Hey,

I haven't forgotten about my other stories, especially "The Heart of the Ocean". I'm waiting for my computer to come back (hopefully) in tact from the IT place. This story has been nagging at me for longer then "THofO", ever since i heard the song "Jillian (I'd Give My Heart)" and i had to sit down and at least start it. Let me know what you think about this chapter, not alot actually happens but then again it is only the beginning!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor it's characters which i am using to my own enjoyment. Nor do i own the song to which this fic inspired me.


Chapter one

It was sunset and the sun's full orb were mere inches from touching the lake. The rays of sunlight danced upon the ripples of the darkened waters causing the tiny ripples to be capped with gold light. A light breeze brushed past the late autumn leaves causing several of the dying leaves to fall to earth to complete the natural cycle of life. Several students of the school nearby were walking into the building, a castle, hidden from the eyes of Muggles. If one was standing at the lakes edge and looked up towards one of the towers on the castle one would see a young lady sitting at the window looking out to watch the beauty of nature.

There was nothing remarkable about this young lady. She had slightly bushy hair, a plain face that was slightly pale and if one looked closely would see that her nose was scattered in tiny freckles. It was hard to believe that she could be different to any of the other students at school. She had dark secret which she had carried around with her for all her life.

Hermione Granger should have been doing her homework and she normally would be at this time of day however she could not concentrate. Her friends, Harry and Ron, were in the Great Hall having dinner in which soon after they would head to the Quidditch field to practice with the Gryffindor team for an upcoming match against Ravenclaw. She closed the transfiguration textbook that was resting in her lap and looked out the window one last time, watching as the sun sank below the horizon and out of sight. Closing her eyes, she tried to gather the last warmth of the dying rays of light, however much in vain it might have been. She stood up and walked towards the girls dormitories which she shared with Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil, her fellow seventh year students.

When inside the bedroom she made her way to the trunk at the end of her bed, opened it, and placed the textbook inside. She looked around the room making sure no one else was with her when she turned back to the trunk and moved aside some of her school clothes, revealing a false bottom of the trunk. Once again she looked around the room to make sure she was alone before opening the bottom and pulling out a small black book, a diary. There was nothing unusual about the diary she just did not want her roommates to find it knowing how much gossip that would cause throughout the school. She pulled out a wand and cast the counter charm unlock the diary. Hermione whispered 'accio' and summoned a quill and ink to her side before filling in the next blank page with a quick message about what the day had comprised of. Her daily ritual, always completed at the same time each day and had been done so since before she could really remember sitting down to write it.

An hour passed, and then two and three and still she wrote. She made sure to get down every small detail of what happened during the day, not wanting to forget a thing even though her memory was still as sharp as ever and even if it were about mundane matters. Soon, the other girls made their way into the dormitories and Hermione was sure to hide the little black book from the others, pretending that she had been studying the whole time with her books, parchment, quills and ink spread out on the bed or floating in front of her.

Soon the other girls had changed and settled into their beds, but were gossiping about the which boy was the hottest at Hogwarts or who wore the trendiest clothes that day - in actuality, everyone had wore school robes that day, so they were discussing who had the shortest skirt - Pansy Parkinson or Daphne Greengrass (when in fact it was Lavender Brown herself who had the shortest skirt that day)

Hermione ignored the gossiping, completely used to being able to tune out background noise, a skill she had picked up over the years, when eventually the dormitory filled with only the sounds of Hermione's quill scratching on the parchment accompanied by the light snoring of the other girls in the room. It was only then that she brought her head up to survey the room. Lavender and Pavarti were both completely dead to the world asleep in their world of dreams where the prince's would rescue the distressed damsel.

Quietly Hermione shuffled her paperwork away, placing the books and stacks of parchment onto the trunk at the end of the bed. She stood up from the bed, the age worn springs of the mattress groaning with the moment, and moved back to the window that she had abandoned before. She braced her hands of the bottom of the sill and stretched as close to the window as she could so she could try to see as much of the sky as she could.

Hermione sighed and stood back up when she realised that she could not see what she wanted to and that a trip to the top of the castle would be necessary. She glanced at the clock that hung above the door in the room, noticing that the time was well into the night and very obviously past curfew.

She moved silently back to her trunk and grabbed a warm cloak to protect her from the chill of the night as she made her way out of the room, making sure that the other girls were still asleep. She placed the cloak over her shoulders and clipped it into place as she descended the stairs into the main common room, hoping that no one was currently in there. As she stepped into the main commons she breathed a small sigh of relief that it was empty. She made her way to the portrait that guarded the hidden room and slipped out without waking The Fat Lady from her drunken slumber.

Hermione pulled the hood of her cloak over her head as she made her way down the winding corridors of the castle towards her destination, making sure to avoid as many of the main passageways as possible so not to be spotted by the patrolling prefects and teachers. She finally reached the foot of the staircase that wound it's way up the tallest tower in the building and began the long climb up to the top.

It wasn't long until she reached the door that opened up to the top of the tower. She opened the door and walked through as silent as she had made her way through the castle. Closing the door she made her way to the edge of the tower, away from where the roof protected those underneath from the elements so she could have a clear unobstructed view of the starry sky above.

Not many knew, in fact what no one knew, was that this young woman was most adept at reading the stars, as she had done so for her whole life. Everyone thought that she hated Divination because of the teacher and that there was no real and practical use for such a subject but they couldn't be further from the truth. Oh, she still hated the subject, just not for the reason that everyone thought.

Hermione studied the sky for long moments searching for one star in particular. Most of the time she liked to believe that her life wasn't ruled by these heavenly beings and that she was free to live her own life, but deep down she knew that she would never be free of them. Finally she found the star she had been looking for, almost hidden right by the constellation of Draco, and she laughed at the irony. Her star, one that should rarely be seen, was glowing dimly next to the namesake of one of her hated enemies.

Hermione shook her head in amusement as she looked away from her star. Did they think that this was going to upset her life? After all that she had been through? She looked back to her star and noticed that it was shining brighter. She sighed, as she finally realised what they were trying to tell her. Hermione did some rapid calculations in her head to try and figure out the when of what they were trying to tell her, by using the changes she had observed over the last couple of days to her star. After three attempts and all reaching the same answer, she gave up. It was too soon.

'Only one month left.' she whispered, her words being taken by the slight breeze that danced around the top of the tower. She had never noticed while she was star gazing that someone had joined her on the tower.

"One would think that you would learn, wouldn't you Granger?" said the other person who had joined her on the tower. "This is the third time that I have caught you up here this month. As prefect I should give you detention, and house points taken off."

"Good Evening Malfoy." She said not turning around to face the pale man who was leaning on the wall of the tower next to the door where she came out from, and continued to read the stars. "Or should I say Good Morning, since it is past midnight?"

"You know, I can never tell how you know the time when there is no clock around and you never wear a watch. But then again you are a know-it-all after all." he said, pushing himself off the wall and making his way to the stargazing woman.

"I have my ways Malfoy." she replied, looking at him briefly when he joined her on the battlements, looking up at the same stars that graced the skies every night, before looking back at her star.

"You know, I don't know what you see in these stars." he said, scanning the heavens, not really looking for anything in particular. "I mean they are just stars."

Hermione shook her head at his comment and turned to look at him in the face. While she hated him and couldn't understand why he was standing here with her on the tower in a seemingly civil conversation, she couldn't deny that he was a handsome man. Gone was the pointy featured boy of eleven which was replaced by a well bred young man with aristocratic features. His pale blond hair seemed to almost glow slightly in the moonlight and Hermione had to bite back a laugh and what they were trying to do.

"These are more then stars Malfoy. They are a story. The stars can tell you of things that have been, things that will be and everything in between, if only one cares to read the story." She looked back to the sky one last time before pushing herself away from the wall, turning and heading to the door.

"I really should report you for breaking curfew you know." said Malfoy whose back was to her. Hermione gave a half smile to which he couldn't see.

"But doing that would also reveal that you are out after hours as well. Plus I am Head Girl compared to your prefect status." she said as she opened the door that lead to the staircase. Just as she was about to step through the door he spoke up again.

"Only one more month for what?" She paused, thinking for a moment before continuing down the stairs. Her last words echoing around the battlements.

"Read the stars and you'll find out."