Procrastionation by padfoot_puppyeyes

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance, Humor
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 10/08/2005
Last Updated: 10/08/2005
Status: In Progress

Hermione's been putting off that Astronamy essay for much too long, but when she sees Harry
by the astronamy tower...well, another night can't hurt, can it?




1. Just One More Night
----------------------



**AN- this is just a small idea that came up in my mind, and developed into a rather larger
idea. I will either A.) Make this into a challenge with limited amounts of rules, and watch to see
if other authors go for it, or B.) Have a series of Astronomy Tower scenes, all of which have to be
PG13 or under, because I am indeed only a fourteen-year-old who knows what could really happen in
the Astronomy Tower;)**

**Procrastination;**

Sighing, Hermione trudged up the stairs of the Astronomy Tower, knowing that she needed this
homework done. Extra classes, the DA, and homework had piled up, and she'd been putting this
assignment off for far too long, telling herself that it wasn't top priority. There was more to
the world than the unreachable stars.

But now the assignment was due in two days, and who knew what tomorrow night would bring. With
Harry Potter, a magnet for trouble as one best friend, and Ron Weasley, who seemed to look for
trouble regularly as the other, it was best to get homework done before nightfall, in case you
would be woken in the middle of the night for a battle, to clean up after Voldemort, to sneak into
secret forbidden corridors, Troll-infested bathrooms, hidden chambers in the school's plumbing,
midnight duels, trips to Hagrid's, sneaking out dragons, a run through the Forbidden Forest, a
little trip to the Shrieking Shack to run into a werewolf and well-known murderer…you get the
general picture. McGongall had given her permission. She'd get it done tonight.

But when she was Harry staring out the window, back to her, once she reached the top of the
stairs, she changed her mind.

She hadn't actually had a heart-to-heart with Harry like they had before, or like the trio
had had together, since before Sirius's death, though they had had a few stilted conversations
about it during the summer, when they had all gone to Diagon Alley and stayed in Tonks's place.
To be honest, she hadn't gone too out of her way to talk to him alone either, though she could
tell it was eating him up inside, both Sirius's death, and her silence. Her lack of effort
towards him was driving a wedge between them. She just didn't know how to act about this, how
to heal something that seemed to painful. She wasn't good with large-scale loss.

And while this wasn't any more than one person, the loss of Sirius had hit Harry like a
thousand deaths. It was in his eyes, the green ones she had been unable to meet all year.

No, she knew Harry couldn't take it anymore, but there would come a point in time when they
would be forced to talk.

As she was thinking of these things, Harry jumped out the window.

Wow. She hadn't known that the breaking point would come so soon.

“Harry? HARRY!” instantly her best-friend's messy black hair and crooked scar came into
view, followed by the small smile, green eyes, and cloaked-in-black body…that happened to be
floating on a broom.

“Huh?” He grinned slowly at the look of horror mingled with relief crossing her face before
saying, slowly and smartly, “Oh, hey Hermione.”

“Bloody hell, Harry Potter, don't do that to me!” She swore, smiling slightly at seeing his
eyes look slightly shocked at her choice of words, before he said,

“Do what?”

“Don't play around like that, you knew I was watching you or you wouldn't have so
dramatically fallen over yourself and off of the window in mock-suicide!” For some reason, tears
were starting to blur her vision and burn her eyes. The relief she felt made her realize that she
had really thought, right away, that it hadn't been an accident. She had known for a while that
Harry was steadily getting worse. She had believed for a while that he was going to commit
suicide.

“Hermione?” He must have noticed her expression, of heard her voice crack at the last few
syllables, because instantly he stepped off of the broom, rushing towards her and onto the
windowsill, cat-like, before striding swiftly over to her. It was only after he reached her,
concern etched on his features, that she realized that he hadn't had anything underneath his
feet until he had reached the window.

Her tears and moment of panic were momentarily forgotten as she asked, “How did you do
that?”

“What?”

“Float on air like that.” Harry looked back, before realizing what she was talking about and
saying,

“Oh. That's not floating, it's walking, and yes, it's on the air. Dead-useful, and
really cool-looking, don't you think?”

Smiling, she replied, “Very,” and wiped off her face. “I'm assuming that you did it by
condensing the air particles underneath your feet to form stepping-stones and-“

“Hermione, I said the words that needed to be said to do the spell in my head, then walked over
to you. I don't want to think of how I did it, just that I did it.” Harry replied, looking
carefully down at her face. “You alright now?”

“Yeah.” Carefully, not wanting him to feel her heart beating so fast or see the blush that rose
to her cheeks, she pulled away from him, and instantly missed his scent, his arms. His warmth. “So
if you can do that, why fly?”

“Because. Flying helps me to relax; you're sitting, and the wind is rushing through you, and
the rest of the world becomes a blur.” When he noted the clueless look on her face, he added,
“Well, I guess that the relaxation in flying is one thing, and maybe the only thing, that Miss
Hermione Granger will never understand.”

Blushing, Hermione said, “No, I wont. Now, be good and let me do my homework.”

To her surprise, and slight disappointment, he did as she asked, but he didn't leave her
alone. Instead he stood next to her, leaning against the wall as she looked through the telescope
next to him.

After trying to work for several moments with his eyes on her, Hermione finally gave up and
turned to him after writing in a star, asking, “Why are you staring at me?”

“Because I have to go back to the dorm soon. I'm just procrastinating,” he replied, still
unnerving her with his stare. A few more moments of this torture, which Harry seemed to enjoy, and
she said,

“Procrastinate all you want, but quit making me do it too. This is due soon, and I have to get
it done tonight.”

“Fine.” Harry instead stared out at the sky with her for a moment, before turning to her and
saying, “You know, you really should shorten your workload, Hermione. It isn't healthy to take
on that much at once, I thought you learned that lesson third year.”

“I did.” She moaned. “I only took what I needed.”

“But I thought you didn't know what you wanted to be.” Harry replied, puzzled.

“Exactly. How can I eliminate any subjects when I don't know what's required for my
job?”

Rolling his eyes, but apparently knowing better than to argue with Hermione, Harry shifted his
weight to look over her shoulder. “What class is this anyways?”

“I would think you would know, Harry. It's Astronomy.” She frowned. “Speaking of, you had
one more elective, yet you chose Divisionation instead! What were you thinking?”

Harry shrugged rather half-heartedly. “I dunno. I never really liked Astronomy. Hated it,
actually.”

“Why?” She asked, still looking at her star chart, but not really interested.

“I suppose the same reason I hated Science classes in primer school. I don't like knowing
the mysteries of the world, how things work. I don't like over-analyzing things, and that's
exactly what Astronomy made me do. And I hate looking at the stars through a telescope. It takes
away from the beauty.”

Both sat in silence, contemplating his words, until Hermione couldn't take it anymore. His
eyes were glassy and brought, reflecting the moon. His hair, midnight black, was shining softly,
and his pale skin made him glow. He was inhuman, and she knew if something didn't break the
peaceful silence soon, she would come to do something that she would regret later. Like cry. Or
kiss him. She couldn't let either happen.

“ Yes, but Trelawney? Of all subjects!”

Harry smiled solemnly. “We were having a moment, Hermione. You're ruining it.”

“But really.” Hermione continued. “I mean, Trelawney? The only thing she's ever done is
predict your death!”

“Which is why I'm allowed to believe in her,” Harry replied sardonically.

“Harry! Don't say things like that!” She scolded; shocked that he could even state something
like that so playfully. “You need to hold on to faith.”

“I know. People need me to be strong.” Harry said, gloomy. “But it's getting so hard to act
brave for them, Hermione. I'm not inhuman, and I haven't had any time to mourn. They've
already started training me for a future I can't control.” Hermione could tell that he had said
something he wouldn't normally have said, and wouldn't repeat, so she didn't interrupt.
Instead of questioning him, and figuring out the meaning behind his words, she listened as the dam
broke.

“I think I may drop Quidditch. I can't handle the stress, between classes, extra work,
training, DA, and practices. But I've already turned down the captain position, and flying
means so much to me. I mean, I shouldn't even have been flying tonight, I should've been
studying, or practicing Occlumency. But it's the only thing that forces me to relax. That's
a little like practicing Occlumency, right? It's pretty hard to relax with Dumbledore's
eyes on you, even more difficult than having Snape breathing down your neck.

“How did you manage everything, Hermione?” Harry asked, suddenly clearly remembering that she
was there. As soon as there was silence, and the quiet stretched between them, she knew that he had
forgotten about her presence for a moment. Trying to puzzle out his earlier words, she replied
off-handedly,

“I didn't, remember?”

“Oh. Right.”

“And you say that my workload isn't healthy.” Harry smiled half-heartedly, gazing wistfully
up at the stars.

“Do you think that they're really watching us?” Harry asked, and Hermione marveled at his
change of topics. He had to have some type of attention disorder.

“I think that they're looking out for us, yes. Harry, what did you mean about what you said
earlier. About your future, and all this extra training…”

“I'll tell you later, Hermione.” She was going to object, insist that she could take it,
when she realized that she really didn't want to handle anything massive just not. She'd
had one personal hit after another lately. She just wanted to relax for a moment.

“Fine. But you will tell me?” She asked.

“Of course. I don't think it can stay a secret much longer. Just not now…” she turned to
look at him when he drifted off, and found him looking at her. Lips lightly parted, eyes glittering
eerily, black bangs blowing, glasses flashing…

It felt like his eyes were kissing her. Just the thought made her blush…

But he was watching her in a way that reminded her of love. It had to be love…was it platonic?
No…his eyes were glittering.

Hermione felt her face flush, as she heard someone trudge up the stairs of the tower. “We should
go now…” Harry murmured, his face bright red. Nervously, Hermione watched him straighten his
glasses, and stand, then offer her a hand up.

“Right…I mean, you aren't even allowed up here…” she took the offered hand and Harry pulled
a little to hard, bringing their faces close enough to kiss. Hermione took a step back, steadying
herself. She would wait. She knew that Harry felt the same way about her now, but this wasn't
the time. When the war ended, and Harry won, (because he would win, he would,) then they could
talk…and maybe do a little more.

Harry stepped back, and sad goodnight, cloaking himself with a charm, (showoff,) before
disappearing completely. Hermione, deciding to follow his example and head back to the common room,
the much easier and slower way, made her way slowly to the door. Looking down, she saw her
Astronomy homework, incomplete. Sighing, she skipped down the stairs, deciding that, if things
always worked out so well, she would have to procrastinate more often, it was worth the
results.

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