Harry walked down the corridor with hunched shoulders and weighed down by a mixture of guilt, anger, and depression. As soon as Sammi had said those words last night, he knew. He so knew. Stupid. Derek. Damon. He kicked the bottom of the wall with each thought and had to add a stubbed toe to his list of miseries. It was Wednesday afternoon and less than 2 days left before the dance. Frankly he didn't care.
"….they won. It was incredible."
Harry turned the corner and almost walked into the backs of Derek and Sammi. They were standing in the middle of the hall way seemingly completely into each other. Derek seemed to be talking about quidditch, and Sammi laughed at whatever he said. Harry turned and dashed the other way. He still couldn't face either of them without feeling like an idiot. He was so stupid! Why hadn't he sucked up his courage and asked Sammi sooner?
Breathing hard, Harry walked randomly down various hallways immersed in his own thoughts.
"Harry!"
Harry whirled around to see Hermione running towards him, her brown hair flying behind her. Harry nodded at her, and then had a sudden brief mental image of a gorgeous-looking Hermione walking with him down the stairs of the Great Hall, and a jealous Derek staring at them while Sammi looked wistful. This image was very agreeable. Harry opened his mouth.
"Shhh." Hermione's face practically glowed. "I have the perfect solution."
"So do I." Harry said feeling surprised. "Why don't you go with m-."Hermione waved her hand at him. "Wait, look at what I found in the library!"
She whipped her hand from behind her back and produced a dark, moldy-looking book. Harry glanced at it. "Oh Hermione. More light reading? You know I-."
He stopped, taking a second, longer look at the book. "You didn't."
Hermione beamed. "I did. This just shows you what a good night spent in the library can do."
It was the book that had brought them back into time. It looked almost exactly the same.
Harry snapped his fingers. "So that's what you were doing yesterday, running away from Ron and me like that."
Hermione shrugged. 'Sorry, but someone has to do this. Otherwise we'll be stuck here forever."
Harry shivered at the possibility. "I'm never going to play with bringing up the dead books again."
They laughed, walking towards Gryffindor Tower together. Harry smiled. Ever since going back in time, he'd felt strangely separated from his two friends, especially Hermione. It felt good to be talking with her like in the old times.
"This is great." Hermione was saying. "We can get Ron and maybe figure out how to get out of this place tonight!"
Harry froze in the act of climbing in the doorway. "Wait…tonight? But Hermione, I can't!"
Hermione frowned. "Why not?"
Harry stopped. "I don't know, it's just that-." This was the only chance in his entire life that he could spend time with a bunch of people that he'd never see again in the real world. His parents, and Sirius, and Sam-no, maybe not Sammi. He forced himself to stop thinking about her.
Hermione looked at him oddly. "Why not?" She repeated.
Harry swallowed. He didn't want to sound too selfish. "It's nothing. Maybe we can talk about this with Ron inside?"
Hermione nodded, patting him gently on the back. "Sure."
They were immediately met with loud noise and applause in the Common Room. The Sixth year boys were busily congratulating Remus, and the girls seemed to be doing the same thing at the other end of the room.
"What's up?" Harry asked peering around.
"Remus got a date!" James roared. "Who would've thunk it?"
"Who?" Hermione asked.
"Nina." Sirius said looking amused from his position on the couch. "I suppose it's possible…."
"What's that supposed to mean" Remus demanded jokingly. His usual pale face was flushed and excited.
Hermione glanced at Sirius then quickly looked away with a slightly pained expression. Harry caught the look with some surprise. Sirius noticed it too. He raised his hand. "Hey Hermione!"
Hermione didn't turn. "I'll be putting this upstairs." She whispered to Harry, tapping the magical book hidden under her robes. She began making her way through the crowds of kids.
"Hey 'mione!" Lira grabbed her arm.
Hermione smiled slightly. "Er, hey Lira. What's happening?"
Lira shrugged. "Nothing much. Just less than two days left, and only three pairs have any dates in Gryffindor."
"3 pairs?" Hermione looked faint. "So um, it's Remus and Nina obviously."
Lira nodded.
Hermione paused.
"James and …"Lira prompted.
Hermione stared at her. "Wait, James actually asked Lily? And she said yes?"
Lira flicked her over the ear. "Well yah. Earth to Hermione! You could see it building up for ages!"
And they are getting together for life. Hermione thought. I happen to know that for a fact. "So who else?" She asked casually. "Is Sammi going with anyone?"
Lira nodded.
Hermione gulped, her head going over to where Sirius was lying, despite herself. There it was, that piece of news she'd been dreading to hear ever since yesterday.
"She's going with Derek Damon. Can you believe that?" Lira demanded in a fierce whisper. She looked mad. "Sammi's the last person you'd think he'd choose!"
"Derek Damon?" Hermione said faintly. "Are you serious?"
"It's been the top news since yesterday night." Lira said enviously. "Where have you been?"
Hermione shrugged, a smile starting play around the corners of her mouth. All she felt was an overwhelming feeling of relief. "Just you know, searching for something in the library." She stood up. "Okay, got to go upstairs. See you."
Lira shook her head. "Okay, whatever."
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Ron sat between Lily and Hermione. He did this every night as it was equivalent to sitting next to two talking encyclopedias. Encyclopedias that could slap you hand away with surprising toughness.
"How can you write an entire essay on a moon rock?" Ron demanded, looking at his own 2-sentence essay.
"Magical properties." Lily said, scribbling down a few lines in her already 3 page essay. "Just talk about the magical properties."
Ron looked blank. "Um, magical properties? It…I have no idea."
Hermione sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know Ron. I basically wrote that herbology essay for you."
"I can't believe your working so hard." Ron glanced at Lily to see that she hadn't heard anything and looked back at Hermione. "Sorry, I-Hermione?"
Hermione wasn't reading or writing at all. Unusual. Instead, she was gazing out at the group of Gryffindors a few feet away. Sirius was standing up, apparently offering to set up blind dates.
Ron jumped up, moon rock essay immediately forgotten. "Oy! Sirius!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. She looked to see where Ron was gesturing frantically to an amused looking Sirius. If Sirius was handing out blind dates…didn't that mean he already had one?
"Anyone else?" Sirius asked. "Going once, going-."
"Whatever." Lira walked over looking slightly embarrassed. "As Derek's already asked someone, I'll join."
Sammi flushed. "Well I'm sorry Lira." She'd been quiet the entire day and seemed to be spending most of her energy avoiding Lira who wasn't speaking to her.
"All's good." Sirius said cheerfully. "So we have Peter, Ron, Lira, some random 5th year girls…anyone else? Harry?"
Harry hesitated, and then shook his head. He needed a date, yes, but he still wanted a certain someone. Turning his head slightly, he stole a glance at Sammi. She was curled upon one of the armchairs, chewing on the tip of a strand of her hair. She gazed into the fireplace with a far-away look in her grey eyes.
Harry shook his head to clear it. She was dating the most popular guy in school now, way out of his league. He had to forget her. But he couldn't. Harry stabbed his essay viciously with a quill. The worst thing about this was that this was entirely his fault.
Hermione glanced worriedly at Sirius. If he asked her whether she wanted a blind date, that would mean he wasn't going to ask her. She waited.
He didn't however. He didn't say anything.
Why am I so distracted over him? Hermione thought abstractly. Why do I feel relieved every time I find out he's still free?
She sat up abruptly, her arithmancy book dropping on the floor with a loud thud. Wait a minute….did she have a crush on Sirius? No way!
Sirius leaned over to pick up her book and handed it over with a wink.
There it was-that flutter in her stomach; the pounding in her heart.
I can't! Hermione thought frantically. This is Sirius. Sirius Black! Harry's godfather! The guy that I thought was an insane killer for 6/7th of my life! In my time, he's around my dad's age!
But you're not in your own time, a voice in her head reassured. Right now he's your own age.
Hermione looked down and hastily scribbled a few last lines on her herbology essay as Sirius looked in her direction. Yes, that feeling was definitely there. This would get interesting.
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"My god!" Ron hissed for the hundredth time that night.
Harry and Hermione both simultaneously twisted their head towards the stairs to make sure no one was eavesdropping over their midnight meeting.
"Shut." Hermione snapped.
They all turned back to the innocent (ok, maybe not so innocent) looking book that had brought all this upon them.
"You think this can get us back?" Harry whispered.
Hermione nodded. "We can try, but remember. If we get home, we probably can't get back here ever again because the whole thing was a fluke in the first place."
They stared at the book some more.
"We can't get back here ever again." Harry repeated. He rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. This all seemed too drastic to think upon right now.
"The thing is…do we want to leave before the dance." Ron said. "Any of you have dates?"
"You think?" Harry snapped to his friend's bewilderment.
"Not yet-I mean, I don't know." Hermione was blushing for some reason.
Ron eyed her closely.
"I mean, I'm not too sure if I want to leave with all the hype going on right now." Hermione said hastily. "We'll need a cover story, and even so, our leaving might cause a disturbance for the others. We wouldn't want that."
The others were quiet.
Then to Hermione's relief, Harry backed her up. "Yeah, you know what? I don't want to leave right away. There are still people I want to talk to…for the last time."
No one needed to say what he meant.
"So I think we should decide after the dance?" Harry glanced anxiously at the others.
Hermione nodded and Ron shrugged.
"Sure, whatever. After the dance."
There you go. Harry's mad and Hermione realizes her true feelings for Sirius. sigh and Ron's just there. Okay, so tensions are building up, and who will go with whom? (My comp added that. I really don't know when to use "whom".) Will the right people and up with the right people? Review please!
Yay! Reviews!
Serendipity-England-1922: You stayed with me! I might update very soon cuz I've already got a plan...though the action comes in chap 9.
Hotkat144: Yeah, I feel sorry for Harry too, but this isn't the end!
The Future Mrs. Thomas Andr...: yeah, hmmm...nah, well...you'll have to keep reading for the pairings.
Addicted2Love: Thanks. Don't worry; this isn't the end between Derek and Harry.
Arokat: Yeah. Thanks. Chris Vogen was done with his rough draft before I finished my first sentence!