Lester : Thanks, and here`s more.
Sunshine : I made you cry too? I am hoping that this is a good thing, and thanks for reviewing~ I like reviews!!! I wouldn`t say that this story is amazing though.
ILUVRONWEASLEY : Ooh, wow, thanks. I am on my tiptoes trying to make this stupid internet connection work~ Don`t worry about ``not being an experienced reviewer``, just tell what you think!
Yopgi_Chunsa : Hey, thanks a lot. Yes, as you probably noticed, I e-mailed you, and I hope I kkeep you guessing!
Columbus : I can`t explain everything, then there would be no point in writing the story!!! Besides, I don`t like stories where Draco falls in love with Hermione in the first few chapters, they are corny.
Reviewer : I appreciate that you took the time to review, but I would appreciate that if you are going to say negative things, you would give me positive suggestions.
Ceallaigh : Ack, she discovered my secret! Or. . . one of them. =D Thanks for the great great great fantastic review. =D
Imperfectionist : All I have to say is, LOL.
Artemis Moonclaw : Thanks, and here is more!
Xaein : Lol, and you made the use of ``dude`` appear stupid, but I was tired, so my English wasn`t the best.
Freaky fairy: Yeah, I noticed shoe instead of show, but oh well, it COULD have been worse, and ff.net won`t let me change the chapter to fix it at the moment, so oh well. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Darkmoon of Shadows : Thanks, and I appreciate how you broke down the parts of the story. Please enjoy this chapter.
blueamber: Yeah, well I was TRYING to get across that she was trying to ignore it, and she has so much other things going on that she is confused, ah well, I guess it didn`t work how I wanted, oh well. Lol to the prayer.
tjs91989 : Thanks, and you`re welcome.
Chinagurl : LOL, thanks~
Lorien : LOL, so I confuse people too? My job is done! Yeah! =D It`ll (hopefully) make more sense later.
Ickle Ronniekins Girlie!! : Of course he will like Hermione, that`s why it`s under the Draco/Hermione section!!!
Willowfairy : Maybe, maybe not. . . Please enjoy this chapter.
The SimonCowel of Fanfiction : Thanks for the compliments, and I am glad to be able to say that I have no experience with this subject - personally at least.
Please enjoy this chapter, and I hope to make the next chapter Veeeeeeery Sooooooon.
---
Chapter 19
Hermione awoke on the morning of Saturday, which dawned bright and clear which also meant that the Hogwarts grounds would be flooded with students and the Great Hall would be teaming with kids, but Hermione had only one place that she wanted to visit today and it wasn`t the Hogwarts grounds or the Great Hall - the room she wanted to go to was the room that she had found in the library the other day by accident.
The images of the room still seemed to be burnt into the insides of her eyelids, appearing every time she closed her eyes. She couldn`t rid her mind of the skeletons, the knife, the blue blood . . . She didn`t understand the room or anything about the room. It was so foreboding and mysterious, and she didn`t know if she wanted to be tangled up in something like that, but here she was.
She hadn`t told anyone about it yet, and she wasn`t planning on telling anyone unless there was a good reason to tell, because she wanted it to be something that was her secret, and she wasn`t on speaking terms with anyone at the moment.
Hermione sighed as she tried to think of someone that she was friends with right now, and sighed again when she realized that there wasn`t anyone at all that she could think of.
Friendships with anyone were limited and she wasn`t ``hanging out`` with anyone at the moment, which made it easy not to spill the beans, but also left her feeling quite alone when she was anywhere.
Hermione tried to remember where her friends - no acquaintances - were at the moment, she tried to piece together the little information that they had given her.
Harry was with his girlfriend, hiding somewhere behind a statue or in a broom closet, eating her face off and planning how he was going to keep her from Hermione, but she had given up. She had given him his own space in return for hers, but she didn`t feel accepted despite how he said they were ``still friends``.
Ron was ``single and looking`` and she talked to him more than she talked to Harry, but not much more. Although Ron was like her brother, he was more of the distant brother that doesn`t spend time with anyone.
Hermione would never be on speaking terms with Malfoy again in her life no matter what she was offered or who wanted her to speak to him. Nothing in the world would make her want to look at him again. He had used her to win a bet? How low was he willing to go before he truly hurt someone more than emotionally?
The worst part for Hermione wasn`t just the fact that he enjoyed things like this, but that for a split second, Hermione had thought that she would be willing to look past everything that she had always been told and seen and believe that he could be a good person.
She hated to admit it to herself, but she had liked how she had felt when she was in his arms, and that scared her, especially because she was supposed to hate him, which she did. How could she like him? He was horrible.
She absolutely hated him.
He found entertainment in other peoples` pain. Hermione didn`t know how he could live with himself after seeing the pain that he pushed onto people, but she supposed that he got used to it.
Annoyed with herself for thinking about Malfoy again, Hermione drug herself out of bed and began digging in her trunk for clothes to wear. She was digging and she found a piece of folded up parchment with her name on the front in rather elegant handwriting, and she reached for it. It certainly hadn`t been there last night.
She tore open the paper and a small envelope fell onto her lap while she read what was written on the parchment.
--
Hermione:
You left this in the hall the other day. I am pretty sure that it`s yours.
--
There was no name at the end, she had no idea who had given this to her, and she was beginning to wonder how they knew that it was her envelope, because SHE didn`t know that it was her envelope.
She turned the envelope over and saw a stamp with a sun and moon alongside a neat scrawl and she thought that he heart was going to stop.
She had bought that stamp years ago at his birthday and given it to him as his `letter signer`, and she had insisted that he sign every single letter with it, even his business letters, and the letters that were on the envelope, everything right down to the way that the I`s were dotted.
It was a letter from her father.
Hermione simply stared at the letter, not knowing what to do. She couldn`t peel her eyes away from it and there was an odd buzzing noise in her ears and she couldn`t think or see.
What was the envelope doing here, it shouldn`t be here. She thought irrationally. Obviously it was for her, so she reached for it and began to look at it for a long amount of time before moving, and even then it was slow.
She began to open it, but then she stopped. Should she open it? What would be the point? It would only make her feel worse, and what if he had died before he finished it? Would she be able to bear looking at an unfinished letter, longing to know what he had intended to say?
How would she handle the words written, knowing that she would never hear him speak to her again, he would never look at her in that loving way again and he would never whisper her name. . . `Mione. . .
She would miss the way her made her feel, the way she felt safe when his arms were around her, hugging her, laughing with her, talking to her in his warm whisper that seemed to make her every trouble vanish.
Tears stung at her eyes and Hermione was determined not to cry. She couldn`t cry. Not now. It wouldn`t be. . . something. There had to be something wrong with it. She would forbid herself from opening it, because there was . . . SOMETHING wrong with it, she didn`t know what, but something was wrong.
Her hands shook as she tried to decide whether she was going to open the envelope or not, and her hands shook so violently that the envelope made rattling noises in her hand. She couldn`t open it. But she had to. But if she opened it, she might read things that she didn`t want to know. Yet, if she didn`t read it, she would never know what it said.
`I won`t.` she thought, and made to put the envelope back in her trunk.
`But that`s what he would have wanted me to do, he would have wanted me to read his letter, and he always read mine.` Hermione countered herself, and she was beginning to think that she was going mental, arguing with herself, but right now, she couldn`t have cared any less.
`But I wasn`t dying.` Hermione protested in her mind, trying to make her last argument seem to be pitiful, but she couldn`t and she knew that she wasn`t going to be able to decide about opening his letter any time soon. It was such a hard thing to decide, and it shouldn`t have been. It should have been so easy to decide.
`But HE was.` Hermione drew an uneven breath and fingered the envelope nervously. Could she stand to read the words written inside of this letter? She could barely stand knowing that he was gone forever, how on earth would she make it through the letter?
She wouldn`t. That was the ultimate solution. She just wouldn`t read the letter, that way she wouldn`t have to know what was in it, and she could invent what she thought it said without facing the truth. She could ignore it and then it would ignore her, Hermione thought unreasonably, and she exhaled quickly.
Hermione pocketed the letter and began her trek to the library. She was going to get to the bottom of the mystery with that room. Yet, even as she thought about the room her thoughts were centered on her father as well.
How could he just be. . . gone?
Hermione put her hand in her pocket and felt the letter inside of it, the paper crinkled when she touched it, and a strange feeling erupted in her stomach, and she wasn`t sure whether it was relief or worry or something different altogether. All that she knew was that it was a strange feeling.
Shaking her head and clearing her mind, Hermione marched purposely toward the library.
~+~
Hermione held her breath as she turned the corner, and she half expected to see Draco Malfoy sitting at the table when she turned the corner. She had predicted that she would see his sneering face and have to endure his snide comments while she tried to keep the hidden room a secret.
Hermione didn`t know whether she wanted to see him or not, but relief washed over her when he wasn`t there.
Thoughts of her father entered her mind again, but she pushed them to the back of her mind, she had other things that she was doing right now, she didn`t have time for thoughts of things that she couldn`t change.
Hermione looked around to make sure that there was no one looking at her and she walked into the Restricted Section, and when she reached the shelf that was positioned against the wall, she looked for the book that she had pulled out before, but it was no where to be seen.
Shrugging and not yet giving up hope, Hermione reached for a random book, but was downcast when nothing happened. Perhaps she would never get into that room again. All she would have were the memories of the room, and that wasn`t good enough for her. She had to get in again.
She was beginning to work with maniac enthusiasm, and she couldn`t get through, but she was determined.
~+~
After a half an hour of trying, Hermione slumped onto the floor in a defeated sort of way. There was no way that she was going to get into that room again because nothing worked.
Anger began to course through her veins like poison and she was beginning to think that anger was a sort of poison that littered your soul and made you hurt innocent people and people that you loved without meaning to.
Why couldn`t she get through into that room again? She grabbed a random book and made to throw it, but there was no book in her hand when she looked back, and when she took a closer observation on what her body was going, she realized that she was spinning like mad.
Hermione was flung into a room, but it was different than the one before. She saw the knife that had been dripping in blue blood, but it was in motion, and it pierced the air and stopped with a thud, as though it had hit a victim, and the hilt was drug backward three inches.
The blood near the handle was red, but the rest was coated in blue, and Hermione screamed, although she didn`t realize that she was. Her mind was completely blank and she couldn`t fully comprehend everything that her senses were picking up, she was confused and dazed.
She thought that whatever was happening was over, but then something jarred her senses and told her that she was completely wrong.
She heard moaning and ghostly voices were bouncing off the walls, she heard screaming words, and then the noise stopped. Blood spouted onto the floor and pooled, but she still saw no body or people or any reason of why any of this should be happening. There wasn`t a soul in the room beside herself.
Before she had time to comprehend what happened next, the knife flew toward the opposite wall, as though it were thrown, right toward where Hermione was, and she had no time to move out of its path.
Hermione screwed her eyes shut, awaiting the impact of the knife somewhere on her body, bringing pain and more trips to the hospital wing, but it never came.
When she opened her eyes the knife was lying on the floor, coated in shining red blood, and Hermione thought that she was going to be sick. What WAS that? What was going on? How was this happening?
She scrambled backward, trying to find a way out of the room, but upon finding no exit, she panicked. How was she going to get back to where it was safe? She didn`t like this room anymore. Before, when she was here the first time, nothing had been animate and it had been frightening enough with the skeletons and torture chamber look, but now, it was too much.
Knives moving, blood dripping, unseen voices whispering and screaming. Hermione found herself screaming again as a jet of fire escaped and flew around the room, and she groped backward for something, anything. She needed to get out of this room.
Voices were speaking but she wasn`t straining to listen to them like she would have normally, she was more concerned with the fact that she was scared beyond all belief and she wanted to get AWAY. She needed to get out of this place, and quickly too. She didn`t want to be stuck in here.
Hermione felt the wall melting and she hurled herself into it.
The last thing she remembered thinking was,
`I hope I don`t run into Malfoy.`
~+~
For the second time that year, Hermione awoke in the hospital wing, and she was getting annoyed. She didn`t even know what happened this time, and she was lying in a bed without anything wrong with her.
Hermione started to turn and she thought that her chest had caught on fire. A glance down told her that she must have broken a few ribs or something, because she was in more pain than she had ever thought was possible to endure and still be alive. It felt like her chest was being ripped open.
As she positioned herself back down onto the pillow just as the door opened. For a few seconds, the door shielded the person or people that were walking into the room, but then the door closed and she saw two boys, shuffling their feet, slowly making their way over to her.
Harry looked ashamed and Ron looked embarrassed. She thought the door was going to close and awaited the sound, but no sound came. Neville slouched in, closely followed by Seamus. Hermione stared at the group of them, wondering why they were all in here now.
Lavender and Parvati glided in, giggling about something and their lips never stopped talking for a second. They seemed to have gone shopping and were boasting about some new hair product and nail job or something that completely uninterested Hermione.
The door swung shut with a loud clang and boom, and everyone crowded around the bed looked afraid to talk to her, as though it would kill her.
``Hi. . . `` Hermione prompted, trying to get an answer out of them or something that would tell her why they were all visiting her. What was going on that she didn`t know about.
``Hermione. . .`` Ron said, and he trailed off.
``We have to talk to you.`` Harry said, filling in the sentence for Ron, and Hermione had the feeling that they had planned this whole thing.
``The fifth years in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin are going on an exchange trip-`` Seamus began, and then Neville interjected.
``But you can`t go, because you`re prefect.``
``Ron`s a prefect.`` Hermione pointed out.
``Yes,`` Parvati said, but she looked at Hermione pitingly. ``But he is going to resign, he doesn`t want the job, and besides, they needed Quiddich men-`` Lavender and Parvati broke off into giggles while Hermione rolled her eyes impatiently.
``Why do they need Quiddich men?`` Hermione asked.
``Because it was originally a Quiddich exchange program.`` Ron said.
``So, all of the fifth years are going now?`` Her question was ignored and Neville turned to address Hermione.
``And we`ll be gone until after the OWLS.`` Hermione`s mind froze. OWLS? She had completely forgotten about the OWLS. How long until they started? What did she have to study? How much time could she schedule in to study? Would it be able to fit in around working on the project for Dumbledore and her other homework, not to mention the fact that her life was being thrown into disarray.
Another thought hit her mind, and she felt hope rising inside of her at an alarming rate.
``Then. . . Malfoy, he`ll be gone, right?`` Hermione asked hopefully, but immediately wished she hadn`t. Parvati and Lavender began giggling incessantly and Hermione wished to hit herself in the head so that she coudln`t hear them, but she couldn`t. It may cause alarm.
``No. . . Hermione, he`s prefect.``
``Auuuagggkkkk.`` Hermione said, and she wasn`t sure what that noise meant, but it wasn`t happy.
Malfoy wasn`t going? That would mean that there would be very few fifth years left in Hogwarts, so she would, most likely, be stuck with him in every, single class that she attended.
Hermione moaned.
``Is EVERYONE in fifth year going?`` Hermione asked, and Harry looked shifty. ``No. . .`` He said slowly, and Hermione couldn`t figure out why he was so shifty. What was he avoiding telling her?
``Who else is staying?`` Hermione asked. ``Anyone from Gryffindor?`` Hermione asked, and again, she got more shifty looks from Harry.
``For God`s sake Harry, you look so shifty, WHAT aren`t you telling me?`` Hermione asked in an exasperated tone, and everyone present got a strange look on their faces, and it appeared to be all Neville, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati could do to refrain from bursting out laughing at her, and she had no idea why they would be laughing her in the first place.
``Well . . . see, uh, I, uh, can`t, uh, tell you, uh, why, uh. . . ehm?`` Now it was Hermione`s turn to suppress laughter. He was a horrible liar too.
``Harry, when WILL you learn how to be more convincing?`` Hermione asked, and Seamus and Neville could hold their laughter no longer.
``Uh. . . later.`` Harry said, sounding quite embarrassed.
``What are you trying to hide-``
``Later Hermione.`` Seamus managed to say between hearty laughs, and Hermione was getting the strong feeling that they were all setting her up for something, and she didn`t like it.
``We just wanted to tell you to get better soon and we`ll see you when we get back.`` People leaned down for hugs, and Hermione pretended to smile and pretended that it didn`t hurt when they hugged her, but with each hug her ribs hurt more and more.
When she watched the last person leave she slumped back onto the pillows in pain. She couldn`t believe how much four hugs hurt, but her ribs now felt as though they were piercing her lungs.
Hermione almost had her eyes closed, and it looked like they were if someone was watching her, when she saw someone move. She kept her eyes as closed as she could and she could still see somewhat, and she watched the person.
She couldn`t tell who it was through her eyelashes at first, but then she saw Dean Thomas walk over and put something on her nightstand and then rush out the door faster than she had seen anyone leave a room in a long time.
Curiosity was coursing through her and she contemplated opening whatever he had left on her night stand, but she was getting tired.
Curiosity and tiredness battled, and tiredness won.
As Hermione drifted off to sleep, she remembered her dad and thought she was going to start crying, but was alarmed to find that all she felt was a gaping hole in her heart.
No tears leaked from her eyes, but she wished they had. The pain that she was feeling inside was far worse than tears could show.
~+~
A/N: So, what do you think? The internet is working at my house again, so I am happy!!
I decided I want to make it to 250 reviews, maybe even 300!!! That would be SOOO cool! Please R/R!
-*-*-
ATTENTION REVIEWERS:
If you want me to e-mail you when I update, please send an e-mail to fanficfreak03@hotmail.com and in the subject put, `Update Alert` so that I know you want me to e-mail you when I update. I am losing track of who asked me to e-mail them, so please let me know when you want me to e-mail you.
Thanks~
---
TEST: "Hello, this is a test, alrigh'?"
---
Sunshine : I made you cry too? I am hoping that this is a good thing, and thanks for reviewing~ I like reviews!!! I wouldn`t say that this story is amazing though.
ILUVRONWEASLEY : Ooh, wow, thanks. I am on my tiptoes trying to make this stupid internet connection work~ Don`t worry about ``not being an experienced reviewer``, just tell what you think!
Yopgi_Chunsa : Hey, thanks a lot. Yes, as you probably noticed, I e-mailed you, and I hope I kkeep you guessing!
Columbus : I can`t explain everything, then there would be no point in writing the story!!! Besides, I don`t like stories where Draco falls in love with Hermione in the first few chapters, they are corny.
Reviewer : I appreciate that you took the time to review, but I would appreciate that if you are going to say negative things, you would give me positive suggestions.
Ceallaigh : Ack, she discovered my secret! Or. . . one of them. =D Thanks for the great great great fantastic review. =D
Imperfectionist : All I have to say is, LOL.
Artemis Moonclaw : Thanks, and here is more!
Xaein : Lol, and you made the use of ``dude`` appear stupid, but I was tired, so my English wasn`t the best.
Freaky fairy: Yeah, I noticed shoe instead of show, but oh well, it COULD have been worse, and ff.net won`t let me change the chapter to fix it at the moment, so oh well. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Darkmoon of Shadows : Thanks, and I appreciate how you broke down the parts of the story. Please enjoy this chapter.
blueamber: Yeah, well I was TRYING to get across that she was trying to ignore it, and she has so much other things going on that she is confused, ah well, I guess it didn`t work how I wanted, oh well. Lol to the prayer.
tjs91989 : Thanks, and you`re welcome.
Chinagurl : LOL, thanks~
Lorien : LOL, so I confuse people too? My job is done! Yeah! =D It`ll (hopefully) make more sense later.
Ickle Ronniekins Girlie!! : Of course he will like Hermione, that`s why it`s under the Draco/Hermione section!!!
Willowfairy : Maybe, maybe not. . . Please enjoy this chapter.
The SimonCowel of Fanfiction : Thanks for the compliments, and I am glad to be able to say that I have no experience with this subject - personally at least.
Please enjoy this chapter, and I hope to make the next chapter Veeeeeeery Sooooooon.
---
Chapter 19
Hermione awoke on the morning of Saturday, which dawned bright and clear which also meant that the Hogwarts grounds would be flooded with students and the Great Hall would be teaming with kids, but Hermione had only one place that she wanted to visit today and it wasn`t the Hogwarts grounds or the Great Hall - the room she wanted to go to was the room that she had found in the library the other day by accident.
The images of the room still seemed to be burnt into the insides of her eyelids, appearing every time she closed her eyes. She couldn`t rid her mind of the skeletons, the knife, the blue blood . . . She didn`t understand the room or anything about the room. It was so foreboding and mysterious, and she didn`t know if she wanted to be tangled up in something like that, but here she was.
She hadn`t told anyone about it yet, and she wasn`t planning on telling anyone unless there was a good reason to tell, because she wanted it to be something that was her secret, and she wasn`t on speaking terms with anyone at the moment.
Hermione sighed as she tried to think of someone that she was friends with right now, and sighed again when she realized that there wasn`t anyone at all that she could think of.
Friendships with anyone were limited and she wasn`t ``hanging out`` with anyone at the moment, which made it easy not to spill the beans, but also left her feeling quite alone when she was anywhere.
Hermione tried to remember where her friends - no acquaintances - were at the moment, she tried to piece together the little information that they had given her.
Harry was with his girlfriend, hiding somewhere behind a statue or in a broom closet, eating her face off and planning how he was going to keep her from Hermione, but she had given up. She had given him his own space in return for hers, but she didn`t feel accepted despite how he said they were ``still friends``.
Ron was ``single and looking`` and she talked to him more than she talked to Harry, but not much more. Although Ron was like her brother, he was more of the distant brother that doesn`t spend time with anyone.
Hermione would never be on speaking terms with Malfoy again in her life no matter what she was offered or who wanted her to speak to him. Nothing in the world would make her want to look at him again. He had used her to win a bet? How low was he willing to go before he truly hurt someone more than emotionally?
The worst part for Hermione wasn`t just the fact that he enjoyed things like this, but that for a split second, Hermione had thought that she would be willing to look past everything that she had always been told and seen and believe that he could be a good person.
She hated to admit it to herself, but she had liked how she had felt when she was in his arms, and that scared her, especially because she was supposed to hate him, which she did. How could she like him? He was horrible.
She absolutely hated him.
He found entertainment in other peoples` pain. Hermione didn`t know how he could live with himself after seeing the pain that he pushed onto people, but she supposed that he got used to it.
Annoyed with herself for thinking about Malfoy again, Hermione drug herself out of bed and began digging in her trunk for clothes to wear. She was digging and she found a piece of folded up parchment with her name on the front in rather elegant handwriting, and she reached for it. It certainly hadn`t been there last night.
She tore open the paper and a small envelope fell onto her lap while she read what was written on the parchment.
--
Hermione:
You left this in the hall the other day. I am pretty sure that it`s yours.
--
There was no name at the end, she had no idea who had given this to her, and she was beginning to wonder how they knew that it was her envelope, because SHE didn`t know that it was her envelope.
She turned the envelope over and saw a stamp with a sun and moon alongside a neat scrawl and she thought that he heart was going to stop.
She had bought that stamp years ago at his birthday and given it to him as his `letter signer`, and she had insisted that he sign every single letter with it, even his business letters, and the letters that were on the envelope, everything right down to the way that the I`s were dotted.
It was a letter from her father.
Hermione simply stared at the letter, not knowing what to do. She couldn`t peel her eyes away from it and there was an odd buzzing noise in her ears and she couldn`t think or see.
What was the envelope doing here, it shouldn`t be here. She thought irrationally. Obviously it was for her, so she reached for it and began to look at it for a long amount of time before moving, and even then it was slow.
She began to open it, but then she stopped. Should she open it? What would be the point? It would only make her feel worse, and what if he had died before he finished it? Would she be able to bear looking at an unfinished letter, longing to know what he had intended to say?
How would she handle the words written, knowing that she would never hear him speak to her again, he would never look at her in that loving way again and he would never whisper her name. . . `Mione. . .
She would miss the way her made her feel, the way she felt safe when his arms were around her, hugging her, laughing with her, talking to her in his warm whisper that seemed to make her every trouble vanish.
Tears stung at her eyes and Hermione was determined not to cry. She couldn`t cry. Not now. It wouldn`t be. . . something. There had to be something wrong with it. She would forbid herself from opening it, because there was . . . SOMETHING wrong with it, she didn`t know what, but something was wrong.
Her hands shook as she tried to decide whether she was going to open the envelope or not, and her hands shook so violently that the envelope made rattling noises in her hand. She couldn`t open it. But she had to. But if she opened it, she might read things that she didn`t want to know. Yet, if she didn`t read it, she would never know what it said.
`I won`t.` she thought, and made to put the envelope back in her trunk.
`But that`s what he would have wanted me to do, he would have wanted me to read his letter, and he always read mine.` Hermione countered herself, and she was beginning to think that she was going mental, arguing with herself, but right now, she couldn`t have cared any less.
`But I wasn`t dying.` Hermione protested in her mind, trying to make her last argument seem to be pitiful, but she couldn`t and she knew that she wasn`t going to be able to decide about opening his letter any time soon. It was such a hard thing to decide, and it shouldn`t have been. It should have been so easy to decide.
`But HE was.` Hermione drew an uneven breath and fingered the envelope nervously. Could she stand to read the words written inside of this letter? She could barely stand knowing that he was gone forever, how on earth would she make it through the letter?
She wouldn`t. That was the ultimate solution. She just wouldn`t read the letter, that way she wouldn`t have to know what was in it, and she could invent what she thought it said without facing the truth. She could ignore it and then it would ignore her, Hermione thought unreasonably, and she exhaled quickly.
Hermione pocketed the letter and began her trek to the library. She was going to get to the bottom of the mystery with that room. Yet, even as she thought about the room her thoughts were centered on her father as well.
How could he just be. . . gone?
Hermione put her hand in her pocket and felt the letter inside of it, the paper crinkled when she touched it, and a strange feeling erupted in her stomach, and she wasn`t sure whether it was relief or worry or something different altogether. All that she knew was that it was a strange feeling.
Shaking her head and clearing her mind, Hermione marched purposely toward the library.
~+~
Hermione held her breath as she turned the corner, and she half expected to see Draco Malfoy sitting at the table when she turned the corner. She had predicted that she would see his sneering face and have to endure his snide comments while she tried to keep the hidden room a secret.
Hermione didn`t know whether she wanted to see him or not, but relief washed over her when he wasn`t there.
Thoughts of her father entered her mind again, but she pushed them to the back of her mind, she had other things that she was doing right now, she didn`t have time for thoughts of things that she couldn`t change.
Hermione looked around to make sure that there was no one looking at her and she walked into the Restricted Section, and when she reached the shelf that was positioned against the wall, she looked for the book that she had pulled out before, but it was no where to be seen.
Shrugging and not yet giving up hope, Hermione reached for a random book, but was downcast when nothing happened. Perhaps she would never get into that room again. All she would have were the memories of the room, and that wasn`t good enough for her. She had to get in again.
She was beginning to work with maniac enthusiasm, and she couldn`t get through, but she was determined.
~+~
After a half an hour of trying, Hermione slumped onto the floor in a defeated sort of way. There was no way that she was going to get into that room again because nothing worked.
Anger began to course through her veins like poison and she was beginning to think that anger was a sort of poison that littered your soul and made you hurt innocent people and people that you loved without meaning to.
Why couldn`t she get through into that room again? She grabbed a random book and made to throw it, but there was no book in her hand when she looked back, and when she took a closer observation on what her body was going, she realized that she was spinning like mad.
Hermione was flung into a room, but it was different than the one before. She saw the knife that had been dripping in blue blood, but it was in motion, and it pierced the air and stopped with a thud, as though it had hit a victim, and the hilt was drug backward three inches.
The blood near the handle was red, but the rest was coated in blue, and Hermione screamed, although she didn`t realize that she was. Her mind was completely blank and she couldn`t fully comprehend everything that her senses were picking up, she was confused and dazed.
She thought that whatever was happening was over, but then something jarred her senses and told her that she was completely wrong.
She heard moaning and ghostly voices were bouncing off the walls, she heard screaming words, and then the noise stopped. Blood spouted onto the floor and pooled, but she still saw no body or people or any reason of why any of this should be happening. There wasn`t a soul in the room beside herself.
Before she had time to comprehend what happened next, the knife flew toward the opposite wall, as though it were thrown, right toward where Hermione was, and she had no time to move out of its path.
Hermione screwed her eyes shut, awaiting the impact of the knife somewhere on her body, bringing pain and more trips to the hospital wing, but it never came.
When she opened her eyes the knife was lying on the floor, coated in shining red blood, and Hermione thought that she was going to be sick. What WAS that? What was going on? How was this happening?
She scrambled backward, trying to find a way out of the room, but upon finding no exit, she panicked. How was she going to get back to where it was safe? She didn`t like this room anymore. Before, when she was here the first time, nothing had been animate and it had been frightening enough with the skeletons and torture chamber look, but now, it was too much.
Knives moving, blood dripping, unseen voices whispering and screaming. Hermione found herself screaming again as a jet of fire escaped and flew around the room, and she groped backward for something, anything. She needed to get out of this room.
Voices were speaking but she wasn`t straining to listen to them like she would have normally, she was more concerned with the fact that she was scared beyond all belief and she wanted to get AWAY. She needed to get out of this place, and quickly too. She didn`t want to be stuck in here.
Hermione felt the wall melting and she hurled herself into it.
The last thing she remembered thinking was,
`I hope I don`t run into Malfoy.`
~+~
For the second time that year, Hermione awoke in the hospital wing, and she was getting annoyed. She didn`t even know what happened this time, and she was lying in a bed without anything wrong with her.
Hermione started to turn and she thought that her chest had caught on fire. A glance down told her that she must have broken a few ribs or something, because she was in more pain than she had ever thought was possible to endure and still be alive. It felt like her chest was being ripped open.
As she positioned herself back down onto the pillow just as the door opened. For a few seconds, the door shielded the person or people that were walking into the room, but then the door closed and she saw two boys, shuffling their feet, slowly making their way over to her.
Harry looked ashamed and Ron looked embarrassed. She thought the door was going to close and awaited the sound, but no sound came. Neville slouched in, closely followed by Seamus. Hermione stared at the group of them, wondering why they were all in here now.
Lavender and Parvati glided in, giggling about something and their lips never stopped talking for a second. They seemed to have gone shopping and were boasting about some new hair product and nail job or something that completely uninterested Hermione.
The door swung shut with a loud clang and boom, and everyone crowded around the bed looked afraid to talk to her, as though it would kill her.
``Hi. . . `` Hermione prompted, trying to get an answer out of them or something that would tell her why they were all visiting her. What was going on that she didn`t know about.
``Hermione. . .`` Ron said, and he trailed off.
``We have to talk to you.`` Harry said, filling in the sentence for Ron, and Hermione had the feeling that they had planned this whole thing.
``The fifth years in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin are going on an exchange trip-`` Seamus began, and then Neville interjected.
``But you can`t go, because you`re prefect.``
``Ron`s a prefect.`` Hermione pointed out.
``Yes,`` Parvati said, but she looked at Hermione pitingly. ``But he is going to resign, he doesn`t want the job, and besides, they needed Quiddich men-`` Lavender and Parvati broke off into giggles while Hermione rolled her eyes impatiently.
``Why do they need Quiddich men?`` Hermione asked.
``Because it was originally a Quiddich exchange program.`` Ron said.
``So, all of the fifth years are going now?`` Her question was ignored and Neville turned to address Hermione.
``And we`ll be gone until after the OWLS.`` Hermione`s mind froze. OWLS? She had completely forgotten about the OWLS. How long until they started? What did she have to study? How much time could she schedule in to study? Would it be able to fit in around working on the project for Dumbledore and her other homework, not to mention the fact that her life was being thrown into disarray.
Another thought hit her mind, and she felt hope rising inside of her at an alarming rate.
``Then. . . Malfoy, he`ll be gone, right?`` Hermione asked hopefully, but immediately wished she hadn`t. Parvati and Lavender began giggling incessantly and Hermione wished to hit herself in the head so that she coudln`t hear them, but she couldn`t. It may cause alarm.
``No. . . Hermione, he`s prefect.``
``Auuuagggkkkk.`` Hermione said, and she wasn`t sure what that noise meant, but it wasn`t happy.
Malfoy wasn`t going? That would mean that there would be very few fifth years left in Hogwarts, so she would, most likely, be stuck with him in every, single class that she attended.
Hermione moaned.
``Is EVERYONE in fifth year going?`` Hermione asked, and Harry looked shifty. ``No. . .`` He said slowly, and Hermione couldn`t figure out why he was so shifty. What was he avoiding telling her?
``Who else is staying?`` Hermione asked. ``Anyone from Gryffindor?`` Hermione asked, and again, she got more shifty looks from Harry.
``For God`s sake Harry, you look so shifty, WHAT aren`t you telling me?`` Hermione asked in an exasperated tone, and everyone present got a strange look on their faces, and it appeared to be all Neville, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati could do to refrain from bursting out laughing at her, and she had no idea why they would be laughing her in the first place.
``Well . . . see, uh, I, uh, can`t, uh, tell you, uh, why, uh. . . ehm?`` Now it was Hermione`s turn to suppress laughter. He was a horrible liar too.
``Harry, when WILL you learn how to be more convincing?`` Hermione asked, and Seamus and Neville could hold their laughter no longer.
``Uh. . . later.`` Harry said, sounding quite embarrassed.
``What are you trying to hide-``
``Later Hermione.`` Seamus managed to say between hearty laughs, and Hermione was getting the strong feeling that they were all setting her up for something, and she didn`t like it.
``We just wanted to tell you to get better soon and we`ll see you when we get back.`` People leaned down for hugs, and Hermione pretended to smile and pretended that it didn`t hurt when they hugged her, but with each hug her ribs hurt more and more.
When she watched the last person leave she slumped back onto the pillows in pain. She couldn`t believe how much four hugs hurt, but her ribs now felt as though they were piercing her lungs.
Hermione almost had her eyes closed, and it looked like they were if someone was watching her, when she saw someone move. She kept her eyes as closed as she could and she could still see somewhat, and she watched the person.
She couldn`t tell who it was through her eyelashes at first, but then she saw Dean Thomas walk over and put something on her nightstand and then rush out the door faster than she had seen anyone leave a room in a long time.
Curiosity was coursing through her and she contemplated opening whatever he had left on her night stand, but she was getting tired.
Curiosity and tiredness battled, and tiredness won.
As Hermione drifted off to sleep, she remembered her dad and thought she was going to start crying, but was alarmed to find that all she felt was a gaping hole in her heart.
No tears leaked from her eyes, but she wished they had. The pain that she was feeling inside was far worse than tears could show.
~+~
A/N: So, what do you think? The internet is working at my house again, so I am happy!!
I decided I want to make it to 250 reviews, maybe even 300!!! That would be SOOO cool! Please R/R!
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ATTENTION REVIEWERS:
If you want me to e-mail you when I update, please send an e-mail to fanficfreak03@hotmail.com and in the subject put, `Update Alert` so that I know you want me to e-mail you when I update. I am losing track of who asked me to e-mail them, so please let me know when you want me to e-mail you.
Thanks~
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TEST: "Hello, this is a test, alrigh'?"
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