The Houses Competition - Round 7 - Standard
Slytherin, Charms
Prompt: [location] 'favourite place in the world'
Word Count: 1074
Betas: Aya Diefair, Butterflies765
Worried About the Books
When the dust had settled on Hogwarts and the survivors sat in the Great Hall, taking stock of what had happened in the last twenty-four hours, Hermione quietly slipped away from her friends. She took her time walking through the castle, inspecting all the damage that had occurred.
Doors were either blasted off or hung from a single hinge. Walls had holes that Hermione could walk through with ease, not even having to crouch. Some of the stone floors had deep cracks running through them. The occupants of the paintings that weren't damaged were slowly coming back into their frames, peering around to assess any danger they might still be in.
Hermione clenched her teeth, ignoring the ache in her muscles as she trailed a hand along a wall; dust came away as her fingertips moved along the stone. The castle looked as broken as she was feeling at that moment.
Finally, she came to the room she was seeking – the library. Hermione climbed the small pile of rubble blocking the entrance and let go of the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding when she found the room to be largely intact. Except for the missing door and one knocked-over bookcase, it was as if the battle had never happened here.
Sitting down on top of the rubble, Hermione took in a deep breath through her nose before letting it out slowly. She did it again as she looked around the room – the one place that had always made her feel safe and welcome. She'd missed it so much over the last year, wishing nearly every day to be here – to learn more. It had only failed her once – the Horcruxes – but she could never hold that against these books or this room.
Hermione shifted, letting her body slip slowly and gently down the rubble, flinching when a sharp piece pushed into her thigh, realising there was already a cut there. She stood up, dusted herself off – not that it helped much with how dirty her clothes were at this point – and went to the bookcase that had toppled over. She pulled out her wand from the beaded bag she carried and straightened her back, squaring her shoulders.
Maybe it was seeing the books thrown around in such a manner, some of their covers missing. Maybe it was seeing the destruction of the castle. Maybe it was the torture she'd received only a few weeks before. Maybe it was because she'd just lived the hardest year of her life.
Maybe it was all of it, including sending her parents away with no recollection of who she was, that had Hermione silently crying as she used her wand to push the bookcase back into its place.
This was her haven and she needed it to look exactly like it did before.
"Hermione?" Ron's gentle voice called from the other side of the rubble.
Wiping at her cheeks with the back of her hands, the shelf settling back into its home, Hermione turned to see Ron's red hair peeking over the rubble. "In here, Ron."
She attempted to take another deep breath but a sob escaped her instead. Hermione turned back to the empty bookcase, looking at the scattered books on the floor while she listened to Ron climb over the rubble.
"Everything okay?" he asked, out of breath.
"I'm okay," she said. Her body shuddered as she tried to contain another sob, wiping frantically at the tears.
"Well, we both know that none of us are okay," Ron said. Noises of stones rolling over could be heard as he slipped down to her side of the rubble pile.
Hermione turned to look at him, shrugging helplessly and no longer able to try and fight back the tears. "I needed to check if it was…" She looked back around at the empty bookcase.
"I know." Ron walked over to her, hopping a little over some of the scattered debris. He pulled her into a tight hug, causing her wand to fall to the floor. "I know," he said again, cradling her head to his chest.
"It's so stupid," she muttered. "All the people that died and I'm worried about books."
Ron held her for a little longer before gently pulling her arms from around his waist. He used a thumb to wipe away a stray tear from her cheek, giving her a small smile.
"This was where you came to make sense of the world. It's okay to worry about the books."
Hermione gave him a wobbly smile, looking to the items in question once more. "Will you help me put them back?"
Ron answered by picking up her wand and handing it to her. He placed a kiss on her cheek and stepped towards the books. "Come on. Let's make it look like your favourite place again."
A rush of affection swelled through Hermione as she watched him flick his wand at a book. For that brief moment it took away all the pain and grief she was feeling. The library might be a little broken, much like them, but it would be okay in the end.
It didn't take them long to place all the books back on their shelves. They worked quietly, the only sounds were the dull thuds of hardback covers finding their homes. Once the bookcase was full again and all other errant books had been returned to the proper shelf, they set to work removing the rubble from the doorway, pushing it back into the corridor. They found the door underneath the rocks and worked together to put it back on its hinges.
Hermione took a slow walk around the room, using a Cleaning Charm as she went to remove the dust and dirt. Ron waited patiently by the entrance, the light from outside disappearing as the sun set for the day. Waving her wand in a high arc in the middle of the room, candles appeared near the ceiling, sending their light across the bookshelves, ready to welcome the next set of Hogwarts students.
"Ready?" Ron asked after she'd turned on the spot.
"I think so." She nodded, tucking her wand into the beaded bag that had been by her side all year.
It was as they left the library that Hermione knew she would come back to finish her schooling. Hogwarts was not done with her and Hermione was not done with the books in this room.
Prompts used for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (challenges & assignments)
Spring Seasonal
- Aquarium Month - 4. Write about someone from the light side of the war
Spring Funfair
- Paint a Rainbow - Pink 4. Library
- Birdhouse Building - Step 5. (genre) Hurt/Comfort
- Petting Zoo - Sheep - (action) cuddling
- Bunny Races (Hermione) - Word Count: 1074
Would You Rather...
- Write a fic set in the Founders Era OR Write a fic set in the Trio Era
Spring Quarterly
- 31. Montreal - (pairing) RonHermione