Chapter 2
She dug through the dirt carefully to find what she needed. Each item, when found, would disappear into the leather bag at her side. She gathered her final item and stood up, brushing bits of leaves and forest debris from her brown and green robes. She settled her green cloak around her shoulders and checked that her leather bag was closed and fastened securely. She turned around to leave but was startled to find someone watching her with green eyes as if questioning her existence.
"Oh, good morning..." she pulled her cloak tighter around herself, hiding the messy state of her robes.
He looked ever more surprised at her greeting and ran his fingers, nervously through his black hair before answering. "I didn't expect anyone to be here. A lady like your self should not be here alone."
That statement made her impatient and a little angry. She calmed herself down slightly before answering. "I may go where I please. I have no need of any protection." With that, she moved to walk away but he stepped and blocked her route. The wind gusted just then, causing his cloak to move away from his body, revealing black robes edged in red and a large sword by his side. "Now if you will let me pass, I may return to my home." As she moved to go around him, he blocked her way again. "I am getting very impatient with you sir. If I do not get home now, my morning will have been wasted."
He looked at her suspiciously, "Why would your morning have been wasted. All you have is a few simple plants and leaves, nothing important about them." He reached forward and grabbed the leather bag from her hands.
"No! You mustn't harm those plants!" She rushed at him to grab the sack away as he rustled through it.
"Madam, do you have any idea what those plants are?" He looked at her very suspiciously now.
She became suddenly afraid at this statement, and wondered if he suspected what she really was. She reclaimed the bag and reached for the wand secreted inside. He stepped forward, as if to grab her and she whipped out her wand and was about to cast her spell when he laughed at her. It startled her so badly that she froze and looked at him with fury in her eyes. "What, sir is so funny?"
"I'm sorry, my lady, but I couldn't be sure if you were what I suspected you were. You see lady, I know now you are a witch and will have no need to wipe your memory of seeing me this morning." He explained when she looked at him with a shocked expression. "I am being hunted in the Muggle world as we speak on crimes of witchcraft. While I know I can escape the death sentence with my magic, I have no desire to be caught in the first place since they are now hanging, beheading, and dismembering supposed witches as well as burning them at the stake. And I have no desire for that to happen to me. Most Muggles in this area know my face and finding one here in the woods would mean I would have had to wipe a few memories, which is getting tiresome."
She looked at him with a shocked expression. "I should have realized you have magic, I can see it all over you now. Why I didn't see it before, I do not know. Will you let me pass now, I really must prepare these potion ingredients or they will be useless." She moved to return to her home at the edge of the woods and he followed her.
"I could not, in good conscience, allow a lady to walk through these woods alone." He moved to her side as she continued on the path to home.
"I wander these woods alone every day sir, I have no need of an escort." She looked at him and saw by his expression that he would not leave her, "Alright, I accept your escort for today. But be assured, I have no real need for one." They reached her cottage and she turned to say goodbye but he had already disappeared back into the woods. She turned to enter her cottage...
Something landed hard on Hermione's chest and she woke up to find Crookshanks face right in front of hers. "Get off me." She shoved the cat off her chest and sat up. She could hear the gentle breathing of the four other girls around her as she crawled out of her bed. She wrapped a cloak around her pajama-clad body and made her way down to the common room and out the portrait. She needed to do some serious thinking and knew exactly where to go to avoid Filch.
She ran through the castle corridors and out the main doors. She sprinted across the grass until she reached a large tree near the lakeshore. She sat down in the soft grass at the base of the tree and wrapped her cloak tighter around her and pulled her knees to her chest. The dream played over and over inside her head. The man who was Harry, herself searching for potion ingredients in the soft mulch of the forest floor, the soft warmth of the wind, the cool damp of the earth and Harry's voice, repeating in a gentle tenor.
Then she heard what sounded like cloth rustling and looked up to see Harry standing there, his invisibility cloak hanging back from his shoulders. Her looked at her with concerned eyes before sitting down next to her on the grass.
"How did you know I was out here?" Hermione asked before looking at Harry's face.
"I was in the common room wrapped in this when you ran out. You looked troubled, so I followed you." He set the cloak on the grass before continuing. "What's wrong Hermione? And I don't want to hear about you being just tired because that's just simple dragon shit." His eyes searched hers as he waited for an answer.
Hermione looked shocked, Harry rarely swore and she paused before answering, "Its nothing serious Harry, I just..."
"Hermione, the truth please."
Hermione sighed and began her story; "The dreams began in fifth year just after school started in September. At first they were hazy and clouded, just me standing in a gray fog with noises all around me. Then shapes started appearing, vague at first but they got sharper throughout the year. By the end of fifth year, I could make out two human shapes and scenery in the haze of the dream. But always with the underlying murmurs of voices filling the air around me. It remained this way through most of last year as well, human shapes, indistinct voices and slightly hazy scenery. But this year everything has started to get very clear. I know who the two people are, the scenery is very clear and distinct, I can identify the smells in the air now, understand the voices of the two people, and its scaring me now how detailed and familiar these dreams seem sometimes." She looked at him with fear filled eyes and he placed his arm around her shoulders and cuddled her close. She felt safe and comforted by this and placed her head on his shoulder. He then whispered words meant to relax and comfort her in her ear and before long, her eyes closed and she slept.
Hermione woke up to find the sun in her eyes and the softness of her quilt under her. Was it all just a dream? She sat up and realized she still wore her cloak, slightly damp from the grass. I guess it wasn't a dream, that means I told Harry all about them. She toyed with the pendent around her neck before changing from her cloak and pajamas into jeans and a jumper before going down into the common room. There she found Harry losing miserably at chess to Ron. Both looked up as she entered and walked over to watch the game just as Ron's knight took Harry's queen. The tiny woman screamed as she was thrown face first across the saddle and then dragged off the board. The knight returned to the now vacant square, and the queen stood next to the rest of Harry's unconscious pieces and screamed at both Harry and the knight. Hermione was surprised, usually chess pieces became inanimate off the chessboard and she pointed this out to Ron and Harry.
"Their Harry's chess pieces." Ron simply said after his bishop knocked a pawn off the board.
"They have never done that before." Harry responded as his rook took one of Ron's bishops.
"Oh..." Hermione fidgeted with her pendent before turning to leave the common room. Since it was Saturday, they had no classes and Hermione didn't feel like doing homework just yet. She wandered the halls aimlessly letting her dreams occupy her mind so that she didn't notice Draco until she ran right into him.
"Watch it..." he turned and saw who it was, "What are you doing here Granger?" He sneered, "Why aren't you off with Potty and Weasel or better yet, playing teachers pet."
"Oh what.... Sorry Draco." She said distractedly before continuing down the hall. Draco watched her walk away with a shocked expression; it was the first time Hermione had never had some smart remark for him. Curiosity got the better of him and he decided to follow her.
Hermione led him unknowingly around the castle and then outside to the lake. He watched her sit down under a large tree and was about to move closer when he heard something behind him.
"What are you doing Malfoy?" Draco turned and saw Harry leaning, with his arms crossed casually against the castle wall.
"What's it to you Potter?" Draco sneered and Harry pushed himself from the wall and walked over to where Draco stood.
"Why are you following Hermione?" A warning tone flickered in Harry's voice. Draco smirked at him before answering.
"What makes you think I was following her. Last time I checked it was still a free country Potter." Draco crossed his arms and faced Harry with determination. Their hatred for each other filled the air around them.
"Leave her alone Malfoy. She has enough problems without you involved." Harry then walked around Draco towards Hermione. What Harry had said interested Draco.
So, the little Mudblood has problems does she? Draco made his way back to the castle after one last look in Harry and Hermione's direction.
She dug through the dirt carefully to find what she needed. Each item, when found, would disappear into the leather bag at her side. She gathered her final item and stood up, brushing bits of leaves and forest debris from her brown and green robes. She settled her green cloak around her shoulders and checked that her leather bag was closed and fastened securely. She turned around to leave but was startled to find someone watching her with green eyes as if questioning her existence.
"Oh, good morning..." she pulled her cloak tighter around herself, hiding the messy state of her robes.
He looked ever more surprised at her greeting and ran his fingers, nervously through his black hair before answering. "I didn't expect anyone to be here. A lady like your self should not be here alone."
That statement made her impatient and a little angry. She calmed herself down slightly before answering. "I may go where I please. I have no need of any protection." With that, she moved to walk away but he stepped and blocked her route. The wind gusted just then, causing his cloak to move away from his body, revealing black robes edged in red and a large sword by his side. "Now if you will let me pass, I may return to my home." As she moved to go around him, he blocked her way again. "I am getting very impatient with you sir. If I do not get home now, my morning will have been wasted."
He looked at her suspiciously, "Why would your morning have been wasted. All you have is a few simple plants and leaves, nothing important about them." He reached forward and grabbed the leather bag from her hands.
"No! You mustn't harm those plants!" She rushed at him to grab the sack away as he rustled through it.
"Madam, do you have any idea what those plants are?" He looked at her very suspiciously now.
She became suddenly afraid at this statement, and wondered if he suspected what she really was. She reclaimed the bag and reached for the wand secreted inside. He stepped forward, as if to grab her and she whipped out her wand and was about to cast her spell when he laughed at her. It startled her so badly that she froze and looked at him with fury in her eyes. "What, sir is so funny?"
"I'm sorry, my lady, but I couldn't be sure if you were what I suspected you were. You see lady, I know now you are a witch and will have no need to wipe your memory of seeing me this morning." He explained when she looked at him with a shocked expression. "I am being hunted in the Muggle world as we speak on crimes of witchcraft. While I know I can escape the death sentence with my magic, I have no desire to be caught in the first place since they are now hanging, beheading, and dismembering supposed witches as well as burning them at the stake. And I have no desire for that to happen to me. Most Muggles in this area know my face and finding one here in the woods would mean I would have had to wipe a few memories, which is getting tiresome."
She looked at him with a shocked expression. "I should have realized you have magic, I can see it all over you now. Why I didn't see it before, I do not know. Will you let me pass now, I really must prepare these potion ingredients or they will be useless." She moved to return to her home at the edge of the woods and he followed her.
"I could not, in good conscience, allow a lady to walk through these woods alone." He moved to her side as she continued on the path to home.
"I wander these woods alone every day sir, I have no need of an escort." She looked at him and saw by his expression that he would not leave her, "Alright, I accept your escort for today. But be assured, I have no real need for one." They reached her cottage and she turned to say goodbye but he had already disappeared back into the woods. She turned to enter her cottage...
Something landed hard on Hermione's chest and she woke up to find Crookshanks face right in front of hers. "Get off me." She shoved the cat off her chest and sat up. She could hear the gentle breathing of the four other girls around her as she crawled out of her bed. She wrapped a cloak around her pajama-clad body and made her way down to the common room and out the portrait. She needed to do some serious thinking and knew exactly where to go to avoid Filch.
She ran through the castle corridors and out the main doors. She sprinted across the grass until she reached a large tree near the lakeshore. She sat down in the soft grass at the base of the tree and wrapped her cloak tighter around her and pulled her knees to her chest. The dream played over and over inside her head. The man who was Harry, herself searching for potion ingredients in the soft mulch of the forest floor, the soft warmth of the wind, the cool damp of the earth and Harry's voice, repeating in a gentle tenor.
Then she heard what sounded like cloth rustling and looked up to see Harry standing there, his invisibility cloak hanging back from his shoulders. Her looked at her with concerned eyes before sitting down next to her on the grass.
"How did you know I was out here?" Hermione asked before looking at Harry's face.
"I was in the common room wrapped in this when you ran out. You looked troubled, so I followed you." He set the cloak on the grass before continuing. "What's wrong Hermione? And I don't want to hear about you being just tired because that's just simple dragon shit." His eyes searched hers as he waited for an answer.
Hermione looked shocked, Harry rarely swore and she paused before answering, "Its nothing serious Harry, I just..."
"Hermione, the truth please."
Hermione sighed and began her story; "The dreams began in fifth year just after school started in September. At first they were hazy and clouded, just me standing in a gray fog with noises all around me. Then shapes started appearing, vague at first but they got sharper throughout the year. By the end of fifth year, I could make out two human shapes and scenery in the haze of the dream. But always with the underlying murmurs of voices filling the air around me. It remained this way through most of last year as well, human shapes, indistinct voices and slightly hazy scenery. But this year everything has started to get very clear. I know who the two people are, the scenery is very clear and distinct, I can identify the smells in the air now, understand the voices of the two people, and its scaring me now how detailed and familiar these dreams seem sometimes." She looked at him with fear filled eyes and he placed his arm around her shoulders and cuddled her close. She felt safe and comforted by this and placed her head on his shoulder. He then whispered words meant to relax and comfort her in her ear and before long, her eyes closed and she slept.
Hermione woke up to find the sun in her eyes and the softness of her quilt under her. Was it all just a dream? She sat up and realized she still wore her cloak, slightly damp from the grass. I guess it wasn't a dream, that means I told Harry all about them. She toyed with the pendent around her neck before changing from her cloak and pajamas into jeans and a jumper before going down into the common room. There she found Harry losing miserably at chess to Ron. Both looked up as she entered and walked over to watch the game just as Ron's knight took Harry's queen. The tiny woman screamed as she was thrown face first across the saddle and then dragged off the board. The knight returned to the now vacant square, and the queen stood next to the rest of Harry's unconscious pieces and screamed at both Harry and the knight. Hermione was surprised, usually chess pieces became inanimate off the chessboard and she pointed this out to Ron and Harry.
"Their Harry's chess pieces." Ron simply said after his bishop knocked a pawn off the board.
"They have never done that before." Harry responded as his rook took one of Ron's bishops.
"Oh..." Hermione fidgeted with her pendent before turning to leave the common room. Since it was Saturday, they had no classes and Hermione didn't feel like doing homework just yet. She wandered the halls aimlessly letting her dreams occupy her mind so that she didn't notice Draco until she ran right into him.
"Watch it..." he turned and saw who it was, "What are you doing here Granger?" He sneered, "Why aren't you off with Potty and Weasel or better yet, playing teachers pet."
"Oh what.... Sorry Draco." She said distractedly before continuing down the hall. Draco watched her walk away with a shocked expression; it was the first time Hermione had never had some smart remark for him. Curiosity got the better of him and he decided to follow her.
Hermione led him unknowingly around the castle and then outside to the lake. He watched her sit down under a large tree and was about to move closer when he heard something behind him.
"What are you doing Malfoy?" Draco turned and saw Harry leaning, with his arms crossed casually against the castle wall.
"What's it to you Potter?" Draco sneered and Harry pushed himself from the wall and walked over to where Draco stood.
"Why are you following Hermione?" A warning tone flickered in Harry's voice. Draco smirked at him before answering.
"What makes you think I was following her. Last time I checked it was still a free country Potter." Draco crossed his arms and faced Harry with determination. Their hatred for each other filled the air around them.
"Leave her alone Malfoy. She has enough problems without you involved." Harry then walked around Draco towards Hermione. What Harry had said interested Draco.
So, the little Mudblood has problems does she? Draco made his way back to the castle after one last look in Harry and Hermione's direction.