Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. They're J.K. Rowling's and J.R.R. Tolkien's.
Summary:
Thirst for knowledge can lead to dangerous roads, especially when books are not what they seem. In her seventh year, Hermione discovers that not all myths are based upon reality, and not all fiction is based upon the fantasy of the author's mind. When chance offers power beyond anything imaginable, how can she refuse?
Author's Notice:
This story contains elements of Lord of the Rings. Characters may be very OOC, but it is my intent if they are. I'm just borrowing them and this story is not a seventh-year story that is supposed to fit into the canon. The story starts off a bit slowly, so please bear with me. The plot will become more evident in the later chapters.
Chapter 1It was September the First, 10:00 a.m., and Kings Cross Station in London was full of people who were hurrying to their respective platforms. But one platform was the fullest, and the loudest. This was platform 9 and ¾.
The lower years were running around, squeaking and laughing, and trying to tell their friends who were, of course, right at the other end of the platform, what they had done in the summer holidays. The older pupils were trying to look more dignified and adult, but that also was with only limited success, as their chatting and laughter could be heard almost as loudly as the squeaking and screaming of the younger children.
Also, of course, younger siblings were running around, squeaking and screaming even louder than all pupils of Hogwarts together.
And over all that noise, parents were trying to have a conversation, giving their children more or less good advice for the coming year, asking whether they had forgotten anything, or looking for a missing member of the family.
In all this chaos, a single figure stood unperturbed in the middle of the platform. She was reading a book, and totally oblivious as to her surroundings. This was, of course, Hermione Granger, top students of Hogwarts, Head Girl.
Her parents had dropped her off in London quite some time ago, and she had already reserved a compartment for herself and her friends. However, they had agreed to meet on the platform, and so there she was, reading and waiting for them to show up.
Finally, when the noise had calmed down, and the platform was beginning to look empty, a red-haired boy came bursting through the barrier, followed closely by a red-haired girl and a black-haired boy. After them came hurrying Mr and Mrs Weasley, and finally the twins, Fred and George, came through.
"Hermione!" Harry panted, hugging her shortly. "We thought you'd be already inside the train! Hurry, it will be leaving any time now!"
"Bye Mum, bye Dad, see you Fred and George!" Ron yelled, waving wildly. Ginny was mirroring his movements, and then they all hopped into the train.
They were just on time, because, when they had shut the door, the whistle blew and Hogwarts Express started moving.
Ron flopped down on the floor, panting madly. "I thought we were never going to make it," he said. "The car broke down half-way, and of course it was a Muggle part that was causing the trouble. It took Dad ages to get it fixed, but when he finally got it, he couldn't stop talking about how clever he was with Muggle things, right Harry?" He grinned and winked at Hermione. "Of course it was Harry and George who fixed it, but never mind that."
Hermione eyed Ron curiously. "Why are you sitting on the floor, anyway?" she asked. "Our compartment isn't that far away, you know, and you are sitting on mud."
"Oh," Ron said, getting up and turning to look at the spot he had been sitting on. Apparently somebody had had very dirty shoes, and there was a large blob of mud, now evenly distributed by Ron's weight. "Great," he muttered.
Ginny, who had been standing behind him, burst out in fits of hysterical laughter, pointing at Ron's backside.
"Stop it, Ginny!" Ron growled, flicking his wand at himself. "Let's go."
They reached their compartment, Ginny still laughing at Ron, who was by this time getting very mad at her. Hermione smiled at Ginny, but buried herself in the book once more as soon as she had sat down.
The other three did not notice at first, because they were too busy talking about the journey to King's Cross.
When finally, half an hour later, the witch with the trolley entered their compartment, Harry bought half the lot. "Care about a chocolate frog, Hermione?" he asked. No reply.
"Hermione?" he tried a bit louder.
Ron grinned. "She's reading, Harry," he said. "Chocolate can't distract her."
"Let me talk to her," Ginny said. "This requires feminine intellect." Harry and Ron snorted, and Ginny leaned close to Hermione. "Miss Granger," she said, mimicking Professor McGonnagals voice. "You will be late for class!"
Hermione's head snapped up. "What? Sorry, Professor!" she exclaimed, dropping her book and getting up, before she realised that she was still on the train.
Harry, Ron and Ginny collapsed in giggles. "Oh, Hermione," Ginny gasped. "How can you be studying now? The year hasn't even started!"
Hermione looked annoyed. She picked up her book from the floor and smoothed the creases from where it had landed, and then held it up for everybody to see.
"Lord – of – the – Rings," Ron read aloud slowly, furrowing his brow in confusion. "What subject is that for, 'Mione?"
Hermione looked at him impatiently. "It's not a textbook Ron, it's muggle literature," she said. "I do read books because I like reading, you know. And I like this book." She buried herself again, obviously unwilling to take part in any conversation.
"Yeah, that'd be just like her," Ron muttered. "Look at the size of this book, it must be at least 1000 pages!"
Hermione looked up swiftly. "1178," she said. "I'm reading it for the second time."
Ron rolled his eyes and turned back to Harry and Ginny. "Anyone care for a game of exploding snap?" he asked.
But Harry and Ginny's attention had been roused. Hermione had never, ever, read a book that was not about school as long as they could remember. And now she was reading fiction, not even wizarding but muggle fiction, and she was reading it for the second time. What was wrong with her? "Hermione?" Ginny asked cautiously. "Are you feeling all right?"
Hermione looked up again, very obviously annoyed by now. "Of course I am," she snapped. "Why can I not read my book in peace?"
"Um… sorry, I think," Ginny said. "But, Hermione – you're not reading a textbook, and nothing even closely related to study, and, that's just so very, umm, strange for you?"
"Look, Ginny," Hermione snapped. "As I said before, and maybe you didn't hear, I read books because I like reading, and I like books, and it doesn't make a difference whether they are muggle, or wizard, or whether they are textbooks or fictional, as long as they are interesting." She glared at Ginny, and then picked the book up again.
Ron, Ginny and Harry exchanged worried looks. "What's wrong with her?" Ron whispered. "She's never overreacted like this since first year!" "Maybe she had a hard summer?" Harry guessed, thinking back of his own with a shudder.
"Or, maybe, she just wants to be left alone and in peace to be able to read her book," Hermione said over Harry's shoulder. She gave all of them an angry and hurt look, and then, gathering up her belongings, left their compartment.
Truth be told, she had no idea where she would go. She was not that angry with her friends, maybe she should have been a little nicer to them, but nonetheless she really wanted to read this book. It had something compelling about the way it was written, absorbing the reader into the story and making it seem as though he was in the adventure as well.
She threw a quick glance into the compartment next door, and it seemed to be empty. With a sigh, she flopped onto one of the cushioned seats and started reading again.
She had not even finished her first sentence when a voice startled her out of the book again.
"My, my, Hermione, why would you ever prefer my company to the company of your little friends?" Draco Malfoy drawled.
She looked up and smiled a tight smile. She and Draco had made a truce during fifth year, because they both were prefects and did not want to loose their houses any points over petty squabbles. It had held, although at times they had been close to put on a full-fledged fight. She had told Harry and Ron then that it was necessary for the above reason, but as the year progressed, she had found studying with Draco much more challenging than it was with Ron or Harry.
And so they had agreed to help each other with their studies, secretly of course. It would have done no good to either of their positions if this had been found out. Their "study team" had continued into sixth year as well, and in the summer they had been owling each other. She had even been to Malfoy Manor once, where Draco had introduced her to his parents.
Against the common opinion, Lucius Malfoy was not a Death Eater in his heart anymore, but he did not dare to say so, not after having seen what had happened to Igor Karkaroff. It had made the headlines of various newspapers for weeks when Voldemort had had his revenge on him.
And now, Hermione and Draco were Head Boy and Head Girl, and over the summer, they had been brooding over various tasks assigned by their teachers. They also had worried about the reactions of their respective houses, and their other friends, when they would show friendship openly. They had not yet reached a solution, but they had, for the time being, agreed to take it easy in the beginning, so people could adjust to the change in situation.
"Hermione? You all right?" Draco asked, looking at her strangely. Hermione had been staring into space for over five minutes now, and he had decided that this was not normal for her. She blinked her eyes, as if just awakened from a dream. "Huh?" she asked. "Oh, hi Draco, I haven't seen you when I came in…"
"Yes, evidently not," Draco muttered.
Hermione had heard him and looked reprimanding. "You could have said that in nicer words," she scoffed.
"Yes, and you could have looked a bit more closely at whom you were going to sit with," Draco retorted. "It could have been Pansy, you know."
Hermione grinned. "I think I would have noticed if she had been in here," she said. "It is quite hard to not notice her."
At this, Draco smiled as well. "What are you reading, anyway? It could not be the book about Goblin kings that Professor Binns gave us on his assignment, could it?"
Hermione gave a squeal of mock terror. "What are you thinking? Oh, sorry, let me rephrase that: why were you not thinking? Of course I wouldn't read that book." She shuddered at the thought of it. During her time at his house, they had painfully gone through the different Goblin family trees. It had been the most boring thing she had ever done.
She held up the book in the same fashion, as she had done with Harry, Ron and Ginny before, so Draco could read the title. He looked mildly interested. "A muggle book?" he asked. Hermione nodded.
"Well, well, well," he drawled. "Looks like you finally found your way around to reading fiction, Hermione. What is it like then?"
Hermione smiled. "It's really good. Simply … fascinating. It seems so real, you know…" And she launched into a summary.
When she was finally finished, it was getting dark. Both of them looked up in surprise, and Draco looked at his expensive Rolex.
"We should be there pretty soon," he said. "My, my, I wouldn't have thought that muggle fiction could sound that interesting. I believe that you'll have to lend me this book sometime."
"Yeah…" Hermione nodded reluctantly. For some reason that she could herself not discern, she wanted to keep the book. But that was, of course, ridiculous. And she was almost finished anyway, she only had one chapter and the appendices left.
"We should go get changed," she said, trying to change the topic.
Draco nodded at her. "See you later," he said.
Both left the compartment, and when they returned in their school robes, both with the shiny Head Girl/Boy badge pinned on quite visibly, the train was pulling to a stop. Draco took a deep breath. "This is it then," he said. "Our last year starts as soon as we leave the train…"
He was voicing the exact same thoughts of Hermione. After this year, they would be leaving Hogwarts as qualified wizards and witches, and, most likely, their paths would divide. Hermione shook her head slightly, as if to drive away these thoughts. It was no good thinking about this, because it would happen anyway. All she could do was to try and make it her best year at Hogwarts.
"Come on, Draco," she said. "It will be a fantastic year." She opened the door, and took a deep breath, then stepped outside. "I have to go and see Harry, Ron and Ginny," she said apologetically. "See you later."
Draco looked after her. A fantastic year, he repeated to himself. Slowly, he stepped onto the platform as well and went to the nearest carriage that would bring him to Hogwarts.
But when he sat down at the Slytherin table, he suddenly had the feeling that this year would not be fantastic at all. He tried to push it away, repeating Hermione's words over and over again, but the feeling did not leave, and Draco went to bed with a heavy heart and a sense of foreboding.