A/N: I know things are a bit slow moving right now, but I promise it will pick up. I had originally intended on starting with the scene hinted at in the summary, but as I sat down to write, I realized my idea had the potential to reach a different level and the summary became more of a halfway point than a beginning. My hope is that it will ultimately make for a richer journey! And on another note… J.K. Rowling owns whatever you recognize.
Chapter Two: Scarlet Book or Darkness
Most people would be skeptical to learn that Hermione's favorite holiday, aside from Christmas, was Halloween. Dressing up in costumes and becoming someone – or something – else for one night appealed to her inner child. All Hallows Eve was the only night of the year that the ever practical Hermione Granger allowed herself to actually act her own age.
Unfortunately, the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry did not dress up in costume like the muggle children did, but that had not stopped Hermione from enjoying the feast and sweets laid out at the party in the Great Hall every school year. On this Halloween evening, however, the Gryffindor Prefect found herself alone in the library, reading a dense book entitled Moste Potente Dark Magick.
Or attempting to, anyway. Her vision wavered as she tried and failed to focus her eyes on the blurry words that were handwritten on the ancient pages before her. Hermione had been burning the candle at both ends ever since classes started up two months ago, and feeling exhausted had become the norm for her.
Closing her tired eyes, she rubbed her temples in an attempt to soothe the pounding in her head. Opening them reluctantly, she came to the realization that she had just re-read the same paragraph for the fourth time. There was nothing for it. If she were to make any progress in this book, she would have to put it off until after she scrounged up a few hours of rest. Huffing with annoyance at the inconvenience, Hermione shut the scarlet book and slipped it into her bag to read at a later time.
She slowly made her way toward Gryffindor Tower, fingers trailing along the cold stone wall as she went. Her footsteps echoed eerily off the flagstone floor as she made her way along the dark corridors. Rounding the final corner, she spotted the portrait of the Fat Lady and sighed in relief. After crawling through the portrait hole, she climbed the stairs to the Sixth Year Girl's Dormitory and dropped her bag heavily on to the floor. Barely making it to her bed, she immediately slipped into sweet, black oblivion.
SWSWSW
Several weeks later, Hermione could be found locked in a bathroom stall on the third floor; or, at least, she could be found if someone were to look for her and knew her well enough to know where she might be hiding. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was not the most sought after place to be, after all.
Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, she studiously followed the instructions listed on the sheet of parchment. It had been enchanted to float in front of her so that her hands could be left free to work. Rather an ingenious idea on her part, if she did say so herself. Three stirs counterclockwise. Pause for ten seconds. Five stirs clockwise. Pause for seven seconds. Repeat three times. As common as the potion was, it rather surprised the girl to learn that it was so complicated to make. Add a pinch of lacewing. Stir counterclockwise fifteen times.
Hermione had been working on this potion for a week now, determined to beat out her body's personal failings. She couldn't even begin to work on the second potion until this one was finished, as she only had access to one cauldron. Not to mention the fact that her concentration had become so shredded lately that she couldn't focus on more than one thing at any given time.
She was a bit ashamed that she had been forced to raid Professor Slughorn's stash in order to retrieve some of the rarer ingredients. Dragon tears were quite difficult to come by, after all, and that was just to start. She had borrowed Harry's invisibility cloak and slipped in to the old professor's private office several weeks ago. Harry and Ron had questioned her, of course, but when she told them she was working on an extra credit assignment, they quickly backed off. No one wanted Hermione to launch into a lecture about the importance of education and the merits of striving to be your best.
She took a moment to quickly wipe the sweat from her brow before it could fall into the potion. That could cause a disastrous effect, and then Hermione would be haviing to start over from scratch. Add a pinch of shaved unicorn horn. Wait three seconds. Stir clockwise twice. That was something that must be avoided. It had already taken an incredibly long time to get this far in the process, and the brain-addled girl did not know how much longer she could hold on to the remaining shreds of her sanity without magical assistance.
The potions had to be finished at all cost. Quickly, while she was still capable of doing so.
SWSWSW
The eggs stared up at the girl maliciously, as if they knew her designs. Just try to eat me, they jeered. I dare you.
The girl closed her eyes briefly, giving a small shake of the head. Snap out of it, Hermione. Before you prove Ron right. She really was going mental, now, if she thought eggs were taunting her.
In truth, she had experienced several other small delusions since sixth year began. Tinkling laughter in the air, running footsteps just around the corner, someone whispering her name... All of which might be explained away. But this latest delusion of food speaking to her, taunting her, even begging her at times...
With a world weary sigh, she shoved the plate of uneaten food away from her. She could not even bear to stomach the mere thought of eating at the moment.
Harry looked at her with worried green eyes. "Aren't you hungry, Hermione?" he asked her, apprehension etched in the lines of his handsome face.
"No, I'm afraid I don't have much of an appetite this morning," his friend responded honestly.
At that, Ron paused in the middle of shoveling another bite into his mouth, fork halfway to his lips. "You're not eating again, 'Mione? That's… that's…" he spluttered in disbelief.
"That's every morning this month," Harry finished for the redhead. "When's the last time you ate a decent meal, Hermione?"
"I don't know exactly," she hedged. "Not long ago, I'm sure."
"Hermione!" both boys exclaimed simultaneously.
"You have to eat!" Harry continued, aghast.
"You can't just starve to death!" Ron added, incredulity showing clearly on his face.
"I'm not, Ronald," Hermione said stiffly. "I just don't happen to be particularly hungry this morning. We don't all shovel food into our mouths as though the world's about to end."
A hurt look briefly flashed in his blue eyes before being replaced with concern. "At least have some toast," he insisted. Seeing Hermione begin to shake her head, he tacked on, "Or some pumpkin juice."
"Well… Alright…" she caved. "I suppose a glass of pumpkin juice couldn't hurt." To be honest, pumpkin juice was about the only thing she could keep down anymore. Everything else ended up in the toilet of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It was actually useful in keeping Myrtle away while she worked on the potions, but it did not do much to help how awful she had been feeling lately.
Hermione slowly took a sip of cold pumpkin juice. She felt the liquid slide down her throat, into her stomach, and let out a small sigh of contentment. It was delicious, and perfect for settling down the roiling nausea. She took another sip, then another, until the entire goblet had been drained.
"Alright, I'm off to the library," she told her two boys. She stood quickly and took a moment to straighten her tie and smooth down her skirt.
"Already?" Harry asked, frowning in consideration.
"Yes, I have loads to do still," she stated matter-of-factly, glancing impatiently at the simple watch which adorned her left wrist.
"Okay, see you in class, then," he replied, still obviously unhappy that his friend seemed to be overextending herself.
"See you!" Hermione said in a false cheery tone. She waved her hand, grabbed her bag, and slid it onto her shoulders. Then she hurried from the Great Hall toward the library, hoping to get at least an hour of research in before the first class of the day.
SWSWSW
She contracted headaches daily now, and the Pepper-Up potion she had brewed to help her stay awake did not help matters much. The potion was useful for giving Hermione a quick energy boost, but it always left an intense pain throbbing behind her tired eyes. Occasionally, if the headaches became too overwhelming, she would also take the Pain-Be-Gone potion she had finally finished; however, it always left her feeling nauseated, creating quite a depressing lose-lose-lose situation.
Hermione groaned in annoyance and pain as Harry started in on his favorite subject of late: Draco Malfoy and what he might be up to at Durmstrang.
"For Merlin's sake, Harry, haven't we already exhausted this subject?" she asked in barely tempered frustration. "I seriously doubt Malfoy's a Death Eater. He's only sixteen!"
"I know how old he is. Voldemort was younger than that when he showed his true colors," Harry pointed out stubbornly.
"Look, mate, we're not denying Malfoy's an evil git," Ron placated, "but do you really think he's You-Know-Who's lacky?"
"Yes," the other boy retorted quickly.
"Oh, honestly – " Hermione began.
"No, Hermione, listen," he cut in, running his hand through his raven hair, a physical manifestation of his agitated mental state. "I know he's up to something. I know it. He wouldn't just accept us getting his father locked up in Azkaban!" Harry attempted to reason in earnest.
"Maybe not, Harry, but Malfoy's not even at Hogwarts!" Hermione said, clearly exasperated with her best friend.
"Yeah, he's done scampered off with his tail between his legs!" Ron crowed mirthfully as a wide grin adorned his face.
Harry opened his mouth to respond, but Hermione jumped in before he could. "There's absolutely no use worrying about Malfoy when he's all the way in Bulgaria," she reiterated for the umpteenth time. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm goi - "
"Going to the library!" both boys chorused, a half-amused look shared between them at their best friend's expense.
"Hmph!" She sniffed delicately, her nose in the air, and shouldered her bag. "Well, I'll just catch you two later, then," she bit out in her prissiest voice. The girl then turned on her heel and headed towards her destination, irritation and haughtiness exuding from her in waves. She did not bother to look back as she stalked away from the two boys who were, in her personal opinion, the most annoying boys in the entire wizarding world.
SWSWSW
It was already approaching midnight, and Hermione was so immersed with the task in front of her that she had failed to finish her Charms homework, which was quite unlike her. Thankfully, it was not due for two more days, otherwise she might have had a problem on her hands.
This particular book had proven to be immensely difficult to read, as it was sloppily handwritten and almost completely incomprehensible. Not to mention it was so old that even Hermione was having trouble deciphering the style of language used within its confines.
She was all alone in the school library, and if she had been anyone other than Hermione Granger, she probably would have been terrified out of her mind. The library at this time of night could be quite eerie. There was not a sound to be heard in the entire place beyond the ones Hermione herself made. The cavernous area was illuminated only by the light of a few scattered candles and the quick lumos that lit the tip of Hermione's wand. She had muttered the simple spell earlier in the evening once the shadows had begun to lengthen. The darkness was deepest in the Restricted Section, where Hermione happened to be sitting at the moment.
Suddenly, without warning, every candle in the ancient library guttered out at once, causing Hermione to gasp in startled surprise. Hermione then heard a loud thump, and she jumped out of her seat, now feeling quite alarmed. As she quickly whirled around, searching for the culprit, the throbbing in her head increased exponentially. Her nausea intensified, stomach lurching, and she gasped for breath. Her vision swam and wavered, spots of black blooming before her eyes, and suddenly she was falling…
Falling…
Fall-…
A/N: There you have it! I had a difficult time writing this chapter because I kept wanting to get ahead of myself. I had to forcefully remind myself to slow down, even having to backtrack a couple of times, but hopefully everyone enjoyed it! Also, I'm old school when it comes to fanfiction, since I've been around this website for about 12 years. Therefore, I very much adore reviews. While I won't say "I'm not updating until I receive X amount of reviews," I will say that they are an awfully good motivation! Until next time…
