DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to
Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros.,
Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
((Thank- you all soooo much for the reviews, I got some great feed back, my comments to you are at the end of the chapter.))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." Oscar Wilde ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been the longest night of her life, and that was saying something as she had faced some horrible nights in the past. However, this night she hadn't slept a wink as she sat with the Order and they tried to decipher the actions of the enemy.
Dumbledore was able to say with certainty that the missile had not been launched with the intent of hitting the school, but rather as a way to test the magic barriers that protected the ancient castle. With this basic understanding, it seemed safe to assume that Voldemort was trying to find a way into the school, and that an attack on the Order was being prepared.
Thus the whole night was spent analyzing every possible entrance of invasion into the school. Hermione had been walking the secret passages of Hogwarts with Ron for hours, making a roughly sketched map and jotting down various things from time to time.
"I can't believe how many secret passages there are in this school!" Ron exclaimed, suddenly rubbing furiously at his forehead where a spider web clung. "I wish I had known about some of these when we still went to school here!"
Hermione nodded with agreement, only half listening. "I think we're coming up on a dead end."
Ron sneezed loudly "Good, all this dust is really starting to get to me, now we can just turn around and leave." He took a few wide steps up ahead of her and let out a frustrated growl. "Looks like this isn't a dead end, there's another door right here!"
Ron gave the door a suspicious look before stepping forward to open it. It looked as though it were composed of a thick oak, and a heavy dust had settled over it along with cobwebs that crisscrossed at the sturdy black hinges. Finally he grasped the handle at gave a rough pull, causing it to squeak foreword, but not quite open all the way.
Wiping the dust from his hands, he grasped the handle with all his might and leaned back his full weight, slowly pulling the door open.
"Too heavy" Ron grunted as his footing slipped on the stone floor and he had to keep leaning further and further back to budge the incessantly difficult to open door. Suddenly, the door swung open and Ron tumbled backwards and onto his bottom, landing it a massive heap of dust.
Hermione suddenly found herself laughing, something she'd never thought she'd be capable of doing again. Ron tried to scowl at her as he brushed the dirt and grime off of his jeans, but found himself incapable of doing so, and soon found himself laughing as well.
"Are we just going to stand here laughing all day, or are we going to see what's on the other side of this door?" He asked with mock indignation.
"It just leads outside" Hermione said, gesturing out the door where they could see the sun rising on Hogwarts grounds for the start of a whole other day.
"Who would've thought that we could have spent an entire evening just trying to navigate those bloody passageways?!" Ron grumbled, stepping into the dim light of morning and deeply inhaling the fresh air, a pleasant change from the musty, odorous and dank passageways from which they had just emerged.
Hermione rubbed her eyes, half out of exhaustion and half from trying to adjust her sight to the new light that replaced the darkness of the passages. "Let's head back to Dumbledore with our report." She yawned, and Ron nodded, following her to the Head Master's office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I haven't slept in almost thirty hours" Hermione thought with dull realization, as the house elves brought food to the weary Order members. It was noon and still nobody had been dismissed to head home. Even Chrome was still there, his feet propped up on the meeting table and his arms crossed as though more annoyed than tired.
"Well, now that we've sorted through every passageway into Hogwarts and discussed the proper precautionary measures we must take, I suggest. we get some rest." Dumbledore concluded with a small smile.
Everyone grumbled with agreement, and Dumbledore raised his arms before the volume of their voices could grow too loud.
"I believe it would be prudent if the Order relocated to Hogwarts, at least until this matter passes. Rooms will be prepared for you, and if we could rejoin here tomorrow at noon with our basic belongings, that'd be greatly appreciated."
Some grumbled at the inconvenience of having to leave their homes, and others were too tired to care.
"You think you have it bad" Ginny mumbled to Ron "I still have classes left to go to today."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Closing your eyes to disappear
you pray your dreams will leave you here
but still you wake and know the truth
no one's there" -Evanescence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first thing Hermione did when she got home was flop down on her bed with a sigh of exhaustion. She fell asleep in her clothes and slept until one o'clock in the morning when she woke with a start from a particularly vivid and disturbing nightmare.
In her dream, Harry had the unidentified golden object that was in Hermione's picture, and he was throwing it like a Frisbee to Chrome, who in turn threw it back. Harry was laughing and smiling, and he winked over at Hermione. She grinned happily at him, so relieved to see him alive and well.
Suddenly he screamed a terrible shriek of pain and collapsed to the ground. His body lay on the ground like a formless mound, and his blood spread across the grass, coming closer and closer to her, as though it would soon flow about her and pull her into her own death. She tried to run to him, but was cemented to the spot she stood, yelling his name.
He suddenly rose to his feet, and was starring at her in a dreadful and emotionless way. "HARRY!" She screamed, praying he would notice her.
He didn't, and instead he turned his back to her and faded off into the distance.
When Hermione awoke she jumped from bed feeling sick, and thought she may vomit but suddenly felt it passing. She instead went for a drink of water, and as she stood by the window starring into the velvety night she felt the urge to call out Harry's name, to make him come to her. But he wouldn't- he couldn't. She was alone.
She washed her cup, and after drying it and putting it away, she decided to round up what she needed for Hogwarts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She had minimized all the objects she needed to fit into one backpack which she had performed a charm on so that it weighed next to nothing. She had her wand, some of her many books, a variety of clothing, writing items, and various other personal items. She had also brought Harry's jacket and his wand, unable to leave them behind. She hoped that the stay at Hogwarts wouldn't be too long, but some frustrating, nagging little voice told her it would be.
She left her room and headed downstairs where Chrome was eating from a Tupperware container of leftovers.
"Are you going to Hogwarts?" She asked, looking for her jacket.
"Yes, of course" he answered, his mouth half full.
"Have you packed anything?" She inquired with a skeptical look, finally locating the jacket.
"Yep" he responded, indicating a black duffle bag sitting on the floor.
"You fit everything in there?" She asked with a little laugh.
He held out his hand and seemed to be counting off every object he mentioned after he rambled off what he had packed. "I have my knives, a few of my favorite pistols, my lighter, some clothes. that's really all I need."
She rolled her eyes and pulled the door open. "Then here we go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was led to her room by Hogwarts head girl, a thin pink faced girl with straw blonde hair who seemed overjoyed with the privilege of leading the famous Hermione Granger to her temporary quarters. Hermione wasn't really famous, and had in fact been head girl just the previous year, but that didn't seem to phase her guide, who had apparently looked up to Hermione since she the time she'd become a first year.
"Here's where you'll be staying Ms. Granger" the girl squeaked with enthusiasm, and Hermione gave her a kind smile.
The room was a small square with a small fire grate and a door to a tiny bathroom in the corner. It had one window which overlooked the lake, a wooden desk, and the bed scarcely constituted as a cot. It was hardly the same as the dorm rooms they had stayed in during the mission, while the students were away on holiday, but it was cozy enough.
Hermione thanked the girl and set to unpacking. She took out her books, depressed by the fact that she'd only been able to bring twenty or so, and arranged them alphabetically on the shelf over her desk. She then filled the desk with her writing utensils and set up the bathroom to her standards. When she was done unpacking only one item remained- the unidentifiable picture she had received from Fred and George for Christmas. She still needed to discuss more about it with Dumbledore, but decided to save that for later. For the time being she decided that her best bet was talking with the twins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey mate, looks like my room is right next to yours!" Fred said with an air of triumph, kicking the door to Ron's new room open.
"And I'm on the other side!" George added, popping up behind his twin, who wore a patch over his eye after having been hit there by a spell during the mission.
The two twins were grinning at Ron maniacally, and Ron was growing quite sure that Fred was a pirate and not his older brother.
The twins had suffered losses of their own from the mission. Harry had originally funded their now successful joke shop, and was like a brother to them, but they had also lost another brother like figure, and that was Lee Jordan. Lee was like a triplet to them, and his death had come hard at first. But if one thing could be said about the Weasley twins, they weren't ones for moping about. They knew Lee would never have wanted that.
Now they were bothering Ron as he attempted to unpack his belongings. He hadn't brought much, and as he approached the bottom of his bag he pulled up a small framed photo. He glanced over at the twins who were having a pillow fight with his pillows, and then turned back to the picture before flipping it over.
He sucked in a deep breathe as he looked at the photo, a past favorite of his. It had been taken the summer right after graduation. He and Cho had just started going out, his relationship with Hermione having long since failed. Ron and Cho had gone to a Chudley Cannons game, Cho just weeks away from being signed with Puddlemere United. Cho protested that the Cannons were a horrible team, but agreed to go with Ron anyways. He made her wear a Cannons hat, and the moving wizard picture showed the two of them in the Cannons garb, standing in front of The Burrow just before the game. Cho was laughing in the picture, and Ron had a goofy grin on his face as he planted the occasional kiss on her cheek.
"Is it just me or did it suddenly get very cold in here?" George asked Fred, noticing Ron's changed mood.
Fred nodded furiously in agreement, and they crept out of the room and into the hallway where they crashed (literally) into Hermione.
Hermione regained her balance and gave them a scolding look.
"Oh, didn't see you there Hermione!" George said with a pert grin.
"Yes, well maybe if you'd just look beyond your own nose from time to time."
She never finished as Fred quickly interrupted. "Where's your room? It's incredible how many of these spare rooms they seem to have in the castle! I wonder why?"
Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "Didn't either of you read 'Hogwarts: A History'?"
"No" they responded in unison, suddenly looking very bored.
"These rooms are typically empty, but they were put here by the founders when they built the castle in case the ever needed extra lodging in an emergency situation. The idea was originally developed by Rowena Ravenclaw, but it was put into effect by." She stopped talking as she noticed the glazed over distant look in their eyes.
"This wasn't what I was looking for you to talk about" she finally told them in a defeated sounding tone.
"Oh really? Well what is it then? If it's about Snape turning into a purple skunk this morning, I swear we had nothing to do with it."
She gave them a baffled look and then shook her head. "No, it's about that picture you gave me for Christmas. Ginny told me you bought it at an auction for a rather high price."
"Rather high?" Fred snorted, "Try ridiculously high!"
"Than why did you buy it?" Hermione asked with further confusion.
"We didn't like the guy who was trying to get it." George answered, Fred nodding earnestly in agreement.
"He was so sure that the picture was all his, that nobody else could afford it."
"But we blew the price right out of the water!"
"To the moon really."
"Higher than the moon! The money we paid for it."
Hermione growled in frustration. "But you don't even know what it is?"
"No clue" George admitted with a little shrug.
"That's why we gave it to you" Fred added, winking with his uncovered eye.
"Do you know who the man was you were bidding against?" Hermione asked, hoping to find some sort of clue from them.
"No, but I remember he had a fake arm." George told her. "I believe it was a silver arm actually."
((hehehe, alright, there it is. Next chapter is all set and ready to go, but I'm holding it hostage until I get some good feed back on this one. Because I like comments, comments are nice, comments are good, comments are what shape the story. So, if you have comments on any of the characters, plot elements, end especially relationships cough them up. Thank- you. Now for feed back to those of you who did last chapter.))
Fireflare20030: I'm glad you think the fic is awesome, I hope it will only improve. Also the fact that you liked The Darkest Hours is great, and I'm hoping that this one will be even better. Thanks for your feed back!
Hi: Okay, I've started the next part, hopefully it was fast enough for you. Thanks for the review, even the smallest comments are greatly appreciated.
Mabelmione: Two reviews from you already, I am incredibly grateful for your devotion, and pleased that you are enjoying the fic. You are one of the first to ever tell me that anything I've written made them cry, and I personally feel flattered that I was able to accomplish something so saddening, as that was my aim. However, if you don't like being made to cry, hang in there because there's. er. something headed your way further down the road (hint hint).
Hazlnut1230: Wow, two compliments in one, that you liked the last one and that this one is equally as good. I'm glad it isn't a let down, and I hope it only gets better as the action picks up.
Schnuffles06: Wow, great review, your feed back has shown me that I'm clearly accomplishing my end in getting the responses I aim to get from my readers. Thank you so much for that full feed back. Despite the fact that I killed Harry, I hope you keep reading because there are some very interesting (I hope) events coming up!
Ivanela: Thanks for loving my stories, it is inspiring and just the sort of thing I need to hear in order to convince me to write more. I'm glad people are enjoying the things I write.
Den_91: I can't answer your question about Harry returning, but I think you'll find some very interesting occurrences in the upcoming chapters.hehe. Thanks for your review, your feed back is much needed and much appreciated.
HAZZAGRIFF: You are a great reviewer, your devotion is so inspiring, and I'm very pleased you are liking my fic. I know you like your updates quick (even if you are a hypocrite), so let me know if this one was fast enough for you!
Ears91: THANK YOU for saying Chrome is an awesome character! I have a few other Chrome fans besides you now, and they all help build my confidence in including him in the story. I hate Mary Sue characters, and so I'm glad if people aren't taking him that way. I can't answer your questions, but I like your line of thinking. I'd love it if you could recommend any pairings for Chrome. the topic has been circulating but nothing is definite. Thanks!
Siriuslyobsessed: Another incredible mind blowing review. As usual, you get right to the point of the matter. So lets see about what I can answer for you. yeah, Hermione and Chrome are getting closer, and there's a lot of that in upcoming chapters. About Chrome and his obsession with fire whiskey. hey, he's Irish. Hehe, JK, I feel it's essential to his character. About Ginny, she is in seventh year, Ron and Hermione just graduated and are 19 while Ginny is 18. I know they're young, but that's just the time line I chose.
Gryffindor620: I look forward to you reviewing every time because you always do. I hope you flew back down from the sky to read this chapter and all its Post War Drama. Hehe, thanks again.
((Thank- you all soooo much for the reviews, I got some great feed back, my comments to you are at the end of the chapter.))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." Oscar Wilde ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been the longest night of her life, and that was saying something as she had faced some horrible nights in the past. However, this night she hadn't slept a wink as she sat with the Order and they tried to decipher the actions of the enemy.
Dumbledore was able to say with certainty that the missile had not been launched with the intent of hitting the school, but rather as a way to test the magic barriers that protected the ancient castle. With this basic understanding, it seemed safe to assume that Voldemort was trying to find a way into the school, and that an attack on the Order was being prepared.
Thus the whole night was spent analyzing every possible entrance of invasion into the school. Hermione had been walking the secret passages of Hogwarts with Ron for hours, making a roughly sketched map and jotting down various things from time to time.
"I can't believe how many secret passages there are in this school!" Ron exclaimed, suddenly rubbing furiously at his forehead where a spider web clung. "I wish I had known about some of these when we still went to school here!"
Hermione nodded with agreement, only half listening. "I think we're coming up on a dead end."
Ron sneezed loudly "Good, all this dust is really starting to get to me, now we can just turn around and leave." He took a few wide steps up ahead of her and let out a frustrated growl. "Looks like this isn't a dead end, there's another door right here!"
Ron gave the door a suspicious look before stepping forward to open it. It looked as though it were composed of a thick oak, and a heavy dust had settled over it along with cobwebs that crisscrossed at the sturdy black hinges. Finally he grasped the handle at gave a rough pull, causing it to squeak foreword, but not quite open all the way.
Wiping the dust from his hands, he grasped the handle with all his might and leaned back his full weight, slowly pulling the door open.
"Too heavy" Ron grunted as his footing slipped on the stone floor and he had to keep leaning further and further back to budge the incessantly difficult to open door. Suddenly, the door swung open and Ron tumbled backwards and onto his bottom, landing it a massive heap of dust.
Hermione suddenly found herself laughing, something she'd never thought she'd be capable of doing again. Ron tried to scowl at her as he brushed the dirt and grime off of his jeans, but found himself incapable of doing so, and soon found himself laughing as well.
"Are we just going to stand here laughing all day, or are we going to see what's on the other side of this door?" He asked with mock indignation.
"It just leads outside" Hermione said, gesturing out the door where they could see the sun rising on Hogwarts grounds for the start of a whole other day.
"Who would've thought that we could have spent an entire evening just trying to navigate those bloody passageways?!" Ron grumbled, stepping into the dim light of morning and deeply inhaling the fresh air, a pleasant change from the musty, odorous and dank passageways from which they had just emerged.
Hermione rubbed her eyes, half out of exhaustion and half from trying to adjust her sight to the new light that replaced the darkness of the passages. "Let's head back to Dumbledore with our report." She yawned, and Ron nodded, following her to the Head Master's office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I haven't slept in almost thirty hours" Hermione thought with dull realization, as the house elves brought food to the weary Order members. It was noon and still nobody had been dismissed to head home. Even Chrome was still there, his feet propped up on the meeting table and his arms crossed as though more annoyed than tired.
"Well, now that we've sorted through every passageway into Hogwarts and discussed the proper precautionary measures we must take, I suggest. we get some rest." Dumbledore concluded with a small smile.
Everyone grumbled with agreement, and Dumbledore raised his arms before the volume of their voices could grow too loud.
"I believe it would be prudent if the Order relocated to Hogwarts, at least until this matter passes. Rooms will be prepared for you, and if we could rejoin here tomorrow at noon with our basic belongings, that'd be greatly appreciated."
Some grumbled at the inconvenience of having to leave their homes, and others were too tired to care.
"You think you have it bad" Ginny mumbled to Ron "I still have classes left to go to today."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Closing your eyes to disappear
you pray your dreams will leave you here
but still you wake and know the truth
no one's there" -Evanescence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first thing Hermione did when she got home was flop down on her bed with a sigh of exhaustion. She fell asleep in her clothes and slept until one o'clock in the morning when she woke with a start from a particularly vivid and disturbing nightmare.
In her dream, Harry had the unidentified golden object that was in Hermione's picture, and he was throwing it like a Frisbee to Chrome, who in turn threw it back. Harry was laughing and smiling, and he winked over at Hermione. She grinned happily at him, so relieved to see him alive and well.
Suddenly he screamed a terrible shriek of pain and collapsed to the ground. His body lay on the ground like a formless mound, and his blood spread across the grass, coming closer and closer to her, as though it would soon flow about her and pull her into her own death. She tried to run to him, but was cemented to the spot she stood, yelling his name.
He suddenly rose to his feet, and was starring at her in a dreadful and emotionless way. "HARRY!" She screamed, praying he would notice her.
He didn't, and instead he turned his back to her and faded off into the distance.
When Hermione awoke she jumped from bed feeling sick, and thought she may vomit but suddenly felt it passing. She instead went for a drink of water, and as she stood by the window starring into the velvety night she felt the urge to call out Harry's name, to make him come to her. But he wouldn't- he couldn't. She was alone.
She washed her cup, and after drying it and putting it away, she decided to round up what she needed for Hogwarts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She had minimized all the objects she needed to fit into one backpack which she had performed a charm on so that it weighed next to nothing. She had her wand, some of her many books, a variety of clothing, writing items, and various other personal items. She had also brought Harry's jacket and his wand, unable to leave them behind. She hoped that the stay at Hogwarts wouldn't be too long, but some frustrating, nagging little voice told her it would be.
She left her room and headed downstairs where Chrome was eating from a Tupperware container of leftovers.
"Are you going to Hogwarts?" She asked, looking for her jacket.
"Yes, of course" he answered, his mouth half full.
"Have you packed anything?" She inquired with a skeptical look, finally locating the jacket.
"Yep" he responded, indicating a black duffle bag sitting on the floor.
"You fit everything in there?" She asked with a little laugh.
He held out his hand and seemed to be counting off every object he mentioned after he rambled off what he had packed. "I have my knives, a few of my favorite pistols, my lighter, some clothes. that's really all I need."
She rolled her eyes and pulled the door open. "Then here we go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was led to her room by Hogwarts head girl, a thin pink faced girl with straw blonde hair who seemed overjoyed with the privilege of leading the famous Hermione Granger to her temporary quarters. Hermione wasn't really famous, and had in fact been head girl just the previous year, but that didn't seem to phase her guide, who had apparently looked up to Hermione since she the time she'd become a first year.
"Here's where you'll be staying Ms. Granger" the girl squeaked with enthusiasm, and Hermione gave her a kind smile.
The room was a small square with a small fire grate and a door to a tiny bathroom in the corner. It had one window which overlooked the lake, a wooden desk, and the bed scarcely constituted as a cot. It was hardly the same as the dorm rooms they had stayed in during the mission, while the students were away on holiday, but it was cozy enough.
Hermione thanked the girl and set to unpacking. She took out her books, depressed by the fact that she'd only been able to bring twenty or so, and arranged them alphabetically on the shelf over her desk. She then filled the desk with her writing utensils and set up the bathroom to her standards. When she was done unpacking only one item remained- the unidentifiable picture she had received from Fred and George for Christmas. She still needed to discuss more about it with Dumbledore, but decided to save that for later. For the time being she decided that her best bet was talking with the twins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey mate, looks like my room is right next to yours!" Fred said with an air of triumph, kicking the door to Ron's new room open.
"And I'm on the other side!" George added, popping up behind his twin, who wore a patch over his eye after having been hit there by a spell during the mission.
The two twins were grinning at Ron maniacally, and Ron was growing quite sure that Fred was a pirate and not his older brother.
The twins had suffered losses of their own from the mission. Harry had originally funded their now successful joke shop, and was like a brother to them, but they had also lost another brother like figure, and that was Lee Jordan. Lee was like a triplet to them, and his death had come hard at first. But if one thing could be said about the Weasley twins, they weren't ones for moping about. They knew Lee would never have wanted that.
Now they were bothering Ron as he attempted to unpack his belongings. He hadn't brought much, and as he approached the bottom of his bag he pulled up a small framed photo. He glanced over at the twins who were having a pillow fight with his pillows, and then turned back to the picture before flipping it over.
He sucked in a deep breathe as he looked at the photo, a past favorite of his. It had been taken the summer right after graduation. He and Cho had just started going out, his relationship with Hermione having long since failed. Ron and Cho had gone to a Chudley Cannons game, Cho just weeks away from being signed with Puddlemere United. Cho protested that the Cannons were a horrible team, but agreed to go with Ron anyways. He made her wear a Cannons hat, and the moving wizard picture showed the two of them in the Cannons garb, standing in front of The Burrow just before the game. Cho was laughing in the picture, and Ron had a goofy grin on his face as he planted the occasional kiss on her cheek.
"Is it just me or did it suddenly get very cold in here?" George asked Fred, noticing Ron's changed mood.
Fred nodded furiously in agreement, and they crept out of the room and into the hallway where they crashed (literally) into Hermione.
Hermione regained her balance and gave them a scolding look.
"Oh, didn't see you there Hermione!" George said with a pert grin.
"Yes, well maybe if you'd just look beyond your own nose from time to time."
She never finished as Fred quickly interrupted. "Where's your room? It's incredible how many of these spare rooms they seem to have in the castle! I wonder why?"
Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "Didn't either of you read 'Hogwarts: A History'?"
"No" they responded in unison, suddenly looking very bored.
"These rooms are typically empty, but they were put here by the founders when they built the castle in case the ever needed extra lodging in an emergency situation. The idea was originally developed by Rowena Ravenclaw, but it was put into effect by." She stopped talking as she noticed the glazed over distant look in their eyes.
"This wasn't what I was looking for you to talk about" she finally told them in a defeated sounding tone.
"Oh really? Well what is it then? If it's about Snape turning into a purple skunk this morning, I swear we had nothing to do with it."
She gave them a baffled look and then shook her head. "No, it's about that picture you gave me for Christmas. Ginny told me you bought it at an auction for a rather high price."
"Rather high?" Fred snorted, "Try ridiculously high!"
"Than why did you buy it?" Hermione asked with further confusion.
"We didn't like the guy who was trying to get it." George answered, Fred nodding earnestly in agreement.
"He was so sure that the picture was all his, that nobody else could afford it."
"But we blew the price right out of the water!"
"To the moon really."
"Higher than the moon! The money we paid for it."
Hermione growled in frustration. "But you don't even know what it is?"
"No clue" George admitted with a little shrug.
"That's why we gave it to you" Fred added, winking with his uncovered eye.
"Do you know who the man was you were bidding against?" Hermione asked, hoping to find some sort of clue from them.
"No, but I remember he had a fake arm." George told her. "I believe it was a silver arm actually."
((hehehe, alright, there it is. Next chapter is all set and ready to go, but I'm holding it hostage until I get some good feed back on this one. Because I like comments, comments are nice, comments are good, comments are what shape the story. So, if you have comments on any of the characters, plot elements, end especially relationships cough them up. Thank- you. Now for feed back to those of you who did last chapter.))
Fireflare20030: I'm glad you think the fic is awesome, I hope it will only improve. Also the fact that you liked The Darkest Hours is great, and I'm hoping that this one will be even better. Thanks for your feed back!
Hi: Okay, I've started the next part, hopefully it was fast enough for you. Thanks for the review, even the smallest comments are greatly appreciated.
Mabelmione: Two reviews from you already, I am incredibly grateful for your devotion, and pleased that you are enjoying the fic. You are one of the first to ever tell me that anything I've written made them cry, and I personally feel flattered that I was able to accomplish something so saddening, as that was my aim. However, if you don't like being made to cry, hang in there because there's. er. something headed your way further down the road (hint hint).
Hazlnut1230: Wow, two compliments in one, that you liked the last one and that this one is equally as good. I'm glad it isn't a let down, and I hope it only gets better as the action picks up.
Schnuffles06: Wow, great review, your feed back has shown me that I'm clearly accomplishing my end in getting the responses I aim to get from my readers. Thank you so much for that full feed back. Despite the fact that I killed Harry, I hope you keep reading because there are some very interesting (I hope) events coming up!
Ivanela: Thanks for loving my stories, it is inspiring and just the sort of thing I need to hear in order to convince me to write more. I'm glad people are enjoying the things I write.
Den_91: I can't answer your question about Harry returning, but I think you'll find some very interesting occurrences in the upcoming chapters.hehe. Thanks for your review, your feed back is much needed and much appreciated.
HAZZAGRIFF: You are a great reviewer, your devotion is so inspiring, and I'm very pleased you are liking my fic. I know you like your updates quick (even if you are a hypocrite), so let me know if this one was fast enough for you!
Ears91: THANK YOU for saying Chrome is an awesome character! I have a few other Chrome fans besides you now, and they all help build my confidence in including him in the story. I hate Mary Sue characters, and so I'm glad if people aren't taking him that way. I can't answer your questions, but I like your line of thinking. I'd love it if you could recommend any pairings for Chrome. the topic has been circulating but nothing is definite. Thanks!
Siriuslyobsessed: Another incredible mind blowing review. As usual, you get right to the point of the matter. So lets see about what I can answer for you. yeah, Hermione and Chrome are getting closer, and there's a lot of that in upcoming chapters. About Chrome and his obsession with fire whiskey. hey, he's Irish. Hehe, JK, I feel it's essential to his character. About Ginny, she is in seventh year, Ron and Hermione just graduated and are 19 while Ginny is 18. I know they're young, but that's just the time line I chose.
Gryffindor620: I look forward to you reviewing every time because you always do. I hope you flew back down from the sky to read this chapter and all its Post War Drama. Hehe, thanks again.