"Harry—I mean... Nick, what's the last thing you remember?" Ginny asked as Harry stared at her in slight confusion.
"Um... where'd Kazu go? Who are you people?"
Ron and Neville's jaws both dropped as they realized the seriousness of the situation, and tears began to form in Hermione's eyes.
"Harry... don't you remember... anything?" she asked as Harry frowned.
"Who's Harry? While we're on the subject of asking who's who... who're you?"
The look upon Hermione's face told everyone around them all they needed to know... Hermione's heart had been shattered... literally.
"I'm just... a friend... just a friend." Hermione whispered as she thought back to what Harry had told her earlier on that year.
"Merely a friend..." she whispered as tears flowed down her face freely, and she fell back onto her bed unconscious.
Year of Discovery: Realization
Nicholas Cliffmore couldn't help but frown as he walked through the halls of Hogwarts, and looked around at all the new scenery. Following behind him, were Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom.
He also couldn't help but notice that looks of shock were following him around, and staring from everyone was seen in every direction.'
"Hey Ron..." Nick said as he turned to the Gryffindor.
"Why are so many people staring at me?" he asked as Ron looked at Neville, who gave him a look that asked 'what-do-we-say'.
"Um... Nick... you sort of have a lightning shaped scar on your forehead." Ron muttered as Nick frowned.
"No I don't." he said as he summoned a mirror wandlessly to check.
"Bloody hell, I do have a weird shaped scar on my forehead!" Nick gasped as Neville and Ron both nodded.
"Do you remember... anything... about Harry Potter?" Neville asked as Nick frowned slightly.
"He defeated Voldemort when he was just a baby, and he fought death eaters last year in the Department of Mysteries. During the fight he lost his god... father..." Nick paused as he grabbed his head for a moment in pain, and tried hard to remember.
Flashes went by, and they did, he watched Sirius fall through the vile, over and over again. A cry of angst was heard as he fell to his knees and tore himself away from the memory.
"I saw it... I saw how he died..." Nick whispered as tears began to form in his eyes.
"There was so much hate... so much pain... so much sorrow..." He stated as frowns appeared onto both Ron and Neville's faces.
"Why was I able to see that?' Nick questioned as he looked up at the two Gryffindors.
His hand rose to his face, where a drop of tear had just slid down his face. He wiped it off slowly, and stared at his not wet stained hands.
"Why am I crying?" he continued to ask as he slowly got to his feet, staggering as he did.
"Why do I feel this pain inside me?" he whispered as he grabbed his heart suddenly.
"It hurts... it hurts so much..." he began to shake, and dizziness overcame him as he staggered for balance.
Ron and Neville stepped in immediately, and grabbed hold of him to make sure he didn't collapse.
"We need to get him to the hospital wing." Neville said as Ron nodded, and the three set off for the school hospital wing.
When they arrived there, Madame Promfrey was more then shock and angry to see the situation Nick was in. Hermione, who had recently woken up, and had finally stop crying, broke down once again when she saw the state he was in, and Ginny couldn't help but groan when she realized she would have to calm Hermione down all over again.
"Set him down on that bed next to Ms. Granger—Ms. Weasley, Ms. Lovegood, visiting time is over... please leave while I tend to my patients... you too, Mr. Weasley... Mr. Longbottom." Madame Promfrey stated as Neville and Luna both nodded, and left without a word.
Ginny and Ron on the other hand, both seemed rather pissed, and refused to leave 'Nick' and Hermione's side.
"Leave now, or I'll be forced to remove twenty points from Gryffindor... each..." the school nurse threatened.
When the Weasley siblings realized how serious the nurse was, they left with no choice.
"Ha—Nick, what's wrong?" Hermione asked as she wiped the tears out of her eyes, and tried to stop herself from crying.
"It hurts... it hurts so much..." Nick whispered as his hands clenched the bed sheets painfully, and he began to shake uncontrollably.
"Harry! Harry!" Hermione said as she got out of bed, and hurried over to Nick's bed, where Madame Promfrey stood waving her wand around like mad.
"Ms. Granger, go back to sleep!" she commanded, but Hermione ignored her, and grabbed Nick's hand, holding it tight, as if trying to let him know she was there.
"It hurts..." Nick continued to mutter as Madame Promfrey frowned.
"What hurts? What's he raving about?"
"Sirius... no! Come back..."
A drop of tear slid down Nick's cheek, and Hermione wiped it off his face slowly, not noticing that her tears were now flowing freely as well.
"Harry... please... wake up..." Hermione whispered as Harry's shaking suddenly stopped.
A sigh of relief escaped from Madame Promfrey, and when Hermione looked up to ask what happened, she received a frown from the school nurse.
"Ms. Granger, back to bed," she commanded as Hermione groaned slightly.
Slowly, she let go of Nick's hand, and returned to her bed, but not before she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Madame Promfrey... is there any possibility I can get my books to read?" Hermione asked as the frown on Madame Promfrey's face worsen.
"I'll ask Ms. Weasley to retrieve it for you, but you may only have one book," the nurse said as she walked over to the door, and pulled it open.
The moment she did, Ron and Ginny came crashing in. Obviously, they had been trying to listen in on the conversation to see if 'Nick' was okay.
"Mr. and Ms. Weasley!" Madame Promfrey shouted angrily as Ron and Ginny hurried to their feet.
"Yes?" the two Weasleys asked in barely a whisper.
"Leave... now..."
As the two Gryffindors were about to leave, Hermione called Ginny back.
"Get me my copy of 'Hogwarts: A History' will you?" she asked as Ginny gave her a light nod.
The red head then turned around, and hurried out of the hospital wing to catch up to her brother. A few minutes later, she returned with not only one of Hermione's books, but a large pile.
"Ms. Granger, I said one book!" Madame Promfrey stated as Hermione gave Ginny a look of shock.
"It's her homework Madame Promfrey. I just thought it would be good for her to have it. She's going to be bored in here." Ginny said as the nurse frowned.
"Ms. Granger will be leaving the hospital wing in less then three days, what makes you think that she will need so many books?"
Ginny merely looked over at Harry, then back at Hermione, who was now starting to blush a bright red color.
Madame Promfrey merely shook her head in disbelief, before going back to her work.
"Ginny are you mad?" Hermione asked as Ginny Weasley turned to leave.
"No, just thinking ahead. Merry Christmas by the way."
Hermione turned to stare at the pile of books on her bedside table. She skimmed through the titles, and finally decided on re-reading the whole Potion's book. As she pulled the book out, the large pile of books began to shake, and before Hermione had a chance to grab it, the book 'Hogwarts: A History' had fallen to the ground.
After making sure that the large pile of books weren't going to fall anytime soon, Hermione got out of bed, and picked up her book. As she did, she couldn't help but notice something fall out of it.
"What the...?" she whispered as she picked up a long golden necklace with a locket at the end of it.
She opened the book up, and was shocked to find the entire middle section of the book had been cut out, by hand. Written on the one sheet of uncut paper, was a message.
To Hermione,
Remember I'll always be by your side.
Love, Harry
Her jaw dropped as she realized what the book was.
"My birthday present." She exclaimed as she thought back to that spectacular night.
Harry had given her a book. When she first received it, she never opened it, due to the fact that she already had a copy, and had memorized the contents of it a long time ago.
"He was trying to tell me... the whole time... he was trying to tell me..." Hermione whispered as she looked over at Nick, who continued to lay there motionless and asleep.
Slowly, and ever so carefully, Hermione opened the locket, and stared at the picture and writing it held. On the left side, it said the following:
Forever yours, -HP
On the right, it had a picture of the two of them together last Christmas, when they were at the Order Headquarters after Mr. Weasley had been attacked.
She and Harry had been outside watching the snowfalls, and in the picture, it showed that Harry was making sure that Hermione wouldn't catch a cold by covering her with a blanket.
Hermione smiled at the memory, and her smile widened slightly when she saw what happened next.
Harry placed his arm around her, and held her close, whispering something to her. A small smile appeared onto the two people in the pictures, and Hermione couldn't help but wish that Harry was holding her now, whispering words of encouragement, and love.
It wasn't until Hermione heard a soft cough come from the front door entrance, did she realize that she had been staring at the picture and smiling for nearly ten minutes.
When she looked up to see who was standing there though, her smile disappeared almost immediately, and a look of hate replaced it.
The room was silent, and brown eyes met silver ones as Hermione whispered something.
"Malfoy..."