The ink from his quill had been dripping onto his parchment steadily for the past thirty minutes. The blot had been getting larger and larger, until finally it took up almost the entire page. It didn't matter really, he hadn't written anything down yet. It was just another waste of parchment. It was time to ball that bit up and start anew, throwing that last piece with the growing pile of paper behind him.
The whole problem started the day McGonagall assigned the essay. First, they had been going over an impossible unit of human transfiguration and then she decided to assign an even more impossible essay to go with it.
That day had been a week ago. He had just gotten a hold of the book that was supposed to help him an hour ago…five hours before the essay was due. He sighed and let his head fall forward and hit the table. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn was the only thing going through his head. It had been the only thing going through his head for the past half hour. It was four o' clock in the morning, he had five hours before the essay was due and if he was lucky at least three of those hours could be dedicated to sleep…that was if he got this essay done.
"Looks like you need some company," said the familiar voice of his best friend. He looked up at her. She was coming down the slightly dark isle and toward his table. A smile formed on his face as they greeted each other exhaustedly.
"This essay is ridiculous," Harry said. He threw his quill down and it landed in the margin of the papyrus paged book in front of him. He leaned back in his chair and stretched, rubbing his eyes as he did so.
"Don't I know it. The wait on that book was all week," Hermione said. "I don't think Neville has even got a finger on it and I know Ron gave up on the waiting list three days ago." She opened a book and began scribbling notes down as she read. He nodded and pushed his raven locks from his forehead. With determined concentration, Harry continued to read and write his essay. That lasted for a whole…ten minutes. He stopped for a second and listened to the mesmerizing scratch of Hermione's quill against her parchment and felt his eyes droop. A second later, he jerked awake and groaned, letting his head fall forward to the desk.
"The sooner you finish it the better," Hermione said, glancing over at him. Her face softened as she saw him look at her. He looked like a little boy who was tremendously exhausted. A slight smile formed on her face.
"I can't help it. I've been in here for an hour and I still have another page to write. This book is practically written in riddles and I can hardly get anything out of it. I'm tired, I'm sore and my head hurts," Harry said.
"Come on Harry," she said. "You only have a little left. The faster you get it done, the sooner you can get to bed." Harry sighed and continued to work on his essay, ignoring the faint question in the back of his head on whether or not Hermione was some sort of Goddess. She was never back in the dorms before twelve on a good night and she was raring to go at seven in the morning the next day.
Hermione let the world of knowledge take over her senses as she worked on her Arithmancy. The world around her seemed to disappear and the faint scratch of her quill was all that she could hear. As the book took her deeper into mathematical equations, a loud thud jolted her out of her entranced state. She looked over and almost laughed. Harry had fallen out of his chair. He was sprawled out on the ground with an irritated look on his face.
"Harry," she said before she burst into quiet laughter. He glared up and her and hoisted himself up and back into his chair.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Harry sighed and looked straight ahead, the exceedingly aggravated look still on his face.
"Just peachy," he replied. He took his quill in his hand and began his essay again. She watched him for a moment, taking in his facial expressions that changed every once in a while depending on how upset he was getting with the book. Finally, he slammed it shut and sat back in his chair.
"I can't see straight anymore. All I can see is lines and little black letters that form sentences that even Albert Einstein couldn't understand," Harry said. "And I'm done with that damn essay."
"You do look like a wreck," Hermione said. And he did; he looked dreadful. Large, dark circles were under his eyes and his normally nicely tan skin was pale. His eyes dropped every couple of seconds and he looked like he could burst any second. "Maybe you should head to the dorm, get some sleep." Harry yawned.
"I'm not going to leave you in here alone to do work all morning," Harry said. "I'll stay up until you finish." Hermione knew there was no budging him from his decision so she continued her work. His promise to stay awake until she finished lasted a whole ten minutes before he was out.
Thirty minutes later, she closed up her book and put her notes back into her bag. She took the books that both of them had used and put them back on the shelves.
"Harry," she whispered. She ran her nails softly against the back of his neck.
"Mhmmph," was her answer.
"Harry, come on. Time to go to bed," she said. He lifted his head from the table and looked at her. He looked positively adorable with his mussed up hair and sleepy eyes. Harry stood and grabbed his backpack before the two of them made their way out of the Library. He couldn't form a sentence without having to stop and yawn every other word and Hermione smiled. She was all to used to these late nights. Her hand slipped into his easily as they walked to the Gryffindor dorms.
"Thanks for making me finish tonight. Lord knows I probably would've quit and taken the zero," Harry said in front of the girls' stairs. Hermione smiled.
"No problem," she replied. "Get some rest. I know you'll be a zombie tomorrow." Harry laughed softly.
"That's possibly true. You need your rest too," Harry said. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep."
"I will. Good night," she said, near to a whisper.
"Good night," Harry said. The two of them turned their opposite ways and went up the stairs to their dorm. He had better get to sleep…he wanted to see that smile again.