(A/N) This was a fanfic I'd written awhile ago, so I hope it's not too horrible. I think I'll continue it, since it wasn't really resolved, so if you'd like to read more of the story, let me know!

Happy reading!

The Crystal Heart

Warm golden sunlight poured into the small dormitory, lighting the scarlet curtains that hung from the two fourposter beds that were set against the wall. The soft light lit the swirling dust motes that hung in the still morning air, an hour or so before most awoke. The window was open, allowing a slight breeze to waft in, sending the dust motes into a gentle spiral as they floated through the cool air. Neither of the two girls in the dorm had roused yet; they continued to sleep peacefully in their beds, unawares to the rising of the Autumn sun that morning. The grounds that could be seen from the window were silent, the only noise the rustle of leaves through the large willow tree that was set on a hill overlooking a small hut on the outskirts of a large and dark forest.

The quiet of the morning was disturbed then by a soft flapping and the air was stirred as a very large owl descended down to the tower where the dormitory was and glided through the window into the room, holding a parchment envelope in its beak. It alighted on a pile of books beside one of the girls' beds, where it dropped the envelope and began to preen its long feathers contentedly. The bed squeaked as the girl roused and sat up. Her bushy brown hair was unkempt and messy, but her large brown eyes were wide and awake. She noticed the huge owl sitting on her books, and frowned. Reaching her hand out to the owl, she called to the other girl, careful not to be too loud.

"Ginny, wake up."

The other girl mumbled something and turned over, pulling her covers up to block her friend's voice out. The brunette sighed.

"Ginny," she said again, this time sharper. "There's an owl here."

Ginny, the other girl, sat up, combing her long flame-colored hair away from her face. She slipped out of her bed and crossed the room to her friend.

"What did you say, Hermione?" she inquired, swinging her hair off her shoulders to fall down her back in a fiery waterfall that glowed like a living flame as the sunlight hit it.

Hermione, the brunette, nodded at the large owl, which was eyeing her hand warily. The owl ruffled its feathers uncomfortably, unused to to the quiet of the room. Its master's dorm was much louder and the roomates were usually quite loud. Tentatively, the owl leaned forward and nibbled the index finger of the brunette, a show of affection.

"That's a big owl," Ginny sat, sitting down. "Is it yours?"

"Ginny," Hermione sighed. "I would have told you if I'd bought an owl. No, it just flew in about a minute ago."

"Did it bring anything?" Ginny leaned over, tucking a wayward strand of red hair behind her ear. She slowly reached for the envelope, trying not to startle the owl. The owl moved back a little, sensing that the girl wanted the envelope. Hooting peacefully, the owl settled into a relaxed heap of feathers, enjoying the silence in the room and dreading returning back to its master and the ones who shared the dorm with the owl's master. Maybe the owl would fly back to the Owlery and sleep there for a bit before returning to the dorm.

"There's an envelope," Ginny handed the thick package to Hermione.

Hermione took the envelope from her friend and turned it over to the back. There was no name, and no return address. Frowning slightly, Hermione slid her finger up under the paper and broke the seal, thus opening the envelope. She stuck her fingers inside and pulled out a small something wrapped in soft green velvety fabric. Hermione set the item down and shook the envelope, causing a small rectangle of parchment the fly out and flutter to the floor.

Seeing the paper, the owl fluffed its feathers and hopped down from its perch atop the stack of books to retrieve the slip of parchment. The owl picked the paper in its beak and flapped back up to its perch, leaning its head forward for the girl to take the rectangle.

Hermione reached over and took the little rectangle from the large owl and unfolded it, reading the startlingly beautiful hand-script.

Hermione,

My mother gave this to me when I was a young boy, as a representation of my heart. It reflects what I feel and changes color depending on my mood. As my heart has always been yours, I thought it would be right to give this to you.

Sincerely, your lover from afar.

Hermione's cheeks flushed with chagrin as she reread the note aloud to her flame-haired friend. Ginny's eyes widened and she looked down at the small object concealed by the velvet wrapping.

"Ron?" Hermione wondered, turning the note over and looking for a name.

Ronald Weasley was Ginny's brother, her elder by one year. He was just as ginger as she, and had the same rather raucous temperment. He and Hermione had been in a romantic relationship since the previous year, so it was natural to assume the note had come from Ron.

"Mum never gave him any enchanted charms," Ginny said, frowning and looking at the owl. "And he has Pigwidgeon, remember? Basically the opposite of this bird. What kind of owl is this anyway?"

"An eagle owl," Hermione replied. "The biggest species of owl there is."

"Yeah, sounds expensive." Ginny replied. "So Ron's out."

The Weasleys were a rather poor family, and most of Ginny's and Ron's things were hand-me-downs from another member of the family.

"And Ron can't even use cursive, let alone invent his own style of script/calligraphy." Ginny continued, stroking the owl behind its ear tufts.

"Well, before we start making assumtions, let's see what the enchanted object is." Hermione suggested, picking the velvet bundle up and beginning to unwrap it.

Inside was a clear glass ball with a small crystal heart that was suspended inside the sphere, sending glittering rainbows of refracted light around the room. The ball was hanging from a thin silver chain, allowing it to be worn around the neck. As they watched it, the white of the crystal changed to a soft gold, then to a muted ruby.

"It's beautiful," Ginny whispered. "Who could it be from?"

"I have no idea," Hermione stared at the carved heart, then slipped the chain over her neck. "How does it look?"

"It's perfect," Ginny smiled warmly at her friend, then looked back at the owl. "Who have we seen that has an owl like this?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied honestly.

The owl noticed them watching it and it fanned its feathers majestically. It gave a proud sort of hoot and soared out of the window, floating on the currents and heading to the Owlery.

"You know who that reminds me of?" Ginny grinned. "Malfoy. That looked like something he'd totally do if he was an owl."

"Yeah, but he wouldn't show off to me." Hermione replied, snorting.

Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, was a young man a few months younger than Hermione, who also attended this school. He was a different House however, Ginny and Hermione were in Gryffindor House, while Malfoy was in Slytherin House. Gryffindors and Slytherins were normally rivals, but Malfoy had a certain distain for people like Hermione. People like Hermione were called Muggle-borns, witches or wizards with non-magical parentage. Both of Malfoy's parents were magical, and so had their parents been. The Malfoy name was considered one of the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight', the longest pure-blooded lines of wizardry in families. Every Slytherin was either pure-blood or half-blood. Never in the history of Hogwarts, the school, had there ever been a Muggle-born Slytherin. Lots of pure-blooded wizards, like Malfoy, looked down upon Muggle-borns, or 'Mudbloods', as they were referred to as, and also half-bloods and pure-bloods who associated with muggles and Muggle-borns.

Malfoy seemed to have a particular interest in torturing Hermione. While she did see him picking on other Muggle-borns, it was mostly her. Sometimes he'd randomly show up in the Library just to annoy her. He didn't even do anything, he would just watch her critically.

"Come on, 'Mione." Ginny said, standing up. "Let's get our robes on and head down to breakfast."

Hermione nodded and got dressed quickly, keeping the necklace with the heart around her neck. It had changed to a content blue and was sparkling brightly in the morning sun.

They walked out of the dorm and through the common room, climbing out of the portrait hole that was the entrance. They descended the stairs down to the Great Hall, where there were four long tables loaded with food. The Gryffindor table was to the far right by the wall and the Ravenclaw table was beside it. There was an aisle in between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, then on the far left was the Slytherin table. Hermione briefly glanced over to see that Malfoy was not there yet. She walked with Ginny over to the Gryffindor table where Ginny's brother, Ron, and his best friend Harry Potter sat.

"Hi, Harry, hi Ron." Hermione sat down opposite Ron with Ginny beside her.

"Hi girls," Harry smiled.

Ron gave them an acknowledging grunt but said nothing, as his mouth was full of egg. Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled. Ron was so ridiculous sometimes.

"Oh, look who it is." Harry glanced over his shoulder at the entrance to the Hall. "Prepare yourselves, the Slytherin 'prince' is coming over here."

Hermione scowled. Malfoy was known throughout the school as the Slytherin Prince and had been since first year. He was rich and arrogant, and he had even fought alongside the dark side during the last Wizarding War, in which Harry had defeated Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard of all time.

Steeling herself, Hermione looked over to see a tall (and handsome, though she didn't want to admit it) young man with a pale pointed face was walking towards them, two other young men trailing along behind him. The bigger of the two, a brute-ish thickset young man, was named Gregory Goyle. He had been Malfoy's lapdog since first year, along with Vincent Crabbe. Crabbe had died in the war, so Malfoy's new bodyguard was a tall black boy with high cheek bones and slanted eyes named Blaise Zabini. Zabini was a very quiet person, but wasn't stupid like Crabbe or Goyle.

Hermione narrowed her eyes as Malfoy approached the table. He caught her glare and smirked. Hermione tried to shift so the crystal heart was hidden, but Malfoy's eyes landed on it before she could move it out of sight.

"Granger," Malfoy said her surname with unconcealed malice as he walked around the table behind Ginny. He grabbed Hermione's shoulder and turned her. Ginny stood, outraged.

"Don't you dare touch her, Malfoy!" she snarled.

Malfoy ignored Ginny, but made a slight movement with his arm and Zabini moved closer.

"What's this, Granger?" Malfoy pulled the chain off of Hermione and let the clear ball dangle between his fingers, threatening to fall.

"Don't break it," Hermione growled. She noted the heart had changed color to a soft peach with wisps of sapphire glinting off the surface.

"Did Weaselbee buy this for you?" Malfoy smirked wider. "Oh wait, he can't even afford the chain! What am I thinking?"

"Give it back to her, Malfoy, or I'll hex you to next year!" Ron threatened, standing up. "And it's none of your business if I bought something for my girlfriend!"

The heart changed color to a dark emerald and Malfoy glanced at it before tossing carelessly to Hermione.

"Whatever," he strode away, heading across the room to the Slytherin table. "Come on, Blaise, Goyle."

Zabini turned on his heel and stalked off after Malfoy, as did Goyle. Once they were gone, Ron looked back at Hermione.

"Where did that come from, 'Mione?" he asked, rather sheepishly.

"You didn't send it?" Hermione asked, a little confused.

"No," Ron shook his head.

"Oh," Hermione blinked, startled. "Well, we'd better start getting ready for classes. We've got Potions with the Slytherins today. Oh joy."

(A/N) Here's a little guide to the heart colors:

Red: Angry

Yellow: Happy

Blue: Sad

Orange: Amused

Green: Jealous

Peach: Love

There are several variations of these as well. Darker colors mean that the emotion is simmering beneath the surface, so it may not show on the person's face. Lighter colors are more present on the surface. If a color is diluted or greyish in hue, that means that the emotion isn't particularly strong. Bright colors are intense emotions, and are usually followed by some sort of action.

There are also mixes in the colors, like magenta would be either protectiveness or lust, depending on which color it is closest to. Purple would be betrayed, offended, or some other kind of mix between anger and sadness.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!