A/N: Currently in the works. A sudden inspiration I had awhile ago and had to act on it. Please tell me what you think! My next addition will be up soon! Sank ya! (And yes, that is supposed to be "Sank." That's how I would say it in real life cause I am a dork. So yeah. My spelling isn't really that bad, trust me.)
Title: The Best (?) Birthday
Descrip: Today is Hermione's seventeenth birthday, and everything is going to go her way. This is going to be the best day of her life, hands down. So why is she so depressed?
Pairings: HP/HG and maybe a little bit of RW/LL... Who knows...
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter, nor anything affiliated with it. I take no claim to any of these characters, items, etc., as much as I would like to call them my own.
Chapter (or Part, I haven't quite decided how long it's going to be yet) 1
"Harry!" Hermione laughed as she stumbled along the dark path. "Harry, where are you taking me?"
"Be patient, birthday girl, we're almost there." Harry glanced back at her and smiled. He gave her hand a slight squeeze as they continued walking.
A few days before, Harry had vowed that he would get Hermione the best birthday present that she would ever receive. EVer since then she had been trying to find out what her surprise was, but had only been successful in annoying Harry and everyone else around her. NOw that her birthday had finally come, Hermione was beside herself with curiosity. She simply had to know what it was. And although she had pestered Harry about it all day, he didn't agree to give it to her until about seven o'clock that night.
Hermione was very surprised when, rather than pull something out of his pocket, Harry took her hand and led her out of the Great Hall.
"What're you doing?" she asked him when he pulled her toward the Forbidden Forest.
"I'm giving you you're present," said Harry simply.
"In there?" Hermione asked nervously, nodding toward the trees.
"Yeah, in there. Why would I be taking you into the forest if I didn't have good reason to do so?" He laughed at Hermione's pale face. "Don't look so scared, you sissy."
At this, Hermione's face hardened. She couldn't stand being called suche names and was determined to prove him wrong. As if she would let Harry prove her right. Pah! "Shut up and let's go," she said sternly.
Harry just laughed and pulled her into the dense trees.
So there they were, walkting through the Forbidden Forest in the pitch dark. After about ten minutes of stumbling through the thick brush, Hermione was becoming impatient.
"Harry, aren't we there yet?"
"Almost."
"How close is almost?"
"Shhh."
"Seriously--How much longer?"
"If you don't shut up we'll turn around--Seriously."
Silence.
More silence.
"How close are we now?"
"HERMIONE!"
"Sorry."
Five more long minutes followed in sience with Hermione pouting and occasionally sighing (to the great annoyance of Harry). Finally, after one particularly long sigh, Harry spoke.
"We're just about there, so you can stop your damn sighing and pouting."
A puff of indignation. "I am not pou-"
"Here we are."
"What are you talking about? It's still just pitch black. Nothing's different."
"Look a little closer," said Harry softly. Then he snapped his fingers.
Hermione gasped as she found herself in the middle of a clearing lit by at least fourty candles, all of which had lit at the snap of Harry's fingers. Looking down at her feet, Hermione found that they were no longer standing in the thick brush. The earth was now covered in red and whited roses and petals.
Hermione was speechless. This was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen--And she had seen a lot of beautiful things.
"Harry, this is... Wow... I mena, this is just--Beautiful! How on earth did you manage to arrange this?" she finally managed to say.
"I have my ways," Harry replied mysteriously.
"I don't know what to say... Thank you! It's just so..."
"Romantic?"
"Yeah."
Harry smiled. "It's only part one, though."
"Really?" said Hermione, very surprised. "What else is there?"
"This." At that Harry pulled a small box out of his pant pocket and handed it to her.
Upon opening it, Hermione found that it was a small silver rose on a long silver chain.
Hermione's thrat tightened. She felt the extreme need to cry. She had never received anything so beautiful.
Hermione forced herself to speak. "God, Harry, it's--I love it."
"I knew you would,"Harry said, clasping the long chain around her neck, then standing back to admire it. "I think you'll love the third part even more."
"Hermione's eyes widened. "You mean there's more? What else could there be?"
"This."
Harry's hands rose to cup her face. Slowly, he touched his lips to hers. Hermione's knees seemed to go to jello beneath her. She grabbed onto Harry's shoulders, just in case her knees really did give out.
Suddenly, Harry pulled away, much to Hermione's dismay.
"Harry-" Hermione started, confused about Harry's sudden romantic behavior.
"Shhh," Harry quieted her as he leaned in for another small kiss, "No more talking."
Hermione wrapped her arms around him as the kiss deepened. This was by far the best present she had ever gotten. Harry had definitely not been lying about that.
Suddenly a noise to their left caused Hermione to gasp and jump away from Harry. Out of the bushes came Ron, playing what was unmistakably a diggeridoo.
"Uh, Ron. W-We were just... Hang on, why're you playing the diggeridoo?" Hermione asked, thoroughly confused.
Ron stopped playing his instrument and looked at Hermione and Harry weirdly. "I'm not playing the diggeridoo," he replied in an oddly high-pitched voice.
"Well of course you are. It's right there in you're hands," Hermione went on, pointing towards the diggeridoo in Ron's hands.
"No I'm not!" said Ron's girlish voice, becoming angry.
"What're you talking about? You were just--OOPH!" Hermione puffed out as something collided with her head. "What the-" she began as she opened her eyes. A dim light made her squint as her pupils adjusted to the new lighting. Looking at the small clock that sat by her bed, it was about six AM. Glancing down, she found that the object that had collided with her head was a pillow from Pavarti's bed. She looked over at Pavarti and found her staring at Hermione with puffy, sleep-duprived eyes.
"Just because you can't sleep doesn't mean we should have to suffer too," she said weakly, fighting back a yawn.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked tiredly.
"You were talking in your sleep and it woke me up. You were going on and on and on and-"
"What was I talking about?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"Oh, lots of stuff, but most of it wasn't really distinguishable. Mostly giggles and 'Oh, Harry!' I couldn't get the full of what you were saying until a moment ago. You were talking about diggeridoos so loudly I just had to shut you up."
"Sorry," said Hermione embarrassed. "Do you guys want to get up and go down to breakfast with me?" she asked.
"Are you kidding?" Pavarti looked at her obviously. "The reason I woke YOU up was so that I could get some sleep. And that is exactly what I intend to do. Good-night." With that she buried her head deep into her pillow and within a few minutes her gentle snoring could be heard.
Hermione shook her head, laughing inside at Pavarti's behavior, and also mentally scolding herself for being so stupid. Of course everyone knew that she liked Harry, but she didn't want to voice it aloud, especially without being aware of it. She sighed and stood up, stretching herself. It was a good thing, she guessed, that Pavarti had woken her up. Hermione had wanted to get up and prepare herself for the upcoming day. It was her seventeenth birthday and she was so excited that she could just about burst.
Hermione walked over to her dresser and stood in front of the mirror. The girl standing in front of her was no longer a little girl. She was a woman, standing tall and proud. Hermione smiled at herself and thought of what a wonderful day was ahead of her.