Singing to the Stars
Disclaimer: I do not, no matter how much I may want to, own any of the characters or the fantastic school they attend. That all belongs to the brilliant J. K Rowling.
And please review, I need to know if I'm doing alright :).
Here we go then:
Harry stripped off his invisibility cloak as he dragged himself through the portrait hole, glasses askew, his thoughts wandering in advance to his huge, soft and warm four poster bed. He stopped halfway through as the sound of singing reached his ears and his tired, sleep deprived brain tried to work out where he'd heard it before. It was a muggle song, Harry realised; he had heard it on the radio at his aunt and uncles before.
"She's got a smile that it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories, where everything was as fresh as the bright blue skies..."
Whoever was singing had a nice voice. Quiet and soft. Harry struggled through the rest of the portrait hole into the common room and looked around for the singer, brushing his unruly black hair out of his tired eyes and straightening his glasses unconsciously. There she was, sitting in one of the window seats. She was facing away from him and out the window into the night and had what Harry knew was an iPod trailing from her ears. But muggle stuff didn't work at Hogwarts, Harry thought with surprise. His own watch had stopped when he first arrived in his first year, even though he still wore it out of habit. She must have spelled it somehow, he thought, like Colin Creevy's camera.
Sleep and his bed all but forgotten, Harry crept closer to see who it was. She had bushy brown curls and dark blue PJs with stars on them...poor Harry almost fell over in shock when he realised it was Hermione. He had no idea she could sing! He was close to falling again
when he saw tears leaking from her eyes. Why would she cry? Harry was sure everything with Ron was alright at the moment and she hadn't said anything to him that he could remeber...
"Hermione?" he said softly.
Hermione turned around swiftly, taken completely by surprise. She hadn't heard anyone come in.
"Harry!" she hastily brushed away her tears and switching her iPod off, "I didn't hear you come in. What are you doing here?"
"I was just... well walking 'round the castle," he said sheepishly, "But, Hermione are you ok?"
She sighed and looked out the window again.
"I'm fine, Harry, I just miss home." She paused and looked up and out at the stars. "I get sad about it every now and then"
Miss home. Harry was astounded at himself. He had never once considered that Hermione would suffer from homesickness for the muggle world. He had never really missed it- Hogwarts was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He should have realised it would be different for Hermione. I mean come on; she had parents and family there. A home and people who cared about her... he should have thought about it at least!
A surprised "Oh" was all he could muster to display his sudden comprehension. Hermione laughed and turned back to him,
"Honestly Harry, did you think I didn't miss the muggle world at all?" she shook her head with a sad smile, fluffing her curls even more.
"It's hard when your parents don't fully understand what it is that you are or what we're supposed to learn here, and, well, everything else about being a witch."
Harry stood there feeling completely stupid that he had never thought about it before. What kind of friend was he? He'd noticed Hermione seemed sad sometimes, often for no reason, but had never bothered to ask why. He suddenly felt extremely small and incredibly disappointed in himself.
"Hermione I-I..." he ruffled a hand through his hair uncomfortably,
"I guess I never really thought about it. I never really- well I just... I'm sorry" he finished quietly.
Hermione looked up and smiled at him again. "It's alright Harry" she said shaking her head a second time, "I don't expect you to see everything!" she laughed. "Besides, the muggle world isn't the same for you as it is for me. You never had anything to tie you there, since your aunt and uncle aren't exactly, well, welcoming."
Harry smiled, "Yeah, I 'spose that's true. Still. I'm sorry," he said again.
"It's fine Harry, really." She turned back to the window again. He was going to head off to bed since sleep was practically dragging his green eyes closed and Hermione seemed to want to be alone, but was plagued by a nagging curiosity.
"Hermione?" he asked hesitantly.
"Hmmm?"
"How did you spell the iPod to work?"
She turned back around to face him and said patiently, "I just shielded the actual iPod from magical interference to stop magic from messing up how the electronics and chips are
actually supposed to work, and then spelled the whole thing to run off magic instead of batteries." She shrugged her shoulders, "I also managed to tweak the iTrip a bit so I can pick up the Wizard Wireless Network instead of the ordinary radio, which we would never be able to get here anyway. It wasn't too hard. I did have to consult a few books, and Fred and George actually, but I got there in the end."
Harry just looked at her in shock and shook his head. "Hermione, you never cease to amaze me."
She just laughed and said, "Go to bed Harry, you look like you're going to drop as we speak."
Harry grinned a weary grin, "Ok. Night, Mione. Don't feel too bad, there's not long to go 'till end of term."
"Thanks Harry. Night." Harry trudged up the stairs in anticipation of his bed. Hermione watched him go and smiled. He's a good guy, Ginny picked well. And she was lucky to have him as a friend. He's also considerably more perceptive than someone else she knows. Then again, who knew with a Weasley? Hermione turned to the window again, switched on her iPod and looked out at the stars singing,
"Ohhhh oh oh oh sweet child o' mine..."
Note: The song is by Guns 'N' Roses- it's Sweet Child O' Mine. One of my favourite songs.
What do you think?? R&R!!