AN- things get juicier. YAY!!
~*~*~*~
The next morning, at breakfast, another black rose arrived for Hermione. As did one during Transfiguration, and charms, and, to Hermione's horror, potions.
A loud tapping noise broke the silence of Snape's desolate dungeon.
"Who is it?" the potions master spat. The tapping just got louder. "Who is it?" The tapping noise got louder. Snape stalked to the door and flung it open. "For God's sake, I said who is it?"
A small owl flew into the room and placed a small silver envelope and black rose on the table Hermione was preparing her ingredients. Hermione stared at it for a moment then reached to pick it up, but Snape beat her to it.
"How sweet." He said, bitterly. "A token of affection for Miss Granger. We'll just see what's in this envelope, shall we?"
"Professor --"
"Quiet, Weasley. Or was it you who sent this? That's detention for disruption of class"
"But -"
"You too, Mr. potter. Ten Points from Gryffindor! " he clicked his tongue " what a shame. Slytherin seems to be right on Gryffindor's tail in the House Cup. Wouldn't want to lose it for your house now, would we?" he smiled evilly. " I also have the happy power to change grades from the exams. I dare say, would anyone like to repeat their last year of Hogwarts?" he opened the envelope and scoffed. " Lovely." He cleared his throat." My love for you will last as long as the roses. " Hermione, Ron, and Harry all mouthed the words. But then, Snape continued. " Don't lose heart. Potions was my worst class, too. Your silence solution is sure to be brilliant."
Hermione began to look like she had before the party; the color was drained from her face.
Snape disposed of the rose and love letter before they had a chance to look at it. When class ended, Harry and Ron hurried to get to Hermione.
"Hermione, who's sending those things to you?"Ron asked, frantically.
"I- I don't know." She was very shaken. it wasn't every day you got a letter stating what you were doing at that exact moment.
"How did this -- this person -- know what class you were in and what type of potion you were making?"
"I haven't got a clue, Harry." She stopped to lean her head on a wall. "I need to lie down."
Hermione couldn't go anywhere without a letter and a rose following her. Each time, the letter was different. Each time, it said where she was at and what she was doing.
Hermione began to have nightmares. There was one dream that was especially scary and it seemed to be the one she had most. She was sleeping or in a class or eating -- whatever -- and an owl came. She would open the envelope and someone would grab her and pull her in. There were eyes everywhere, faces jeering at her through the thick cloud of smoke. It would rain black rose petals, the moon would shine brightly, blanketing the eerie chamber she was trapped in with silver light. Through the storm, she could see a glowering face. It looked so familiar, yet so dangerous and unknown. That would be the last sight Hermione saw before she was drowning in rose petals.
One night, when she was having this dream again, she was woke by an owl that had flown through the open window of the girl's dormitory. It was carrying nothing less than a black rose and a letter. Hermione considered throwing the parcel out the window after the owl, but decided against it. For some odd reason, she was drawn to the envelope. She opened it with shaking hands.
I'll be watching you
Hermione was frightened. What did that mean? She suddenly got the familiar sensation of being watched. Her eyes flickered to the open window. The very same face that visited her every night in her dreams was peering through it. The full moon cast shadows over his features, silhouetting his profile against the wall. He looked like a satanic apparition from Hell, there to torture Hermione. His eyes were glimmering madly at her like coals, burning in a hearth. A twisted look of hunger was painted across his face.
Hermione shrieked. The face smiled and disappeared. Hermione ran to the window. She watched as a shadow soared over the lawn like a harpy. Once it got off the Hogwarts grounds, it disappeared all together.
Parvati and Lavender woke. "What's wrong, Hermione. You sound like you're being massacred." Parvati moaned sleepily.
"the -- the face."
"Huh?" asked Lavender.
"The face and the note and the rose...."
"You were having a dream, Hermione. I'm going back to bed."
"You go ahead...." Hermione got up and literally ran to the boy's dormitories. She opened the door to the room where the seventh years slept.
"Ron?" whispered Hermione.
"Not now...... "
"Ron, please -" she was crying. Tears ran down her face and onto Ron.
"Hermione? What's wrong?" He sat up and held her.
"I'm so scared, Ron. I got another rose, just now. And....." She stopped. her sobs were waking someone. Hermione prayed that it wasn't Seamus. She didn't think she liked him very much anymore. Luckily, it was Harry.
"Whassamatter?" he yawned. "Ron? Is that you?"
"Yeah, Hermione's here too."
"Oh .........why?"
"That's what he was about to tell me." Ron spoke soflty,"What's wrong?"
"Why don't we go to the common room. I -I don't want to wake Seamus."
Ron grimaced. "Yeah...."
Once they were settled in the common room, Hermione told them the story. She explained her dream and how she had woke to an owl with a rose. She told them of how she saw the face, and how it smiled when she screamed.
"Who is this person and what does he want?" Ron demanded, as he lay his head in his hands.
Harry was stark white. He had heard about things like this on the muggle news all of the time. He could recall how Uncle Vernon had quoted "hanging's the only way to deal with these people," every time something like that came on the news. there were always stories of women getting unwanted mail, and women being followed. It was a crime in Britain, which made it all the more appealing.
"What we have on our hands" Harry said, grimly, "is a stalker."
Hermione didn't realize the seriousness of stalking. She always regarded it as 'silly' and 'pointless'. It was Harry's and Ron's job to convince her of the point of stalking.
"Hermione!" cried Ron, extremely exasperated with her. "You don't get it! Do you know what a man would do to a women if he could just pin her down long enough?"
Hermione gave him a look. "Don't be sick."
"It's true!" Harry voiced. "Especially for nut jobs like this one. He knows where you are every moment of the day! He could jump out from behind a statue and rape you if he liked!"
Worry flickered over Hermione's face. It was gone as fast as it had come. "I'll ........ I'll just make sure I'm not alone then, that's all." She said, casually.
"And how are you going to do that?" said Ron loudly. "You have to sleep sometime and I'd like to see who you've got to follow you into the bathroom!"
Harry didn't want Hermione and Ron to get into a fight, as they had just made up from the last row they had. "l just wonder how he got onto the grounds."
"Hmm..." Hermione thought. "I think he flew."
"On a broomstick?" inquired harry
"I guess..." She strained to form a memory from a few days ago. "I was still pretty scared, and I couldn't see him, only his shadow. It looked like a broomstick, from what I could see......" She stopped. "When it got off of the grounds, it disappeared completely."
"Meaning he probably apparated," chimed Ron. "So, does that mean he's fully a qualified wizard?"
"maybe..." said Harry. "Or at least someone who knows Hermione's schedule and has been in all of the classes before us. Then he'd know what we were going to do."
" It's probably nothing to worry about." Hermione said. "We leave the day after tomorrow, and he couldn't know my address."
~*~*~*~
The next morning, at breakfast, another black rose arrived for Hermione. As did one during Transfiguration, and charms, and, to Hermione's horror, potions.
A loud tapping noise broke the silence of Snape's desolate dungeon.
"Who is it?" the potions master spat. The tapping just got louder. "Who is it?" The tapping noise got louder. Snape stalked to the door and flung it open. "For God's sake, I said who is it?"
A small owl flew into the room and placed a small silver envelope and black rose on the table Hermione was preparing her ingredients. Hermione stared at it for a moment then reached to pick it up, but Snape beat her to it.
"How sweet." He said, bitterly. "A token of affection for Miss Granger. We'll just see what's in this envelope, shall we?"
"Professor --"
"Quiet, Weasley. Or was it you who sent this? That's detention for disruption of class"
"But -"
"You too, Mr. potter. Ten Points from Gryffindor! " he clicked his tongue " what a shame. Slytherin seems to be right on Gryffindor's tail in the House Cup. Wouldn't want to lose it for your house now, would we?" he smiled evilly. " I also have the happy power to change grades from the exams. I dare say, would anyone like to repeat their last year of Hogwarts?" he opened the envelope and scoffed. " Lovely." He cleared his throat." My love for you will last as long as the roses. " Hermione, Ron, and Harry all mouthed the words. But then, Snape continued. " Don't lose heart. Potions was my worst class, too. Your silence solution is sure to be brilliant."
Hermione began to look like she had before the party; the color was drained from her face.
Snape disposed of the rose and love letter before they had a chance to look at it. When class ended, Harry and Ron hurried to get to Hermione.
"Hermione, who's sending those things to you?"Ron asked, frantically.
"I- I don't know." She was very shaken. it wasn't every day you got a letter stating what you were doing at that exact moment.
"How did this -- this person -- know what class you were in and what type of potion you were making?"
"I haven't got a clue, Harry." She stopped to lean her head on a wall. "I need to lie down."
Hermione couldn't go anywhere without a letter and a rose following her. Each time, the letter was different. Each time, it said where she was at and what she was doing.
Hermione began to have nightmares. There was one dream that was especially scary and it seemed to be the one she had most. She was sleeping or in a class or eating -- whatever -- and an owl came. She would open the envelope and someone would grab her and pull her in. There were eyes everywhere, faces jeering at her through the thick cloud of smoke. It would rain black rose petals, the moon would shine brightly, blanketing the eerie chamber she was trapped in with silver light. Through the storm, she could see a glowering face. It looked so familiar, yet so dangerous and unknown. That would be the last sight Hermione saw before she was drowning in rose petals.
One night, when she was having this dream again, she was woke by an owl that had flown through the open window of the girl's dormitory. It was carrying nothing less than a black rose and a letter. Hermione considered throwing the parcel out the window after the owl, but decided against it. For some odd reason, she was drawn to the envelope. She opened it with shaking hands.
I'll be watching you
Hermione was frightened. What did that mean? She suddenly got the familiar sensation of being watched. Her eyes flickered to the open window. The very same face that visited her every night in her dreams was peering through it. The full moon cast shadows over his features, silhouetting his profile against the wall. He looked like a satanic apparition from Hell, there to torture Hermione. His eyes were glimmering madly at her like coals, burning in a hearth. A twisted look of hunger was painted across his face.
Hermione shrieked. The face smiled and disappeared. Hermione ran to the window. She watched as a shadow soared over the lawn like a harpy. Once it got off the Hogwarts grounds, it disappeared all together.
Parvati and Lavender woke. "What's wrong, Hermione. You sound like you're being massacred." Parvati moaned sleepily.
"the -- the face."
"Huh?" asked Lavender.
"The face and the note and the rose...."
"You were having a dream, Hermione. I'm going back to bed."
"You go ahead...." Hermione got up and literally ran to the boy's dormitories. She opened the door to the room where the seventh years slept.
"Ron?" whispered Hermione.
"Not now...... "
"Ron, please -" she was crying. Tears ran down her face and onto Ron.
"Hermione? What's wrong?" He sat up and held her.
"I'm so scared, Ron. I got another rose, just now. And....." She stopped. her sobs were waking someone. Hermione prayed that it wasn't Seamus. She didn't think she liked him very much anymore. Luckily, it was Harry.
"Whassamatter?" he yawned. "Ron? Is that you?"
"Yeah, Hermione's here too."
"Oh .........why?"
"That's what he was about to tell me." Ron spoke soflty,"What's wrong?"
"Why don't we go to the common room. I -I don't want to wake Seamus."
Ron grimaced. "Yeah...."
Once they were settled in the common room, Hermione told them the story. She explained her dream and how she had woke to an owl with a rose. She told them of how she saw the face, and how it smiled when she screamed.
"Who is this person and what does he want?" Ron demanded, as he lay his head in his hands.
Harry was stark white. He had heard about things like this on the muggle news all of the time. He could recall how Uncle Vernon had quoted "hanging's the only way to deal with these people," every time something like that came on the news. there were always stories of women getting unwanted mail, and women being followed. It was a crime in Britain, which made it all the more appealing.
"What we have on our hands" Harry said, grimly, "is a stalker."
Hermione didn't realize the seriousness of stalking. She always regarded it as 'silly' and 'pointless'. It was Harry's and Ron's job to convince her of the point of stalking.
"Hermione!" cried Ron, extremely exasperated with her. "You don't get it! Do you know what a man would do to a women if he could just pin her down long enough?"
Hermione gave him a look. "Don't be sick."
"It's true!" Harry voiced. "Especially for nut jobs like this one. He knows where you are every moment of the day! He could jump out from behind a statue and rape you if he liked!"
Worry flickered over Hermione's face. It was gone as fast as it had come. "I'll ........ I'll just make sure I'm not alone then, that's all." She said, casually.
"And how are you going to do that?" said Ron loudly. "You have to sleep sometime and I'd like to see who you've got to follow you into the bathroom!"
Harry didn't want Hermione and Ron to get into a fight, as they had just made up from the last row they had. "l just wonder how he got onto the grounds."
"Hmm..." Hermione thought. "I think he flew."
"On a broomstick?" inquired harry
"I guess..." She strained to form a memory from a few days ago. "I was still pretty scared, and I couldn't see him, only his shadow. It looked like a broomstick, from what I could see......" She stopped. "When it got off of the grounds, it disappeared completely."
"Meaning he probably apparated," chimed Ron. "So, does that mean he's fully a qualified wizard?"
"maybe..." said Harry. "Or at least someone who knows Hermione's schedule and has been in all of the classes before us. Then he'd know what we were going to do."
" It's probably nothing to worry about." Hermione said. "We leave the day after tomorrow, and he couldn't know my address."