The morning of Hermione's birthday was spent with her friends in the grounds of Hogwarts, luckily her birthday fell on a Saturday so they didn't have to attend lessons. Hermione, alongside Harry, Ron and Ginny, had a late breakfast before enjoying the last of the sunshine down by the lake. Considering it was the middle of September it was still quite warm so the teenagers spent a few hours outside before they headed back into the school.
Instead of heading up to a packed Gryffindor Tower the foursome headed to the Head Dorms, which was where Hermione was residing. Upon her return to school Hermione had been made Head Girl and given quarters to share with the Head Boy. The quarters consisted of two bedrooms, a shared bathroom, a common room and small kitchen area. Hermione really liked her new living arrangements as she had more peace and quiet to study. The only slight downside to the situation was the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy.
Draco was a Slytherin, and the natural animosity between Slytherin and Gryffindor and the animosity between the Malfoy's and the Weasley's meant Hermione hadn't really had much to do with him before now. Hermione had soon discovered that the blond boy was nearly as bright as her and could easily hold a decent debate or conversation. The relationship between the two Head students had soon been established as a fiery one, one minute they could be getting along fine then someone could say something and they were bickering and sniping at one another. Another aspect of their relationship was the teasing and flirting, at least Draco teased and flirted with Hermione, she just got herself flustered when the blond focused his attention on her.
Luckily when the group returned to the Head dorms they were empty. Hermione may have learnt to live with Draco but her friends, Ron especially, still didn't like the frosty blond. Hermione wasn't going to push the issue and try and force people to get along, instead she tried to make sure when Harry and Ron visited her that Draco was elsewhere. She never bothered when Ginny visited her as the redhead seemed to have no problem with her Slytherin roommate.
"Where's Malfoy?" Ginny asked as she settled onto the sofa. In the few weeks since school had started Ginny had visited Hermione a few times and she definitely wasn't opposed to the gorgeous Head Boy being around.
"I don't know." Hermione shrugged. "Blaise was here this morning and they disappeared together."
"Who cares where Malfoy is." Ron tutted. "We should just be grateful he's not here."
Harry agreed with his best friend as the two boys sat down next to Ginny on the sofa, leaving Hermione to sit in the seat opposite them.
"I think we should give Hermione her presents." Ginny suggested, wanting to avoid having to listen to Harry and Ron moan about Draco.
"You go first then, Gin." Ron told his sister.
Ginny did as her brother requested and pulled her present from her bag and handed it to Hermione. Hermione opened the small gold box to find a silver charm bracelet with her name spelled out in charms.
"It's lovely Gin." Hermione smiled at her friend as she put the bracelet on. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Ginny smiled back at Hermione. "I'm pleased you like it."
"I just hope you like our present." Harry said. "Ron and I have gotten you a joint present this year."
Hermione raised an eyebrow in surprise as Ron pulled out a dark blue parcel from his bag and handed it to her. From the feel of the parcel Hermione would say the present was a book but Harry and Ron never bought her books for gifts, they always insisted she read too much and didn't need any more books.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, shaking the present to see if it made a noise.
"Open it and see." Ron replied with a grin. He was dying for Hermione to open her present and see the immersion book.
Not getting any clue from Harry either, Hermione ripped into the parcel. Quite quickly Hermione realised she had been right, her present was a book, but she had nearly all the paper off before she realised what sort of book it actually was.
"Oh wow, it's an immersion book." Hermione gasped, staring at the book in awe.
Ginny gasped at Hermione's words and rushed over to sit next to her friend. "Amazing." She whispered, looking just as awe struck as Hermione.
"How did you afford this?" Hermione asked her two best friends. "These books are so expensive, you really shouldn't have wasted your money on me."
"It's not a waste." Ron said. "It's worth it to see you smile like that."
Hermione blushed slightly at Ron's words as she set the book aside and got up. Heading over to Harry and Ron she gave both boys a hug and kiss before returning to her seat and re-picking her book up.
"It's a medieval one." Hermione said, reading the back of the book. "How did you know this is the sort of book I like?"
"You've got a few books set in medieval times, I've seen you reading them." Harry shrugged, giving their pre-prepared response. Neither Harry or Ron were comfortable with letting the girls know they had been eavesdropping on their conversation in Flourish and Blotts so they had invented a cover story in case Hermione asked how they picked which book to get her.
"Very observant." Ginny muttered, looking at Harry and Ron. She had a sneaking suspicion her brother and boyfriend weren't quite telling the truth about how they picked the book for Hermione.
"We try." Harry replied, smiling at Ginny in an attempt to distract his girlfriend.
Harry's plan worked as Ginny returned his smile before turning back to Hermione. "Are you going to try the immersion spell tonight?"
"I don't know." Hermione responded. "I might read the book first to see what's going to happen."
"Where's the fun in that?" Ginny scoffed at her friend's idea. "Do the immersion spell and live the story without knowing what's in store. I bet it's more fun that way."
"How exactly does the spell work?" Harry asked. "What happens if something bad happens to the main character? Will the same thing happen to you?"
"No, it doesn't work like that." Hermione shook her head and offered Harry a reassuring smile. "The spell is entirely in your head. Your body goes into a trance and all the action happens in your head. No matter what you experience in the story it's all in your head, you have the feelings and memories of experiencing it but your body is never affected."
"How long does it last?" Ron asked. "What if someone disturbs you when you're in the spell?"
"Each book lasts a different time." Hermione answered as she broke the seal on her book and opened it to the instructions page. There was a whole page of explanation about the book and what it was and at the bottom of the page was a sealed envelope with the spell incantation in. "This one for example, last two hours."
"As for people disturbing you, the advice is to cast the spell at a time you know you won't be disturbed and in a place where your body will be safe." Ginny added, answering the second part of Ron's question.
"What happens if you want to stop in the middle of the spell?" Harry asked.
"You can't." Hermione replied. "Once the spell is cast you have to live the entire book. So even though the spell on this book may only take two hours to complete while you're in the spell it could feel like weeks or months, however long the story is set over."
"How do you know how to act?" Ron asked. The more they were discussing the book the more he was finding he didn't have a clue how they worked. "What if you do or say something you shouldn't?"
"You can't." Ginny said with a shake of the head. "While your memories and thoughts are obviously in your head you also have the memories and experiences of the main character in there as well. You actually have no control over what you say and do, the story will play out exactly as it's written."
"That sounds odd." Ron curled his nose up in distaste. "I'm not sure I'd like to be sucked into a book and have no free will of my own, you just have to sit back and let things unfold as they're written."
"You have no sense of adventure, Ron." Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother. "I think it sounds great, living this beautiful love story and not knowing what's going to happen."
"What if it has a sad ending?" Hermione bit her lower lip as she contemplated sneaking a peak at the end of the book. Sneaking a peak at the end to see if there was a happy ending was a bad habit she had developed after she realised she disliked investing in a story only to have a tragic or sad ending, she was definitely a happy ever after sort of girl.
"Don't cheat, Hermione." Ginny grabbed the book from Hermione's hands and placed it on the coffee table. "Either read the book to find out the ending or better yet, live it."
In an attempt to stop herself from skimming the ending of her book Hermione suggested they go and get something to eat in The Great Hall. After lunch the group headed to Gryffindor Tower where they remained for the rest of the afternoon.
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After spending an afternoon in Gryffindor Tower with her friends Hermione returned to the Head dorms. There was still no sign of Draco in their shared space as Hermione headed into the bathroom for a long, relaxing bubble bath. After her bath Hermione dressed in her favourite pair of pyjamas and settled on her bed to read her new book. It was only when she looked at her bedside table that she realised she had forgotten to pick the book up and it was still lying on the coffee table in the common room.
Hopping out of bed Hermione headed down to the common room. Her book was lying exactly where Ginny had placed it earlier in the day and as Hermione reached for the novel a voice spoke from behind her.
"I admit Granger, I'm shocked to find you own a book like that."
Hermione whirled round to find Draco standing in the doorway that led to the kitchen. Despite herself Hermione couldn't help but think how attractive the blond looked leaning against the doorframe. He was dressed all in black, which contrasted perfectly against his pale skin and platinum blond hair.
"Why?" Hermione questioned. "Because they're expensive?"
"The price has nothing to do with it." Draco retorted, not moving from his place in the doorway. "I'm more shocked by the content. The book has an adult content warning."
"So?"
Hermione knew the book had an adult content warning but she hadn't brought it up with Harry and Ron. She had no idea if her friends had realised they had gotten her one of the adult books and she had been too embarrassed to mention it to them.
"So, you'll not be able to read the steamy scenes let alone immerse yourself in them." Draco retorted.
"And how would you know that?" Hermione glared at Draco.
Draco chuckled as he finally pushed himself away from the doorway and stalked towards Hermione. "I know you'll not be able to handle it after the way you reacted last week. All you did was see me leaving the bathroom half naked and you turned bright red, not to mention you couldn't look at me for days."
"I was taken by surprise." Hermione muttered. She could feel herself getting all flustered at the memory of Draco in just a towel. "I can read about sex perfectly fine."
"Ah, that's your plan." Draco smirked. "You'll read the book so you don't have to really deal with the sex. You'll never immerse yourself in the book, you couldn't cope."
"I could cope." Hermione snapped. "You know nothing about me and what I could cope with."
Draco laughed again and moved so he was standing directly behind Hermione, leaning down he whispered in her ear. "If you get embarrassed seeing me half naked then the racy scenes in your book will be too much for you to handle."
"I'm not as delicate as you think." Hermione said, pulling away from Draco. "I can immerse myself in this book and I will."
Glaring at Draco one final time Hermione stalked off to her bedroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. Satisfied she wouldn't be disturbed Hermione threw herself onto her bed and began reading about the immersion spell. The spell was pretty simple, once it was cast you drifted into a trance and after a few minutes you found yourself in the book. In the few minutes it took to be immersed in the book the characters were cast with the people you knew that were best suited for the roles.
Happy she understood the spell Hermione picked up her wand and opened the sealed envelope that contained the words. Taking a deep breath she cast the spell that would immerse her in her new book.