Nightmares, midnight meetings, banter, breakfast and despair.
Disclaimer: this isn't my story, it belongs to Dan, Rup and Emma at this point. But for legal reasons also J.K. Rowling
Just as Harry predicted, nights at Hogwarts were definitely going to be a problem.
He knew this the second he shot up in bed as if someone had poured ice-cold water on him. He allowed the painful scream to pass his lips as he frantically looked around, taking in his surroundings.
It was dark; he didn't have his glasses on, the sheets were tangled between his legs, sweat dripped from his brow, and he was panting.
Focus on your breathing. He heard Hermione's voice tell him, and he did just that, taking deep breaths and counting to ten over and over again.
Tonight's nightmare had been different; he had dreamt about the graveyard for the first time in almost a year, the sickening thud of Cedric's body hitting the ground while he was stuck rooted to the spot, unable to reach him in time repeating on a loop. His scar prickled uneasily as he came to his senses and figured out where he was; he knew where he was, yet his body seemed to still think he was in danger. He had also put up the dearly missed silencing charms and now didn't have to worry about waking anyone else up.
The boy fiddled with the ring on his finger, his breathing steadying and heartbeat slowing as he counted to ten one more time, closing his eyes and mumbling each number under his breath.
"Okay… Okay." Harry muttered, swallowing thickly as he opened his eyes again. Moving towards the curtains of his bed, he peaked out, grabbing his glasses and squinting in the dark to assure his charm didn't break and he hadn't woke any of his roommates. When he was certain everyone was asleep, he sighed quietly, eyes flickering towards his best friend's four-poster bed; the youngest Weasley son was barely covered by his quilt, his arm hanging over the side while his snores, despite being muffled by his pillow, still filled the dorm and seemed to vibrate through the walls. Seamus, Dean, and Neville all slept soundlessly, all used to the redheads constant heavy growling after five years of living with him.
Sliding the curtains open further, fully aware he wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night, Harry swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood, creeping around to the foot where his trunk lay, digging around for some clothes. He pulled on a dark hoodie and some sweats, along with his trainers. Returning to his chest, he grabbed his invisibility cloak, the Marauders map, and his wand before tip-toeing out of the dorm and down the stairs. The seeker peaked out behind the wall, checking to see if any students had wandered down into the common room; it was vacant, allowing him to make his escape.
Harry threw the cloak over himself before slowly padding across the darkroom, the only light source being the dying fire. Slipping out of the Portrait hole, he let out a long breath of relief to see the fat lady was fast asleep, checking the map for sprawling Professors, he made for the lake.
An hour and a half later saw Harry sat with his back against a tree, watching as the Giant Squid surfaced momentarily, before sinking back into the moon reflecting water. Admittedly, he had missed his spot under the tree; he had spent a lot of his time Grieving the previous school year in that exact spot, continuously thinking about the events at the ministry and coming up with hundreds of ways it could have ended differently; number one being actually listening for once.
Huffing quietly, he pulled the cloak tighter around his body, using it as a source of warmth as he brought his attention back to the map. Few Teachers were pattering about the halls, as well as various students. Harry quickly averted his gaze when he saw two names disappear from the paper… on the seventh floor. Room of Requirements, he thought. Lovely.
In his attempt to bat away the implications of what he'd seen, his eyes were drawn towards a certain Hermione Granger.
She was making her way down into the common room slowly. Harry felt a tang of guilt and cringed; her nightmares. She must have been struggling with the whole 'sleeping alone thing, too; he hadn't even considered that she might seek his comfort. Hermione seemed to pause at the foot of the stairs, possibly looking to see if he was there, then began to retreat, moving back up the stairs and towards the boy's dormitory. Harry bit his lip and watched as her name paused at the door, most likely peeking inside and noting his absence. Hermione seemed to stay still for a long while before returning to the common room at a much slower pace, probably disappointed… never mind worried that he'd left. Just as he began folding away the map, intending on sprinting back to the common room to apologize for being insensitive, he caught sight of two other familiar names; Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, both in Dumbledore's office. That's odd; they hadn't mentioned having a meeting with the headmaster today, never mind a meeting at 2 in the morning, he thought.
With a grunt, Harry pushed himself up, stowing away the map and covering himself in the cloak, not intending on leaving her alone, and very curious about the presence of the wolf and metamorphmagus' names on the map, he began his trek back to the castle.
He made it to the Gargoyle that stood in front of the old wizard's office just in time to see the pair exit; both were wearing matching grins as they moved to leave. Harry quickly moved closer.
"Moony," Harry whispered suddenly, causing the Werewolf and his neighbour to jump at least a foot in the air, as well as remind Harry that the invisibility cloak was still draped over him. He mentally cursed himself as he hastily removed it, shoving it into his pocket. "Sorry, Remus."
"You nearly gave me a heart attack, Harry!" The Marauder held a hand to his chest, slightly glaring at him. "What are you doing wandering about at this time?"
"Could ask you the same; I saw you." He informed simply.
"What do you mean, you saw us?"
"On the map," The raven-haired wizard clarified. "Curiosity. got the better of me, and I came to see why you were here." That wasn't a complete lie; he'd just been wandering before that too.
"Ah, well, we were going to tell you tomorrow, but since you're here," Tonks butt in, her pink hair changing shades at a frenzied pace, she was grinning from ear to ear. "We're going to be helping you, giving you private training lessons four nights a week."
"That's brilliant!" Harry gasped, "Proper Order training? Really?"
"We thought it would make you feel more prepared, make you feel surer of yourself if something happens again." Remus put his hands in his pockets, a seriousness in his voice, but he was still smiling all the same. "And with everything seeming so murky at the moment, we need to make sure you know more spells; we don't know when you-know-who will next attack, you need to be above your age level, Harry."
"You need to know how to defend yourself without a wand, too." The wolf's companion added, "You won't be able to rely on it all the time; it could be snapped or taken; you need to make sure you can get out of a situation on your own." Harry nodded.
"We'll explain it all in more detail tonight; you and Tonks will have your first lesson on the Quidditch pitch. For now, you need to get back to your dorm before you're caught out here." The lycanthrope nodded in the direction of Dumbledore's office as Harry took his cloak out of pocket; just when he moved to drape the cloak over him once more, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We're happy for you two, by the way." Harry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion before realization hit him, and he grinned, albeit looking somewhat abashed. He gave a single nod before bidding the couple goodnight and continuing towards Gryffindor tower.
Upon entering, he caught a glimpse of Hermione's head snapping up from her book at the sound of the portrait hole closing and the fat lady grumbling after him. She was sat in front of the fireplace, a blanket covering her legs with her feet tucked underneath her.
"Hello?" She began tentatively, her eyes squinted in the darkness, the fire causing her skin to glow. "Harry?"
"Ding, ding." He confirmed, the cloak slipping from his shoulders. Hermione shot up, her book and blanket falling to the floor as she crossed the room in three long strides and threw her arms around his neck, burying her head in his chest; she had to stand on her tip-toes to reach him properly. His own arms snaked around her waist, pressing his lips to her hair. She was wearing dark grey pyjama pants, paired with her infamous, ancient oversized jumper.
"I didn't know where you'd gone, you prat." Her voice was muffled.
"Sorry…" He pulled back slightly to look at her. "I didn't even think. I… woke up, and I just had to get out and clear my head. I sat by the lake for an hour or so and felt like a right git when I saw you on the map." His hands began rubbing circles on her back.
The brunette blushed at his words, thoroughly embarrassed that Harry knew she had looked for him. "Oh, it's alright. Just make sure you wait for me next time; we can go down together."
"Yeah?" His lips twisted into a smile, his head slowly leaning down.
"Yeah." Her brown eyes sparkled with mischief, lips twitching upwards. "It'd be a great time to do homework."
At her words, Harry recoiled from her grip, feigning disgust. "You did not just call before the crack of dawn a great time to do homework."
"And what if I did?" Hermione's hands were placed firmly on her hips; she tilted her head and raised a dark eyebrow.
"Then I'd tell you that I would never waste such valuable time on school work." His hands reached forward to grip her own, slowly guiding her backwards; towards the seats.
"And what activity, may I ask, would you see fit to occupy us for such a length of time?" The Gryffindor prefect questioned as they sat down on the couch, barely containing her laughter.
"Haven't the foggiest." He lied, eyes focused on her lips, then to her face, watching as a blush flooded her cheeks. "Do you have an idea?" His voice was quiet, barely a whisper.
"Perhaps." And with that, she reached for the back of his head and pulled him into a slow, loving kiss. Harry's hands cupped her face gently, his thumbs caressing her skin.
"I like that idea," Harry mumbled as they broke apart.
Hermione nodded; a dazed expression on her face that soon faded, replaced with an uneasy tint, filled her eyes; she turned her gaze away. "Can we stay here?" She brought her hands to his chest, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie. "I don't want to try and sleep again… my wake up call was probably just as pleasant as your own." Harry smiled sadly, pulling her into a hug; she was practically sat on his lap.
"I don't see why not," He checked his watch, noting the time. "It's not actually that long until breakfast, really. Only an hour and a bit; people should be getting up soon."
"We really need to talk to Madam Pomfrey About some sort of dreamless sleep potion." The girl in his arms muttered. "Staying up during summer is one thing… during school though… I don't want it to affect my grades."
"I do recall lack of sleep not being an important factor when it came to grades to a certain third year…"
"Shut up!" Hermione slapped his chest and sat back, straddling his legs. "I was thirteen!" She scowled at him as he proceeded to laugh. "I just couldn't choose, okay? I wanted to learn absolutely everything I could."
"No surprise there." Harry choked out, catching her hand as it went to hit his chest again and intertwined their fingers. "Honestly, Hermione."
They stared at each other for a moment, the tether between them giving a gentle pull as they took each other in. Her pout soon melted into a smirk, and she let out a gasp of laughter, shying away. A smile threatened his lips as he gazed at her, eyes filled with such genuine happiness and love– he would have told her then if it wasn't so terrifying. Instead, he gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, bringing her gaze back towards him and leaned forward, capturing her lips with his own and showing her exactly how he felt about her.
With great reluctance, they broke apart, their breath mingling together, seemingly remembering where they were. "People will be up soon." The green-eyed boy whispered against her lips, Hermione huffed; or at least tried to huff rather breathlessly. "People who don't even know we're together." Here, Hermione froze, her expression thoughtful.
"I'd honestly forgotten about that problem." She all but collapsed in his arms, snuggling into his chest and pulling the blanket from the floor along with her.
"I don't want to keep it a secret," The brunette nodded In agreement. "But if we tell people we're together, or just suddenly start acting like a couple, people are going to-"
A squeak from the staircase popped their bubble, and they snapped their gaze towards the sound with wide eyes, just in time to see a young third-year girl back up and run back up the stairs.
"Never mind then." The pair sighed.
"Well, that's one less thing to worry about… I guess… maybe she didn't hear us..." She worried her lip.
"Oh!" He slapped a hand to his forehead, remembering his conversation with Remus. "I saw Moony and Tonks on the way back up."
"Really? What were they doing here that early in the morning?" Harry quickly explained the training lessons he would be receiving this year, expressing his evident excitement. "That's fantastic, Harry!" The wild-haired witch said honestly, though there was worry present. "Just make sure you don't work yourself too hard."
"Honestly, Hermione, we haven't even started yet, besides," He glanced nervously behind him, towards where the girl had been standing. "We have bigger things to worry about."
As suspected, news of the change in Harry and Hermione's relationship spread throughout Hogwarts like the plague. Apparently, their conversation had been overheard by that third year on the stairs and said the third-year girl had obviously pounced at the chance of spreading such extraordinary gossip so early in the year.
The positive stares and smiles from the previous day were now mixed with scoffs and upturned noses as the couple walked through the Great Hall doors on their way to breakfast. Hermione gripped Harry's hand tightly in hers, her head held high, seemingly unfazed by the unpleasant whispering from several groups of girls that aimed their glares and remarks her way. The smug smirk on her face sparked a sense of amusement within Harry, as well as a hint of pride.
"Ni'the of you 'do make an appeara'nth." Ron greeted through a mouth full of bacon as they neared the table, pieces falling from his mouth as he spoke; Harry grimaced as he saw one fly straight into a young boy's cereal. He swallowed, "Lessons haven't even started yet, and you're already causing trouble." The redhead smirked.
"Ah, well, you know me and trouble, it always finds me." Harry let go of Hermione's hand and sat across from Ron, passing her the butter with a smile before moving to grab some eggs.
"Oh, Professor McGonagall told me to give you these." He slid two parchment pieces across the table; Hermione quickly snatched hers the second she saw her name on top and greedily looked it over.
"Our timetables." She quickly grabbed Harry's and looked it over before he had a chance to reach for it; just as quickly, she had shoved it into his grasp. "Look."
"Double potions? I thought you needed-"
"WHAT?!" The pair jumped at Ron's exclamation and looked up to see him scrambling about to find his own timetable. "You're joking! Double potions on a Monday afternoon? With defence right before?! That's just plain torture!" The youngest Weasley son moaned. "Wait, I thought you needed an O in your Owls to do potions this year."
"O.W.L's, Ronald." Hermione corrected through gritted teeth. "And had you listened to anything Dumbledore said last night while you were complaining about Professor Snape–"
"Oi! You complained too!"
"–Then you would know that Professor Slughorn is completely fine with Teaching students with Exceeds expectations." The brunette said in her matter-of-fact tone before biting into her toast.
"There's a bloody 2-hour divination class on Wednesdays, too. Gods, Harry, we're in for it..."
"I dropped Divination," Harry said, covering his mouth with his hand as he was still eating.
Ron paled. "Sorry?"
Harry swallowed his food and set down his fork. "I dropped Divination; it's pointless and a waste of time. I could be training or doing something important instead." His face grew severe; he shook his head.
"You can't leave me alone in there!" Ron cried, drawing the attention of a good portion of Gryffindor table.
"Sorry, mate. Grown-up decisions were made; Moony saw it fit that I take every free chance of time I can get my hands on." He smirked slightly as Ron's head hit the table.
"Oh, honestly, Ronald. All you do there is sleep; you certainly never paid attention to what I saw."
"Hey! Harry always fell asleep too."
"Can't say I blame him; having his death predicted in a continuous loop must be tiring." Hermione set herself the task of making a cup of tea.
"Does he ever do anything wrong in your books?" Ron asked sceptically, obviously offended by the blatant favouritism.
The young witch poured some milk into her cup and began to stir; without looking up, she responded, "Oh, trust me. He's anything but innocent."
Harry choked on his pumpkin juice.
And that's that! Sorry for the wait. It's been rough, many of us were sick and my town is son a local lockdown but we're doing better! I'll probably be posting another chapter in a few hours! Thank you again!
Also I cut out a snogging scene here bc it was just unnecessary, but if you wanna see the original check out my A03 of the same name :P