As the troll's weapon went up, so did Harry's wand. "Depulso!" He shouted, sending the mace directly into the beast's face and smashing his nose flat against it. This noise seemed to catch the attention of the one in front of Hermione.
"Diffindo!" She shouted, slicing the club in twain, and letting the top, heavier half land on the troll's foot. The cracking noise told her that the foot was broken and she pointed at the legs. "Locomotor Mortis!" The troll fell over, unable to move his lower body.
"Incendio!" Ron shouted as he cast a large flare in front of him. The troll he aimed at drew back from the fire. As soon as it exposed the side of its head he took sharp aim. "Stupefy!"
As Ron's troll fell, another one's club came down very near Harry. As he dodged out of the way, a shard of slate rock pelted the side of his head, drawing blood.
"Descendo." Harry growled as he stomped away and the trolls face connected solidly with the stone floor.
With a hard whip of her wand, Hermione wrenched another troll's metal staff from his hand and sent it straight into his cheek. It took all of her concentration to control that metal weapon as it weighed far more than she had lifted in such a manner. So much so that she did not see the other troll approaching her until the last moment. She was forced to drop the heavy metal rod on the troll's kneecap before holding up a shield.
"Protego!" Hermione shouted with a wince as the troll's club connected with it, hard. The protective barrier was shattered and she fell.
"Bombarda!" Harry roared at the troll as he sneered for another strike. The jet of magic smashed into its chest and with the explosion, the troll was flung bodily backward, crashing through a stone wall and causing someone in the hall behind it to cry out in shock.
Harry noticed a turban bobbing from side to side as someone descended the steps on the other side. It was not at all who Harry expected, though it was strange that seeing him didn't strike him as too surprising. Was Quirrell there before Snape, or did Snape get there inhumanly fast? All the sudden, his scar began to burn. His hand went to the place on his forehead where it tingled and his brow furrowed. That was quite strange.
He pushed that aside for the moment as he ran straight for Hermione, who was stirring. He checked her body for marks or fractures and then he got to her face to face.
"Hermione? Are you alright? Can you feel anything broken?" Harry was asking at a very fast rate and she was waving him off.
"Yes, I'm fine. That troll was simply stronger than I expected." She could barely open her eyes, her head hurt so badly that even speaking set it off.
Just then, Snape did arrive, but it was in the company of Mcgonagall and Sprout as they looked and surveyed the carnage. The second floor hallway and many of the classrooms were completely destroyed. The second floor bathroom no longer existed other than spewing pipes and mixed with its ruins was the Muggle Studies classroom. Professor Mcgonagall's office was also decimated.
"Sweet merciful heavens! Hermione!" Mcgonagall knelt down beside Harry as he held her hand.
"I'm alright." She said in a very weak tone.
"What's happened?!" Madam Pomfrey ran out from the hospital wing, relieved to see the trolls were no longer thumping around.
"Poppy! Hermione's been injured! Prepare a stretcher!" The professor said as she stood up from Hermione on the floor. The panic in Pomfrey's voice was apparent, but she kept it at a murmur as she scurried over to her side with her wand out. With the wave of it, an invisible stretcher floated Hermione up to her hip level and she started toward the hospital at a steady pace.
"You too, Ronald! Get a move on!" Mcgonagall told him pointedly, seeing his arm was bleeding and he had a large bruise on his face. Despite Harry's head bleeding, she placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him from following. "Potter, what happened? Did these trolls beat each other unconscious?" She asked him in a surprisingly subdued tone.
"No, Hermione took out two, so did I. Ron got that one." He pointed across the hall as he started walking away toward the hospital wing. He was stopped short once again by Professor Snape.
"Not so fast, Potter. I happen to have a few questions…" Snape eyed Harry's strange, sweaty makeup job, along with the old suit, which was now in tatters.
"Professor Snape, that will do! Harry is injured!" Professor Mcgonagall protested and after a moment of staring, Severus Snape allowed him passage, which he took without a word. Professor Sprout was eyeing the trolls lying around the chamber as more of the professors walked in, including Professor Dumbledore.
In the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey already had a special potion she dabbed across Hermione's brow. As she did this, Harry walked up beside her and knelt down beside her. Poppy took one look at him and scoffed.
"You're first years! Really! Going after trolls!" Madam Pomfrey shook her head and motioned toward the bed. "Lie in that bed, dear boy, I'll have a look at your head when I've seen to Miss Granger."
Despite her saying this, his hand slid into hers and she held onto him, opening her eyes with a smile. Madam Pomfrey sat up straight as she did this, her eyes widened and glancing over at Harry.
"Harry…" Her smile widened.
"Dear child!" Madam Pomfrey motioned him away and he reluctantly let her hand fall back to the bed. "This girl is exhausted. Don't you know using so much magic over exerts yourself? Magical energy takes time, dear, you'll be here all night, I'm afraid."
"But she'll be alright?" Ron asked from the bed behind Harry and to both of their surprise, she chuckled.
"Of course! Got life yet to live still. You'd better not take on any more trolls, or that will change, I don't mind telling you." Poppy shook her head at the two of them. "A bloody arm, a bloody dribble, she's right knackered! Could have lost an arm! An eye!"
"And she is absolutely correct!" All of them saw Professor Dumbledore, though, he did not say this with any anger or malice, but with a smile and a chuckle. "Of course Poppy means well, but I, for one, see a great deed out of a very dreadful situation. Now, gentlemen, the lady needs rest, please, enlighten me as to the events where trolls completely demolished one of our lavatories."
Harry told him how a Slytherin student provoked Hermione, and caused her to storm off. Dumbledore seemed to take all of this in stride, though he did not seem pleased at all. "The trolls did seem to come out of nowhere. Though, it was quite fortunate that Hermione has two such good friends to come to her aid in such a dire time of need. I believe a reward is in order. A hundred and fifty points to Gryffindor for outrageous courage in the face of seemingly impossible danger."
"But, sir! I must insist," Snape hissed toward the headmaster as he stepped out from the hallway. He'd obviously heard every word. "The circumstances are quite strange, are they not?"
"Severus, of course the circumstances are strange. I do not believe I have five trolls cleaning my office every day, nor are they teaching staff. What is your quibble?" Albus Dumbledore asked the potions master, who hesitated to speak. He turned a scornful look toward Harry, then turned back to the headmaster.
"My mistake, headmaster." Snape said with clear reluctance. He strode from the hospital wing and Dumbledore turned his smiling face back to the three students.
"As I was saying, I'm simply happy all three of you are well. Not only that, but it is refreshing to know that Professor Quirrell's lessons are paying off. Though, I do say, your talents seem to have had something to do with such a feat. I will look forward to seeing your future endeavors. Now, all three of you must rest. Do not worry about lessons for the next few days. Enjoy some time together in healing."
They all thanked the headmaster and it was clear that Professor Mcgonagall wanted to tell them something, but her beaming smile and fond expression was telling enough. Her pride for Gryffindor's bravery has never faltered and this was no exception.
Madam Pomfrey walked over to Ron with some bandages bunched in her arm, along with a bottle of purple liquid. As Madam Pomfrey did this, Hermione moved her hand to the edge of her bed once again. Harry had no problem taking hold of it once he got to the edge.
"I'm okay, Harry." She assured him and he smiled. Harry went back to his bed and she fell asleep very quickly. Harry and Ron were by her side for most of the days afterward. It wasn't long before she was playing games of Exploding Snap with them and getting in trouble with the matron.
It wasn't until the sixth day that she gave Hermione a clean bill of health and she was allowed to attend classes again. Not that she really needed to. All of the make-up homework was done out of the text books and she even did one of them twice because she didn't want there to be any misinterpretations with her work.
Before long, the leaves were all gone and the snow fell in. Winter was heavy in the air and Christmas decorations were finding their way all over the Great Hall and Hogwarts itself.
"Well, obviously, I'm not saying I suspect Quirrell of trying to steal the stone." Harry speculated but Ron tilted his head.
"He did react a little fast, mate. All I'm saying is, we might want to make sure we got the right guy." Ron reasoned and Hermione was obviously on similar conclusions.
"It does paint some of their dialogue in a different light." Hermione admitted, though Harry seemed far more indecisive. "Perhaps you want it to be Snape?"
"Yeah, but there's no real way to be sure." Harry said, conceding the point. "We're still at square one. We know the dog is still there and I'm fairly certain it sleeps on that door."
"He's not going to make a move after siccing five trolls on Hogwarts." Hermione decided. "Obviously, he didn't expect three first years to thwart them. They were meant to go after either Quirrell or Snape. Though, Snape did seem rather bothered."
They decided to drop the subject for the time being. The air was too cold and the fire was too warm for them to think. Term ended with hardly a gasp, as the professors seemed almost as tired as the students by then. Homework being done, a thick blanket of snow on the ground and fireplaces thick with lumber, Hermione and Harry practically lived in the common room.
Ron had gone home with all of his brothers. He told Harry that he would bring him back presents, as his mother had quite a few planned out for him and Hermione and they bid their friend farewell. Hermione, on the other hand, told her parents that she needed to study. It was true, she did need to study. However, she wasn't forthcoming with the subject material.
"We ordered pizza Christmas morning because mum was sick." Hermione said as the fire crackled in front of them both. "Dad's rubbish with cooking, so we ordered three large pizzas."
"I don't suppose you finished them all." Harry reasoned and she gave his shoulder a tiny slap.
"We had some saved in the fridge. When mother's throat healed, she was happy to have it." Hermione chuckled and Harry nodded. Then she looked at him. "Nothing? Nothing at all?"
Harry shook his head with a frown, shrugging. "I think the best thing they gave me was lighter fluid. They either wanted to keep me warm or set me on fire."
Hermione did not find this especially funny. Now she blushed as she thought a bad Christmas was when she got embarrassing sweaters along with her two board games, new shoes and a cassette player. Harry had once received an empty can. There was a long, long silence after that as she looked into the fire.
It was hard to see how to take this, as Harry watched her twiddle her thumbs. He looked from her to the fireplace, as she didn't seem to want to meet his eyes. Upon closer inspection, she was either very angry or the latter, which was true. Her face was absolutely scarlet.
"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, and she nodded.
"Yes, Harry. You've never had a good Christmas in your entire life, and that's wrong. Oh, Harry…" She said in a somber, dreamy voice.
"Well, it's not…" Harry started, but then she crawled onto his lap and straddled him. She faced him with her nose against his and their eyes gazing into each other point blank.
"Yes, it is Harry," Hermione whispered to him as her hands swept over his forehead. Without realizing it, her fingers felt the outline of his scar. "It means everything. I want to make every Christmas special with you."
Before he could ask her what she meant, she kissed him on the lips and ran her fingers through his dark, messy hair. Her own hair fell over them both. There were no onlookers, but their view would be heavily obscured as her curls and locks hung over their faces. It wasn't long before she wrapped a blanket around them both and they stayed like that. There was no reason to be anywhere else. It was cozy by the fire.
Hogwarts was very empty then. There were three Slytherins, four other Gryffindors, with a mixture of ten Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. This suited both of them fine, as Harry never thought once of going to the Dursleys for Christmas and he couldn't think of another place he'd rather be.
Even when they wanted to spend time away from one another, it lasted for two hours at the very most. There was one time it turned into an impromptu hide-and-seek as she followed Harry and tried to spend time away from him at the same time. Or at least, that was the excuse she came up with when he caught her.
Christmas Eve came and the night was proving to be a fiercely brisk one. The snow flurries outside blew against the window and everything was crusted with a snow drift. The mountains around the Scottish Highlands were capped white and the castle had not a single bare stone upon it. Hermione decided to break a rule quite deliberately, since none of Harry's roommates were there.
She crawled into his bed and laid with him. It was so exciting to break a rule like this and to see him without his glasses. It wasn't long before they were trying to sleep, but obviously finding no means to do so.
"Okay, count." Hermione whispered and he closed his eyes. There was a very long pause and she narrowed her eyes at him. "I see it!"
"Damn." He whispered, as she'd seen his eye very partially open. "Alright, I got to twenty-five sheep. Nothing." He shrugged with his free shoulder that wasn't against the mattress.
"Answer me one question, though." She asked and he grunted. "Did you ever believe in Santa Claus?" She asked, and he slowly shook his head "no". She nodded. "That one didn't take me long. The more I figured out physics, the more I figured out how many children were really in the world." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"It's weird, though. There's only one you." Harry said and she gazed at him with her mouth partially open. She looked at him and studied his face very carefully.
"Harry, stop saying the right things." Hermione leaned in to kiss him once again, though he opened his mouth as if to say something. It took him no time to sink into the kiss. She wore sweatpants she had not worn since she was nine, but they still fit well enough to keep her warm, and her socks were extra fluffy. Her sweater was new, though, and extra fluffy wool.
Since they had no fireplace in the dorm, she conjured blue, waterproof fire that she kept in a large bowl on his side table. It illuminated the room beautifully and they were outlined in beautiful sapphire. It also kept them very warm.
"Do the Dursleys have a phone number?" She asked and he smiled wide.
"Yeah, they do. It's strange to talk about phones here. I've noticed there's nothing so much as an electric kettle in this world." Harry observed and she nodded.
"The wizarding world relied on magic through the ages and ignored intentions like electricity and petrol combustion engines. Though, I think I'd prefer a car over brooms." She immediately made Harry turn over, his very large pajama shirt bunched up underneath him and looking frightfully uneven. "Harry! No! Come back!" She started to pull him and he fought against her.
"No, who are you? I'm just not sure anymore." That's when her hand went over his face, draped across it like it was unconscious. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, Harry, you wounded me." She said and left it at that, making her hand slightly change position, but still drape across his face diagonally. "I'm hurt, like, really for really real." She whispered into his ear and made it very blowy to make him scrunch up away from her.
"No! Stop that." He whispered at her and she suddenly held onto him.
Then she immediately pushed her mouth up to his ear and started whispering very loudly and very abruptly. "No! Hermione, you're being terrible! You get onto me about this rubbish every day!"
"Only I'm allowed to do it because I'm a witch. There is no arguing with this logic, as it is magical."
"Magically nonsense." He interjected and she scoffed.
"That's what makes it magical." She couldn't stop from smiling and suddenly leaning forward. "Now give me praise for being so beautiful and intelligent."
"Fine, you're quite lovely and oh, is that brain sticking out of your ear?" Harry asked and she gasped. "It's also quite lovely."
"Thank you. I groom it." She admitted and he nodded. "Don't believe me. That's hurtful."
"Because it's true." He retaliated and she gasped even harder. "I don't hear any argument."
"I'm not getting sufficient holding and attention, and am feeling thoroughly neglected." She said in a very slow tone before yawning very wide. They both chortled for a moment before sighing and starting to feel the warmth within and the cold outside.
It was that beautiful place in the vortex of reality where you could just relax and drift off. Then have the comforting awakening of, "Happy Christmas." Harry whispered into her ear and she immediately smiled as she awoke.
"And to you, Sir Harry." She whispered, only to cup her hands over her mouth to block a very bitter morning yawn. Then she turned over and there they were, all across the floor. The presents were delivered there somehow. Since no one made a fuss, they delivered her gifts as well and made no comment that she was in the boy's dorm.
They got up and stretched, walking over to the presents and starting to look through. He handed her a larger present, while she handed him one that was obviously a Quaffle wrapped in bright emerald paper. Harry unwrapped it to find that all of the Weasley family, Bill and Charlie included, had signed it. The smaller box beside it was a replica Snitch that Hermione had signed with a little heart in enchanted, silver ink that blended perfectly with the Snitch's metal.
Harry had given her two journals. One for him and one for her. One was red while the other was gold for their house colors. "It's a two way set of journals." He explained as he opened both of them to their first page. Then, with his quill, he began to write "This is where it all begins" on his journal, as it showed up on hers. This made her gasp! "With these, we can communicate with one another, and they are coded with a password." He said as he turned to their back covers.
The backs of the journals had "Revealed" inked across it. Harry wrote "Reparo" and the words went blank.
"Reparo?" She asked him and he nodded.
"Yeah, it was the first spell you taught me." Harry reasoned and she honestly was flattered. "Here, just put one in this line."
After a great deal of thought, she finally filled in the word "green" and the word disappeared, while the other words stayed visible.
"Green?" Harry asked and looked at her. She nodded and glanced at him.
"Just a word I thought up." Hermione said before grinning at him and looking at another one of her presents. It was a sweater from Mrs. Weasley with the letter H. It just so happened to be green. Harry received an almost identical sweater, only it was scarlet. They looked at one another and decided identical jumpers weren't a terrible idea, at least for the day. The fact that their names started with H didn't ruin a good pair of new sweaters.
That was when Harry found a strange package, though, it was quite clear what was inside of it. It was a guitar whittled out of wood and strung with skillfully crafted chords. There was a note from Hagrid, saying it took him a few weeks, but he got the sound how he liked it. Harry blinked, wondering what on Earth gave Hagrid the idea to give him a guitar. Though, he had to admit, he wouldn't mind learning how to play an instrument.
Hermione got four books, Ron giving her a book all about his favorite Quidditch team. He had given her a bit of poking fun when she told him he knew literally nothing about the sport as a whole. There was also a book of advanced spells from Professor Flitwick, who saw untapped potential within Hermione and the card assured her these would come in handy should she face down any more trolls. "Not that I have any doubt that you could handle twenty or so next time."
"It's nice that he has faith in you." Harry said and she eyed him with a recoiled look.
"Twenty sounds excessive." Hermione blushed a bit and opened the book to see that these were, indeed some rather straightforward jinxes. In fact, it became very clear that some of these were meant for a more advanced form of dueling. This was the sort of dueling that put wizards in St. Mungo's for extended periods of time.
Then it was down to one last gift. Harry opened it to reveal something that made both of their jaws drop. It was smoother than silk, translucent on one side, but completely invisible on the other. "An invisibility cloak? Who on Earth could have sent you that?" Hermione asked as he put it on and completely vanished before her eyes as he donned the hood.
"I don't know. The card doesn't say. It says it used to be… my dad's…" He said as he took off the hood and brought the card into view outside it. It looked like he wanted to see if he read it quite right or if views were obscured within the cloak.
"What?! Your father had an invisibility cloak? How on Earth could they have obtained a vault full of gold as well as one of the rarest artefacts in the world?" Hermione felt the fabric as she held it out from him. It was so amazingly stitched, as if from air to material.
Then, he pulled her into the cloak and she squeaked as they were both shrouded in invisible mystery. Invisible or not, she was so warm against him and he smiled as he noticed some of her hairs were sticking out of the hood. They had a nice giggle at this before deciding to save the invisibility cloak for later.
Hermione did what she set out to do. She taught Harry a few carols and they learned a few Christmas wizarding tales. There was Arty Maggins, who accidentally performed a confundus charm on Father Christmas, making him think he was an ostrich. Then there was Madam Mist, and how she had to help Santa get past a horde of Ogres who wanted to use him to obtain copious amounts of egg nog. It was a fascinating set of tales.
In the early afternoon, they napped in the common room. Once they awoke, it was already nearly time for Christmas Dinner in the great hall, and they bathed before arriving together to a small gathering.
What few people there were, were most grateful to see Harry and Hermione join them. Hagrid, Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, Snape and a small gathering of students all congregated at the table with a sumptuous meal.
"Right over here, you two! I saved you some seats!" Hagrid said, indicating the ones between him and Dumbledore. They would have been perfect seats were it not for the fact that Harry was now directly in line with the gaze of a certain giant bat at the table.
The gathering was a festive one, as Dumbledore regaled them with tales of Christmases of old at Hogwarts and embarrassing stories of Mcgonagall in her youth. Much of it she did not deny. Hagrid had three or four large helpings of brandy and chicken, while also telling Harry all about his time as a student at the school.
The crackers went off in glorious fashion, bringing out smoke of red and green. Both Harry and Hermione got new wizarding chess sets, while a fifth year student got a wooden set of checkers that played against you if you didn't have an opponent. Dumbledore got a pirate captain's hat and wore it with one eye shut behind his half-moon glasses. Snape received a lump of coal, which he saved as an ingredient for various forms of heart remedies.
"So, Harry, are your studies coming along quite well?" Dumbledore asked him as he offered him a bowl of pretzels and nuts.
"Yes, sir. I've learned quite a bit." Harry nodded to him and he took some almonds and cashews as the much older man chuckled.
"You are quite humble, my dear boy. So few can do what you have already done. You and your friends. Miss Granger, I need not ask how your studies are coming along. Your marks continue to be among the highest in Hogwarts history."
Hermione had no idea what to say to this, but did her best to become as much like the wall decorations as she possibly could.
"Um, Professor, do you have any family to spend Christmas with?" Harry asked Dumbledore so that Hermione could stop being the center of attention, much to her relief.
"Oh, I normally pay a small visit to the Hog's Head on Christmas. Beyond that, I spend it with the staff and students here. It is a Christmas tradition that I will do until my dying days, I am happy to inform you." The smile on his face was as genuine as the winter flurries.
The laughter and the warmth continued through the night as the feasting progressed into conversation, which soon dissolved into tired eyes and rising to retire.
Harry and Hermione held hands together as they stood in front of the common room fire. They didn't need it, but the mistletoe was welcome. They leaned their foreheads together and their embrace came soon after that with a soft but firm kiss. With a soft goodnight, they were off to sleep.
Sadly, Christmas break was not forever, and the warm, close nights came to an end as the students returned from their homes. After the New Year of 1992, term continued, but Quirrell did not return.