To my angel,
What kind of an Angel are you? Asking 'normal' stuff? Just my luck to get such a lousy Angel. How's my year so far? It's been great... until I got you as my angel.
'The past few years have been full of excitement'? It would have been more exciting... Had the Weasley gotten killed in the second year... And it really beats me how the Potty has managed to survive so far... Oh well, I can hardly wait for the day Dumbie announces his death to us...
What have I been doing in my spare time? Trying to figure out ways to kill off Potty? Creating new insults for the Weasleys and Mudblood students? I just do what I want... And you're in no position to question me.
Relate to each other our childhood experiences? Like what? How my father made me attend a hundred and one lessons? There's nothing much to relate... And if I, a Malfoy, has nothing to relate, I'm sure you don't have anything either.
There, my reply's soon enough I bet. Now sod off, I don't need a lousy Angel... I'll bet a hundred Galleons that you're not a Slytherin... No Slytherin will speak like that... And I'm in no mood to have a non-Slytherin for my Angel.
Draco Malfoy
Draco smirked as he finished writing his letter. That'll show my Angel... I bet he or she won't write back... He laughed as he went to the Owlery to send the letter to his Angel.
-in the girls' dormitory, Gryffindor Tower-
Ginny was about to leave the dormitory for the Great Hall when an owl flew in and dropped an envelope into her hands. Now, who could this be from? Draco? He sure replies fast...
She opened the envelope and quickly read the letter. The git! How...how could he say all those things? To think that I had made up my mind to be a good Angel to that Draco Malfoy... If this is the kind of Mortal I'm getting, I don't see why I should be a good Angel at all!
With that, she angrily stuffed the letter into a drawer and stomped off.
-in the Great Hall-
"Ginny! Over here! What took you so long?" Ron waved to his sister from the Gryffindor table.
"Nothing... I don't want to talk about it, all right?"
"Errr... okay then..." Ron was surprised. Usually she doesn't get mad at most things... This must be something big... I'd better not bother her about it now.
Once the plates of food were clean, everyone hung around the tables to just chat. The conversation invariably turned to the Angel/Mortal game, thanks to Lavender and Parvati.
"...I bet my Angel's a boy, he said I looked good during the Yule Ball last year..."
"...my Angel's pretty nice, he or she sent me..."
"I wonder why my Angel hasn't written to me..." Harry wondered aloud.
"Maybe... maybe... she's busy?" Hermione said as her face took on a slight blush.
Ron snorted. "Busy? It's the beginning of the year! What could he or she be busy with? Studying? Really, Hermione."
"Well... you... never know! She might just be er... doing extra reading! Not everyone is like you, Ron."
"You keep saying it's a 'she'... How do you know? Unless you know who it is?" Ron demanded.
"What...? How would I know who Harry's Angel is? It was just a figure of speech!" Hermione declared indignantly.
Harry laughed it off. "Come on, break it up, you two... I'm starting to believe you two can't live a day without bickering with each other at least once..."
Hermione gave a weak smile, her heart beating furiously. I almost gave myself away! Thank goodness Harry didn't suspect anything... I'd better write to Harry anyway...
As Harry grinned at his two best friends, he was thinking. I'd better write to Cho soon... I do want to be a good Angel to her... It's a good opportunity for me to get to know her better...
Hermione stood up. "Well, I'm going to the library now... See you both later!" Saying that, she sped off.
-in the library-
Hermione bit the end of her quill, something she had never done before. She cursed her writer's block... I can write rolls of parchment for all those essays... but I can't write a word to Harry? This is bad...
...:: an hour later ::...
Hermione put down her quill happily, despite having spent a whole hour composing a short letter to Harry. She reread the letter for any mistakes, wanting to be word-perfect.
Dear Harry,
As you might have guessed, I'm your Angel. I was quite surprised, and even a little shocked when the ChatterParchment displayed your name, but I'm going to make use of this chance to get to know you better. Surely, there is more to you than defeating You-Know-Who and Quidditch, right?
Well, I guess I should tell you more about myself first... I can't tell you much without revealing my identity, but I'm in the same year as you. I'm Muggle-born - both my parents were Muggles. It was certainly a surprise to both me and my parents to receive the letter telling me that I was to study here at Hogwarts. It probably wasn't any surprise to you, though.
So... what are your hobbies? Not just Quidditch I hope. For me, I really enjoy swimming. It's only when I swim that I feel that I have total freedom. Freedom to move in any direction I want, freedom to do whatever I want. It's like flying on a broom, isn't it? I would be flying on a broom too, but I haven't got one, and I have a slight phobia of heights.
Well, I hope the new year at Hogwarts has been nice to you so far. I guess I should put my quill down now, do reply soon.
With love,
Your Angel
She was about to run down to the Owlery when a thought hit her. How could I forget to disguise my writing? Harry will certainly recognise it!
She sat down and rewrote the letter in different handwriting, and went down to the Owlery with a smile on her lips.
-in the Gryffindor Common Room-
Harry smiled with satisfaction as he put his quill down. He had just finished writing the letter to Cho, after spending nearly a whole hour on it. He looked out of the window to see that it was getting late, and rushed down to the Owlery to send the letter.
-in the Owlery-
Hermione had just finished tying her letter to the leg of a school owl and telling it to send the letter at breakfast that next morning when she heard someone else enter the Owlery.
She turned around and was surprised to find that it was Harry.
"Harry! What are you doing here? Don't you have Hedwig to send your letters for you?"
"Errr well... I was... writing to my Mortal, and Dumbledore said to use the school owls when writing to your Angel or Mortal." Harry blushed slightly as he started tying his letter to the leg of a school owl.
"Oh... all right then." Hermione frowned. There's nothing embarrassing about sending a letter to your Mortal... Why should Harry blush? Unless... it's me? No, that can't be, it's too much of a concidence... Don't tell me it's... Cho? Hermione unconsciously bit her lip as pondered over whether Cho was Harry's Mortal.
"Hermione? You all right? We'd better get back soon, it's getting late."
"Okay..." she trailed off, her thoughts still on Harry having Cho as his Mortal.
They made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, and Harry noticed that Hermione was rather distracted. She's acting strangely... She must be thinking of Ron... He turned to look at Hermione, and smiled knowingly.
Hermione, however, did not notice Harry smiling at her. Could Cho really be Harry's Mortal? This isn't good... Harry will get to know her better... And they'll end up together! She was so caught up in the whirlwind of her thoughts that she did not notice a missing step in the stairway.
"Hermione!" Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her away from the missing step.
"Hermione? What's wrong with you? You seem really out of sorts. Be careful, all right?" Harry's concern showed clearly in his eyes.
"I...I was just... thinking. Sorry... and thanks for helping me." Hermione was still a little shaken. Her gaze travelled to her hand, which was enclosed in Harry's.
Harry followed her eyes, and quickly released her hand.
There was a sudden awkwardness between the two friends, and they walked back to Gryffindor Tower in silence.
They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and Harry was about to enter the common room when Hermione grabbed hold of his hand.
"Harry... Thanks for just now..." she pulled him into a hug before running into the common room, leaving a surprised Harry standing at the portrait.
Did Hermione just hug me? Why does it feel so... different? He shook his head. She was just... thanking me for just now. Nothing more, Harry. Nothing more...
Or is it? A corner of his mind seemed to say. He shook his head again to clear his thoughts, but as he entered the common room, he couldn't help thinking that Hermione smelled really nice...
Author's note:
-ducks blows from lynn and jy-
I'm sorry this chapter has taken soooo long to write... I just haven't had the inspiration... If you're wondering why the ChatterParchment has not been used yet, I'm working on it... Hehe. It will probably make its first appearance in the next chapter, but no promises.
Also... I'm wondering if I should let you all 'see' Harry's letter to Cho, since I find the letters quite hard to write... Well, give me your opinions and I'll -try- to write it if you all really want me to...
As always, criticism and feedback are always welcome... =)
P.S. If you're wondering how the school owls know who the Angels are (as in the case of Draco sending the letter back to Ginny), they just know. Lousy excuse? It's because the owls are really smart... and because Dumbledore showed them the list of Angels and Mortals. This sounds lame... but yeah.
P.P.S. Sorry if I'm too crappy.