I Learned Your Pulse

"We haven't got our schedules yet," complained Hermione. "When will we get to go to our classes?"

"You would complain about that," laughed Harry.

"I wonder why Ferret ran away like that," mused Ginny lightly. "I think he was crying."

Ron laughed. "Crying? I don't think so. Not from the almighty, I'm-a-fu-"

"Ron!"

"-nny-little-pureblood Malfoy," he corrected his language when Hermione had scolded him. He smiled sheepishly, and looked out on the lake. The water sparkled like diamonds, and it was smooth with the lack of wind - but here and there, you saw a ripple, either from a merperson, the squid or just a fish. Hermione disliked the idea of things below the surface, as she'd once seen Idla Haiman dragged under, kicking and screaming, by an Inferi. While she'd tried to stop it, it wouldn't let go of her; and she couldn't try anything to dangerous, because she might have hit Idla. This memory burned her eyes, and she thought she could see it happening again...

But then it was just the lake, and she was surrounded blissfully by her friends and boyfriend. She smiled, making herself think of a happier memory; when the Durmstrang ship had come out of the lake.

"Does anybody know what schools are coming?" Harry asked idly, leaning back into the tree they were under.

"Not a clue," said Ron. "I hear Kingsley won't even tell Mcgonagall."

"Really?" Hermione was surprised by this.

"It'll probably be only seventh or eigth-year students," said Ginny wsiely. "They're the only ones old enough to participate."

"Probably," Hermione agreed, nodding and leaning into Ron, letting his hand smooth over her bushy hair, letting his body warmth seep into hers. She closed her eyes, completely at ease, completely comfortable.

Harry gasped and her eyes flew open again.

And she saw skeletal figures, black, with milky white eyes and large wings bolded to its torso, its horse-like body bent downward, getting a drink from the lake.

"Harry - is that -"

"You can see them now, huh?" he asked slowly in response to hermione's unfinished question. "They're quite gentle, Hermione, you know that."

"Wow," said Ginny, slightly breathless. "They're sort of pretty."

Ron stared at the thestrals, and Hermione had to nudge him to get him to say something.

"We should have been able to see them back in fifth year, though, right?" he asked. "We'd seen Moddy kill the spider, right in front of us."

"Significant death, Ron," said Hermione, and when he looked confused, "You have to have seen a death significant to you. Neville could see them because to him, the death of the spider was significant, because in his mind's eyes he'd just re-seen his parents being tortured again when Moody performed the Cruiatus curse on it. The spider wasn't important to you - in fact, knowing your arachnophobia, you probably wanted it dead - so you couldn't see them then. But after..."

Hermione was not going to continue, as Ron's face had become as hard as stone.

"I hate them," he said suddenly, ferociously, startling Hermione and making Harry and Ginny jump. "I wouldn't be able to see them if Fred was still here. They're just... if he was... but he's... not..."

"I doub that," said Hermione, trying to put a positive spin on things. "You'd be able to see them anyway. You watched Colin Creevey die, right?"

Ron's face twisted into a mocking smile. "Like that's so much better," he snorted, shifting abruptly so she was lying on the ground instead of on him. she gave an umph as her head connected with the earth, and watched his feet walk away. She sighed. Harry sighed. Ginny sighed.