Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Love Poem


(Summer term in April, 1996)

Once the feast was over, all the students began carrying their trunks to their dormitories in their House common rooms. Hermione bit her lip; this was her only chance.

"Harry!" She called, and she could tell that he walked over to her slowly so that when he arrived, everyone would have gone through the portrait hole.

"Sorry about that." He said, referring to how long it had taken him to get there. "I just didn't want Ron to overhear. He's still annoyed at you, you know."

The comment flew past Hermione's head.

"Why are the two letter's so different?" She asked him, studying his features in case he might lie.

But the only expression she saw on Harry's face was one of confusion.

"Two letters? No, no, no, no. I only sent one."

Hermione's eyes widened. What?!

"No, Harry, you sent me two letters. The first, well it wasn't too nice…" She frowned, remembering its contents.

"Hermione, I never wrote two letters. Show me them both." Harry appeared to be distressed.

"Sure, I'll be right back." She said as she started saying the password to let The Fat Lady open the door.

Realisation then hit her in the face.

"I can't give it to you Harry. I tore it up." She admitted reluctantly.

Harry looked at her in astonishment, why would she have ripped it up into pieces?

"Why?" He asked her.

Hermione felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. All of a sudden a loud voice interrupted their conversation.

"Excuse me!" The Fat Lady cried. "If you wish to enter the Gryffindor common room, then you shall have to come in at once."

Hermione sighed in frustration. "Can't you just keep the door open for a few seconds?"

The Fat Lady looked at her sternly. "No."

"Fine." Harry said as the door slammed shut behind him. "So you were saying...?"

"Because it hurt my feelings. It was in my drawer for a while but then I chucked it in the bin."

Harry nodded, still confused. "Well whatever it said, I didn't send it."

Then who did? Hermione wondered, but she was too tired to let the conversation go on any further. It was only eight-thirty in the evening but she felt like she needed to go to bed early, as tomorrow lessons were starting. She wanted to be as fully prepared as she could possibly be.

After re-saying the passwords, both Harry and Hermione entered the common room and after saying goodnight, they headed to their separate dormitories.


It was truly a blessing that Pavarti and Padma Patil had returned from their holiday as they happily conversed with Lavender as Hermione got ready for lessons. Living with Lavender only had been a nightmare. Not only did she constantly accuse Hermione of being a traitor of Dumbledore's army, but she would also mess with Hermione's things, much to Hermione's frustration. She would hide Hermione's bag, for example, and would not tell Hermione of its whereabouts until the very last second. She would frequently steal Hermione's quills and ink pots, and sometimes she would even steal Hermione's essays.

This was the reason why this morning, the first school day of the Summer term, Hermione had all of her things on her lap as she tied her hair into a ponytail. As she ran her hand across her scalp she realised there were many bumps, but she didn't have the time to cast the Hair-flattening spell and so she left her messy hair alone.

"Hermione." Padma giggled. "Why are you hugging your bag?"

"I'm not!" Hermione protested. "I was just checking to see if I had all my textbooks."

"You don't." Lavender called evilly.

Hermione's heart stopped as she frantically searched her bag to check if she had all the necessary textbooks. She did.

"Don't scare me like that!" Hermione shouted at Lavender, to which she rolled her eyes.

Hermione glared at her and threw her bag over her shoulder to make her way to her first lesson, Herbology. She was the first to class, of course. She liked being the first one there as it gave her a few seconds to prepare for the class. She got out a fresh roll of parchment and neatly placed her quill and inkpot beside it, even though she suspected it was going to get dirty. It always got dirty in Herbology. Satisfied, however, she was ready for the lesson.


It was finally break time, and Hermione made her usual journey down the moving stairs of the castle to the lake. She could see Tobias sprawled on the grass beside the lake, seemingly staring at something in his hands. He's probably checking his essay is faultless, Hermione thought and smiled. She felt a pang of excitement in her stomach as she approached him. She continued walking, however before she could start walking on the particular path that led down-slope to the lake, she felt a hand grab on her arm.

"Hermione!"

She turned around to see Harry panting heavily. "You walk quite fast, you know. Where are you going off to?" He asked her.

She pointed a finger to the lake. "I want to read." She lied.

"There's already someone down there. And it looks like he's taking up your favourite space." Harry said rather loudly.

To this Tobias cocked his head up suddenly, and on seeing Harry, he froze. The moment he had heard Harry had turned him rigid. This did not go unnoticed by Hermione. I'll have to ask him later, she reminded herself.

"I don't mind, Harry. I like reading by the lake." She told Harry honestly, although she didn't think she would be reading much. She smiled inwardly at the thought and looked back up to Harry.


What is wrong with this thing? Severus wondered as he stared at the time-forwarder in his hands. When he had time-travelled that time, it had felt strange and... wrong. Usually he'd be suspended in the air in a swirl of colours as he went forward in time, but this time he was flying all over the place uncontrollably. It had been very strange, and a little unnerving. He was inspecting the device to see if he had damaged it in any way. But everything seemed normal. The device bore no scratch, no mark, in fact it was in pristine condition. Dumbledore would be proud, he thought bitterly. Suddenly, a well-known voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"-someone down there. And it looks like he's taking up your favourite space." The voice sent shivers down Severus' spine. How?

He looked up and indeed saw James Potter, in all his glory. How on earth was he here?! He was supposed to be thirty! But it had to be him- the boy resembled him entirely. Although this James was wearing glasses. So he didn't grow up, but his eyesight got worse? Severus sneered in his head.

He saw Hermione's face scrunch up in confusion, and he knew that she had seen his bizarre reaction. Damn it! She was going to ask him about that later.

"I don't mind, Harry. I like reading by the lake." He heard Hermione say.

Harry?! That was Harry Potter? Severus couldn't believe it. The boy was an exact replication of his father! Whoever the boy's mother was, he did not inherit any of her features. Although Severus had seen him at a distance, he could have sworn the boy was James Potter. It was uncanny.

He then watched as the pair proceeded to talk more quietly, before Harry pulled Hermione's arm and they walked away. He saw Hermione turn around to look at him to whisper 'Sorry' as they left. Severus frowned in bitter disappointment. Did Harry not get to see enough of her? And since when had they become friends again? Hermione hadn't told him that. He also felt worried that Hermione didn't like him that much anymore. Even if they'd spent almost every second of the holiday together, Severus was still surprised that she liked him back. He was so unused to anyone caring about him so the idea that she would move on seemed normal, and almost appropriate too him. He wasn't that interesting after all, nor good-looking for that matter. Honestly, what did she see in him? He couldn't stop the thoughts from filling his head.

What am I supposed to do now? Severus thought. He had brought a book with him, so he could read by the lake. But he'd be finished in an hour. He reached into his pocket for a chocolate bar he had stolen from a bag he had seen in the corridor, and took a bite of it. It was gooey and delicious. Severus had originally been worried about how the state of food would be affected by time-travel. Would it go off? Would mould grown on it? So, he had brought a chocolate bar along with him to find out. But it had remained perfectly edible, and Severus had realised that it made sense. If time-travel didn't turn him into a thirty-six-year-old man, why should the chocolate bar age?

He grabbed the book and chocolate bar, leant on the grass, and started reading.


"Cho wrote me a song." Harry said, and looked at Hermione expectantly. He was met only with a blank look.

"That's nice." Hermione said; she had no idea what to say.

"Don't you want to hear it? She'll sing it again so you can hear it."

"Oh Harry, it's okay, don't worry." Hermione shook her head. She just wanted to go down to the bloody lake, for Merlin's sake!

But Harry was adamant. "No, you have to hear it!"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the lake, and Hermione could only look back at a sad-faced Tobias as she whispered 'Sorry.'

"You won't regret it, I promise!" Harry told her as they continued walking up back to the castle. Hermione could only murmur something in response. Once they arrived to the library, which Hermione was surprised to find out Cho was sitting in, she was greeted very enthusiastically.

"Oh, Hermione!" Cho exclaimed in her thick Scottish accent. "Do you want to hear it?"

"Sure." Hermione replied, taking a seat next to Harry. She noted that Ron was sitting at the table too, but he hadn't bothered to greet her.

Hermione watched as Cho took a deep breath before she started reading out the poem she had memorised. She looked straight at Harry as she read it.

"Harry, do you know that you make the sun shine brighter on the days where its gloomy?

Do you know that you write the sweetest letters that make me blush when you hand them to me?

Do you know that you can make me smile when I'm in the worst of moods?

Do you know that I prefer you to all my favourite foods?

Do you know that every morning, when I wake up for school,

That you are in my thoughts, you annoying, distracting fool!

Do you know that when I look at you, all I feel is joy,

For I am with my favourite person, the one I love to annoy.

I love you."

Harry immediately went to hug Cho and Hermione couldn't help but smile; it had been a lovely poem. She was glad she had gone with Harry to hear it.

"Oh, Cho, it's beautiful!" Hermione told her honestly.

"Thank you." Cho smiled, as she turned back to Harry to give him a kiss.

It was only then that Hermione noticed that Ron was staring at her, and had been staring at her the entire time Cho had recited the poem.

"What?!" She asked him.

"Nothing." He replied nonchalantly, and he went back to scribbling something on a piece of parchment.

Hermione rolled her eyes and got up to head back down to the lake. She couldn't be bothered to deal with Ron. Hermione made a mental note to write a poem for Tobias, as she loved the idea. It had been the most beautiful thing to witness Cho nervously reading it to Harry, and Harry smiling so much his grin almost reached his ears. She wanted to do that for Toby, as she was sure he'd appreciate it. She hoped he knew how much she cared for him.