***I've decided to change the title 'cuz…well…it was dumb. I mean, you
practically know who the '?' is in my first chapter, so it was pretty
pointless. Also, my reviews, or lack thereof, are proof of that. Well,
even though this one still isn't too good, it's better, no matter what
anyone thinks. Okay, now to my pathetic story.*** (There's pessimism at
its best…) Oh, and one other thing, there are a couple pagebreaks in the
middle of the story that aren't supposed to be there but just happened to
show up and I didn't know how to get rid of them…so…just ignore them,
thanks! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just the plot, which isn't much anyway since my plot sucks.
The Greatest of Sacrifices
1 3. The Last Dream
1.1 By Kate Potter
April 24, 2002 (wow, this took a long time.)
Hermione was sitting through a considerably dull History of Magic class. Usually at least a few students in the class would still take notes every once in a while, but even Hermione found it impossible. Everything was just so more inviting to pay attention to, and in Hermione's case, it was the back of a sleeping Seamus Finnigan's head.
"Blah, blah, the year 1433, blah, blah, ogres, blah."
Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She was relieved, though, that it was her last year of the class. She looked over at Harry's watch. There were still about 20 minutes left of class and the lesson wasn't getting any more interesting. She looked out a distant window that Binns had forgotten to cover. The outdoors looked even more inviting than Seamus's head. How she wished that there were still classes outside.
"Miss Granning, would you please tell me what year the fourth war between the Light and Dark was?"
Hermione jerked her head up. Professor Binns was looking at her with an annoyed look on his face. How could she possibly find a window more interesting than him?!
"It's Granger, sir, and 1219."
"Correct." He said blandly, "Please open your books to page 299, blah, blah, blah…"
There was a shuffling of paper as the students opened their books before going back to their bored trances or sleep.
"Good thing you've read the book already." Ron whispered to her groggily. "He was giving you death stares all period."
"I think he was looking at Harry." She said, nodding his way, "At least I was awake during class."
In the last few minutes of the period, Binns had instructed them to turn in their essays. Ron and Hermione had to turn in Harry's for him since he was still asleep. This evoked even more glowers from the teacher towards Harry. After class was over, Hermione decided to go the infirmary to ask for the dreamless night potion. Ron and Harry said a quick 'goodbye' and 'see you in potions' before turning a different way down a corridor. It was fortunate that Hermione didn't have a class next period (Harry and Ron were heading to divination, which she dropped in her fourth year) because the halls that lead to the infirmary were extremely crowded. If she had had a class this way, she would never be able to make it.
In the bustle in the corridors, someone bumped into Hermione and made her drop her books.
"Blast!" She murmured.
She knelt down to pick up her books. She reached for her Arithmancy book just as someone else grabbed it as well.
"It would do good to be less clumsy, Granger." Hermione looked up to see Draco Malfoy, looking completely conceited.
"And since when do you care?" She scowled, wrenching the book from his grasp and putting it in her bag.
"Oh, I wouldn't say I care." He said, "It's just that you're blocking up the traffic in the hall."
He wasn't lying. Students who were rushing to get to class in the last few minutes they had left were getting quite livid now that there was a holdup in the corridor.
"Don't you have a class to get to?" She asked him, getting up now that she had all her books.
"Probably. Since when do you care?" He said coolly, quite amused that she was getting annoyed at him.
Hermione chose to ignore his remark and continue down the hall. To her great displeasure, he followed.
"So where are your bodyguards, Potter the Magnificent and his pet weasel? Shouldn't they be sending hexes and curses my way by now?"
"One could only hope." She said dully. "You should talk, Malfoy. I clearly remember you in ferret-form in fourth year. The look suited you well."
Hermione rounded a corner, hoping Draco would go the other way, but he had obviously found this more fun. The hallways were now empty seeing as classes had started. Hermione groaned inwardly. "If he didn't go to class already, he's not going now. I don't think I can stand this for an hour! " For the next five minutes or so, Draco followed Hermione, not saying a word. Every once in a while she would stop and so would Draco. She would turn around to glare at him, but he'd turn around and stare behind him, mimicking her, thinking it was quite funny. Hermione barred her teeth and kept going. Draco continued to follow until she got to the infirmary. The door was open, so she stepped in.
"Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione said, knocking on the office door.
"I'll be right out dear, hold on."
"What's here that you need?" Draco asked innocently, making Hermione even sicker of him.
"What's here that you need?" She retorted. Draco just looked at her and smirked.
"More than you know." He answered slyly, sitting on one of the chairs near the door.
Hermione gave him a disgusted look before turning to Madame Pomfrey, who had just stepped out of the smaller room.
"Yes dear?" She asked kindly.
"Um…may I speak to you in your office?" Hermione didn't want Draco listening in.
Madame Pomfrey looked over Hermione's shoulder at Draco, who was still sitting in the chair and listening intently to their conversation. She narrowed her eyes at him; she knew that she shouldn't be biased against any students, especially in the field she worked in, but that Draco Malfoy…she didn't trust him one bit.
"Of course dear." She said. "Come in."
They stepped into the small room and closed the door behind them so Draco wouldn't be able to listen in. Hermione sat down in a small chair in the corner, while Pomfrey shuffled through a mess of papers on her desk.
"Let's see…let's see…as yes! Granger, Hermione." She said to herself, pulling out a small file hidden under all the clutter.
"So, what seems to be the problem, then?" she asked, turning to Hermione.
Hermione explained her situation to the nurse.
"…so you see, that's why I need the potion. Is there a possibility that you could spare some?"
"I usually wouldn't," Pomfrey started, "but I know you're a good student…head girl and all. I was in Gryffindor, you know." She looked extremely proud of this. "I was almost made head girl, but that Lily Evans…she had scored just a bit higher in her potions exam than I did……"
Hermione didn't really know what to say to this. She looked up at the nurse. She was staring at the ceiling in a daze.
"Um…Madame…?"
Pomfrey came out of her reverie with a little hop and an 'oh!'. Hermione tried to hide her giggle.
"I'm sorry, dear," she said. "I'll get that potion for you."
She walked to a large cupboard on the other end of the room. When she opened it, Hermione saw all sorts of medicinal potions and herbs. She recognized the skele-grow, which Harry had to take second year. It made her flinch just looking at it. Harry had told Ron and her how utterly disgusting and painful the stuff was. After bustling around for a bit, Madame Pomfrey came back with a large bottle of potion. She then grabbed a smaller bottle and filled it to the top with the stuff.
"Now," she said, putting a cap on the bottle and getting out a piece of parchment, "On this, it says how much you take in one night. There's only enough for a week here, so after you've finished this, I want you to see if you still have those dreams of yours. If you do, I can give you more potion, but I suggest that maybe you try to lessen the stress in your life."
Hermione nodded and Pomfrey handed her the potion and the parchment.
"Now go along dear," she said, "Do you need a pass to your class?"
"Oh, no need," Hermione answered, "I have an off-period. I'm just going to the great hall."
Hermione reached for the doorknob, but Madame Pomfrey spoke again.
"I think that staying away from that Malfoy may help a bit, dear."
"Easier said than done, I'm afraid." Hermione said with a 'not-likely' laugh, "He's like an talking shadow."
Madame Pomfrey laughed and waved her out the door. Hermione noticed that Draco had left, probably out of boredom. Relieved, Hermione left the infirmary and headed for the great hall. She passed a large clock in a hall and noted that she had only 30 minutes left of the period before she would head to potions. She made her way down to the great hall. There weren't very many people in here today; there weren't many that had off periods in the middle of the day. She sat at the Gryffindor table not too far from a couple other 6th years who were gossiping away.
"Dean Thomas?!" One of the girls said, "I didn't think you went for the smart-type. Not very much like you."
The other girl didn't seem to catch the first one's cruel remark, but instead stared dreamily at a picture of Dean.
"Well, do you remember Oliver Wood? I know he's like, five years older than us, but still…"
"Oh! I Know!"
It went on and on like that for a bit. Hermione had taken out some of her homework to start on when someone walked up to her.
"Hey Hermione."
Hermione looked up to see Jason.
"Hello."
"Can I sit here?"
"Go ahead."
"Thanks."
Jason just sat down across from her without a word. Hermione saw the 6th year girls look at him and giggle out of the corner of her eye.
"So…" Hermione started.
"So…" Jason said, "…It sure is a nice day, huh?"
Hermione looked behind him through the window. It was pouring out.
"Uh, yeah."
Jason mumbled something to himself that sounded like 'idiot' and stared at his hands.
"Um, not that I don't enjoy the company Jason, but why are you here all of a sudden?"
Jason scratched his head nervously and looked up at her. He looked absolutely terrified.
"I need to ask you something…"
"Oh? What?" she said kindly. "Oh no, Ginny's going to kill me."
Jason looked more and more horrified by each passing second. Hermione thought he was going to have a panic attack.
"It's about…one of your friends." He said, probably as slow as possible.
"Oh." She said. "Thank God."
"I was wondering…do you think…I mean…do you…know…if…I were to ask…um, Ginny…if she want to do something…sometime. Do you think she'd say yes?"
Hermione laughed out loud. Not AT Jason, but basically at the irony of what he said. Jason was scared to death of the one person who was too afraid to talk to him. Nonetheless, Jason looked a bit downcast and worried.
"No, Jason, I'm not laughing at you!" Hermione said through giggles, "I don't know if she'll kill me or not for saying this, but Ginny's practically in love with you."
The color or Jason's face went from sickly pale to a flushed red.
"Really?!" He practically yelled.
"Really." Hermione laughed some more. Guys were so cute when they were extremely happy. Suddenly, seemingly forgetting that there was a table between them, Jason got up and hugged Hermione. Hermione, quite shocked, patted him on the back.
"Thanks Hermione!" He said, letting go, "I owe you one!"
With that, Jason got up and walked over to his house table. Hermione watched as he sat down and about five other guys leaned in and listened to what he had to say. Hermione laughed as they slapped him on the back and punched him good-naturedly. On the other hand, the 6th year girls sitting near Hermione all looked rather upset and jealous. She decided that she should probably go and get her Potions things before the girls tried to murder her.
Hermione got up and started walking toward the Gryffindor part of the castle. By the time she had reached the large staircase in the entrance hall, the bells sounded from deep within the castle signaling that the period was over. In a mad rush, students from all directions appeared and filled the hallways and passages. Luckily, Hermione had ten minutes between classes and was able to make it all the way up to her dormitory and all the way back down to the dungeon-ish Potions class.
When Hermione entered the room, she sat at her usual place between Harry and Ron near the back of the class. Today they were making a pretty easy potion used for healing small wounds. Hermione couldn't figure out what the point of this potion really was since the charm used with a wand was so much easier and faster. The potion they were making took over an hour to make, when the charm took a second.
Hermione finished her potion before most other students in the class, not including Dean Thomas and Draco Malfoy, who, Hermione noticed, looked quite distraught. She laughed to herself slightly at the sight of an unhappy Draco, and then turned to help Harry and Ron with their potions. In the end, the potion was supposed to have a bright blue color, but Ron's had somehow turned a deep red, and no matter how much Ron said he followed directions exactly and no matter how hard Hermione had tried to fix whatever he did wrong, the potion didn't change color. Suddenly, near the front of the class, a cauldron exploded, showering most of the students with blue goo.
"What in bloody he-!" Snape yelled through the screams.
Seamus Finnegan was standing above the remnants of what was his cauldron; completely covered with his potion and looking dumbstruck.
"Finnigan! What did you do!!"
"I don't know, Professor, it just happened!" Seamus pleaded.
"Things like this don't just happen!! Come here!"
Seamus reluctantly walked up to Snape as if walking to his death sentence.
"Come with me!" Snape grabbed Seamus by the collar, but quickly took his hand away as it was now covered in goo.
"Go! Just go!" Snape yelled. "All of you," he said, glaring at the class before stepping out the door, "If you dare do anything, you'll wish you had his fate!"
And with that, Snape slammed the door behind him. The Slytherins howled with laughter.
"What a stupid bloke!"
"Did you see his face?"
"No, there was too much blue crap on it!"
"I would've expected more from Longbottom."
Hermione felt awful for Seamus. He was almost as bad as Neville, but instead of just getting things wrong, he seemed to like to make things explode an awful lot.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you guys," Dean said, "You do stupid things every day!"
"Ooh, that sure was tough, Thomas!" Blaise Zambini taunted, "That really hurt!"
Dean glared at Blaise and started their own little quarrel, while all the Gryffindors in the class fought with their Slytherin counterparts. All, that is, except for Hermione, Harry, and Draco.
"What's wrong Draco?" Harry yelled from across the class. "Can't think of some smart-ass remark like usual?"
Draco didn't even look up from his work, which he seemed to be trying hard to concentrate on. Ron seized the chance to insult Draco, too.
"I don't think his mind's been the same ever since that incident back in our third year." Draco's eyes flashed, but he still didn't look up. "I think McGonagall kept his head the same size as a ferret."
Harry laughed and continued as Draco looked more and more furious, but kept his calm and stared at his work.
"C'mon Ron, your not giving enough credit to the ferrets!"
Harry and Ron laughed hard and Hermione couldn't help but smile a bit, but when she looked at Draco, trying his hardest to keep his cool, she felt…well…a little bad.
The classroom fight settled down a bit within a few minutes. The students were still quite angry at each other, but they had kept quiet once Snape had come back, Seamus walking slowly behind him with a mop and bucket. Obviously his punishment was to clean up the room muggle-like. Hermione's sympathy for Draco quickly turned into sympathy for Seamus as she watched him clean as the Slytherins leered at him.
Hermione helped Ron and Harry finish their potions just as the bell rang again for the end of class.
The rest of Hermione's day was just as normal as any other, besides the anticipation of finally having a peaceful night's sleep and the thought of Draco on her mind every couple minutes or so. She couldn't forget how he had looked; almost like he was trying hard not to insult the Gryffindors. Harry and Ron, however, were convinced that he's just run out of shallow, repetitious insults.
Hermione was grateful that the end of the day had come. She was quite tired and thought of sleep was more than welcome. Hermione left Harry and Ron in the common room, although she doubted they had even noticed since they were once again talking about Quidditch, and went up to her dorm. She dumped her bag on the floor beside her dresser and fell onto her bed, not bothering to change into her nightgown. She propped herself up on one elbow and with her other arm, grabbed the potion from her bedside table. She read the instructions that Madame Pomfrey had written out for her and measured the correct amount out.
Remembering that she would fall asleep almost instantly after drinking the potion, Hermione got under the covers of her bed and got herself comfortable. Slowly she brought the small cup in which she put the potion up to her mouth and drank it. She fell asleep before she could even put down the cup…
Hermione woke up but didn't open her eyes. She groaned inwardly to herself. "Morning already? Too early…" She thought to herself. She slowly opened her eyes, expecting to see the canopy-top of her Hogwarts four- poster bed, but instead, she found herself staring at a dark, but starry sky and lying on damp ground. Her insides felt compacted as fear washed over her. She closed her eyes again, hoping it would disappear and her bed would be back. But when she opened her eyes, the only thing that had changed was that a small cloud had appeared in the sky in front of the moon. "Am I dreaming again? What about the potion?!"" She worried to herself. What was going on?
She slowly sat up, worried about what would be around her. She found herself in the same graveyard as her other dreams. But this time…
"Hello…Hermione…" It was a girl. She was sitting upon the tombstone that Hermione had recognized as her own from a previous dream and her skin looked just as white as the glowing dress that she wore. Hermione figured that this girl was the same white blur that was in her other dreams.
Hermione didn't know what to say. All she felt like doing at the moment was running away at top speed, but once again, her feet felt like they had been glued on the spot and she couldn't move.
The girl just stared at Hermione intently. Hermione couldn't help noticing how sad she looked.
"Who…are you?" Hermione spoke quietly.
"Does it matter?" The girl whispered.
"What do you want with me?"
"Don't you know?"
Hermione would've been extremely annoyed by the girl answering her questions with other questions if it hadn't been for her being so scared.
"I'm just a messenger…nothing else." The girl said, getting up off of the grave. "It's just that you've been so bloody stubborn and going off and waking up before I can tell you anything."
Hermione was taken aback. For the creepy aura that the girl had given off from past dreams, she sure did have some attitude.
"Don't trust everyone, even if you're positive that you can."
"What…What do you mean?"
The girl gave her a stern look at first, but softened her gaze.
"I was once in your place. But I wasn't as fortunate…as you can obviously tell!" The girl laughed weakly and looked down at herself. "But practically being mist has it's advantages."
The girl suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of Hermione. Hermione fell back hard in shock.
"Still a bit jumpy, huh?" The girl said, looking quite amused. "Sorry about that." Though she looked more smug than sorry.
Hermione rubbed her back as she scrambled to get back up.
The girl looked up at the sky and frowned a bit.
"Well, you're going to wake up soon." She said, looking at Hermione. "Just remember what I said. Don't put your trust into anyone you don't trust already…it'll only become corrupt and evil as your life goes on. It's good advice…it'll save your life." This time, the girl looked completely serious. Hermione still didn't quite understand. Was she supposed to take advice from a dream sequence?
"Well, it was nice talking to you Hermione. You're not too bad, once your not scared of me." The girl winked at her. "This is the last time I'll bother you. Promise."
With that, Hermione felt suddenly dizzy and fell down. Instantly she sprang up again and found herself in her dorm just as her alarm went off on her bedside table, just as confused as she had been in her dream.
***Okay, this chapter took FOREVER to write. I'm so sorry for anyone who was actually reading my story and then lost interest after I never posted! But, yay, it's finally done! I'll probably have the next chapter out soon 'cuz I don't have much school stuff going on. I am going through kind of a mid-high school crisis, though. Dumb, social stuff none of you would be interested in. That reminds me of those Navy or Army commercials… "If someone wrote a story about your life…would anyone want to read it?" No. You'd die of boredom, unfortunately. This story seems to be the highlight of my life. ( Well, this chapter isn't too great, but I think I like it more than any other chapter I've written. It's kinda boring, I know, but all books/novels (in my case, strange stories) need a start. Okay, I would like to thank my beta, Bren, because she is so super-cool and nice and exactly like me *wink wink*. I would also like to thank the one other person who has reviewed my story. You're so nice. Well, that's it! Thanks and review!
-Kate
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just the plot, which isn't much anyway since my plot sucks.
The Greatest of Sacrifices
1 3. The Last Dream
1.1 By Kate Potter
April 24, 2002 (wow, this took a long time.)
Hermione was sitting through a considerably dull History of Magic class. Usually at least a few students in the class would still take notes every once in a while, but even Hermione found it impossible. Everything was just so more inviting to pay attention to, and in Hermione's case, it was the back of a sleeping Seamus Finnigan's head.
"Blah, blah, the year 1433, blah, blah, ogres, blah."
Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She was relieved, though, that it was her last year of the class. She looked over at Harry's watch. There were still about 20 minutes left of class and the lesson wasn't getting any more interesting. She looked out a distant window that Binns had forgotten to cover. The outdoors looked even more inviting than Seamus's head. How she wished that there were still classes outside.
"Miss Granning, would you please tell me what year the fourth war between the Light and Dark was?"
Hermione jerked her head up. Professor Binns was looking at her with an annoyed look on his face. How could she possibly find a window more interesting than him?!
"It's Granger, sir, and 1219."
"Correct." He said blandly, "Please open your books to page 299, blah, blah, blah…"
There was a shuffling of paper as the students opened their books before going back to their bored trances or sleep.
"Good thing you've read the book already." Ron whispered to her groggily. "He was giving you death stares all period."
"I think he was looking at Harry." She said, nodding his way, "At least I was awake during class."
In the last few minutes of the period, Binns had instructed them to turn in their essays. Ron and Hermione had to turn in Harry's for him since he was still asleep. This evoked even more glowers from the teacher towards Harry. After class was over, Hermione decided to go the infirmary to ask for the dreamless night potion. Ron and Harry said a quick 'goodbye' and 'see you in potions' before turning a different way down a corridor. It was fortunate that Hermione didn't have a class next period (Harry and Ron were heading to divination, which she dropped in her fourth year) because the halls that lead to the infirmary were extremely crowded. If she had had a class this way, she would never be able to make it.
In the bustle in the corridors, someone bumped into Hermione and made her drop her books.
"Blast!" She murmured.
She knelt down to pick up her books. She reached for her Arithmancy book just as someone else grabbed it as well.
"It would do good to be less clumsy, Granger." Hermione looked up to see Draco Malfoy, looking completely conceited.
"And since when do you care?" She scowled, wrenching the book from his grasp and putting it in her bag.
"Oh, I wouldn't say I care." He said, "It's just that you're blocking up the traffic in the hall."
He wasn't lying. Students who were rushing to get to class in the last few minutes they had left were getting quite livid now that there was a holdup in the corridor.
"Don't you have a class to get to?" She asked him, getting up now that she had all her books.
"Probably. Since when do you care?" He said coolly, quite amused that she was getting annoyed at him.
Hermione chose to ignore his remark and continue down the hall. To her great displeasure, he followed.
"So where are your bodyguards, Potter the Magnificent and his pet weasel? Shouldn't they be sending hexes and curses my way by now?"
"One could only hope." She said dully. "You should talk, Malfoy. I clearly remember you in ferret-form in fourth year. The look suited you well."
Hermione rounded a corner, hoping Draco would go the other way, but he had obviously found this more fun. The hallways were now empty seeing as classes had started. Hermione groaned inwardly. "If he didn't go to class already, he's not going now. I don't think I can stand this for an hour! " For the next five minutes or so, Draco followed Hermione, not saying a word. Every once in a while she would stop and so would Draco. She would turn around to glare at him, but he'd turn around and stare behind him, mimicking her, thinking it was quite funny. Hermione barred her teeth and kept going. Draco continued to follow until she got to the infirmary. The door was open, so she stepped in.
"Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione said, knocking on the office door.
"I'll be right out dear, hold on."
"What's here that you need?" Draco asked innocently, making Hermione even sicker of him.
"What's here that you need?" She retorted. Draco just looked at her and smirked.
"More than you know." He answered slyly, sitting on one of the chairs near the door.
Hermione gave him a disgusted look before turning to Madame Pomfrey, who had just stepped out of the smaller room.
"Yes dear?" She asked kindly.
"Um…may I speak to you in your office?" Hermione didn't want Draco listening in.
Madame Pomfrey looked over Hermione's shoulder at Draco, who was still sitting in the chair and listening intently to their conversation. She narrowed her eyes at him; she knew that she shouldn't be biased against any students, especially in the field she worked in, but that Draco Malfoy…she didn't trust him one bit.
"Of course dear." She said. "Come in."
They stepped into the small room and closed the door behind them so Draco wouldn't be able to listen in. Hermione sat down in a small chair in the corner, while Pomfrey shuffled through a mess of papers on her desk.
"Let's see…let's see…as yes! Granger, Hermione." She said to herself, pulling out a small file hidden under all the clutter.
"So, what seems to be the problem, then?" she asked, turning to Hermione.
Hermione explained her situation to the nurse.
"…so you see, that's why I need the potion. Is there a possibility that you could spare some?"
"I usually wouldn't," Pomfrey started, "but I know you're a good student…head girl and all. I was in Gryffindor, you know." She looked extremely proud of this. "I was almost made head girl, but that Lily Evans…she had scored just a bit higher in her potions exam than I did……"
Hermione didn't really know what to say to this. She looked up at the nurse. She was staring at the ceiling in a daze.
"Um…Madame…?"
Pomfrey came out of her reverie with a little hop and an 'oh!'. Hermione tried to hide her giggle.
"I'm sorry, dear," she said. "I'll get that potion for you."
She walked to a large cupboard on the other end of the room. When she opened it, Hermione saw all sorts of medicinal potions and herbs. She recognized the skele-grow, which Harry had to take second year. It made her flinch just looking at it. Harry had told Ron and her how utterly disgusting and painful the stuff was. After bustling around for a bit, Madame Pomfrey came back with a large bottle of potion. She then grabbed a smaller bottle and filled it to the top with the stuff.
"Now," she said, putting a cap on the bottle and getting out a piece of parchment, "On this, it says how much you take in one night. There's only enough for a week here, so after you've finished this, I want you to see if you still have those dreams of yours. If you do, I can give you more potion, but I suggest that maybe you try to lessen the stress in your life."
Hermione nodded and Pomfrey handed her the potion and the parchment.
"Now go along dear," she said, "Do you need a pass to your class?"
"Oh, no need," Hermione answered, "I have an off-period. I'm just going to the great hall."
Hermione reached for the doorknob, but Madame Pomfrey spoke again.
"I think that staying away from that Malfoy may help a bit, dear."
"Easier said than done, I'm afraid." Hermione said with a 'not-likely' laugh, "He's like an talking shadow."
Madame Pomfrey laughed and waved her out the door. Hermione noticed that Draco had left, probably out of boredom. Relieved, Hermione left the infirmary and headed for the great hall. She passed a large clock in a hall and noted that she had only 30 minutes left of the period before she would head to potions. She made her way down to the great hall. There weren't very many people in here today; there weren't many that had off periods in the middle of the day. She sat at the Gryffindor table not too far from a couple other 6th years who were gossiping away.
"Dean Thomas?!" One of the girls said, "I didn't think you went for the smart-type. Not very much like you."
The other girl didn't seem to catch the first one's cruel remark, but instead stared dreamily at a picture of Dean.
"Well, do you remember Oliver Wood? I know he's like, five years older than us, but still…"
"Oh! I Know!"
It went on and on like that for a bit. Hermione had taken out some of her homework to start on when someone walked up to her.
"Hey Hermione."
Hermione looked up to see Jason.
"Hello."
"Can I sit here?"
"Go ahead."
"Thanks."
Jason just sat down across from her without a word. Hermione saw the 6th year girls look at him and giggle out of the corner of her eye.
"So…" Hermione started.
"So…" Jason said, "…It sure is a nice day, huh?"
Hermione looked behind him through the window. It was pouring out.
"Uh, yeah."
Jason mumbled something to himself that sounded like 'idiot' and stared at his hands.
"Um, not that I don't enjoy the company Jason, but why are you here all of a sudden?"
Jason scratched his head nervously and looked up at her. He looked absolutely terrified.
"I need to ask you something…"
"Oh? What?" she said kindly. "Oh no, Ginny's going to kill me."
Jason looked more and more horrified by each passing second. Hermione thought he was going to have a panic attack.
"It's about…one of your friends." He said, probably as slow as possible.
"Oh." She said. "Thank God."
"I was wondering…do you think…I mean…do you…know…if…I were to ask…um, Ginny…if she want to do something…sometime. Do you think she'd say yes?"
Hermione laughed out loud. Not AT Jason, but basically at the irony of what he said. Jason was scared to death of the one person who was too afraid to talk to him. Nonetheless, Jason looked a bit downcast and worried.
"No, Jason, I'm not laughing at you!" Hermione said through giggles, "I don't know if she'll kill me or not for saying this, but Ginny's practically in love with you."
The color or Jason's face went from sickly pale to a flushed red.
"Really?!" He practically yelled.
"Really." Hermione laughed some more. Guys were so cute when they were extremely happy. Suddenly, seemingly forgetting that there was a table between them, Jason got up and hugged Hermione. Hermione, quite shocked, patted him on the back.
"Thanks Hermione!" He said, letting go, "I owe you one!"
With that, Jason got up and walked over to his house table. Hermione watched as he sat down and about five other guys leaned in and listened to what he had to say. Hermione laughed as they slapped him on the back and punched him good-naturedly. On the other hand, the 6th year girls sitting near Hermione all looked rather upset and jealous. She decided that she should probably go and get her Potions things before the girls tried to murder her.
Hermione got up and started walking toward the Gryffindor part of the castle. By the time she had reached the large staircase in the entrance hall, the bells sounded from deep within the castle signaling that the period was over. In a mad rush, students from all directions appeared and filled the hallways and passages. Luckily, Hermione had ten minutes between classes and was able to make it all the way up to her dormitory and all the way back down to the dungeon-ish Potions class.
When Hermione entered the room, she sat at her usual place between Harry and Ron near the back of the class. Today they were making a pretty easy potion used for healing small wounds. Hermione couldn't figure out what the point of this potion really was since the charm used with a wand was so much easier and faster. The potion they were making took over an hour to make, when the charm took a second.
Hermione finished her potion before most other students in the class, not including Dean Thomas and Draco Malfoy, who, Hermione noticed, looked quite distraught. She laughed to herself slightly at the sight of an unhappy Draco, and then turned to help Harry and Ron with their potions. In the end, the potion was supposed to have a bright blue color, but Ron's had somehow turned a deep red, and no matter how much Ron said he followed directions exactly and no matter how hard Hermione had tried to fix whatever he did wrong, the potion didn't change color. Suddenly, near the front of the class, a cauldron exploded, showering most of the students with blue goo.
"What in bloody he-!" Snape yelled through the screams.
Seamus Finnegan was standing above the remnants of what was his cauldron; completely covered with his potion and looking dumbstruck.
"Finnigan! What did you do!!"
"I don't know, Professor, it just happened!" Seamus pleaded.
"Things like this don't just happen!! Come here!"
Seamus reluctantly walked up to Snape as if walking to his death sentence.
"Come with me!" Snape grabbed Seamus by the collar, but quickly took his hand away as it was now covered in goo.
"Go! Just go!" Snape yelled. "All of you," he said, glaring at the class before stepping out the door, "If you dare do anything, you'll wish you had his fate!"
And with that, Snape slammed the door behind him. The Slytherins howled with laughter.
"What a stupid bloke!"
"Did you see his face?"
"No, there was too much blue crap on it!"
"I would've expected more from Longbottom."
Hermione felt awful for Seamus. He was almost as bad as Neville, but instead of just getting things wrong, he seemed to like to make things explode an awful lot.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you guys," Dean said, "You do stupid things every day!"
"Ooh, that sure was tough, Thomas!" Blaise Zambini taunted, "That really hurt!"
Dean glared at Blaise and started their own little quarrel, while all the Gryffindors in the class fought with their Slytherin counterparts. All, that is, except for Hermione, Harry, and Draco.
"What's wrong Draco?" Harry yelled from across the class. "Can't think of some smart-ass remark like usual?"
Draco didn't even look up from his work, which he seemed to be trying hard to concentrate on. Ron seized the chance to insult Draco, too.
"I don't think his mind's been the same ever since that incident back in our third year." Draco's eyes flashed, but he still didn't look up. "I think McGonagall kept his head the same size as a ferret."
Harry laughed and continued as Draco looked more and more furious, but kept his calm and stared at his work.
"C'mon Ron, your not giving enough credit to the ferrets!"
Harry and Ron laughed hard and Hermione couldn't help but smile a bit, but when she looked at Draco, trying his hardest to keep his cool, she felt…well…a little bad.
The classroom fight settled down a bit within a few minutes. The students were still quite angry at each other, but they had kept quiet once Snape had come back, Seamus walking slowly behind him with a mop and bucket. Obviously his punishment was to clean up the room muggle-like. Hermione's sympathy for Draco quickly turned into sympathy for Seamus as she watched him clean as the Slytherins leered at him.
Hermione helped Ron and Harry finish their potions just as the bell rang again for the end of class.
The rest of Hermione's day was just as normal as any other, besides the anticipation of finally having a peaceful night's sleep and the thought of Draco on her mind every couple minutes or so. She couldn't forget how he had looked; almost like he was trying hard not to insult the Gryffindors. Harry and Ron, however, were convinced that he's just run out of shallow, repetitious insults.
Hermione was grateful that the end of the day had come. She was quite tired and thought of sleep was more than welcome. Hermione left Harry and Ron in the common room, although she doubted they had even noticed since they were once again talking about Quidditch, and went up to her dorm. She dumped her bag on the floor beside her dresser and fell onto her bed, not bothering to change into her nightgown. She propped herself up on one elbow and with her other arm, grabbed the potion from her bedside table. She read the instructions that Madame Pomfrey had written out for her and measured the correct amount out.
Remembering that she would fall asleep almost instantly after drinking the potion, Hermione got under the covers of her bed and got herself comfortable. Slowly she brought the small cup in which she put the potion up to her mouth and drank it. She fell asleep before she could even put down the cup…
Hermione woke up but didn't open her eyes. She groaned inwardly to herself. "Morning already? Too early…" She thought to herself. She slowly opened her eyes, expecting to see the canopy-top of her Hogwarts four- poster bed, but instead, she found herself staring at a dark, but starry sky and lying on damp ground. Her insides felt compacted as fear washed over her. She closed her eyes again, hoping it would disappear and her bed would be back. But when she opened her eyes, the only thing that had changed was that a small cloud had appeared in the sky in front of the moon. "Am I dreaming again? What about the potion?!"" She worried to herself. What was going on?
She slowly sat up, worried about what would be around her. She found herself in the same graveyard as her other dreams. But this time…
"Hello…Hermione…" It was a girl. She was sitting upon the tombstone that Hermione had recognized as her own from a previous dream and her skin looked just as white as the glowing dress that she wore. Hermione figured that this girl was the same white blur that was in her other dreams.
Hermione didn't know what to say. All she felt like doing at the moment was running away at top speed, but once again, her feet felt like they had been glued on the spot and she couldn't move.
The girl just stared at Hermione intently. Hermione couldn't help noticing how sad she looked.
"Who…are you?" Hermione spoke quietly.
"Does it matter?" The girl whispered.
"What do you want with me?"
"Don't you know?"
Hermione would've been extremely annoyed by the girl answering her questions with other questions if it hadn't been for her being so scared.
"I'm just a messenger…nothing else." The girl said, getting up off of the grave. "It's just that you've been so bloody stubborn and going off and waking up before I can tell you anything."
Hermione was taken aback. For the creepy aura that the girl had given off from past dreams, she sure did have some attitude.
"Don't trust everyone, even if you're positive that you can."
"What…What do you mean?"
The girl gave her a stern look at first, but softened her gaze.
"I was once in your place. But I wasn't as fortunate…as you can obviously tell!" The girl laughed weakly and looked down at herself. "But practically being mist has it's advantages."
The girl suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of Hermione. Hermione fell back hard in shock.
"Still a bit jumpy, huh?" The girl said, looking quite amused. "Sorry about that." Though she looked more smug than sorry.
Hermione rubbed her back as she scrambled to get back up.
The girl looked up at the sky and frowned a bit.
"Well, you're going to wake up soon." She said, looking at Hermione. "Just remember what I said. Don't put your trust into anyone you don't trust already…it'll only become corrupt and evil as your life goes on. It's good advice…it'll save your life." This time, the girl looked completely serious. Hermione still didn't quite understand. Was she supposed to take advice from a dream sequence?
"Well, it was nice talking to you Hermione. You're not too bad, once your not scared of me." The girl winked at her. "This is the last time I'll bother you. Promise."
With that, Hermione felt suddenly dizzy and fell down. Instantly she sprang up again and found herself in her dorm just as her alarm went off on her bedside table, just as confused as she had been in her dream.
***Okay, this chapter took FOREVER to write. I'm so sorry for anyone who was actually reading my story and then lost interest after I never posted! But, yay, it's finally done! I'll probably have the next chapter out soon 'cuz I don't have much school stuff going on. I am going through kind of a mid-high school crisis, though. Dumb, social stuff none of you would be interested in. That reminds me of those Navy or Army commercials… "If someone wrote a story about your life…would anyone want to read it?" No. You'd die of boredom, unfortunately. This story seems to be the highlight of my life. ( Well, this chapter isn't too great, but I think I like it more than any other chapter I've written. It's kinda boring, I know, but all books/novels (in my case, strange stories) need a start. Okay, I would like to thank my beta, Bren, because she is so super-cool and nice and exactly like me *wink wink*. I would also like to thank the one other person who has reviewed my story. You're so nice. Well, that's it! Thanks and review!
-Kate