Chapter Five

Shhh… It's a Secret

Harry, Ron, and Hermione pondered their thoughts about the sword and what could have frightened Dobby so much after they finished their schoolwork, Thursday afternoon.

"What could scared Dobby like that, besides Malfoy?" asked Harry, "I mean, it couldn't have been Lucius, he had a class at the time.

"And what about that sword?" added Ron.

Hermione thought about the sword for a moment. "Why was there a stick in it?"

Harry shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mi- - no wait, it's better than mine." For a brief moment seriousness was lifted when Hermione giggled, Ron snorted, and Harry laughed at himself.

Ron stared into the distance as his laugher died down. "Dobby had said something about a curse…"

Harry and Hermione both looked at Ron, who looked back and in unison they spoke. "The Cruciatus curse."

Harry began a train of thought. "The sword must've of cut his ear, that's a given."

Ron continued, "And the wood, it's a wand!"

"That must've been what had scared Padma, whatever held the sword," added Hermione. "But whose blood was on Crookshanks?"

Ron and Harry had both forgotten about Hermione's cat.

"Err… I don't think we can solve that quite yet…" said Harry, walking on eggshells.

"What about that thing Luna had said?" questioned Ron.

"Well," said Hermione, "besides us knowing that Harry's the 'one'?"

Harry stared out the window, and watched an owl fly past.

Draco lay on his green and silver bed covers, on his wooden four-poster bed. He had the curtains drawn shut even though it was only four o'clock, and still light outside. He thought about Ginny, as he did everyday. A pecking sound came at his window. He drew back the curtains. One of the school owls was holding something in its beak right outside his window. Draco went to open the window. He grabbed the letter, seeing that his name was written in pink pen on it. Draco opened it hastily.

Dear Draco.

Meet me just outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom at midnight on Saturday.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

P.S. Please try your best to sneak-out even though you're supposed to be escorted by a professor everywhere.

Draco read it again and again, not certain if it was joy or nervousness filling his heart.

Harry walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on a particularly rainy Friday.

"Mr. Potter!" the chill voice of Mr. Malfoy boomed. "I suppose you don't have your work done."

Harry, however, had already become accustomed to this, and shoved the piece of parchment in his face.

The professor pushed the paper aside. "Very well, sit down."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats in the back of the dimly lit room.

Lucius went to the chalkboard in the front of the room. "Open your books to page thirty." He tapped the chalkboard with his long black wand and a drawing of a strange creature appeared with a label underneath it, declaring it an Obber.

Harry opened his book hastily, suddenly remembering that Luna had mentioned something about Obbers at one time.

"The Obber as described in Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them Volume 2:

'The Obber is a very small animal. The record height of it is not one foot, as it states in an earlier Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them, but one foot and one half of an inch. The Obbers are typically a dark brown color but can also be found in white. They look very similar to a small dog but with a few differences. First, the Obber doesn't have pointed or folded ears, but more of a rabbit's big floppy ears so they can cool themselves off and listen easily to approaching sounds. Also, the tail is quite different, it isn't bushy or straight, it is a monkey tail used for offensive and defensive reasons. Last, the feet of the Obbers aren't paws but pig hooves used for fighting against predators or, for the males, fighting for the female.

The Obber pup is always looking to play in its small pack. When the pup is the only one in the pack an adult usually steps in to play, just to teach it how to fight and become an alpha male someday. Most wizards are usually fooled by the playful side of these beasts and will try to capture one to keep as a pet. The second the wizard touches one of the pups, the whole pack is attacking the wizard. The defense they use is their hooves, and their tails. When a tail starts to wrap around the poor wizard it is usually too late to escape the Boa Constrictor like grip of the Obber tail.

Some beasts, such as the Thestral, the Centaur, and the Unicorn are considered friends among the Obbers. Many other dangerous animals have befriended them, therefore leaving the Obber with little or no chance of being eaten or attacked. The only known animals to have eaten these beasts are the dragon (excepting the Swedish Short-Snout), the Acromantula, and the Basilisk.

The Obbers typically feed on Cornish Pixies and Flobberworms, otherwise anything that is considered unwelcome in their territory. These beasts are very dangerous and have been given a M.O.M. Classification of XXXXX (known wizard killer/ impossible to train or domesticate).'"

"In your books," began the professor, "is a description of the Obber. Once you have read through it, I will tell you every defense against this dangerous beast."

Hermione looked out of the window feeling very bored. She blew a strand of her long curly hair out of her face.

"Miss Granger! Please return to your reading!" barked Lucius.

"But professor," defended Hermione, putting on a very innocent face, "I've already finished…last night."

"Well, good then, I shall be expecting an extra homework assignment from you.

Draco sniggered loudly as his father got out a quill and wrote quickly on a piece of parchment, which he then handed to Hermione.

"Now, class, one of the defenses to use against the Obber is to simply not go up to it. Another is to not use the stunning spell; it will only make it more aggressive." Hermione glared at him. "The last is to call a knife to you, and cut its tail away."

Hermione looked at him, almost shaking with anger.

"There are, unfortunately, no other ways in which to protect yourself…" continued Lucius.

Hermione's hand shot into the air.

"Miss Granger?"

"You're wrong!" shouted Hermione as she bolted upright.

Ron jumped at her sudden outburst.

"I beg your pardon?" asked the professor.

"You're wrong! Just like you were earlier this week!"

"Wrong about what?"

"Everything! The Tragmars! Obbers! Meiphadus!"

"You Miss Granger are the incorrect one of us. You're not the professor now, are you?

"So what about being the professor? You're still wrong! You're going to get somebody killed by not telling us the true defenses!"

"That's it! Ten points from Gryffindor for a disturbance!"

"Professor Malfoy, it is not I that is causing the disturbance," said Hermione playing up a mocking imitation of Lucius, "it's you! All of the students loathe you, why don't you just leave!"

"Shut-up, you filthy mudblood!" yelled Draco as he stood up to join in the argument.

"Why?" challenged Hermione.

"I'll… I'll…"

"You'll what?" laughed Hermione.

Draco kept stammering. "I'll… I'll…"

"Just what you'd expect from a ferret!" added Harry standing as well.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" shouted Lucius.

Ron pulled his wand out from beneath his robes, concealing it beneath his desk upon his lap. He watched silently, thinking of several different spells, stupefy… obliviate…

Hermione laughed remembering the sight of Draco as the "amazing bouncing ferret."

Harry saw Ron mutter something quietly as Draco shouted some meaningless comeback at him. The Malfoys suddenly started to dance uncontrollably. The Gryffindor students laughed furiously as the Slytherins tried to aid their dancing classmate and professor.

Draco sat upon his bed, holding ice on his worn-out legs. The letter from his secret admirer lay next to him. Who could it be?

Vanessa walked to her Transfiguration lesson with a Ravenclaw girl she had befriended.

"Vanessa, is something wrong?" solicited the girl.

"No, no, nothing's wrong…"

The girl passed a worried glance into Vanessa's dark eyes.

Draco looked to the clock. Five minutes to twelve. He started to head to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

When he arrived outside of the door, he leaned on a nearby statue and waited patiently.

The clock struck twelve and a figure came out of the shadows.

"Who… who are you?" asked the bewildered Draco, seeing nothing but shadows and a faint gleam in the girl's eyes.

"Shhh…" she placed her index finger upon his lips, "It's a secret."

Draco had fallen under a spell. With the moonlight and the mystery taking affect he knew now that he had found his one true love.

The girl softly kissed him and he tentatively returned the kisses. His strong robed arms wrapped around her, as did her delicate ones around him.

"I think I love you… though I don't know who you are," whispered Draco in her ear.

She let out a small mysterious giggle in reply.

Black clouds came on Sunday, with rain falling like hot tears.

Neville walked up to Ginny. "You don't love me anymore, do you?

Ginny looked at him solemnly, feeling awful as tears trickled down his somber face.

"Do you?" he repeated, wanting to hear something other than what he saw in her eyes.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry Neville," she replied quietly.

"Can I just say something?" He bit his lip trying to stop the tears.

Ginny nodded, looking at her feet. She couldn't bear to see him this sad.

Neville wiped away a few tears that were soon replaced by more before continuing. "Y-you're absolutely amazing Ginny. A-and if you ever need anything, anything, I'll be there for you." He grabbed her hands. "I-I-I love you."

"I know." She kissed him on the cheek and left, tears coming from her own eyes.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat in the library that afternoon, and finished up their last bit of schoolwork.

Harry gazed into the library aisles. "Ron?"

"Yeah?" answered his best friend looking up from his transfiguration work.

"We're the only Quidditch players left, aren't we?"

"Yup," replied Ron, "Wait… what!"

"We need to have try-outs."

"When?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Er… how about this Saturday?"

"Sounds good."

"Hermione?" questioned Harry.

"Huh?" came the reply.

"Can you make some posters to advertise try-outs?"

"Yeah… sure…" She went immediately back to her work.

Harry walked into the Transfiguration classroom. "Professor?" he called, "I need some help on the assignment."

The outline of a girl was shown in the moonlit classroom, her face still in shadows.

"Hello?" questioned Harry.

"It's too late…" whispered the girl, "It's too late."

"What…"

Luna stepped from the darkness. "It's too late."

Harry walked up to the Ravenclaw student. "Luna? What do you mean 'too late'?"

"It's too late," repeated Luna, and as she spoke, her words began to fade away as she moved to the side to reveal Hermione: limp on the ground with a Slytherin scarf tied around her neck.

Harry hit the ground as he fell from his bed. Hot breath rushed from his lips as he relived his dream. It seemed so real.

Hermione handed Ron a large piece of rolled up paper.

"This the poster?" he asked.

"Yup."

He opened it up, surveying her hard work. "Excellent!"

Hermione blushed as Ron smiled at her.

The week rolled by, as excitement began to build, leading to the Gryffindor Quidditch try-outs. Harry woke up Saturday morning, bright light shining into the dormitory. He looked at his clock and was shocked to find that it was already 11:40, he never heard his alarm, and apparently, neither had the sleeping Ron.

"Ron! Ron!" bellowed Harry into his best friend's ear. "Wakeup! We have twenty minutes to get ready for try-outs!"

Ron slowly began to wakeup as he spoke a few random words. "Save… elves… must… save…"

Harry looked at him curiously, and then shook him.

Ron sat upright very quickly. "Huh…what?"

"Try-outs!" exclaimed Harry. "In twenty minutes!"

Ron and Harry bolted around the dormitory getting ready and then ran to the Quidditch Pitch.

"Ah, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, I'm so glad you decided to join me," stated Professor McGonagall sternly.

Ron's ears grew red with embarrassment as his fellow Gryffindors giggled at him.

"Sorry professor, our alarms didn't go off…" defended Harry.

"Well, let's get started, shall we?" asked Professor McGonagall rhetorically. "First up for chaser…"

Harry and Ron came into the Gryffindor common room, discussing whom they should pick for the team.

"Definitely Ginny," said Harry smiling.

"And what about that Creevey kid?" questioned Ron.

Harry burst out laughing as he remembered the first time he ever met Colin Creevey and of course Ron joined in remembering the magnitude of photographs.

On Monday, Professor McGonagall posted the names of the team members that she, along with Harry and Ron, had decided belonged on the team.

Chasers

Ginny Weasley

Colin Creevey

Olivia Lynch

Beaters

Seamus Finnigan

Daniel Lewis

Practice is every Saturday at 7:00 am on the Quidditch Pitch.

Hermione painfully gazed across the courtyard as she watched the young man she loved kiss Luna Lovegood. Jealousy filled every inch of her soul. Luna pulled away, giving a loud cry of triumphant laughter.

"Go away Hermione!" shouted Ron. "I hate you! All you've ever done is bring me down! Just go away!"

Panic stricken, Hermione ran away bawling. She fell into the arms of Harry, and she couldn't escape. Harry laughed malevolently as he pulled her closer to him.

Hermione couldn't pull away. "Let me go!" she cried, but he didn't listen. "Somebody… help!" But nobody heard. Harry's lips pressed against hers. Their warmth felt like a thousand knives piercing her lips as she screamed in agony.

Hermione woke up in bed, blood streaming down her chin and staining her bed sheets. What the bloody hell? She thought. She got up from her bed and walked to the nearest mirror, leaving little drops of blood on her way. Her lips really were pierced everywhere and in terrible pain. She screamed.

It was Thursday morning and Harry and Ron couldn't find Hermione in the Gryffindor common room, nor did they see her until their break when she came into the Great Hall, looking rather wasted.

"What happened Hermione?" asked a very concerned Ron. "And why are your lips swollen?"

Hermione blushed at the fact that Ron had looked at her lips but then realized how ridiculous she was being. "I…er… I had a bad dream. Really quite dreadful in fact." She remembered the jealousy, the pain.

"You still haven't told us why your lips are swollen," persisted Harry.

Hermione shuddered; did she dare tell them who had done it in her nightmare? She decided against it. "Er… it's really quite fuzzy. But I dreamt that H… someone had kissed me. It felt like thousands of knives penetrating my lips." She dazed off, reliving the horror of the night.

"And?" Ron and Harry said in unison.

Hermione snapped back to the conversation. "And when I woke up… my lips were really pierced… so I screamed and fainted. When I woke up again, I was in the Hospital Wing and Madame Pomfrey was tending to my bleeding lips.

Harry wound his arm around Hermione and she almost screamed as if his touch burned.

Ron looked at Hermione, very puzzled at her frightened face as Harry bent in to kiss her lightly.

"Let go of me Harry," she said sullenly.

"What?" asked Harry.

"I said let go of me."

"But…but…" stammered a confused Harry.

"But nothing Harry, leave me alone." She stormed out of the Great Hall.

A school owl flew in through Draco's window, carrying a small letter. He went and picked it up from where the owl dropped it.

Dear Draco,

Meet me at the same place, same time, tonight. I'll be counting the minutes.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

Draco licked his lips, feeling a sweet sensation remembering the last time.

Harry walked up to Hermione, "I'm sorry about earlier, I thought… I thought you liked me…"

Hermione looked at Harry curiously, for some odd reason she just couldn't trust the look in his eyes.

"I guess I shouldn't have treated you that way…" Harry paused a moment, and a look of malice filled his eyes. "How's this!" he yelled as he threw her into the boys dormitory and locked the door.

Hermione tried to scream, but no sound escaped, she began to sob, loudly in pain as Harry pinned her to the bed and ripped off her robes. "No! No! No!" she cried.

She turned her head to the side, trying to escape Harry's violent kisses and there was Vanessa. Expressionlessly staring at the sight.

Suddenly Vanessa spoke, "It's too late, everything's in motion, it's too late…"

A voice began to ring throughout the room. "Hermione…wake-up…Hermione." It was her own voice.

Hermione felt a sudden sharp pain when she landed on her stack of books next to her bed. She looked around, everyone was asleep and there she was, in her underwear. Her clothes were sprawled cross the floor in many tattered pieces. "What the bloody hell!" she whispered.

She grabbed a robe and headed out of the common room. She needed to walk to get away from it all: her dreams, Harry, reality itself. As she was about to leave, a shadow of another figure turned and went up to the girls' dormitory.

Draco waited in the shadows near the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom when he saw something move in the darkness. The Slytherin boy ran up to her and held her in a warm embrace as he kissed her. Hermione was startled at the mysterious student kissing her, yet it felt so good. She lost all logic and kissed him back.

Draco was slightly confused, something was different, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. He decided that whatever it was that had changed, he liked it. He drew back a moment to gaze at the mysterious eyes glistening in the tiny bit of moonlight. Those seductive, beautiful eyes that he had never really looked at before, yet they seemed different. Hermione touched the boy's cheek softly as she drew him back for a second, engaging kiss. Draco pulled the girl closer to him as he was lost in the thought of the kiss. That stunning, delectable kiss that was making him lose all thought of being caught.

Hermione drew back, licking her lips trying to keep that wonderful sensation. "Who… who are you?" she whispered.

Draco laughed lightly, taking it as a joke and leaned in to whisper, "I love you."

Hermione couldn't control herself and madly kissed him again.

Draco pulled back. "It's getting late, will you meet me here tomorrow, same time?

Hermione kissed him one last, perfect time and assured him with an "of course."

The two slowly parted and went back to their dormitories.

The morning came with the sun shining brightly into the Gryffindor boys' dormitory. Ron woke with a start and decided it was time to get up anyway so he got dressed and walked to the common room. There he saw Hermione, sitting in the big armchair, licking her lips. He was mesmerized for a second at her beauty that he had never fully realized before. Sure, he thought she was pretty, but beautiful seemed out of the question till now. He then snapped back to thought. What are you thinking Ron?

Hermione continued to lick her lips and smile as Ron stood by the table, unnoticed. He continued to stare at her, suddenly comprehending that there was no one else in the common room.

Ron suddenly lost all control and ran to Hermione and kissed her. Hermione was startled, but let him kiss her with his newly found passion.

Ron drew back, "Oh Hermione, I've…I just…I've been denying myself for so long!"

Hermione thought the kiss felt somewhat familiar, but different.

"I love you Hermione!" he exclaimed.

She gasped. "Are you the one…?"

Ron looked at her, confused, but still agreed. "What? I suppose…"

She leapt into his arms and kissed him, still trying to figure out what was so different from the familiarity associated with the moonlit visit.

When Draco woke in the morning he found a letter on his lap.

Dear Draco,

Sorry about last night. Meet me there tonight, I'll try to sneak out again.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

"Sorry?" Draco laughed considering it as just another joke.

Ron walked into the Great Hall and looked across at all the students, when Luna came up and kissed him, he couldn't bear to tell her his real feelings and decided to let it go until a later time.

That evening, Ron and Hermione spent three hours just talking (and maybe kissing a little too) in a hidden corner of the common room.

"Are you going to leave Luna?" asked Hermione.

Ron looked very puzzled. "I don't…I don't…I don't know what to do…"

"I'm no going to let you continue to let her live a lie," continued Hermione.

Ron gave a sad look; he didn't want to hurt Luna. At ten 'o'clock the two went to their dormitories.

Draco sat up in bed and decided he would leave for the meeting spot early, he couldn't wait for another breathtaking kiss.

Hermione didn't sleep at all while she tried to figure if she should still go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She finally agreed that she would, and since she didn't know what time she originally left, she decided on leaving then.

When Hermione saw a dark figure come towards her in the night, she ran into its arms and immediately fell into a kiss. For some reason she thought that something was incredibly changed from earlier that day.

Ginny looked to the clock and left the common room amidst the night shadows; it was five minutes to midnight.

Draco held his mystery girl lovingly, wanting nothing more than for that moment to go on forever.

Ginny walked from the dark shadows of the corridor and stared at Hermione… and Draco kissing. That moment lasted forever as he heart shattered. She ran back to the common room, trying not to cry. Why? Why…

Draco slid his hand down Hermione's back and pulled her closer to him. She grew soft at the touch. She knew that she loved the young man that was holding her, even if he did seem a bit different at night. Hermione caressed Draco's skin as she pulled back to admire his glimmering eyes that shone a different color in the moonlight. Draco couldn't resist and continued to kiss her, longing for her with every fiber of his being. It was then that he knew that he would love her for the rest of his life.