Chapter 10

Harry opened his eyes and saw that he was in a Slytherin common room, lying on the couch. As he moved his head he saw his two friends sitting next to him. "Why am I here? The last thing I remember was that I talked to Draco about horcruxes. And I thought that Hermione was supposed to be punished by my mother Lily. That is weird though, what happened?" he asked them.

"Your sleep happened! You fell asleep for a while and we could not wake you up! And you were also talking to yourself!" replied Draco

"What! You mean it was all a dream!" Harry was suddenly happy as he just realized that what happened in his dream was something that he would probably never do.

"Harry, you said your mother punished me, what happened?" Hermione asked her friend skeptically.

"I don't know. I just decided for you to be punished and I ordered for you to go and be tortured by my mother. Don't worry, I would never do it to you!" Harry told that to Hermione as he hugged the girl.

"The last thing you said was that you talked to Him." Replied Draco

"Exactly. Voldemort must have used his power to send you images of your friends' harm by your hands to make you distance from others. " Harry looked at the girl happily.

"Well, he will bother me no more. Unlike him, I feel the love for other people and I will keep him away from my head" replied Harry and smiled at his friends. He wished to never harm Hermione intentionally as he felt something for the girl that he still could not describe. The feeling was strange but the future Dark Lord surprising liked it as he felt some relaxation and happiness when he spent time around the girl.

"Hermione, would you like to have a dinner with me tomorrow at Potter Manor?" he asked her and the bushy haired brunette blushed. Draco left the two as he understood what the two snakes were feeling for each other but decided to not tell them anything as he wished for his two friends to figure out about their feelings themselves.

As the next day approached, the two Slytherins used the common room Floo network and travelled to the mansion, where upon their landing, their dropped on the floor and lay in a pile. "Harry, it is nice to see you tonight. What is on your mind, my son?"

"Mother, I asked Hermione to have dinner with me tonight" the boy had answered to his mother as his face went red.

"I see. Well, in this case, you two better change into something more appropriate. You can find something comfortable in your closet Harry in your room while Ginny will help this young lady.

The redhead ten year old arrived at the scene and looked at the couple. "Follow me Hermione," she replied as she went to a girl's room in the house. Harry went to his room, where he found appropriate formal attire and put the suit one, before going to the dinning room.

As the boy entered the Dining Hall, he saw that the main lights were turned off and instead a few candles produced faint yellow light. The girl was already sitting at the table and looked at her friend. They both blushed as Harry sat next to her. "You look good, Hermione" Harry told his friend as they prepared for the dinner. Hermione smiled.

The two looked at each other for a few more moments and for a minute Harry totally forgot about his future ambitious plans on becoming the greatest wizard in the world; now he was very happy by just being in the girl's presence and he did not wish anything else. She looked somewhat innocent as she has joined his ranks just recently yet her mind and looks had made a great impression on the young wizard.

A couple house elves brought food and the pair ate their meal slowly and quietly. Their hearts were beating slower than usual as the two wizards were relaxed and after the meal Hermione hugged her friend.

"You know Hermione, I wish I would be as powerful and influential as Voldemort and Dumbledore today. People would be afraid of speaking my name and would do what I would tell them."

"Harry, no matter what you will be later in life, I will always be at your side. And I don't care for your future accomplishments as I care about the real sensitive boy that is hiding beneath the cloak of power."

"But I will be the future Dark Lord!" the boy exclaimed and faced her proudly. The girl laughed and hit him softly with her hand before she hugged her friend once more.

"Hermione, would you like to see the library in my house? It is one of the largest in Britain, rivaling Malfoys and some other ones and only Hogwarts is known to have many more tomes in Hogwarts Library" The girl's face got even happier as she loved to spend time with the books.

The pair walked to the Potter Library and as they entered it, Hermione saw tall bookshelves with thousands of books available for reading. In the middle of the library stood a large table with a few chairs next to it and there was also a recreational area, where three sofas stood near the fireplace. " Shall we check some book?" Harry suggested.

Hermione looked at all the books and ran towards one of the bookshelves, where she picked one book and started reading it. Then, she put it back and checked a few other books. "This place is great, Harry" the girl exclaimed as she looked at her friend.

The two Slytherins took a few books and brought them to the table; after reading the fourth book their eyes began to close. As the morning arrived, Lily Evans entered the room as saw the pair sleeping on the floor while hugging together. The older witch was relieved, as both of the children were fully clothed. "Wake up" she woke the two students, that after a quick breakfast returned to the school and arrived in their first class on time.

A/N: I decided to make a twist- the "punishment" from the previous chapter was a horror dream sent by Voldemort to Harry.