Disclaimer: I still lack ownership over Harry Potter, any of the character's interacting with Harry Potter, any of the ideas or titles of or relating to Harry Potter.
The Season of Giving
Christmas Holidays had just started leaving the school almost empty from students, since most of them had returned to their homes for the holiday. Harry lay in bed staring at the cover of his four-poster bed. He sighed softly, thinking briefly about how little he planned to do today. He hadn't seen Hermione yesterday and was actually pretty sure that she wasn't at school anymore. Ron hadn't spend time talking with him since they had that little disagreement about what he should be doing and where he should be going.
Harry didn't want to go outside anymore, and he didn't want to spend time around Hagrid. He wanted to just sit by himself and work all of this out. He didn't want to have people trying to tell him what he should or shouldn't be doing. He wanted to find his own excuse to figure out what to do or what not to do. He wanted to go back and take Cedric's place. He wanted for Neville to have been chosen to be the boy who lived instead. He was tired of being the boy who lived.
He looked down at his watch to find that it was around six o'clock. He didn't really want to be awake this early in the morning, but then again, it really didn't make that much of a difference. It wasn't like he had anything to do later, or anyone to talk to. He may have been the boy who lived, but he was finding out more and more every day how lonely a job that was. He sighed softly as he pulled out his wand and tapped it against the glass, causing the ice on the other side to melt away. He stared down at the amazing whiteness of the outside world.
He looked down at the grounds for a long moment before looking back at the dorm room, and finally deciding that he needed to go outside for a while. He slowly got up, walked over to his trunk, and pulled out all of the clothes that he would need to keep warm outside in the cold weather. He pulled on the sweater that Mrs. Weasley had knit for him, followed by his school robes. He wrapped the gold and red Gryffindor scarf around his neck, and then pulled on a pair of red gloves.
He adjusted his glasses on his nose and pulled on a pair of socks and boots. He looked at himself for a few moments before heading out of the dormitory and down to the common room. Everything was silent and still, almost as if everyone was dead, or like the school had been abandoned. It didn't bother him. It didn't bother him that the atmosphere was lonely this early in the morning.
He smiled softly before he got out of the common room and made a run don all of the stairs. His feet made soft sounds as he ran down the stairs and then down the halls to get outside. For the first time since Sirius died he wasn't pitying himself. For the first time since the Hermione incident he had a smile on his face and wasn't locking his emotions and thoughts inside of himself.
He ran outside, the snow crunching under his winter boots. He slowly dropped to his knees and started gathering snow, a smile on his face. He had never had the chance to do this before. He had heard of it, and read about it, but he had never been allowed to play in the snow, of just never found the time.
He smiled softly as he formed a large ball out of the snow that was wet from the freezing rain that they had been having lately. It soaked through his gloves quickly leaving them wet, but he paid little attention to them as he made the large ball of snow. He quickly rolled it over the grounds, the wet snow sticking to the ball, and lifting up some of the blades of grass as he rolled it over the snow.
He smiled softly as he finished off the first overly large snowball and leaned against it. His breath came out in clouds of fog. He laughed softly as he pulled off his glasses and cleaned off the lenses with his thumbs. He smiled softly as he looked back up at the sky before pushing off of the snowball and wandering forward, holding his arms out as if trying to hold up the sky itself. He continued to laugh as he continued walking forward, spinning slowly as snow began to fall softly.
He smiled softly as he looked back to the snow and started throwing together another snowball and rolling it over the grounds, leaving a path cleared of snow behind him. He laughed as he lifted the second finished snowball and placed it on top of the first one. He let out a few labored breaths after the work of lifting the snowball. He sighed softly as he leaned back and sat against the bottom snowball, looking at the snow that was still falling around him and couldn't help but forget about all of the problems that he was having.
He pushed off of the snowball and went back to working at making the third and final snowball to make the snowman. Everything was so much simpler working on a snowman, than it was when he was trying to figure out how the world was supposed to go. He sighed softly as he began thinking about how terrible his situation was again. He ran his hand through his hair and stared at the sky for a few moments.
☼
Hermione sat crouched up in the corner of the dark room, lit only by the crimson flames of a few of the candles. She had given up on the chance that she'd be saved. She had given up on the chance that someone was going to be able to save her from the silhouette that had been talking for the past few moments. She had stopped listening at the moment that silhouette had began speaking.
"I see Harry Potter's friend hasss given up on the hope that sssomeone will come to sssave her." The cruel voice of Voldemort growled at her. His eyes, crimson in colour, glowed as he glared at Hermione.
Hermione said nothing. She was done crying. It didn't matter. No one was going to come to her rescue anymore. It was obvious that Harry didn't care about her, and while Ron did care about her, he wasn't the bravest in the bunch, and wasn't any match for Voldemort's magic. No, instead she was going to die…most likely slowly, at the hands of one of Voldemort's curses.
The thought almost interested her. She wondered if perhaps she could get a quill and a piece of parchment to write the experience down so that other wizards would know what it felt like to be tortured to death by one of the unforgivable curses. She knew that the information might prove useful to someone, some day. She had already found out that they were really only any good if you actually meant it, but that was the same with most spells. You had to actually want what it was that you were attempting to do, or else it just wouldn't happen.
A sick laugh came from Voldemort, "I sssee that you truly have given up on your friendsss coming to sssave you…well…sssince you ssseem ssso ssscertain…" He raised his wand, and a green glow began to surround it.
"Hermione!"
Hermione woke up with a start and looked down to the book that she had been reading in the library. She wasn't exactly sure why she had been spending her Christmas holiday studying, but she still was. After a few moments of thought she realized that it was probably an excuse to stay away from Harry, but she was fairly sure that she could come up with something better than that. After a few more moments of through she realized that the best way to get back at Harry would probably be to start going with Ron. It was then that she realized that someone had been talking to her.
"-and I still don't understand what is so special about the eye of a newt…Hermione, are you okay?" Neville was staring at her with concern in his eyes.
Hermione shook her head for a moment to clear her head, "I'm sorry Neville, what were you saying? I suppose I drifted off there."
Neville sighed softly, "Hermione…I know I'm not on the same level as you when it comes to this thing, but really, if it's that boring to try and teach me, I'm sure I can find someone else to do it…" He closed his book.
"No, Neville. It's fine, I'm just…I'm just a bit tired is all. I haven't been sleeping well." Hermione admitted before yawning a little.
Neville watched her closely, "What's wrong? Pillows not comfortable? I know the pillows on my bead aren't very comfortable and that sometimes keeps me awake, but I've been getting used to it, and it doesn't really bother me that much anymore."
"No, it's just…" Hermione stopped, unsure of whether or not to tell Neville about the strange reoccurring nightmare that she had been having that had been keeping her sleep from being peaceful, "I just can't get to sleep." She lied calmly.
"Well then. You should take a nap or something, Hermione. I care about you." Neville blushed instantly, "Not like Ron cares about you, or like how you care about Harry mind you, not that I'd mind if you-"
Hermione put a finger against Neville's lips, "I know what you mean Neville. It's okay. I'm okay. Obviously this is bothering you, so I will go try and take a nap, or have some fun or something, okay?"
Neville nodded softly and got up, taking the book under his arm and walking, a little faster than he usually did towards the Gryffindor common room. Hermione sighed as he wandered off, forgetting his quill and parchment behind. She had gotten used to picking up the things that Neville forgot. She had been doing things like that for him since the very first day that they had met on the train to Hogwarts when he had lost his toad. She remembered that. Life was so much simpler then, when the biggest thing she had to worry about was whether or not people were calling her names.
She didn't want to be the brainy girl that everyone went to so they could finish their homework. She wanted to be something that people noticed. She wanted to be looked at like a beautiful flower…or something. She blushed a little bit realizing how stupid that last part sounded. She sighed as she took the pin out of her top buttonhole and ran her fingers over it. She thought that it would have helped her, and it being in the shape of a flower had probably been the cause of the flower simile…
She sighed softly realizing that she was analyzing everything that she was doing and thinking. She could analyze every other aspect of her life, but when it came to that nightmare she was left completely in the dark. She had no idea what she was looking at when she was in the crimson world, with the dark lord of wizards. She didn't know what was going on, or why any of it was happening. She didn't know how she had been captured, or why she had gone there in the first place. It was so completely stupid, and didn't make any sense. She cursed under her breath for not having clearer and easier to understand dreams.
"You need to take a break from studying." A voice came from behind her, breaking her from her thoughts. She sighed, that was one of the more odd things she had experienced today. She had managed to think though an entire conversation with Neville, but then the slightest thing could break her concentration right after that.
She turned in her chair quickly and looked into the emerald green eyes of Blake. She blushed a deep red at how close her face was to his, "Um…wait, why are you here?"
Blake took a step back and held a hand to his heart in mock hurt, before laughing and going back to normal, "I came to drag you around for a while and make sure that you have lots of fun, because it's Christmas eve, and you are supposed to have fun on Christmas!"
Hermione groaned as Blake took a hold of her hand and gently pulled to suggest she get up before he really did drag her around the castle, "Did Neville put you up to this?"
Blake stopped, "Neville's the one who blows stuff up in potions class, right?"
Hermione's eyes narrowed instantly, "You don't have to make fun of him for it." He voice had a warning tone in it.
Blake chuckled, "Hey, I wish I could get some of the stuff in potions class to blow up. I could learn a thing or two from him. Right now though, you are going to learn a thing or two about fun from me, because you can't have real fun in a library unless it has adventure books in it."
Hermione groaned. She didn't want to be dragged around the school to have Blake's kind of fun. She wanted to sit here and study. She was likely to end up running into Harry and or Ron if she followed Blake around, and she really didn't want that to happen. She wasn't ready to face Harry yet, and she wasn't much ready to try and explain to Ron that she wasn't ready to face Harry yet. None of this was working out, and she wanted Blake to just leave her alone.
He stopped and sighed softly, "Look, Hermione. You aren't doing so well."
She raised an eyebrow and looked at Blake demandingly, "What exactly does that mean?"
"It means," Started Blake, "that you have been dropping yourself into these books, and into your studies ever since Harry said that he wasn't going to be your man. This isn't healthy, Hermione. Your marks haven't been increasing, so obviously nothing that you are studying is sticking, you keep falling asleep. Something is very wrong here and if you don't start moving on and doing things that make you happy this thing with Harry is going to consume you. It's sucking the happiness out of your life faster than a dementor could, princess."
She sighed as she stared down at the book that sat in front of her. She heard what he was saying, and not only did it make sense, it was true. She was letting this thing with Harry take over her life. Harry didn't like her and when she had found out it had destroyed what she had accepted as her world. She knew that he felt bad about it too. Ron kept telling her about how bad Harry was looking, even though she didn't want to hear about it anymore. She knew he felt bad for hurting her, but all she wanted to do was to hurt him just as much. She knew that he just wasn't able to get over that stupid Cho, and that was what was really holding him back.
Hermione looked up and stared at Blake for a few moments, "What happened to the anti-social student that didn't like to talk to people. You used to be that, and now you are this…this party-crazy, fun-loving…thing…"
"Hey, careful who you are calling a thing." He chuckled softly as he looked up at the ceiling.
Hermione smiled wickedly, "Well, then. What should I call you? I'm having trouble associating the word student to you." She giggled.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I don't seem particularly bright. Thanks." He rolled his eyes, "See, this is the kind of things that students are supposed to do on Christmas eve. This is, believe it or not, fun."
"Oh my!" Hermione brought a hand to her mouth in mock shock, "Fun? But I don't have fun. I'm just a study person."
Blake chuckled softly and closed her book in front of her, "And that's what I'm going to change."
☼
Blake and Hermione walked into the great hall and looked around at a few students who were eating candy and playing wizard chess. Blake smiled as he looked over towards Hermione, who was still looking around the great hall and paying close attention to ornaments that hung from the ceiling. She didn't seem that interested in what Blake had to say, and what he was going to do.
Blake sat down at one of the tables, "We should definitely play some wizard chess, I think."
Hermione's eyes snapped back to Blake briefly before going back to the ornaments, "Wizard chess is an example of how barbaric this wizard world can be. Why would I want to expose myself to that kind of brutality?"
Blake smiled softly, "Obviously wizard chess wasn't something that you studied enough of." He gently leaned back and sighed, "It's also about a lot of strategy and logic." He sighed softly, "I really thought you'd be into wizard chess…"
Hermione rolled her eyes. She was tired of being the smart girl, so why was everyone still treating her like one? She didn't want to be the smart girl that was only paid attention to because of her brain. She wanted to be seen as something more, even if it was Blake who saw it. She wanted to be beautiful.
"I suppose you're right, this would be a bit like studying again, and that is what we are trying to avoid." Blake smiled softly as he ran his hand through his hair, "Well…I suppose we could go find something to do that doesn't have anything to do with logic," He chuckled, "or brutality."
Hermione sighed, "I just don't think that I'm going to enjoy anything that you would have fun doing."
Blake sighed softly. Of course she wasn't going to enjoy any of this if she wasn't going to try to enjoy it. She didn't want to enjoy any of it so of course she wouldn't. She just wanted to sit in her corner and sulk over the fact that Harry didn't want to be her boy toy. He was tired of her acting sorry for herself and sulking. It wasn't healthy for anyone to be doing that, and it wasn't necessary that anyone do it over Harry Potter.
"Alright, then…I'll pick something that I'm sure you wouldn't have expected as something that I'd find as fun." Blake smiled softly.
Hermione rolled her eyes. She didn't expect this to be anything that she would enjoy either. It wasn't like she had anything in common with this usually aloof, but apparently party-crazy student. She wanted to just go back to her dorm now and just sleep for a while or something. She would have been having a whole lot more fun if she wasn't hanging around here. She sighed as Blake took a hold of her wrist and pulled her along behind him.
"Close your eyes, Hermione." Blake spoke softly. To this Hermione rolled her eyes again. She wasn't sure that she was able to trust Blake. He seemed nice, but he was a boy, and he had the same hormones rushing through his body as Harry did.
Blake stopped and stared at her as Hermione raised an eyebrow and watched him for a few minutes, "C'mon, close your eyes. I promise that I'm not going to do anything to creep you out."
Hermione glared at him, "But I'm not sure that I trust you." She watched him as he sighed softly, "Fine, I'll close my eyes, but I swear…"
"You really shouldn't, it isn't very ladylike." Blake smiled as Hermione grumbled a response and closed her eyes.
She was lead down hallways and up stairs. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but that was because usually she had her vision to help her find out where she was. She wondered for a moment why she was allowing this boy who was almost a stranger to drag her around the school. That hasn't been entirely fair, and she knew that the moment that she had thought it. He wasn't exactly a stranger, but it didn't really help that she didn't know much about the crimson haired boy. She just wasn't sure that she'd be able to trust the boy.
That hadn't been entirely fair either. She was pretty sure that she could trust Blake, she just wasn't so sure that she would be able to trust herself. She wasn't sure that she could trust herself to continue to wait for Harry if she continued hanging around Blake. There was something about Blake that made her uneasy. It made her wonder if she had been waiting for the right person all that time that she thought Harry was who she was meant to be with, or the one that she was meant to wait for.
Blake pulled Hermione up another set of stairs. The new room smelled of animals. She furrowed her brow as the smells rushed into her nose. This didn't seem fun at all. She wasn't sure how Blake could have thought she would enjoy anything like this. She opened her eyes her eyes and looked around at the inside of the rookery. ((AN: RookeryOwlery)) She wasn't at all sure why she was here.
"Why are we-?" Hermione started but was quickly interrupted by Blake.
"I thought you were supposed to have your eyes closed. You missed the amazing illusion." Blake frowned, "Well, I guess you might as well not miss the entire thing, and come to this window."
Hermione rolled her eyes as she started walking to the window where Blake was standing, "Honestly, why would you think that I would enjoy being in this sort of p-?" She stopped as she reached the window and looked out at the scenery that was covered in a white blanket of snow. Everything looked absolutely beautiful as the sun slowly set, lighting the white snow in beautiful pinks and purples, "…place…"
Blake smiled as he looked over the scenery with Hermione, "I don't know, I thought you might enjoy the scenery. I suppose I was wrong, I guess we can leave now, I'm sure that we can find something that will be more interesting to you."
Hermione shook her head and said nothing. She was speechless, "What…why…how did you know about this?"
"As you put it so delicately, I'm aloof man…" He watched the scenery for a few moments before turning his attention back to Hermione, "I found all kinds of beautiful things in the school."
Hermione continued to watch the scenery. She smiled as she looked briefly to Blake before looking back to the beautiful scene and watching smoke lift from the chimney of Hagrid's hut. She looked back to Blake and noticed that he was staring at her. She blushed slightly as she realized what he was saying and what she was saying it about. She quickly turned her head back to the scenery and tried not to let the knowledge that Blake was watching her to get to her.
Blake smiled softly, "So, are you coming with me?"
Hermione's head snapped back to look at Blake with wide eyes of shock, "Why are we leaving?"
Blake smiled softly as he reached over and gently ran his hand through her hair, "We don't have to leave if you don't want. You just didn't seem that interested in being here for the scenery."
"Are you suggesting that I'm here for something else?" Hermione turned her attention to Blake, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
Blake watched Hermione for a long few minutes before he sighed as if in defeat and turned his attention back to the scenery. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side as he looked down at the scenery below, as the sun sank behind the trees of the forbidden forest. He smiled softly as he stared at the scene.
Hermione blushed and felt the harsh burn of embarrassment crawl into her cheeks and the rest of her body. He smiled as he looked out at the scenery and then looked back at her. She had gone completely stiff and wasn't sure what she was going to do next, or how she was going to go about doing it. She…this was the sort of thing that she didn't trust herself about.
Hermione sighed, "You know…I just…I…"
"It's okay. I'm sure if you just calm down and take a moment whatever it id that you want to say will come together." He watched her as she furrowed her eyebrow and tried to think of something to say that wouldn't make her look stupid.
Hermione took a deep breath, "Why are you being so nice to me? Ever since we met you have been sticking up for me and being nice to me." She pushed out of his hug and turned to face him, "Why are you making this connection with me over anyone else?"
Blake stared at her and watched her for a few long moments before looking back out at the scenery. He wasn't sure how to answer her question. He honestly didn't know what had got him to the point where he had been attracted to her. He hadn't really thought that much about it. There had been some other girls who had been attractive, but then again, none of them had been being made fun of.
Blake smiled softly as he thought about it. None of that had really made the difference though. Sure that was when he had started to pay closer attention to her, but that was just the start of it. She had turned out to be more attractive when he spent more time getting to know her. She was smart, she was open about her feelings for people, and she was attractive, even if she didn't realize it. She was perfect in his eyes, and he couldn't tell why Harry would have said that he didn't want to get closer to her…unless he was gay.
He sighed softly, "Hermione…I…" He looked back to the scenery, "You're just perfect, Hermione."
Hermione blushed deeply and stared into Blake's eyes, "What…what do you mean?"
"Hermione, you're smart," She rolled her eyes at that, "your open about your feelings," she frowned, because that was what had got her into the situation in the first place, "and you're beautiful."
Her heart stopped for a moment. She watched him for a few long moments, "W-what did you say?"
"Which part?" He watched her closely, "That you were attractive?"
Hermione swallowed slowly as she watched Blake, "Do you really think I'm…beautiful?"
He laughed softly, "I've been telling you that the whole time."
She blinked as she looked up at an Owl that was coming in off of the forbidden forest. She watched as the owl arrived at the rookery and landed in a perch above them. She blinked as she looked up and noticed that a leafy plan hanging from its talons. She blushed a deeper shade of crimson as she realized what the plant was.
Blake looked at the plant and then looked at Hermione, "Hmm…looks like someone brought us some mistletoe."
Hermione continued to blush as she stared into Blake's eyes, "Well…you know what they say about mistletoe…luck stuff and all."
Blake smiled softly and brought his face closer to Hermione's whispering softly, "I guess."
Hermione closed her eyes, the blush going more extreme as she gently brought her face forward, closer to Blake's. The stars sparkled gently as the owls looked down at Hermione and Blake as they gently god closer. Gently their lips touched in an innocent kiss, Hermione's cheeks burning with embarrassment as she and Blake kissed, all thoughts of Harry, or anything else that had been going on in her mind before just faded and vanished.
She smiled softly as the embarrassment faded and her arms gently wrapped around Blake's waist. She wasn't thinking about whether or not she could trust herself to wait for Harry. She wasn't thinking about Harry at all anymore. She wasn't thinking about how she was a genius and that was the only reason anyone had ever spent any time around her. All of her thoughts dissolved into the sweet kiss.
((Author's Note: First off, I know that it is actually an owlrey, but I also know that every time I put that it tells me the spelling is wrong. A rookery is the roosting spot of a rook, which is, from what I can figure, an ancestor of the crow. Anyway, for a double sized chapter and not only mentioning Neville, but having him talk, I think my little phobia of spelling mistakes in the actual writing can be overlooked this once, how about you? Anyway, reviews are my lifeblood, and I'd like to get more before I go out and write more uncharacteristically large chapters. I apologize a million times for anyone who doesn't like original characters coming in and messing up all of your dream pairings, but seriously…the depression act was starting to get to me.))