Disclaimer: The 14th amendment says I can't deny people of their natural rights, so I can't own Harry Potter. (Yeah, I know my constitution).
No, it couldn't be 7:30 already. She groaned as she turned over and blindly turned off the annoying alarm clock. It had been about a month since they destroyed that awful locket. She had a small scar on her shoulder where a Destructo had ricocheted off the locket. She had almost no time to put up a shoddy Protego so the spell wouldn't kill her.
She couldn't help a small smile play on her lips. He had destroyed a horcrux, well they did, but it was mainly Harry. Hmm, the diary, the ring, the locket, three down three to go. The morale had been raised since they destroyed it. Sure they were completely drained for about a week afterwards (she couldn't even cast an effective lumos for three days) but still it showed them they had a chance to fight this, heck they might have a chance to win this.
Tonks and Lupin left about a week ago, promising to bring them any news, good or bad. Death Eater attacks had been on the rise. Originally they were scattered and the Death Eaters simply destroyed some things to scare people; however, the attacks had become more frequent lately, about once a week.
When she read about the attacks in the Prophet her initial response was always to hide the articles from the two boys, or maybe charm the paper so that it was naming them the two most eligible bachelors or something. She hated to see Ron and Harry's faces fall as they read about the latest catastrophe. She hugged her blankets closer to her.
Harry's nightmares had been getting worse too. One night he forgot to put the silencing charm on his room. She heard his tossing and panting from her room. She had rushed into his room and woken him as quickly as she could. His skin had glistened in the moonlight with a sheen of sweat over his body. He had grabbed her tightly and hugged her once he was awake. In true Harry fashion he never brought that night up again, and in true Hermione fashion she had acted as though nothing happened.
But it had happened. She still shuddered when she remembered his thrashing and kicking in his bed, not to mention the utter and complete brokenness of him when he awoke, clutching to her for dear life. She couldn't help but lay awake at night and wonder if he was having a nightmare right at that very moment. He hadn't forgotten to put up a silencing charm since then, but the bags under his eyes told her the answer she didn't want to hear.
She was so close to discovering where the next Horcrux was hidden-somewhere in Pottsville. The only problem was that there were four other towns with the same name and she had to find out which one Voldemort had gone to. It was a lot harder than she thought it would be. Pottsville was where he killed his very first victim and took on the name Lord Voldemort. She hugged her pillow closer to her. It was getting colder, and somewhere along the way October had slipped into November, and even November was almost over.
Her feelings for Harry had not gone away like they had for Ron. If anything they had gotten worse. She found herself thinking about him more and more. It was just concern for a friend, right? When two people of opposite sexes are friends for a very long period of time they are certain to develop sexual tension. This seemed to be more than sexual tension though. Was she supposed to get butterflies in her stomach when she saw him? Or crave his attention? What about when he smiled, was she supposed to be happy simply because he was happy? No, unfortunately she had to face it, she fancied her best friend. Her best friend who just happened to be able to get any girl he wanted. Her best friend who had not noticed her in that way for the past seven years.
She didn't even want to pinpoint when the crush had actually started. She feared she would sound pathetic, pining after him for years. Dear Merlin! Had it been years? No, no… no? She turned over restlessly in her bed. She should really just get up and put an end to these thoughts. She had embraced the crush, wasn't that enough? She didn't want to have a crush on him. She didn't want to get her heart broken by him. Didn't cupid know that now was not the time for a crush? There were so many more important things.
Harry and her had dueled a couple times. She wasn't very good at dueling but she was getting better. She had an inkling that Harry was going easy on her which made her furious, but she was teaching him new spells, and he was teaching her defense tactics.
They had seemed to be getting closer. He would come to see her more often, and she would wish he were there when he wasn't. It wasn't any kind of drastic change in their friendship, just small things (she of course was pathetic enough to notice them) like they would sit a little closer together sometimes or his hand would brush hers as they walked by each other.
But of course, it was normal for the three of them to grow closer in such tight quarters; it was either that or rip each other's heads off. Yet as close as her and Harry seemed to grow, they were equally trying to push the other away. For her there was always Ginny. So what if Harry and Ginny had broken up? That doesn't necessarily mean that he was over her. And as for Harry, he was beginning to confuse her. One day they would be in the library joking and laughing and then by the next morning he would keep a more than needed distance away from her.
She assumed this was because she wasn't Ginny. She didn't have gorgeously smooth amber hair, or creamy pale skin. But she didn't have time to worry about any of that. Nope, she was filling every moment of her day with research. She had a lot to get done before Christmas. She assumed they would be going to the Weasley's for Christmas which made her excited (she absolutely adored them) but also very nervous. Ginny would undoubtedly be there, and it was no secret that she still cared for Harry. The only question was did Harry still care for her?
Merlin! She would think she could keep her mind on something more important for just a few minutes! This was ridiculous! Okay, before Christmas she was going to know where the next Horcrux was. Before Christmas she was going to know exactly where it was located. They would set off for it shortly after Christmas, because seriously, who wanted to maybe die on Christmas?
Throwing the covers off of herself she decided to start her day. There was so much to be done and time seemed to be moving so quickly these days. She felt as though it was all counting down to something. Something terrible. And she didn't like that one bit.
A/N: Oh my gosh thank you so much for all your reviews! And don't worry; the contents of the mysterious letter are gonna be revealed next chapter! Anyway, tell me what you think! P.S. Reviews are a great gift for any writer!