CHAPTER 2 – Library of disorder
Hermione stood, barefoot in the forest. It was nighttime, and the moon shone brightly but eerily down on her. She looked around, trying to see how to get back to the castle without running into one of the abundance of horrid creatures inhabiting the forest.
Not seeing a clear path, she just walked straight, hoping it would lead her to something.
This is very unlike me, she thought. She normally had a much more thought out plan, but then again, she normally knew how she'd gotten somewhere.
The noises of the forest bothered Hermione, from the distant howling to the scuttling of what seemed to be rather large bugs. She gritted her teeth and continued moving, but her scenery never changed. She seemed to be passing the same trees, same bushes and plants, without a path in sight. Her panic started to kick in.
She took a deep breath and turned to another direction, hoping she could find someone.
But when she turned, in her sights there was only a deathly pale face, staring straight at her. Although the face had no eyes, Hermione felt it's invading stare piercing her skin.
She went to scream but the thing's ice cold hand pushed on her throat hard, and not a sound came out. Hermione froze in place, and she trembled with fear. She shut her eyes tightly, shielding her gaze from what she was seeing.
Everything went black.
Hermione woke up sweating, and her brown waves of hair stuck to her neck. She went to pull off her blanket, but she must have kicked it off in her sleep. She pushed off her bed, only to find it had a rather… rough consistency.
Hermione screamed. She had woken up next to the forbidden forest.
She brushed the majority of the leaves off of her pajamas and scurried back to the castle. No one was out in the grounds yet, so she silently cheered.
The castle was a different story, though. All the students were hustling about, rushing to there individual classes. She must have missed breakfast.
She sprinted to her dormitory and practically yelled the password at the portrait, and burst into her room. Everyone had already left. She was happy about this, as she now didn't have to explain her strange ordeal this early. She had the fastest shower of her life, brushed her hair into a pony tail and threw her robes on, before scurrying to her first class of the year – potions.
Professor Slughorn didn't even raise an eyebrow to Hermione's late start, and she dropped herself into the seat next to Harry and Ron promptly.
"Where the bloody hell were you?" Ron interrogated. Hermione was taken aback by his harsh tone.
"What do you mean? I slept in." She lied.
"We were worried sick when you didn't show up to breakfast, Hermione. Malfoy wasn't there either, we thought he'd done something to you." Harry said.
Hermione scoffed. "Malfoy isn't exactly the most reliable person with early starts, if I remember correctly. I don't think he was on time for any of his O.W.L.S examinations." She pulled out her notebook. "And like I said, I was awfully tired."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Any more weird dreams?"
Hermione froze. Did he know? No, surely he couldn't. "No. I slept fine this time."
Harry nodded, questioning no more.
"Anyway, Hermione I'd like to take you on a walk tonight. I think you need some relaxation." Ron said, mimicking a romantic tone.
Hermione laughed. "Okay then, Ron."
Although she was drifting from Ron, she still appreciated the comfort he provided when she needed it most, and both of her friends knew she needed it right now.
She wasn't quite sure why these nightmares have been bothering her since the end of the war. They sure never made her sleepwalk like they had last night, but they had been taunting her almost every night. They were mostly the same thing, the faceless white creatures and the forbidden forest, and she really had no idea why she feared it so much. Hermione had ben tortured by the most crazed witch in existence, taken advantage of by the filthy leader of the snatchers, and hunted horcruxes while on the run, she could handle a couple of ghoul looking things.
She shook off her traumatic memories and tried to focus on potions, although her mind was flooded with the images from her dreams. She would definitely need to pay the library a visit this afternoon before her date, and perhaps the restricted section.
The class dragged on, and they only learned basic theory on mixture techniques, which Hermione had already previously memorized. She peered around the classroom, searching for Ginny. She had really missed her the past weeks.
The redhead was seated next to Luna, chatting animatedly. Due to the house unity program, all houses now shared classes. Unfortunately, the war caused student numbers to dwindle, so the classes weren't overcrowded because of this.
Hermione wrote a note to Ginny, and magically blew it over to her.
Ginny,
We both have a free next, and I need some girl time. Meet me down at the quidditch pitch, and we can sit and talk without being disturbed. Bring Luna.
Hermione
Ginny turned back and raised an eyebrow at Hermione, but just nodded.
Class dragged, but the bell finally rang and Hermione gave a quick goodbye to both Harry and Ron, before making her way to the quidditch pitch.
"Wait, so you and Ron haven't had sex yet?" Ginny asked, shocked. "Ew, this is such a disgusting conversation, who would want to… with him!" Her face looked appalled.
"Well see, that's my problem. I know I'm not ready, but I think he is. He's been talking about it a lot lately, and he wants to go on a walk with me tonight alone and he never does that so I'm worried that he's going to want to and –" I babbled.
Luna cut me off. "But Hermione, I don't think Ron would make you do something you don't want to."
I gave a deep sigh. "I know he wouldn't, girls. But that's my problem. He's such a nice guy, he's sweet, he's been my best friend for years but I just… don't want to do that with him. And he's so good to me that I feel awful for feeling this way."
Ginny tilted her head. "But you can't help how you feel, Hermione. I mean, you're a virgin. Of course you're not just going to throw yourself at him."
Virgin. I wish, Hermione thought to herself. But she could never tell them the real reason she couldn't be intimate with Ron. Not yet, at least.
"Granger, a prude little virgin? Why, that doesn't shock me." Daphne Greengrass and Millicent Bullstrode stood near them, arms crossed. "Why, Milly, does it shock you?" Daphne cocked her head towards Millicent.
"Not at all, Daphne. I don't think anyone would go near that, not if their lives depended on it."
Both of the girls sniggered nastily.
"Not everyone opens their legs for anything that moves, Daphne. Some girls have class." Ginny snapped.
Daphne gave a cruel look to Hermione, and her eyes roamed her from head to toe. "Clearly not all of them." With that, the girls tossed their hair over their shoulders and strutted away, where some Slytherin boys were passing the quaffle around on their broomsticks.
"Those girls are quite nasty." Luna observed.
"They've got it out for you this year, Hermione." Ginny stated.
That was for sure. Hermione wasn't sure what she'd done wrong. "I've never even talked to those girls before, I don't know why they'd be so mean to me."
Ginny stared at Hermione curiously. "Well, you're competition now. We share a house, so the boys that those girls own, now live in the same quarters as us, and those girls don't like to share."
Hermione laughed. "But why would I be competition of all people? I'm not exactly the most flirtatious of all the girls here."
"Well, you've actually blossomed quite a bit since the war, Hermione. You're rather pretty compared to the other girls, and even Ginny and I have noticed the boys looking at you." Luna's trancelike voice informed her.
Hermione blushed. She supposed she was a fair bit different – Her bushy hair now tamed, into soft silky waves falling to he waist, her dull skin now creamy and smooth. She'd grown taller and her body filled out in the right places, no longer skinny and boy-like.
"I highly doubt that. And anyway, I'm not interested in any of those foul gits." Hermione said proudly.
Ginny wiggled her eyebrows. "Hey, come on! Blaise is a fine piece of work. And Malfoy always has had that sexy, bad boy look."
Hermione snorted. "Yes, if you're into Death Eaters. I'm heading to class. Don't make me tell Harry you said that, Ginny!"
Ginny laughed, and the three girls rose and headed to class.
The library was by far Hermione's favorite place in the world. The smell of books, the warm atmosphere, the silence… Everything was absolutely perfect.
Hermione breathed in the feeling deeply. Oh, how it relaxed her.
She walked through the aisles, trailing her fingers over the spines of books as she walked past. She wasn't entirely sure what to look for, but she knew she wouldn't find it in any ordinary section.
She headed to the desk where the head librarian, Madam Pince, was seated. Her nose was in a book and paid no attention when Hermione stepped forward.
"Um… Madam Pince? I needed to see a book in the restricted section, if that's okay." Hermione asked tentatively.
"It's restricted for a reason, dear… Oh!" She looked up and saw it was Hermione. "Of course dear, I'm assuming it's for study purposes, hm?"
"Of course, Madam Pince." Hermione lied.
Madam Pince waved her wand and a trickle of sparks erupted from it, and drifted to where the gated section was. The door slowly opened.
Hermione hurried over, before it closed behind her.
"Lumos!" She voiced, and her wand lit up. She searched around, looking for anything to do with what was happening with her.
"Dream Ghouls…" She read aloud the title of a book she now held in her hand. She opened it up to a random page.
A dark, twisted creature decorated the page. It was a shade of ebony black with savage teeth and glowing, yellow eyes.
She quickly closed the book. "Definitely not that."
"You have got to be the last person I expected to see here." A voice startled her, causing her to drop the book.
Draco Malfoy stepped out of the darkness, and lit his wand as well. "Don't have to hide now, I suppose. Not with the "brightest witch of the age" hanging around." He mocked.
"What on earth are you doing in here?" Hermione questioned, not hiding the insult from her voice. "Never mind actually, I'd rather not know. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be off."
She bent down to pick up the book she dropped, but Draco was too fast. He picked it up before she even knew what was happening.
"Dream Ghouls, Granger?" He looked at her. Was that surprise in his eyes? Curiosity? She couldn't quite tell. He gripped her arm tightly. "Why are you reading this?"
She tried to shake away his hand, but he was too strong. "Merlin, what is wrong with you?" He still wouldn't let go. "It's for an extra credit assessment. The new Defense against the Dark Arts Professor wants to see if I live up to my record. Can you let go now?"
Draco looked disappointed. He let go, and walked around her, leaving the restricted section. He stormed out of the library, but not before Hermione noticed the crumpled leaves decorating his silver hair.
Draco was in the restricted section, and exploring in the forest… That couldn't be good at all.
She sighed, and put the book back. What a useless library trip.
She locked the restricted section behind her, and ventured off to meet Ron at the common room like she promised.
And there's Chapter 2! Thank you again for reading, please review and tell me what you thought! Lots of love xxx
Preview for Chapter 3 – Dreams to Reality
Hermione's date doesn't go to plan, or at all, actually. Hermione's secret comes out by accident, and Hermione's dreams reach her on a much more personal level…
