I don't own any of the Characters, It is all the wonderful J.K Rowling's work.
"Ronald, honestly how are you ever going to fend for yourself in the real world" Hermione scalded, as she tried to retrieve her parchment from Ron's view.
"Oh, c'mon Hermione, just let me have a look at the last of yours, It'll do the next one by myself i promise, I just got a bit stuck towards the end, Charms is hard this year especially when it comes to turning vinegar into wine" Ron Huffed "Who even has a use for that? you just need to remember to buy wine not vinegar"
"Ron, as usual you are missing the point, it's not about buying wine or even having wine to drink, it's about the charm" Hermione concluded "More to the point though, it could technically be called a transfiguration spell due to the fact that you don't technically add anything to the vinegar. None the less it's still homework and if you had actually studied instead of chasing girls around on your broom Ronald maybe you would know the difference"
Ron sat wordless staring at his parchment; as usual, he had been put in his place by Hermione and he needed it, he had been chasing too many girls around on his broom. Harry on the other hand had his nose buried in his well worn copy of his potions book that belonged to the Half Blood Prince.
"Harry, Honestly, I really wish you would give that in, it's dangerous" Hermione explained lowering her voice which now had a more serious tone to it.
"Hermione it's fine, I found it for a reason" Harry said, brushing off Hermione's comment "And If you'll both excuse me I'm going to catch up on my studies in a little more peace and quiet" With that Harry started to gather his bag and book.
"Can I come?" Ron asked pre-empting Harry's answer also gathering up his things from the table.
"You probably should Ron, Leave Hermione in peace" Harry mocked and threw a smirk Hermione's way, she caught his eye and smiled back, Harry always knew when it was time to leave her to her thoughts.
As the two left Hermione also decided to leave, it was another unusually sunny day and although Hermione was on top of her study she thought it might be nice to wander outside and down to the lake where Ginny and her had been studying the last few times, to read over a few extra chapters Flitwick had set them for charms. She set off out of the common room and the castle.
As Hermione neared the edge of the lake she could see a light breeze blowing through the forbidden Forrest and a small flock of birds flying low across the water. Every time Ginny insisted on studying by the lake Hermione thanked her upon arrival and today was no different. As much as the Brunette was thoroughly absorbed with her study and her books she did love marvelling at nature and the sheer abundance of it at Hogwarts made it very hard not to appreciate the beautiful landscape.
She continued along the lakes edge until she found herself under Ginny's favourite tree. She sat and learned against its sturdy trunk. It was an enormous tree and Hermione always felt safe sitting below its outstretched branches. Even in the winter months, it offered some amount of warmth and shelter, Hermione felt lucky though that it wasn't quite that cold yet. She pulled out her charms reference and opened to the chapter that Flitwick had requested they read. 'It's a short one' Hermione thought to herself 'I'll be done in no time and I'll head back to the castle and try to catch Gin'
As Hermione read through she could hear a few soft waves pushing their way onto the shore, stones rolling against each other and away as the waves retreated. The brunette glanced up from her book, and as she did she could see the waves growing slightly bigger and rushing more swiftly away from her leaving a few pieces of debris on the shoreline. She looked hard at one particular piece of drift wood as it seemed to be shinning extra bright in the sun. She focussed her eyes on the object but she soon realised that it wasn't a piece of drift wood at all.
The Brunette rose to her feet and began to walk towards the unusual object, as she reached the water she was surprised to find a small leather bound book with an 'H' carved right into the cover. The book appeared to be wet to the touch from rolling around in the water, but as Hermione picked it up any trace of water disappeared, drying instantly in her hand. She couldn't believe her eyes; she looked around curiously surveying the landscape for an answer. Surely a book this beautiful would have to have been someone's journal, someone's most loved possession? There was no sign of anyone though. She took another look at the beautiful book, Hermione could tell it was handmade, it had all the touches of a proper hand bound book, it was oversewn along the spine and the cover was attached perfectly. 'I really shouldn't open it' she thought to herself. Hermione was never one to pry but unfortunately if she wanted to return the book to its owner she would need some suggestion of whom it belonged to and with nothing on the front nor the back, she began to flick though the pages to find a trace of ownership.
"Amazing" she whispered to herself, although the book had been bathing in the great lake moments earlier, the pages were now bone dry, not a trace of moisture on them. Hermione continued to thumb through the pages, she could feel the parchment under her touch and she knew it was a special kind, like nothing she had seen or written on before, and that was saying a lot, Hermione knew a thing or two about parchment. It was all very odd, there was not a single note within the book, no name or date on the inside cover, nothing. She knew that it would be important to someone and thought it would be best to take it with her and ask around over the next few days.
The studious witch gathered up her things, including her newly found book and headed back towards the castle. If she spotted anyone on the way she would stop and ask them if they had misplaced their book or journal, surely a book with an 'H' on the cover belonged to someone especially if they hadn't bothered to write in it yet.
She continued along the path past Hargid's hut and she glanced through the window but she couldn't see any sign of the bushy man. 'It could be Hargids' she thought to herself and she made a mental note to ask him the next time they crossed paths. As she continued along up towards the castle she passed no one, not even a Quidditch player on their way to the pitch, 'odd' Hermione thought to herself, it was such a beautiful afternoon and nobody was really around. As she neared the castle though she could hear the bustle of the other students and in that moment she realised how tedious her task would be if she was to ask even half of the school if they had lost a book. Hermione being Hermione she decided on a more logical method and thought it might be better to paste a few posters up around the school, and decided on creating a few. As she was heading back toward the Gryffindor common room, she almost ran right into Ginny.
"Hermione, Hi! I was about to come looking for you!" Ginny said "Don't we have study this afternoon?"
"Oh Gin I forgot all about it for a moment!" Hermione said with disappointment in her voice "I'm so sorry, I've had a slightly strange afternoon"
"Not like you to forget study 'Mione, it must have been strange then. Is everything alright? Harry's not in trouble is he?" Ginny questioned stepping closer to the brunette just in case Hermione needed to disclose something important to her.
"No Gin, nothing like that, there is no need to worry about Harry. I was actually down near the lake doing a bit of reading, and while I was down there this washed up on the shore" Hermione held out the book to show Ginny and extended it out further for the younger witch to grab a hold of.
"Really? It just washed up" Ginny asked as she took the book out of Hermione's hands. As sheheld the book a small amount of panic rushed through Ginny's chest "Wha, what's, um, well do you know who it belongs to?" she composed herself finally getting the words out.
"Uh well there is this beautiful 'H' on the front obviously, so it would suggest that this is significant to the owner, maybe an initial" Hermione stated no looking at all bothered by the book "There isn't any trace of writing inside of it though, not even a scribble or a name on the inside"
Ginny was relived, she took a breath and spoke "Hmm, that is odd. It is a truly beautiful book though isn't it?"
"Indeed!" Hermione pipped up "You can tell it's hand made by the stitching along the spine, it's called long stitch and was used typically on parchment covered books with reinforced spines between 1375 and 1500" Hermione trailed off, she realised Ginny was glazing over slightly.
"Is there anything that you don't know Hermione Granger?" Ginny teased
"Sorry, that was a bit boring wasn't it? Interesting to note the age of the book though" Hermione stated
"No, no not boring at all" Ginny assured the older witch "I was just amazed by what you were explaining. That is a very old book and for it to be in tact the way it is, I would say it may contain magic" Ginny wondered
"Yes it is a good point Gin, it leads me to believe it is definitely magical, it was in the Great Lake after all. For it to either survive in the lake or survive as long as it has intact it would need some amount of magic" Hermione explained
The two stood looking at the book for a moment. Hermione clearly was none the wiser. Ginny on the other hand was absolutely teeming with ideas and her brain was processing them all at 1000 miles an hour. She knew exactly what the book was, and she knew exactly why it had found its way into Hermione Grangers possession. The question on her mind however was why did the book still have blank pages? Surely her letter should have appeared by now if it was what she thought it was.
"I owe you a study session" Hermione finally spoke breaking Ginny's thoughts "We can worry about the book later. I was thinking of putting a few posters up to see if anyone claims it anyway"
"Good idea Hermione" Ginny said eyes still locked with the beautiful book she knew no one would be claiming this book though, this now belonged to the witch who found it "Accio book bag" Ginny flicked her wand but was still fixated on the book
Moments later Ginny's book bag floated down from the stairs towards the girls. Ginny seized it from mid air and slung the pack over her shoulder.
"Nicely done Ginny, you clearly have been practicing" Hermione said with a touch of cheek
"A little bit" The red head's cheeks glowed to match her mane and she smiled softly at Hermione "Alright let go" With Ginny's command the two headed back down towards the lake. She didn't know what to do now, but one thing was for certain she needed to keep a close eye on that book and now more importantly Hermione. She really didn't know how it would all come about but if the letter decided to show itself she was sure Hermione would have 1001 questions for the red head and she needed to be prepared.
Hi All, thanks so much for reading through another chapter. I know it may be still feeling a little slow but I plan on making this a fairly long story so I am making the most of my details :)
Shoutouts: Thank you to MonkGirl, Randy, Music is my hermione, Irish mouse and The reviewer for your positive comments. It really does mean a lot when you guys take the time to write even if its just a few words! So thank you all so much!