Chapter 1 – An Unexpected Encounter
It was a cold, rainy November night when it happened.
Straight after dinner, Hermione Granger had escaped to the mercifully quiet confines of the school library – possibly her favourite place in the entire grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
She had found a comfortable armchair in a dimly lit, secluded corner of the room, away from the glaring eyes of Madam Pince who was never too keen to let the students touch her precious books.
Hermione yawned. It was such a relief to get away from the hassles of school life – and life in general, in fact - and immerse herself in a good book. In this case, 'House-elves: To Free or Not to Free' by Servitus Libertas.
"Ron can be so insensitive sometimes!" she seethed out loud for the twentieth time in the past hour, and, sighing, leaned back in her chair, closing her sore, red eyes.
It wouldn't be so bad if her friends actually gave her some encouragement sometimes, rather than putting her down. SPEW was very important to her and they knew it. The least they could do was support her.
She sighed again, the laughter that had followed Ron's nasty comments earlier still ringing in her ears.
Hermione woke with a start. She peered around the library groggily, to find it dark and deserted. She closed her eyes again, wondering how on earth she could have let herself fall asleep during her SPEW research.
Suddenly, an ice-cold breeze filled the room. Shivering slightly, Hermione stretched her arms and opened her eyes, looking for the source of the cold air. She was startled to see someone occupying a chair adjacent to her own...
Ron was annoyed. He had been waiting in the deserted common room alone for hours - Harry having gone to bed long before – and there was still no sign of Hermione.
He hadn't seen her since she ran out of the Great Hall after their argument during dinner. He knew he shouldn't tease her about SPEW so cruelly and so often, but he couldn't seem to help himself. It was just such a ridiculous idea!
"Elfish Welfare, I ask you! They like being slaves!" he huffed, but there was a distinct note of worry in his voice, cleverly buried beneath his scorn.
He remembered the way Hermione's bright, happy face had fallen when he had interrupted her excited ramblings about SPEW to tell her exactly where she could stick her action group - much to the amusement of Harry, Dean and Seamus, but not so with Hermione.
She had tearfully berated him for being unsupportive and cruel, and he knew deep down that she was right. If he was any sort of friend he would encourage her in anything she did, but he simply couldn't bring himself to support something he was so opposed to.
Sighing miserably, Ron settled himself back into his favourite chair by the fire and continued to dwell on the way Hermione's watery eyes had conveyed her deep, harrowing disappointment in him.
Hermione peered into the darkness, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light. She could just about make out a dark figure slumped in the chair opposite her, but it was too dark to tell who it was.
Slightly unsettled and reluctant to leave the warm confines of her cosy chair, Hermione spoke in a whisper.
"H-hello?...Who's there?"
The figure twitched suddenly, as if he or she had been hitherto unaware of Hermione's presence in the room.
"Hello?" Hermione repeated, curious to know who was lurking in the shadows. Several long moments passed before a husky male voice answered.
"Hello, Hermione."
Hermione froze. She did not recognise the voice, yet its mysterious owner apparently knew her. She waited a moment to compose herself before asking, in a tremulous voice,
"Wh-who are you? How do you know my name?"
The stranger laughed. A rich, pleasant laugh that, for some reason, relaxed Hermione and brought her ragged breathing back to normal.
"Oh, I know you, Hermione, I know you very well," the voice paused, as if savouring the moment. "And I must say, it's a real pleasure to be meeting you like this...at long last..."
Hermione shuddered. Not an unpleasant shudder, quite the contrary in fact. There was no fear in it, just pure excitement.
"Who are you?" she repeated in a soft whisper, staring at the shadowy figure, praying for him to reveal himself.
As if in answer to her silent plea, the figure stood slowly and took a small, cautious step into the dim light between the two chairs. Hermione gasped.
It was a young man of about 18 years old. He had beautiful dark hair and strikingly blue eyes that stood out vividly against his dark Hogwarts robes.
This, however, was not what had caused Hermione to gasp. Her surprise had been due to the fact that she could see right through the boy to the vacated chair behind him. Hermione had read enough books and had enough encounters in her time at Hogwarts to determine that he was in fact...a ghost.
"Charlie," he uttered softly, his piercing eyes fixed on hers. "I'm Charlie."
A/N:-
(17 Oct 04): This is my first fanfic so please forgive my rustiness! More chapters to come as soon as possible... Thanks! Please review...