Quidditch and The Grim Truth
(Hermione's POV)
I move uncomfortably in the sleeping bag I was inside. I was looking up at the enchanted ceiling where there were no longer pumpkins but thousands of stars. I turn over and face Harry who was also struggling in his sleeping bag. Ron is snoring, lost in dreamland. We're all sleeping in the Great Hall because The Fat Lady left her portrait and said she saw Sirius Black, the Azkaban escapee. The Grim. The thought of him wanting Harry, if that rumor is true, scares me but Hogwarts is the safest place to be… I hope.
"Do you really think Sirius scared the Fat lady out of the portrait?" Harry whispers, sounding lost.
"The school is protected with so many spells, I wouldn't know how he would make it in here but I guess weirder things have happened and magic is always unpredictable," I say honestly.
"I would prefer if you would lie to me next time," he smiles, turning on his back.
"Harry?" I whisper.
"Yes?" he responds.
"Do you think Malfoy could actually be a good guy deep down?" I ask. He doesn't respond right away.
"I don't know Hermione, he's covered head to toe in issues. But, I guess in a way so are the rest of us," he sighs. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," I lie.
"Well, don't go down that thought rabbit hole, if walls could talk, I'm sure they would have nothing good to say about Draco Malfoy," he says, turning on his side.
"Yeah," I whisper to myself before turning on my side too. "Are you nervous for the game tomorrow?"
"Im nervous about a lot of things right now Hermione, Quidditch is low on the list. I feel like I'm written in this book as a kid who is completely robbed of their childhood," he whispers sadly.
"You definitely have been put through the lot," I agree. "You'll do great in the game tomorrow Harry, you're the best seeker we've had in ages."
"Thanks Hermione," he smiles. "Goodnight."
"Sweet dreams," I whisper.
XXXXXXXXXX
The storm is brewing and it echos through the sky. The rain is pounding down, feeling like needle pricks. Everyone is in the Quidditch stands, soaking it all in through their clothes. It's pointless to even have an umbrella because the wind will just horde it. The sky is as grey as Merlin's beard and I can barely see though the fog.
"Can you see Harry?" I yell at Ron, trying to see which blur is him.
"Yes, he's right, I mean he's right ther," he starts to say.
"At least he can see now," I say relieved.
"Quick thinking on your part," Ron says. We watch the blurs zig zag through the stadium. The screams of the students are drowned but the thunder of the sky. I see black at the bottom of the field.
"Dementors," I yell, poking Ron.
"What are they doing here?" He questioned.
"I don't know," I say worried. We see Harry and he sees the Snitch. He's off on his Nimbus but then abruptly stops. He falls off his broom and the broom goes flying.
"HARRY!" I scream, heart dropping to my toes. Dumbledore whispers a spell and Harry's body slows down before touching the ground. Before I could reach Dumbledore, all the students starts running wild and stepping all over each other. I feel someone lift me up and carry me through the crowd. We get to the stairs and they let me down.
"Sorry I grabbed you but it was getting wild," Fred says, pulling his hood down.
"No, I appreciate it," I said thankfully. Did you see if Harry was ok?"
"I heard Dumbledore say he was taking him to the hospital wing," he yells over everyone screaming.
"We should go get his broom and then go to the hospital wing," I say walking down the stairs. Fred caught up with me.
"Did you see where it went?" He asks.
"Yes, but I'm hoping I'm wrong," I respond.
We race to the Whooping Willow and look to see if his broom is in the tree. I run closer and don't see it in the tree. I look down and see pieces scattered everywhere.
"Oh no," I sigh walking to pick a piece up.
"Hermione!" Fred says and tackles me from the branch that was swinging towards me. We roll on the ground and just miss the hit. Fred rolls on top of me."Are you okay?" He asked, raining falling from his hair onto my face. I look at him for a moment, frozen.
"Yes," I finally say, softly. He stares at me for a second with his dark brown eyes, almost black. I get lost in the abyss for a moment. He suddenly helps me up and I look around us again.
"His broom is ruined," I say, holding the broken piece bending down to pick up a few more.
"I rather have a Harry than a broom Hermione," he says reaching for my hand. I grab it and we race into the school.
We get inside the school and shake off the rain. I start to get teary eyed.
"Hermione," Fred says grabbing my arm. "He's okay," he wipes the tear from my cheek.
"Let's just go," I say, pulling from him. We make our way to the hospital wing.
I run through the door and see Poppy and a bunch of our house surrounding Harry.
"Is he ok?" I ask, trembling.
"He's going to be, I think he just fainted from the Dementors," Ron said, relieved.
"His broom is destroyed," I say, holding out the bag or wooden pieces.
"He's going to be devastated," Ron sighs. We start talking about the Dementors and Harry finally wakes up. We break the news about the Hufflepuff win and the status of his broom. We chat a bit before leaning the wing to let him rest.
"Hermione can we talk?' Fred asks when we walk out of the wing. "I'll catch you guys later," he says ti George and everyone.
"What's up?" I ask, looking at him.
"Well, Halloween night I was walking to the," he started say.
"Granger!" Draco yelled, running up to us.
"I'll just talk to you later," Fred said annoyed, leaving us.
"Draco, what are you doing?"
"How is Potter?" Draco asks, looking at the hospital wing door.
"He'll be fine with some rest," I say with relief.
"Good," he responds.
"Why are you here?"
"I just wanted to check on you and Potter of course."
"Sure," I say.
"Hermione, can you please just cut me some slack?" He pleads.
"Sorry, I'm all worked up from Harry," I say softly.
"I know, come here," he pulls me into a hug. I relax my tense shoulders and just drown into him. I just feel like I'm on a rollercoaster of emotions.
"I'm so tired," I whispered, laying my head on his shoulder.
"Come on let's go to the dungeon, you can rest in my bed in peace," he offers. "I promise, I'll leave you alone and everyone is in the Great Hall so no worries on running into anyone."
"A nap does sound nice," I agree, walking with him through the halls.
We get to his room and I crash on his bed. He pulls the blanket over me and sits down next to me.
"You make messy look good," he laughs, pulling on my wet hair.
"Shut it," I laugh.
"I know I've done some stupid things lately but I really am sorry Hermione. I just want you to know how beautiful you are. I'm afraid when your heart is involved it all comes out in moron," he laughs, fixing the blanket. He kisses me softly on the cheeks before pulling away.
"You're not off the hook but thanks for checking up on Harry, it means a lot."
"Anything for you Granger, get some rest," he says standing up from his bed.
I doze.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
I walk down the stairway to the the Great Hall and see Fred and George at the end of the stairs. They have some sort of parchment in there hands and are whispering.
"Hey," I ask suspiciously. I see Fred whip the parchment into his bag.
"Hey," he says surprised.
"What was that?" I ask.
"What was what?" George smirks.
"The parchment?" I point to his bag.
"What parchment?" Fred smirks.
"Fred," I say sternly.
"Fred," George says sternly.
"George," Fred says sternly.
"You know what? Never-mind," I say giving up. George laughs and walks into the Great Hall.
"You two are always up to something," I laugh.
"Would you really expect anything less?" he smirks.
"So what is it that you had to talk to me about," I ask curiously.
"Well, I'll just cut to the chase, I overheard you and Draco the other night," he says, looking intently at me.
"You heard what exactly?"
"That he put his hands on you," he says seriously.
"It's not what you're thinking," I say quickly.
"What is with this kid Hermione?" He snapped.
"Nothing Fred," I snap back, walking ahead of him. He grabs my arm lightly and I turn around.
"Do you love him?" He questioned, staring into my eyes.
"Not that it's any of your business but no," I snap, pulling away from him. He lowers his gaze and backs away.
"Million guys in the world and you have to see this one," he says.
"Do you ever just want something to distract you from life?" I say softly.
"You choose Malfoy for a distraction? Of all things? Pick up a new book!" He shouts.
"He's not all bad Fred, he's had a rough life," I defend.
"He brings it on himself!" Fred yells.
"Like Harry has brought on all of his misfortune?" I snap.
"It's different," he snuffs.
"Is it?" I retort.
"Yes, and you know it," he says through his teeth, staring dead into my eyes.
"I just feel attached to Draco at the moment, I don't know why. He distracts me from everything that's been going on," I protest walking outside.
"I'm attached to pie, doesn't mean I date pie," He barked sarcastically.
"Clever," I say, sitting down.
"Hermione, I'm just worried about you," he sighs, sitting next to me.
"I can handle myself," I smile, nudging his side.
"Don't I know it," he laughs, nudging me back.
"Fred it's nothing serious and if it were I'd tell you," I say honestly.
"Promise me something?" He asks.
"Yes?"
"If anything ever goes "too far", you'll find me," he says seriously, grabbing my hand. I look at him and see the worry in his eye.
"I promise Fred," I smile, hugging him. He steps away and walks back inside.
I look at him walk away and then look down at my hands. I start to twirl my fingers. It's not that I'm in love with Draco but I guess I'm just lonely. Books usually are my distraction and my answer to everything but it's not working that way anymore. The grim truth of it all is I just want to feel something. I like the feeling of seeing someone and being wanted, it's addicting. Maybe it's my hormones or maybe i am being daft. Draco is so unexpected and it just sends a kind of odd thrill through me. He isn't all bad, I don't know why I feel empathic for him. I feel empathic for everyone and I wish I didn't. My body just seems to soak up their pain and I just want to fix it so I don't have to feel their emotion. I just want to fix it like I would with a useful spell. I look up at where Fred had been sitting and sigh.
I promise.
