It's not exactly a secret that I have always loved reading books. I was the easy person to shop for on holidays. Just give me a book and I'm sure we could be great friends. I was pretty good at it too, reading I mean. When you read as much as I did, you begin to find patterns and links in everything. You begin to see the world through a pair of reading glasses, and you find plot lines and characters and you find meaning. But even greater than that, I believe, was my growing ability to be able to read, not only books, but people. Yes, I could read people. The more I knew you, the more I could think the way you think and feel the way you feel. It was by no means an easy thing to do. People are like books, you know, some are more complicated than others. But, it's the complicated ones that teach you the most about life. And in my life, Harry was the most complicated book I ever had to read.

Hermione awoke the next morning feeling more tired than usual. It was the last day of term and for the first time she didn't think she would miss the castle all that much over the holidays. Any escape from Umbridge was a welcome one.

As she got in the shower, she began imagining situations she would rather be in than having to be stuck in a room with Umbridge. She stood there under the hot water for longer than usual contemplating each one. Eat a box filled with puke-flavored Bertie Bott's Beans, become a beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, have a girls' night with Pansy Parkinson, babysit Grawp, climb the Whomping Willow, have tea with a Death Eater…

She paused briefly on the last one, but decided in the end that having tea with Umbridge would probably be worse. After all, what was the worst thing a Death Eater could do? Kill her? Well, hopefully it would be a quick death.

"I think I'm going mad," Hermione muttered to herself, stepping out of the shower at last. She did a quick drying spell on her hair and exited the bathroom, much to the pleasure of Lavender who had been waiting quite impatiently outside the door. Grabbing her book bag, Hermione headed down into the Common Room to wait for Harry and Ron.

At the thought of Harry, Hermione's stomach suddenly felt slightly uneasy.

She thought back to last night, shaking her head and laughing to herself. I'm not jealous of Cho. What nonsense! This is Harry we are talking about, Harry. As in Harry Potter? The specky git with glasses? Okay, okay he's not a git. Well…he has been acting git-like a lot these days. But that's not the point. The point is, I'm not jealous of Cho.

Hermione seemed satisfied with this conclusion. Looking at her watch, she wondered what was taking the boys so long anyway. Deciding that they must have already gone down to breakfast, she made her way out the portrait hole and down to the Great Jall. However, upon reaching the Gryffindor table she could spot neither Harry nor Ron.

Slowly sitting down, she looked around her once more. Where could they be? Were they really still asleep?

As breakfast was nearing an end, Hermione began feeling worried. Neville, Dean, or Seamus would have surely woken Harry and Ron if they had still been asleep. Spotting Neville farther down the table, she got up and made her way over to him to ask if he'd seen them. Before reaching him, however, she was intercepted by Colin Creevey.

"Hermione!" he called.

Turning around Hermione saw Colin running up to her. "Yes, Colin?"

"Um, I'm supposed to give you this" he said, handing over a rolled up parchment.

"Oh…okay, thank you," she replied, looking at the parchment uncertainly.

Grabbing her bag, she exited the Great Hall, feeling even more worried than before. Sitting down on the staircase, she carefully unrolled the parchment.

Miss Granger,

Please come to my office after breakfast.

Professor Dumbledore

She felt a jolt in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong. She just knew it.

She ran to the Headmaster's office, deciding that at this moment it was okay to break the 'no running in the corridors' rule. And of course, it had to be all the way on the seventh floor. She was getting a stitch in her chest by the time she came to a halt outside the statue of a gargoyle that held the spiral staircase leading to the Headmaster's office behind it. Panicking, she realized she didn't know the password. She unrolled the parchment to see if she had missed anything and noticed a postscript that read:

I enjoy acid pops.

"Acid pops?"she said aloud.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal the spiral staircase. Shaking her head in disbelief, Hermione quickly made her way up the staircase. She knocked lightly upon the door despite her pounding heartbeat.

"Come in," said a soft, muffled voice.

Opening the door, Hermione saw Professor Dumbledore at his desk looking older than she had ever seen him before.

"Ah, Miss Granger, have a seat," Dumbledore said, pointing to an empty chair in front of his desk.

Hermione sat down obediently. "Professor! Did something happen to Harry and Ron?" she blurted out, unable to remain calm much longer.

"Harry and Ron are safe," he replied.

Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"However, Arthur Weasley was attacked last night while on duty at the Ministry."

"WHAT?" Hermione said, standing up and almost knocking over her chair.

"However," he said again, this time louder, "he is also safe now. They've taken him to St. Mungo's hospital where they expect him to make a full recovery."

Hermione sat down again feeling utterly bewildered. She still had so many questions. "How was he attacked, Sir?"

"He was attacked by Voldemort's snake, Nagini," Dumbledore said.

Hermione gasped, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Mr. Potter witnessed the attack through a vision. If he had not notified me, Arthur Weasley would surely have been dead by now," Dumbledore continued in a grave voice.

Hermione was in complete shock. "Harry had a vision?" she inquired. "What sort of vision?"

Dumbledore, however, ignored Hermione's inquiries and told her that she was to go to all of her classes today so as not to raise suspicion from Umbridge. She would be able to go to Grimmauld Place after term officially ended.

"Now, I understand you were planning on going home for the holidays—

"It's fine! I'll tell my parents I need to study for my OWLs over break. They'll understand," Hermione stated, in a rushed voice.

Dumbledore smiled gently. "While I do not usually condone lying, I believe in this circumstance a small white lie will not hurt anyone."

"Thank you, Professor," she said, smiling back.

"I will arrange a portkey for you. Come to my office after your last class today," he stated.

Hermione nodded her head and made her way to leave. Before reaching the door handle, however, Dumbledore stopped her.

"Miss Granger?"

"Yes, Professor?" she said, turning around.

"I know I don't have to ask this of you, but…" He sighed, looking down for a moment. "I'm worried that Harry is taking the blame for what happened. Please…do try and talk some sense into him. If not...then simply comfort him. After all, his burdens are greater than most men can bear."

Hermione looked into Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes and saw them glistening.

"Of course, Professor," she said gently. "Of course."

And with that, she left, a million different thoughts swirling inside her head. She might as well have not attended any of her classes today, for she could not focus on a single one. She thought about Harry and what Dumbledore had said to her. She thought about Ron and the Weasleys and how much pain they must have gone through. She thought about Harry's vision and what it could mean. She thought about her own parents and how much she missed them. But she would have to wait until summer to see them because she needed to be there for Ron and his family. And she needed to be there for Harry.

Harry.

Her heart ached for Harry. She just wanted to hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay. But she also wanted to smack him across the head for being so stupid to believe that any of this was his fault.

She just needed to see him. And of course today had to be the longest day of her life.

After Charms was finally over, Hermione rushed back to the Common Room and into her dormitory to grab her stuff. Her trunk was already gone so she picked up a few books, stuffed them in her bag, and made her way to Dumbledore's office.

She was just about to knock on his office door when she heard a soft, "Come in, Miss Granger."

"Do you have everything?" he asked.

"My trunk, Sir—

"Is already there."

Hermione nodded.

Dumbledore pulled out an old black kettle from his desk. "You've used a portkey before, I presume?"

"Yes, professor."

"Good. On the count of three then…one…two…three."

Hermione felt the familiar tug around her navel as her feet left the ground and her finger became glued to the kettle. There was a rush of colours and wind and all at once her feet collided hard with the ground.

"Ow…" she said softly, straightening herself up. She was just outside the door to Grimmauld Place and without thinking she rang the doorbell, regretting it instantly as Mrs. Black's screams could be heard from where she was standing outside. There was a scuffle of feet behind the door. A pause. And then suddenly it flew open to reveal a rare sight: Sirius with a ridiculous smile plastered on his face.

"AH, HERMIONE!" he practically yelled, pushing her inside and into a one-armed hug. "So nice of you to join us this Christmas!"

Nearly suffocating, Hermione extracted herself from him with great difficulty. "Thank you for having me, Sirius," she said, breathing freely again.

"My pleasure," Sirius said, flashing her a brilliant smile. "Your stuff is all upstairs, make yourself at home!"

And with that, he left, singing carols and putting up decorations all around the house. Hermione shook her head, bemused by his actions. She made her way upstairs to the room she had shared with Ginny over the summer and found her trunk waiting for her by the foot of her bed. She removed her cloak, scarf, gloves, and hat, and took off in search of the other inhabitants of the house.

She knocked on Harry and Ron's door first.

She could hear someone running to the door, and it was instantly swung open to reveal Ron.

"Oh…it's you," he said in a defeated tone.

"It's great to see you too, Ronald," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

"Don't be offended, Hermione, we were just hoping it was Harry," Ginny said. "He's locked himself up with Buckbeak since we got home from the hospital last night."

"Why?" Hermione inquired, taking a seat on one of the beds.

Ron and Ginny looked at each other.

"Oh come off it, just tell me!" Hermione stated impatiently. "I'm going to find out eventually."

Ginny sighed. "Well, when we were visiting Dad, we overheard him talking to Moody, Lupin, and Tonks using the extendable ears."

"And…?"

"And…Moody said that Harry may have been possessed by You-Know-Who," Ginny finished softly.

Hermione took a sharp intake of breath. "Oh, Harry…"

"He didn't say anything the whole ride back, and he's gone and locked himself upstairs and refuses to come down," Ginny continued.

"But, Ginny…you were possessed by You-Know-Who, too," Hermione said carefully.

"I know, but he seems to have forgotten that fact," she retorted, shaking her head and looking away.

"He just has a lot on his mind right now, Gin," Ron said comfortingly. "We need to bring him down here so we could know for sure."

Hermione nodded. "I'll get him down. He's been wallowing in self-pity long enough."

And with that, she climbed up the stairs all the way to Buckbeak's living quarters and hammered hard on the door.

"I know you're in there," said Hermione. "Will you please come out? I want to talk to you."

She was just about to knock furiously again when the door was pulled open and she came face to face with Harry, himself.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked her, "I thought you were skiing with your mum and dad."

"Well to tell the truth, skiing's not really my thing," said Hermione. "So I've come for Christmas. But don't tell Ron that, I told him it's really good because he kept laughing so much. Anyway, Mum and Dad are a bit disappointed, but I've told them that everyone who's serious about the exams is staying at Hogwarts to study. They want me to do well, they'll understand. Anyway," she said briskly, "let's go to your bedroom, Ron's mum's lit a fire in there and she's sent up sandwiches."

Hermione led the way downstairs and was pleased to find that Harry was following. When they entered the room, she took a seat next to Ginny and the two girls and Ron looked up at Harry.

"How're you feeling?" asked Hermione.

"Fine," said Harry stiffly.

Hermione was fighting extremely hard not to roll her eyes at the moment. "Oh don't lie, Harry," she said impatiently. "Ron and Ginny say you've been hiding from everyone since you got back from St. Mungo's."

"They do, do they?" said Harry, glaring at Ron and Ginny. Ron looked down at his feet but Ginny seemed quite unabashed.

"Well, you have!" she said. "And you won't look at any of us!"

"It's you lot who won't look at me!" said Harry angrily.

"Maybe you're taking it in turns to look and keep missing each other," suggested Hermione, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Very funny," snapped Harry, turning away.

"Oh, stop feeling all misunderstood," said Hermione sharply. "Look, the others have told me what you overheard last night on the Extendable Ears—"

"Yeah?" growled Harry, his hands deep in his pockets as he watched the snow now falling thickly outside. "All been talking about me, have you? Well, I'm getting used to it…"

Why does he insist on being an insufferable git?

"We wanted to talk to you, Harry," said Ginny, "but as you've been hiding ever since we got back—"

"I didn't want anyone to talk to me," said Harry.

"Well that was a bit stupid of you," said Ginny angrily, "seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels."

Harry remained quite still as the impact of these words hit him. Then he wheeled around.

"I forgot," he said.

"Lucky you," said Ginny coolly.

"I'm sorry," said Harry, and he sounded like he truly meant it. "So…do you think I'm being possessed, then?"

Everyone turned to look at Ginny.

"Well, can you remember everything you've been doing?" Ginny asked. "Are there big blank periods where you don't know what you've been up to?"

Harry paused for a moment, his forehead creased in thought.

"No," he finally said.

"Then You-Know-Who hasn't ever possessed you," said Ginny simply. "When he did it to me, I couldn't remember what I'd been doing for hours at a time. I'd find myself somewhere and not know how I got there. "

Hermione let out a breath she had been holding and she could see from Harry's face that a large weight had been lifted off him.

"See Harry, all you had to do was talk to us about it," said Hermione softly, touching his arm.

Harry looked down at her hand from where he standing and seemed to stare absently at it for a moment.

"Yeah mate, I don't care if you were possessed by You-Know-Who, we wouldn't just abandon you," added Ron. Hermione and Ginny nodded their heads in agreement.

Hermione, realizing her hand was still on Harry's arm, quickly removed it. She cleared her throat quietly, looking anywhere but at Harry.

"I know…I was just being thick I guess," said Harry.

"You guess?" said Ron and Ginny in unison.

Harry grinned, punching Ron lightly in the arm. "Watch it, Weasleys."

"Come on let's eat, I'm starved," said Ron.

"When aren't you, Ron?" replied Ginny.

"Hermione, you hungry?" said Ron stuffing half a sandwich completely in his mouth, with Ginny looking at him with disgust.

"Yeah…yeah I am pretty hungry," Hermione admitted, taking a seat on the ground between Harry and Ron.

"Ron, try not to choke and die," said Harry leaning across Hermione to grab a sandwich.

As he leaned over, Hermione instantly caught a whiff of a clean, soapy scent that was very pleasing to her nostrils.

Oh Merlin…am I going mad? Why does he have to smell so clean and fresh all the bloody time? And since when do I use the word 'bloody'? Oh goodness…if Mum ever heard me…He's just a specky git!

And with that, Hermione ate her sandwich in peace, ignoring any funny feelings in the pit of her stomach that arose as Harry's leg brushed against hers.

A/N: Okayyyy so, I am finally done with my freshman year of college. Woot! THEREFORE, it won't take me ten years to update anymore. But do you know what would be an amazing end-of-freshman-year gift? A REVIEW. Pleaseandthankyou.