Thanks to all of you who reviewed, I'm sorry this is up a little late. I
really am going to try and get my chapters up every Friday or Saturday.
But this weekend was a little tough. I promise this will eventually be
D/H, but I'm trying to make this as believeable as possibe, and as you may
know, it would take a rather large force of nature to get them together.
Please bear with me, it will get there, but this is a Hermione story that
has Draco in it, so i need to do some build up. Thanks so much for
understanding. Here's chapter three...
Chapter 3: The Letter
A few weeks later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Hermione was laying on the couch with her nose in a book, while Ron and Harry sat on the floor in front of her playing wizard's chess.
"Hey Hermione, why don't you put your book down and come play chess with us?" Ron asked, checking Harry's queen.
"No thanks," she replied, not bothering to look up from the pages of he incredibly thick book.
"Come on Hermione," Harry whined. "Ron's already beaten me four times. I can't take much more of this!"
"Fine. But I'll only play if you are on my team Harry, I can't beat him either, and I really don't feel like getting my arse kicked when I could be studying." She placed her bookmark in between the pages of her book. "I really have a lot of reading to do." She reluctantly got up off the couch and joined the boys on the floor.
"Really Hermione! You need to lighten up, act like a normal teenager before you haven't gotten a chance to be one anymore!"
"Just because I like to learn and read doesn't mean I'm not a normal teenager!" Ron gave her a look that clearly said 'Yea Right'. "Really Ron, not everyone has to act like you! Uh, I'm going now, I've got to finish my work." Hermione picked her book and stormed out of the common room knocking the chess set over in the process.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled after her. "Hermione, wait." He looked over at Harry who was staring after the two blankly. "What's got her knickers in a twist?" He continued to gawk at her as she walked away.
"You do Ron. You know very well how sensitive she's been lately, you better watch out or one say you're going to get that book thrown in your face, and I'm not going to do anything to stop her!"
"But I-"
"No Ron, no excuses this time. We don't have much time left at Hogwarts, don't screw it up for the rest of us ok?" With that Harry ran up the stairs to the girls dormitories.
Ron sighed as he bent down to pick up the chess pieces that were scattered all over the floor. He couldn't understand why they were being so touchy, deciding not to dwell on their argument, he left in search for a new chess partner.
"Knock, knock." Harry said lightly through the wooden door in front of his face. "Hermione, it's me, Harry. Can I come in?" He cracked the door a little and poked his face though the door frame.
"Sure," she sighed.
"Are you ok? You haven't been acting like yourself lately. You know, if something's wrong, you can talk to me right?" He sat down on the bed next to her and placed his arm around her shoulders.
"I know," She shuddered at his touch. If he only knew what was really wrong with her. "I'm not sure what's wrong, really. And it doesn't help with Ron making fun of me all the time, you know."
"Just promise me that you'll come with me if you need to talk. I'm always here if you need me, you know that right?" She shifted her gaze form Harry down to the floor as he tightened the grip on her shoulders.
'Harry's a great friend,' she thought to herself. 'How cant I do this to him? What kind of friend am I?' Hermione had never felt so guilty in her life.
"Thanks Harry." She whispered, barely able to keep the tears that had welled up in her eyes from flooding down her face. He reached over with his other arm and gave her a full out hug.
"I'll come up and get you before we go to dinner alright? I've got to go talk to Ron for a bit."
"Ok," she replied, not talking her eyes off the floor. She couldn't bear look at him, for she knew there would be no stopping herself from crying. She looked out the window near her bed at the countryside that lay outside it. The sun was slowly going down, and Hermione wished she could be a part of that setting sun instead of here in her room trying not to cry. She remained that way until she heard the dormitory door shut behind her. Hermione couldn't control herself any longer. She collapsed on the window seat letting her emotions flow freely from her body. A million thoughts flooded her mind, making her even more confused and frustrated. 'I don't know how much more I can put this off.' She thought to herself amongst her tears. 'I'm living a lie and deceiving everyone I love.' This only made her cry harder. Soon only faint sobbing could be heard throughout the room. Hermione wiped her eyes of tears and went to the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror and studied her face for a moment. That only caused more tears to fall. She reached over and turned the faucet on and watched the water for a while before leaning over and washing her face.
"Hermione?" She heard Harry call from the bedroom.
"Yea Harry, I'm coming." A moment later she emerged from the bathroom.
"Come on! I'm starving." He grabbed her hand and began pulling her down the stairs.
"Will you slow down Harry? I have little legs!" She exclaimed practically getting dragged behind Harry.
"Nope, sorry. Can't, too hungry." He continued to run down the hall with Hermione squeaking and sputtering behind him.
By the time they reached the Great Hall the two were falling down in laughter. "What's so funny?" Ron asked, his mouth stuffed full with chicken.
This only caused Harry and Hermione to laugh even harder. "Hermione fell!" Harry was now laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes.
"Hermione fell? That's it?" Ginny looked on with confusion in her eyes.
"Yea!" Harry could barely get out the word before falling off the bench and landing on the floor. Hermione soon joined him.
After a while they two got up, dusted themselves off and sat back up at the table. "Ok," Hermione said taking a few breaths. "Harry was pulling me down the hall, and then there were stairs, and," She began to giggle. "Then I fell!" She began laughing again and moving her arms in a tumbling motion. The laughing fit started all over again.
"Ooooookaaayyy." Ron replied, turning his attention back to his dinner. "Guess you had to be there." Ginny nodded her head accordingly. All throughout dinner the two kept randomly laughing. They hardly stopped long enough to eat their dinner.
Hermione's mood was soon dampened when she spotted and owl soaring through the night sky above her head. It began circling over the Gryffindor table.
"Odd time for mail, don't you think?" Ron asked as they watched the owl to see where it would land. The owl circled one more time before dropping the letter in Hermione's hands. She turned the letter over looking for some slight sign as to who it was from. Across the flap of the envelope was a large, green seal. She'd never seen anything like it before. She brought the letter closer to her face and gasped. The seal had begun to slow and Hermione immediately recognized the figure pressed into it. She stuffed the letter in her pocket as quickly as possible.
"Whatcha got Hermione?" Ron asked, piling his plate with more food.
"Nothing." She excused herself from the table and ran out into the hallway in front of the Great Hall. She opened the door to the nearest classroom and shut herself inside. Luckily it was unoccupied at the moment. She took the envelope out of her pocket and broke the seal, the seal that looked an awful lot like the familiar dark mark. She took the letter out of the envelope and examined the sentence written in dark green ink.
WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
She quickly flipped the parchment over looking for some sort of identification. There was nothing. She picked up the envelope again and placed the letter back inside. The seal began to glow even brighter until it burned in the palm of her hand. She dropped the envelope and the seal stopped glowing. Hermione made a quick glance around the room just to make sure no one had seen what had happened. The room was still empty. She picked up the envelope and stuffed it back in her inside pocket while running frantically out of the classroom and back to Gryffindor tower. Hermione ran to her bed and shut the curtains around her four poster. She didn't want to see or hear anyone.
Hermione sat there for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and pulled out the letter. She felt that familiar burning in her throat, only this time she did nothing to stop the tears from flowing. It was a long time before Hermione fell asleep that night, the letter clutched tightly in her hand.
A/N: If you know of any really great and fluffly d/h, R/h. or h/h stories could you please let me know? Either in an e mail or in a review. That would be totally awesome, i really need to read a fluffy story right now. Thanks so much. Next chapter should be up this weekend.
Chapter 3: The Letter
A few weeks later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Hermione was laying on the couch with her nose in a book, while Ron and Harry sat on the floor in front of her playing wizard's chess.
"Hey Hermione, why don't you put your book down and come play chess with us?" Ron asked, checking Harry's queen.
"No thanks," she replied, not bothering to look up from the pages of he incredibly thick book.
"Come on Hermione," Harry whined. "Ron's already beaten me four times. I can't take much more of this!"
"Fine. But I'll only play if you are on my team Harry, I can't beat him either, and I really don't feel like getting my arse kicked when I could be studying." She placed her bookmark in between the pages of her book. "I really have a lot of reading to do." She reluctantly got up off the couch and joined the boys on the floor.
"Really Hermione! You need to lighten up, act like a normal teenager before you haven't gotten a chance to be one anymore!"
"Just because I like to learn and read doesn't mean I'm not a normal teenager!" Ron gave her a look that clearly said 'Yea Right'. "Really Ron, not everyone has to act like you! Uh, I'm going now, I've got to finish my work." Hermione picked her book and stormed out of the common room knocking the chess set over in the process.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled after her. "Hermione, wait." He looked over at Harry who was staring after the two blankly. "What's got her knickers in a twist?" He continued to gawk at her as she walked away.
"You do Ron. You know very well how sensitive she's been lately, you better watch out or one say you're going to get that book thrown in your face, and I'm not going to do anything to stop her!"
"But I-"
"No Ron, no excuses this time. We don't have much time left at Hogwarts, don't screw it up for the rest of us ok?" With that Harry ran up the stairs to the girls dormitories.
Ron sighed as he bent down to pick up the chess pieces that were scattered all over the floor. He couldn't understand why they were being so touchy, deciding not to dwell on their argument, he left in search for a new chess partner.
"Knock, knock." Harry said lightly through the wooden door in front of his face. "Hermione, it's me, Harry. Can I come in?" He cracked the door a little and poked his face though the door frame.
"Sure," she sighed.
"Are you ok? You haven't been acting like yourself lately. You know, if something's wrong, you can talk to me right?" He sat down on the bed next to her and placed his arm around her shoulders.
"I know," She shuddered at his touch. If he only knew what was really wrong with her. "I'm not sure what's wrong, really. And it doesn't help with Ron making fun of me all the time, you know."
"Just promise me that you'll come with me if you need to talk. I'm always here if you need me, you know that right?" She shifted her gaze form Harry down to the floor as he tightened the grip on her shoulders.
'Harry's a great friend,' she thought to herself. 'How cant I do this to him? What kind of friend am I?' Hermione had never felt so guilty in her life.
"Thanks Harry." She whispered, barely able to keep the tears that had welled up in her eyes from flooding down her face. He reached over with his other arm and gave her a full out hug.
"I'll come up and get you before we go to dinner alright? I've got to go talk to Ron for a bit."
"Ok," she replied, not talking her eyes off the floor. She couldn't bear look at him, for she knew there would be no stopping herself from crying. She looked out the window near her bed at the countryside that lay outside it. The sun was slowly going down, and Hermione wished she could be a part of that setting sun instead of here in her room trying not to cry. She remained that way until she heard the dormitory door shut behind her. Hermione couldn't control herself any longer. She collapsed on the window seat letting her emotions flow freely from her body. A million thoughts flooded her mind, making her even more confused and frustrated. 'I don't know how much more I can put this off.' She thought to herself amongst her tears. 'I'm living a lie and deceiving everyone I love.' This only made her cry harder. Soon only faint sobbing could be heard throughout the room. Hermione wiped her eyes of tears and went to the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror and studied her face for a moment. That only caused more tears to fall. She reached over and turned the faucet on and watched the water for a while before leaning over and washing her face.
"Hermione?" She heard Harry call from the bedroom.
"Yea Harry, I'm coming." A moment later she emerged from the bathroom.
"Come on! I'm starving." He grabbed her hand and began pulling her down the stairs.
"Will you slow down Harry? I have little legs!" She exclaimed practically getting dragged behind Harry.
"Nope, sorry. Can't, too hungry." He continued to run down the hall with Hermione squeaking and sputtering behind him.
By the time they reached the Great Hall the two were falling down in laughter. "What's so funny?" Ron asked, his mouth stuffed full with chicken.
This only caused Harry and Hermione to laugh even harder. "Hermione fell!" Harry was now laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes.
"Hermione fell? That's it?" Ginny looked on with confusion in her eyes.
"Yea!" Harry could barely get out the word before falling off the bench and landing on the floor. Hermione soon joined him.
After a while they two got up, dusted themselves off and sat back up at the table. "Ok," Hermione said taking a few breaths. "Harry was pulling me down the hall, and then there were stairs, and," She began to giggle. "Then I fell!" She began laughing again and moving her arms in a tumbling motion. The laughing fit started all over again.
"Ooooookaaayyy." Ron replied, turning his attention back to his dinner. "Guess you had to be there." Ginny nodded her head accordingly. All throughout dinner the two kept randomly laughing. They hardly stopped long enough to eat their dinner.
Hermione's mood was soon dampened when she spotted and owl soaring through the night sky above her head. It began circling over the Gryffindor table.
"Odd time for mail, don't you think?" Ron asked as they watched the owl to see where it would land. The owl circled one more time before dropping the letter in Hermione's hands. She turned the letter over looking for some slight sign as to who it was from. Across the flap of the envelope was a large, green seal. She'd never seen anything like it before. She brought the letter closer to her face and gasped. The seal had begun to slow and Hermione immediately recognized the figure pressed into it. She stuffed the letter in her pocket as quickly as possible.
"Whatcha got Hermione?" Ron asked, piling his plate with more food.
"Nothing." She excused herself from the table and ran out into the hallway in front of the Great Hall. She opened the door to the nearest classroom and shut herself inside. Luckily it was unoccupied at the moment. She took the envelope out of her pocket and broke the seal, the seal that looked an awful lot like the familiar dark mark. She took the letter out of the envelope and examined the sentence written in dark green ink.
WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
She quickly flipped the parchment over looking for some sort of identification. There was nothing. She picked up the envelope again and placed the letter back inside. The seal began to glow even brighter until it burned in the palm of her hand. She dropped the envelope and the seal stopped glowing. Hermione made a quick glance around the room just to make sure no one had seen what had happened. The room was still empty. She picked up the envelope and stuffed it back in her inside pocket while running frantically out of the classroom and back to Gryffindor tower. Hermione ran to her bed and shut the curtains around her four poster. She didn't want to see or hear anyone.
Hermione sat there for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and pulled out the letter. She felt that familiar burning in her throat, only this time she did nothing to stop the tears from flowing. It was a long time before Hermione fell asleep that night, the letter clutched tightly in her hand.
A/N: If you know of any really great and fluffly d/h, R/h. or h/h stories could you please let me know? Either in an e mail or in a review. That would be totally awesome, i really need to read a fluffy story right now. Thanks so much. Next chapter should be up this weekend.