It was another ordinary day where Hermione Jane Granger laid beneath the pile of books drowning her self as tiny little chills ran down her spine from the cold stony floors.
She was certain no one would bother her here.
Nobody knew of it but her or at least she thought nobody did and of course the librarian. Probably because them two were the only ones brave enough to stay in the library after curfew.
As she lay there she was certain the librarian would be arriving soon to tell her to leave. She always did. In about ten minutes it would be curfew and Filch would scurry around the school looking for misbehaving children and she needed to get back to the common rooms quick before Filch came and busted her again but as of now she really didn't care. Apathy was overwhelming inside of her like a life sucking leech starved for years.
She really wished as times like these she would just disappear into one of her novels.
Live a life of fairytale, where her handsome prince came and swept her off her feet. She sure was a dreamer since fairytales were exactly what they were, fairytales. Reality and Fantasies never mingled well together and she was taught that lesson years ago. The rules of reality never worked like the ones of her novels, it was scientifically and physically impossible. Reality always found mischievous ways to shatter the mirage of happiness.
After six years of fighting Death Eaters and seeing the deaths of her loved ones.. it was hard to keep yourself sane and optimistic you know? Things only got harder after the resurrection of Voldermort. That bloody mother fucker wouldn't die; someone just had to revive the damned bastard, that stupid rat man...
He thought that by resurrecting Voldermort, he would award him richly.. which was obviously only in his dreams since Voldermort still treated him like dirt. Everyone knew that. Because of that stupidly blind rat man, everyone had to suffer and face the consequences of death and fear for years.
Another thing bothering Hermione Granger was the fact that the Halloween Dance was coming up soon and she didn't have a date. Harry was obviously going with Ginny after all, they were going out for the last six months and Ron Weasley, ohhhh... that boy… she didn't even want to think about him.
He had the guts to confess his 'love' for her weeks before and than right after he went ahead and asked Lavender Brown to the dance instead of her. He made no sense at all and before he pulled off this stupid prank she was actually considering giving the chit a chance too. She knew that she wasn't that pretty but she knew that she wasn't butt ugly either. She was decent to look at; at least that was what she thought…wasn't she? No she wouldn't think about that now, there were always other days to drown youself in self pity...
"Hermione dear, it's time for you to go. I knew I would find you here. Come now hurry up, time to go before Filch comes." With a soft voice the librarian smiled down at Hermione.
She didn't even hear the librarian walk up to her.
Was she that lost into her thoughts?
Opening one eyes, Hermione sheepishly smiled back at the librarian's kind face.
"Sorry Ms.Hippocruff… I'll get going soon. Ill clean up here for you if you dont mind. You could go ahead and start closing. Good night and thank you."
With a gentle weary smile the librarian walked away leaving Hermione to clean up after herself.
"Thank you Hermione. Get back safely." and she was gone.
After putting all fifty books back up into the right shelves, which wasn't very hard since she had her trusty magical wand. Too tired to walk all the way back to the common rooms, Hermione decided to take a little short cut to the common rooms. After going on many of her adventures with Harry and Ron, she was an expert on secret passages.
Discreetly she opened the little door behind the statue next to the library making sure no one saw her.
As she entered into the dark stony walls of the secret passage way, something didn't feel right. Too tired to think straight she just shook it off and continued on with her little mission : To get back to the common rooms without being seen by Filch or his damned cat Mrs.Norris that caused so much trouble for her in the past and the present.
That cat was everywhere, maybe the cat had magical abilities... who knew, that was besides the point.
Anyways, she continued down the dark pathway and took many twists and turns but this time something was wrong or different...?
She couldn't really put her finger on it but something was different that was for sure, but she knew she was going the right way. She thought twice in going back the way she came.. but if she did head back to toward the library she risked getting caught by Filch.. No!
She was a Gryffindor and she was NOT scared, besides what could possibly go wrong.. Right?
With another hesitant step, her body continued further down into the passage way, ignoring the little voice in her head telling her to turn back...
A little further down, she saw the door that was almost invisible to the naked eye. She knew nothing would go wrong. She knew she would get back to the common rooms without any bodily harm coming her way. She knew it. Yea right... She was a little scared out of her mind for a second.
Who was she kidding, she was scared out of her mind, but still she was happy that nothing went wrong and now she would be reunited with her beautiful down feathered bed and pillows. What a bed it was...
Not wanting to waste any more time she reached the hidden door within seconds.
Taking out her wand, she tapped around the stony corners three times and softly muttered "pickle-nickel".
After about couple more seconds, the door glowed a light warm pink and the door slowly slided opened leading her out of the dark creepy passage way for good.
But as soon as she exited the secret door, the color in her cheeks drained.
This was definitely not the Gryffindor hallways; it was far, far, far away from it.
Her eyes roamed around the walls and she immediately knew where she was. Silver and Green drapings and who could miss the infamous Slytherin snake... she knew her gut feelings were trying to tell her something!
This meant she was in the Slytherin Corridors.
She had to get out of here fast, who knew what would happen to her if a group of Slytherins found her in their territory or if Snape found her?
NO… she had to stay optimistic, she was stronger than any Slytherin scum-bag and she had her faithful wand with her to protect her. She knew almost every spell there was including some unforgiveable curses as well.
During the war, it was a requirement for all fourth years and older to learn the spells for self defense against the Death Eaters or other magical threats.
Hermione stood up straight and dusted her skirt off and decided to try finding her way back before she really got caught by someone. She knew for sure she wouldn't be returning the passage ways soon, who knew where it would lead her to next. Pulling her tanned messenger bag back onto her shoulders, she quietly walked down the hallways, not noticing the lights were glowing brighter than before. Which meant someone was aleady there or she was getting deeper into the common rooms.
She really didn't know where she was heading off to, she never explored the Slytherin common rooms dungeons before, so she was absolutely utterly lost. …
After about twenty minutes of circling the hallways she started to get nervous. Lost in her own thoughts she didn't hear the light footsteps heading towards her. Before Hermione could stop herself, she fell tumbling down onto the floor with her books scattering all around her from her bag.
"Oh excuse me, I'm sorry.. Let me help you up." Before she could protest, he,( determining by his grip and voice), hauled her up easily back on her feet. Once she was up they both got a clearer look at who it was, she was in shock.
"Malfoy? What are you doing here?" with a humorous glint in his eyes he answered her obviously stupid question.
"What am I doing here Granger? What are you doing here? These are the Slytherin corridors and the last time I checked I was definitely a Slytherin."
Feeling stupid and at a loss of words for the first time in her life, she kneeled down to pick up her abandoned messenger bag and books.
"Well I guess, your right for once in you life Malfoy… well anyways thank you for your help.."
Even if thought they were being civil toward each other at the moment she still didn't trust this boy at all and she was getting ready to run if the situation came to be or just hex his ass to China. She liked the last idea better.
Draco got a quick glimpse of uncertainty and distrust in her eyes.
Deciding to break the silence Draco looked at her in the eyes, "So Granger, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here middle of the night in our humble Slytherin dungeon corridors.. all by yourself and don't lie to me. I hate liars."
He waited for Hermione to answer back. "To be honest Malfoy I don't have to tell you anything but if you must know… I think I'm lost." Hermione searched around the hallways trying to figure out a way back to her common rooms.
Too absorbed in her thoughts, Hermione forgot where she was and who she was with, she started to do that a lot after the wars ended.
Draco just stared at her; she really did change over the years. From the fuzzy haired mud blood he first met, she was now a matured woman with soft luscious curls that framed her heart shaped face. She wasn't as ugly as he thought he was… she was kind of...
NO!! he couldn't think that way about her that way, she was the bookworm mud blooded Gryffindor princess and war hero. That meant she was off limits. Besides they couldn't stand each other and hated each other with a passion or so he convinced himself. The Slytherin Prince could not seriously be attracted to the Gryffindor Princess, which was impossible. She had mud blood cooties.
"So you're lost are you? Well good luck finding your way out. Hopefully you'll still be alive by tomorrow morning. Good night Granger." With a smirk he took turned around to leave, but before he could go any further Hermione called out to him.
"Malfoy hold up." whispered Hermione, her voice barely audible.
"Wait a second, um I was wondering since your already here, if you could help me find my way back. I'm sure you don't want to but could you help me... Please?" with a loud sigh she let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding in.
She just stared at him playing with her fidgety fingers as she waited for his response, ashamed of asking a Malfoy for help.
His grey eyes turned metallic as he looked into her honey brown eyes as if trying to search for something. Hermione grew even more nervous and irritated. How hard was it to answer a simple question… and how long was he going to look at her?
"You know if you don't want to all you have to say is no." angrily she stared into his cold steel grey eyes searching for a answer, any answer, but they nothing was there.
"Fine then Malfoy, I'll take your silence as a no then. Good night Malfoy, thanks for your help and yes I'm being sarcastic." huffed Hermione.
With that she headed the opposite direction from the 'stupid ferret', leaving him standing there all by himself.
At first she didn't notice but the more she looked around her, she saw that the hallways were nearly empty.
They lacked the usual decorations of paintings of famous wizards and witches. That was very strange since Hogwarts was known for all the famous decorations adorning the walls.
After about an hour of aimlessly walking around in circles, she realized she was still very much lost and she didn't even know if she was still in the Slytherin Corridors anymore.
She tried to look for clues to where she was, she never got lost at Hogwarts in her six years of attending the school, and well there was always a first for everything. She didn't know where she was or what time it was but by now it was probably a little past two, who knew...
She sure didn't.
Not knowing what to do anymore, Hermione slid down next to a statu, resting her head on her arms from exhaustion. She was tired and the more she tried to focus on staying awake, the harder it got.
Slowly slipping into unconsciousness she quickly fell asleep as dreams of being in her warm bed and holding Crookshanks in her arms invaded her tired mind, the whole time not noticing the pair of steel gray eyes watching her from the shadows...
"Mione! Hermione! Wake up, today's Halloween! Wake up! Wake up!" slowly Hermione started to wake up.
Where was she?
Was she still in the hallways?
Wow the groud wasn't as cold as she thought..she was so warm and the ground was so lusciously comfortable.
Where was she?
"Ughm.. Ginny?" she grunted.
" Ginny where am I?" she groggily said while looking around her surroundings.
She was in her room...
How did she get back into her room?
The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the hallways after being lost for who knows how long no thanks to Malfoy.
"Hermione wake up!" screamed Ginny.
" It's Halloween and we only have ten hours to get ready! You need to get up now!!" half screaming and jumping into Hermione's ears.
Not waiting for a response, Ginny impatiently pulled Hermione out of her warm comfortable down feathered bed, so they could get ready for the day...
not noticing the bag of jelly beans and a note sitting right across from her.
...
AN: Hello! If you guys like this story and would like for me to continue then please review. Thanks!! God Loves...