Chapter Five: A New Life
Harry couldn't sleep. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in months, what difference would one more night make? He stood up and angrily looked over at Malfoy, sleeping peacefully in the bed adjacent to Harry's. Stealthily he walked down to the girl's dormitory where Hermione was staying. She, like Malfoy, was sleeping. She looked angelic, so peaceful, so relaxed. He smiled looking down at her things which were locked magically. Curious as to why she had locked her few belongings up, he took her wand (which she had left lying on the night stand) and unlocked it. Inside were a few dresses and robes, but one thing stood out to him. A leather bound journal. He picked it up and ran his fingers over the faded gold letters that read 'Hermione Granger.' He had given the book to her upon their graduation from Hogwarts. It had cost him 20 galleons, he had paid 5 extra galleons to have her name put on it. He opened the book to the first page were he had written a letter to her before giving it. He contemplated tearing that letter out before he gave it to her, thinking it was stupid, but he had left it in there and she had cried upon reading it. He remembered that she had hugged him tighter than she ever had and whispered "that is the most wonderful present I have ever gotten" in his ear, which made it worth every galleon. Inquisitive, he turned the page again to see her neat handwriting. He read some of her entries, to discover she had dated Justin Finch-Fletchley for some time as well as a few other things. But before he could find out to much he heard a soft voice say
"Curiosity killed the cat you know"
Startled, Harry looked up to see Hermione smiling at him
"I-I-I-um- sorry?" he offered
"I would have told you all that's written in there, if you had asked me"
"How long have you been sitting there?" he asked.
"Since you opened my bag"
"Why didn't you stop me?"
"Because, like I said, I would gladly tell you most that's written in there, if you asked me" she explained
"Ok, so, why don't you tell me?" he asked, grinning
"Only if you promise to tell me some juicy things" she said in all seriousness, but smiling
"I promise" he said making a cross with his fingers over his heart
"Come sit up here, with me" she offered, moving over so he would have room. He stood up, pulled the covers over him and lay next to her, their faces less than a foot apart.
"Ok, where did you leave off?" she asked
"You were dating Justin Finch-Fletchley. Why did you date Justin?" he asked, raising his eyebrows
"We were partners at work and one day he asked me to have dinner with him. I felt bad and didn't want to say no, so that night we went to a muggle restaurant. I actually has a splendid time, he was so nice, and a great dancer. Anyway, we went out for about a year when he asked me to marry him, and I said no. He said that he couldn't be with me anymore if I didn't love him enough to spend the rest of my life with him, so ended that relationship. Your turn." She told him.
"Ok, I suppose I'll tell you about dating Padma Patil. She wasn't at all like Parvati. She wasn't into divination, she never even took it at Hogwarts. We met at Three Broomsticks one night when the Weird Sisters were performing there. She sat next to me, we started talking and eventually I asked her if she wanted to go out sometime. Our relationship lasted for two years, she had even moved in with me by the time we broke up"
"What happened?" Hermione asked
"I found out she had been cheating on me for six months with Roger Davies"
"Ouch" she said
"Yeah, big ouch" Harry said, then launching into a story about how Pansy Parkinson had asked him out one day and the one date he had with her.
"- so obviously, I couldn't see her again. Your turn" he looked at Hermione at the end of the story, only to find her sleeping. He smiled, kissed her forehead, turned over, and finally, Harry Potter fell fast asleep. Little did Harry and Hermione know how their peaceful sleep would be disturbed.
"Oh my!" a voice yelled, making Hermione sit straight up. Sunlight was seeping in through a crack in the drapes. She felt something in the bed only to find Harry, sleeping. Hermione looked up to see Professor McGonagall looking back and forth at Harry and Hermione in utter horror. For one wild second Hermione thought "Oh no! I'll get detention for this!"
"Professor! Its not what it looks like! I swear! Harry! Wake up!" Hermione exclaimed talking quickly
Harry sat up, stretched, put on his glasses and for the first time saw McGonagall in the doorway, he quickly got out of the bed and stood up
"Professor McGonagall! We-We didn't- didn't do anything- if that's what your thinking" Harry said blushing four different colors red.
"No, no, you two are- responsible- adults, I don't expect an explanation, really. Just thought I'd tell you that you should come down, you're missing breakfast" she said in a nervous and uncomfortable voice. She left the room, shaking her head.
"Oh Harry! How embarrassing!," she cried, twisting her hands in her lap and turning bright red "that's like having my mother come in to find us in bed together! Now she'll think we're- we're together"
"Yeah, I agree. I'm going to go get dressed, see you at breakfast" Harry said awkwardly and went to his room
Once he had left, Hermione changed into a set of green robes. She picked up the leather bound journal, which lie forgotten on the floor. She sat back onto the bed and read Harry's letter to herself, though she had read it so many times she had it practically memorized. She remember crying so hard when she had read it the first time, and how she'd hugged Harry and told him that it was the best present she had ever gotten. That still held true. It was the most wonderful thing anyone had ever given in her. The thing that truly made it special was that letter. She marveled at how something so simple could mean so much to her. Standing up, she walked into the great hall and sat next to Harry to eat some breakfast. She looked around the room and just smiled. A smile that was genuine and so much like how she had smiled as an eleven year old.
"Why are you so happy?" Harry asked her, looking up from his eggs
"Its a new day Harry, a new life, a new time, that's enough to please even those who have been hurt so deeply they thought they'd never recover" she said simply.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you once again to this castle, where you went to school. Hogwarts. Today we begin to repair and become once again, what we once were. Though the wound will never fully heal, we can try to make it so that it will leave but a scar. Today, we begin to rebuild our government, the Ministry of Magic. The first order of business is to elect a new minister. Any nominations?" McGonagall asked, not looking at Harry or Hermione during her speech
"I do," Draco said, standing up "I would like to nominate Harry Potter"
* * *
The man awoke from his unconsciousness sleep once again. He had an itch on his nose, but when he went to scratch it, realized that his arms were chained to two different trees. He made many fruitless attempts to pull himself free. A man laughed, he was standing before a large fire, warming his hands.
" I was wondering when you'd wake up" he stated
"Who are you? Where are we? Who am I? What do you want with me?" the man asked, still pulling at the chains
"Now, are you in a position to be demanding answers from me? You are a man, as am I, we are in a forest and what I want will be shortly revealed" he offered
"Well, I know it can't be good if you've chained me and you won't tell me anything"
"How observant of you, go back to sleep" he said without feeling and turned back to face the fire.
The man spent a long time pulling at the chains. By the time he stopped, his wrists were bloody and he thought he might be able to see a bone.
A/N: As always, I hope you enjoyed this installment. I would have had it out before Thanksgiving, but I was sick, and therefore didn't feel like thinking enough to write. I hope you all had a good holiday! A special apology to Keith FRASER cause I spelled his name wrong. Please review! You know I love to read them..
~Katie "You know you wanna dance" Witnick
(An A+ for anyone who can tell me where that's from :)
Harry couldn't sleep. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in months, what difference would one more night make? He stood up and angrily looked over at Malfoy, sleeping peacefully in the bed adjacent to Harry's. Stealthily he walked down to the girl's dormitory where Hermione was staying. She, like Malfoy, was sleeping. She looked angelic, so peaceful, so relaxed. He smiled looking down at her things which were locked magically. Curious as to why she had locked her few belongings up, he took her wand (which she had left lying on the night stand) and unlocked it. Inside were a few dresses and robes, but one thing stood out to him. A leather bound journal. He picked it up and ran his fingers over the faded gold letters that read 'Hermione Granger.' He had given the book to her upon their graduation from Hogwarts. It had cost him 20 galleons, he had paid 5 extra galleons to have her name put on it. He opened the book to the first page were he had written a letter to her before giving it. He contemplated tearing that letter out before he gave it to her, thinking it was stupid, but he had left it in there and she had cried upon reading it. He remembered that she had hugged him tighter than she ever had and whispered "that is the most wonderful present I have ever gotten" in his ear, which made it worth every galleon. Inquisitive, he turned the page again to see her neat handwriting. He read some of her entries, to discover she had dated Justin Finch-Fletchley for some time as well as a few other things. But before he could find out to much he heard a soft voice say
"Curiosity killed the cat you know"
Startled, Harry looked up to see Hermione smiling at him
"I-I-I-um- sorry?" he offered
"I would have told you all that's written in there, if you had asked me"
"How long have you been sitting there?" he asked.
"Since you opened my bag"
"Why didn't you stop me?"
"Because, like I said, I would gladly tell you most that's written in there, if you asked me" she explained
"Ok, so, why don't you tell me?" he asked, grinning
"Only if you promise to tell me some juicy things" she said in all seriousness, but smiling
"I promise" he said making a cross with his fingers over his heart
"Come sit up here, with me" she offered, moving over so he would have room. He stood up, pulled the covers over him and lay next to her, their faces less than a foot apart.
"Ok, where did you leave off?" she asked
"You were dating Justin Finch-Fletchley. Why did you date Justin?" he asked, raising his eyebrows
"We were partners at work and one day he asked me to have dinner with him. I felt bad and didn't want to say no, so that night we went to a muggle restaurant. I actually has a splendid time, he was so nice, and a great dancer. Anyway, we went out for about a year when he asked me to marry him, and I said no. He said that he couldn't be with me anymore if I didn't love him enough to spend the rest of my life with him, so ended that relationship. Your turn." She told him.
"Ok, I suppose I'll tell you about dating Padma Patil. She wasn't at all like Parvati. She wasn't into divination, she never even took it at Hogwarts. We met at Three Broomsticks one night when the Weird Sisters were performing there. She sat next to me, we started talking and eventually I asked her if she wanted to go out sometime. Our relationship lasted for two years, she had even moved in with me by the time we broke up"
"What happened?" Hermione asked
"I found out she had been cheating on me for six months with Roger Davies"
"Ouch" she said
"Yeah, big ouch" Harry said, then launching into a story about how Pansy Parkinson had asked him out one day and the one date he had with her.
"- so obviously, I couldn't see her again. Your turn" he looked at Hermione at the end of the story, only to find her sleeping. He smiled, kissed her forehead, turned over, and finally, Harry Potter fell fast asleep. Little did Harry and Hermione know how their peaceful sleep would be disturbed.
"Oh my!" a voice yelled, making Hermione sit straight up. Sunlight was seeping in through a crack in the drapes. She felt something in the bed only to find Harry, sleeping. Hermione looked up to see Professor McGonagall looking back and forth at Harry and Hermione in utter horror. For one wild second Hermione thought "Oh no! I'll get detention for this!"
"Professor! Its not what it looks like! I swear! Harry! Wake up!" Hermione exclaimed talking quickly
Harry sat up, stretched, put on his glasses and for the first time saw McGonagall in the doorway, he quickly got out of the bed and stood up
"Professor McGonagall! We-We didn't- didn't do anything- if that's what your thinking" Harry said blushing four different colors red.
"No, no, you two are- responsible- adults, I don't expect an explanation, really. Just thought I'd tell you that you should come down, you're missing breakfast" she said in a nervous and uncomfortable voice. She left the room, shaking her head.
"Oh Harry! How embarrassing!," she cried, twisting her hands in her lap and turning bright red "that's like having my mother come in to find us in bed together! Now she'll think we're- we're together"
"Yeah, I agree. I'm going to go get dressed, see you at breakfast" Harry said awkwardly and went to his room
Once he had left, Hermione changed into a set of green robes. She picked up the leather bound journal, which lie forgotten on the floor. She sat back onto the bed and read Harry's letter to herself, though she had read it so many times she had it practically memorized. She remember crying so hard when she had read it the first time, and how she'd hugged Harry and told him that it was the best present she had ever gotten. That still held true. It was the most wonderful thing anyone had ever given in her. The thing that truly made it special was that letter. She marveled at how something so simple could mean so much to her. Standing up, she walked into the great hall and sat next to Harry to eat some breakfast. She looked around the room and just smiled. A smile that was genuine and so much like how she had smiled as an eleven year old.
"Why are you so happy?" Harry asked her, looking up from his eggs
"Its a new day Harry, a new life, a new time, that's enough to please even those who have been hurt so deeply they thought they'd never recover" she said simply.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you once again to this castle, where you went to school. Hogwarts. Today we begin to repair and become once again, what we once were. Though the wound will never fully heal, we can try to make it so that it will leave but a scar. Today, we begin to rebuild our government, the Ministry of Magic. The first order of business is to elect a new minister. Any nominations?" McGonagall asked, not looking at Harry or Hermione during her speech
"I do," Draco said, standing up "I would like to nominate Harry Potter"
* * *
The man awoke from his unconsciousness sleep once again. He had an itch on his nose, but when he went to scratch it, realized that his arms were chained to two different trees. He made many fruitless attempts to pull himself free. A man laughed, he was standing before a large fire, warming his hands.
" I was wondering when you'd wake up" he stated
"Who are you? Where are we? Who am I? What do you want with me?" the man asked, still pulling at the chains
"Now, are you in a position to be demanding answers from me? You are a man, as am I, we are in a forest and what I want will be shortly revealed" he offered
"Well, I know it can't be good if you've chained me and you won't tell me anything"
"How observant of you, go back to sleep" he said without feeling and turned back to face the fire.
The man spent a long time pulling at the chains. By the time he stopped, his wrists were bloody and he thought he might be able to see a bone.
A/N: As always, I hope you enjoyed this installment. I would have had it out before Thanksgiving, but I was sick, and therefore didn't feel like thinking enough to write. I hope you all had a good holiday! A special apology to Keith FRASER cause I spelled his name wrong. Please review! You know I love to read them..
~Katie "You know you wanna dance" Witnick
(An A+ for anyone who can tell me where that's from :)