Depth of Knowledge
Hey guys! Thanks for coming and checking out this new fanfiction story I had the privilege of thinking of around three in the morning. Hopefully you guys enjoy the first chapter, and let me know if you want to see more of this story.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any characters. I only own plot, I hope! Please tell me if I'm basing this off too much on another fanfic. If so, tell me which one. I want to read it!
-Chapter 1: Encounters-
Harry looked at the black heart that sat motionless in a body not known to him. It stood in darkness, lost and confused. A darkness was closing in around him, and he screamed with anger. The black heart started to pound. The swirling vortex surrounding Harry shrouded him in darkness. Screams, echoes, and sobs were heard in the shrouded mist. Harry shut his eyes in terror, and the black heart was pushed into a cage. It stopped beating.
Harry bolted upright on his bed, sweat covering his sheets and pajamas. Pulling the curtain that surrounded his bed away, he surveyed the dormitory. The only sound that was heard in the quiet room was, to Harry's bemusement, the pronounced snores of his best mate Ronald Weasley. Bloody hell, another one of those dreams. Deciding that it was necessary of him to take an early morning walk, Harry tiptoed out of bed, threw on his cloak, and came down to the common room. The steady crackle of the fire and the dancing flames around the room reassured Harry of the safety and warmth the Gryffindor common room held. To Harry's surprise, Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger sat at the far chairs next to the fire, their whispering voices carrying to where Harry stood. The girl's silhouettes danced on the exit of the common room and around the walls.
Harry felt guilty that his mind was set on eavesdropping, but knew he couldn't resist to hear why the girls were up so late. Especially Hermione, considering she, Harry, and Ron had a Potion test later in the day. Hermione tended to always go to bed at a reasonable time to, as said by the braniac herself, "obtain the perfect amount of resting in order to be successful on the important." God, how Harry hated Hermione's reasoning partly due to the fact that he was forced to go to bed at the same time as her. Ron also was, just like Harry, "encouraged" to get to bed early.
Harry snorted silently. "Encouraged" definitely wasn't the right word for this scenario. Harry was able to nimbly sneak up behind the girls behind the chairs, where he sat in silence and listed. A shame he didn't have his invisibility cloak with him.
"What do you think about Ron, Hermione?" Ginny asked after a short pause. Harry grinned. This was going to be good. Hermione's silhouette remained unmoving at first before she blew out a sigh.
"What's to say? He's funny, ignorant at times, cute when he's determined. He's got that sort of handsome face and he's always light-hearted. You better not tell your brother I said he was good looking!" Hermione whispered fiercely. Ginny giggled.
"Hah, I wouldn't do that! You're the only girl that knows "things" that other girls don't!" Ginny chuckled. Hermione gave a small smile, her straightened teeth glinting in the fire.
"I'm presuming you mean information on a certain raven-haired boy named Harry, if I'm correct?" Hermione asked innocently, her eyes twinkling. This unsettling eye twinkling reminded Harry of Dumbledore's. Ginny's face flushed in the dancing flames, he finger tracing the chair's arm. The girls sat silent in the fire-lit room, an echoing in the corridor outside warned them of Filch's fury with Peeves.
"What about Harry?" Ginny asked in a small voice. "I've asked you a million times about Ron, but not about Harry." Harry had to cover his mouth to not stifle a laugh. His luck was getting better by the second. Now he could hear what she thought of him. The sheer irony of them bringing up Harry when he was there was almost too much to handle. Hermione sat in silence on the chair, looking at the dancing flames before adjusting herself and turning to Ginny.
"Harry's difficult to be around," Hermione said slowly, "He's unpredictable at times, dark, misleading, confusing…" Harry was desperately trying to silence himself as he laughed uncontrollably silently. This was really, really funny.
"He's mysterious, determined, weird in a funny way," Hermione continued, looking back into the fire. "He's a lot more complicated to describe than Ron." Ginny gestured for Hermione to continue. "He's smart in his own way. He knows his destiny looks bleak, but he continues to put a determined face on himself every day in order to make us feel that he isn't frightened. But I know he is. He's terrified of what is to come of himself. He's scared that we'll leave him when he needs us." Hermione turned back to Ginny. "I'm scared for him, Gin." Harry could see tears falling from her eyes, hitting the chair before sliding off and falling towards the floor.
Harry was shocked. He had known she'd catch on, but not this quickly. Not in sixth year. Not in the school year. Heart pounding, he continued to listen in silence. Hermione sat in silence, watching the dancing flames.
"He's everything I wish Ron was. Serious, responsible, respectful, polite, and much more. I wouldn't think twice about wanting to date Ron if he had all those characteristics that Harry has…" Ginny's face turned slightly dangerous, guarded.
"So why aren't you attracted to Harry then? I mean,, he's everything you wish Ron was. Why not date Harry instead of Ron?" Ginny said this with a slightly dangerous tone. Hermione looked at Ginny.
"It's because I know he'll never see me as a woman. He'll see you, Ginny as one, Cho as one, even Lavender Brown. But he won't see me as someone that he will be attracted to. He was the first friend that accepted me for who I was. Ron was teasing at first, but grew to include me into the group. In reality, Ginny, he'll always see me as a boy: A best mate that he can't talk about "girls" with. And I have grown to accept the fact that he will just be one of the best friends I have ever had." Ginny's smile returned.
"What a speech, Hermione! It's like you had that scripted." Ginny exclaimed. Hermione smiled weakly, rubbing her arms self-consciously.
"I'll never be as pretty as you, Ginny. Nor Cho, nor anyone else Harry has had a slight crush on." Ginny's eyes grew wide.
"Hermione Granger, you're pretty and you know it! Now stop moping around about how you look. It's almost time for breakfast and people will already start to come down." Hermione nodded, and with that, the two girls walked out of the common room towards the Great Hall.
All Harry could do was lay underneath the chair where the girls had been, his mouth open in shock.
Author's Note
So, how'd you like it so far? Good, bad? Let me know in the comments! I always love to receive criticism, either good or bad. Constructive criticism will always help me improve in my writing. I apologize for any plot copying I have done, but I just thought of it and wanted to get the first chapter out. Thanks for reading!
-potter_conspiracy