.-.-Chapter 1-.-.
There is darkness. Swirling around. Screaming can be heard. Wandering. But wandering to where? Is there a point? Groping around. Nothing can be seen. Up ahead, there seems to be the outline of a person. Closer and closer. The figure looms ahead. Reaching out to—
"Wake up Hermione! We don't want to miss breakfast because of you!" screamed an impatient young man with emerald green eyes and hair the colour of night.
"Mmph." mumbled Hermione, slightly disoriented by her rude awakening. "I'll be there in a sec!"
Hermione stumbled out of bed. With the wave of her wand, she got dressed in her robes. And with another flick of the wrist, her hair untangled itself. Subconsciously, she began to hum a mystical song sung to her by her mother when Hermione had been a little girl. Her mind began to wander again. I wonder if the dream had any meaning to it. And who was that figure that I just could not reach? She walked out of her dormitory still pondering these questions.
In the common room, Harry and Ron were situated on a couch waiting for Hermione to meet them so that they could go down to the Great Hall together. When she finally appeared, the two young men went to greet her.
" 'Morning Hermione!" greeted Harry, smiling like a child eager to open his presents on Christmas Day. "It took you long enough. Now let's get going before I pass out on the spot."
Ron mumbled his greetings and looked away blushing. Hermione did not seem to notice. Instead, she found herself looking at the weather outside as they walked to the Great Hall.
"Oh! It's snowing! It's so beautiful outside. How about we go spend some time outside after classes today?" squealed Hermione.
"That'd be fine," replied Harry. "Um, Ron? Is there something bothering you?"
"No. Everything's just great." snarled Ron.
Before anyone else could reply to that, they arrived at the Great Hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor table. Immediately, Harry and Ron attacked the food.
"Boys." muttered Hermione under her breath. She took a few bites of a muffin. "Listen, I'll meet you guys at Potions, okay? I have to go look something up in the library," she said as she started walking hurriedly towards the double doors that lead out of the Great Hall. Little did she know that a pair of grey eyes glanced quickly in her direction before she had left the room.
Back at the Gryffindor table, Ron was grumbling to Harry. "I don't get it, mate. How come I can never get her to notice me? Could you stop stuffing your face and actually listen to me? I need some help!"
"Okay, okay." said Harry grinning. "I'll help. So, where do you want to start?"
"Um. Not right now? We have Potions pretty soon so we better get going."
"Fine." said Harry still grinning at the fact that Ron still had not realized that he had just spilled his deepest, darkest secret to him.
The two young men went off towards the dungeons and when they got there, Hermione was already seated. Quickly, they both grabbed a seat beside her as Professor Snape walked into the room.
"Today's lesson will be on love potions." stated Professor Snape as soon as he reached the front of the classroom. Ron gasped. "Mr. Weasley, I suggest you keep your comments to yourself at all times. 5 points from Gryffindor. Anyways, as I was saying. Open your books to page 232 and read the bit on these potions. Then you may brew your own potion and when you have finished, please submit a vial for me to mark. You have an hour and twenty minutes. But beware. True love cannot be created through this potion. No potion can change one's heart. The potion can only give the one receiving it a strong feeling of infatuation. You may begin!"
There was the sound of everybody getting up to go hunt down ingredients. Within twenty minutes, the whole room had gone silent with the occasional cursing at the ingredients or the bubbling of a concoction. Hermione furiously started chopping up some of her ingredients and started to stir. Clockwise five times. Counterclockwise two times. Clockwise five times. Counterclockwise two times. She brushed her hair away from her face and started adding some other ingredients into her cauldron.
Meanwhile, Ron and Harry were currently puzzling over how Hermione got her potion to change into the lightest shade of pink. Ron's potion was turning darker and darker while Harry's was slightly translucent. Grumbling at this fact, Ron and Harry tried to consult the Potions textbook but with no avail. When they looked over at Hermione's vat again, she was already grinning triumphantly as she capped her vial.
"Five minutes left." declared Professor Snape, sounding somewhat bored.
Harry and Ron scrambled to do what they could. When they both decided how hopeless their potions were, they put them into vials and onto the professor's desk. As they walked back to collect their belongings, they heard a familiar snide voice come from behind them.
"How's it going Potter and Weasley? I couldn't help but notice how pathetic your potions were. How are you going to get everybody to fall in love with you now, Potter? And, we all know that Weasley needs all the love he can get." sneered Draco.
"Oh is that so, Malfoy?" spat out Harry. "Well, at least Ron has a family that loves him and has one that isn't filled with Death Eaters."
"Shut it, Potter. Can't the weasel speak for himself?"
"Yeah, I can. You—" started Ron.
"Be quiet Mr. Weasley or else I will be forced to have to give you and Mr. Potter each a detention for being disruptive." stated Professor Snape coolly.
With one last glare for Professor Snape and Draco, Harry and Ron stomped out of the room. Satisfied, Draco also left the dungeons, heading for his common room.
.-.-
At lunch, Hermione was nowhere to be found by her two best friends. Harry figured that she was once again in the library. Gratefully, Ron leaned into discuss his "Hermione Problems" with Harry.
"So what do you think I should do?" asked Ron, continuing the conversation from the morning.
"Why don't you just be yourself? Girls are supposed to like guys for who they are. Not who they pretend to be." said Harry wisely after a moment of consideration.
"Yeah. But why does it have to be so hard? Why do girls have to be so complicated?"
"Dunno, mate."
"Do you think I should just brew a potion to make her fall for me?" questioned Ron. "It would make my life so much easier. There's less thinking involved."
"No. That wouldn't be right. And this is Hermione we're talking about. It wouldn't be fair for her. She's our best friend. Besides, you heard what Snape said about those potions. She won't love you for who you are. It's practically immoral. I'm sorry, mate, you're on your own for this one. Either you talk to her about your feelings, or you just keep quiet."
"Argh. When did you become so smart?" grumbled Ron.
"No clue. But it's almost time for our next class. And remember, we hafta go meet Hermione outside afterwards. Maybe I can arrange for you and her to—"
"NO! I mean, it's okay. I wouldn't know what to say to her anyways."
"What ever you say." said Harry as they hurried towards their next class.
.-.-
After Hermione's last class, she rushed outside, eager to be free for the day. It was Friday so she could start her homework after dinner. While she was waiting for Harry and Ron to join her, she admired the snow. It was gracefully drifting down. Slowly, slowly, swirling around her. It seemed as though the snowflakes were being playful. They were dancing around. Hermione laughed gleefully as she started spinning around.. She felt so free, so free. Gradually, she slowed down. She was panting hard and there was a hint of redness on her cheeks. She shivered. As she looked over the lake, her mind brought her back to her dream…
All of a sudden, Harry and Ron noisily came outside. Too bad, thought Hermione, they kinda ruined the moment. As they walked closer, she pasted a small smile on her face.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Ronald over there was being slow. I hope that you didn't have too much fun by yourself." grinned Harry mischievously as he threw a snowball at Hermione.
"Why you--!" she screeched. Laughing, she bent down to pack a snowball. Happily, she threw it towards Harry, but it ended up hitting Ron. For a second, she thought Ron looked hurt at the fact that she threw a snowball at him.
As the trio started a lively snowball fight, an unsuspected pair of eyes was looking down at them. Draco yawned. Sometimes he didn't understand friendship. He just didn't get how it worked. He thought that Hermione was going to blow a fuse when Harry had thrown the snowball at her. Instead, she tried to retaliate. He sighed. Sometimes, he just wondered. Wondered where he belonged. And with his thoughts, he continued gazing out the window, watching as the snow continued drifting down.