AN: Hullo all! I'm normally a crossover writer, but I've finally bitten
the bullet to post a HP fic. Still debating over the pairing, so help me
out!
I have much planned for this fic, but I want to credit the inspiration to my friend (and BETA- thanks again!) SophieBabe. If you haven't read her fic, go now and read it! The idea for this came to me during a conversation with her, and has grown since then. Thanks Sophie-chan!!
DEDICATION: Richard Harris (1930-2002), Rest in Peace. Also to JKR and her coming child.
Standard disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, WB, and a bunch of other big companies. Not I. I only own my pen and my creativity, and this you cannot take from me. :p
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. Enjoy the fic and please review to let me know how you like it! Thanks!
**************************************************************************** ** **************************************************************************** **
She faltered under Professor McGonagall's intense stare in Transfiguration.
"Uh... the most important aspect of all inanimate-animate switches is... uh..."
The rest of the class stared at her. She gulped and reddened, wishing the floor would swallow her up.
Why couldn't she remember? She'd mastered inanimate-animate switches in her first year! Why had she suddenly drawn a blank? Why was the only answer that came to mind 'To consult the tea leaves.' Why was she thinking about Divination at a time like this!?!
She gulped again. Luckily, the bell chose that moment to ring. She literally flew out of the classroom before McGonagall could pierce her with another accusing stare.
In the corridor, she hurried on the way to Potions. Not seeing a mischievous suit of armor that stuck out a metal leg, she tripped and fell on her face. Her books scattered.
People stared and laughed as she struggled to gather them up. She felt like crying but swallowed her tears. Finally holding her books, she realized that she'd brought her supplies for Ancient Runes, not Potions. She'd never make it in time if she went back to the Tower! She ran.
People were still laughing. Looking down, she suddenly realized that she was in her blue dress robes instead of her black Hogwarts ones. She ran up a staircase to escape the jeering crowd.
The staircase gave a lurch and turned in the other direction. She climbed up and found herself lost in some unknown corridor . . .
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Hermione Granger sat bolt upright in bed. Beads of sweat slid down her forehead as she panted for air. Looking around at her surroundings, she collapsed back on the pillows. It was just a bad case of the pre-school nerves.
Her digital clock read 4:27 AM. She glanced at the calendar on her desk. The old page hadn't been torn off, and it still read July 30th.
'That means today's July 31st,' thought Hermione with a smile to herself. 'Harry's birthday.'
She'd sent his present a week ago. In truth, she'd labored for months over what to get him. What do you get for a guy to send him a message but remain discreet at the same time? How do you tell your best friend you love him?
Yes, it was true. She had a crush on Harry Potter. A big crush.
It started at the end of their first year, after he'd saved her from the troll and everyone from Voldemort. At first, she didn't even know she had feelings for him. But gradually, it grew. Before long, it was like a huge bubble kept carefully hidden inside her heart.
No, she'd never told anyone. Not even Ginny, whom she'd shared most of her other secrets. After all, most people would laugh. Potter and Granger? No, that didn't sound right. Plus, Harry was still interested in Cho, though she was still in despair at the loss of Cedric. And no matter what happened, Ginny would always love Harry. Hermione was positive of that.
She sighed again. No, she couldn't tell anyone. She'd settled on a book of Quidditch teams for his birthday so he could decide for himself whether he supported Ron's Chudley Cannons or not.
'Maybe I'd get my chance this year,' she thought. 'Maybe I'll be able to tell him and not hurt anyone. Maybe...'
She rolled over and fell into a dreamless sleep.
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"Ron! Harry! Aren't you up yet?" called Mrs. Weasley up the stairs of the Burrow. She received no response.
The matron shook her head and returned to the kitchen of the lopsided house, glancing at the eggs and bacon left at the empty table.
After washing several dishes (magically of course), the soft sound of skippered feet caught her attention. She looked up to see Ginny yawning in the doorway. She looked as though she'd just rolled out of bed, with her hair like a burning bush around her face.
" 'llo, Mum," she said with another yawn, sitting and stretching at the table.
Mrs. Weasley made a "tsk"ing sound. "Bout time you got up. The breakfast's probably cold by now."
Ginny shrugged. "Stimmio," she said, pointing her wand at the food. Thin tendrils of steam began curling towards the ceiling from the now-warm eatables.
Mrs. Weasley watched her fondly. In little more than a week, her youngest child would be entering her fourth year at Hogwarts. Molly found it hard to believe. It seemed like just yesterday that Bill had timidly bid them farewell and boarded the Hogwarts Express for his first year at the school. It all had gone by so fast. 'Maybe I'll adopt another,' she thought to herself with a chuckle.
"So where are your brothers?" she asked Ginny out loud.
The girl looked up with a mouthful of toast. "Mmf. Mff mmf," she said, gesticulating wildly with her arms.
"Ah yes," winced Mrs. Weasley. "Now swallow please, young lady."
Ginny obediently swallowed. "They're gone," she translated. "Ron and Harry went off with Fred and George, Bill and Charlie this morning. They've been gone for hours. Playing Quidditch, I think."
"Don't they have anything better to do?!" groaned Mrs. Weasley.
Ginny smirked. "Probably not."
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"Come on, Bill, go for it!" yelled George as he batted a self-cursed Bludger at Charlie.
They were playing 3 v 3: Harry, George, and Bill versus Charlie, Fred, and Ron. Harry, Charlie, Bill, and Ron played as Chasers (there was no Snitch), and Fred and George were, naturally, Beaters. The goals were simply an open space between two trees.
Currently, Fred claimed his team was leading 90:20, while George claimed he was winning 120:10. In truth, neither knew. Everyone had lost track of goals long ago. And since there was no Snitch to be caught, the game just kept going.
"Harry, catch!" yelled Bill as he threw the Quaffle from above.
The Quaffle was very different from the Snitch, but Harry could still feel his Seeker instincts kicking in. He watched the ball fall, as if in slow motion. He saw Ron try to intercept it but fail. Harry dove down, and Ron followed.
Faster, faster. The ground was nearing; would he make it? He saw Ron pull out of the dive from beside him, not sure if his Shooting Star could take it.
There was the awkward falling ball. Harry held out both arms to receive it. The large red ball fell neatly in the crooks of his arms, and he straightened his broom to skim the grass.
His teammates and opponent had all flown down to stare at him.
"Wow, Harry," muttered Ron. "Wicked..."
Charlie slapped him on the back. "Great job, Seeker! Can't say I've ever seen a Flipbuster Dive down with a Quaffle before. Well, there was this time when the Wasps were playing the Dragons --"
George whacked a Bludger at him to shut him up before he began another Quidditch story. Fred grabbed the Quaffle out of Harry's unsuspecting arms and tossed it up to Ron, who put it in the unprotected goal.
"And that's a score!" cheered Fred. "140:20!"
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Draco Malfoy was staring out a window, watching one of his pets, a manticore, prey on an unsuspecting rabbit. He yawned; manticores were so stupid- they never did anything new.
He turned inside again and looked up at the endless bookshelves of the Malfoy Manor.
'How to amuse myself today...?' he wondered. His father was away, as usual. His mother claimed it was for "work", but Draco doubted the explanation was that simple, especially with the Dark Lord's rising.
Besides public appearances, Lucius Malfoy barely spent anytime with his son. At home, he would usually be hosting parties, counting his wealth, or having fireplace conversations with fellow wizards.
Draco flipped open his notebook and placed another 'X' on the inside cover. He glanced at the brightly circled 'Sept. 1'. "Only 11 days left . . ."
A clock bonged somewhere in the Manor. 'Correction,' said Draco mentally. '10 days and 14 hours . . .'
**************************************************************************** ** **************************************************************************** **
AN: So what do you think? I know there's not much happening yet, but I'm taking it slow in the beginning. There'll be hints dropped in early chapters, but the true plot won't really come into play until ch. 5 or something. But do you want Hermione/Harry or Hermione/Draco? Personally, I'm rooting for the latter. ^^;;
I have big plans for the future, but also a bunch of other fics in need of updating. So I'm very sorry if updates are slower than some authors (::glares at Sophie:: j/k!). But the more reviews I get, the higher on my "To Do" list this will be. ::winks::
Also, if ff.net is down again soon, check Schnoogle.com for updates. My user name there is "Menelanna". I combined several chapters to add make the mods happier, but I think flows better this way on ff.net.
"Your reviews are the ink for the author's pen." --My special little proverb. So please review and help me keep going.
Until next time, Ja!
~Calli-chan
Also, if you'd like to be notified via email (Callistostar786@hotmail.com) when I update this, say so in a review and leave your email. For those already on my list, I'm creating a new one for HP so I'll need to get your email again. Thanks!
I have much planned for this fic, but I want to credit the inspiration to my friend (and BETA- thanks again!) SophieBabe. If you haven't read her fic, go now and read it! The idea for this came to me during a conversation with her, and has grown since then. Thanks Sophie-chan!!
DEDICATION: Richard Harris (1930-2002), Rest in Peace. Also to JKR and her coming child.
Standard disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, WB, and a bunch of other big companies. Not I. I only own my pen and my creativity, and this you cannot take from me. :p
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. Enjoy the fic and please review to let me know how you like it! Thanks!
**************************************************************************** ** **************************************************************************** **
She faltered under Professor McGonagall's intense stare in Transfiguration.
"Uh... the most important aspect of all inanimate-animate switches is... uh..."
The rest of the class stared at her. She gulped and reddened, wishing the floor would swallow her up.
Why couldn't she remember? She'd mastered inanimate-animate switches in her first year! Why had she suddenly drawn a blank? Why was the only answer that came to mind 'To consult the tea leaves.' Why was she thinking about Divination at a time like this!?!
She gulped again. Luckily, the bell chose that moment to ring. She literally flew out of the classroom before McGonagall could pierce her with another accusing stare.
In the corridor, she hurried on the way to Potions. Not seeing a mischievous suit of armor that stuck out a metal leg, she tripped and fell on her face. Her books scattered.
People stared and laughed as she struggled to gather them up. She felt like crying but swallowed her tears. Finally holding her books, she realized that she'd brought her supplies for Ancient Runes, not Potions. She'd never make it in time if she went back to the Tower! She ran.
People were still laughing. Looking down, she suddenly realized that she was in her blue dress robes instead of her black Hogwarts ones. She ran up a staircase to escape the jeering crowd.
The staircase gave a lurch and turned in the other direction. She climbed up and found herself lost in some unknown corridor . . .
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Hermione Granger sat bolt upright in bed. Beads of sweat slid down her forehead as she panted for air. Looking around at her surroundings, she collapsed back on the pillows. It was just a bad case of the pre-school nerves.
Her digital clock read 4:27 AM. She glanced at the calendar on her desk. The old page hadn't been torn off, and it still read July 30th.
'That means today's July 31st,' thought Hermione with a smile to herself. 'Harry's birthday.'
She'd sent his present a week ago. In truth, she'd labored for months over what to get him. What do you get for a guy to send him a message but remain discreet at the same time? How do you tell your best friend you love him?
Yes, it was true. She had a crush on Harry Potter. A big crush.
It started at the end of their first year, after he'd saved her from the troll and everyone from Voldemort. At first, she didn't even know she had feelings for him. But gradually, it grew. Before long, it was like a huge bubble kept carefully hidden inside her heart.
No, she'd never told anyone. Not even Ginny, whom she'd shared most of her other secrets. After all, most people would laugh. Potter and Granger? No, that didn't sound right. Plus, Harry was still interested in Cho, though she was still in despair at the loss of Cedric. And no matter what happened, Ginny would always love Harry. Hermione was positive of that.
She sighed again. No, she couldn't tell anyone. She'd settled on a book of Quidditch teams for his birthday so he could decide for himself whether he supported Ron's Chudley Cannons or not.
'Maybe I'd get my chance this year,' she thought. 'Maybe I'll be able to tell him and not hurt anyone. Maybe...'
She rolled over and fell into a dreamless sleep.
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"Ron! Harry! Aren't you up yet?" called Mrs. Weasley up the stairs of the Burrow. She received no response.
The matron shook her head and returned to the kitchen of the lopsided house, glancing at the eggs and bacon left at the empty table.
After washing several dishes (magically of course), the soft sound of skippered feet caught her attention. She looked up to see Ginny yawning in the doorway. She looked as though she'd just rolled out of bed, with her hair like a burning bush around her face.
" 'llo, Mum," she said with another yawn, sitting and stretching at the table.
Mrs. Weasley made a "tsk"ing sound. "Bout time you got up. The breakfast's probably cold by now."
Ginny shrugged. "Stimmio," she said, pointing her wand at the food. Thin tendrils of steam began curling towards the ceiling from the now-warm eatables.
Mrs. Weasley watched her fondly. In little more than a week, her youngest child would be entering her fourth year at Hogwarts. Molly found it hard to believe. It seemed like just yesterday that Bill had timidly bid them farewell and boarded the Hogwarts Express for his first year at the school. It all had gone by so fast. 'Maybe I'll adopt another,' she thought to herself with a chuckle.
"So where are your brothers?" she asked Ginny out loud.
The girl looked up with a mouthful of toast. "Mmf. Mff mmf," she said, gesticulating wildly with her arms.
"Ah yes," winced Mrs. Weasley. "Now swallow please, young lady."
Ginny obediently swallowed. "They're gone," she translated. "Ron and Harry went off with Fred and George, Bill and Charlie this morning. They've been gone for hours. Playing Quidditch, I think."
"Don't they have anything better to do?!" groaned Mrs. Weasley.
Ginny smirked. "Probably not."
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"Come on, Bill, go for it!" yelled George as he batted a self-cursed Bludger at Charlie.
They were playing 3 v 3: Harry, George, and Bill versus Charlie, Fred, and Ron. Harry, Charlie, Bill, and Ron played as Chasers (there was no Snitch), and Fred and George were, naturally, Beaters. The goals were simply an open space between two trees.
Currently, Fred claimed his team was leading 90:20, while George claimed he was winning 120:10. In truth, neither knew. Everyone had lost track of goals long ago. And since there was no Snitch to be caught, the game just kept going.
"Harry, catch!" yelled Bill as he threw the Quaffle from above.
The Quaffle was very different from the Snitch, but Harry could still feel his Seeker instincts kicking in. He watched the ball fall, as if in slow motion. He saw Ron try to intercept it but fail. Harry dove down, and Ron followed.
Faster, faster. The ground was nearing; would he make it? He saw Ron pull out of the dive from beside him, not sure if his Shooting Star could take it.
There was the awkward falling ball. Harry held out both arms to receive it. The large red ball fell neatly in the crooks of his arms, and he straightened his broom to skim the grass.
His teammates and opponent had all flown down to stare at him.
"Wow, Harry," muttered Ron. "Wicked..."
Charlie slapped him on the back. "Great job, Seeker! Can't say I've ever seen a Flipbuster Dive down with a Quaffle before. Well, there was this time when the Wasps were playing the Dragons --"
George whacked a Bludger at him to shut him up before he began another Quidditch story. Fred grabbed the Quaffle out of Harry's unsuspecting arms and tossed it up to Ron, who put it in the unprotected goal.
"And that's a score!" cheered Fred. "140:20!"
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Draco Malfoy was staring out a window, watching one of his pets, a manticore, prey on an unsuspecting rabbit. He yawned; manticores were so stupid- they never did anything new.
He turned inside again and looked up at the endless bookshelves of the Malfoy Manor.
'How to amuse myself today...?' he wondered. His father was away, as usual. His mother claimed it was for "work", but Draco doubted the explanation was that simple, especially with the Dark Lord's rising.
Besides public appearances, Lucius Malfoy barely spent anytime with his son. At home, he would usually be hosting parties, counting his wealth, or having fireplace conversations with fellow wizards.
Draco flipped open his notebook and placed another 'X' on the inside cover. He glanced at the brightly circled 'Sept. 1'. "Only 11 days left . . ."
A clock bonged somewhere in the Manor. 'Correction,' said Draco mentally. '10 days and 14 hours . . .'
**************************************************************************** ** **************************************************************************** **
AN: So what do you think? I know there's not much happening yet, but I'm taking it slow in the beginning. There'll be hints dropped in early chapters, but the true plot won't really come into play until ch. 5 or something. But do you want Hermione/Harry or Hermione/Draco? Personally, I'm rooting for the latter. ^^;;
I have big plans for the future, but also a bunch of other fics in need of updating. So I'm very sorry if updates are slower than some authors (::glares at Sophie:: j/k!). But the more reviews I get, the higher on my "To Do" list this will be. ::winks::
Also, if ff.net is down again soon, check Schnoogle.com for updates. My user name there is "Menelanna". I combined several chapters to add make the mods happier, but I think flows better this way on ff.net.
"Your reviews are the ink for the author's pen." --My special little proverb. So please review and help me keep going.
Until next time, Ja!
~Calli-chan
Also, if you'd like to be notified via email (Callistostar786@hotmail.com) when I update this, say so in a review and leave your email. For those already on my list, I'm creating a new one for HP so I'll need to get your email again. Thanks!