Hermione was sitting on her bed, looking out through the window in her
room. Her remaining two room mates threw worried looks at the still empty
bed where their blonde friend had slept a few weeks ago.
"I haven't been this afraid of the dark since I was a child", one of them said, a short redhead called Melissa Strauss. "Going to bed has been scary since Tanya was attacked."
"But the doors are magically locked, Melly, even the Fat Lady will be locked.", Hermione said in a comforting, gentle voice. "Nothing can get either in or out, and this time we'll keep the window closed, so we... Look!"
Hermione pointed out through the window. The girls drew closer and looked out. The pale moon was now hidden behind thick, black clouds, the rain was pouring down and they could hear thunder in the distance. After a few seconds, they too saw what Hermione was pointing at. A black spot was coming right towards them.
"It's an owl.", the other girl, Amanda Higgs, said. "Are any of you expecting something?"
"No.", Hermione and Melissa both answered, and Hermione opened the tall window to let the black owl in.
It landed on Hermiones bed and shook its head and wings to get rid of some rain. It was a very handsome owl, with big blue eyes that now looked at the three girls, as if trying to find out which one of them its luggage belonged to.
"Hermione, it's for you.", Melissa said and untied the thin rope that kept the parcel to the owls leg. Hermione held out some owl sweets to the black animal, which ate them from her hand. She took the parcel and looked at it from every way.
"Open it, we want to see.", the others begged enthusiastically and sat down on Hermiones bed. The owl spread his wings and left the room through the open window. Amanda shut it.
Hermione unwrapped the mysterious parcel. Inside was a flower in a pot made out of clay. It was a strange flower indeed. Its petals were closed, like a brown and grey ball, and it had no leaves on the stem. It was in all a very ugly flower.
"What is this thing?", Hermione asked and looked at the others.
"No idea.", they said and stared at the brown and grey plant. "Who sent it?"
Hermione searched through the brown paper it had been wrapped in, but she found nothing, not even a tiny note.
"Must be some kind of birthday present.", she mumbled, more to herself than to the others. She didn't like the ugly thing at all, but she didn't want to hurt the feelings of whoever had sent it, so she put it on the window sill next to her bed.
"I can look it up in the library later on", she thought.
Melissa and Amanda smiled.
"Freaky way for a bloke to show his love, isn't it?", they said.
"What?"
"Well, we don't know who it's from, but it's a ... sort of flower, and it's sent by someone anonymous. Conclusion: it's from a guy."
"Oh, grow up."
The girls continued chatting for a while before getting to bed. Just like the nights before, the door to their room lightened up for a few seconds, like a lamp, and was thereby locked for the night. Hermione put on her white night gown and crept down under her cover. She didn't pull the curtains, she had always loved staying up watching a thunder storm.
The lightning now ran over the sky like long, thin fingers of silver and light. The roaring thunder and the rain played their strong, yet gentle lullaby to the girls and soon they were all sleeping.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
One more week passed without any more attacks. The five students had left the hospital wing at this time, but there was no use in asking them questions. They had all been sleeping heavily when the monster got to them, and couldn't remember anything. They were now a bit shaken by the experience, but otherwise they seemed completely healthy.
Hermione was in the library one evening. Once again the rain drops fell hard on the tall windows and thunder was rolling among the thick, dark clouds outside. It was a very beautiful storm, but Hermione paid little attention to it. She held a large pile of dusty, old books in her arms and carefully made her way to a table where she could sit down and study them.
She was still trying to find out what sort of creature the school was dealing with. Also, she wanted to find out what kind of flower it was that was on her window sill. Its petals still hadn't opened a single bit, although she gave it plenty of water and made sure it got as much sunlight as it could in those cloudy days.
The pile of books she had searched through grew larger and larger to her left side, but Hermione showed no sign of getting tired. She was leaning over "One Thousand Magical Plants" by Corrianda Fleet, not knowing that somebody was watching her.
Snape hadn't been in the library for long. He was standing behind a huge book shelf, looking through "Potions of Power" by Allano Rico, to find a good, complicated potion he could make the Ravenclaw seventh-years do for him on the next day. But all his attention had been fixed on Hermione for quite a while now.
"She is remarkable.", he thought and read the titles of the book pile next to her.
It had been a month since their silent embrace, but he hadn't forgotten a second of it. He didn't sleep during the nights anymore, and when the moonlight shone in through the windows in his rooms he remembered her kind eyes and her arms around him. During Hermiones potion classes he had hardly said a word to her, not even called her a 'silly girl' as usual, he had only displayed a perfect coolness. And it hurt, for he wanted to talk to her, or at least be close to her somehow. When he had seen her with all those thick books in her arms he had thought about making her drop them with a spell so he could help her pick them up, but he had quickly forsaken the idea.
He sighed to himself. There was no hope for him. He could never be with her...
He found a suitable potion and put the book back on the shelf. Without making a sound he left the library and Hermione behind him and went down to his dark, lonely dungeons.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Hermione was captured by the book and read almost every page. This time it was "What Muggles Think Are Merely Fairy Tale Creatures" by Ari Killroy. She was reading about trolls when a thought struck her, like a hammer to the head.
"What time is it?"
Lightning crossed the sky and a great roar of thunder was heard as Hermione looked at the clock.
She gasped, her face suddenly white as chalk.
She dropped the big book on the floor, grabbed her bag and ran out of the library. She ran as fast as she could through empty corridors and halls as the thunder and the rain kept raging outside the windows. She saw no other person, everyone was already in their dormitories and the castle was as dark as a tomb. Breathing heavily she ran up and down a hundred stairs, all her thoughts set on the Gryffindor tower, chased by the storm outside.
She saw the portrait of the Fat Lady and felt a small ray of hope shine inside her. She would make it...
"Stellarica!", she shouted to the painting, but the password seemed useless. The Fat Lady didn't open.
"Stellarica.", she repeated, but the door to Gryffindor tower was closed.
Hermione was beginning to panic.
"Stellarica?", she said with tears of fear in her eyes. The word was barely more than a trembling whisper.
The Fat Lady did not move, magically locked as she was.
Hermione checked her watch. It was five past ten.
She was locked out for the night.
She didn't dare to move. She just stood there, all alone in the dark corridor, so close to safety and yet so far. She held her breath, listening hard for any sounds. When lightning threw itself over the sky and illuminated the darkness she bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming.
She was sure she had seen a tall shadow move around a corner....
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It loved the storm. Its every sense was filled with the sound of the furious weather outside the tall, Gothic windows and it savoured it, inhaled it almost.
"Blood. I need blood."
The shadow smiled, and its fangs glimmered in the lightning.
"Slytherin", it thought. "Blood that boils with jealousy, hate and evil always tastes best. It's got so much more life in it."
And, without making so much as the slightest sound, it headed downstairs to the Slytherin dungeons.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Hermione sobbed silently, and her breathing was out of control. She was all alone, with no one to help her, and a monster was lurking somewhere in the dark castle. The storm outside was suddenly not so beautiful anymore, only evil and furious.
In her mind she searched desperately for a place to run, somewhere where she could be safe. Anywhere...
"Snape!", she thought. "He's a teacher. He can help me!"
She started walking as silently as she could down the corridor. Her eyes worked hard to see through the complete darkness that followed the lightning. More than anything in the world she wanted to take out her wand and say "Lumos", but she did not dare.
Slowly but surely, she came closer to the dungeons.
"Oh gods, please let him be awake!"
"I haven't been this afraid of the dark since I was a child", one of them said, a short redhead called Melissa Strauss. "Going to bed has been scary since Tanya was attacked."
"But the doors are magically locked, Melly, even the Fat Lady will be locked.", Hermione said in a comforting, gentle voice. "Nothing can get either in or out, and this time we'll keep the window closed, so we... Look!"
Hermione pointed out through the window. The girls drew closer and looked out. The pale moon was now hidden behind thick, black clouds, the rain was pouring down and they could hear thunder in the distance. After a few seconds, they too saw what Hermione was pointing at. A black spot was coming right towards them.
"It's an owl.", the other girl, Amanda Higgs, said. "Are any of you expecting something?"
"No.", Hermione and Melissa both answered, and Hermione opened the tall window to let the black owl in.
It landed on Hermiones bed and shook its head and wings to get rid of some rain. It was a very handsome owl, with big blue eyes that now looked at the three girls, as if trying to find out which one of them its luggage belonged to.
"Hermione, it's for you.", Melissa said and untied the thin rope that kept the parcel to the owls leg. Hermione held out some owl sweets to the black animal, which ate them from her hand. She took the parcel and looked at it from every way.
"Open it, we want to see.", the others begged enthusiastically and sat down on Hermiones bed. The owl spread his wings and left the room through the open window. Amanda shut it.
Hermione unwrapped the mysterious parcel. Inside was a flower in a pot made out of clay. It was a strange flower indeed. Its petals were closed, like a brown and grey ball, and it had no leaves on the stem. It was in all a very ugly flower.
"What is this thing?", Hermione asked and looked at the others.
"No idea.", they said and stared at the brown and grey plant. "Who sent it?"
Hermione searched through the brown paper it had been wrapped in, but she found nothing, not even a tiny note.
"Must be some kind of birthday present.", she mumbled, more to herself than to the others. She didn't like the ugly thing at all, but she didn't want to hurt the feelings of whoever had sent it, so she put it on the window sill next to her bed.
"I can look it up in the library later on", she thought.
Melissa and Amanda smiled.
"Freaky way for a bloke to show his love, isn't it?", they said.
"What?"
"Well, we don't know who it's from, but it's a ... sort of flower, and it's sent by someone anonymous. Conclusion: it's from a guy."
"Oh, grow up."
The girls continued chatting for a while before getting to bed. Just like the nights before, the door to their room lightened up for a few seconds, like a lamp, and was thereby locked for the night. Hermione put on her white night gown and crept down under her cover. She didn't pull the curtains, she had always loved staying up watching a thunder storm.
The lightning now ran over the sky like long, thin fingers of silver and light. The roaring thunder and the rain played their strong, yet gentle lullaby to the girls and soon they were all sleeping.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
One more week passed without any more attacks. The five students had left the hospital wing at this time, but there was no use in asking them questions. They had all been sleeping heavily when the monster got to them, and couldn't remember anything. They were now a bit shaken by the experience, but otherwise they seemed completely healthy.
Hermione was in the library one evening. Once again the rain drops fell hard on the tall windows and thunder was rolling among the thick, dark clouds outside. It was a very beautiful storm, but Hermione paid little attention to it. She held a large pile of dusty, old books in her arms and carefully made her way to a table where she could sit down and study them.
She was still trying to find out what sort of creature the school was dealing with. Also, she wanted to find out what kind of flower it was that was on her window sill. Its petals still hadn't opened a single bit, although she gave it plenty of water and made sure it got as much sunlight as it could in those cloudy days.
The pile of books she had searched through grew larger and larger to her left side, but Hermione showed no sign of getting tired. She was leaning over "One Thousand Magical Plants" by Corrianda Fleet, not knowing that somebody was watching her.
Snape hadn't been in the library for long. He was standing behind a huge book shelf, looking through "Potions of Power" by Allano Rico, to find a good, complicated potion he could make the Ravenclaw seventh-years do for him on the next day. But all his attention had been fixed on Hermione for quite a while now.
"She is remarkable.", he thought and read the titles of the book pile next to her.
It had been a month since their silent embrace, but he hadn't forgotten a second of it. He didn't sleep during the nights anymore, and when the moonlight shone in through the windows in his rooms he remembered her kind eyes and her arms around him. During Hermiones potion classes he had hardly said a word to her, not even called her a 'silly girl' as usual, he had only displayed a perfect coolness. And it hurt, for he wanted to talk to her, or at least be close to her somehow. When he had seen her with all those thick books in her arms he had thought about making her drop them with a spell so he could help her pick them up, but he had quickly forsaken the idea.
He sighed to himself. There was no hope for him. He could never be with her...
He found a suitable potion and put the book back on the shelf. Without making a sound he left the library and Hermione behind him and went down to his dark, lonely dungeons.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Hermione was captured by the book and read almost every page. This time it was "What Muggles Think Are Merely Fairy Tale Creatures" by Ari Killroy. She was reading about trolls when a thought struck her, like a hammer to the head.
"What time is it?"
Lightning crossed the sky and a great roar of thunder was heard as Hermione looked at the clock.
She gasped, her face suddenly white as chalk.
She dropped the big book on the floor, grabbed her bag and ran out of the library. She ran as fast as she could through empty corridors and halls as the thunder and the rain kept raging outside the windows. She saw no other person, everyone was already in their dormitories and the castle was as dark as a tomb. Breathing heavily she ran up and down a hundred stairs, all her thoughts set on the Gryffindor tower, chased by the storm outside.
She saw the portrait of the Fat Lady and felt a small ray of hope shine inside her. She would make it...
"Stellarica!", she shouted to the painting, but the password seemed useless. The Fat Lady didn't open.
"Stellarica.", she repeated, but the door to Gryffindor tower was closed.
Hermione was beginning to panic.
"Stellarica?", she said with tears of fear in her eyes. The word was barely more than a trembling whisper.
The Fat Lady did not move, magically locked as she was.
Hermione checked her watch. It was five past ten.
She was locked out for the night.
She didn't dare to move. She just stood there, all alone in the dark corridor, so close to safety and yet so far. She held her breath, listening hard for any sounds. When lightning threw itself over the sky and illuminated the darkness she bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming.
She was sure she had seen a tall shadow move around a corner....
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It loved the storm. Its every sense was filled with the sound of the furious weather outside the tall, Gothic windows and it savoured it, inhaled it almost.
"Blood. I need blood."
The shadow smiled, and its fangs glimmered in the lightning.
"Slytherin", it thought. "Blood that boils with jealousy, hate and evil always tastes best. It's got so much more life in it."
And, without making so much as the slightest sound, it headed downstairs to the Slytherin dungeons.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Hermione sobbed silently, and her breathing was out of control. She was all alone, with no one to help her, and a monster was lurking somewhere in the dark castle. The storm outside was suddenly not so beautiful anymore, only evil and furious.
In her mind she searched desperately for a place to run, somewhere where she could be safe. Anywhere...
"Snape!", she thought. "He's a teacher. He can help me!"
She started walking as silently as she could down the corridor. Her eyes worked hard to see through the complete darkness that followed the lightning. More than anything in the world she wanted to take out her wand and say "Lumos", but she did not dare.
Slowly but surely, she came closer to the dungeons.
"Oh gods, please let him be awake!"
