousins through their mothers, and as cousins through their fathers.

Of course, the core, most direct relationship was still that of first cousins.

But however you counted it, Tonks was Sirius's niece.

As everyone knew, Sirius and Lupin were as close as brothers.

So, if Lupin and Tonks really did end up together, wouldn't that mean.

"It's all because those old magical families, trying to keep up their so-called pure blood, love marrying within their own relatives."

Hermione said scornfully, "We already talked about this before in a way, you could say both Harry and Ron count as Malfoy's uncles!"

Hearing that, Cho couldn't help smiling.

Time moved quickly, and soon it was April twenty-first.

The exam was that afternoon, and nearly everyone taking it had a Ministry pamphlet clutched in their hands—Apparition Errors: Common Causes and Their Avoidance.

Only the pamphlet wasn't doing much to calm their nerves.

Except for Sherlock.

He hadn't even bothered to look at the thing.

"I wish I could be as confident as you."

Ron came over with Lavender, and looking at how relaxed Sherlock seemed, he said, sounding rather envious.

There was no question that of everyone taking the exam, Ron was among the most nervous of all.

His tolerance for pressure had always been poor.

Unfortunately, the Felix Felicis trick had already been used once before, and there was no way to use it again not unless Harry was willing to hand Ron the real thing this time.

Sherlock glanced at Ron and said nothing.

"Won-Won, you can do it, I know you can!" Lavender, for her part, cheered him on with everything she had.

"Then again, it's not like it'd be the end of the world if you didn't pass, right?"

Neville drifted over just then, and hearing their conversation, said timidly, "There's always another chance, isn't there?"

"Merlin's beard, how can you even think that?"

Ron stared at Neville, wide-eyed. "Who wouldn't want to pass on the first try—is there really anyone in this world who actually likes taking exams?"

"Well, you never know..."

Neville muttered under his breath, sneaking a glance at Hermione as he said it.

Hermione: "..."

Just then, Cho and Luna came walking over side by side.

"Off to your exam, then? Good luck—hope you both pass on the first go!"

"Hey, Ron, you look like you've been ambushed by a Wrackspurt!"

"You know, I'm starting to think those odd ideas of yours might actually be true—"

Ron said, sounding rather pained. "Why couldn't my mum have had me a few months later then I could've taken the exam together with Harry."

"But can't you take it together with Sherlock and Hermione right now?"

Cho asked, puzzled.

"Please. Taking the exam with those two isn't exactly 'together'—even just practicing with them is enough to crush anyone's confidence!"

"Won-Won, you've got me, and I'll be right here with you the whole time!"

Lavender squeezed his arm tight, adding, not without a certain suggestiveness: "And if you manage to pass this time, I'll give you a reward you'll never see coming!"

For some reason, the moment Lavender said that, the whole mood suddenly turned a bit charged.

"Oh, right, Harry, this is for you—"

Cho, seeing how things were going, spoke up quickly.

"Thanks. What is it?"

Harry took the small roll of parchment, curious.

"We ran into Hagrid on the way here. He asked us to bring it to you."

"Hagrid?"

"I think it must be some kind of invitation."

Sherlock's eyes swept over the messy, scrawled handwriting and the great blotch of ink on the page.

Though the writing was nearly impossible to read, he came out with the answer anyway, without hesitation.

Harry had only read the first line before he froze completely.

[Aragog died last night. If you can come to the funeral tonight, it would mean everything to me.]

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