May 10th 1998
Luna gave a small sigh and snuggled into the warm body that was beside her. She smiled to herself and allowed her feelings to overcome her. She was a smart witch, though not as smart as Hermione, but she was smart enough to be put into Ravenclaw. She thought about how she loved the man that she was currently snuggled into. She thought about last night and the fact that he had admitted it too.
She thought that it would be the only time that he would seriously be able to say it to her. She was ok with that. She was ok with the fact that this man would only tell her that he loved her in private. It was the way of the purebloods.
She let the smile that graced her lips grow when she felt him stir underneath her.
"Morning Love." He said in a soft baritone voice.
"Morning love." She whispered back and turned her head so that she was looking up at him. "You let me stay in your bed last night."
Blaise sighed. "That I did."
"Why?"
"Because Draco knows and so does Hermione. Luna and Lavender, I assume, know as well." He smiled and lifted her chin so that he cold place a kiss on her lips. "It will also be soon enough until Harry and Weasley find out as well."
"Well I would have thought it was because you told me you love me." Luna stated quietly.
"That is a big point in it." Blaise shifted his head to look at the curtains surrounding his bed. He then rolled over to lay on top of his blonde beauty. "I will also be telling you I love you at every chance I get. To show public displays of affection and what not."
"But I thought..." Luna started but was cut off by a pair of lips gently pressed against hers.
"You thought nothing of the sort love." He pressed another kiss on her lips, a deeper kiss. "Nothing of the sort."
And he continued to have his way with her.
******
Ginny sat on the edge of the railing that belonged to the Astronomy tower. She leaned back against the wall and allowed one of her legs to hang over the edge. She sighed as a warm breeze blew against her cheek, and she realized that though it was dangerous, she enjoyed the moments that she could sit like this. Nobody around to bug her and nobody to tell her to get down. She was alone.
She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her. She could hear a bird chirp above her. People milling around below. The sound of students climbing up and down the stairs from behind her. She could hear the world around her and it was another reason why she liked days like this.
"For some reason I knew that I would find you here."
Ginny didn't open her eyes, but let the smile grace her face. "Probably because it is your favorite place as well Hermione."
Hermione chuckled and leaned against the archway that lead onto the balcony. "That it is."
"So what can I do for you on this fine morning?"
"Just wanted to see what my sister was up too," Hermione turned so that her back was now leaning against the cold wall. "Is that so wrong?"
Ginny opened her eyes to give Hermione a direct look. "You wouldn't have come to talk to me unless you wanted to talk about something."
Hermione sighed. "I'm in a mood and...well I guess....I just wanted to see you today. Is that so wrong?"
Ginny smiled and shook her head. "Never."
"Good." Hermione stated and fell silent.
*****
Later in the day Blaise sat in the Slytherin common room with Draco. He looked over to his best friend, his brother, and watched as he flipped through the Daily Prophet.
"I know that you don't like me saying this, but" He pause as he felt a twinge of sadness sweep through him. "I do love you Draco."
Draco looked up from his paper. "Well you don't have to say it all the time Blaise."
"I know that, yet I feel like you should know." Blaise gave a sly smile. "It's also got to do with the fact that it annoys you."
Draco grunted. "You have annoyed me since the day you were born."
"Pish Posh! I was only 3 months younger my dear man." Blaise waved a hand in the air. "Besides you love me too, your just to much of a coward to admit it to me. That's all."
"No. I just don't yell out my feelings to the world."
"Does Hermione know that you love her yet?" Blaise asked in a serious tone.
Draco shook his head. "She knows that I care for her deeply."
"When are you going to tell her?"
Draco growled. "When I bloody well feel like it. That's when!" He got up and stormed off.
Blaise chuckled as he heard the portrait door slam close. He thought about how much his cousin must be ripping out her hair, and how much he wished that he was able to help her out. But it was they're fight. Not his.
He leaned back against the couch and let the silence of a Sunday afternoon wrap around him.
******
Nan sat out by her tree in her adirondack chair, and felt the sun shine on her old bones. She smiled as she felt a whisper of a hand being placed on her shoulder. She then leaned back and let her body give a sigh.
She felt a tear roll down her cheek and lifted a frail hand to wipe at it. She knew that it was her time. She could feel it in her bones and could feel it deep down. She could only wish that she would have seen her grandchildren marry and be able to hold her great-grand babies in her arms.
"I know." She whispered and placed her hand on to the hand she could only feel. "It's time."
Nan gave a smile and let her old eyes take in the area around her. She took one last breath to take in the smells of the air around her. She let another tear roll down her cheek as her last fading breath escaped from her.
Isabella was walking down from the house when she saw her mother sitting by her favorite tree. She smiled to herself and thought that when she got older that she would be able to sit by that tree as well with her mother. She thought that even when her mother was gone she would be able to sit there, like her, and be able to wonder what was so great about that spot.
Cause Merlin only knew why her mother liked that spot.
"So Mama I was thinking that tonight we go over to Cissa's?" Isabella rested a hand on Nan's shoulder. "What do you think about that?"
Isabella felt her brows furrow together. She then bent down, and took one of her mother's hands. "Mama, why is your hand so cold?" She looked up and gave her mother a quick shake.
"Mama?" Isabella let a hand go to underneath Nan's jaw. She gave a soft gasp and immediately let go of the hand that was in hers. "Oh Mama!"
Isabella fell to the ground and placed her head in Nan's lap. She then let a tear slip past her defense, and then another. A watery smile formed on her lips as she made a picture in her mind of a soft smiling Nan forever be engraved in her mind. And slowly more tears came rolling down her face and eventually Isabella let out the mournful sob of a child losing their mother.
******
People take life for granted, and it isn't until the day that someone dies that it becomes obvious to a person that their day will come. It may not be that day, or the day after. It mays not happen for weeks, months or years. A person never knows when they will die, but it isn't until the day that they knew that they were going to that they realize how much that took for granted....
Hermione lifted a hand to her cheek. When she pulled her hand away she saw the proof that tears were running down her face. She looked around the classroom and saw that nothing was out of sorts. She glanced to her left and saw that Blaise had tears running down his cheek as well. She watched as he looked around the room as well. Watched as his eyes came to hers.
They stared at each other and both gasped as they felt the sharp twinge of pain in their chests.
"Hermione?" Harry looked up from his work.
Hermione stared blankly at her friend as she heard no words come from his mouth. She looked over at Blaise and could see the Theodore Nott was having the same problem with Blaise.
"Hermione?" Harry called again and grasped Hermione's arms. He watched as she slowly closed her eyes and slumped forward into his arms.
Harry cradled Hermione in his arms and quickly turned his head when he heard a crash come from behind him. He watched as Nott was struggling to keep Blaise steady in his arms. Harry sighed in relief that it was Hermione in his arms, not Blaise.
"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Professor Burbage asked as she had walked up from the front of the room to see what the commotion was about. "Potter? Nott?"
"Blaise just all of a sudden got up and then he collapsed." Nott explained as he shifted himself to support the boy.
Professor Burbage then turned to Harry. "Potter?"
"Almost the same thing professor, but I heard Hermione gasp and I looked to see what was wrong with her. I called out to her, but she wouldn't respond to my call. Then her eyes fluttered closed and she slumped forward into my arms."
Professor Burbage looked from each of the boys. She then looked at Blaise and then at Hermione. She gave a nod. "Well I will excuse the two of you for the rest of the class so that you can bring Miss Granger and Mr. Zabini to the hospital wing." She walked forward to open hold the door open.
She watched as Theodore flung Blaise over his shoulders, and grunted when another Slytherin asked if he was going to be ok. She watched as he walked out of the room and down the hall. She then turned as Harry walked out of the classroom with Hermione in both of his arms.
"Mr. Potter." She whispered as he walked by her. "Please make sure that Mr. Malfoy is informed of Mrs. Malfoy's condition."
"How did...." He stopped when he saw her wink at him.
"All the teachers were informed of the situation." She closed the door behind her.
Harry stared at the closed door for a moment, and shooked his head. He started to wonder if all the teachers communicated with each other. Whether they disliked a certain teacher, or never even talked to a teacher.
He carried her down the hallway and was glad that the muggle studies classroom was only one portrait away from the hospital wing. So he walked through the portrait when he said the password, and was just climbing through the other end, when he bumped into Nott.
Theodore looked at Harry with shocked eyes. "What the hell?"
Harry looked sheepishly at him, and then gave a small smile. "Sorry?"
"Well I would be! Gods its not easy carrying this guy throughout the school!" Theo huffed and gave Harry a small smile as well. "But I guess that's what I get for leaving early."
Harry gave a small laugh, and he realized that Theodore Nott just gave him something that he didn't expect. A truce. "Well Burbage did hold me up. Sorry mate."
Theo just nodded and led them through the hospital wings doors. As they walked in Madam Pomfrey walked up to them.
"What happened?" She asked in her usual crisp, no nonsense voice.
"They both fainted in class Ma'am." Harry started as he laid Hermione on the closet bed. "I don't know exactly what happened, but they both fainted at the same time."
She turned to Theo. "Is what Mister Potter said correct Mister Nott?"
Theo gulped, only because the woman reminded him so much of his own mother. "Yes. Blaise was fine one moment, then he looks up and looks at Gra...Crai.." He paused for he was unsure on what surname he should use in this case.
"It's Mrs Malfoy, Mr. Nott." Madam Pomfrey said as she lifted Blaise's wrist to check his pulse. "Continue."
Theo nodded. "Well he looks at Mrs Malfoy and then, WHAM, he faints."
Harry nodded his head in agreement. "The same happened with Hermione, except she fell towards me."
"Very well, Mister Potter and Mister Nott." She turned to walk towards her office. "That will be all. Thank you for bringing them. Please make sure you tell Mister Malfoy of his wives condition before he goes into a rampage."
"Yes Ma'am." They both said and left the wing together.
It wasn't until they were around the corner and heading down the stairs that Harry spoke. "So when did you find out?"
"Same time you did." Theo smirked. "On New Years eve."
"I didn't find out until the next day." Harry frowned.
"Oh no, you found out on New Years eve, but you were to plastered with Weasley to take notice of it." Theo laughed when he saw Harry's cheeks tinge pink. "And I am a pureblood, so it is natural for me to know beforehand."
"Well regardless I don't see the point in them keeping it a secret if a so many people know already."
"I agree, but it is for them to tell isn't it?"
Harry nodded his head. "That it is. But I wonder what happened with those two today?"
Theo shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but I wish you all the luck in the world Potter."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I am so happy I am not going to be the one to tell Malfoy that his wife fainted."
"And why do I have to be the one to tell him this?" Harry asked as they stopped at the entrance to the library. "You should be the one since you are a fellow Slytherin and a friend."
"Regardless of me being a housemate and a friend, the key word is Slytherin." He continued to walk on. "And we only look out for ourselves."
"Coward!" Harry called out after him.
Theo laughed. He then turned around with the smile still on his face. "In this case I would have to say, absolutely. If it were something, like a friend in trouble or in need of help, I would say that you are dead wrong. But the point is I have known Draco since we were in nappies together, and I know that he is terribly jealous. So I would not want to be the one telling him that Hermione is in the Hospital wing."
"You sound like Blaise right now." Harry sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Theo laughed again. "And since I also grew up with him, and respect him as well, I will have to take that as a complement."
Harry watched as Nott walked away and gave him a mock salute. He then shook his head and turned to the library doors. He then looked back to where Nott had just been and thought about the words that he had just said. Harry couldn't help but think that if Slytherin's didn't have that underlying fact of being selfish they could have passed as a Gryffindor.
Harry chuckled to himself as he stepped into the library and he couldn't help but keep the smirk on his face as a single thought went through his head.
Slytherin passing as a Gryffindor....As if!