A/N: Thanks for reviewing, everyone.
Oh, yeah, I just realised that I forgot the disclaimer last time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor Hermione Granger, nor Mr and Mrs Granger or anyone else in this chapter. J. K. Rowling has that privilege. However, I do own the plot of this story, although the overall plot is to the credit of J. K. Rowling.
Mysticrystal faerie
"Good night, 'Mione." A slight smile touched Harry's lips. Yes, it would be a very good night, wouldn't it?
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
THE WITCHING HOUR
Harry continued his essays. The house was quiet. The only sound to be heard was the scraping of the quill across the parchment. Scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch. His eyes hurt. Still he continued writing, his vision blurring as his aching eyes strained to read the paragraph he had just written. His writing was illegible, even to his own eyes, but he kept on going.
I have to finish! Tonight is the last night before I return to Hogwarts! I have to visit Sirius! Have to keep writing... Harry continued scribbling away, but his body told him to do otherwise. His eyes hurt, his hand hurt, even his brain hurt! A/N: Yes, I know that the brain has no pain sensors, so it can't feel pain. When he could take no more, he threw down his quill, pushed back his chair, and flopped into bed. I don't have enough energy to finish these essays, let alone go out to the mystery department to visit Sirius! I'm so tired, I just feel like falling asleep... sleep... sleep... He could hear cackling, red glowing eyes, darkness engulfing his entire body...
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Downstairs, the clock chimed eleven, bringing Harry down to earth with a bump. Leaving all his assignments unfinished on the desk, he crawled out of bed, slipped to the door and carefully opened it, fraction by fraction. Creeeeeak! Harry stood stock still, until he was sure that no one had been awakened by the noise. Then, he crept along the passageway, downstairs, and crashed smack bang into Hermione Granger.
"AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (Very loud)
"AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (Very high pitched and more like a scream than anything else.)
"Hermione!"
"Harry!"
"What are you doing down here?"
"I was just about to ask you that!"
"Well?"
"Shhh, I think I hear someone coming."
"It'll only be your parents wondering... mmmf grff snfff mmf"
"Be quiet Harry!" hissed Hermione, struggling to cover his mouth with her hand. "I'm doing this for your own good!"
The shadow was coming closer, closer...
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
A click sounded as a bright, fluorescent light came to life, blinding Harry with its luminescence. A door slammed shut, once again leaving them in darkness. A sliver of whiteness crept out from the crack beneath the door, and as Harry and Hermione held their breaths, hushed voices came sneaking out from the crack under the door.
"Do you think that the boy suspects anything?"
"I don't know, but if he ever finds out and lets our secret leak, you-know- who will have us polished off in no time."
"Yes, he-who-must-not-be-named is a very powerful wizard..."
This is an extremely interesting conversation, Harry thought to himself. However, before he could eavesdrop on more of this extremely interesting conversation, someone clutched at the back of his nightshirt, half-dragging him up the stairs whilst he fought frantically to keep himself upright, feet dancing about as if affected by the tarantella curse. At last, they reached the top of the stairs, and the person dropped him with a *thunk*. In his half-dazed state of mind, he managed to glimpse a crop of bushy brown hair and a very pale face coming towards him before Hermione pulled him to his feet with a humongous heave.
"What was that about?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Hermione wore a sardonic smile on her face.
"No, I'm serious. What was all that about? I mean, your parents knowing about Voldemort and all. And what's with all the secrecy and don't-let- Harry-know business?"
Hermione heaved a weary sigh, and pulled him into the nearest room, softly closing the door and turning on the light. Gee, I never knew that she looked that old! She almost looks like she could have wrinkles...
"Harry, I..." Another sigh racked her thin frame, and she looked at the floor. An expression of mingled sadness and disgust flitted across her face, but was gone in an instant, replaced by a carefully blank expression which held absolutely no feeling. However, when she looked up, he could see the weariness in her eyes.
"You don't know how hard this is for me, Harry."
Hermione Granger, thinking that something in her life is hard to do?!? "I understand, 'Mione. You don't have to tell me, you know." Of course, I didn't mean a word I said, but you looked so damn vulnerable just then, I didn't have the heart...
"No, I need to tell someone. It's just that, my parents..." Here, her voice trailed off miserably, and she feebly attempted to clear her throat, and then began again. "I might as well just tell you. You might have guessed from that conversation downstairs anyway. My parents are powerful wizards in hiding."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Harry gazed at her, a blank expression on his face. Then, it clicked. "Wha..."
"I know, I know. Hard to believe, the powerful part, isn't it?" She smiled a cheerless, melancholy smile. "When they went into hiding, they decided to change their surnames and attempt to live like muggles. They taught me muggle ways, did everything the muggle way. I suppose that it wasn't all bad, having to endure all those taunts about being a... ahem... *mudblood*" Harry could see a drop of saliva flying from her mouth onto his nose. He wiped it off with his sleeve. "when you knew perfectly well that both your parents were purebloods. They, my parents I mean, were pretty nice about it, giving me all this stuff to make up for it. It's just; the pressure was too much, and sometimes everyone and everything can be so demanding..."
Harry gulped. He was obviously expected to say something. Should he just remain silent or blurt out the first bit of crap that came to his mind? He opted for the latter. "Oh, how nice... I mean, how horrible..."
"Don't worry about it. So, let's get back to the question at hand. You now know what was going on, so I'll answer your other question about what I was doing down there in the first place. Or do you want to go first? My stories are always a bit depressing."
"No... I'd rather not. Besides..." Harry grappled around for a better structure to support his argument on. "It's generally ladies first around here, isn't it...?" Even to his own ears, it sounded hopelessly feeble. Surprisingly, Hermione appeared not to notice.
"I was kind of thinking about running away... you know..." She squirmed uncomfortably under Harry's shocked stare and focused her eyes on a little black speck on the floor. "I mean, it all got to be a bit too much, you know..." She smiled in spite of herself when she looked up again to see Harry's deranged expression, jaw sagging down to the floor. Gaining a bit of courage from this, Hermione pressed on. "Once, I went outside to dump some rubbish from my private rubbish bin, a thing which I wouldn't normally do. I had to go down the stairs, through the front door, and took forever dumping the rubbish. No one even noticed that I was missing. Besides, it's not like my parents even care. They only ever look in to my room if the light's still on and then only ever at times like one in the morning to tell me that I 'really should get to bed now, darling'. As if I didn't know. Recently, I've been contemplating the idea in my mind. It could have worked, you know..."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
There was a shocked silence as Harry tried to take in what Hermione had been jabbering on about. Something about her parents not caring if she ran away... this wasn't the Hermione that he knew!
"Well, I've told you what I was doing there, what were you doing?"
"I... was going to see..." (Guilty look) "Snuffles."
"HARRY!?!"
"Shhh, not so loud! Since it's the last day before school starts again" *groan* "I decided to pay him a visit."
"Haven't you learnt your lesson yet? You could have been killed, or seriously injured..." Hermione began advancing on Harry, waggling her finger threateningly. Suddenly, she tripped over her own feet (a very un-Hermione- like thing to do) and fell on top of Harry. Again. He could feel the warmth of her body on his own. In the distance, a clock chimed twelve...
Hermione, who was blushing furiously, suddenly scrambled up, flung open the door, and with surprising speed, dragged Harry along with her, turning off the light as she went. She led him to his own room, roughly shoved him inside, hissing at him to get into bed. Then, she was off again, presumably to her own room. Harry, hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, immediately jumped into bed, pulled up the covers and pretended that he was asleep.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
"They're both asleep."
"You sure?"
"I just checked."
"That racket must have been made by that insane cat of hers, then." The footsteps gradually grew softer, as the pair slipped back down the steps.
Back in bed once more, Harry leaned back into the soft mattress, remembering the way Hermione's body had felt when it leaned against his. It had felt so nice, and so... right.
Hermione carefully opened one eye, and upon seeing that the coast was clear, proceeded to swivel into a more comfortable position. Somehow, nothing felt quite as good as lying against Harry... her cheeks blushed crimson once more at the thought.
That night, the witching hour continued to wreath its magic, as two lonely souls lay in bed, thinking of each other in a new light...
A/N: Sorry for taking so long. My heart wasn't really in it until I thought of something to write. Then it just kept flowing... I promise not to take so long next time! Thanks again to all my reviewers. If you could click that little button down there, I would be very happy... *hint* *hint*.
Mysticrystal faerie
Oh, yeah, I just realised that I forgot the disclaimer last time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor Hermione Granger, nor Mr and Mrs Granger or anyone else in this chapter. J. K. Rowling has that privilege. However, I do own the plot of this story, although the overall plot is to the credit of J. K. Rowling.
Mysticrystal faerie
"Good night, 'Mione." A slight smile touched Harry's lips. Yes, it would be a very good night, wouldn't it?
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
THE WITCHING HOUR
Harry continued his essays. The house was quiet. The only sound to be heard was the scraping of the quill across the parchment. Scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch. His eyes hurt. Still he continued writing, his vision blurring as his aching eyes strained to read the paragraph he had just written. His writing was illegible, even to his own eyes, but he kept on going.
I have to finish! Tonight is the last night before I return to Hogwarts! I have to visit Sirius! Have to keep writing... Harry continued scribbling away, but his body told him to do otherwise. His eyes hurt, his hand hurt, even his brain hurt! A/N: Yes, I know that the brain has no pain sensors, so it can't feel pain. When he could take no more, he threw down his quill, pushed back his chair, and flopped into bed. I don't have enough energy to finish these essays, let alone go out to the mystery department to visit Sirius! I'm so tired, I just feel like falling asleep... sleep... sleep... He could hear cackling, red glowing eyes, darkness engulfing his entire body...
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Downstairs, the clock chimed eleven, bringing Harry down to earth with a bump. Leaving all his assignments unfinished on the desk, he crawled out of bed, slipped to the door and carefully opened it, fraction by fraction. Creeeeeak! Harry stood stock still, until he was sure that no one had been awakened by the noise. Then, he crept along the passageway, downstairs, and crashed smack bang into Hermione Granger.
"AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (Very loud)
"AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (Very high pitched and more like a scream than anything else.)
"Hermione!"
"Harry!"
"What are you doing down here?"
"I was just about to ask you that!"
"Well?"
"Shhh, I think I hear someone coming."
"It'll only be your parents wondering... mmmf grff snfff mmf"
"Be quiet Harry!" hissed Hermione, struggling to cover his mouth with her hand. "I'm doing this for your own good!"
The shadow was coming closer, closer...
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
A click sounded as a bright, fluorescent light came to life, blinding Harry with its luminescence. A door slammed shut, once again leaving them in darkness. A sliver of whiteness crept out from the crack beneath the door, and as Harry and Hermione held their breaths, hushed voices came sneaking out from the crack under the door.
"Do you think that the boy suspects anything?"
"I don't know, but if he ever finds out and lets our secret leak, you-know- who will have us polished off in no time."
"Yes, he-who-must-not-be-named is a very powerful wizard..."
This is an extremely interesting conversation, Harry thought to himself. However, before he could eavesdrop on more of this extremely interesting conversation, someone clutched at the back of his nightshirt, half-dragging him up the stairs whilst he fought frantically to keep himself upright, feet dancing about as if affected by the tarantella curse. At last, they reached the top of the stairs, and the person dropped him with a *thunk*. In his half-dazed state of mind, he managed to glimpse a crop of bushy brown hair and a very pale face coming towards him before Hermione pulled him to his feet with a humongous heave.
"What was that about?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Hermione wore a sardonic smile on her face.
"No, I'm serious. What was all that about? I mean, your parents knowing about Voldemort and all. And what's with all the secrecy and don't-let- Harry-know business?"
Hermione heaved a weary sigh, and pulled him into the nearest room, softly closing the door and turning on the light. Gee, I never knew that she looked that old! She almost looks like she could have wrinkles...
"Harry, I..." Another sigh racked her thin frame, and she looked at the floor. An expression of mingled sadness and disgust flitted across her face, but was gone in an instant, replaced by a carefully blank expression which held absolutely no feeling. However, when she looked up, he could see the weariness in her eyes.
"You don't know how hard this is for me, Harry."
Hermione Granger, thinking that something in her life is hard to do?!? "I understand, 'Mione. You don't have to tell me, you know." Of course, I didn't mean a word I said, but you looked so damn vulnerable just then, I didn't have the heart...
"No, I need to tell someone. It's just that, my parents..." Here, her voice trailed off miserably, and she feebly attempted to clear her throat, and then began again. "I might as well just tell you. You might have guessed from that conversation downstairs anyway. My parents are powerful wizards in hiding."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Harry gazed at her, a blank expression on his face. Then, it clicked. "Wha..."
"I know, I know. Hard to believe, the powerful part, isn't it?" She smiled a cheerless, melancholy smile. "When they went into hiding, they decided to change their surnames and attempt to live like muggles. They taught me muggle ways, did everything the muggle way. I suppose that it wasn't all bad, having to endure all those taunts about being a... ahem... *mudblood*" Harry could see a drop of saliva flying from her mouth onto his nose. He wiped it off with his sleeve. "when you knew perfectly well that both your parents were purebloods. They, my parents I mean, were pretty nice about it, giving me all this stuff to make up for it. It's just; the pressure was too much, and sometimes everyone and everything can be so demanding..."
Harry gulped. He was obviously expected to say something. Should he just remain silent or blurt out the first bit of crap that came to his mind? He opted for the latter. "Oh, how nice... I mean, how horrible..."
"Don't worry about it. So, let's get back to the question at hand. You now know what was going on, so I'll answer your other question about what I was doing down there in the first place. Or do you want to go first? My stories are always a bit depressing."
"No... I'd rather not. Besides..." Harry grappled around for a better structure to support his argument on. "It's generally ladies first around here, isn't it...?" Even to his own ears, it sounded hopelessly feeble. Surprisingly, Hermione appeared not to notice.
"I was kind of thinking about running away... you know..." She squirmed uncomfortably under Harry's shocked stare and focused her eyes on a little black speck on the floor. "I mean, it all got to be a bit too much, you know..." She smiled in spite of herself when she looked up again to see Harry's deranged expression, jaw sagging down to the floor. Gaining a bit of courage from this, Hermione pressed on. "Once, I went outside to dump some rubbish from my private rubbish bin, a thing which I wouldn't normally do. I had to go down the stairs, through the front door, and took forever dumping the rubbish. No one even noticed that I was missing. Besides, it's not like my parents even care. They only ever look in to my room if the light's still on and then only ever at times like one in the morning to tell me that I 'really should get to bed now, darling'. As if I didn't know. Recently, I've been contemplating the idea in my mind. It could have worked, you know..."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
There was a shocked silence as Harry tried to take in what Hermione had been jabbering on about. Something about her parents not caring if she ran away... this wasn't the Hermione that he knew!
"Well, I've told you what I was doing there, what were you doing?"
"I... was going to see..." (Guilty look) "Snuffles."
"HARRY!?!"
"Shhh, not so loud! Since it's the last day before school starts again" *groan* "I decided to pay him a visit."
"Haven't you learnt your lesson yet? You could have been killed, or seriously injured..." Hermione began advancing on Harry, waggling her finger threateningly. Suddenly, she tripped over her own feet (a very un-Hermione- like thing to do) and fell on top of Harry. Again. He could feel the warmth of her body on his own. In the distance, a clock chimed twelve...
Hermione, who was blushing furiously, suddenly scrambled up, flung open the door, and with surprising speed, dragged Harry along with her, turning off the light as she went. She led him to his own room, roughly shoved him inside, hissing at him to get into bed. Then, she was off again, presumably to her own room. Harry, hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, immediately jumped into bed, pulled up the covers and pretended that he was asleep.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
"They're both asleep."
"You sure?"
"I just checked."
"That racket must have been made by that insane cat of hers, then." The footsteps gradually grew softer, as the pair slipped back down the steps.
Back in bed once more, Harry leaned back into the soft mattress, remembering the way Hermione's body had felt when it leaned against his. It had felt so nice, and so... right.
Hermione carefully opened one eye, and upon seeing that the coast was clear, proceeded to swivel into a more comfortable position. Somehow, nothing felt quite as good as lying against Harry... her cheeks blushed crimson once more at the thought.
That night, the witching hour continued to wreath its magic, as two lonely souls lay in bed, thinking of each other in a new light...
A/N: Sorry for taking so long. My heart wasn't really in it until I thought of something to write. Then it just kept flowing... I promise not to take so long next time! Thanks again to all my reviewers. If you could click that little button down there, I would be very happy... *hint* *hint*.
Mysticrystal faerie