Writers block, I actually wanted to get to the bogart but I'm a bit hung up on what Lilly's ultimate fear is, Harry was a fairly selfless guy so fearing fear itself made sense for him in a way. Lilly is selfish and damaged, as well as quite dangerous, whatever comes out of that cabinet has a fifty/fifty chance of being at the epicenter of ground zero so I have to put some more thought into this.
Anyway, the vote is thus far 225 or 36% for Hermione tailed by Tom 117 or 27%, so no matter what there is going to be the beginnings of relationships forming. This chapter is mildly fluffy and I wanted more content but as stated above, writers block, hope you lot enjoy what I've got thus far, as always please REVIEW!
Cedric Diggory was for lack of a better word flummoxed when it came to his most recent DADA assignment, the Professors' Lupin had asked for a foot of parchment on the properties and weaknesses of Dementors and for the life of him he couldn't focus on the project. It wasn't lack of knowledge that stymied him, but rather the deep understanding of the monstrosities afforded to him by said professors over the past weeks that prevented his objectivity.
Leafing through his notes he could in short state one simple fact, Dementors were abominations to the Gods and Nature and there was very little to evidence to argue against this assessment. What he wanted to know was what genius decided to summon and bind two hundred of the demons to this realm and how much control the ministry actually had over them, because from what he was reading 'very little' may likely be the disturbing answer.
Sighing in resignation the Hufflepuff Prefect began jotting down a rough introduction when he was drawn from his thoughts by a pair of quiet voices that were steadily growing louder as they approached his table. While he'd chosen to stay in the library to research his essay rather then the 'Puffs chaotically boisterous common room he'd admit that any distraction would be acceptable at the moment; it didn't hurt at all that said distraction arrived in the form of a pair of pretty witches.
"Lillith, Hermione, a pleasure as always," the two Slytherins stopped before his table arms full of books, parchments and quills, he flashed them his brightest smile which caused them both to blush lightly but they kept their composure. They'd never know it but that was one of the reasons he was rather fond of them, they obviously found him attractive but kept their heads about themselves, unlike roughly ninety percent of the schools female population. Some might call him egotistical, he personally considered it being self aware enough to be able to tell when the people he was dealing with where superficial fan girls, a specimen best avoided at all costs to be sure.
"Hello Cedric," Lillith began, Hermione quickly following up with her own greeting before the raven haired teen continued, "Mind if we take a seat here? Library is getting rather packed." Looking about he was surprised to note that she was right, he'd really been lost in his thoughts it would seem,
"Of course of course, what are you two working on?" Spreading out their supplies the younger witches sighed as one as the exchanged glances before giving him their full attention; it really was interesting how often they played off each others body language, much like the Weasley twins did.
"Runes and Arithmacy, we've been studying them independently for years so everything we've been assigned the past two weeks has been at best remedial. It's really taking a lot of my willpower to just pay attention long enough to finish it," Lillith stated with a huff and a scowl. Hermione nodded slowly as she spoke up,
"While I am quite pleased with our professors the material is just not stimulating enough, couple that with the jokes that Divination and Muggle Studies have turned out to be and well...this year has not been as brilliant as I'd hoped it would be." Cedric snorted at that while rolling his eyes,
"Oh trust me I know what you mean when it comes to Divination and Muggle Studies, I ended up ditching both and taking Care and Runes instead, what has Trelawney been having you do, death, I mean dream journals?" Frowning both girls nodded as one then Lillith perked up and smiled impishly, it was both cute and concerning and upon later reflection Cedric would decide that was actually a fairly accurate description for the young Heiress in general.
"I personally have been filling out cheesy romance movies in my journal, so far I'm halfway through the plot of 'Ghost', I'm playing the part of Patrick Swayze of course," Hermione huffed out a quiet 'Cheat' at this but said nothing more on the subject. Cedric for his part laughed loudly enough that he had to duck down and pray that Madam Pince didn't show up to display her ire, that woman was terrifying.
"So the fact that there is a scam artist psychic in that movie has nothing to do with your opinion of our esteemed Divination professor?" Her smile turned into a full blown grin and he got the distinct impression that her eyes were twinkling behind those awful blackout glasses.
"Just a fluke, obviously I'd never be that openly disrespectful to a valued faculty member, I have an image to maintain," Hermione gave her friend a knowing glance as she smiled fondly.
"Of course Lilly dear, now please lets get this revision done so we can get some sleep, difficult or not all these courses are starting to wear on me and I don't want to waste time." Lillith tilted her head to the side staring at the brunette a moment while raising a single brow, how almost every Slytherin knew how to do that was beyond Cedric, maybe the hat taught them how to do it when they were sorted?
"'Mione, we literally have all the time in the world, how do you manage to not get a proper nights sleep?" Cedric was admittedly a bit lost at the remark but Hermione seemed to understand her friend as her eyes widened in shock,
"Lilly you didn't! That's abusing the-" she cut herself off glancing over to Cedric a moment before dropping her voice to continue. "That's abusing the privilege we've been given," Lilly snorted at that and waved her friends concern off lightly,
"'Mione we've been given the ability to make the space time continuum our bitch I-" now Hermione cut Lilly off as she threw out an admonishing,
"Language Lilly," Lillith for her part didn't miss a beat as she apologized quickly,
"Sorry 'Mione, and as I was saying why not use it to slip out of sight for a few hours for a kip here and there? Really it doesn't hurt anyone, I just assumed you were doing it too or I'd have brought it up earlier." Worrying her lip Hermione stared down at the table for well over a minute before nodding slowly,
"I suppose you're right, it really doesn't hurt anyone does it, and now that I think about it we could get some extra time in for studying as well," Lillith nodded enthusiastically at this admission obviously pleased that she'd made her point and it had stuck. While completely lost as to what they were being so secretive about Cedric was happy they'd gotten through their minor argument with little fanfare, it was a Hufflepuff thing.
Not being a nosy person by nature he let their secrets be as he began busying himself with his essay and found that having the witches banter in the background actually helped him focus on his work, it allowed him to be analytical about the assignment and he'd thank the pair for it later. Honestly anything was better then dwelling on the fact that three infants and one adult host were sacrificed for every Dementor bound to this plane of existence, sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss.
It had been a few days since Hermione had decided to take Lillith's suggestion to heart and took full advantage of her time-turner, much to her chagrin the end result had been most satisfactory. Not only was she getting the sleep she needed but with proper timing the two overachieving witches managed to live through each day twice filling the extra hours with practice and studying. Lilly had even taken to dragging Hermione to the Room of Requirement to teach her how to play guitar even though Hermione felt that was a loosing battle but kept it to herself; honestly she'd always had more luck with the piano.
Casting a quick tempus spell she realized that she was going to in fact be late for said practice if she didn't hurry up, not for the first time she wished the endlessly useful room wasn't on the opposite end of the castle from her dorms. Coming to a stop before the door she knocked twice, paused, then knocked four times in quick succession, after a moment it unlocked and swung open,
"Sorry I'm late Lilly, I had to drop my Charms essay off and well..." she trailed off as she realized the room resembled her dads rec room back home, including the full bar in all its brassy glory and the old Pac-Man machine with a faulty coin slot in the corner. In the center of the room was the round oak table he'd play poker at with his mates but rather then a deck of cards and a pile of colored chips there was a handful of brightly wrapped gifts sitting atop it. Beside these was a white cake with fourteen candles sticking out at odd angles as well as a small sign that read 'Happy Birthday;' Hermione felt her throat tighten as she saw her best friend seated at the table sleeping soundly with her head resting in her arms. "Oh my..." stirring Lilly lifted her head and blinked a bit, seeing Hermione she perked up and stood from her seat.
"Hermione! Happy Birthday!" Feeling dumbstruck she dropped her schoolbag on the floor and slowly walked towards the grinning witch who was busying herself with putting on one of those ridiculous cheap paper party hats, mission accomplished she rushed over to the birthday girl and placed one atop her bushy mane careful not to snap the elastic string as she slid it under her chin.
"Lilly," she finally managed to get out, "What, what's this all about?" Still smiling she grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her to the table while pulling a chair out, guiding her into it Lilly then plopped into her own seat and scooted it next to her still shocked friend.
"You see I realized that I've been a rather bad friend these past few years," Hermione snapped her head to face Lilly and locked gazes with those all knowing emeralds as she was about to offer a rebuttal, but Lilly would have none of that. "No, really, I have been, see Draco and Blaise, their families don't make big deals out of birthdays so it was always an out of sight, out of mind thing for me, and as for myself my birthday falls in July so really unless I invite people over no one really makes a deal out of it. Then it hit me, you've spent the past two, going on three years at Hogwarts away from your family and you've obviously missed out on the celebrations, didn't help that you didn't tell me about it but still...this one was on me."
At this she looked rather sheepish as she glanced away from Hermione's now slightly watery eyes, turning back she offered what she assumed was a lame smile, "I am sorry about that, as much as I try I am just human, but I figured if you can't be home with your family I can at least bring home to you. I err...haven't been in your parents basement since before first year so I hope it looks similar," not getting a response from the still wide eyed witch Lilly looked about pensively before brightening as she gestured towards the cake.
Wand dropping into her hand she flicked her wrist expertly and the candles all lit at once, turning she was about to grin again when she realized there were tears running down Hermione's face, worrying her lip and feeling a slight sense of panic she began stuttering. "I...umm...I'm sorry did...did I do something wrong?" Taking in a heavy breath Hermione shook her head slowly,
"Lilly, I never had friends growing up, none, the only people that have ever cared about my birthday were my mum and dad, and they saw how depressed I would get not having anyone to invite over. They'd buy me presents obviously, but there was no celebration, I saw no point in it...this...this is the first time someone who wasn't obligated to care about my birthday has, I'm...just a bit overwhelmed." Blinking at this admission Lilly immediately felt the guilt of not doing this earlier in their friendship, seeming to sense her shame Hermione grasped the side of Lilly's head to force her to meet her eyes. "None of that, what's done is done, what matters is now," smiling lightly Lilly reached over and wiped the tears off her friends face with her sleeve,
"So...these are happy tears?" Letting out a sobbing laugh she nodded quickly nearly dislodging her party hat in the process,
"These are very happy tears, yes," smiling gently Lilly grabbed the cake and slid it before Hermione careful not to let the half melted candles to burn out.
"Well I'm glad to be the one to break a rather horrid track record for you, now I know how you get about sugar with your parents being professional torturers and all," Hermione scoffed at that but her smile betrayed her amusement, "So I dug around for a low sugar recipe, oddly enough its pretty good." Lilly's face fell for a moment as she looked about in embarrassment, "Well, everything after the first cake turned out pretty good, we won't talk about my initial attempt, was never really one for baking." At that Hermione perked up a bit,
"You made this?" Lilly nodded with some honest enthusiasm,
"Of course, I had to wing it a bit to make it both dentist friendly and edible so it had to be me, someone else could have gotten it wrong, now blow out your candles before they burn the thing." Hermione knew she was joking but they were getting awfully low, taking in a breath she blew out the candles sending a wave of smoke into the air, "What did you wish for?"
It was such an innocent question, and one she did not want to answer in the slightest, but innocent regardless; luckily she was saved from a response by the questioner herself as she began cutting the cake. "Never mind, doesn't come true if you share it, or is that shooting stars? Or wishes in general? Huh...maybe I can cause Trelawney to have an aneurysm by making her think about that one," her wistful smile made it fairly obvious she wasn't fully joking but Hermione was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice.
Sliding a slice of cake before her Hermione absently took a bite of it and paused, strawberry with cream icing, turning to Lilly who was happily scarfing her own slice down it took her a moment to realize she was being stared at. Mouth full and not being a slob she simply raised her brows in question,
"How did you know what my favorite cake was? It isn't one of those things that comes up often you know," swallowing quickly Lilly coughed a bit before responding,
"Easy, I owled Aunt Andromeda to call your mum and ask, don't forget she and Uncle Ted are friends with your parents so I have my ways," smiling Hermione turned back to her cake but only managed to finish about two thirds of it but that didn't seem to offend Lilly at all. Grinning she pushed the cake aside and dropped a handful of gifts before the brunette, "Now I didn't have our boys here because I'm really not ready to share our Bat Cave with them yet so they'll give you their presents later. These are from myself, Dora, and Padfoot, Daddy is planning on getting you a gift certificate to Flourish and Blotts but he's been incredibly busy lately, train wreck, Death Eaters, Hufflepuffs being allowed in his classroom, you know the drill." Hermione laughed at that as she nodded in agreement, nearly bursting with excitement Lilly pushed her present in to her friends hands encouraging her to open it.
Hermione contemplated torturing her a bit by slowly and carefully unwrapping the gift but thought better of it, tearing the brightly colored paper off she found a blank box in her hands, flipping it open her eyes widened slightly upon seeing its contents. Turning to her friend she phrased her question carefully,
"There's a reason you gave this to me knowing how electronics get around magic, what did you do to it?" Not taking any offense since she was fully expecting this reaction Lilly hopped up and began pacing as she started her explanation.
"Over the summer I got bored, like uber bored, so bored that I can't even begin to describe it, but most of the adults in my life have jobs and responsibilities so they really couldn't keep me occupied all the time so I ended up watching a bunch of Japanese cartoons at my sisters place. Well I realized that the TV and VCR had to have some sort of protection being in a magical home right? Well I cracked it open and found an entire rune schematic drawn on the inside cover and not only did this thing shield it from magic, it powered it, when I confronted Dora about it she admitted that an exchange student had done the work for her during her fifth year."
Looking slightly smug she continued her monologue as her friend patiently listened, "So anyway I copied it and took it to Auntie Bella when she wasn't busy teaching Sally how to commit war crimes and we refined it to a more streamlined arrangement, what you have there is our first functioning prototype." Smiling Hermione lifted the Sony Walkman from the box and ran her fingers across the rune engraved purple plastic,
"Thank you Lilly, I love it," beaming she pushed the other two gifts forward and after opening them Hermione was now the proud owner of over two dozen audio cassettes featuring artists across several genres. Blushing a bit Lilly fished into her pocket and pulled out one last gift wrapped in plain brown paper dropping it in Hermione's lap, picking it up she unwrapped it and looked slightly confused, "Who's this from?" Lilly sighed in exasperation while shaking her head,
"Tom, he insisted I get you some proper listening material and when a bloke lives in your head he can make himself a fair menace if you ignore him," Hermione stared at her blankly before breaking out into riotous laughter. Sides hurting she eventually got herself under control long enough to state a phrase that had never been uttered before and probably would never be spoken hence,
"Are you telling me, that the shade of Lord Voldemort made you buy your muggle-born friend 'Queens Greatest Hits'?" Covering her face with her palm Lilly nodded slowly causing Hermione to break into another fit of laughter, the entire time Lilly smiled in satisfaction, today was a huge success. As the day progressed the two of them discussed rune warding other electronic devices and the market for them, Lilly quite emphatically explained that game systems were her next pet project and Hermione actually agreed, she rather missed Tetris after all.
Eventually the pair had packed up Hermione's birthday loot and made their way back down to the dungeons, on the way they were intercepted by Sally-Anne and Neville who both wished the resident bookworm a happy birthday and each promised her a butterbeer on their first Hogsmeade visit. After arriving in the dungeons Blaise and Draco gifted her with a three hundred year old copy of 'Hogwarts a History,' while stating she didn't want to know where they got it, being a proper Slytherin she took their words to heart.
As the night grew later and Hermione lay in bed listening to her new Walkman she kept hitting rewind listening to the same song over and over again, turning her head to look over at Lilly's sleeping form as she was being serenaded by Freddy Mercury's rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody she calmly reflected on her earlier wish. Heart aching she turned away and stared back up at her beds canopy as she let out a shuddering breath,
"I wish I knew if you loved me the way I love you," the very confused witch muttered to herself.
So yeah, I thought the idea of Tom demanding Hermione receive 'proper' music was amusing, hope you all enjoyed and no I'm not going to be torturing the poor girl much longer, while Lilly's boggart is up in the air...Hermione's is not.