Hermione was sitting up in her bed staring at the valentine's gift Harry had given her. Or rather, the box he'd given it in. She still hadn't opened it. She didn't know why. It's not a big deal. They'd gotten each other presents before. Just because it came on February 14th doesn't mean anything. And even if it did mean something -
What if it did mean something?
Hermione wiped a tear away from her cheek. Was she crying? "What's wrong with me?" She muttered to herself. She shook her head and took some deep breaths. This didn't have to mean anything. It is a gift from a friend and that is all. If it did mean something, then what would it mean?
Hermione couldn't imagine being in a relationship without picturing Ron. He was really her first and only proper relationship. She'd been to a dance or an event or two with other people but never had she actually gotten involved in anything serious until Ron finally asked her out. She definitely remembered that day. It was a few weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts and things were starting to settle. Reconstructing the magical world hadn't taken nearly as long as she'd imagined but then, she supposed, when you could levitate the bricks back into place and have an army's worth of house-elves, repairing one old castle probably didn't take that much time or effort. Of course, fixing the political landscape of magical Britain would take so much longer, with many powerful politicians either dead or declared death eaters, the future of magical British rule was very uncertain. She wondered if the ministry ever did clean up their act. Her mental clarity seemed to stop soon after she turned 21, she wouldn't have noticed if the magical world had gotten better or worse, she'd barely been a part of it.
She'd been living in a muggle hotel since the war. She was pretty sure that was on McGonagall's orders. She insisted she rest away from the mess of the magical world and Hermione had welcomed the break. Ron, of course, had stayed with his family. Harry too. Ginny had probably called for him to be by her side after Fred's death. Though it was likely Harry would have gone to the Weasley's anyways. He had considered them his family back then. She didn't see him at all then.
She hadn't really slept in the weeks following the Battle and was busy preparing herself for Australia. She was going to get her parents back.
She did get to see Harry at Fred's funeral. It wasn't just his. It was a big occasion, celebrating the lives and grieving the deaths of the so many people who lost their lives in this pointless unnecessary war. She saw the Weasleys' for the first time in a while too. Arthur and Molly were besides themselves. George's face was grey, his face streaked with tears, his mouth fixed firm in a frown. Ginny was gripping onto Harry's arm, she looked as though she could fall at any moment, like he was the only support she had. Looking back on it, it was hard to tell when Ginny had just been playing a role to get to Harry and when she'd actually been honest about her feelings. Hermione shook her head. She'd become far too cynical, there was no way she could be faking her grief at her own brother's funeral… right?
Ron had asked her out there. That should have been a major red flag. She'd ignored it at the time. After the Battle she'd felt so alone, and she did care about Ron, a lot. He needed someone to be there for him during a time when he'd lost someone so close to him. She'd told him they needed to wait til she came back from Australia but he'd been so insistent. He'd practically begged her. She'd put it down to grief. She'd booked her tickets, prepared her bags and then she'd left them in her hotel room. She was just supposed to go for lunch with him before her flight and then she'd leave that evening. She'd never make that flight. Never return for her stuff. Never break the spell she'd cast on her parents. She'd never seen them again.
That was the last clear memory she had. She couldn't even tell if her initial crush on him was just a real teenage crush or if that was due to some potion too.
Of course, she knew that wasn't Harry. She knew he wouldn't hurt her like that. She knew that he knew how horrible her situation was, he'd practically been through it himself. But it had only been a year.
Sure, a lot had happened during that year, but she'd enjoyed just being herself. Really, truly herself. No strings attached. She wasn't someone's girlfriend. She wasn't just Harry's friend. She was Hermione Granger and she had her own friends and her own time that she didn't owe to anyone. And of course, Harry wouldn't have silly expectations of her, but she just liked the freedom. Something she'd been denied for so, so long.
What was she thinking? He'd given her a tiny little box and she'd spiralled into thinking about a relationship? She had to admit, it wouldn't be the first time she'd thought about a life with Harry. He was the first real friend she'd ever had, and she remembered having a little crush on him during her earlier years at Hogwarts. And then life had gotten so serious and Harry had gone through so much. She hadn't let herself develop further feelings for him, she'd felt it wasn't right. And then Ginny had entered the picture for him and Ron for her.
She took a deep breath. She didn't need to think about any of this. If Harry wanted to ask her out, he would and that was when she could overthink to her heart's content. For now, she just needed to open this damn box.
—-
Harry tried to stuff his head further under his pillow. The noise was too much, he just couldn't sleep. He'd gotten used to the low snores of the boys' dormitory, that wasn't the issue. It was this goddamn basilisk. Constantly hissing through the walls, calling for death and murder and blood. This definitely felt excessive compared to last time. It was so loud all the time, he just couldn't sleep here. He'd occasionally taken to sleeping in the Room of Requirement during the year, but then the patrols began. Every morning, he could swear the bags under his eyes were getting darker and heavier. Last year he'd assumed the horcrux was no longer in his system but it seemed he'd retained his parseltongue. Listening to "kill…kill….kill…." was not helping his already often very unpleasant dreams.
As the hissing continued, Harry grew more and more frustrated. He couldn't take this anymore. He grabbed his invisibility cloak and left the Gryffindor Dormitory.
He walked through the hallways, quietly as he could. The elves were still patrolling despite the late hours. He couldn't help but feel bad for them. It seemed Hermione was rubbing off on him.
Just one corner left, and he'd be able to sleep. He'd finally be able to get some rest.
He turned the corner and bang! Harry rubbed his nose as he looked up at whatever he'd just banged into.
"Nice night for a stroll, don't you think, Mr Potter?" Dumbledore smiled, glancing down through his half-moon lenses at the sleep-deprived boy.
Tom Riddle was way too patient. He was willing to wait far too long before taking action. That wasn't good enough. The time to purge mudbloods from Hogwarts was now. All they'd done was attack that one stupid ginger and now they weren't going to do anything else? This was too frustrating. Even the basilisk was getting antsy. Since spending so much time writing in the diary, he found himself understanding the Basilisk as it slithered through Hogwarts. Am I becoming a parselmouth? he thought to himself. It made sense now that he was working with the true Heir of Slytherin. The Basilisk was somewhat disturbing to hear, but it was all for the right cause. As long as he could finally move that cause along. Screw Tom. He was just some guy locked in a book. I'm in charge, and I'm going to purify this damn school.
Harry woke up bleary eyed and exhausted. Dumbledore had kept him up with some big speech about Harry's important fate. It was an odd conversation and he was eager to tell Hermione about it but Dumbledore had walked him all the way back to his dormitory and he'd had yet another terrible sleep.
He stepped out of the bathroom after trying to wash the sleep out of his eyes. It hadn't worked. He was still exhausted. Then something came that did wake him up. A scream. A girl's scream. He ran out of the dorm and down to the common room.
The portrait door was open.
A small group of students had formed around it.
He pushed through the crowd, surprised by how easily people let him through.
He looked to the middle of the group and felt a swallow get stuck in his throat. He just stared down, wide eyes. He didn't notice his knees give as he fell to the ground.
Hermione lay, lifeless on the ground. Her eyes grey, her face blank, her fists clenched - the small pendant he'd bought her hanging loosely around her neck.
Happy Valentine's! I hope everyone's enjoying the new year and this new addition to the story too! Do let me know what you think and remember to follow and favourite :)