Hermione wedged herself upon a cold stone window ledge, her eyes surveying the castle ground from her lofty position atop of Gryffindor tower. There wasn't a cloud in the night sky as she watched shadows take form and dissipate near the dark forest. The heat radiating from the fireplace seemed to steadily consume her as she found herself suddenly craving the cool night air.
She rose from the stone windowsill before tracing the spiral staircase down to the common room.
Her eyes quickly fell upon Harry and Ron as they appeared to be caught up in a spirited game of Wizard's Chess.
"Harry, can I borrow your invisibility cloak?" Hermione asked without thought, unintentionally summoning the attention of both of her best friends.
"Why?" A slightly mischievous grin played out upon Ron's lips as he appeared to watch her carefully.
"I want to go to the astronomy tower."
"Why?" Harry interjected; the curiosity rife in his eyes.
What was this? Twenty-one questions?
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, yet this time no answer flowed from her lips.
"Have you got a secret boyfriend you're going to meet?"
"Of course not Ronald." Hermione stated flatly, amusement distinctively absent from her voice.
"It's in my trunk." Harry smirked, though he couldn't deny his curiosity at what the witch was up to.
*~.~*
Hermione crept along the dark corridors, she knew it was almost curfew as her eyes darted around the darkness as though she were on continual high alert. She had only ventured a few hundred metres from the safety of the portrait hole, yet she couldn't deny the sense of vulnerability that seemed to be slowly consuming her.
She knew by now that she must have been halfway to her destination, a fact that seemed to summon a sense of relief to her as she approached the next set of stairs. She raised her foot before placing it on the first step.
"But Minerva, it sounds to me like you are questioning my ability to teach."
Hermione gasped as she looked up. Her eyes instantly fell upon Professor Umbridge.
"Not at all Dolores, simply your medieval methods."
"Good, because to question me is to question the ministry."
Professor McGonagall stood there, her jaw clenched tighter than Hermione had ever seen it before. It was apparent to anyone in the vicinity that the transfiguration professor rarely got this angry. Hermione could tell that it was taking all of McGonagall's will power to keep her mouth shut.
"Now, I have to go and find that awful potion's professor." Umbridge tilted her chin into the air before straightening up and gazing haughtily at Professor McGonagall.
Minerva opened her mouth to argue the last point before being instantly silenced.
"Now, if you'll excuse me." Umbridge pasted a distinctively artificial smile on her lips before pacing down the stairs straight at Hermione.
The young witch gasped but did well to stop it from escaping her lips as she stood to the side. She pressed herself as hard up against the wall as her body would allow, as though afraid that Professor Umbridge would run straight into her.
Hermione stood there, watching as the DADA teacher strode past her, glancing at one point right through her. The young witch continued to wait there, even as she watched both Umbridge and Minerva storm away in opposing directions. She felt as though someone had turned her into a statue until the fear began to subside.
She took a deep breath before venturing up the now empty stairs.
Hermione sat down on the cold floor of the astronomy tower before sliding the invisibility cloak from her body. She couldn't deny the sense of relief that flooded over her as she realised she had finally made it. Though, she dreaded the process of sneaking back, yet it should be easier because more teachers would be asleep by then. She thought the view from Gryffindor tower was spectacular, yet it in paled in comparison with the view currently displaying itself before her eyes.
Hermione pulled from her a bag a telescope, adjusting it before aiming it upwards. She wasted no time peering through it, moving it ever so slightly as she gazed at star after star before settling upon Jupiter.
She adjusted the telescope further as she began to focus on one of the planet's many moons.
"I thought I might find you here." A voice descended through the darkness, causing Hermione to jump before instinctively reaching for the invisibility cloak.
Was she in trouble?
There was little point in adorning the cloak now as she turned around to face the unexpected visitor.
"Professor?" Hermione narrowed her eyes, as though attempting to decipher the shape in the dark that was slowly approaching her.
"Severus, remember."
Snape strode forward and sat down next to the young witch before withdrawing the wand from his pocket. With a wave of it he summoned a large candle and placed it between Hermione and himself. With one more swish, a flame settled upon its wick.
"Which star were you observing?" He asked softly, the firelight reflecting off his deep, dark eyes.
"Jupiter. Then I moved on to one of its moons, only I can't tell which one it is." Hermione tilted her head to the side, as though doing so would make the answer somehow clearer.
"Yes, it is difficult, Jupiter has 79 moons after all."
Hermione turned to the man as she placed the telescope on the ground between them, as though making it available should Snape wish to use it.
"Umbridge is looking for you." Hermione whispered, as though afraid to pass this information onto the professor.
"I know." Snape smiled as his eyes darted at the invisibly cloaked bunched up at Hermione's feet. It seemed as though he were for a moment, tempted to borrow it and hide under it forever. Of course, he knew that would never work.
"Are you cold?"
"A bit." Hermione answered honestly as her eyes locked with Snape's.
The professor smiled slightly, as though Hermione had just delivered the answer he was looking for. He raised his wand once more before summoning a thick purple woolen blanket and passing it carefully to the witch.
Hermione took it without hesitation as she felt the soft material of the blanket in her hands.
"This is lovely."
"It was my mother's."