~A/N> I know, you all are sitting there reading this thinking 'It's about time, where the hell have you
been?' Well, I've been around, but between having my mother-in-law visit and a huge writer's block on all
my stories I just haven't been able to write. I had to completely re-write this chapter twice to get it near
acceptable...by the way Spaz (my beloved beta), you're my hero, you must have the patience of a Saint. I'm
sorry about the long wait and I'm pretty sure the next chapter will not take as long. As for those of you who read
"The Light Within" I may be putting that story on hold, it's not going anywhere near the way I wanted it
to and I'm hoping that if I put it on the back burner for a while I'll be able to return to it later and finish
it. Thanks for all the great reviews (and for those of you who have agreed that I have a demented mind!) and thanks to
Poppywillow for reading the chapter over and giving me her honest opinion when I needed it the most!! :) BTW, please
keep this in mind while reading: Nothing is ever as simple as it seems
Hermione walked down the fourth floor corridor, checking all the normal hiding places for snogging couples as she went
along. She was once again patrolling the halls in search of meandering students, but her mind was really not on her
duties at the moment. She kept thinking about the kiss she and Harry had shared that morning; she felt like such a fool
for running away the way she had. She had been avoiding him ever since; even when he had tried to talk to her at
dinner, she had made up an excuse and ran off to the Common Room.
He watched her from the shadows, her brow was creased and she had a distant look in her eyes; he knew she was deep in thought. He'd watched her enough times to know her every mood and expression. He wished he could reach out and touch her...his body almost yearned to feel the silky skin which he would soon claim as his own.
He looked around and when he saw that no one was around he quietly whispered, "Hermiioooneeee."
Hermione immediately stopped, her blood turning to ice as she heard the eerie voice echo all around her in the corridor. She looked around, wondering if it was just her imagination or if she was dreaming again. Figuring it was the latter she continued walking, hoping that it wouldn't play out the way her other dream had.
"Hermiioooneeee," came the taunting voice again, "won't you stay and play with me?"
She stopped walking once more and looked around frantically; the voice sounded nearer that time. She could feel the adrenaline racing through her body as she surveyed every corner, every shadow, looking for any hint of movement that could give the person away.
Hidden by his invisibility cloak, he snuck up behind her, leaned in as close to her ear as he could without touching her and whispered, "You'll be mine soon Mudblood."
She turned quickly to her right, where the person had just whispered in her ear, and looked around. She started shaking as her mind screamed at her to run, but fear caused her to stay rooted where she was.
She stood there for a while, waiting for the voice to come again, but she was met with only silence. Lost in concentration, Hermione cried out when someone grabbed hold of her shoulder suddenly. When she wheeled around with her wand drawn, she saw Harry's face directly behind her, shrouded in his invisibility cloak.
"Harry!" she said, anger and fear evident in her voice as she placed her hand over her rapidly beating heart, "what in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing, scaring me like that?"
"I'm sorry Hermione" he replied, "I called your name, trying to get your attention, but obviously you didn't hear me."
She could see the apology in his eyes and she sighed, all of her anger ebbing away, leaving only her lingering fear. "No, I'm sorry Harry, I-I didn't hear you..."
Harry took in her pale face and grabbed her hand, feeling her tremble. "Hermione, what's the matter?" he asked.
"I don't know" she answered, looking around again, "I thought I heard a v-voice before...but it wasn't your voice, it was like the one I heard in my nightmare last night...maybe I was just imagining it."
Harry wrapped his arms around her, attempting to comfort her, and asked, "Did the voice say anything in particular?"
Slightly lost in the sensation of Harry's hand rubbing up and down her back, she answered, "He wanted me to play with him and said that I would be his soon."
"What?!" Harry asked alarmed. He pulled her back so that he could look her in the eyes and immediately she knew she shouldn't have told him that, but it had felt so good being in his arms...
"Hermione!" he said, pulling her from her thoughts, "Why were you just standing there then when I walked up to you?"
"I-I don't know," she replied, still trying to answer that question herself, "There was just something about the voice, something familiar and terrifying. My mind was screaming for me to run but I just couldn't seem to move."
"That doesn't sound like you," Harry replied, staring at her intently.
"I know but a part of me wanted to believe that it was just another nightmare," she said, looking at the floor.
Harry put a finger under her chin and lifted until she was looking at him once again and said, "This guy is serious Hermione. You've got to be careful, I can't lose you."
She smiled up at him, his words echoing in her mind, and then she remembered that morning and the kiss they shared and she looked away quickly.
"Hermione, about this morning..." he began, as if reading her thoughts.
"Harry," she interrupted as she brought her gaze back to his piercing green eyes, "Please don't apologize. I understand that we just got caught up in the moment...there's nothing to be sorry for."
"Is that what you think, that we kissed because we were both upset over what happened last night?" asked Harry holding her gaze.
Hermione tried to shake off the overwhelming desire to lean in and kiss him again as he continued to stare directly into her eyes. "I-I don't know what I think Harry," she replied, "Why do you think it happened?"
"Because we wanted it to," he stated matter-of-factly, "or at least I know I did."
Hermione's heart felt as if it were going to beat out of her chest; she had liked Harry as more than a friend for so long, and now here he was, admitting that he had feelings for her too. Shaking herself from her thoughts, Hermione said, "I'm almost finished with my rounds...why don't you join me and then we can talk more about this when I'm done?"
"Sounds like a plan," he replied as he took hold of her hand. They continued to walk through the corridors and Hermione suddenly remembered something.
"Harry, why were you in the corridor with your invisibility cloak?" she asked.
"Dumbledore had called me into his office after dinner and said that it would be okay for me to patrol with you tonight," he replied, "I had finally gotten away from Mrs. Norris when I came up behind you."
"I really could have done without you scaring me the way you did," she said and when he looked at her incredulously she continued, "I know, you already explained what happened and I must admit that I feel a little better having you walk with me while I do my rounds, but I can take care of myself."
"Oh yes, by all means, you definitely demonstrated that earlier," he replied cheekily and she hit him in the arm.
"Alright Potter let's go. We have an Astronomy Tower to check," she said, lightly tugging on his hand to get him to walk faster.
"On to interrupt snogging couples," he said, smiling at her, as she laughed at his cheeky remark. Both of them were unaware of the person following closely behind them.
~*~
'Fucking Potter!' he cursed as he stood there listening to their dull bantering, 'He's like a dog in heat who's found a bitch to fuck!' Glaring at the couple, he followed them as they walked up the stairs, careful to stay far enough back so that they wouldn't sense him there. He smiled as he realized where they were heading and knew that they would be finding his little 'gift' soon.
He ducked behind a suit of armour that was near the base of the stairs that led to the Astronomy Tower; he wanted to witness the event first hand. He smiled to himself as he watched Granger walk in first with her lapdog following closely behind.
~*~
Hermione lit her wand as soon as she entered the dark tower and heard Harry do the same a tick after. She hated this part of her rounds; she had caught many a couple snogging and even shagging up here. There were many whispers of 'Hermione the Prude' as she walked by some of the outed couples in the corridor, but she just told herself that she was only complying with her responsibilities as Head Girl...she couldn't let it become personal or else she'd have her feelings hurt every day.
She made her way along the North wall as Harry went in the opposite direction, a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he turned away from her. 'He's enjoying this way too much' she thought, smiling to herself. She kept replaying their earlier conversation in her mind and still couldn't believe that Harry Potter, her best friend of nearly seven years, had admitted that he wanted to kiss her. A small part of her, the giggly little teenager that she suppressed all the time, wanted to squeal with delight and swoon at the fact that the boy she liked felt the same way. But then the fact that the very boy she fancied was Harry cut into her thoughts and she sobered immediately. She thought about how he was her best friend in the world, how they could be jeopardising their friendship if they took their relationship a step further and how he would have to face Voldemort soon; the familiar fear of losing him swept over her once again at the thought of the looming Second War and the important role he had to play to save the world, wizarding and muggle alike. She shook her head, trying to clear her overly analytical mind, and continued her exploration. Thankfully it seemed that everyone had either stayed away from the Tower tonight or had been smart enough to leave before she got there.
She swept the light over the floor, over the corners, and coming to the last corner of the room she passed the light quickly over the spot...and almost got sick. Lying there on the cold stone floor was a girl, a pool of blood surrounded her mass of mousy brown hair and her eyes stared lifelessly at the ceiling. The most horrid thing Hermione noticed was the fearful, surprised look that seemed permanently etched into the girls features; features that were now masked by the look of death that would tell anyone that saw her that the girls death had been anything but peaceful.
Staring wide eyed, her heart raced and soundlessly her mouth opened and closed. Unbidden images of Lavender's dead body passed through her mind's eye and she closed her eyes tightly trying to stop them. 'Stop it, stop it!' she thought, shaking her head and trying to maintain control over her emotions. She just couldn't believe that it had happened again, another student, another girl murdered...
"H-Harry!" Hermione called frantically, unable to find her voice at first. Harry ran quickly in the direction of her frightened voice and when Harry walked up beside her and looked to the spot she was unblinkingly staring at she heard him whisper, "Not again".
Hermione turned and buried her face in Harry's chest while he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Distraught, she couldn't bear to look at her slain classmate any longer...death was rapidly becoming an all too familiar and unwelcome sight at Hogwarts. As Head Girl, Hermione wanted to set an example and be strong but she feared that she might go mad from the pressure. She pressed tighter against Harry; he made her feel safe...safer.
"Hermione, do you know her?" Harry asked, a note of grief and regret for having to ask her in his voice.
She turned her head just enough to see the girls face once more and tried to study her face impassively, failing miserably, and realized with a sinking stomach that she did know the girl, quite well in fact. "That's Rebecca Brighton," she replied quietly, "She's a sixth year Huffelpuff from my Advanced Arithmancy class." Unable to hold her composure she sobbed, "She was always so nice and helpful; why would someone do this to her?"
"I don't know," Harry replied, also looking at the figure on the floor that was once a live, vivacious girl, "but we need to let Dumbledore know what's happened."
Hermione nodded her head in agreement and without another word Harry led her out of the room. He stopped just outside the door and cast the strongest locking charm he knew on the area so that no one else could enter the room. They descended the stairs and with Harry's arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder they made the all-too-familiar trip to the Headmaster's office to deliver bad news once again.
~*~
He watched them silently descend the stairs from his hiding place and almost laughed in delight at the looks on their faces. Granger had a haunted look on her face while Potter kept looking at her with a look of concern and...no, it couldn't be...a look of love?? "Enjoy him while you can Granger," he said quietly to himself, "Soon you'll be out of my way and I can complete my task."
So engrossed in his possessive thoughts, he forgot to cover himself with the invisibility cloak and stepped out from his hiding place; he had to get back up to his room so that no one would be suspicious. He would get to enjoy the mass hysteria in the morning when the entire school found out what he had done and listen to all their incorrect speculations on who was responsible. Looking at Potter and Granger once more to make sure it was safe to leave his hiding spot, he got up and silently made his way back to the Common Room.
~*~
Harry walked down the corridor, his thoughts on Rebecca and the troubling realization he had just had...she looked just like Hermione. First the wig that resembled Hermione's hair on Lavender and now Rebecca and her uncanny resemblance...he felt a knot of dread and fear form in his stomach as he realized that whoever did this was after Hermione. He pulled her closer to his side as they made their way down the corridor and stopped abruptly as the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end; they were not alone. Looking up at Harry and seeing the fierce look on his face Hermione asked, "Harry, what's wrong?"
Harry didn't respond, he just continued to survey the corridor around them and as he turned to look behind them he pushed her behind him, shielding her from whatever it was he was looking for. Raking his gaze over the area around the Astronomy Tower staircase his eyes caught a glimpse of white-blond hair just before it disappeared quickly around a corner.
Trying to wrap his mind around what he had just seen, and chastising himself for even being surprised at seeing him there, Harry quickly turned to Hermione and said, "Malfoy?"
He heard Harry's questioning voice, a smirk forming on his lips, and he quickened his pace not daring to look back.
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