Disclaimer: I am J.K Rowling and this is exactly what is happening in the next book… don't believe the rumors! JK! British Jen and me wish that we were J.K.R. and that this is what would happen in book five… nope it all belongs to her… lucky duck!
Chapter 5: Close Encounters
Hermione didn't know what to say. She stood there frozen, unable to force any words past her lips. She couldn't tell Harry and Ron about the dream, it would sound too stupid. She wasn't even sure why she let the dream bother her in the first place; after all, she only had had the dream once. Seconds passed, she had to say something quickly before they knew that she was lying.
"Well, you see, I um, left my diary in the library. I didn't want anyone to find it so I had to go get it. But I didn't want to get caught sneaking around and you weren't around, Harry, so I thought I might just borrow your invisibility cloak.
"Listen Harry, I am really sorry. I should have waited until you were around and asked you if I could use the cloak. I don't blame you if you're angry with me. I expect you to be angry with me. I'll just leave this here and head to my room." Hermione carefully put the invisibility cloak on a chair by the fire and started to her room.
"Hermione, don't leave. I want to talk to you." Harry shifted his eyes to Ron who was absentmindedly staring into space. "Privately." It took Ron a few minutes to get Harry's message through his head. He left, slightly disappointed that he was being left out of the conversation, to the boys' dorms.
"Harry, I am really so-,"
"I know Hermione and I forgive you for taking it," he said in a very calm voice.
"But how can you forgive me after what I did? I went into your dorm! I went through your trunk! I stole the only thing you have of your father's from you without permission!" Hermione was trembling slightly, her lips quivering.
"How? Because I know it's not the whole story. There is something that you're not telling me. I know that it is not like you to steal. To go sneaking around unless you're with Ron and I. To threaten your status as a prefect. And all to get a journal! It's just not like you. So tell me, what's wrong?" He stared at her, almost forgetting what they were talking about as her gazed into her amber eyes.
"It's, I can't explain. I can't describe it. It's a private, personal matter. I don't like keeping things from you, you know that, you're my best friend, but I just can't say." Hermione's voice began to crack and her eyes watered, becoming glassy like those of a porcelain doll.
"You're not hurt, are you, Hermione? Did somebody do something to you?" Harry asked, concerned about his best friend's wellbeing.
"No, no it's not something like that," she said. The only person hurting me is me, she thought. Tears flowed down her cheeks in small rivers. Harry wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him. Hermione couldn't stand that she wasn't being completely truthful with Harry. She looked into the emerald pools that were his eyes, lost and confused in their trance. The tears continued to stream down her face. Their faces were inches apart; they moved their faces closer from a subconscious force.
Their lips touched, every so lightly. Hermione finally came to terms with what was happening. "I have to go to bed." She pulled away from him and turned away to her room again. This time, Harry didn't stop her. She needs space; she's really upset. Why was I such an idiot? Why did I kiss her? I probably just ruined our friendship. He headed to the dorms, hoping that they might be able to forget what happened in the morning.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Harry sat staring at the debris that was once his block tower. He then looked back at the kind identity that offered to help him. He smiled warmly back. "Thanks," he said. They sat rebuilding. The minutes went by slowly. Harry looked over at the child again. He noticed something; long-auburn hair, slightly wavy, flowing down the child's back. At least he finally knew that it was a girl. They continued to rebuild. He still couldn't see her face, though he was staring directly at her. "What is your name?" he asked.
"Well, I don't like my first name so you can call me Elizabeth or Liz. It's my middle name," the girl.
Harry decided to play the same game with her. "I'm James."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
They sat in silence, rebuilding the tower. Block by block the tower grew taller, better than the one the child had before. Hermione kept to herself, feeling genuinely happy that someone was nice to her and that Dudley, the large child in her class, wasn't bothering him or her for being together. Finally, the silence broke. "What is your name?" asked the child.
Hermione didn't like to use her first name. It wasn't a very common name and most children made fun of her for it. She was happy with her middle name though. "Well, I don't like my first name so you can call me Elizabeth or Liz. It's my middle name."
The child replied to her, "I'm James." Hermione had finally discovered one fact about her friend; her friend was a boy. She could see it now, the messy jet-black hair on his head and the baggy T-shirt that he wore.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Harry woke up, the bright sun shining through a window onto his face. He glanced at the canopy of his bed, and rolled over to see a pair of amber eyes staring back at him. He jumped, surprised that Hermione was in the boy's dorm. Looking around the room, he saw that no one else was in the room, they were probably down at breakfast. He looked back at Hermione.
"I need to talk to you." Harry sat up, and invited Hermione to sit on the edge of the bed. She obliged, but sat at the end of the bed, afraid to get close to Harry after last night's events. She didn't know what she would do. True, she did enjoy the kiss, a lot actually. But she was really upset and she hoped that Harry didn't think that she was being weird by kissing him.
"Is it about last night?"
"Yeah, you see Harry about that kiss, well-,"
"Look Hermione, I understand completely. You were really upset and we were both confused. Let's just say it didn't happen."
"Oh, thank you, Harry!" she exclaimed as she reached over and gave him a hug, pulling away quickly before she lost control again.
"Um, Hermione?"
"Yeah, Harry?"
"I kind of just sleep in boxers so if you don't want to be around when I get out of bed, well, you no I get embarrassed easily and-,"
"Oh, right! Sorry Harry, I forgot that you had to get dressed and stuff. I shouldn't even be in here. Someone will get the wrong idea," she said, blushing at the thought of her and him being caught in a predicament like that. She left the room, and Harry got out of bed, stretching before he reached for his robes. What he didn't realize was Hermione peeking through the cracked door.
Merlin! Quidditch has been good to him! She stared at his muscles, very defined but nowhere near disgusting like those male body builders. She had to try very hard to resist not breaking down the door and going in for a good snog.
Harry got dressed and sat down on his bed, recalling the dream from last night. Elizabeth. Liz. It seemed so familiar to him yet he couldn't remember an Elizabeth. And yet this girl seemed to be very close to him in his heart. "Who is she?" he asked himself, frustrated.
"Who's who?" Harry looked over to see Ron standing at the door.
"It's nothing."
"Hey, what happened with you and Hermione last night after I left."
"Oh, nothing. We talked. Everything's cool now." Harry didn't lie. He did talk with Hermione and everything was all worked out. He just didn't tell the whole truth.
"What about that kiss?"
"How the heck do you know about that?"
"Well, you see, I, um-,"
"You were spying on us! You were, weren't you? Weren't you?" Harry was turning red. How could Ron have done that? He told Ron that he wanted to have a private conversation and yet Ron was invading the privacy.
"Well, kind of. I left one of my books in the common room and I figured that you guys wouldn't mind if I came in for a second just to pick it up and leave again. Well, I was walking down from the dorms and when I was just about at the common room when I saw you guys kiss. I stopped in my tracks and went back upstairs."
Harry calmed down a bit. It was an accident, Ron just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Okay, Ron. I believe you. And as for the kiss. It was nothing. Hermione was upset and I was trying to comfort her. It just happened. We agreed this morning that nothing happened and you better not go telling people about it Ron or I'll have your neck for it." Ron nodded his head in agreement.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hermione sat in the common room, reading Hogwarts: A History for the hundredth time. She was reading about Godric Gryffindor's dream to reunite Slytherin with the other founders, an unsuccessful wish. She remembered her dream, remembering the boy. What was the name again? James! That's what it was. But how come I can't remember a James. I feel oddly attracted to him in my dream though. Like a really close friend. I need to find out more!
Harry and Ron entered the room, meeting Hermione by the fire. She looked at them, smiling at Ron and hiding her face from Harry. She still felt a bit embarrassed about kissing him. Harry was the first to speak. "It's Saturday. You guy's know what that means." Ron and Hermione looked at each other and nodded. They left the common room, Hermione in the lead and Harry staring at her beautiful auburn hair from behind.
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Haha! Cliffy! And now for something completely different…
Thanks to all of our reviewers: British Jen shall thank you all next chapter!!!
