Chapter 3: Late Night Talks

Original A/N: I know my chapters are short, but I'd rather write short chapters than possibly get frustrated writing longer ones. Thank you so much, reviewers! Here it is!

Hermione jerked up around midnight from a nightmare. Struggling to get her breathing under control, she looked around at the other beds. Harry and Ginny were fast asleep, though Harry seemed to be turning over constantly. She saw Ron lying awake staring at the sky. That was one odd thing about this place: the house had no ceiling. She saw his gaze snap to hers, when he must have heard her wake.

"Hey," he whispered, keeping his voice quiet, "are you alright?"

"Just a bad dream." She sighed. She quietly pulled herself out of bed, walking over to the window. She turned to say something, but stopped at the look on Ron's face.

"How did you do that?" He said incredulously. Hermione, realizing that she had been able to move of her own accord, looked up at the sky. She searched for a minute, but couldn't find the cursor.

"I don't think whoever is controlling us is here." Hermione looked around again, before she walked to Ron, grabbing his arm to pull him with her out of the room. Together, they snuck down the stairs.

"Should we wake Harry and Ginny?"

"Hmm." Hermione frowned, glancing back at the stairway. "Let's just explore, and if we get anywhere, we can just come back for them." The quietly opened the front door, walking out into the night. They turned up the sidewalk, walking towards what looked up an empty expanse of endless grass and sidewalk.

Because he was walking slightly ahead of her, it was Ron who walked headfirst into a wall.

"Damn," he muttered, rubbing his forehead. Hermione reach her hand out, and felt what he had run into; an invisible boundary. Moving slower this time, the two of them carefully followed the boundary, using their hands to feel it. They made their way around the entire house, confirming that they were officially blocked inside.

Frustrated, Hermione followed Ron back inside, where they sat down on one of the couches.

"Have you tried to use wandless magic yet?" Ron asked her.

Hermione glanced around, and upon seeing a book on the table, took a breath, closed her eyes, and whispered, "Accio book." To her disappointment, it didn't so much as twitch. She tried again, but fell back into the couch when it failed once again.

Ron leaned back next to her, and they sat quietly for a few minutes. "Do you think it will always be at night when we can control ourselves?"

Hermione shook her head.

"I doubt it. It may depend on when whoever is controlling us decides to stop playing." She sighed and dropped her head in her hands. "Why are we here, this is so strange, I've never once read about anything like this happening. I mean, someone else controlling your actions in a game like this? It's a bit frightening."

"Yeah, it's bonkers. But sooner or later, the game would end, right? And then we can get out." He sounded like he was trying to comfort her, but Hermione felt a sudden horror fill her. "What is it?" Ron said, concerned. "The game is over sometime, right?" He paused, seeming to contemplate his own question. "Do the Sims… do they actually… die?"

Hermione swallowed. "Yeah… of old age, or some other events. But I've never played one family that long. I mean, we can't possibly really die in this…can we?" She felt panic start to rise within her. Ron carefully put his arm around her, pulling her over to him. Hermione was so surprised that she felt a bit of the panic recede.

"Hey, hey, I'm sure it will be fine. Whatever this is, it can't be actually real, otherwise we'd have our magic, yeah?" He squeezed her shoulder. Hermione felt a bit better, and the feeling of Ron's arm around her distracted her enough to where she felt her sleepiness return instead. They fell asleep there, snuggled next to one another, not seeing the pink hearts floating up above them.

Harry woke up at the sound of the conversation coming from the other room, and realized that Ron and Hermione had been able to leave. He got up himself, wanting to look around while he could. He was about to turn the knob when he heard Ginny get up behind him.

"Wait up, crush!" Harry choked out a laugh and waited, looking back to see Ginny standing up and walking towards him. Harry couldn't stop himself from grinning when he noticed her hair. It looked like it had been in a tornado. Ginny saw him looking and snapped, "You better not be laughing, Harry Potter. Yours is no better than mine." Harry instinctively reached up to flatten his hair. Ginny just laughed and slid past him through the door. The two wandered out a separate back door, and were met with a giant swimming pool they hadn't known was there.

"I'm putting my feet in," Ginny declared, walking to the edge to sit down. She lowered her slender legs into the water and shivered. Harry rolled up his trousers and sat down next to her. "It's cold," she complained.

Harry smirked at her. "Well, it is three in the morning." Ginny glared darkly at him.

"I know that, Potter. It is still cold." Feeling a bit impulsive, Harry stood up, and before Ginny could react, he nudged her into the pool. She let out a yip before she went under. She pushed herself above water, scrambling for the ladder. She was seething as she got out, dripping wet. Harry stood up grinning and said, "I've heard to just have to jump in to get used to it. Is it any warmer now?"

"Harry James Potter!" Ginny suddenly launched herself at him, jumping into the pool and dragging him with her. They continued to shove each other under the water for another ten minutes before collapsing back onto the pavement, both dripping wet and laughing. Harry moved up to lean against his elbows as he stared at the sky.

Ginny breathed in deeply before letting it out slowly. "Wow. For a game, the sky sure is beautiful." Harry was looking sideways at Ginny, and could see the few stars reflected in her eyes.

"Sky's not the only thing," he murmured. Ginny turned toward him and caught his gaze, the corner of her mouth lifting into a smile. "That chair over there looks pretty nice too." Ginny immediately punched him in the shoulder and he grunted out a laugh. "So violent."

She just rolled her eyes. "And here I thought you had learned how to be charming." But he could see the warmth in her eyes as she held his gaze. Harry's gaze dropped to her mouth, and he found himself leaning towards her. He had just closed his eyes, and was just a few inches away when suddenly, he couldn't move at all.