Unofficial Portkey Archive

The final scene in this chap has been extended, big time.

The only characters/things I own are Wendy Potter, the bubble sprites, the Soul Crystal, the flamingo seeds, the razorum spell, the twindoma spell, the deednim reecal spell, the Magical Artifacts Throughout History book, the Soul Beast, the argot, the bright spots, Ardian and Rachel Tigerlilly. Please do not use them in a story without asking me first.

Hermione tiptoed through the halls. She saw Mrs. Norris and flattened herself against the wall. The cat stopped near Hermione's position, sniffed the air, and stalked away, obviously annoyed that she couldn't see what she could smell. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she believed Mrs. Norris was out of earshot.

Hermione rounded another corner and nearly choked when she saw what Peeves was up to. Up until then she thought she had seen his most vulgar pranks...she was wrong. Peeves was putting very large, nude posters over the paintings in the hall ahead. The paintings in question were shouting in protest. Hermione had to bite her lip hard enough to draw blood, to keep herself from scolding Peeves. It was against her very nature not to scold. Although she had lightened up considerably over the last five years. She didn't want to risk Peeves flying into her so, hoping he was too busy with his prank to sense her presence, she dropped to the floor and began to crawl.

Finally in the clear, Hermione went through the secret passage and began the long climb to Dumbledore's office. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears with every step. When she reached the top she took out her wand and aimed it at the lock on the door. "Alohamora," she whispered. The lock undid itself and Hermione carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Seeing no signs of life in the room she began to slip through the door.

"Can I help you with something, Miss Granger?" came Dumbledore's voice from behind her. Hermione's blood turned to ice. Oh God. This was it. She was going to be expelled for sure and then....... "Please come inside and sit, Hermione. I must speak with you." Hermione was confused but she followed the Headmaster into his office.

Dumbledore lit the fireplace and sat in one of the plush chairs next to it, beckoning Hermione to do the same. Dumbledore looked thoughtful as he stroked his beard for a moment. "I had hoped you could have had the sense to leave well enough alone. But since you seem to love Harry too much to do so I feel I must explain some things," Dumbledore said in an understanding tone.

Hermione cringed at hearing 'love'. There was that word again....in relation to Harry...again. She really didn't want to think about that at a time like this. She finally felt brave enough to speak. "So...so I'm not being expelled then sir?" she said with a slight twinge of fear in her voice.

Dumbledore chuckled lightly. "No dear girl. You are not being expelled. Although Gryffindor will loose some points I'm afraid." He sat quiet for a moment before speaking again. "I know Harry has told you about his dreams otherwise you would not be here now." He sighed. "What do you know about Voldemort's search for followers?"

Hermione instantly answered. "He looked for powerful wizards to join him...and he killed the ones who wouldn't do it," she said, thinking of Harry's parents.

"Do you know why he killed them instead of simply controlling their minds?"

Hermione shook her head and then had a sudden thought. "Does it have to do with the Soul Crystal?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed it does. You see, Hermione, Voldemort was not very powerful at the beginning of his quest. He needed the Soul Crystal to become so. If one wizard kills another and has the Soul Crystal in their possession the fallen wizard's soul is drawn into the crystal and is trapped there. The soul's magic is then transferred, permanently, to the crystal bearer. With each new soul the power of the crystal bearer grows. Now, as far we know, even though the souls no longer possess any magic they still exist within the crystal."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Then....then that means Harry's parents could be inside the crystal!"

Dumbledore's face grew deadly serious. "Yes they are. And Harry must never know of this."

Hermione was confused. "Why?"

"Because it is guarded by a terrible beast. I know Harry has dreamt of this too. Now listen to me very carefully. There is no way to bring Harry's parents back to life. It cannot be done. If you tell Harry what I have just told you, you will be putting his life in very serious danger for no reason. Can I trust you with this knowledge?" Dumbledore asked. Hermione reluctantly nodded her head. "Good girl."

Hermione pushed her eggs around her plate with her fork. Harry just stared at her. "So, Mione," he said, which made Hermione jump a bit, "You wanna tell us what's going on or should I guess?"

Hermione gulped, but not visibly. "Nothing really. I just.....I thought I'd found something on the Soul Crystal in a book last night but it was a dead end," she said. Then, just for good measure she returned to looking downcast at her eggs.

Suddenly the sound of a fork being tapped on a wine glass grabbed the attention of the entire dining hall. Dumbledore stood up from his seat. "You're attention please. I must announce that the forest is now not only forbidden but, thanks to the ongoing investigation into the bubble sprite incident, it is also now guarded by members of The Ministry Of Magic. Any attempt to penetrate the blockade will be met with immediate detention for the remainder of the school year" He stared at the crowd of students for a moment as if waiting for someone to raise their hand. "You may all now return to your meals," he said as sat down.

Harry had a severe look on his face. "Damn. Now what?"

Hermione spoke up. "Harry, maybe we should forget about the Soul Crystal. It could just be a crazy nightmare after all," she said a little too suspiciously. Ron, Harry, and Wendy turned to stare at Hermione.

"Are you nuts? This could be major important," said Wendy looking somewhat confused at Hermione's sudden change of heart. Hadn't she just been complaining about not finding the information she wanted?

"How do you know that? How do you know your dreams aren't the result of a spell cast on you two by the Death Eaters? How do you know this isn't a trap?" Hermione said with a raised voice.

Harry shushed Hermione. "Do you want everyone to hear?"

"Hear what?" came a familiar sleazy voice from behind Harry. The quartet all stared up into face of Malfoy. "Now now. You four aren't talking about going into the forest again are you?" he said as he slithered over behind Hermione and tsk tsked. "I wouldn't want my beautiful little mudblood getting all scratched up." He brushed a finger against Hermione's cheek which she immediately slapped away. Every since Hermione had arrived that year with her new look Malfoy had been paying her way too much unwanted attention. Apparently now that his hormones had come into play he no longer cared what Hermione was as long as he thought he had a chance to get her into the sack.

Harry was instantly on his feet. "Malfoy you leave her alone or I'll...." He shook with anger.

"Or you'll what? This is a room full of teachers you know." Harry clenched his teeth. "What's the matter Potter? Afraid I'll snatch your girlfriend away from you?" he sneered.

Harry immediately turned tomato red. He was about to make a nasty retort when McGonagall stepped in. "Mr. Malfoy I do believe you sit at the Slytherin table, do you not?"

Malfoy nodded and stalked away and McGonagall went back to the head table. Harry slumped into his seat while his stomach did nervous flip-flops from hearing the word 'girlfriend' in reference to Hermione. "What was that feeling just now?" he wondered, thinking about when Malfoy was putting the moves on Hermione. "Was I...jealous?" he thought, the knot in his stomach tightening it's grip. "I have to talk to her."

Harry paced in the Gryffindor common room waiting for Hermione to get back from her trip to Hogsmeade with Wendy. The girls had said they were looking at dresses for the dance. What was he going to say to her? That he had very strong feelings but it wasn't love? Maybe just asking her out on a simple first date would be in order. After all, he didn't want to scare her off.

The door to the common room opened and Harry, without looking to see who it was, turned and gave a big smile. When he saw it was not her, his face fell immediately.

Lee Jordan was confused. "What's with the sappy grin, Harry?"

"Nothing," Harry grumbled as he sunk down into a chair.

"Ahhhhh. I see. You thought I'd be, Hermione," he said with a smirk.

"No! That is....I......" Harry blew out a puff of air.

"If you don't ask her out soon you're gonna explode. You know that don't you?" Lee said as he sat opposite Harry.

"That's why I'm waiting for her here," Harry replied as he glanced at the door.

Lee chuckled. "If you were any more in love with her, her name would materialize on your forehead."

"I'm not in love with her!" Harry half yelled, half whispered. He sighed. "I don't know what the hell I'm feeling. I just know it's not love." Lee began intently staring at Harry's nose. "What are you doing?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Waiting for your nose to grow." Lee laughed.

"Sod off Lee," Harry said jokingly.

Lee grinned and grabbed a leather pouch off the fireplace mantle. "Just came in to get this for Fred and George. Want to work on it so the flamingos can come up in different colors."

Harry shook his head. "Be careful. If Professor McGonagall sees that you're gonna be cleaning Hagrid's animal stalls till you graduate."

"Hermione's starting to rub off on him." Lee thought. He laughed and opened the door. Hermione was just walking up. Lee made an over exaggerated bow and smiled. "Lady Granger. Your knight, awaits."

Hermione gave Lee a confused look as he skipped away down the hall. "What was that all about?" she asked Harry.

"Nothing." Harry cleared his throat. "Mione, can I talk to you?" Harry said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He led her over to the window seat.

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked. "He looks so serious. Is something wrong?"

Harry looked down at the seat. He made a small half-laugh, more from nerves than anything. "Heh heh. It's funny. Now that you're here I'm not sure what I wanna say."

Hermione smiled warmly. "Take your time."

Harry looked up at her. "How do I?" He swallowed. "E...ever since we got to school this year I...feelings...that weren't there before keep coming up and...they're all about you."

Hermione's eyes fluttered in surprise. "Me?"

Inwardly Harry groaned in frustration. Where was that intuition of hers? Why wasn't it saving him from actually having to say the words? He sighed again. "I think...I know I...I like you.

Hermione suddenly looked liked she was going to cry. "You do?"

The look on Hermione's face made the bottom drop out his stomach. "Oh God. She doesn't feel the same way. What have I done?" "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said anything," he said quickly as he got up to leave.

Hermione suddenly realized he had taken her reaction the wrong way and grabbed Harry's wrist. "Harry, wait," she said as he turned to face her. She pulled on his wrist in order to get him to sit back down. "I wasn't upset," a small smile played across her lips as she saw Harry's face brighten a little, "I was just...surprised." She smiled broadly. "I like you too."

"You do?" Harry said, barely daring to believe it.

Hermione, still smiling, nodded. "Uh huh."

Harry smiled and laughed lightly in relief. "Can...can I hug you?"

Hermione smiled and drew Harry into a warm embrace. Her heart was racing. It was so differant than the other hugs she had given him. This one had a new purpose behind it. She felt like there was no other place in the world, but his arms.

As Harry held Hermione he stroked he hair. He had never hugged a girl this way before. "Has she always smelled this good?" He suddenly pushed her away a bit, so he could see her face, and drew in a long breath. "Will you go to the dance with me? As my date?"

Very slowly a smile spread across Hermione's face until she was grinning from ear to ear. "I'd love to Harry!"

Harry grinned. "Brilliant! I'm glad that's over. I was so afraid you'd say no."

Hermione leaned over and gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. After doing so she blushed. "Now how could I say no to the boy who lived?" she said and went up to bed.

Harry laid down on the window seat and stared up at the night sky. The boy who lived felt very happy.

.........TO BE CONTINUED

Awwwwwwww. Now wasn't that just so sweet and fluffy? Lol. Hope the H & H shippers like that one.