The Potter Timeline

Chapter 14 - A Light in the Darkness

The outer door to the third-floor corridor opened in complete silence. A figure under cover of invisibility entered and closed the door behind. The figure waited for the pyres inside the Hall of Reflection to turn on of their own accord, as usual. But nothing happened. The chamber remained dark.

Puzzled, Hermione pulled off Harry's cloak and the pyres suddenly lit. This was a revelation - the pyres apparently would only light with the visible presence of a person. To confirm this, the girl threw the cloak back over her head. The pyres went out and the room darkened. A smirk on her face at this discovery, Hermione pulled the cloak back off and moved into the Hall as the pyres relit.

She sat down in the center, up against one of the gargoyle statues. This afforded the girl a view of the enchanted images on either side, which, she and Harry discovered, could show the recorded events from two different perspectives.

Placing the cloak on the floor, Hermione opened the book she brought to read: Magical Theory and All Its Particulars - Understanding the Magic Behind the Magic. The twelve-year-old bought the book at Flourish and Blotts during her initial visit to Diagon Alley. Though it was technical and full of terminology she'd never seen before, it was a challenge the fluffy-haired girl relished. Knowing how magic actually worked might just prove invaluable.

Turning to the page she left off at, Hermione crunched into a green apple she'd brought with her. She then thought about Harry who she left sitting at the small table in the common room. Their plan was that one of them would study out in the open with both their books on the table to make it appear the other had stepped away temporarily. And the two decided each shift in the Hall would only last an hour at a time, minimizing suspicion as to what they were up to - especially if the second would-be-thief was in residence at Hogwarts.

She hoped Harry was making good progress on his herbology essay due in tomorrow's class. But the girl frowned at this. While his practical spellwork was improving, and was even surpassing hers in some ways, his progress on the academic side of magic was still wanting. But hopefully, with her help and encouragement, that would change.

Hermione looked up, imagining Harry sitting at that table, rummaging through books for information and writing his essay while eagerly awaiting her return. And this last thought caused the girl's heart to skip. In fact, it skipped a lot since she returned from Christmas break - nearly every time she saw him now.

The boy with the lightning-shaped scar had captured that heart.

Hermione was in love with him.

The brunette blushed again at the memory of Harry telling Draco about his having a bright 'girlfriend'. That the famous Harry Potter, whom Hermione initially was fascinated with due to what she read about him, might consider her his girlfriend was both enchanting and scary. Enchanting because she had developed such a crush on the boy for his kindness, thoughtfulness, bravery, and quick mind. Scary because she didn't know how to express what she felt and was afraid he'd shun her for even thinking of him romantically. He had always seemed a bit shocked by her physical affection, after all. But her heart still fluttered thinking about Harry's words and she continued wondering if he truly meant what he told the blond-haired jerk.

At the least, she was happy with their deepening friendship. But if only the young man knew how much he meant to her...

Shaking her head, Hermione returned her attention to her book, taking another bite of the apple.

Soon enough, images of Hogwarts students and staff from days gone by appeared and disappeared in the mirrored walls. And for the most part, they were...boring. But at one point, Hermione glanced up from her book to see a blond-haired Ravenclaw girl making out with a red-haired Gryffindor boy in the corner. This caused the brunette to blush and look away. But shortly after, more bland images appeared.

Nearly a half hour into her fascinating book, Hermione noticed the reflected outer door open and in walked...Harry! The girl put down her book and watched the boy as he carried a mop, broom, some rags, and a bucket - a playback of Harry's detention from previous term. Filch then came in with Mrs. Norris at his feet. Harry and the caretaker conversed shortly before Harry handed his wand to the man. Filch and his cat then exited the Hall and Harry turned to gaze around.

The twelve-year-old watched him as he stared at the footprints on the floor, tried the locked door to the anterior corridor housing Hagrid's three-headed "pet" and the trapdoor, and finally, as he placed a rag around his face and started cleaning. The brunette felt a tug at her heart. She rose from the floor and stepped up to his reflected image.

Hermione reached out and placed her hand where the boy's face appeared. Her heart hurt seeing him punished for standing up to Malfoy and his gang in defense of Neville. Though he had been rash in punching the Slytherin in the face, Hermione knew his heart was in the right place and she loved him for it. The girl removed her hand and sat back down, watching Harry clean a little more before his image suddenly disappeared. She gave out a sad smile and returned to her book.

Twenty more minutes and several dull images later, Hermione was ready to head back to the common room. Closing the book in her lap, she started to grab the invisibility cloak from the floor when the reflected outer doorway opened once again.

A young man in his late teens with dark eyes and dark, neatly combed hair entered. The girl was struck by his handsomeness, though his face held a sharp, sinister look about it. And a chill went down her spine seeing the green and silver striped tie and the badge of the House of Slytherin on his robes. The very sight of this person gave Hermione a sense of foreboding.

He entered, closed the door behind him, and used a spell from his wand to lock it. Clearly, he didn't want anyone else to walk in behind him. He then moved to the center of the room, right into the same space Hermione occupied between the two gargoyle statues. In one of his hands was a very old book with ragged edges. In his other hand he held a gray bag with something in it that was...moving!

The handsome young man sat on the floor on both knees and placed the gray bag a few feet before him. Whatever was in it twitched and squirmed until the student hit it with his fist. It stopped moving.

Hermione's heart pounded.

The Slytherin now lowered the large book and opened it beside him, turning to a specific page. Retrieving a small black book from his robe that looked like a diary, the young man placed it between himself and the bag. He then retrieved his wand and perused the ragged book on the floor as though reading instructions. Upon finishing, he shifted forward and opened the bag to reveal...a black cat!

Hermione put her hand to her mouth.

'Oh no!' she thought with alarm.

The poor creature was alive but struggled to get up on its legs which had been bound. Anger flashed across the Slytherin's face and he pointed his wand at the cat, mouthing a spell. A bluish light appeared and the cat suddenly contorted and writhed in anguish as though struck with terrific pain. Hermione's heart went out to the animal as it cried out. None of the images in the mirrors had sound of any kind. But it wasn't difficult to imagine the cat mewing in terror.

The young man sat up straight before the book and the cat. He looked up and mouthed an incantation. As he did, Hermione saw something of pure evil in his eyes. The reflected pyres dimmed as though a breeze had blown through the reflected Hall. Then, the Slytherin pointed his wand at the cat once more.

Hermione's heart hammered.

The young man spoke soundless words and a green flash of light erupted from the wand. The light struck the cat and it fell over dead, its eyes and mouth gaping open as though petrified.

The girl gasped in horror.

The Slytherin boy now screamed out in terrific pain. The pyres in the room flickered and a strange, green mist formed around him. He then bowled over as though he was going to vomit, every blood vessel in his face bulging. The student opened his mouth and a ghostly white light emanated from within. He then attempted to breathe this light onto the diary. But before the light touched the book, it faded, and the green mist dissolved into thin air.

Winded and frustrated, the young man screamed in rage and knocked the diary across the floor, clearly having failed at whatever he was attempting. But in the aftermath, Hermione saw blood dripping from his nose. He recomposed himself, gathered up the large book, placed the dead cat back in the bag, and snatched the black diary from off the floor. The teenager then dragged himself toward the outer door. But before his image faded in the mirrors, he stopped, turned around, and gazed...right at Hermione!

That was all the twelve-year-old needed to be frightened beyond measure.

Hermione quickly grabbed the cloak and book and stormed out of the Hall of Reflection as fast as she could. Her heart beating wildly and tears forming in her eyes, Hermione hightailed it back to Gryffindor Tower. After getting the fat lady to open the portrait for her, she burst through the common room door, desperately looking for Harry. He was sitting at the small table, gazing into the fireplace. He turned immediately at her sudden entrance and jumped up. The fluffy-haired girl dropped the cloak and book on the floor and flew at him, throwing her arms around the boy and shutting her eyes, wanting the dreadful images to go away.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked in alarm.

"Oh Harry!" she exclaimed brokenly, "I saw something in the mirrors! It was horrible!"

She cried on his shoulder for several moments. She then released him and the two sat down on the sofa. The girl described what she saw while wiping a few tears from her face. Harry sat quietly as she then tried to recompose herself. She had never witnessed nor even read about something like this in her young life and it disturbed her profoundly. But the boy next to her said nothing, holding her hand in comfort and listening while giving her a look of compassion. After a couple minutes, Hermione wiped the remaining tears from her pale cheeks.

"It's been a long day," Harry finally spoke, "perhaps we both need some sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow."

The girl nodded at him.

"Okay," she replied, gazing into Harry's emerald eyes.

He smiled back at her.

The two of them then rose and gathered up their class materials from the table. They bid each other goodnight and departed for their respective dorm rooms. Hermione changed into her pink pajamas and immediately crawled into bed. Her other dorm mates were sound asleep as the brunette closed the curtains to her four-poster and buried herself beneath her blankets as if to hide from the evil student in the mirrors. She then closed her eyes for sleep.

But sleep would not come.

Hermione tossed and turned for nearly half an hour as the horrifying images replayed over and over in her young mind. The poor black cat reeling in pain. The frozen, terrified look on its face as it lay dead. That awful, ghostly light from the Slytherin's mouth and the terrible look on his face as though his soul was being ripped apart. The way he glared at her, like he knew she was there. Dread came over the fluffy-haired girl and she imagined his reflected self stepping out of the mirrors and scouring the halls of Hogwarts in search of her. The girl had seen something of darkest evil and it made the world seem frightening and full of despair...

Tears in her eyes once more, Hermione panicked and shot up from her bed. She hurriedly put on her bunny slippers, threw on her bed-robe, and departed the dorm room. The girl clamored down the stairs into the common room and shot up toward the boy's dorms and the first-years' residence. She then knocked on the door to the room in desperation.

"Harry!" she cried out as quietly as possible.

"Harry!"

The girl felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But then she heard footsteps and the door opened. Harry stood there, gawking at the girl, his black head of hair even messier than normal.

"Hermione!" he uttered in surprise, seeing the distraught look on her face, "what's the matter?"

"I can't sleep!" she started brokenly, "I keep seeing those terrible things in my head and I don't know what to do!"

Tears fell freshly down her cheeks as she sniffled while gazing at the boy. Harry thought for a moment.

"Hang on. I'll be right back," he told her with a reassuring look. Hermione nodded at him while wiping the water from her eyes. The boy disappeared back into his room. Moments later, he reappeared in his own bed-robe and slippers, holding a bed blanket in his arms. After quietly closing the door behind him, he looked at her.

"Come on," he indicated, and the pair headed down to the common room.

When they entered the darkened space in that early morning hour, moonlight from outside shone in the windows and created sharp shadows across the floor from the furniture. The room was quiet and chilly. Hermione watched as Harry walked to the sofa and dropped the blanket on it. He grabbed two logs from Hagrid's bin next to the doorway and placed them inside the fireplace. He then pulled out his wand.

"Incendio!" he uttered, and flash of yellow light hit the logs creating an instant fire.

Orange light illuminated the common room, pushing away the darkness, giving the space a warm, comforting glow. Harry turned to the girl.

"Let's sit on the sofa," he said. Hermione nodded.

The boy sat down on one end, and she sat right next to him, giving him a doe-eyed look. Harry took the blanket and threw it over both their legs, their feet sticking out underneath.

"I'll stay with you until you fall asleep," he told her with a gentle smile.

He then surprised the girl by wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Hermione's cheeks went pink, and her heart thumped. Fresh tears streaked down her face as she beamed back at him. This boy was the kindest she'd ever met, and it made her heart skip again.

"Thank you...Harry," she said brokenly.

The boy's smile brightened, and he squeezed her shoulders. She lowered her head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. The girl now felt safe and warm, the disturbing images seeming to fade from her mind. Harry then leaned his head on hers as both gazed into the crackling fire for several minutes.

"When I saw all the dark magic in Basil's book," Harry spoke, breaking the silence, "I realized we don't live in a very nice world. There are a lot of wicked people out there who do really bad things. I wish we could just enjoy our time at Hogwarts without having to deal with all that. But sooner or later we're going to have to face it."

Harry seemed in deep thought before continuing.

"This may sound strange, Hermione, but I get the feeling Professor Dumbledore wants us to see things like that to prepare us for something, or at least, warn us about it. Maybe that's why he had me clean the Hall."

At these words, a shudder ran through Hermione's body, though the boy's words made sense. He continued.

"But whatever turns up down the road, I'm sure we can face it and overcome it...together. You're a strong, smart, courageous girl. I'm glad you're my friend and I'll be yours for as long as you'll have me."

At this, the girl looked up at him with doe eyes again.

"I'm really glad too, Harry. And I'll be yours," she uttered brokenly, a few more tears streaking down her face.

Hermione thought Harry couldn't endear himself to her more than he already had. She was wrong.

He was just eleven and still had a lot to learn about magic and life in general, like her. But there was something noble about him she couldn't help but admire. And many others at Hogwarts did too. She wondered if Malfoy was jealous because of it. Whatever the case, Harry Potter inspired courage and hope. And this in turn inspired the girl with the fluffy brown hair. Her heart skipped once more as she laid her head back on his shoulder and squeezed his waist a little tighter. They continued gazing into the fire in silence.

Several moments passed before she noticed Harry had leaned forward and was looking at the floor, in particular, he was looking at her bunny rabbit slippers. He then looked at her and chuckled. She threw him a smirk.

"Are you laughing at my slippers?" she inquired with squinty eyes.

"Yes," he replied, "they're funny."

He then chuckled again. The girl smiled and raised both her feet, curling her toes back and forth, the bunny ears flopping around as she did. Harry and Hermione both laughed and this cheered the girl immensely. She gazed once more at his face, then gave him a brief peck on the cheek. The boy smiled back at her, blushing. Leaning her head on his shoulder as he leaned his head on hers, they watched the flames in the fireplace dance about until Hermione's eyelids grew heavy and she fell fast asleep.

~HP~

When she woke in the morning, sunlight was just making its way into the chilly common room. Hermione found herself lying on the sofa with a pillow tucked under her head and Harry's blanket over her body. Looking down, she saw the boy sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace with his knees up, poking at the final embers of last night's fire with a stick.

The girl got up and walked over to him with the blanket. She then sat down next to him and placed the blanket over them both. Harry looked at her and smiled.

"Hi", he uttered.

"Hi," she replied.

"Feeling better?" he asked kindly.

Hermione's face softened with a warm smile for the boy.

"Much better. Thank you, again. I slept very well," she replied with doe eyes once more.

Harry cheeks went pink and he looked at her as though he knew something, but wasn't telling. He then turned back to the fire and stoked it a few more times, getting the flames to rise and warm the air around them.

"Hermione, if you'd rather, I'll take the next two shifts so you don't have to go back to the Hall right away."

The girl gazed into the entrancing fire, still wondering at this boy who was so thoughtful of her. But remembering what he said that very night, Hermione was inspired once more and her courage rose.

"Thank you, Harry. But no. You're right. We're going to have to face these things sooner or later, if we want to overcome them. I'm going to have to face them. So...how about the next shift, we both go...together."

The boy stared at her in wonder. Hermione's heart skipped again as he squeezed her hand. He then smiled.

"Agreed..."