A/n: This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction ever n__n I was inspired by other fics about it and by re-reading the books, and re-watching the films... I'm back into my HP-fangirlism again ^^ But anyways, this is a series about Hermione, who is struggling with her feelings, her life and most of all her friendship with Harry and Ron. Things don't work out the way they should. Though I am not really good at describing feelings of a character, I think that this is good progression if I want to get better at it ^_~ So I could really use some constructive critisism, yes :D
I called it 'Winter Days' because, well, it is almost winter now, and, in this fic I will write all the way through December (I will skip a few days ofcourse), so expect more of this.
Warning: this is (eventually) femslash. If you do not like girlxgirl, click the big red button with the X on it right now.
Disclaimer: All characters from Harry Potter belong to J.K Rowling. I own nothing.
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Chapter One: Library Geeks.
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It smelled like freshly mowed grass outside with a hint of that crisp snow-smell, that refreshing scent that makes the winter-air the winter-air. The snow and frost crunched lightly under my moving feet and my breath, erratic as it was from climbing and coming down the hills, formed little, infrequently emitted clouds as I walked up the sloping landscape in front of the Main Entrance. Little snowflakes, barely being worthy of being called a flake made their way down from above, decorating the landscape with a blanket of white. Treetops glistened in the weak sun and the entire surface of the Black Lake was captured by a thick layer of ice. Oh, how I hate winter.
It's not that I don't like the snow and the beautiful scenery and all, but the cold, oh the cold. Runny noses, cold hands which you can barely write something down with and massive flu attacks among the students. Snowballfights, ice-skating, making snow-angels, everything about it. I absolutely and utterly hate it. The only good thing about it is that they serve hot chocolate and small ammounts of Butterbeer at dinner and lunch.
A few nervous first-years passed me by as I reached the small grey marble plaza in front of the entrance, and I took a moment to get my breath back from the climb, deeply inhaling the chill air. My lungs stung and I felt cold by the time I could breath regularly again. I groaned, hoisted my bag higher on my shoulder and made my way through the massive wooden doors, from which one of them had been shut to minimize the cold inside Hogwarts. Quiet as it usually was during classes, the halls echoed enormously, making my footsteps sound like they came from every direction.
My feet automatically led me through all the halls, up the stairscases and through quicker passages. I even nearly ran in to Filch (he surely wouldn't have believed my approved early departure from class) along the way to the library. The only place in Hogwarts where my heart truly belonged. Yes, I, Hermione Granger, am a bookworm, even though I would never admit it out loud. And I'm proud of it. If others think I'm a geek, well, let them think I'm a geek, that I'm a nerd, because I don't care. I know that I'm no geek, I just love reading books. They hold such useful information and fantastic myths and stories. That's why I seek peace and silence in the library when my life's a mess.
Not that my life is a mess now, I just love to go to the library on every occasion. I don't need a particular reason. There are so many books which I haven't read yet, mysteries to be solved, answers to be found.. Gosh, I could spend days in between books! And the good thing about being the teachers pet is that I always (well, most of the time) get a note on demand if I want to go and browse around in the Forbidden Section.
Slowly opening the library doors, I quietly made my way into the somewhat dark but warm library. The smell of parchment and dust reached my nose and I inhaled deeply. Oh, how I'd love that scent. As I immediatly walked around the corner of the first bookshelve, I stood still for a moment and peeked through the books. It was quite busy, and to my disappointance, almost every table was occupied. I noticed the bronze-darkblue collars and ties. Ugh. Ravenclaws. I sighed rather loudly and made my way to the furthest and calmest part of the library.
The books in this part were covered with a respective layer of dust, the backs were grey and shabby and it smelled a little moudly. I discovered this part a few years ago when I was searching for something to complete my Ancient Runes essay, and from then I was sure that no one, or not many other students knew about it. The best part about it was that there even was a small table and a chair. I assumed that this part was formerly in use, but forgotten over time.
I pulled my wand out of my pocket and flicked my wrist, making the dust on the table disappear into thin air. Carefully placing my bag on the floor, which hit the ground with a gentle thud, to prevent any vials from breaking I grabbed a random quill and bottle of black ink out of it, putting both items down on the now clean table. I reached into my bag, my hands finding a piece of fresh parchement. It crunched lightly under my fingers as I straightened it out in front of me. With some more flicks of my wrist (hallelujah for non-verbal spells) a couple of randomly chosen books floated out of their shelves and formed a neat stack on the table.
Taking the lid off the bottle of ink, I dipped the quill into the black and shiny liquid, which filled almost immediately. I scribbled down my name and the title 'Healing Herbs: what do they do?' and started writing, dipping the quill back into the ink ever so often. The essay about the herbs doesn't require much work, but I had my spirits up, and if I did it now, I would have the weekend off to go to Hogsmeade.
The silent air was only disturbed by the soft scribbling of my writing, the sound of the quill gliding over the parchment. When I needed more information, I would grab a book from the stack and search for useful parts or quotes.
"Oh!" sounded a surprised voice right across me, "Umm.. hello."
Somehow, the voice sounded a tad familiar. I perked up, glancing into the direction from which the voice came.
Cho Chang. For a minute I wondered what on earth Cho was doing here. One; she probably has class right now; and two, how could she know of this place? No one was supposed to know of it, and certainly not Cho. Surely I knew that Cho was a clever girl: her grades were good and she loved reading books, like I do. But why would she be here? She would just use this place to come with her ''friends'' to chatter and gossip about. I don't prejudge the girl, but I only know her on superficial level, so I don't really know how she is like to be around, but I only see her or in the library or giggling about with her friends.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, a little more harsh then I intended to. Cho visibily shrunk back, but she remained on her place.
"Well, I.. I um, was searching for.. a book." The answer sounded nervous, but she'd put it that way so that I couldn't be marked as a real lie or something.
I smacked down my quill and fully looked at her.
"No, what are you doing here." I said, putting the emphasis on the word 'here'.
"Like I said, I'm looking for a book." Cho sounded a little more confident.
"And what book might that be?"
"Umm... Well, I have a Herbology test tomorrow, so I was searching for some helpful information about herbs."
I could really slap myself at that moment. Did she do this on purpose? Wasn't it just a little too coïncidental? I mentally shook the though from my mind, sighed and resumed my writing, leaving Cho by herself. I heard a rustle of robes, and I assumed that she had left. But as I wrote down a new scentence, I saw from the corner of my eye that she was standing next to me, looking in the bookshelves. I frowned deeply and tried to ignore her. I wrote a few paragraphs, but Cho was still next to me. I took a deep breath and sighed it out. Focus, Hermione. Cho took a book out of the shelf and looked through the pages. Nearly every movement she made seemed to get me out of my concentration.
"Um, Hermione?"
"What?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"I, er, overlooked your essay, and I saw that it's about herbs. Could I borrow one of those books?"
I took a moment to look at my essay. I was already half-done, and I could do the other half without any book, and, if that would get you out of here, "Fine."
Picking a random book from the stack while I massaged my temple with my other hand, I held it out to her, not bothering to look up. She took it, said a quick thank you and walked away again, her robes following her like ghosts. Sighing deeply, I closed the book which lay in front of me and took a fresh bit of ink. I let the quill hover above the parchment for a moment. My head was completely empty. I could think of anything that had to do with Herbology. Frowning lightly, I tried to come up with a clever scentence or a handful of useful tips about herbs, but absolutely nothing sprang to my mind.
Okay. Thanks much, Cho.
I put the books back on their places, rolled up the parchment (after I was sure that the ink was dry), packed my bag, hoisted it up my shoulder and made my way to the Gryffindor common room.
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