So Chapter 2 is up. Just on time too, although it was written a week ago :P lol anyway I hope you enjoy it. Tell me what you think XD
BTW I do not own Harry Potter nor do I own the cast :'( They are the amazing work of J.K. Rowling XD
Thanks for reading :)
Six weeks later.
It was the little things that told her something was off. The feeling in the back of her mind that said she wasn't completely up to par. The way her normally superb memory had failed to remember simple details, the way parts of her memories seemed… off as if they were an illusion or the way she seemed to start second guessing her decisions.
It felt like her instinct was no longer an instinct and more of something she had to process first or guess about. As if she didn't know what she would normally do or how she would react in a situation. She was feeling off, not sick or worried and she couldn't really tell you why but she was. At first she considered that when her nightmares appeared less and less it was a good sign, she was moving forward, and just last week she could barely recall said nightmares.
Small things started to seem fuzzy in her mind but soon she forgot the difference and never bothered with the thoughts again. The way she seemed to be confused and unfocused in class told her something was different too. She'd seen things that were unfamiliar to her during class and that was defiantly a new experience for her. She should have known something was off based on her school performances that were unnoticeably steadily dropping. She should have confronted someone with her issue when she should have noticed the differences but she seemed to have forgotten about it later on before she ever had a chance.
She got to a point where she couldn't remember why things had seemed off in the first place and then she'd forgotten that anything was ever off completely. Like her mind and body were taking on a change, and they weren't really on the same page.
So it was completely natural for her to wake up the next morning feeling very light which was a feeling she hadn't felt since… since she didn't know when. She felt calm and peaceful and extremely happy when she woke up in her dorm room. She smiled at the shining window near her bed before jumping up and getting ready for a new day. It wasn't long before she was out through the porthole and on her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast with her friends.
She smiled when she saw her friends all waiting for her to join them. She quickly skipped over towards them and took a seat between Luna and Ron so she was across from Ginny, Neville and Harry. She beamed at each of them before she said "Good morning."
"Morning 'Mione, what's gotten you in such a mood?" Harry asked slightly sceptical.
"I don't know. I just woke up this morning feeling light and free." She said smiling at her best friend. He gladly returned the smile.
"That's good. Glad to hear it. You'd think we would deserve that feeling every now and then wouldn't you." He said smiling before starting up a quidditch conversation with Ginny and Ron.
She was slightly confused on his choice of words but they didn't bother her. And she shouldn't really be confused, after all didn't everyone deserve to feel as she did now every once and a while? Yes, she thought they did.
She started filling her plate with food while asking Luna about her day and her plans. She wasn't really all that interested in news on the Blibbering Humdingers or Umgubular Slashkilters but she pretended to be interested anyway.
Luna was a very good friend of hers and she really admired Luna's ability to believe in the improbable. The girl was very much an optimist and no matter what some people said, she thought Luna was close to taking away her title. Brightest witch of their age really should be a title for those willing to explore knowledge of all kinds; the kind taught at school, and the kind you learn through imagination, wonder and experience.
Soon enough breakfast was over and they were on their way to potions with Luna as the acceptance as she was off to charms with the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. When they reached the dungeons she practically skipped to her seat and began setting out her quills and parchment.
"Boy 'Mione" Harry said as he plopped down next to her. "You sure are in quite a mood this morning. It's nice to see you so cheerful. You almost look childish actually." He jokingly smiled at her.
She decided she wouldn't bother with Harry's choice of words once again, instead she shoved him slightly by bumping her shoulder into his as he took his seat in between her and Ron. She knew she was in a better mood than usual but was she usually in a mood Harry may have found unpleasant?
"Harry, do you find my usual mood..." She began never being one to beat around the bush though soon she stopped leaving the question hang in mid-air. Her eyes were drawn from her raven haired friend to the archway leading to their dungeons classroom.
"Yes." He said urging her to continue her sentence.
But she barely heard him as her attention was still focused on the doorway. Or more specifically the boy under it.
A fair haired boy had walked in and the lightness of his hair had caught her eye. She looked at him. He was tall, lean; he had an unreadable face, cloudy silver eyes, pale skin, and white blonde hair.
As she watched him take his seat she couldn't help wonder why she never really noticed him until this year. She knew who he was, Draco Malfoy of course. Everyone knew who he was, everyone knew who his family was since they held great power and influence in the wizarding ever since she'd become part of the magical world. She however didn't know why she had never talked to him. He seemed reserved she guessed maybe she just never wanted to bother him, but never speaking a word to him in seven years seemed odd.
She tried to think of anything that may have come to mind but nothing came up. She racked her brain for a moment more but still came up with nothing, a slight tingling had started in her mind and soon she left the topic alone. She normally had an impeccable memory. She could match names to faces and faces to names, usually any information given on any person or topic she could remember.
Even if she never spoke to one person she could place where she'd seen them around the school recently or which classes they had previously had together, but it was obvious to her that this boy was so reserved no information about him had ever really made it her way.
"Mione, what are you staring at?" Harry asked bringing her back from her world of thoughts. She looked back at him to find him following her line of sight, he frowned a little but that was all.
"Nothing Harry, it isn't important. " She said shaking her head trying to clear her thoughts. Strange.
"So what were you asking me?" He reminded her.
"Oh never mind, it's not a big deal." She smiled reassuringly towards him before focusing on Professor Snape as he came bellowing into the room.
"Today, we will be mixing up a Befuddlement Draught. Causing any unsuspecting person you use this on to become confused and unaware. Even the most extreme versions of these draughts and the ones made by professionals will only last a few hours. No harm can be done with these, though they are useful when escaping dangerous situations." He explained. But she already knew most of that. Even a draught like this prepared by Dumbledore himself would last no longer than three hours on someone. It didn't have many uses but it was indeed useful to know.
With the brief introduction they began preparing their potions and the class flew by. Being in a good mood she decided had many, many upsides. Harry Ron and herself were the first ones to complete their assignment and as Harry went to hand in a labelled portion of their finely conjured potion she and Ron began to clean up. Then slowly other pairs or groups finished and preceded to hand in and clean up until they were dismissed from their class and moving onto the next.
It really was an uneventful day. She made her way back to the Gryffindor common room began doing her homework before finishing her essays and assignments and heading downstairs for supper. It was only a few short hours she was lying awake in bed scanning for anything that related to the blonde boy in potions. Still nothing came to mind though, and she didn't even know why she was searching for him. But her mind soon became muddled with fuzzy details and thoughts as she drifted off to sleep.
She woke up with an immense feeling of uncertainty. She felt like everything had hit her at once, like all those fuzzy details that faded into nothing of importance had come back as blank space. There were suddenly so many things she couldn't remember. Why couldn't she remember? She couldn't remember him, or her sixth year, she couldn't remember what seemed like half of her Hogwarts life. Those thoughts and unanswered questions swam through her mind as she sat awake in bed after she woke up in trembles. A bad dream she supposed, only she couldn't remember what it was about.
Suddenly the words Harry spoke the other day came rushing to her mind. It's nice to see you so cheerful. You'd think we would deserve that feeling every now and then wouldn't you.
She decided the only way for her to find out would be to confront the boy who spoke such odd words. Deciding sooner was better than later she quickly got up and got ready to face the day. It was still too early to meet anyone for breakfast so she thought she'd save the questions at breakfast for now so she settled with heading down stairs to Gryffindor Common room.
Surprisingly she spotted a raven haired boy sitting in an armchair staring at the window straight away. She wondered why he was up so early but that hardly mattered as long as he was up.
"Harry?" She said to get his attention. He was caught off guard by the little voice behind him and even more surprise was evident in his eyes as he saw her standing before him.
"What are you doing down here Hermione?" He asked. "The sky won't even be streaked with light for another hour."
"I woke up early and had time to kill. I also came to ask you a question. Why are you up so early?" She asked.
"Bad dreams. Was it the same question you wanted to ask yesterday during potions?" He asked even more confused than the previous day. She knew he was asking himself what could be so important that she would come down looking for him when she would see him in an hour and a half or so anyway as she got up at a normal time but said nothing of it.
"Yes, well along the same lines. You said a few things to me yesterday that made me rather confused." She said explaining her thoughts.
He only nodded to show he was listening as she took a seat in the arm chair across from him.
"You said to me that we 'deserved to feel free' and that it was nice to see me so 'cheerful', what did you mean by that?" She asked him as light confusion danced in his eyes.
" Blimey 'Mione that was it? You had me all worried something was terribly wrong again. I thought for sure you would know what I meant." He said to her.
"What do you mean that was it? And you did it again. What was so terribly wrong the first time? Why would you be worried something terrible was going to happen again?" She asked questions flying out of her mouth right and left. She guessed the questions she'd forgotten had come back just as all the fuzzy details had, only she knew which questions to ask because she didn't know why she should have to ask them.
" Mione what are you talking about? The past seven years we've been surrounded by darkness, fighting battles that people thought we were too young to fight but never offered much of a helping hand. I thought it was nice to see you really smiling again and figured your nightmares were going away, that you're getting your life back. I was so happy to see you smiling so much yesterday because it felt like even if we faced such terrors we could bounce back and celebrate a normal life." He asked worry filling his eyes almost completely.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asked seconds later very slowly as though if he talked to quick she wouldn't comprehend.
Darkness? Battles? Nightmares? What in Merlin's name was he talking about? What darkness? When did they fight any battles other than duels in Defence Against the Dark Arts? And nightmares, was that like the one she just awoke from? Or what she thought she'd just awoken from?
"Mione? Hermione! Are you okay?" Harry asked bringing her out of her state of confusion once more.
"Harry, why do I not know what you're talking about?" She asked slowly bringing her eyes up to meet his emerald ones.
"What are you talking about?" He asked getting up to come sit closer to her.
"I don't know what you mean. I don't understand what you are talking about. What darkness, what battles and what nightmares? Are you being metaphorical with me because Harry James Potter this is not the time." She exclaimed and scolded.
"What? Hermione how could you not know what I'm talking about? I'm talking about Voldemort; the man that killed my parents, Sirius, and hundreds of muggles and wizards alike. The hold he had on people through fear. And the battles, like the last one, we won the war Hermione." Harry exclaimed. But with every word probably meant to answer her she became more and more confused and afraid.
"And your nightmares Hermione, you told me about them. About what happened during our hunt for Horcruxes; you said it was just like being in the mansion, that you could feel the pain again over and over. You said it was so real you felt like you were there again, you would wake up cold and shivering." He said further elaborating. She just sat their stunned looking at her best friend.
She didn't know what was going on and that was so very new to her. What battles was he talking about? What nightmares? She just woke up from a scary dream but she couldn't remember anything about it, was that the nightmares she told Harry about? No she didn't understand. She wondered for a brief moment if her friend was the one who had gone crazy. But she reminded herself she had been feeling odd lately before she'd felt this sudden calmness.
"Hermione, you're starting to scare me. Say something." He pleaded with the bushy haired girl. Shaking her shoulders slightly.
"Harry, who's Voldemort?" She asked.
So what do you think? Let me know. I'll try to post another chapter up soon, next Wednesday again I guess :)
I don't really like starting stories, I like writing all the drama and such but I do enjoy this story.
There's another story I'm working on that hasn't been posted yet. I want to but I'm not sure if I should have two going at the same time :P
Personally the story that currently isn't being posted is my favorite of the two. It's called Capella, Dramione fanfic as always ;)
Summary/Sneak Peek: "You'll do it Granger. You'll help me look after this child because you can't leave in good conscience knowing I am fully responsible for a child you know I care nothing about."