Fireflies Under the Moonlight

Disclaimer: You may recognize the other characters here in this chapter as JK’s creation but I am not labeling it as my own. The plot is based on my imagination, but there are some phrases or sentences in this chapter that may be familiar to you in the Harry Potter series but I am just borrowing it to support the flow of my story.

Author’s Notes: I got the idea from the firefly bend episode in the ‘Samurai X’ series. I need to warn you though that this story contains a great deal of fluff. Second, the author is a Harry-Hermione shipper, so don’t get offended if you think you don’t like the pairing in the story. I just borrowed a little of Cho whose part in the story is a bit of a dream villain. I’d like to thank Tristan aka James Potter for being my beta for this fic. He did a great job!

Summary: One-shot. It started when Harry wakes up in the middle of the night and notices a suspiciously cloaked person creeping towards the Forbidden Forest. He ignores it at first but then curiosity got the better of him and he secretly followed it on the third night. Pure fluff under the moonlight and a hickey for proof of the romance that bloomed within the Firefly Sanctuary.

*****

On one certain night.

Harry woke up with a start. He didn’t really know what woke him and was surprised because he hadn’t been dreaming anything at all.

Suddenly, pain seared through his scar and his hand instinctively shot up to his forehead. “No,” he thought, “not again.” He tried to ease the pain with his fingers but the pain wouldn’t stop. His scar had hurt like this before and most of the time it did not end up well. Harry stood up from his bed and went to the nearest window, hand still rubbing his scar. He opened the window and took a deep breath as a gush of fresh air was blown inside.

The full moon was bright outside, illuminating a great deal of the castle grounds. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught a sudden movement somewhere from the vicinity of the castle. Somebody or something was heading towards the forbidden forest very quickly and, after a few moments, disappeared through the trees.

Harry blinked, and then rubbed his eyes. “Nah. I must have been imagining it.” He shook his head vigorously, trying to shake off the thought. With a last look, he slowly closed the window and went back to bed, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

*****

On the next night.

Harry took off his dirt-stained quidditch robes and changed into his pajamas as he slowly dragged himself towards his four-poster bed, which looked very inviting at the moment. They had practiced hard that night for the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin and Angelina had literally tortured them. His body felt so heavy that it was as if sacks of gold were attached to it. Ron was already snoring loudly on his bed, still wearing his soiled quidditch robes. “Poor guy,” Harry thought. “Well, can’t blame him though.”

Harry eagerly climbed into bed, slumping against its softness. “Finally…” Harry had no trouble sleeping that night. In fact, he dozed off the second his head touched his pillow.

Fatigue got him drifting into a very strange—but rather interesting dream. He revisited the small pink tea shop where he had his first date with Cho. This time, however, his all-too-familiar best friend was sitting where Cho had been before.

“Here are you teas darlings,” said a rosy-cheeked attendant.

“Thank you,” Hermione said, then asked after the attendant went back to the counter, “So, what were you about to tell me Harry?” Her eyes were twinkling as she said this and—wait—is she wearing make-up?

Hermione wearing make-up…his subconscious mind thought, this has definitely got to be a dream—but Merlin, she looks beautiful.

“Yeah. I need to tell you something,” he said as butterflies were dancing wildly in his stomach—definitely a bad sign. “I know I’m not really good at showing my feelings and stuff—”

What is he doing—I mean what the bloody hell am I doing? His subconscious mind thought again. Oh no! I know where this is heading! Don’t panic! Just take a deep breath. Yeah, that’s it. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale—Ahh! This is definitely not working!

“And?” Hermione asked.

“Iminlavidjo.” Huh?

“Er? I don’t understand…”

“I am heavily falling head over heels in love with you.” That—was definitely the worst revelation he could ever come up with. I can’t believe I can say anything so cheesy—er…yeah—I once blurted out like that to Cho but—arrgghh! Blame the hormones.

“I-I don’t know what to say,” Hermione said. Fortunately, she didn’t think he goofed up. She was beaming prettily.

The shop door chimes jingled and Cho stomped in, furious and obviously shocked.

“How dare you steal him from me you—you—you scarlet woman!” Cho shouted angrily at Hermione.

Hermione’s jaw dropped. Then her eyes flashed dangerously. “Steal him? Harry’s not even yours in the first place and you’re telling me I stole him from you? Reality check witch! I haven’t stolen anything!”

“Oh don’t be such a know-it-all! Harry and I had chemistry and we started out just fine until you came into the picture and ruined everything!”

“Er? Ladies?” Harry began.

“Shut up!” Both girls said in unison.

Harry cowered.

“Get a grip Chang! Harry’s so over you! Don’t think he’s still into you after you’ve replaced him with Michael Corner.” Hermione shouted back, putting up a fight.

Cho’s mouth dropped. “That is so not fair! I didn’t replace him! He replaced me—with you! You foul, evil, boy-friend stealing, little mudblood!”

She shouldn’t have said that. That had touched a nerve. Hermione instantly jumped on Cho with every reason to tear her eyes out.

This has definitely gone too far…Harry thought. With much difficulty, he tried to separate the two girls from each other and only ended up being clawed instead.

“No! Both of you! Stop it!” Harry was struggling to keep himself intact.

“Let me at her! She needs to have what she deserves!”

“Let me go Harry! I’m still not done with her yet!”

“I said STOP!”

Harry instantly woke up. He was on his own bed, wrestling with his pillows and getting tangled in the sheets.

He sat bolt upright and disentangled the sheets from his body. That was when he realized that he was sweating profusely.

Harry got out of bed and went straight to the window. Fresh air was what he desperately needed at the moment.

“It was just a dream—just a dream…what the heck did I dream that for?” He took one huge breath and exhaled sharply. That was not what he had planned to end up in. He took another deep breath; that helped him clear his mind for awhile.

His thoughts strayed back to his dream. “I wonder if they’re really that scary when they’re pissed.” He shivered. “Well Hermione already went on punching Malfoy before,” Harry smirked. For once, Hermione finally got her fair share out of him. “Stupid git.” That was definitely something worth remembering—and getting the opportunity to hug Hermione when the executioner aimed his axe at the oversized pumpkin. God! Why haven’t he noticed it before? He was being a total ignoramus all this time unaware when he started to have feelings for his best friend.

Harry shook his head. Ron suddenly snored loudly causing Harry to jump.

“Wait—what am I saying? Here I am talking to myself in my thoughts about what I feel for Hermione…my best friend! Get real! I don’t even know if she feels the same way about me…”

Harry was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he barely noticed the same figure as before swiftly and stealthily running across the grounds. Harry could only make out the dark cloak he was wearing before he disappeared behind the mass of trees in the forbidden forest.

If he followed it now, Harry wouldn’t catch up with it and only get himself lost in the forest. He’ll have to deal with it tomorrow. Harry closed the window and went back to bed.

*****

The night after the last.

Harry didn’t tell this to his friends the next morning. They’d probably not let him go if he did, or think he’s being silly or something.

So when night came, he acted as if nothing’s going to happen and waited in the common room ‘til all students have gone to bed.

Harry followed Ron to the boy’s dormitory and pretended to be sleepy. After hearing Ron and the other’s snore, having finally gone to sleep, Harry retrieved his invisibility cloak and tip-toed out of the boy’s dormitory. Careful enough not to let anyone notice him, Harry slid out of the portrait hole and down to the Great Hall.

Heartbeat racing and ears strained, Harry watched for the slightest swish of a cloak or the faintest sound of footsteps to be heard.

A moment later, soft footsteps broke the silence. A cloaked figure appeared just above the staircase and ran down it silently towards the double doors.

Thrill shot passed Harry as he slowly came out of the shadows and followed the stranger out onto the castle grounds.

Halfway across, the figure suddenly came to a halt and turned around as if sensing that he was being followed. Harry stopped and stood immobile. After a heartbeat, the stranger continued towards the forbidden forest. Harry sighed and eagerly but stealthily followed him into the darkness of the forest. They went deeper and deeper into the dark woods. Luckily, there weren’t many shrubs on the way to slow his pace or alert the cloaked figure that he was being pursued.

They finally came to a clearing and Harry was awed by the sight. Dozens and dozens of bright fireflies were dancing around a small pond in the center. Wild flowers grew from certain places near there and the brilliant reflection of the moon and stars in the water was a wonderful effect. The forest was indeed mysterious. He didn’t even know a sanctuary like this existed.

The cloaked person moved closer to the edge of the pond and slowly lowered his hood.

Harry first caught sight of waves of caramel brown hair and he suddenly realized that this person was a female.

Harry moved closer for a better look but her back was at him and he couldn’t clearly see her face.

The girl slowly kneeled down and touched her fingers to the still water. The fireflies stirred as if sensing her presence, and some of them headed her way and started to dance around her in an unhurried euphoria. That was when she turned around.

Harry’s mouth dropped. The person he saw was the least person he expected to see that night.

“Hermione…” he whispered to himself, “What’s she doing here late at night?” But what he saw in her eyes stopped his train of thoughts. “There’s something wrong…”

He started to step into the clearing and then stopped as Hermione lowered her head; her hair covered most of her face. She sniffed. After a moment, she raised her eyes and looked longingly at the moon. Harry caught his breath at that moment. Tears had started to slide down her face.

“Why…why is she crying?” Harry stepped closer. He had suddenly felt an urge to make her feel better, to comfort her, to let her know that everything will be alright. Half-way towards Hermione, Harry accidentally stepped on a dead twig.

Hermione suddenly stood up, her eyes turned to where the noise had been. Who’s there?” she said anxiously, a hint of panic was evident in her voice. She withdrew her wand from underneath her cloak. “I know you’re there. I can feel it. Come out or risk being cursed!”

Crap. Harry knew better than to think Hermione wasn’t serious about cursing him. She knew more spells than he could ever hope to learn.

Harry slowly slid out of the cloak. “It’s me.”

“Ha-Harry? What are you doing here?” she asked, slowly lowering her wand.

“I can’t help but notice someone sneaking out of the castle suspiciously heading towards the forbidden forest this late at night. You know me Hermione. I’m always the one to get myself in trouble just because of sheer curiosity.”

That only made more tears fall down her cheeks and she turned away. “We’ll you shouldn’t have been here. You might have been caught.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one to tell you that? I have my invisibility cloak with me. Hermione…” Harry walked behind her and turned her to face him, “What’s wrong?” Harry wiped off a tear from her cheek and tilted her chin so she could look at him in the eye. That was a wrong move. Harry became entranced and was instantly lost in the depths of her eyes. “Please…tell me. I don’t want to see you hurting like this…just trust me…”

Hermione hid her face on his chest. “I’m scared…”

He whispered soft, soothing words and trailed a hand down her back to calm her nerves. “No. Don’t be. Hermione, whatever happens, I’m always here for you. Ron and I won’t let anything happen to you. Nothing can hurt you while we still live…” He placed his arms around her.

She sniffed. “It’s not me I’m worried about. I’m afraid for you Harry…”

“Me?”

“Last year had been the beginning of the war. I—I don’t want to know what will happen next, especially when you’re in the middle of it all Harry.” Fresh tears flowed out of her eyes uncontrollably. She was shaking. “I’m scared of what might happen to you…”

Harry tightened his hold on her, pulling her closer. Something gripped at his heart.

“I know what you mean. I’m scared too, but it’s my destiny. I have to face it Hermione. I can’t afford to lose this battle.” He tilted her chin with his finger so he could see her face. She looked so fragile and vulnerable, tears still wet on her cheeks.

Harry couldn’t help it. He lowered his head and kissed the wet tears on her cheeks to her now closed eyes.

The fireflies had slowly begun to circle around them, both unaware of it.

Then he moved his head back to get a better look at her. He was searching for something—a feeling, even if it was only temporary. Then he saw it. He was dreading her reproachful expression but the words written in her eyes where all he needed.

He slowly lowered his head and kissed her lips. Time stood still and all were focused on that one special kiss. It had been a moment before she responded. Harry took the risk and went deeper, and kissed her passionately. It was magic beyond words. Even the fireflies seemed to have sensed the enchantment at that moment and glowed even brighter around the couple.

When they parted, Harry touched his forehead to hers. Lips parted, cheeks flushed and eyes still closed, he felt her glow. But still, tears descended.

“This is why I can’t let Voldemort win, Hermione. There’s too much to lose. I can’t let him get his victory. He’ll be torturing more wizards, and I can’t bear it if he dares to lay a curse on the people I love, especially you Hermione.”

Hermione cupped his cheek with her hand for a moment before she laid her head on his shoulder. “I understand. But I just can’t completely accept the fact that Voldemort might kill you…”

Harry can’t blame her. He too was dreading the outcome, but he just can’t let her down nor will he let any of the people who believe in him. He just can’t. Too many people depend on him.

“I wish this night would never end. I might end up wondering when I woke up in the morning if this was all a dream,” she sighed.

Harry moved her hair away to reveal her slender neck. He lowered his head and sucked at the skin at the base of her neck.

“What are you doing?” she asked softly.

A reddish hickey appeared on her skin where Harry’s lips had been.

“A temporary souvenir. Even though it won’t look as vivid as it does right now, it’ll still be there in the morning,” he smiled.

She smiled back then said, “We better get back to the castle before they find out we’re missing.”

Harry nodded and slowly but hesitantly let go of her.

He picked up his invisibility cloak from the ground and walked back to Hermione.

“Ready?”

Hermione nodded and Harry threw on the cloak over both of them.

Cautiously, they snuck back out of the forest, across the grounds and into the castle. When they reached the landing before the last stairs to where the entrance to the Gryffindor common room was located, they suddenly heard a loud ‘meow’ from the floor just below them.

Harry’s eyes widened as he sharply averted his gaze to the bottom of the stairs. Looking around for a place to hide, Harry pulled Hermione to the only door around them. If they didn’t know better, they would have been caught, as the cloak cannot protect them from Mrs. Norris’ keen sense of smell.

Unfortunately for them, Harry had to pick a very small broom closet to hide in. The closet was so crammed with the junk that they were very close to each other. Harry could feel the warmth of Hermione’s breath on his cheek.

“Meow…” Both stiffened and dared not move an inch. Hermione’s eyes suddenly widened fearfully at something passed Harry’s shoulder. Harry turned his head slightly to see what it was and saw a rather healthy looking centipede. He turned back to Hermione and realized her fears for it. They could still clearly hear Mrs. Norris’s meowing and Filch’s footsteps near them.

Panic was starting to creep up Harry’s spine as he saw the change in Hermione’s eyes from fear to absolute terror and heard her intake in breath. She was about to scream!

No! Not now! Harry was trying to say to Hermione non-verbally but she was too frightened with the multi-legged insect slowly inching its way towards them.

With one final look at the door, Harry did what his instincts told him to do: He swallowed her scream and locked his lips with hers. Hermione’s eyes widened with surprise, which, to Harry was a relief as it had replaced her fright.

It felt like ages before Filch left the floor but Harry didn’t mind really. They broke apart after Mrs. Norris and Filch’s footsteps could no longer be heard.

Hermione was blushing furiously and Harry was flushed all over, both breathless. He slowly opened the door to check and, after assuring that there was no one in sight, he fixed the invisibility cloak on both of them and pulled Hermione up the last stairs towards the portrait hole.

Harry and Hermione hurriedly whispered the password to the still snoring fat lady and quickly slid inside the portrait hole.

As it closed behind them, Harry let out his breath. He checked if they were alone inside the room before taking off the cloak from both of them.

“Close enough,” Hermione sighed.

“Yeah,” Harry smiled.

There was a moment of awkward silence that followed after that. Hermione was the first to break it.

“We’ll we better get back to bed,” she said a little shyly.

“Er—yeah. I guess so.”

“Goodnight Harry.”

“Goodnight Hermione.”

She took a step forward and kissed him gently before she shyly smiled at him and climbed the stairs to the girl’s dormitory.

Harry was a little surprised but he smiled back and waited till she disappeared behind the closed door.

Feeling a bit light-hearted at the moment, Harry proceeded to the boy’s dormitory and soundlessly changed into his pajamas. He gingerly climbed on his soft four-poster bed and stared dreamily at the ceiling.

He smiled to himself. “Well Potter, guess you’re in for a better change.”

Harry finally drifted off to sleep, his mind still wandering on Hermione.

*****

The day after yesterday.

Hermione opened her eyes. She stretched her arms and yawned widely in her bed. That was more than a very pleasant dream. She slowly sat up in bed and unconsciously touched her lips. It seemed so real.

She stood up from her bed and yawned again.

“Had a goodnight’s sleep?” Ginny asked as she walked out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel.

“Splendid, yes.” Hermione took a towel and head for the bathroom. “And you?”

“Same here.” Ginny smiled. “I drifted away to Dreamland.”

Hermione suddenly blushed as she remembered her dream and closed the door to the bathroom before Ginny could see her color rise.

She went straight to the shower and let her mind wander.

A few moments later, she walked out fresh and clean.

Ginny who was already waiting for her to finish dressing sat patiently on her bed. “So, what are you planning today?”

“Hm?”

“What are you planning for the trip…it’s Hogsmeade week incase you forgot.”

Hermione did actually, but she didn’t want to let Ginny know that she forgot. “I’ll go for the fun of it. I don’t have anything in mind to buy at the moment.” She shrugged.

“What’s that?” Ginny suddenly asked, pointing a finger at her neck.

Hermione’s robe had slipped a distance from her neck. She slowly went to the mirror expecting a gash or something. Her eyes suddenly widened and she gasped as she looked at her neck in her reflection.

A red mark was visible against her fair complexion at the base of her neck. It—it was real?!

She was speechless at the moment. It was real. Hermione felt like doing a gig. She could almost hear her heart singing.

“Hermione?”

Hermione jumped. She had been so engaged at the moment that she forgot about Ginny.

“It’s nothing. Just a slight gash.” She said.

“We’ll you better hurry up and get dressed. They’re going to leave any minute now.”

“Ok—ok.” But Hermione’s mind had wandered to last night. “Harry…”

“Did you say something, Hermione?”

“Oh…no. Nothing.” She dressed herself almost in a hurried manner and blushed at the same time.

“Are you alright?”

“Never better.” She beamed. Then with a last look at the mirror, she turned to Ginny and both headed for the door.

Hermione took a deep breath, Here goes…she had a feeling that once she got out of the door, it’ll be the beginning of a new day that will change her life forever…

*****

Fin.