Chapter 8; New beginning
The dark times,
has fallen upon us.
People have lived,
people have died,
leaving the memories,
upon our hearts.
Letting the grief,
turn into fear.
Thought in fear,
we must fight,
not let the tears
blind our light.
In our fight
we must stand tight.
Each passing day
we must hope,
wish and never forget
the beauty of the light.
New beginning
is the end of all, that's old,
everything starts
everything ends.
Now let me see the dark
and lead you to the light!
The Sorting Hat stopped singing when Harry and Hermione walked into the Great Hall. Everyone were staring at them when they made their way up to Ron and Ginny at the Gryffindor table.
"Oh no, we missed it," Hermione said quietly at Harry, not daring to look at him.
"Well, not all. You heard the end of it," Harry said and sat down next to Ron.
"Where were you guys?" Ron asked quietly. "You were right behind us and then you weren't."
"I well…we needed to…" Hermione started.
"We went to see Dumbledore's grave," Harry answered shortly and felt Hermione, who was sitting next to Harry, taking his hand under the table, showing him how grateful she was for his quick answer. "I needed to do that before I entered the school," he explained. Both Ron and Ginny nodded they're heads in silent agreement.
They quietly listened to the sorting ceremony and looked up when Professor McGonagall, who was sitting where Dumbledore once did, rose up.
"Dear students and staff. I welcome you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In this tragic time, we are all here again to stick together and fight together. Hogwarts was almost closed forever after the loss of Headmaster Dumbledore, but he would have never wanted us to do that. He worked hard for this school and finally, after endless fights, I was able to convince the Ministry that Hogwarts should be remain opened," she said and all students at Great Hall began applauding.
"Everyone who is here, came by their own free will. Everyone who wants to return home, can leave now," she said and looked across the hall. No one stood up, no one left, so she continued. "As you have noticed, no prefects or Head students were selected this year. It is because things has changed and I didn't want to confuse you. There will be two head students and four prefects from each house," she continued and raised her hand to silence the hall. "This is only for security measures. Head students have more duties added to the already long list. You will receive your badges now," she said and the Great Hall was full on shrieks and loud voices.
Ginny was made Prefect, so was Ron, Seamus and Lavender. The Gryffindor Head students were Harry and Hermione.
"I can't believe this," Harry said, looking at his Gryffindor Head Boy badge and shaking his head. "I mean, everyone knew you will be Head Girl, but me as Head Boy?? Harry asked Hermione in surprise.
"Oh come on, you know you would be the best at it. You've earned it Harry," Hermione said with bright smile.
"Congratulations mate," Ron said, but not very cheerfully. Harry could tell he was jealous of him for being Head Boy and Quidditch Team Captain. "Suppose I won't see the two of you very often," he said with wide eyes.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked and looked at him.
"Well, being a Head Student means you have your own dorm and common room," Ron said while trying to hide his jealousy.
Harry didn't know what to do and looked at Hermione. Was he really going to share common room with her and her alone? Could this be real? Then he remembered the moment when she had fallen into his arms not long ago. What if he couldn't control himself and kissed her the next time he was alone with her? And why did he want to kiss her so badly? With Ginny, it just happened. He just kissed her, never letting his thoughts lead him, stop him. With risked everything that mattered but he couldn't do that with Hermione; he didn't want to spoil what they had. Thinking that led him to another question: What did they have? But he never found the answers to his questions. His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Professor McGonagall.
"Quidditch games will also commence," she added and was greeted by applause and cheers from the Great Hall. "You will still have exams," the room was silent at once. Harry looked at her and it seemed like she was enjoying the silence and students miserable faces at the news. "Lessons will start tomorrow. Now let the feast begin," she announced and Harry rolled his eyes. He felt anger rising. Who did she think she was, Dumbledore?
During the feast, the Gryffindor friends talked about everything, including Malfoy and how he got back to school and what he had planned. Harry was positive Malfoy had some plan and that's why went back to school. They talked about their positions at school and why Professor McGonagall had picked them.
"Professor McGonagall said she chose us for school security reasons, and who would be better to replace you?" Hermione said. "You're the one who has faced the dangers and is perfect for this position." When Harry didn't reply, she changed the subject and talked about the lessons she was planning on taking. "Wonder who the new professors are? I can't see anyone new," she said and peered at the staff table.
That brought Harry's attention to the staff table as well. "We need a new Potion's Master and I hope he's better than Snape," he mumbled angrily. He had always hated Snape and Snape had hated him. When he had seen him killing Dumbledore, Harry couldn't control his anger anymore. All he wanted to do was finish him off and it scared him. He couldn't set his mind of why Snape didn't attempt anything during his six years at Hogwarts; he had plenty of opportunities to do something. In their first year, the trio had thought that Snape was possessing Harry at his first Quidditch game, but he wasn't, he was helping him while Professor Quirrell had tried to kill Harry. All these years Snape had made his life miserable, but never-ever attempted anything more than mock him. He never even tried to take him to Voldemort.
Barty Crouch Jr. had managed to send Harry to Voldemort in his fourth, why not Snape? He was in Order of the Phoenix helping the order members, why didn't he abduct him then. What did he have planned? He wanted to talk to Hermione and Ron about it, but knew he must wait. Ginny was there and he didn't want to share his thoughts with her.
When the feast was over, the three of them walked up to Gryffindor tower before they were stopped by Luna.
"Hello Ronald," she greeted dreamingly. "You're a prefect?" she asked and then showed him her badge. "I am too, I'll see you tomorrow at the meeting," she said as she placed her hand on Ron's chest and walked by slowly, holding her hand on his chest and looking into his eyes. Hermione, who was Ron's girlfriend didn't like the scene at all.
Hermione glanced angrily at Ron. "See you later Harry," Hermione said to Harry and without another word, she turned on her heels and left the boys looking after her. Harry, who was feeling left out and jealous that Hermione still cared about Luna acting that way towards Ron after she had told him she had no romantic feelings left for him. Looking at her acting that way reassured him that she still liked Ron.
"What's got into her?" Ron asked turning to Harry.
"She got jealous at what Luna did," Harry said sighing.
"But why?" Ron asked
"Because she was flirting with you," Harry said rolling his eyes. How could Ron not see that himself? When Ron opened his mouth to protest, he found that he no longer wanted to talk about it. "I better get going now, see you in the morning," Harry said and left Ron behind him.
The Gryffindor Head Students dorm was at the top of the Gryffindor tower. The entrance wasn't even near to Fat Lady's portrait, which was the entrance to Gryffindor common room. When Harry reached to the top of the tower, he said the password to a rather odd looking man in the portrait. When he walked in, he found Hermione sitting on a chair in front of fireplace. He didn't pay much attention to the room itself; it was her that caught his eyes.
Making his way up to Hermione, he sat down next to her without saying a word. He waited for Hermione to make the first move, he still felt embarrassed and unsure of what happened between them before. He knew he had to talk to Hermione about the kiss they almost shared, but how? Hey Hermione, what happened back there was just a mistake? He couldn't say that, it wasn't mistake, at least not to him. And he thought if he said that, it would hurt Hermione.
"Harry, what happened?" she finally asked after they had sat in silence about five minutes. She had been wondering the same thing as Harry. They had to talk about it, she knew it and he did too, but how? The tension between them was unbearable. Both of them wanting the answer, while being scared to talk about it. All of their feelings were messed up. Were they just friends or were they something more?
"I…I don't know," Harry answered honestly. He didn't know what had happened and he wasn't sure what Hermione was talking about. He guessed she was asking about the moment they shared after coming out of the carriage. "I'm sorry. I…I didn't want to offend you or anything," he continued and looked at his hands. It was true, he never meant to offend her or do anything she didn't want him too, though he could swear Hermione had felt the same way he did.
"You didn't offend me, Harry," Hermione answered shortly and Harry nodded. "It's just…it can't happen again, because…" Hermione said but stopped herself before she said too much; she wasn't ready to say anything else. She wasn't ready to tell him what she urged to say. And Harry wondered if it was just his imagination or if he really heard sadness in her voice when she said this. Did she meant to say that she still liked Ron, or because they were just friends? Or had it just been an accident?
"I know," Harry said, still not looking at her. They sat in silence once again side by side in front of the fireplace; neither of them daring to look each other. "You still like him?" Harry asked and broke the uncomfortable silence between them.
"I…no…not more than a friend," Hermione answered. "It doesn't matter anyway, why do you even ask?" she continued and was the first one to move and look into Harry's eyes.
"Of course it matters," Harry said and looked into her eyes as well. At that moment, he felt like he'd gone back in time. There she was again, right in front of him. If he could just stretch out a hand, he could touch her soft skin once again, caress her cheek and lips. He cursed himself for thinking that way; it wasn't allowed. She was his friend, best friend as a matter of fact, though he felt like he was falling deeper into her eyes.
"I'm going to bed now," Hermione said and broke the eye contact with Harry, as if she was afraid of her next reaction. Harry was once again sure she had felt the same way, felt the desperation to get closer and the urge to kiss.
"If you don't like Ron as more than a friend, why did you get jealous of Luna?" Harry asked and gently placed his palm on her cheek and turned her head so he could look into her wonderful eyes again. She was so perfect, Harry thought.
"I wasn't jealous," Hermione said and continued before Harry could disagree with her. "I got angry. Luna was flirting with Ron in front of me, knowing that Ron and I are together. It doesn't make any difference now, does it?" she said and sighed.
"I see," Harry said and looked at the fireplace. He felt Hermione stand up and his heart ached. He couldn't let her leave like that. Or could he? He heard the footsteps and knew she would be out of sight soon. "
Hermione," he called out suddenly and stood up, looking at her. He was relieved to see that she had turned back to face him. "Just…just wanted to say goodnight," Harry said as he found himself moving towards her.
A smile was spread across her face when he approached her. She flung her arms around him and whispered, "Goodnight Harry". Their embrace lasted longer than needed, but both of them left to their rooms with smiles across their faces.