A/N: Just a nice little moment during one of the Trio's stays at X forest during Deathly Hallows


Harry had first watch, and was sitting in front of their tent idly plucking grass. His continuous yawns and the rustling of the grass and leaves around the area he occupied were the only foreign noises in the forest, usually dominated by the animal noises and the whispering of the trees. The leaves of the trees seemed to flicker as the breeze made them sway, and the slivery moonlight shone on them. Their light swishing seemed like a lullaby to him, slowly and surely pushing him into a state of slumber. The trees surrounding the clearing were just spaced far enough from each other to offer a teasing glimpse of the mysterious darkness behind them, stretching infinitely. Stars twinkled overhead, and sometimes a squirrel darted past. And Harry fell asleep. But not for long.

"Well done, Harry!"

"AAARGH! Hermione!!! Don't EVER scare me like that again!"

Hermione smirked at him, and kicked away a little nothing before settling down beside him, with a sigh.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it? The moon is so bright tonight."

Harry suddenly had a vision of Firenze, the centaur, saying "Mars is bright tonight,".

He and Hermione were silent for a few minutes.

Both of them started as Ron's voice cut like a knife through the night.

"What are you two doing?"

"Nothing, Ron. I couldn't sleep. Come, sit." said Hermione, brushing away some leaves beside her.

Harry thought he saw a fleeting smile on Ron's face before he made haste to join them.

They just sat there for some time, before Hermione suddenly said, "Oh…but of course! I should have … oh no!" She made as if to get up, then suddenly blushed and plopped down again. And then she lapsed into silence, curling her finger around the grass. Harry and Ron sniggered.

"Erm, Hermione … 'but of course' what?" asked Ron.

And the two of them burst out laughing.

"What? What? What's so funny?"

Ron looked incredulous. "Oh, let's see, shall we?" He put on an expression of deep contemplation. "But…can it be? Maybe … he did say… I have to go to the library! Or … is it possible? That one time … I'll meet you two later, got to go to the library! Or Hm … maybe … or that? But Professor McGonagall said … oh I have to go the library! Sorry Hermione, but I'm sure that if you did a Legilimens on me you would have at least a hundred instances with a bushy-haired girl leaving half her breakfast and rushing off to the library! And sadly, that's exactly what you won't find here, in the middle of nowhere."

"And don't deny it, that was where you were about to go, a minute ago." said Harry.

"Oh ha ha. You two are a riot. But for your information, I did not want to go to the library. I just got up out of habit. I had already come to a conclusion without any book."

Harry looked at her questioningly. She looked blankly back at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh come on!!! What conclusion?!"

"Oh that!" Hermione coloured. "Well, it's just that I realized that when, on the night Dumbledore– you know- died; we could have used Aguamenti- the water spell- to make Malfoy's Peruvian Darkness powder settle down."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. He knew it was of no relevance anymore, but just the fact that something more could've been done that night caused him unease.

Ron grunted noncommittally.

Hermione got up, looking a little flushed. "Well, anyway, tomorrow is going to be a big day, what with the planning for the other Horcruxes and everything else. So, good night, Harry, good night, Ron."

Harry chose not to mention that all they had been doing for innumerable weeks now was planning and speculation about the remaining Horcruxes.

He checked his watch, and realizing that his watch was over, gave Ron a pitying pat on the back before traipsing inside the tent after Hermione.

As he pulled up the covers over himself, he could hear Ron fidgeting around, making himself comfortable for his solitary watch.


A/N: Review, please. My first story on this site!