Title- *"The Phantom in Me"*
A.N.- Greetings. As you can see, I am She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, aka Seiki's "Secret Friend". Seiki, unfortunately, sort of accidentally did NOT choose to accept anonymous reviews so I have to make a freakin' story of my own to submit a signed review. (But if you really wanna know, I'm doing this out of fear because my so-called "friend" decided to blackmail me concerning EXTREMELY delicate matters. looking daggers right now) 'LANG HIYA KA!!!
But anyway, since I'm making a story of my own which is COMPLETELY in my own hands, I decided to make the best out of it… evil grin :)
[ ]=Author's thoughts
All you have to know is that they're in their Fifth Year, thus, the majority is fifteen years old.
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine, obviously.
P.S. Thank Seiki for my groovy title J
On to the First Chapter… :)
Chapter One: Into the Night…(bow)
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
Hermione's scream echoed throughout her whole house, waking up her
parents, Crookshanks, and possibly a couple of mice in the attic as beads of
sweat formed and rolled down on her pale forehead. Crookshanks leaped up unto
her bed and started to hiss at Hermione but decided to otherwise crawl on her
outstretched, rigid, shivering legs for support.
"Honey, are you alright?" came Mrs. Granger's voice from the other
side of the room as she opened the door and switched the lights on, wearing only
her pink bathrobe. [Don't get any funny ideas.]
"I'm alright, mum, I just had a terrible nightmare. But I'm okay
now," Hermione reassured her mum (and partly herself, too) panting, and at the
same time wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Do you want to talk about it, dear?" Mrs. Granger walked over to
Hermione's bed, her feet rubbing against the soft cream carpet.
"No, mum, thanks though. I'll just go back to sleep."
"Your father and I were frightfully worried; you practically
screamed bloody murder! Well, if you're alright, see you in the morning then."
Mrs. Granger walked across the room and gave Hermione a concerned glance. "Are
you sure you don't need anything, Hermione?"
"Yes, mum, I'm sure," Hermione tried to hide her exasperation while
trying to sound perfectly sure.
"Okay then. Goodnight." She finally switched off the light and
exited the room.
Hermione could hear the faint voices outside along the hallway:
"She's fine, dear, just a nightmare…" She sighed. 'They're always treating me
like a child. I just turned 15 for crying out loud, and I'm ready to grow up!!!'
Oh, but you did scream like a bat out of bloody hell, a little voice at the back
of her head said.
Hermione tried to remember her dream but did it in vain, as it was
awfully difficult; it was like trying to grasp water with her dainty little
hands. 'I remember Voldemort being able to reach Harry in Hogwarts with
Dumbledore and all somehow. And odd blinding flashes of light, or else it were
peculiar dazzling darkness.'
"It was only a dream, Hermione." She said aloud as she half
reassured, half-scolded herself. Or so it might seem…
Hermione just about started to doze off when a large tawny owl came
tap-tap-tapping on her bedroom window. 'Looks like one of the Hogwarts owls.
Probably the letter they give each year.' She got right out of bed, opened her
window (which held several potted plants, mostly flower buds) and untied the
letter from the owl's foot. 'Seems a bit heavier than usual.' [Though I don't
know what she meant by "a bit", because if it were I who was holding the letter
I would've been greatly surprised by its weight, and would literally tear the
letter in excitement. Buti na lang.(translation: Fortunately.)]
She hurriedly unfolded the first parchment and read it.
"Ms Hermione Granger,
"We are pleased to inform you blah blah blah Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry blah blah blah Hogwarts Express blah first of September.
"Deputy Headmistress,
"Prof. Minerva McGonagall"
She hastily scanned the booklist and noticed that it was even longer than last year's. 'Oh yeah, we were going to take our OWL exams this year. Wonder who the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year will be....'
And at last the Final Letter:
"Ms Hermione Granger,
"It is our honor to bestow upon you the resposibility of the Gryffindor Prefect. ("Oh My God...") The duties and privileges of a prefect are as follows:
[You don't expect me to write that down do you? It would seem terribly dull to write those down except for the authority to add or subtract points from all of Hogwarts' houses, but that, too, comes hand-in-hand with a corresponding duty. But I assure you, Hermione read it as thoroughly as she can (and this is Hermione, mind you), and reread it in the future for useful purposes.]
"The safety and well-being of the entire student body, staff and Hogwarts itself relies on your leadership abilities and integrity for your assigned task. Further inquiries shall be entertained.
"Deputy Headmistress,"Prof. Minerva McGonagall
"P.S. Enclosed in the envelope is your official prefect badge."
'What Prefect Badge?' Hermione thought, puzzled. But then she reached in the envelope and produced THE Prefect Badge [Background Music: Angel Choir] There it shone, red and gold, engraved with the title: Prefect.
The Hogwarts owl clucked her beak in impatience, waiting for the reply-message. Hermione quickly grabbed a quill and parchment and wrote down in her neatest possible penmanship [which was bloody difficult, considering that her hand was trembling with excitement, all the while thinking of how proud her parents would be.
Prof. McGonagall,
I, Hermione Granger, duly accept the responsibility of a Gryffindor Prefect and hereby promise to abide by the rules and regulations of Hogwarts, and to lead my fellow students the best I can.
She carefully folded it and put it inside the envelope & tied it to the owl's leg. She stroked the owl and it gave a soft hoot and flew away.
Hermione glanced at the wall clock. 'It's 3 in the morning already?! But I could hardly stay still, let alone sleep!" But this came to her advantage because almost instantly after she said this (or rather shouted this) in came another owl by her open window, which she recognized as Pigwidgeon.
"PIG!" She exclaimed excitedly as she hurried to untie the letter on its foot.
"Dearest Hermione"How are you and Krum? Hope you're doing fine. ("So he's over our recurring disputes?" Hermione smirked.)
"Harry is coming over. The beastly Dursleys aren't a problem, as long as they know Sirius is around. (Good old Sirius.) He's been writing to Harry often. (Good, so we know he's okay) So why don't you come over and stay here for the rest of the summer break? It would be wicked, having the two of you around.
"Percy's gone to the ministry to help sort out problems concerning You-Know-Who, with Barty Crouch dead and all, so I guess you can stay in his room. As for Fred and George, well, with the tons of Galleons Harry gave them, they're trying to invest on the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes so expect them locked up in their room with occasional booms and bangs.
"Send Pig back pronto if you're gonna come over and if you're not, send Pig back pronto anyway. (Have I used this line before? Never mind...)
"See you soon!
"Love,
"Ron"
Hermione grabbed another piece of parchment from her desk and dipped her quill in the inkbottle.
Dear Ron, and Harry if you're there'
That would be fan-bloody-tastic!!! I'd love to go over there! We can buy our books and parchment together then. Did you notice, by the way, that our booklist for this year was longer than usual?
Anyway, I decided not to go and spend my summer over at Krum's, for private, personal reasons. (cough, cough) Thanks for asking, though.
I'll be there by tomorrow afternoon with my parents.
Love,
Hermione
She decided not to mention about her being a prefect on the letter and tell them tomorrow instead. She tickled Pigwidgeon a bit before she let her out into the night.
By then, she completely forgot about her horrible dream.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A.N. So, What do you think? R & R please ;)
To all the Filipinos out there: MABUHAY!!