She nodded, giving him a grateful smile. "I am now."
"It's just History of Magic, you know?" Ron told her, but there was no malice in his voice. "It's alright, Hermione. Besides, I fail those tests all the time."
"That's not helpful, Ron," she told him, making Harry snicker again. "Besides, it's not just that. I suppose it's just… scary. All these attacks, you know?"
Harry nodded, feeling a new stab of guilt – he hadn't even stopped to think about how Hermione – a muggleborn – might have been feeling.
Ron suddenly looked very serious again, and turned to look at him.
"That's why you've got to do something, Harry."
"Ron –"
"–Tell her. Tell her about the diary," he urged.
"Diary?" Hermione frowned. "What diary? Harry, what's going on?"
Exhaling in defeat, Harry fished the diary out from beneath his other text books, holding it up to show her. He was sure he saw Hermione's eyes widen, but it was fleeting.
"Where did you get that?" she asked.
"The cupboard in the potions classroom," Harry told her, holding it out for her to take. She didn't.
"And he should've left it there. There's something bad about it," Ron supplied. "It showed him… it showed him who's behind the attacks, Hermione. It's Snape."
A tense silence hung in the air and right then, Harry couldn't even find it in himself to be angry at Ron for telling her.
"I… what?" Hermione asked, eventually.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. It's weird. I started writing in it and it was like somebody was… writing back. I don't know who, I guess it must be whoever owned the dairy… this Tom."
"The diary… told you Snape's behind the attacks?" she asked.
"Not exactly. It's like Ron said… it showed me," Harry said. "It's hard to explain… they were like memories, I think. But he was there… Snape was there. I think he's the heir."
A strange look lingered on Hermione's face for a moment, then.
"But… I…" she began.
"And you were in one of them!" Harry cried, suddenly remembering. "One of the memories! You were in the library and he… why didn't you tell me?"
Hermione opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
And then the portrait hole opened on the other side of the common room, and a pale, flustered-looking Neville stumbled in before it shut promptly behind him.
"H-Harry," he began, straightening his robes.
"Neville? What's wrong?" Harry frowned.
"It's P-Professor Snape," Neville told him. "He's outside. He s-said to send you out."
"What were you doing with Professor Snape?" Ron asked, confused.
"He was escorting a few of us back from the greenhouses. We can't go anywhere alone, remember?" the boy said.
That explained why he looked so nervous, at least.
"Well… what does he want?" Harry asked.
Neville shrugged. "I don't know. He just said he wants to talk to you. But the Fat Lady wouldn't let him in!"
Harry swallowed, wondering how he was going to get out of this one.
"Did he seem angry?" Hermione asked.
"Professor Snape always seems angry," Neville pointed out, with a shudder.
Pushing the diary into the inside pocket of his robes, Harry moved reluctantly towards the portrait hole.
"I'll come with you," Ron offered, following him.
"You don't have to," Harry assured him.
"But what if he…?" Ron hissed. "You know? Tries something?"
"Potter, out!" came a silky voice from the other side of the wall.
"I'll be fine," Harry promised.
Ron looked less than convinced, but conceded. "Okay, fine. But I'll be right here."
Nodding, Harry took a deep breath, and pushed his head out of the portait hole.