- Hermione's Well-Kept Secret –
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter or any of the Characters that are used in this fan fiction in any way!
As Hermione woke up in the middle of the somber night, screaming, the other s in her dormitory shot up from their beds and questioned her if she was alright. After reassuring the panic-stricken s that she had just had a bad dream, she got up to go to the bathroom but instead slipped out of the dorm and went to Headmaster Dumbledore's office.
"Sir, these dreams are really tormenting me, not because of what they contain but because they have some correlation to Vo…" "Don't!" shouted Dumbledore, as if about to bite her head off. After seeing the young witch's expression, he immediately apologized sincerely and reassured Hermione not to worry about the dreams or the fact that she had kept them from her two best friends (Harry and Ron) for the past four years.
"It is just a matter of time and the matter will work itself out, believe me…" said Dumbledore in a fatherly tone of voice.
And with that he sent Hermione back to her dormitory where she didn't wake up for the short remainder of the night.
The next day Hermione woke up early, as usual, so that she could start reading ten chapters ahead in her Arthimancy book. About three hours later, when Harry and Ron finally got up, the three of them went down to breakfast in the Great Hall. In the middle of breakfast Ron noticed that Hermione seemed extremely distraught.
"Hermione, are you alright, I've noticed that you seem very anxious about something lately, do you want to talk about it?" asked Ron insightfully.
"NO! I mean, I'm sorry … nothing is wrong … I'm just a little vexed from all this studying … that's all." lied Hermione. And with those last words she got up from the table and proceeded to leave the hall. At about nine o'clock the two boys decided to head toward their first class – which happened to be Potions -. Just like any other day, Snape was acting as bitter as he could possibly be. And also of course, he made them concoct a ridiculously difficult potion that not even Neville could create and most of them left the class with a failing grade. After Potions, Hermione told Harry that she would meet them in the common room later on and then ran off for hours an end…
As Hermione was running down a corridor somewhere in the castle that she had never been, she realized it was oddly familiar to her…
"Of course" she exclaimed, "this is one of the corridors that was in one of my dreams, but what is so special about this one?" she asked herself. Then, near the end of the corridor, where there was no light, she heard what she thought to be something pacing around as if waiting for something. So, she silently started to move toward it but trying not to scare it away. But before she could even get close to it, she was startled by a familiar stern-sounding voice.
"Miss Granger! What are you doing up here?" asked Professor McGonagall in a very bitter tone of voice.
"Oh, Professor, umm … I was just … I just got lost." lied Hermione guiltily.
"Oh please Hermione, we both know for a fact that its not conceivable that you could possibly get lost in this castle after attending this school for the past five years and not to mention the fact that you happen to be the top student in your class!" sneered Professor McGonagall.
"Now, meaning that you are the top of your class, I will give you a small bit of leeway, but only this once, the next time I will be forced to deduct house points. So move along and go to your common room and study or do something useful with your time besides wandering old corridors that you aren't familiar with." warned McGonagall. As it is Hermione is one of the most truthful people at Hogwarts Academy, so she had to try exceptionally hard not to cause herself any physical pain for what she had just done. Instead she just went to her dormitory and started to read a book.
"Harry, what is our first lesson today?" asked Hermione on their way to the Great Hall for Breakfast, in her usual tone.
"Umm … umm … I think Herbology." replied Harry
"Oh, good, at least I don't have to hear Snape slander Gryffindor under his breath or give us another difficult potion, like the other day." said Hermione. After the all finished their breakfast, the three of them started to head toward Hagrid's Hut like every other morning.
"Hullo you three" greeted Hagrid at the front door.
"Hey Hagrid, do you think we could come in, it happens to be a bit chilly out here" asked Ron impatiently.
"Oh yea, a' course!" said Hagrid as he motioned for them to come inside. Once inside they all situated themselves on the three big red chairs by the fireplace and Hagrid asked them how they were doing.
"So, tell me, how ya' guys been lately?" questioned Hagrid
"Well , us two have been just fine, but Hermione has been a bit shaky lately if you don't mind me saying." replied Ron.
"Of course I mind, you uncouth mongrel, just because I appreciate Harry more than you does NOT mean that you have to make sure that my p's and q's are in check!" bursted Hermione. And with that she ran out of the giants hut due to her embarrassment from what she had just stated and for the remainder of the morning she didn't utter a word to either Ron or Harry.
"Good morning class!" exclaimed Professor Sprout as her students filed into the green house.
"Today we are going to make an herbal remedy that has helped many witches and wizard alike, over the years with insanity and hallucinations and what not." instructed Sprout. Just then Hermione came to the conclusion that this remedy could possibly help her with her dreams, or so she thought…
"Now as it is, I went through an extraordinarily difficult time getting some of the ingredients from Professor Snape. He was very stingy with giving the ingredients that were a necessity." said Professor Sprout. Before long the class was lining up to receive their supplies and then Professor Sprout put them into pairs: Hermione was with Ron.
"Look Hermione, I'm sorry for what I said earlier but it is the truth, I mean look at you, even gnome could tell something was wrong!" said Ron in a passionate tone of voice.
"I'll forgive you but you had better watch what you say or one day you'll regret it and that's a promise, you saw what I did to Malfoy in our third year, I can just as easily do the same to you!" sneered Hermione. So with those solemn words they started to work on their remedy. Hermione and Ron were finished making it in ten minutes due to Hermione's brilliance.
"Now that you are all finished, you will choose someone from your group to test the effects of the remedy." instructed Sprout when the students had finished creating the remedy.
"I'll do it meaning you seemed to think I need it!" said Hermione sarcastically to Ron.
"I was just merely stating what I have seen not what I thought, ok?" replied Ron. Then Hermione picked up the glass and downed its contents. After class, when they were heading toward the castle for lunch Hermione stated that she felt like herself already.
The next few weeks went well for Hermione; she was able to do her old tactics of studying late into the night and then waking up the net day at the of dawn feeling refreshed: up until Thursday night. She once again woke up from another one of her dreams. But this time, instead of going to Dumbledore she went to Snape. As she got up to put on her robe she realized that it was far too late to wander the castle so, she first went up to the boys dormitory…
"Harry … Harry … "pleaded Hermione.
"Who … What's wrong?" asked Harry half asleep.
"I need to borrow something of yours for a short time!"
"Since when has she ever needed to borrow something of mine" thought Harry.
"What is it then" said Harry
"I need your invisibility cloak … you know we're not allowed to wander around after ten o'clock, but I need to talk to Snape!" stammered Hermione. So without anymore questions he gave her the cloak and she was off. As she entered the dungeons she felt that it was at least ten degrees colder than the rest of the castle, so she pulled her robe closed. When she finally reached Snape's door she frantically knocked on it hoping that he was there but also fearful of losing a massive amount of house points. After about five minutes of knocking she finally gave up and noticed that the door was unlocked…
"That certainly is strange." thought Hermione. So she went inside the small room and there was no professor Snape or anyone else for that matter. As she was looking around she noticed a basin-like object that was illuminated on a stand in a corner of the room. So, Hermione went over to it to inspect it and figure out what it was.
"This is a Pensieve, Harry told me about the one that he found in Dumbledore's office." muttered Hermione. When she peered into the bowl all she saw was a silvery water-like fluid, so she touched it with her pointer finger and to her dismay she could not see her finger in the liquid. So now that she was positive that it was a pensieve she slowly stuck her head into the bowl. She then noticed something extraordinary: her head was not at all wet, it was totally dry. As she peered around she saw a man sitting in a chair in a long corridor of what seemed to be a hospital. Then a man emerged from a door dressed in doctor's attire.
"Are you the father, sir?" asked the doctor.
"Yes, my name is Tom." As Hermione heard this an awestruck expression befell her face because for an odd reason she recognized that name.
"Could it be … no … Tom Riddle?" questioned Hermione.
"Well, I am happy to say that your wife and daughter will be just fine, what are you going to name your daughter?" asked the doctor.
"Hermione"…