~*~Dudley goes to Hogwarts~*~
Chapter 12
Fights and Regrets
Disclaimer: Nothin' is mine.
* A/N at the bottom…*
* Continues right after the tryouts *
"Harry, you can't be serious. She's a Goyle, for God's sake! I mean she's practically as bad as… a Malfoy!" Hermione said, as she walked briskly on Harry's right.
"Yeah, Harry. Think about it. I mean, what if she suddenly turned you to her brother who'll turn you in to Malfoy who'll turn you in to Lucius who'll turn you in to You-Know-Who who'll definitely kill you as soon as he get his slimy hands on you!" Ron agreed, shivering at the thought of Harry being passed around like that.
"See! This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about her in the first place! I just knew the both of you would react this way without even giving her a fair chance!" Harry exclaimed, as he swung his Firebolt over his left shoulder, barely missing Ron's head.
"Please be reasonable, Harry. We're only doing this for your own good. I mean, we don't even know a thing about her that can actually prove that she can be trusted in any way," Hermione said again, sounding very concerned.
"Be reasonable? How about yourselves? You don't know anything about her but I do. I'd been writing to her all summer and she knew where I was the entire time. Consider this. If she was evil or even bad in the first place, she'd go straight to Voldemort and tell him where I was so he could kill me. That would have made her top notch in Voldemort's staff," Harry pointed out.
"He's right… Voldemort has a staff?" Ron said.
"Figure of speech, Ron," Harry said, placing his hand on Ron's shoulder to reassure him that he meant it in a friendly manner.
"Yes but… maybe it was a trap to make you fall head over heels for her and not trust your friends who'd think that she's a threat to you and you'd end up fighting with them about it. She wants you to be off guard so that she could lure you out of Hogwarts, away from us as well as Professor Dumbledore, who is, by the way, the only protection you have against Voldemort, so that she could personally hand you over to You-Know-Who," Hermione said a single breath.
"She's right, you know," Ron said to Harry.
"Yes, I know but I'm not that dumb. Unlike you, I happen to give her a chance to prove that she's not like her brother and I happen to know her better than both of you will ever know. And another thing, if she was anything like her brother, why do you think she's in Gryffindor in the first place?" Harry asked, almost yelling.
"He's right, you know," Ron turned to Hermione.
"Maybe it's because she's been told by Voldemort himself to ASK to be in Gryffindor like you did but you asked not to be in Slytherin. Maybe Voldemort wanted to trap you using her since she entered this school in the first place," Hermione yelled back.
At this point all three of them had already stopped walking. Harry and Hermione were yelling while facing each other. Ron, on the other hand was standing between the both of them, turning to look from one face to the other.
"You know what, Hermione? I think you're just jealous. You're just scared that I'll hang out with Jade more than I hang out with you! You're just scared that people will stop paying attention to you just because you're no longer the friend of Harry Potter. You're just scared you'll be the geeky girl that you once before and won't get any boyfriends," Harry yelled.
Hermione glared at him. Ron covered his ears, anticipating for the worst.
"Excuse me?! Just who do you think I am? Someone who hangs around you just because he thinks of himself as the greatest being that walks upon the surface of this planet? Oh, please! I can do without you hanging around me 24/7 just because you're too lazy to think of the answer to the easiest questions Professor McGonagall had ever given to us. Plus, all you ever wanted was just an easy way out. You never bother to do your own research because you know at the end of the day, even if you've given all the wrong answers, I'll point out to you the real answers instead and you get off easy!" Hermione yelled back.
"For your information, I do NOT hang around you because I want the answers to every god damn homework! I do have a brain of my own and I CAN think for my own! I don't need you!" Harry hissed.
"Fine. If you don't need me, then don't you ever think that I need you!"
"Fine!" Harry yelled back.
"FINE!" both of them yelled together before going off towards separate directions, Harry's broom swinging and smacking Ron in the head.
Ron just stood in the middle, gingerly rubbing his head and looked at both their backs as they stormed off towards their destinations.
"Oh boy. This is gonna be one hell of a fight," Ron sighed.
~*~
"Phase one completed. Now, for phase two," a voice said softly but excitedly as its owner watched Harry and Hermione storm off towards two different directions.
~*~
Hermione stormed off towards the great lake. She was still upset with Harry that she didn't even bother to answer the greetings she got while walking there. She knew that she'd end up barking at them so why cause more trouble? As she stood at the top of the stairs, she looked around and sighed. The sun was setting and the reflection of the sun at the lake made it look peaceful. Hermione began to climb down the stairs slowly as she began to think back on the fight she had with Harry.
'What's gotten into me? I don't usually blow up like that. It's normal with Ron but with Harry, it's very rare,' she thought to herself.
The cool wind blew at her as she walked towards the lake.
'Maybe I should go apologize. Maybe I'm wrong and Jade really is a nice girl. Maybe…' she stopped walking and stared at the scene in front of her.
There, right next to a tree, near the lake itself, was Malfoy and Jade, talking to each other. Malfoy was facing Jade while his hand was stroking her long black hair. But what startled Hermione the most was the fact that Malfoy was actually smiling. Just a small smile but a smile none the less. But then, he grew serious and started nodding his head as Jade said something that Hermione couldn't quite hear because of the distance. He started saying something too and then, he looked up and saw Hermione watching them.
Hermione suddenly remembered where she was and started running towards the building. She could hear Malfoy calling her last name but she kept on running until she reached a portrait.
"Miss Granger! What's wrong?" the lady in the golden dress asked.
"Please, I don't really have much time. Honey," she said, painting.
As soon as the door opened, Hermione entered and ran towards the room, locking the door behind her.
~*~
Malfoy ran after her. She shouldn't have seen what she saw. It would ruin everything!
'Damn her! She sure can run fast!' Malfoy thought to himself as he called out her name.
She could be seen running towards their rooms but after awhile, he lost sight of her. After a few minutes, he finally reached the portrait and he straightened his robes.
"Honey," he said.
The lady in the golden dress just shook her head and let him through. Then, Malfoy darted towards Hermione's room and started banging at her door.
"Granger! You better open this door right now or I'll-"
"Forget it!"
"I swear Granger, if anyone finds out about this-"
"Don't worry, Harry will never find out about this. Not in the near future, at least!" Hermione yelled back from inside.
Malfoy gave the door one last punch before he waked off into his own room.
~*~
"Harry! Wait up!" Ron called out as he ran to catch up with him.
Harry was furious. How dare Hermione said that about Jade… and about him. Finally, Ron was walking beside Harry.
"Hey Harry, forget about what she said. She didn't mean it and you know she didn't mean any of it," Ron said to him.
"Yes she does and she didn't have any right to say what she did. If I wanna date Jade, that's my problem!" Harry cried, still waking towards the astronomy tower.
"But she was only looking out for your best interests. C'mon Harry. I know you know that she didn't mean it. You know Jade and it's up to you to change her mind about her," Ron said again but this time, he pulled Harry to a stop.
"But she should've given her a chance," Harry sighed.
"I know and she made a mistake this time. She's not perfect, you know," Ron reminded him.
"Oh yes she is," Harry chuckled.
"Well, maybe she is but she's still one of your best friends. Stop fighting with her and get this whole thing over with. Fighting with Hermione is my job, remember?" Ron said.
"Yeah, I know. For once, you're right. I'll talk to her right after dinner," Harry sighed after a short pause.
"You better or else she won't be the only one who's going to give you the silent treatment," Ron warned.
"Fine, I'll go. C'mon, I have to put this away. I don't need Dudley stealing this from me like he usually does," Harry smiled while pointing to his broomstick.
"Sure. Let's go."
They changed their destination and walked towards the Gryffindor tower while discussing about the tryouts that day when Hedwig came flying in out of nowhere and dropped a letter on Harry's head.
"What's this?" Harry asked as he picked up the letter from the ground.
"Well, open it. It must be urgent. Hedwig could've waited until tomorrow but she gave it to you now," Ron said as he watched Hedwig flew away from them.
Harry nodded and opened the letter.
Harry.
I've gotten inside news about Voldemort. Rumour has it that he's gotten someone new on his side that could be close to you. They might be in Hogwarts even but I'm not sure. Try to stay away from Malfoy and don't go wondering around alone at night or even during the day. I'll keep in touch soon.
Snuffles
"Bad news?" Ron asked as soon as Harry finished reading the letter.
"Very bad. Read it for yourself," Harry replied, handing the letter to Ron.
He waited for a while as Ron read the letter.
"Who do you think this person is?" Ron asked, giving back the letter to him.
"Quite a number actually. We've got to tell Hermione bout this. C'mon," Harry said as both of them went off to look for Hermione.
~*~
Hermione sighed as she closed the book she had been reading and placed it beside her on the bed. Since the incident at the lake that afternoon, she'd locked herself in the room, not wanting to go out and meet neither Harry nor Malfoy. Without realization, she'd already missed dinner and her stomach was growling by the time she realized what time it was.
She stretched on the bed one last time before she pushed herself off the bed and walked towards her dresser. After making sure her hair was at least presentable, she walked towards the enchanted door and said the word 'kitchen'. A soft white glow could be seen around the doorframe. As the glow slowly faded away, Hermione opened the door and stepped through it, closing the door behind her.
The smell of warm bread filled the atmosphere and Hermione smiled warmly at the house-elves that were making their way towards her.
"Oh, how can Tony help?" squeaked a house-elf, which was dressed in a clean tea towel.
"Yes, yes, is Miss hungry?" said another.
Before she knew it, Dobby came with a tray of desserts and buns, which were fresh from the oven.
"Miss should take all this if Miss wants. We is having make more if Miss wants," said Dobby cheerfully.
"Dobby! It's so wonderful to see you again. I'm sorry if I hadn't been able to visit you. I've been busy," Hermione said.
"Dobby is no upset but happy that Miss is here now," Dobby replied.
She caught a glimpse of Winky and she didn't look too bad. At least her clothing was clean and she wasn't drinking anymore. Winky merely smiled at her but didn't say a word. Hermione had more than she bargained for now and couldn't refuse the offer the house-elves had given so she took as much as she could.
Hermione said her final goodbye and started walking back towards her room. It wasn't very late but most of the students were already heading off to bed. On her way back to her room, Hermione met some of her friends whom she greeted. She kept walking and without knowing why or how she was there, standing under the tree that she had seen Malfoy and Jade together earlier that afternoon.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as the cold night air blew softly at her. She just couldn't believe that it had only been a few days since school started. A lot has been going on for the past few days that she would never thought would possibly happen to her. She just hoped that she'd be able to cope with it. The moon shone brightly above her.
~*~
She looked so different. So peaceful. So… beautiful. No wonder the guy's head over heels in love with her. All this years I've went past her, spied on her and sometimes mocked her behind her back. I've never really noticed how much she's changed. Too bad she's gotta go. Well, nobody ever said life was fair.
~*~
Harry couldn't sleep. He could feel that something was wrong but he just couldn't figure it out. As he tossed and turned in his bed, his thought suddenly wandered off to Hermione. Ron and himself were looking for her for quite some time to tell her about the letter he had gotten from Sirius that afternoon after the fight. She needed to know about it as soon as possible.
After a while, his thoughts drifted back to the events that happened during the tryouts that afternoon. How Jade flew… How she played… How Hermione was saying that Jade shouldn't be trusted. Hermione, Hermione, Hermione. For some reason, his thoughts kept drifting off to her and it wouldn't stop.
Sighing to himself, he then pushed himself into a sitting position and put on his glasses. Seamus and Dean's bed was still empty while Neville was already asleep in his own. Ron, on the other hand, was flipping through the Quidditch magazine, which was laid on the bed.
"Can't sleep?" Ron asked, looking at Harry.
"No. I feel kinda… Restless. Uneasy," he replied as he got up from his own bed.
"You too? I thought I was the only one," Ron replied, putting the magazine aside.
"Weird, isn't it? And to tell you the truth, it's always come back to Hermione." He took a seat on Ron's bed, facing Ron.
"I know. It's kinda like she's…" Ron trailed off, looking at Harry.
"Oh no. We've got to find her," Harry replied frantically, pulling Ron towards the door.
"But where? This school isn't exactly small, you know," Ron pointed out as he followed Harry's lead.
"Instinct. And right now it's telling me to get to the lake A.S.A.P." Harry kept running while pulling Ron behind him through the Common Room though close friends kept asking if he's all right.
"But that's on the other side of the school. It'll take us at least 5 minutes to get there!" Ron said.
"Well then, I suggest we start running."
~*~
Quiet and steady movements. Someone was quietly making its way towards the figure that was sitting on one of the many huge rocks beside the lake. The person smiled, thinking if success had been achieved in the first task. She didn't feel the person present and that was definitely an advantage. In a flash, the person knocked the girl unconscious and let her fall into the icy cold water of the lake.
"Sweet dreams, 'mione," the person whispered before leaving the girl to drown.
~*~
"Where is she?" Harry said, breathlessly.
"How should I know? We followed your instinct. Not mine," Ron pointed out.
Harry, on the other hand, was already at the bottom of the steps, running around to find Hermione with hope that she's all right.
"She's somewhere here. She just gotta," Harry mumbled to himself.
"You're just paranoid. Harry, she'll be okay! Maybe we're wrong. Maybe she's nicely sleeping in between her covers while we're out here, chasing after something base on instincts," Ron called out as he watched Harry run around the lake.
Suddenly, Ron heard Harry yell.
"Ron, hurry up! She's half dead!" Harry cried and Ron was standing there beside him almost in an instant.
"Oh my God! Harry, we need to get her outta there!" Ron cried and both he and Harry jumped into the water to drag Hermione out.
"Hermione! Hermione, get a hold of yourself! Hermione!!" Harry cried out as he tried to revive her.
"It's no good. She's turning blue!" Ron cried.
"We need to get her to the hospital wing! Hurry up Ron!" Harry yelled and both of them were running towards the hospital wing, drenched, with Hermione on a stretcher they conjured up. As they ran towards the hospital wing, Ron was yelling at Hermione all the way.
"Don't you dare die on me just yet, Hermione Granger! Harry might not need your answers but I sure do! If you die, I'll have to do all the research myself!" he yelled.
"Ron, shut up! You're not helping!" Harry yelled back.
As soon as they reach the hospital wing, Harry burst through the door, waking up the sleeping nurse.
"What's the matter with you, Mister Potter?! It's already late and-"
"Madam Pomfrey, Hermione's dying. You've got to help her," Harry said, slightly panting from the running he had to do that night.
Madam Pomfrey looked startled but then she helped them.
"Hurry up and put her on the bed. We might not have much time."
* * *
A/N: HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, I managed to finish Chapter 12. Sorry if it's a bit crappy and I am so sorry it took ages for me to post this. It's actually 3.18 a.m. now and I kinda forced myself to finish writing this chapter. Anyway, I'm just gonna tell you that I might be hanging this story for about 5 to 6 months because of the EXAMS. Won't blab too much about it because I'm already sick of it. It's not just for me but my two beta-readers need to study too so might as well hang this. If I have the time (which I don't think I have anymore), I'll write chapter 13 but I'm not promising anything. Thanks to all those people who's putting up with me especially Wolfsun and Snowwolf. My God, you have no idea what those two have to put up with every single day. Anyway, have fun people. Oh yeah, thanks to those who review. Keep it up!!!!!!!!
~Wolfsun~ : You know it as well as we do… study time… sorry folks!
P.S: She's stopped at a rather crucial part, hasn't she? *smirk * ~ws~
Chapter 12
Fights and Regrets
Disclaimer: Nothin' is mine.
* A/N at the bottom…*
* Continues right after the tryouts *
"Harry, you can't be serious. She's a Goyle, for God's sake! I mean she's practically as bad as… a Malfoy!" Hermione said, as she walked briskly on Harry's right.
"Yeah, Harry. Think about it. I mean, what if she suddenly turned you to her brother who'll turn you in to Malfoy who'll turn you in to Lucius who'll turn you in to You-Know-Who who'll definitely kill you as soon as he get his slimy hands on you!" Ron agreed, shivering at the thought of Harry being passed around like that.
"See! This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about her in the first place! I just knew the both of you would react this way without even giving her a fair chance!" Harry exclaimed, as he swung his Firebolt over his left shoulder, barely missing Ron's head.
"Please be reasonable, Harry. We're only doing this for your own good. I mean, we don't even know a thing about her that can actually prove that she can be trusted in any way," Hermione said again, sounding very concerned.
"Be reasonable? How about yourselves? You don't know anything about her but I do. I'd been writing to her all summer and she knew where I was the entire time. Consider this. If she was evil or even bad in the first place, she'd go straight to Voldemort and tell him where I was so he could kill me. That would have made her top notch in Voldemort's staff," Harry pointed out.
"He's right… Voldemort has a staff?" Ron said.
"Figure of speech, Ron," Harry said, placing his hand on Ron's shoulder to reassure him that he meant it in a friendly manner.
"Yes but… maybe it was a trap to make you fall head over heels for her and not trust your friends who'd think that she's a threat to you and you'd end up fighting with them about it. She wants you to be off guard so that she could lure you out of Hogwarts, away from us as well as Professor Dumbledore, who is, by the way, the only protection you have against Voldemort, so that she could personally hand you over to You-Know-Who," Hermione said a single breath.
"She's right, you know," Ron said to Harry.
"Yes, I know but I'm not that dumb. Unlike you, I happen to give her a chance to prove that she's not like her brother and I happen to know her better than both of you will ever know. And another thing, if she was anything like her brother, why do you think she's in Gryffindor in the first place?" Harry asked, almost yelling.
"He's right, you know," Ron turned to Hermione.
"Maybe it's because she's been told by Voldemort himself to ASK to be in Gryffindor like you did but you asked not to be in Slytherin. Maybe Voldemort wanted to trap you using her since she entered this school in the first place," Hermione yelled back.
At this point all three of them had already stopped walking. Harry and Hermione were yelling while facing each other. Ron, on the other hand was standing between the both of them, turning to look from one face to the other.
"You know what, Hermione? I think you're just jealous. You're just scared that I'll hang out with Jade more than I hang out with you! You're just scared that people will stop paying attention to you just because you're no longer the friend of Harry Potter. You're just scared you'll be the geeky girl that you once before and won't get any boyfriends," Harry yelled.
Hermione glared at him. Ron covered his ears, anticipating for the worst.
"Excuse me?! Just who do you think I am? Someone who hangs around you just because he thinks of himself as the greatest being that walks upon the surface of this planet? Oh, please! I can do without you hanging around me 24/7 just because you're too lazy to think of the answer to the easiest questions Professor McGonagall had ever given to us. Plus, all you ever wanted was just an easy way out. You never bother to do your own research because you know at the end of the day, even if you've given all the wrong answers, I'll point out to you the real answers instead and you get off easy!" Hermione yelled back.
"For your information, I do NOT hang around you because I want the answers to every god damn homework! I do have a brain of my own and I CAN think for my own! I don't need you!" Harry hissed.
"Fine. If you don't need me, then don't you ever think that I need you!"
"Fine!" Harry yelled back.
"FINE!" both of them yelled together before going off towards separate directions, Harry's broom swinging and smacking Ron in the head.
Ron just stood in the middle, gingerly rubbing his head and looked at both their backs as they stormed off towards their destinations.
"Oh boy. This is gonna be one hell of a fight," Ron sighed.
~*~
"Phase one completed. Now, for phase two," a voice said softly but excitedly as its owner watched Harry and Hermione storm off towards two different directions.
~*~
Hermione stormed off towards the great lake. She was still upset with Harry that she didn't even bother to answer the greetings she got while walking there. She knew that she'd end up barking at them so why cause more trouble? As she stood at the top of the stairs, she looked around and sighed. The sun was setting and the reflection of the sun at the lake made it look peaceful. Hermione began to climb down the stairs slowly as she began to think back on the fight she had with Harry.
'What's gotten into me? I don't usually blow up like that. It's normal with Ron but with Harry, it's very rare,' she thought to herself.
The cool wind blew at her as she walked towards the lake.
'Maybe I should go apologize. Maybe I'm wrong and Jade really is a nice girl. Maybe…' she stopped walking and stared at the scene in front of her.
There, right next to a tree, near the lake itself, was Malfoy and Jade, talking to each other. Malfoy was facing Jade while his hand was stroking her long black hair. But what startled Hermione the most was the fact that Malfoy was actually smiling. Just a small smile but a smile none the less. But then, he grew serious and started nodding his head as Jade said something that Hermione couldn't quite hear because of the distance. He started saying something too and then, he looked up and saw Hermione watching them.
Hermione suddenly remembered where she was and started running towards the building. She could hear Malfoy calling her last name but she kept on running until she reached a portrait.
"Miss Granger! What's wrong?" the lady in the golden dress asked.
"Please, I don't really have much time. Honey," she said, painting.
As soon as the door opened, Hermione entered and ran towards the room, locking the door behind her.
~*~
Malfoy ran after her. She shouldn't have seen what she saw. It would ruin everything!
'Damn her! She sure can run fast!' Malfoy thought to himself as he called out her name.
She could be seen running towards their rooms but after awhile, he lost sight of her. After a few minutes, he finally reached the portrait and he straightened his robes.
"Honey," he said.
The lady in the golden dress just shook her head and let him through. Then, Malfoy darted towards Hermione's room and started banging at her door.
"Granger! You better open this door right now or I'll-"
"Forget it!"
"I swear Granger, if anyone finds out about this-"
"Don't worry, Harry will never find out about this. Not in the near future, at least!" Hermione yelled back from inside.
Malfoy gave the door one last punch before he waked off into his own room.
~*~
"Harry! Wait up!" Ron called out as he ran to catch up with him.
Harry was furious. How dare Hermione said that about Jade… and about him. Finally, Ron was walking beside Harry.
"Hey Harry, forget about what she said. She didn't mean it and you know she didn't mean any of it," Ron said to him.
"Yes she does and she didn't have any right to say what she did. If I wanna date Jade, that's my problem!" Harry cried, still waking towards the astronomy tower.
"But she was only looking out for your best interests. C'mon Harry. I know you know that she didn't mean it. You know Jade and it's up to you to change her mind about her," Ron said again but this time, he pulled Harry to a stop.
"But she should've given her a chance," Harry sighed.
"I know and she made a mistake this time. She's not perfect, you know," Ron reminded him.
"Oh yes she is," Harry chuckled.
"Well, maybe she is but she's still one of your best friends. Stop fighting with her and get this whole thing over with. Fighting with Hermione is my job, remember?" Ron said.
"Yeah, I know. For once, you're right. I'll talk to her right after dinner," Harry sighed after a short pause.
"You better or else she won't be the only one who's going to give you the silent treatment," Ron warned.
"Fine, I'll go. C'mon, I have to put this away. I don't need Dudley stealing this from me like he usually does," Harry smiled while pointing to his broomstick.
"Sure. Let's go."
They changed their destination and walked towards the Gryffindor tower while discussing about the tryouts that day when Hedwig came flying in out of nowhere and dropped a letter on Harry's head.
"What's this?" Harry asked as he picked up the letter from the ground.
"Well, open it. It must be urgent. Hedwig could've waited until tomorrow but she gave it to you now," Ron said as he watched Hedwig flew away from them.
Harry nodded and opened the letter.
Harry.
I've gotten inside news about Voldemort. Rumour has it that he's gotten someone new on his side that could be close to you. They might be in Hogwarts even but I'm not sure. Try to stay away from Malfoy and don't go wondering around alone at night or even during the day. I'll keep in touch soon.
Snuffles
"Bad news?" Ron asked as soon as Harry finished reading the letter.
"Very bad. Read it for yourself," Harry replied, handing the letter to Ron.
He waited for a while as Ron read the letter.
"Who do you think this person is?" Ron asked, giving back the letter to him.
"Quite a number actually. We've got to tell Hermione bout this. C'mon," Harry said as both of them went off to look for Hermione.
~*~
Hermione sighed as she closed the book she had been reading and placed it beside her on the bed. Since the incident at the lake that afternoon, she'd locked herself in the room, not wanting to go out and meet neither Harry nor Malfoy. Without realization, she'd already missed dinner and her stomach was growling by the time she realized what time it was.
She stretched on the bed one last time before she pushed herself off the bed and walked towards her dresser. After making sure her hair was at least presentable, she walked towards the enchanted door and said the word 'kitchen'. A soft white glow could be seen around the doorframe. As the glow slowly faded away, Hermione opened the door and stepped through it, closing the door behind her.
The smell of warm bread filled the atmosphere and Hermione smiled warmly at the house-elves that were making their way towards her.
"Oh, how can Tony help?" squeaked a house-elf, which was dressed in a clean tea towel.
"Yes, yes, is Miss hungry?" said another.
Before she knew it, Dobby came with a tray of desserts and buns, which were fresh from the oven.
"Miss should take all this if Miss wants. We is having make more if Miss wants," said Dobby cheerfully.
"Dobby! It's so wonderful to see you again. I'm sorry if I hadn't been able to visit you. I've been busy," Hermione said.
"Dobby is no upset but happy that Miss is here now," Dobby replied.
She caught a glimpse of Winky and she didn't look too bad. At least her clothing was clean and she wasn't drinking anymore. Winky merely smiled at her but didn't say a word. Hermione had more than she bargained for now and couldn't refuse the offer the house-elves had given so she took as much as she could.
Hermione said her final goodbye and started walking back towards her room. It wasn't very late but most of the students were already heading off to bed. On her way back to her room, Hermione met some of her friends whom she greeted. She kept walking and without knowing why or how she was there, standing under the tree that she had seen Malfoy and Jade together earlier that afternoon.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as the cold night air blew softly at her. She just couldn't believe that it had only been a few days since school started. A lot has been going on for the past few days that she would never thought would possibly happen to her. She just hoped that she'd be able to cope with it. The moon shone brightly above her.
~*~
She looked so different. So peaceful. So… beautiful. No wonder the guy's head over heels in love with her. All this years I've went past her, spied on her and sometimes mocked her behind her back. I've never really noticed how much she's changed. Too bad she's gotta go. Well, nobody ever said life was fair.
~*~
Harry couldn't sleep. He could feel that something was wrong but he just couldn't figure it out. As he tossed and turned in his bed, his thought suddenly wandered off to Hermione. Ron and himself were looking for her for quite some time to tell her about the letter he had gotten from Sirius that afternoon after the fight. She needed to know about it as soon as possible.
After a while, his thoughts drifted back to the events that happened during the tryouts that afternoon. How Jade flew… How she played… How Hermione was saying that Jade shouldn't be trusted. Hermione, Hermione, Hermione. For some reason, his thoughts kept drifting off to her and it wouldn't stop.
Sighing to himself, he then pushed himself into a sitting position and put on his glasses. Seamus and Dean's bed was still empty while Neville was already asleep in his own. Ron, on the other hand, was flipping through the Quidditch magazine, which was laid on the bed.
"Can't sleep?" Ron asked, looking at Harry.
"No. I feel kinda… Restless. Uneasy," he replied as he got up from his own bed.
"You too? I thought I was the only one," Ron replied, putting the magazine aside.
"Weird, isn't it? And to tell you the truth, it's always come back to Hermione." He took a seat on Ron's bed, facing Ron.
"I know. It's kinda like she's…" Ron trailed off, looking at Harry.
"Oh no. We've got to find her," Harry replied frantically, pulling Ron towards the door.
"But where? This school isn't exactly small, you know," Ron pointed out as he followed Harry's lead.
"Instinct. And right now it's telling me to get to the lake A.S.A.P." Harry kept running while pulling Ron behind him through the Common Room though close friends kept asking if he's all right.
"But that's on the other side of the school. It'll take us at least 5 minutes to get there!" Ron said.
"Well then, I suggest we start running."
~*~
Quiet and steady movements. Someone was quietly making its way towards the figure that was sitting on one of the many huge rocks beside the lake. The person smiled, thinking if success had been achieved in the first task. She didn't feel the person present and that was definitely an advantage. In a flash, the person knocked the girl unconscious and let her fall into the icy cold water of the lake.
"Sweet dreams, 'mione," the person whispered before leaving the girl to drown.
~*~
"Where is she?" Harry said, breathlessly.
"How should I know? We followed your instinct. Not mine," Ron pointed out.
Harry, on the other hand, was already at the bottom of the steps, running around to find Hermione with hope that she's all right.
"She's somewhere here. She just gotta," Harry mumbled to himself.
"You're just paranoid. Harry, she'll be okay! Maybe we're wrong. Maybe she's nicely sleeping in between her covers while we're out here, chasing after something base on instincts," Ron called out as he watched Harry run around the lake.
Suddenly, Ron heard Harry yell.
"Ron, hurry up! She's half dead!" Harry cried and Ron was standing there beside him almost in an instant.
"Oh my God! Harry, we need to get her outta there!" Ron cried and both he and Harry jumped into the water to drag Hermione out.
"Hermione! Hermione, get a hold of yourself! Hermione!!" Harry cried out as he tried to revive her.
"It's no good. She's turning blue!" Ron cried.
"We need to get her to the hospital wing! Hurry up Ron!" Harry yelled and both of them were running towards the hospital wing, drenched, with Hermione on a stretcher they conjured up. As they ran towards the hospital wing, Ron was yelling at Hermione all the way.
"Don't you dare die on me just yet, Hermione Granger! Harry might not need your answers but I sure do! If you die, I'll have to do all the research myself!" he yelled.
"Ron, shut up! You're not helping!" Harry yelled back.
As soon as they reach the hospital wing, Harry burst through the door, waking up the sleeping nurse.
"What's the matter with you, Mister Potter?! It's already late and-"
"Madam Pomfrey, Hermione's dying. You've got to help her," Harry said, slightly panting from the running he had to do that night.
Madam Pomfrey looked startled but then she helped them.
"Hurry up and put her on the bed. We might not have much time."
* * *
A/N: HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, I managed to finish Chapter 12. Sorry if it's a bit crappy and I am so sorry it took ages for me to post this. It's actually 3.18 a.m. now and I kinda forced myself to finish writing this chapter. Anyway, I'm just gonna tell you that I might be hanging this story for about 5 to 6 months because of the EXAMS. Won't blab too much about it because I'm already sick of it. It's not just for me but my two beta-readers need to study too so might as well hang this. If I have the time (which I don't think I have anymore), I'll write chapter 13 but I'm not promising anything. Thanks to all those people who's putting up with me especially Wolfsun and Snowwolf. My God, you have no idea what those two have to put up with every single day. Anyway, have fun people. Oh yeah, thanks to those who review. Keep it up!!!!!!!!
~Wolfsun~ : You know it as well as we do… study time… sorry folks!
P.S: She's stopped at a rather crucial part, hasn't she? *smirk * ~ws~