Dirt In the Ground

By:

Penny

MRS. ALLONBY. The one advantage of playing with fire, Lady
Caroline, is that one never gets even singed. It is the people who
don't know how to play with it who get burned up.

-Fragment from Oscar Wilde's "A Woman of No Importance" satire

"WHO?"

HERMIONE Granger woke with a start, a strangled cry lingering on her parched lips. The flat was silent for the repetitive 'tick tock' of her clock, which penetrated the quiet ominously. A heavenly, ethereal curtain of glimmering silk spilled in through the window, tears of the Moon.

"Who?"

She looked up from her pillow, disoriented, tired, and noticed that her old, scorched coffee table was replaced by a beautiful, masterfully carved table shaped out of the finest ebony. It gleamed darkly, enchantingly, in the faint flicker of dying embers still glowing in her fireplace. For a nanosecond, she thought she saw the reflection of a grey eye reflect on the polished surface of the table. The thought faded from her mind as quickly as it had come, and was lost forever in the pool of her thoughts.

"Who?"

Who was that?

She combed through her room with a dulled gaze, halfheartedly wondering if there was a ghost in her flat.

She finally located the owner of the slow, owlish voice. For it was indeed an owl. One with glimmering blue feathers specked with random flecks of gold, and with large violet eyes that watched her motionlessly, carefully.

"Elizabeth!" she cooed with an affectionate smile, hoisting her body from the couch and approaching her familiar with an outstretched hand.

Elizabeth allowed the delicate hand to stroke his feathers, and he seemed to almost purr in delight.

Like a cat.

"Darling, are you hungry?" she asked, distractedly flickering her gaze up to her beloved grandfather clock. It was eleven in the evening, and night had already blanketed the sky in it's diamond cloak of black.

"Who," answered the bird, creaking open one orb of an eye. Hermione offered her wrist as a temporary means of transport, and Elizabeth hopped on with an owlish grace.

The woman with short brown hair and big, sleepy doe eyes walked into her kitchen, her bare feet padding softly on the cool tiled floor.

The kitchen's faint yellow light flickered to life almost sleepily.

"Here you go, love," she whispered, easing her familiar onto the wooden perch by the window. She filled his small porcelain bowl with owl feed, and sprinkled some fresh water into the bowl's twin.

"Like a cat..." she murmured softly, her head spinning with dulled emotions and blurring thoughts. Everything felt ethereal, as if the earlier happenings had taken place in another life, in another world.

She was unpleasantly aware of her non – pain, what she wasn't feeling. She was painfully conscious of herself; her skin, her bones, her organs... Her stomach rumbled, and she felt sick at the sound.

Opening the fridge, she relished in the brief feel of sharp cold that swept over her the moment she opened the refrigerator, closing her eyes in pure, unbothered bliss.

"Who."

She sighed, and took out the milk carton before reluctantly shutting the fridge door with a snap. She was engulfed in the suffocating, sticky warmth of her house again. Hermione felt her hair beginning to plaster itself onto her neck like a sweaty slug.

She swirled out a bowl from a cabinet and filled it with cereal up to the brim, before sluggishly and haphazardly dumping the white liquid into her cornflakes.

It spluttered and sent chubby drops spraying onto the table, where they lay like angel's tears. They dissolved and turned into what they really were: fat drops of milk.

"Ugh," she mumbled in distaste, emptying the contents of the bowl into the drain. She listened to the sickening 'chrug chrug' as her food was being mercilessly grinded into miniscule bits.

"Whooo," protested Elizabeth, giving Hermione a disapproving glance. She frowned at the bird, rubbing her forearms as if she were cold. Although she longed for the sensation of a chill.

"I know, Elizabeth. I'm just not hungry. I feel... sick. Aware," explained Hermione persistently.

"Who," asked the bird in concern. She smiled weakly.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit queasy is all." Elizabeth fluffed her feathers and spun her head, eyes rolling skyward.

"Who!! Who!" Hermione laughed her silly, tinkling laugh.

"Thank you, darling. I'll keep that in mind!"

A weak knock penetrated the night.

Hermione, startled, rushed over to her mahogany door and stood on the tips of her bare feet to peer through the peep hole at her unexpected guest.

A gasp slipped past her lips, and she struggled to quickly open the door. As the slab of wood swung open, a body feel gracelessly forward and into her arms.

The body was of a lean, slender build, with hints of malnutrition judging by it's weight and the unhealthy paleness of it's skin. Floppy, wild red hair grew from the head like fantastical grass, shining when it caught the light.

It looked up, and Hermione met with wounded blue eyes and a fat, bleeding lip.

"George!"

A/n: Where am I going with this thing?! I have absolutely no fathoming. I'm sorry for the short chapter, again. But, hey, I've got a question for you guys. WOULD YOU RATHER frequent updates but short chapters, or seldom updates but looong chapters? It's your choice. Even though I have no idea where this is heading, I enjoy writing it. And, also, sorry for the inaccurate quotes. Haven't you noticed that they have nothing to do with the actual chapter? Sorry. It's just that I see a quote, and I like it, and I'm too impatient to wait for a moment in my story where it'll actually fit, you know? I hope it doesn't bother you guys. I love you guys for actually putting up with me and my tangled, crazy story! Thanks so much!!

Miss Piratess: Wow... "chilling". Your words flattered me for some reason. I'm glad it had that affect. I added the cat thing almost as an afterthought... It just randomly popped into my head.

My words may be nice, but my planning isn't. Everything is totally unorganized. Thank you so much, though, for your support. Love to the Miss P!!

total-nirvana: Lol. You're so cute! Such a silly chicken poster. I'm so glad you understand my school issue. It can be a real pain! And thank you so much for your praise! It really flattered me! Ahh... Even I have to admit that Vitruvius is divine. He's based on my brother-in-law, actually. Okleedoklee, love to the total-nirvana!! Mwah!

Lemon-drop-101: '"...for igniting my souls fuse, it blew me away." Wow. I did that? ::floats away on a cloud of bliss:: Mwah!

gio1: Aww, thank you! You're a sweetie pie!

GrAyeyez: Thank you! You write very well, too! I checked out your story, but I didn't have time to review. Rock on, and keep hold on to your dreams! Love to the Dawn!

damned for eternity: Yeah... welcome to the club. I'm absolutely confused too.