As she surveyed the mess of ink, quills, old tomes and several parchments covered in notes, Hermione wondered when she had gotten in so deep.
Earlier, when the students had been in the library sitting at other tables and whispering answers to homework and gossiping, she had tried to think of a time when she had been one of them, just lounging in the library. It had only been nearly a year, but it felt like a lifetime since she'd been able to sit with her friends and the books around her, and she had wished then that all of the students would leave her in her invisible corner in silence. But as soon as they had left, and taken all of the giggles and whispers with them, Hermione had started longing for company. Without people in it, in the warm lamplight, the library looked deserted and eerie.
Hermione rubbed her sore and heavy eyes and resumed her reading. Her hand was cramped from the notes she had been hastily scribbling down since dinner, and her head was heavy with fatigue, and there she was sitting at the library with a pen holding her hair in a bun, eyes scanning over the fading words that covered the page.
After a moment, she scowled in frustration and rubbed her tired eyelids again. Longingly, she took a moment to think of her dorm mates prior to her leaving Hogwarts, who were still in school and now sleeping soundly several floors above her in the Gryffindor girl's dorm. At that moment she had no idea what she was doing in the library at who-knows-what time at night, exhausted, when she could've been upstairs and curled up in her old bed.
Then, a narrow beam of light shone into the room from the door, where she noticed a figure carrying a lantern. She was wary, but Hermione also couldn't help but smile at the humorous feeling she was getting, remembering when she would've been terrified to be caught anywhere in the school after hours. After everything she had seen and done in the last several years, losing a few house points and serving a detention didn't seem threatening.
She needn't have worried at all about explaining herself to whoever it was, because a moment later the figure came all the way into the room, and Hermione relaxed completely as Harry set down the lantern and a plate of food before grabbing a chair from and nearby table and falling into it beside her.
"A midnight snack?" Hermione teased, still leaning over her book. She didn't seem Harry's wane smile turn disappear.
"No, breakfast." Startled, she finally looked up from her work. "It's nearly seven, and I figured you'd be hungry." He paused and took a moment to study her features closely. "You've been here all night, haven't you? And you haven't eaten anything." It was more of a statement than a question, and both of them knew it. Everyone, especially Harry and Ron, knew that when Hermione was researching something important, she wouldn't be stopped by anything, especially something as `trivial' as food.
Hermione sighed, knowing that she was about to be lectured, and leaned forward again over her book. As she did so, a large piece of her frizzy brown hair fell out of its untidy bun and into her eyes. Impatiently, she tucked it behind her ear, only to have it come out again shortly afterwards.
Smiling gently, Harry tucked the piece behind her ear again for her, then regained the serious look on his face. "Hermione, you have to eat."
"Oh, and you don't when you're on to something important?" Hermione snapped, her patience thinning. She hadn't had a good nights sleep in several weeks, and her temper had suffered because of it.
Harry winced. She had a point. "That's different."
"How so?" Hermione asked, finally looking up once again. The two members of the trio made eye contact and had a staring contest until Harry looked down.
"Because we aren't at Hogwarts then. But we're here now, and I don't know how long we're staying. We should use this time to relax a little. We don't know when the next time we'll be able to sleep in a bed or eat a warm meal will be, and you should be taking advantage of it while it lasts."
Hermione let out an irritated noise that sounded like it was a cross between a growl and snort. "Harry, this is the only place I can help you at the moment. Ron can help you all the time out there, but unless I'm near a library I feel useless.
Harry sighed in defeat. "You aren't useless, and you should know that by now, but I'm too tired to argue. Would you at least eat?"
Hermione, too tired to fight as well, wearily picked up her fork and speared some of the warm, fluffy scrambled eggs on the plate Harry had carried in for her. Harry, satisfied that she was at least eating, picked up one of the many parchments that littered the table and the area surrounding it and began to read it quietly to himself. On the parchment were words he didn't understand and terms that made no sense.
"What are you working on?" He asked her quietly. "Nagini's dead." This, at least, was true. Harry had killed the last of the horcruxes when he had found Remus Lupin dead, with note pinned on him that apologized for the death of his werewolf. Harry, in retaliation, had killed Voldemort's pet, showing the death eaters that Remus had never been a pet to begin with, and in doing so had destroyed the last of the horcruxes.
That had all been just a few days ago, and now Harry had to kill the little bit of Voldemort that was still inside of his body. This meant that Harry had to take Voldemort on himself.
Hermione had realized that the only way to help him through this was to come up with an easy way to destroy Voldemort. She was quickly discovering, however, that dark lords did not die easily.
When she told Harry what she was up to, he just shook his head, chuckling. "Hermione, you help me a lot more than you realize. All I need to defeat Voldemort I already have."
Smiling tiredly at him, she covered yet another yawn and then set back to work, leaning over the books she had been reading all night. Harry, understanding that this was something she needed even more than sleep, merely picked his own book and read silently with her, trying to at least provide a companion. It was exactly what Hermione had needed.
When Ron came into the library to join them just a little later, he smiled slightly at what he saw.
Hermione had her head resting on Harry's shoulder, and Harry was sound asleep with his head on his arms. The books lie open and forgotten under their heads, acting as pillows.
Ron, deciding that he liked this idea, quietly pulled another chair over, and chose his own book to use as a pillow to prop his head on. As soon as he closed his eyes he was out, and he too was leaning on Harry.
When Minerva McGonagall slipped into the library at eight in the morning, she was surprised to find three former students asleep a large pile of reference books. She had known what Hermione was working on, and had expected her to be there all night, but was surprised and pleased to see the two boys sound asleep beside her. Despite their uncomfortable positions, all three seemed relaxed for the first time in a long time, and Minerva merely summoned a large blanket to cover the three of them and left them with a small smile.
She wake them up to tell them about the most recent of Voldemort's attacks later. For now, the library would be closed off to the student body. She'd have to come up with a good reason, but as it was a warm summer Saturday she doubted that many would complain. And if they did, they would just have to deal with it. They could complete their homework assignments tomorrow.
Some things, she decided with a little secret smile that disappeared as soon as a student approached, were much more important.
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