~A/N>I know, I know, why aren't I working on Kindred? Well, thanks to two days of continual rain, I was sort
of in a funk and needed something fluffy to write. Today it is actually sunny and I plan to work on the new chapter all
day. For now, here's a little something to read to pass the time and I hope you enjoy it! :)
Hermione Granger stood looking out one of the windows in the Gryffindor Common room, watching as each drop of rain hit the glass and slid down to rest on the sill. It was yet another wet, gloomy day at Hogwarts; it was another day with nothing to be happy about.
Hermione was in her sixth year at Hogwarts and it had been the worst year yet, so far. Draco Malfoy had been taunting her more than usual, Ron had been picking more fights than normal, and Harry had withdrawn from everyone completely. The death of his Godfather, Sirius Black, the year before had broken his spirit and it seemed that nothing could put it back together.
Hermione sighed as the drops started hitting the glass faster and harder; it had rained every day since the start of term and no one could figure out what was going on. Of course the Daily Prophet speculated that it was some sort of dark spell cast by Voldemort while the Quibbler was quite certain that it had something to do with the Merpeople trying to flood the earth so that they could rule over everyone. Whatever the cause, Hermione hoped someone would figure it out soon and bring the sun back again; the dreary weather was starting to affect everyone, and not in good ways.
"Wow, you don't have your nose stuck in a book?" asked Ron, standing behind her. She had seen him walk up in the reflection of the glass; she had hoped if she ignored him he would leave her alone. No such luck.
"What do you want Ron?" she asked quietly, trying to avoid another argument.
"I need you to take my rounds tonight; I have...homework to finish" he replied, with a hint of daring in his voice.
Sighing again, Hermione stared at him and said, "honestly Ron, you're a Prefect; you should have had your homework done days ago."
"Unlike you, some of us have a social life" he said, glaring at her.
She winced a little from the implications of his insult, but then pushed away the sadness it caused and let her anger through as she said, "If you weren't so busy shagging Luna Lovegood up in the Astronomy Tower, I might not have to take your rounds and I'd have time for a social life of my own."
"You little..." Ron started to say, a mean retort on the tip of his tongue, when their mutual best friend interrupted their spat.
"Would you two just knock it off?" Harry asked, looking angrily back and forth between them. "I thought you two were supposed to be friends?"
"I thought so too" Hermione replied, glaring at Ron.
"Yeah, right" replied Ron sarcastically.
She couldn't take it anymore; before either of them could see her tears she ran up the stairs to her room, Harry calling after her. She burst through the door and threw herself onto her bed, finally letting her hot tears fall. She felt so sad and alone that her chest hurt from the anguish. What was happening to everyone?
She was startled out of her thoughts as Ginny peeked through her curtains and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but Harry wanted me to ask you if you would go downstairs and talk to him. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine" Hermione answered, sniffling. "I've just had it with your prat of a brother."
"Join the club; I'm about ready to use the bat-bogey hex on him the next time he tries to order me around" Ginny said, smiling. "I know you're upset, but Harry seems really worried about you."
"That's hard to believe" Hermione replied, "he's been walking around in a daze since school started and hardly said a word to anyone, especially me."
"I don't know what to tell you" Ginny said, "I'm just going by the way he acted downstairs when you ran up here."
Hermione took a deep breath and nodded her head; "Okay, I'll go down and see him in a moment."
"I'll go tell him" Ginny said with an encouraging smile.
Hermione watched her leave and made her way to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was blotchy, but she truly didn't care anymore. No one seemed to notice her anyway, so why should she make an effort to improve her looks? She wanted someone who liked her for her mind and personality, not her looks and breast size.
After composing herself, she made her way back downstairs and spotted Harry immediately; he was standing in the exact spot she had just vacated in front of the window. "Harry?" she asked quietly.
"I don't think I've ever seen so much rain" he said, tracing the path of a raindrop that was running down the glass in front of him. "It seems like we'll never see the sun again." Hermione stood there quietly watching him and waiting patiently for him to say whatever it was he called her down for. "Are you all right?" he asked finally, never taking his eyes off the window.
"I guess" she replied.
"You've seemed very unhappy lately" he stated, finally turning to look at her.
"I could say the same about you" she said. "I hardly ever see you anymore and when I do we never say more than two sentences to each other. " With tears forming in her eyes once more, Hermione whispered, "I thought that you and Ron were my friends, but lately it seems like I don't have any friends at all."
"I feel the same way" Harry replied and turned away from her again.
"How dare you!" she shouted, causing him to look at her in surprise. "I've always been here for you, you've just been to incased in your self-pity to notice."
"I've been grieving for my Godfather" he yelled, careful not to say Sirius's name in front of the other students. "I've lost the only person who was willing to take me away from the Dursley's and treat me like I was his own son; I have NO ONE!"
"You have ME!" she yelled back, and then felt her face grow warm as she realized what she had just said. Before Harry could say anything, she turned and ran out the door, into the corridor. She had no idea where she was going, but she didn't care; she just wanted to put distance between her and Harry.
"Hermione!" Harry called, running after her. He had been shocked by her response but had recovered quickly and made his way after her; he needed to know what she had meant when she said he had her.
He finally caught up to her and grabbed her arm to stop her. When he turned her around to face him he saw that she had tears streaming down her face. Without stopping to think about what he was doing, he wrapped his arms around her and held her, hoping that it would somehow comfort her.
"Will you please tell me what's wrong?" he asked while bringing a hand up to stroke her bushy brown hair.
"I don't know" she replied, her voice thick with tears. "Malfoy seems to be seeking me out so he can torture me, Ron is the biggest git in Hogwarts, and you..."
"I what?" Harry asked, hoping she would finish her sentence.
"You seemed to be ignoring me, and that was the worst of all. You were my first friend here at Hogwarts; my first friend ever really, and I've felt...lost without you to talk to" she answered, barely above a whisper. "I miss you Harry."
"I'm sorry Hermione; I had no idea that I had hurt you so badly" he said, pulling back to look at her.
"I know that you miss Sirius, we all do, but you can't stop living because he's gone. He would have wanted you to be happy and he would have wanted you to concentrate on fighting Voldemort; I saw how much he cared for you Harry and I know it must have hurt to see him disappear behind the Veil." Hermione looked into his bright, intense green eyes and said, "the wizarding world still needs you Harry...I still need you."
Without realizing what he was doing, Harry started to lean towards her and lightly placed his lips on hers in a gentle kiss. He pulled back to see Hermione standing there with her eyes closed, a slight smile turning up the corners of her mouth. Suddenly he had an idea of what to do to cheer Hermione up...
"Come with me" he said, grabbing her hand and leading her down the corridor.
"Where are we going?" she asked, almost having to run to keep up with him.
"You'll see" he replied with a mischievous smile. He kept walking for a little while longer and then stopped abruptly. "Close your eyes" he said, bringing both of her hands up to her eyes, letting her know to cover them also. After making sure she couldn't see him, Harry worked out what he wanted, walked her a few steps forward and then a minute later said, "Okay, open your eyes!"
When Hermione opened her eyes, they immediately filled with tears as she took in the sheer beauty before her; Harry had taken her to the Room of Requirement and they were standing in a field of wildflowers with the sun shining brightly above them. There were green trees and birds singing in their branches while white puffy clouds floated overhead, not one drop of rain anywhere in sight. A few steps away from them was a lake and when Hermione walked up to the edge of the water she could see fish swimming in its clear blue depths.
She turned to Harry with the most dazzling smile lighting her face, and he couldn't help but notice how her whole face was alight with happiness. "Harry, it's so beautiful!" she exclaimed, running over to him and throwing her arms around his neck. He returned the hug whole-heartedly and then watched as she turned and started to run through the flowers, her hair flowing behind her as she laughed joyously. She stopped in the middle of the field and turned her face up to the sun, her eyes closed as the warm rays kissed her skin; she felt her heart lightening in a way that it hadn't done for a very long time.
They spent the rest of the afternoon together, playing such kid games as hide-and-seek and tag, forgetting the dreary existence they had outside the room, if only for a short time. After sharing a picnic that the room had provided, they lay together, surrounded by a field of daisies, holding hands. Harry turned towards her and propped his head on his hand, watching her as she lay there relaxing, her hair fanned out on the ground behind her. He reached his hand out and caressed her cheek, relishing the silky feel of her skin as she lazily opened her eyes and gave him a tired smile.
"This has been such an amazing afternoon, I wish we never had to leave" she said wistfully, covering his hand, which still lay gently on her cheek, with hers.
"I wish we didn't either" he agreed, smiling down at her, his eyes full of love. "Thank you Hermione" he said quietly.
"For what?" she asked curiously.
"For making me forget about all the bad things...about Sirius...if only for one afternoon" he replied, his voice breaking with emotion.
"Oh Harry, you deserve a little happiness" she said, her eyes bright with unshed tears; she hated that his life had been so hard, for so long.
"Do you think we can be happy, outside of this room, together?" he asked, and she could hear the little boy in him, afraid that she was going to forget their afternoon together when they returned to Gryffindor Tower.
"I hope so" she said, watching his reaction closely as she admitted, "I've liked you...as more than a friend...for a while now."
She began to feel a little nervous as he just lay there, staring at her; she started to pray that she hadn't just ruined the greatest friendship she had ever known when he said, "Me too...I mean, I like you as more than a friend too."
She smiled and her entire face lit up even more than before, if that were possible. He bent down and kissed her again, relishing how her lips felt pressed against his, and tried to memorize every detail of this moment; it was the greatest moment of his life.
An hour later, after lazing around and talking about nothing at all, Hermione mentioned that they would have to go back to the Common Room; she had glanced at her watch and was surprised to see that it was almost curfew. After putting it off as long as they could, Harry took her hand and helped her up; they started walking towards the door when he suddenly stopped and turned to her, a serious look in his eyes.
"Thank you for giving me a day without worry" he said sincerely, squeezing her hand softly.
"I've already told you Harry, you deserve it" she replied, smiling sadly at him; she knew he would never feel worthy of a normal life, let alone one quiet afternoon where he didn't have to worry about Voldemort or losing anyone else that he loved. He nodded his head slightly and started to make his way to the door again when she suddenly stopped him. "Thank you Harry" she said happily.
"What for?" he asked, glad to see her so happy.
She looked around the beautifully landscaped room, and then looked back at him, her eyes aglow with love and joy as she replied, "For giving me a day without rain."