"Prefects, please lead your houses to their dormitories. Please use utmost caution during the move," Professor McGonagall announced, watching as the prefects of every house stand up, calling their house to follow them. Dinner had ended and it was time for everyone to gain the rest they needed for the next day.
"Gryffindor, follow us!" Ron bellowed out, watching the whole house of Gryffindor stand up and walk along behind him and Hermione. As Hermione walked through the doors of the Great Hall, someone bumped into her, making her stop her walking. Orderly fashion would be nice. Hermione sighed.
"Sorry." Hermione heard a familiar voice apologize and it sent a sort of tingly feeling come over her. She turned around and found Cho nervously smiling at her.
"It's okay, at least you didn't trample me," Hermione quietly chuckled, pointing out everyone else's rushed walking. She saw the lightened look on Cho's face and smiled.
"Something more orderly would be nice once in a while," Cho added, before starting her walk once again. As she began her walk, she didn't notice Hermione's change in expression. Why are you feeling embarrassed now? Granger, you're a sad case. Hermione thought, as she felt an odd feeling rupture through her veins.
"Right. I should get back to Ron, don't want anything bad to happen to our house," Hermione stated, quickly darting back to the front of Gryffindor's crowd. Cho raised an eyebrow, but smiled at the other girl's quick departure. Is she embarrassed by me? She looked down to the ground, still faintly smiling, before making her way to the Ravenclaw Tower.
-----
Hermione finally managed to get herself to the front of the Gryffindor group, taking her place with Ron and Harry.
"Where did you run off to?" Ron asked, looking over at the girl whose face was flushed. Hermione cleared her throat and made her way up the moving staircase, before answering Ron.
"Someone bumped into me," Hermione simply answered, looking at the portrait of the Fat Lady. Ron smirked and placed his hand on Hermione's shoulder.
"This person must have done a number on you. You're turning red," Ron stated. Hermione looked at him and furrowed her brow. She then turned to Harry, hoping that Ron was kidding, but he nodded otherwise. You're blushing because of Cho Chang. What are you so embarrassed about?! Hermione scoffed and turned back to the portrait, reciting the password to enter the common room.
"Cinder Incendio." The portrait swung open, revealing the passageway into Gryffindor territory. Hermione squirmed from Ron's grasp, entering rather forcefully into the common room. Ron and Harry exchanged glances, knowing that Hermione's temperament could lead to a couple Bat Bogey hexes or Body Bind Curses their way.
Why am I acting like this? First, there's Cho. I accidentally ended up staring at her, nothing to be embarrassed about. I was caught up in my thoughts. Yeah, about her. Then, Caitlyn. I nearly drop trifle all over her. Merlin, what's wrong with me? Hermione groaned, plopping herself onto one of the common room's armchairs, staring at the fire. She rubbed her temples, hoping to deflect the coming on of a headache.
"Everyone! Everyone! Please gather 'round," Professor McGonagall's voice filled the common room's air. Hermione grunted in disapproval, but stood up and headed to the large ring of students that surrounded Professor McGonagall. She stood beside Harry and Ron, wondering what was going on.
"Those of you in the higher years may have probably seen a new face. You may have talked to her and introduced yourselves, but for those who do not know what I'm talking about, you all have a new student among you." All the students from the first and fifth years began whipping their heads around to find the new student. As they continually searched, a tall girl walked up beside Professor McGonagall, smiling towards everyone. There, possibly every male student; with a few girls, seemed to have sighed.
"Damn, she's fit," Fred whispered, nudging his twin brother; George, who chuckled. Everyone in the room began to fill with distinctive whispering and it made Hermione shake her head.
"This is Caitlyn Chan and she's part of the seventh year class. She will be part of the fifth year Defence Against the Dark Arts class throughout the year, but she'll appear in a few Transfiguration and Potions classes from the third to seventh years. Please make her feel welcomed," Professor McGonagall announced, over the whispering.
Nearly everyone, males obviously, in the room began swooning as Caitlyn smiled again. The girl nervously chuckled, seeing the glazed eyes and the drool that began to run down most of the students' mouths. Bloody hell, how did I get into this? Caitlyn inwardly groaned, hoping that everyone would turn around and walk away.
Hermione crossed her arms and smirked, thinking Caitlyn's sudden popularity was a waste of time and completely overrated.
"You'd think she's a Veela," Hermione whispered, thinking that no one would hear her over the whispering. She shook her head and sighed, turning around to sit back onto the armchair she had claimed earlier.
"No, as a matter of fact, I'm not a Veela." Hermione stopped in her tracks, unsure of what she heard. She furrowed her brow and turned to look at Caitlyn, who in turn smiled and looked at her. Did she really hear me?
"By the way, Caitlyn has a heightened sense of hearing at times and please avoid crossing her, her spell casting is very... advanced." Caitlyn lightly laughed at McGonagall's added statement, which caused everyone to take a step back from where they stood.
"Professor, I believe you scared them now," Caitlyn smirked. She looked over at McGonagall who smiled back at her.
"A simple precaution, nothing out of the ordinary," McGonagall added, walking towards the staircase leading to the girls bedrooms. As she made her way up the staircase, she quickly hollered out a request.
"Miss Chan, Miss Granger, please follow me." Hermione and Caitlyn glanced at each other, before quickly running behind McGonagall.
-----
Hermione and Caitlyn walked into the bedroom Professor McGonagall entered, taking a seat closest to the Professor.
"You called for us, Professor?" Hermione looked up at the older woman, watching her close the door, before turning back towards them.
"Well, you and Miss Chan will be sharing this room together. Since she's a new student, I'd rather have a prefect watch over her. After what I've seen earlier, I don't think many of the other girls would actually take Caitlyn as a roommate. Please Miss Granger, make Caitlyn feel welcomed. Also, she's mingled with Muggles, so I believe you two will have something to talk about," Professor McGonagall explained, seeing Hermione's unchanged expression. She then glanced over to Caitlyn, who too didn't seem exactly excited with the room changes.
"Professor, what about our trunks?" Hermione asked. The older woman pointed to the other end of the room, causing the other two to turn around.
"They've been brought already. Now, how do you miss something like that?" Caitlyn smirked, seeing her belongings beside the other bed that laid beside a window.
"Now, I must leave. I trust that you two will be good friends." Hermione weakly smiled, while Caitlyn nodded. McGonagall turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Now what? I don't know anything about her and we're roommates? She's a seventh year, what kind of comparison is this? Hermione inwardly, feeling quite dreadful as to the new arrangements.
"So. With the Professor's tone, I can safely assume you've been with Muggles?" Hermione fled her thoughts and turned to Caitlyn, nodding slightly.
"Yes, I'm a Muggle-born. I'm the first magically inclined person in my family," Hermione answered back, pulling herself further onto her bed. She watched as Caitlyn slowly nod her head before looking down to the floor.
"Any siblings?" Caitlyn turned to face the brunette who shook her head.
"You?"
"Separated at birth. Family had a complication with magic, so they separated away from me. I guess I was too much to handle," Caitlyn chuckled self-deprecatingly. Hermione couldn't help, but edge closer to the Asian girl, enveloping her in a hug. She felt bad that Caitlyn was separated by her sister at birth because of magical complications. What kind of complications would simply tear a family apart? A family is meant to stay together no matter what, they are naturally flesh and blood. It's magic, it should bring families together. Are her parents discriminating her because she has a magical background? Are her parents even magical to begin with? She's mingled with Muggles, so is she basically a Muggle-born? Wow... Hermione pulled away from Caitlyn and placed her hands on her lap, looking down.
"Are you a Muggle-born?" Hermione blurted out. She quickly clapped her hand over her mouth, thinking that she was beginning to pry into Caitlyn's life. She looked up and saw the other girl turn away, and it made Hermione's heart sink, realizing she possibly crossed the line.
"No, my family's all magical. I've... I'm just different," Caitlyn answered. No hint of sadness, no hint of anger, a simple statement evident of indifference. Hermione felt her heart break as she noticed Caitlyn's lack of emotion for her family.
"Honestly, I don't hate my family for separating away from me because I understand their situation. I still love them; especially my sister, even if I haven't met her. All I know is that I wouldn't abandon her for any reason. She can trust me, she can rely on me and I'll protect her. Anyways, enough about my life, talk to me about you," Caitlyn quickly spun the tables around. She looked over at Hermione and softly smiled, hinting that everything was all right.
"Me? There's nothing interesting about me. I'm your average bookworm," Hermione deflected, turning away as she ran her hands over her knees. She heard Caitlyn chuckle and it suddenly made her feel warm inside.
"Come on, there's something interesting in everyone. Seriously, talk to me about your parents. Are you a Muggle-born yourself? Open your mouth and let everything out," Caitlyn coaxed, watching the other girl still hesitate. She turned her body around, facing Hermione, and raised her right hand towards the girl, lifting her chin.
Hermione felt her cheeks begin to heat up at the touch from Caitlyn. As she looked up at the older girl, the hand moved away, leaving a lasting mark on her.
"Okay. I'm a Muggle-born myself and my parents are dentists. I'm the first witch in my family, which I find quite interesting because it's like I skipped generations and became a witch. I think my very distant grandparents were magical and it took a while to get to me. Isn't it weird that someone can simply become a witch if their parents aren't magical to begin with? I find that fascinating--" Hermione immediately stopped talking when she found something obstructing her mouth. Her eyes quickly opened wide when she realized what was covering her mouth.
Oh my-- she's kissing me! Pull back! Pull back! Hermione's thoughts began to race, as she realized how wrong the situation she was in. She was kissing Caitlyn Chan, a girl whom she barely knew. Unfortunately, her body didn't obey her thoughts. Her eyes began to flutter shut and her mouth began to open ever so slightly.
"Hermione!" The bushy haired girl pulled away abruptly and accidentally shoved Caitlyn off the bed, sending her onto the carpeted floor with a muffled thud. The Asian girl groaned, as she felt her back land solidly against the floor, sending a numbing feeling through her body.
A red haired girl came bursting through the bedroom door, nearly slamming the door into Caitlyn's head.
"Ginny, watch out!" Hermione cried out, watching as the younger girl stop the door mere inches from Caitlyn's head. Ginny looked down and noticed the other girl's face that was contorted in pain before raising her gaze to Hermione, finding her rather flushed.
"'Mione, are you okay?" Ginny asked, straying from her original intention of being in the room. She carefully walked into the bedroom and quietly closed the door behind her, minding Caitlyn's odd position on the floor.
"Huh? I'm perfectly fine, why do you ask?" Hermione retorted, hearing her voice faintly crack at the end of her question. She watched as Ginny stare at her, a stare of scrutiny that made her insides fill with fear.
"It looks like you just had an argument with Ron; your face is completely red," Ginny answered, averting her attention towards Caitlyn who was still on the floor.
"W-What? Oh, it must be school jitters, being a new year and all. So much to think about and consider, I must have been on a spree while I was talking to Caitlyn," Hermione lied, still feeling her insides rise in temperature. Although Ginny was her best friend, there was no way she would tell her that she was kissed by a girl, especially when she was liking it.
Hermione watched Ginny extend her hand towards Caitlyn, helping her up to her feet. She noticed the older and more taller girl keep hold of Ginny's hand.
"Caitlyn Chan, pleasure to meet you," Caitlyn introduced herself; more formally than earlier's introduction leading to many daydreaming students. Ginny smiled, shaking hands with the seventh year.
"Ginerva Weasley, please call me Ginny," The red-haired girl replied back, noticing Caitlyn's warm smile across her face. The two retracted their hands before turning towards Hermione.
Oh, that's mint. They're friends. Hermione looked down at her lap and saw the two girls sit on either side of her. She sighed, realizing that this was going to be one interesting school year.
-----
A tension in the air began to build up as the silence of the night began to send chills upon Hermione's spine. She glanced around and found herself in the halls of the school. Familiarity had given her a reassuring blanket to hide behind, but that wasn't enough to comfort her. She noticed her vision beginning to darken, the luminosity of the moon began to disappear. Beginning to run, Hermione had been approached by two robed figures, both of which she felt familiar with. The shadows of the halls kept the two masked, but Hermione felt the need to trust them.
"Death is your only option," A male voice happily stated. Hermione's blood ran cold, knowing whose voice it possibly could have been. Hermione found herself in The Forbidden Forest, the black scenery sent her heart racing.
"Sectumsempra!" The man casted.
"NO!" Hermione cried out, jerking herself up into an upright position. She began to heave for air, as if she'd been choked of it. Her forehead was covered in a cold sweat and her heart was sent racing beyond belief. That was one hell of a dream... Hermione sighed, trying to steady her breath. She didn't know who those figures were and why someone tried to kill them.
"Hermione?!" Caitlyn came bursting through the door after hearing Hermione's scream. She stumbled a few steps before looking over at the other girl, finding her nearly terrified out of her skin. Hermione's face looked to be frozen in fear and Caitlyn began to walk over to her. Before Caitlyn could even think of taking a step to Hermione's bed, she smelled something burning and turned to her right and found the curtains on fire.
"Grief!" Caitlyn's eyes widened as she pulled out her wand, pointing it at the curtains. A jet of water emitted itself from the end of the wand, extinguishing the growing flames. As soon as she was certain the flames had been doused out, she waved her wand again to repair the curtains. As soon as the curtains had been returned to their original state before the sudden burning, Caitlyn turned around and faced Hermione.
"Expelliarmus," Caitlyn casted, sending the wand in Hermione's hand away. Hermione mindlessly watched her wand fly across the room. She didn't know how in the world she managed to get her wand in her sleep, much less cast a possible Incendio spell without consciously saying the incantation. What the hell happened to me? Hermione looked over at Caitlyn, who sat beside her, reaching her hand towards her. To her shock, Caitlyn began brushing her hand across her face wiping the tears that stained her cheeks. Tears? Was I crying? Hermione began to regain her senses and felt her lower lip quiver as well as her whole body.
"'Mines, what's wrong?" Caitlyn softly whispered, looking down into the brunette's terror-filled eyes. She knew that there was something eating up the younger girl, but she couldn't figure it out by her mere appearance. As much as she tried to look deep into Hermione's eyes, Caitlyn saw a wall built up that locked her out. Damn it, what's wrong... Caitlyn moved her hand onto Hermione's shoulder.
"Nothing, nothing. It.. was... n-nothing," Hermione stammered out. She removed herself from Caitlyn's grasp, and headed to her trunk. Caitlyn, completely unconvinced, followed Hermione with hopes to find out what happened. She went as far as to follow her to the dorm bathroom.
"Hermione..." Caitlyn further pressed on. She followed Hermione all the way to the showers, but the younger girl continued to ignore her. Oh give me the cold shoulder... Caitlyn sat on a bench, not wishing to leave Hermione's side. The silence between them began to irritate the older girl and she realized that the other students were staring at her.
"Fine, I'll leave," Caitlyn sighed, padding her way back to the dorm room. As she began to leave, Hermione glanced out the curtain and watched the girl disappear. I just met you, there's no way I'd want to waste your time with my problems.
The warm water began to cascade across Hermione's face, washing away the fear-stricken sweat away from her. Hermione began to attempt to decipher the nightmare she had and she had no luck. The shadows that delved deep into the school, the unusual haunting feeling from the Forbidden Forest, the voice of death of which she knew of but couldn't put a name to, and the final spell that had her awaken.
Who are these people? What does that dream mean? Who's trying to kill me? Hermione shut her eyes, trying to figure out all the possible people who could have been those masked figures. Finally giving up, she decided to file the dream away in the back of her head, continuing to let herself shower in a normal manner.
---
A few minutes later, Hermione returned to the dorm room in her bath robe. As she opened the door, she found Caitlyn sitting on her bed; looking concerned towards her.
"'Mines, tell me what's wrong. Nothing wouldn't just simply have you crying, quivering, sweating and scared like that. Come on 'Mines, talk to me," Caitlyn pleaded, watching as the other girl head to her trunk for her school robes. Caitlyn knew she could help, or at least try, but she couldn't understand why the other girl wouldn't let her in. Women...
Hermione continued to ignore Caitlyn, hoping she would eventually drop the subject. To her dismay, Caitlyn pulled out her wand and waved it at her, causing her bath robe to change into her school robes and her hair to dry and pull back. Sadly, this only infuriated Hermione.
"Will you back off? Are you always this interested with people who have dreams? Do you always pry?" Hermione angrily stated, glaring at the older girl whose expression fell to shock. Caitlyn was slightly taken aback at the call. She stood up and walked over behind the brunette, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl's shoulders. Hermione stiffened, but eased when she felt Caitlyn's breath whisk gently across her right ear.
"I'm sorry for trying to care," The older girl whispered, removing her arms and leaving the younger girl.
Hermione felt Caitlyn begin to leave her side and she never felt more stupid than she did now. She couldn't believe that she nearly bit off Caitlyn's head for trying to help her. She was simply trying to help and you go yell at her.
"Good one, Hermione," The young girl muttered. She deeply sighed and summoned for her wand before she headed to the Great Hall.
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AN: Holy crap nuts! It's been a while since I decided to publish, update, then delete and reupdate. This is horrible! See, this is why I'm not the greatest at multi-chap fics, my mind goes faster than my typing hands. Anyways, hope you like and I'll try to update more often. School! A pain I tell you!