Colin Creevey followed closely behind Harry through the dark deserted corridors of Hogwarts, snapping his camera very rapidly as he always did, with the hopes of getting a perfect shot. Harry recognized the all too familiar sound and turned to face him with a dull, blank expression on his face.
"Colin, what are you doing?" Harry asked dully, dreading the obvious answer to that question. Though lately, this had been happening far too often.
Colin looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"Could I possibly get a picture of your face and not your back? I have enough of those." Colin paused a second in disappointment, then his face lit up again. "Please, Harry? Just one?"
Harry rolled his eyes a bit and stared at him. He soon turned away, bored, and continued to make his way down the deserted corridor with Colin trailing right at his heels.
"No Colin. The answer's been the same for the past week. Now quit following me. I'm already late for practice." Harry answered dully, swiftly turning around to turn the corner. Colin stopped and thought for a moment. His eyes then lit up much like a child's would on Christmas morning, as he picked up his pace and tried to keep up with Harry.
"You're on your way to practice? That's perfect! Can I come? I want to take some fresh pictures for the Daily Prophet! Please, Harry? Please?" Colin spit out all in one breath.
Harry stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned to face him.
"Did you just say the Daily Prophet?" Harry asked with clenched teeth in an disbelieving tone.
Colin blushed at what he just said and grimaced a bit, plastering a hopeful smile all across his child-like face.
"Harry, I--I'm doing a story on your last Quidditch match ever and I need pictures! Please, Harry! I won't do anything stupid, promise!" Colin rushed the words out of his mouth, clearly feeling the piercing look Harry had on his face.
Harry pursed his lips, peaking a fit of frustration.
"Colin, for the last time no. The last thing I need is my face plastered all over the Daily Prophet. I've worked too hard to stay out of it, and with everything that happened last year....just no. Forget it." Harry said with a clenched jaw, his fists whitening more as they tightened.
Harry turned around again, and began to walk toward the great oak doors. For a few short and blissful moments, the only sound in that empty corridor was that of Harry's tapping shoes on the hard stone as he walked. Just as painfully expected, another set of footsteps echoed behind him and quickly gained speed. Harry finally blasted through the oak doors and outside into the fresh air, and in the distance he heard faint shouts issuing from Colin.
"See you at practice Harry! Hermione Granger said she...."
His voice trailed off. Harry took in a deep breath and felt his stomach tense up.
"Hermione." Harry whispered to himself in deep emotion as he let out a deep sigh.
Hermione stood in the Head Girl dorm, opposite Harry's dorm for Head Boy, waiting for something exciting to happen. Lately, Ginny had been pestering her about exams and yearned to gain the knowledge Hermione had. Lavender and Parvati also pestered her, but not about exams; but a totallly different subject entirely. They were all in their seventh year now, all but Ginny who was in her sixth. The end of the year was fast approaching, leaving much of the students either excited or witdrawn and the ending year.
Hermione was at her dresser, turning over an old dust-collected picture frame that remained face-down recently, for the last month or two. The picture contained her own smiling face and figure, standing in the middle with Harry and Ron as they all wrapped their arms around each other. They had always been so carefree in those early days when they first became friends, battling a basilisk or three-headed dog here and there, but making it out with only minor cuts and bruises. But everything changed dramatically just the past summer, when all three of them nearly lost each other and their lives.
Everything would have been fine, but somehow they found themselves in a very bad situation. Hermione had ended up in the worst predicament, but miraculously, they managed to fight their way through the oncoming line of threatening death-eaters, and the greatly feared Voldemort himself.
That dark, rainy September night of the previous year was still a thick haze to Hermione. Everything happened so fast and she still wasn't quite sure of what had really happened. Somehow that night resulted in her taking on and experiencing very vivid nightmares of what she did, in fact, remember. However, after the long and tiring fight of trying to save her two best friends Harry and Ron, the nightmares didn't take effect until after she woke from her week long sleep in the infirmary at Hogwarts. Not to mention, Hermione managed to save herself with great difficulty. It's possible that it wasn't her own free will that saved her, but it could have been something else, or someone else. Still, it was accomplished.
Nothing has been quite the same since. Almost suddenly, Hermione grew distant from Ron after the ordeal, both counting their losses and coming out short of the gains. Ron became very sensitive for the same reasons Harry did, but he quickly shut himself off from nearly everyone. But eventually Hermione grew even more distant from Harry than with Ron. An argument had erupted not too long ago between them and Harry was left still blaming himself for nearly getting Hermione killed. Harry and Hermione were always able to sort out their differences, but this time that was untrue. They never resolved the conflict and as a result, it remained left untouched from that day on. That one horrible argument nearly tore apart their friendship, but still they clung to the embers and tried to save what was left. It was automatic, as the air that flowed in and out of their lungs. Yes they were still friends, but not as close and much more sensitive to their own feelings than the other person's.
Hermione shuddered a bit and came out of her blank trance, staring blankly at the upturned picture she held in her hands. She longed so badly to have the care-free days back in her life but most importantly, the two guys she had become best friends with almost from day one. But soon it would all be over. No more Hogwarts exams to worry about, or even the action-packed Quidditch games she had grown to love. And certainly no more worrying over another unresolved fight. Hermione could finally get past this, but not without the help of her friends, whom she didn't think still cared.
This very Friday, just three days away, would be the Quidditch match to end all others. A full day of games was in order and the winning house would take the cup, along with being ingrained and glorified in Hogwarts history forever.
Hermione glanced down once more at the picture, and delicately placed it back on the dresser, facing up instead of down. The area around her eyes began to tingle and Hermione could feel the start of a new wave of tears. The door busted open and Ginny entered, appearing quite flustered. She flew onto Hermione's bed, seating herself into a comfortable position and looking at Hermione with an intense gaze.
"Hermione! " Ginny said out of breath.
Hermione sucked back her emotions and wiped her face free of any evidence as she turned to face Ginny.
"I've got---are you alright?" Ginny said suddenly, seeing the stressed look on Hermione's face.
"I'm fine. Now what's going on?" Hermione said softly, trying again to suck in her intense feelings as they kept surfacing.
"Right, well you're not going to like this one bit. Sit down. Hermione I'm serious, sit down."
Hermione hesitantly had a seat on her bed next to Ginny.
"Alright, well I just found out that Colin is doing a story on Harry for the Daily Prophet. He's been pestering him for pictures and everything."
Hermione thought about it for a minute as the realization sunk in.
"Wait, how do you know all this?" Hermione asked out of concern. Ginny faked a smile.
"I ran into Harry on his way to practice. He sounded stressed out."
Hermione paused again, thinking everything over.
"I think he's worried about something, Hermione. He's worried about you." Ginny said softly. Hermione snapped her head up to look into her friendly eyes.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, noticing that prickly feeling in her eyes all over again.
"Harry asked if you were being bothered by Colin. He mentioned your name when he was stalking Harry earlier. He tried to tell me he would personally go after him if he was bothering you, but he couldn't finish his sentence."
Hermione fluttered her eyes a bit, trying not to let them blink closed all the way as tears welled up.
"He's...he's worried about me?" Hermione said in a tone between being excited and worried at the same time. Ginny nodded.
"There's hope yet, Hermione. Did you honestly think there would be this distance between you forever?"
Hermione sighed and added a little nod.
"I guess I did, and still do. It's just a bit strange, you know," Hermione began, slamming her mouth shut as she felt overwhelmed with emotion. "Never once have me and Harry been so miffed at each other. No offense to Ron because I love him to death, but I'm on better terms with him. That scares me. Me and Harry were always able to work things out."
Ginny gave her a sympathetic pouty face and hugged her gently.
"Now what's all this that you're freaking out about? You know why he's doing this, don't you?" Ginny asked. Hermione pulled away and looked Ginny in the eyes. Ginny bit her bottom lip and choked back a smile. Hermione tried to understand what she was saying, but was beat to it by a question nagging at her.
"Wait a minute, what's really the problem, Gin? You were distraught when you came in here. There's more, I know it."
Ginny bit her bottom lip and let her posture slouch quite a bit.
"Rita Skeeter's come back."
"How do you know?"
"Percy's been keeping an eye on her for Harry. He just sent me an owl."
Hermione's expression fell to extreme horror. She stood up and clutched her hair in her two fists as she began to pace the room. She was muttering things to herself; things only she could hear. Ginny's eyes traveled rapidly from side to side at seeing Hermione in such distress. A few long minutes passed, ending in Hermione's hair being a bit ruffled from the excitement. Suddenly her dull face dissipated and she had the look of a plan in progress. She was determined.