Hermione slowly opened her eyes and gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth.
The lake was sparkling under the spring sun, the giant squid stroking lazily from side to side. The towering tree was blooming, tiny buds of brilliant pink blossoming into beautiful flowers that, with every gently breeze, shuddered lightly and some petals fell to the ground onto the grass below. The petals decorated the green blanket perfectly and contrasted with the periwinkle blue sky.
"Harry..." Hermione trailed off, unable to utter any words about the scene of immense beauty and tranquility lying before her eyes.
"I thought you needed to get away from studying for a while, no matter how much you like it. Granted, we only have about twenty minutes before we have to go back to it, but I thought you'd enjoy it anyway," Harry said softly. She turned and grinned before walking forward. As she went, the branches of the tree bent low to brush the top of her head. She reached up and carefully picked off a flawless pink flower.
As she breathed in its sweet scent, she walked to the edge of the lake, smiling.
"Its beautiful," she said.
"Almost as beautiful as you," Harry answered, walking up next to her. She turned around and pulled him into a loving hug, then released him and leaned her head on his shoulder as they stared out at the squid causing slight ripples in the mirror of water.
"You are the sweetest person on Earth," she said, looking up into his emerald eyes.
"I know, but it's nice to hear it from my girlfriend every once in a while," Harry said, grinning. She laughed, and Harry took the flower from her hand and moved in front of her, placing it above her left ear perfectly. She turned her head and kissed his palm softly before she directed her gaze back into his deep eyes.
"Don't get cocky. If you grow a big head like Malfoy's, I'll dump you," she threatened, smiling. Harry grinned again, then bent down and captured her mouth in a kiss that tasted to her like her favorite ice cream, vanilla.
"Decided that actions can more than words, did you?" she laughed, pulling back slowly.
"You don't miss a thing," he responded before taking control of her lips once more. She moved her hand to the back of his head while the other played with the collar of his shirt underneath his robes. Suddenly, Hermione felt something wet splash her back. She gasped and pulled away, turning around quickly while feeling the dampness.
She observed the giant squid, now much closer to the shore, and heard Harry laughing behind her.
"You think that's funny?" she asked, turning back to him and raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah!" Harry exclaimed. "I mean, how often does the squid do something like THAT?" Hermione narrowed her eyes venomously, and Harry put his hands up in defense. She quickly turned back to see that the sea animal had moved to the middle of the lake and was resuming its laps. She swiftly turned around to see that Harry was gone.
"Harry!" she yelled and then asked to herself, "Where did you go?" while looking in all directions. Suddenly, a puddle of ice-cold water soaked her already wet back. She screamed and fleetingly turned around to see Harry shaking with laughter before more water went in her face and down the front of her clothes. In a matter of seconds, it had soaked all the way through.
"Harry, how fast do you run?" Hermione asked through gritted teeth, wiping dripping water from her face.
"Somewhat fast, why?" he asked in between laughter.
"Because it'll give you some time before I KILL you!" she screamed, watching with joy as the smile
faded off his face. Without warning, she charged after him. He darted out of the way and ran in the opposite direction.
She ran after him, laughing.
"Hermione! Stop!" Harry gasped after a while, but continued to run around in circles while she sped after him.
"No way!" she exclaimed as she ran after him, picking up a bit of speed and smiling evilly at the same time. Up ahead, Harry stopped and turned toward her, panting.
"Surrendering so soon?" she asked, slowing down as she neared him, wondering if he was up to something.
"No," he answered. As she approached him somewhat cautiously, he took the chance and grabbed her around the waist. She let out a yelp, but he wasn't going to let go so soon.
"I see the tables have turned," he commented nonchalantly, then proceeded to tickle her. She laughed until her sides hurt and tears formed in her eyes, but even then he wouldn't stop. Harry's fingers were too quick, moving across her stomach to produce an unbelievably tickling sensation.
"Stop! Please!" she gasped in between fits of laughter.
"Oh, but this is too much fun!" he replied, not even pausing. She wriggled her hand underneath her robes, pulling out her wand. She pointed it at Harry' stomach and squeezed out, "Rictusempra!" Instantly, she felt his arms loosen around her waist, then completely let go.
She took a few deep breaths, thanking God for oxygen. Turning to her side, she saw Harry laughing uncontrollably on the ground, clutching at his stomach. She laughed, and then winced slightly as she grasped her side.
Hermione knelt beside him, grinning widely.
"Having fun?" she asked innocently.
"Take it..." Harry started, but was cut off by another burst of laughter.
"Take it...up a notch? Take it...further?" she started guessing.
"STOP, Hermione!" Harry yelled in between the hysterics as he tried to stand up, but fell back down. She laughed, clearly enjoying this. Facing him, she aimed her wand at his stomach.
"Hmm... now WHAT was that spell again?" she mused, pretending to think hard. She looked at Harry, who was flushed and rolling on the floor with a promised torture in his eyes.
"All RIGHT," she said in an exasperated tone. "Finite Incantatem."
Harry slowly stopped laughing, his cheeks pink, and stared up at Hermione murderously.
"Hey, if you kill me, not ONLY will you lose your beloved girlfriend, but Hogwarts will lose its best witch in all these years. Think of the greater good," she joked, grinning.
"I had something else in mind," Harry said, finally able to sit up properly. He forged forward and pushed her slowly to the ground. She felt the soft grass tickling her underneath, but did nothing except stare up at Harry and smirk.
"Now, since I have suffered so, I think it's fair that I get my way for a little while, don't you think?" he asked quizzically.
"Not really," Hermione replied, shaking her head.
"Well, I do," he said, grinning mischievously. He leaned forward and kissed her sweetly. She ran her hands up his arms, welcoming his comforting touch.
"It's a little too hot for the robes, don't you think?" she asked, pulling away and smiling slyly.
"Are you suggesting something, Ms. Goody-Goody Granger?" Harry asked amusedly.
"Why? Would you like me to, MR. Potter?" Hermione questioned with a hint of laughter in her voice. Harry laughed and shrugged off his thick black robes. Hermione raised her head to claim his mouth again. He pushed her robes off, but had some difficulty removing it from underneath her. As he tossed it aside, her tongue connected with his, and so it went, entangled with his.
"Harry! Harry!" a voice called with a tinge of urgency. Harry held on to Hermione, trying to pretend that this was not happening.
"Harry, someone's coming," Hermione said somewhat crossly and pulled away from his embrace reluctantly.
"Why does that always happen?" he grumbled, clearly annoyed. She laughed softly and brushed back his raven hair from his forehead.
"We should get up," she whispered and kissed him quickly on the lips.
"Yeah," he sighed heavily and pushed off. They were pulling on their robes when Ron came running through the clearing.
"Harry!" he exclaimed. "Dumbledore told me I might find you here... Hermione, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, um," Hermione swallowed nervously. "I-I was showing Harry," she paused very briefly, the wheels in her mind turning as she tried to conjure up a plausible excuse. "How to take care of plants properly. For Herbology."
"Yeah. I had a question and Madam Sprout explained it in a way that I did NOT get," Harry added hastily.
"I know what you mean," Ron answered, much to Harry and Hermione's relief. "Oh, I almost forgot what I came here for! There are Aurors here to investigate the attack on Hagrid's house!"
"Really? Have they found anything? What about the mark behind his house on the grass?" Harry asked anxiously as him and Hermione hurried alongside Ron to Hagrid's rebuilt hut.
"I don't know yet! They were whispering to each other in huddles when I came to find you," Ron replied as they walked to the hut by the Forbidden Forest.
"What's going on, Hagrid?" Hermione asked nervously, half not wanting to know as she surveyed the surroundings.
"Aurors," he grunted, gesturing with his hand to the mass of people in black robes swarming around Hagrid's home. "Real invasion of privacy, if yeh ask me."
"Have they found anything?" Harry asked, eyes fixed on the people milling around with vials and bottles, along with wands, in their hands.
"They think the mark on the back of me house was made by a very powerful curse," Hagrid explained, wringing his overlarge hands. "Say it was to try an' attack me, but it missed somehow an' went on the ground instead."
"That's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed, now staring at the Aurors too.
"Mr. Hagrid," a very formidable-looking wizard in deep purple robes of plush velvet approached, holding his wand along with a pad of parchments.
"Yes?" Hagrid asked, looking down at the man with an edge in his voice.
"David Cinervus. We have found out that the mark was caused by a very powerful curse, and it will probably remain there for a while. No need to worry. Also, there is a spot on the back wall of your house that shows that the spell was originally aimed at your house. It refuses to leave, even though your house IS rebuilt. Much to our surprise, and probably the attacker's, it bounced off the wall and hit the ground instead. The fire it caused was simply an after-effect, that's all. We are still trying to figure out why this occurred, but try to be patient with us. This IS for your own good," he explained monotonously, flipping through the stack of parchments in his hand.
"How long will it take?" Hagrid asked, hands clenched at his sides.
"I'm not exactly sure. Please do try to bear in mind that we toil so that you can live in peace. Time is not an issue here. By the way, sir," the Auror added casually, "we will need to search the inside of your living quarters."
"What for!?" Hagrid boomed, his temper that had been under control starting to seep out.
"Your fireplace is connected to the Floo Network, correct?" Mr. Cinervus pushed the question aside.
"Yeah, so?" Hagrid asked.
"We have to see if your fireplace had been tried to access before the attack," he explained smoothly. "It might provide us with some important information."
"How long are yeh gonna continue this?" Hagrid asked, his voice even but slightly shaking with hostility.
"As long as we need to keep you, your canine, and the rest of the people here at Hogwarts safe, sir," David answered, glancing up from his notes briefly to flash them a quick smile. "We do appreciate your approval. Thank you." With that, he turned around, his cloak swishing behind him, and walked off.
"Hagrid, you've got to stay calm," Ron warned, glancing at the other two nervously.
"They're doing this for you," Harry said, looking up at the half- giant.
"Yer right. I can't let me anger get the bes' o' me," Hagrid answered, taking deep breaths and unclenching his hands.
"Guys, it's almost dinner time," Ron alerted, glancing at his wristwatch.
"We should go," Harry agreed. Before they walked off, however, Harry turned to Hagrid and said, in hopes of cheering him up, "It's OK, Hagrid. They'll be gone soon enough, and you'll have your hosue all to yourself. Plus, there won't be any more attacks. That's good, right?"
Hagrid glanced down at his friend and smiled.
"Yer right, Harry. I guess I can bear those things in me house fer a little bit," he replied heavily.
"Glad to hear it," Harry smiled back and followed Ron and Hermione back to their school.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Father, here is the information you requested. I hope that this provide sufficient. Yours sincerely,
Draco.
Draco Malfoy signed his name with a flourish, grinning. Once this information reached his father, Draco wonderered what Lucius would do with it, but whatever it was, Draco hoped that Potter got in trouble. Precious Potter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"They're over! They're over! Took long enough, too!" Ron declared triumphantly as he settled in between Harry and Dean and piled bacon strips onto his plate. "I hope I did OK. Don't want any unnecessary trouble with mum and dad."
"Well, the Dursleys could care less what I have for breakfast, much less anything else," Harry added, rolling his eyes as he served himself some scrambled eggs.
Suddenly, the owls swooped in from every direction, signaling the arrival of mail. Harry quickly searched for his snow-white pet, but when he didn't see her, resumed eating.
"Tha's funny," Ron said through a bacon strip hanging halfway from his mouth.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"I've never seen a letter like this before," he answered, biting the strip in half.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking at the black envelope in Ron's hand. Ron turned it over in his hand, and Harry saw a wax white skeleton seal on the back.
"Well, the envelopes I usually get are white," Ron explained, reaching to open it. He hesitated.
"What are you waiting for? A prize?" Hermione asked, staring at him.
"Well, what if it's something dangerous?" Ron asked skeptically.
"Ron, there are teachers all around," Harry replied.
"Right." Ron nodded, then ripped the envelope open. He pulled out a piece of white parchment and unfolded
it.
"It's from Snape," he answered, his eyes running over the letter.
"What does it say?" Hermione asked, leaning over.
"He wants to see me after breakfast," Ron replied.
"Why?" Harry asked, confused. Ron hadn't smart-mouthed Snape in weeks, a huge achievement for him.
"Maybe because I let some of the Sky Slugs loose after class yesterday," Ron responded sheepishly.
"Ron!" Hermione started, then thought better of it and just rolled her eyes at him.
"What? Gryffindor lost seventy points in one class! I can't stand him! Each day, it gets worse," Ron growled, placing down his letter. Harry glanced up at the Staff table to notice that Snape was not present.
"Well, better get this over with," Ron sighed heavily as he stood up, collecting a piece of buttered toast in his hand. "See you guys in class."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was ten minutes into Divination, and Ron still hadn't returned from his meeting with Snape. Harry sat by himself at one of the small tables, trying to decipher a set of symbols that appeared on his Mystic Mirror, a large rectangular object that flashed different colors as each symbol wrote itself out intricately on the surface. Harry still hadn't figured out its purpose, but it was apparent that Lavender and Parvati had, for they were giggling excitedly as they consulted their textbooks to make sense of the characters on the Mirror.
"Harry," a voice inquired, causing Harry to look up from his textbook, where he was trying to figure out what the sign that looked like an injured cow was, and saw Lavender Brown hovering over him, wringing her hands and shuffling her feet.
"Yeah, Lavender?" Harry asked, staring up at her.
"Have you seen Ron?" she asked.
"No. He's still at his meeting with Snape," Harry answered, frowning.
"Really?" Lavender asked, giving Harry a frown back. "All right. Thanks, Harry." She walked off. Harry was about to glance back down when Professor Trelawney appeared at the front of the musty room.
"All right, my children. Once you are done, please come up to me and I will help you decide what the message will have on your futures." She paused to gasp dramatically.
"What, Professor?" Parvati asked in a hushed voice.
"One of our kin is in grave danger," she whispered, glancing at Harry. Harry's mind went out to Ron for a split second, but jolted right back to Trelawney's glazed stare. Harry knew better than to believe her, the woman who had predicted his demise many times.
"All right," Harry muttered and returned to his textbook to decode the final symbol. He could feel the Divination teacher floating around, examining the students' work.
"Aha!" Harry whispered to himself and he figured out the last symbol. He quickly jotted it down on the parchment beside the Mirror, and then paused to read his decoding:
"A being close to you has been converted."
"What?" Harry asked, utterly confused. His question caused Trelawney to wander over and read the message the Mirror had given him.
"Harry!" she exclaimed, hands flying to her mouth.
"Does the Mirror tell the truth, Professor?" Parvati asked. Harry glanced up to see her behind him, reading over his shoulder. He was starting to get annoyed.
"Always, my dear," Trelawney whispered.
After what seemed to Harry like a very crowded Divination class, he met up with Hermione near the portrait of the
ever-annoying Sir Cadogan by the seventh-floor hallway. Hermione jumped up on her tiptoes and quickly kissed him on the
cheek, causing him to grin.
"Have you talked to Ron?" she asked as they headed down the winding stairs.
"No, he wasn't in class," Harry said, then proceeded to explain the message the Mirror had given him and Trelawney's prediction.
"Its just a coincidence, Harry. All a load of rubbish," Hermione waved it off. Harry agreed, but a small voice in the back of his mind told him differently.
"Potter!" McGonagall's voice resounded behind Harry. The two quickly turned around to see the Transfiguration teacher hurrying towards them.
"Oh, good. Ms. Granger, you're here too. There's something you two need to see," McGonagall told them, hurrying past them. Hermione shot Harry a worried look before they followed the Professor to Snape's office.
Professor McGonagall hurried over to the desk and picked up a blood- red parchment from atop the polished surface. She handed it to Harry, who was joined my Hermione at his shoulder as they read the glaring white letters:
RON IS WITH ME NOW, HARRY. IT WOULD BE WISE FOR YOU TO JOIN, AS THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOUR BEST FRIEND ANYMORE.
Mr. Riddle