A/N: A huge thanks to EllaLewis, my first reviewer and follower, and to golojolo for favorite-ing. I'm glad you liked the beginning, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story. :)

It was with a great deal of surprise that she found a genie's lamp within the Room of Requirement. She shouldn't have been so shocked, of course, knowing what the room was, but she was.

She'd come to the room on a day when there was no meet with one thing on her mind—happiness. Happiness for Harry, for Ron, for the whole Weasley family, for Neville, for Sirius, for Remus… for her. At the moment, happiness seemed practically inaccessible, but it was the one thing she could think about—after the war, would there be any left?

And then the room gave it to her—a beautiful genie's lamp, on a pedestal in the midst of silk curtains and gorgeous pseudo-light. It was golden and shining, sitting on its pedestal as if it belonged there. There it was—her happiness. No, no. Their happiness.

x.

She'd had the lamp for a whole three weeks and she hadn't yet rubbed it. Did she feel guilty about it? Yes, very. She felt awful about it. She had, in her hands—or more accurately, hidden under her pillow—the power to end the war, to save Harry from more pain, to help others, to stop Voldemort… and yet, fear kept her from rubbing it and summoning the genie within.

How did she even get into Gryffindor, if she couldn't find the courage to find happiness?

x.

In the end, it took an accident to summon the genie. She'd been holding it in her hands in the middle of the night when Parvati made a loud snorting noise and scared Hermione. The lamp flew into the air and Hermione dove to catch it, and her hands slipped across the surface as she did so.

Surprisingly, the appearance of the genie was not nearly as loud or eccentric as she'd expected. Instead, before her appeared an incredibly handsome man with his legs crossed on the floor.

"I was wondering how long it would take you," he said to her softly, then grinned. His teeth were perfect. "You've been holding on to that lamp for so long, I was starting to wonder if you ever would."

She stared at him for a moment awkwardly before emitting a quiet "Hi."

His grin widened into a smile. "Hello, there."

She promptly fainted.