Waking Up

Waking Up

Summary:
What starts off as a simple party spins out of control when Harry wakes up and everyone he partied with is gone. Of course his most loyal friend is there to help him out.

Disclaimer:
I don't own anything related to Harry Potter. He sadly belongs to the amazing J.K Rowling.

Rating:

NC-17 (Nothing in the story that makes this rating accurate yet, but I plan otherwise *cackle*)

“People choose the paths that grant them the greatest rewards for the least amount of effort.”

- Gregory House

Harry's head was throbbing. That was probably the biggest understatement of the year. He groaned and pressed a hand to his forehead. It felt like someone had pounded it repeatedly with a tree. Trying to ignore the pain, he rose and looked around for his glasses. He couldn't see jack shit without them after all.

“Here,” someone said. Someone female said. He felt this unknown female press his glasses into his chest. After putting them on he saw his friend Hermione Granger looking sternly at him.

“What?” He said.

“You know how worried I've been?” She said, crossing her arms across her chest and pouting. How very Hermione like.

“Jeez, Hermione, it's not like I went after Death Eaters or something.” He shut his eyes and put his hand back to his head. Didn't help really, but he did it anyway.

“Oh, Harry. Let me help you with that.” He heard her leave the room. Leave it to Hermione to know the cure for hangovers. She was probably getting her wand to cast some mumbo-jumbo-Latin-influenced spell to get all the alcohol out of his system. Yeah.... Leave it to Hermione to do that.

When she came back, she didn't have her wand. Instead she had a tray with.....

“Bacon, eggs and a glass of water.”

“Hermione,” Harry said, “I'd love to have breakfast and all. But right now my head's about to explode so....”

She sighed. “Just eat the food, Harry. I'm giving it to you for a reason.” He must've had a confused look on his face because she continued.. “Eating simple foods like eggs and toast, which all contain cysteine, has been proven to lower the effects of hangovers.”

“Oh Hermione....” He moaned, he was not in the mood for science crap. “Can't you just cast a spell and make it go away?”

“Not everything can just go away, Harry. Surely you know that by now.”

“Yeah, yeah....” He sat up and his best female friend placed the tray gingerly on his lap. And then Harry ate and he was surprised by how hungry he was. Once he started he couldn't stop. The rich, greasy, taste of the bacon replaced the fire whiskey aftertaste in his throat. Hermione just watched silently.

When he was done he sighed and leaned back. “What would I do without you?”

“Probably die of scurvy rescuing some stupid girl from some maniacal death eater.” Hermione said, taking the tray away and leaving.

She seems bitter, he thought to himself. He tried to think of what he did to make her mad but the whole last night was a blur. He remembered being with Ginny and the twins, playing some stupid muggle card game with wizards and jesters. And then Ron arrived and brought the drinks.

Why were they all together anyway? What day was it anyway? And where the hell was his wand?

He leaped out of bed and started looking under blankets. Next to his broomstick, his wand was undoubtedly his most precious possession. He looked in his pockets, or he would've if he were wearing pants. Good lord what happened last night?

Okay another question to add to the growing list: Where were Harry Potter's pants?

“What're you looking for?” Hermione had come back and she looked completely unfazed at Harry's pantless situation.

“Uh...” Of course she was dressed completely appropriately. Not a wrinkle anywhere on her cotton sweater or her jeans. “A number of things.”

“Well,” she said raising her wand and flicking it resolutely. “Let's start with some clothes.”

Off a nearby chair came some jeans and a clean t-shirt. “Thanks,” He said and started to change, visibly uncomfortable with Hermione staring at him.

She didn't really care though. “So what do you remember from last night?”

“Uh... Not much really. Just that Fred and George were having a party and Ron brought a bunch of drinks.”

“Fire whiskey, I know. I saw the bottles.”

“Um ... yeah.”

“Anything else?”

“Nope,” He was fully changed, and the headache was gone. He sat on the bed and Hermione sat down beside him. “So where's everyone?”

She didn't answer for a long time. Harry was about to repeat himself when she said, “I was hoping you could tell me. Nobody's here.”

“Except me,” he said.

“Except you,” she repeated.

“No note?”

“Nope,”

He thought for a moment. “Wait Hermione....” She turned her head and her eyebrows rose. “Why weren't you here yesterday?”

“I told you, Harry. I had a job interview.”

“Oh, right.... How'd it go?”

“Lousy, but that's not the point. Do you know what day it is?”

“Uh not really....”

“It's August 1^st.”

“Really...?” he thought for a moment. “Oh shit. My birthday....”

“Was yesterday, yes.”

“OH SHIT!” He leaped out of bed and ran a hand through his messy hair.

“What?”

“I - I saw something!”

She looked at him, her face blank. She was waiting for him to continue.

“We were just talking, and then Ron pulls out this ... book I think. He said that he found it while he was getting the drinks.”

“Really?” Hermione said surprised. “I thought Ron would just ignore a book.”

“Yeah well, there's something weird about this one.” Harry walked over to the window and peered out. From this view he could tell that he was at Grimmauld Place; his new home after the war or was it always his home away from Hogwarts? Too many questions, too much fire whiskey. “I think it drew Ron in or something.”

“That's an accomplishment.”

“Hermione!” Harry yelled, surprising himself. Still, Hermione's bitterness was frustrating him. “What's your problem?”

She looked at him, slightly shaken by his shouting. “Nothing - I think you're the one who's got the problem.” Harry was about the shout back, but she cut him off. “Tell me about this ... book.”

“It might be downstairs still!”

The dining room was a complete mess to say the least. And after turning tables and looking under multiple broken plates and glasses they didn't find any book.

“This is weird....”

“What did it look like?” Hermione asked.

“It was big... Like Hogwarts a History big. And it had this weird crescent moon thing on the cover.”

Hermione thought for a moment. If anyone should know a book, it should've been her. “Nope, doesn't sound familiar.”

They thought silently for a moment. Pacing around the cluttered mess that was once a civilized, no-Muggle-would-ever-show-their-face-there, dining room.

Hermione gasped suddenly. “Harry, where's Kreacher?”

“God I didn't even think of him. KREACHER?!” He called out and obediently there was a loud CRACK and he appeared in front of them.

“Yes, master?” He said, his voice dripping with slimy hatred.

“Have you seen a book... a big book. With a moon on the cover?”

“Kreacher has seen such a book, but that was yesterday when master had his.... his meeting.”

“Where did you see it last, Kreacher?” Hermione asked with a lot less hostility then either Harry and Kreacher had put forth.

“Not here, it was up, up, up.” He pointed a crooked finger up at the ceiling and then cackled and disappeared with another resounding CRACK.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair again. “I hate that creature. I hate him so much.”

He was prepared for another house-elf speech, but Hermione ignored his last comment. She was heading upstairs.

Harry followed her as she walked into the family tree room. Harry hadn't stepped into the room in so long.... it reminded him too much of Sirius.

“Is this it?” She pointed to the floor and there it was. It was exactly as Harry had remembered it; large, more a tome then a book, dusty brown with a bright blue cover. On the cover were two shiny white crescent moons interlocking. Like a yin-yang kind of thing, or the Pisces symbol.

He nodded and Hermione bent down to the floor to open it.

A/N

Is that a cliff hanger or what? Bwa hahahaha!

Thanks for reading! And Pppppplllllleeeeeaaaaassssseeee review!

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