A Winter's Tale

A WINTER’S TALE

Chapter 1-What Only Sleep Can Show
It was a cold and snowy morning. Fluffy white snow was thickly flowing down with no hopes of clearing for days. As usual, Hermione was the first one awake. The gloomy weather didn’t seem to dampen her spirits. It was her sixth year at Hogwarts, and she was still always the first one up. No one understood this, seeing as she was always the last person to leave the common room and go to bed.

“Rise and shine, people! Time to wake up and embrace the day!” Hermione said as she leaped out of bed. She wondered if Harry was already up.

Suddenly an object flew from Lavender's side of the room and hit Hermione, leaving her covered in feathers. Realizing that she had wasted her pillow and could not go back to sleep, Lavender got out of bed and headed for the showers.

Parvati mutter something that sounded like a muffled “Stuff it, Hermione,” rolled over, and fell back asleep.

Some time later Hermione emerged from the girls’ dormitories only to stare at a blank stone wall for twenty minutes before deciding to wait in the common room for Harry and Ron. Oh well, she could use some extra time to go over her homework. But she wouldn’t have minded it if Harry had been in the common room already, she admitted to herself. She smiled and blushed slightly at them as they entered.

“Have a nice sleep?” she asked.

“How can I when Ron over here keeps on snoring!” Harry said, teasing his red haired friend.

“Well I’m no better than you, talking in your sleep about—” but before he could finish, Harry gave him a look that could kill and he suddenly became quiet. There was an awkward pause. Hermione just gave them a quizzical look and went to get her bag to go down to breakfast. After all, boys will be boys! In some ways, she was glad that their platonic relationship had become so great. There wasn’t anyone else Hermione would ever be able to entrust her life with than Ron or Harry. She looked out for them, and they cared for her very much in return.

On their way to breakfast, Hermione noticed that Harry was acting a bit odd. In fact, he had been acting a bit odd for a while now. She noticed he was a lot quieter, which was sometimes not a bad thing as he and Ron often poked fun at her about her studying habits. But, she realized, she would rather have had him speak in his soothing voice to her and tease her to death about the ink stains on her robes than not at all. As she was about to pull out her chair to sit down, Harry came up behind her and pulled it out for her.

“Thanks, Harry. You don't exactly find too many gentlemen at Hogwarts.”

Everyone sat down for breakfast as Harry beamed at this comment. Ron looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh, and doing a very poor job at it. “Oh, Harry darling! It would be ever so lovely if you could pass me the toast over there! Thank you, dear!” Harry shot Ron a venomous stare and lobbed a piece of toast right at Ron’s face, which hit him square in between the eyes. Ron slowly picked up a banana lying next to him on the table and began carefully turning it over in his hand with great interest. “You know Harry, you may be the boy who lived... but let’s just hope you’re covered for life!”

No sooner had the banana left Ron’s hand than Hermione shouted “Wingardium Leviosa!” She guided the banana safely back into its basket and put her wand back down. Both boys stared at her. She loved being a spectator in their childish antics, but she loved surprising them even more. Ron made a face at her but soon became concentrating too hard on finding the butter for his toast to worry about that.

Once it seemed that everyone was present, Dumbledore stood up to give a speech. As usual, the hall became quiet, everyone anxious to hear what he had to say. “How nice it is to see you all looking so awake this morning. I would like to inform you all that there will be a Winter Ball taking place in one month. Dress robes are required, and there will be a Hogsmeade trip the weekend before so that you may purchase new ones if you so desire. Well, that is all.”

Hermione’s eyes instantly darted across to Parvati and Lavender, both girls already giggling with excitement at the thought of another ball. She shook her head, didn’t they realize that there were more important things in life? Like, perhaps…that fascinating assignment professor Binns had given them on the Warlock convention of 1438 about how... Okay, so it mighn’t have been the best example, and of course she would love to be asked by someone. But, well, a fairy godmother wasn’t about to come anytime soon, and Cinderella started off pretty and most definitely without untameable bushy hair and a reputation of ‘Hogwarts A History On Legs’, anyway. It looked like the library was going to have another lonely guest that evening. She sighed loudly.

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Ron said with a knowing snicker, “I’m sure Neville would be more than willing to go with you!”

At the mention of his name, Neville quickly turned around, and in the process, knocked down a pitcher of pumpkin juice that spilled down the table. Hermione glanced at him. As nice as he was, and as desperate as she was. didn’t want to believe it. This was the best she could do?

~~~~~~~~~
Later that evening Harry left for quidditch practice, leaving Ron and Hermione alone. “I think Harry’s mad at me, Ron,” Hermione said.

“No, he isn’t.”

“Well how do you know? Has he mentioned it?”

“Well not exactly...”

“Ronald Weasley! What exactly do you mean?” she said, brow furrowing.

“Sorry,” he said with a sigh, “I don’t think I can tell you.”

Hermione threw her arms into the air and headed towards her dormitory. Since when had her two best friends in the whole world kept secrets from her? This was blasphemy! Ok, well, there was that one time with the time-turner in the third year... ok, bad example, this wasn’t the point she was trying to convey here. They were the ones in the wrong! Leaving her out of things, next thing she knew, Hermione would be forced to hang out with Parvati and Lavender (which was pointless, shallow, and killed more brain cells than banging your head against the wall for an hour). Of all things, they—

"Wait!" Ron shouted at her, "You have to solemnly swear you will not tell anyone, at all. Got it? On your mother's grave, on Hogwarts: A History, on er…I don't know.

"I get the point," she said, losing patience.

"I can see that you've noticed that Harry has been acting… a little odd. Well, you see he likes someone and he's been having trouble because he doesn't think that she thinks of him in that way, or ever could for that matter."

“Who is it?!?!” she asked anxiously.

“Hermione, for all the brains you have, I'm surprised at you! Haven't you realized it? Harry Potter has loved you ever since our third year!”

~~~~~~~
It was so weird. Why didn’t she think of it before? He had been acting strange. Well, that was why. Hermione looked at the red, velvet covering of her four-poster bed. It was almost black in the dark. What Ron had said surprised her though, she did think of him in that way. At least she was consoled with the knowledge that she didn’t act like a love struck fool around Harry.

Wow, the famous Harry Potter liked her. Her, not anybody else in Hogwarts. He really was handsome. He had really grown into his small body last year, which Hermione had taken notice of long before now. Those green eyes. How they always glittered for her. She hadn’t really realized what a great friend he was to her. She couldn't think of a time where he had not come through or been there to help wipe away her tears.

Getting up, she put a charm on herself to make her invisible. She had picked it up in an advanced book McGonagall had given her. She walked out carefully and down the hall to Harry’s room. At once she was greeted by Ron’s snores; Harry was right, they were awful. She soon herd another sound, only it was someone talking, it was Harry. Forgetting she was invisible, Hermione dashed back to the corners, hoping that Harry and whoever he was talking to had not heard her come in. She soon realized that he was talking in his sleep, which was confirmed when she remembered what Ron had told her previously of Harry’s nighttime issues. Hermione crept to his bedside.

“Mmmm... Hermione? Her...hermione...yes? Love...love you ...ione.....”

She wished that he would open his eyes so that she might look into those deep emeralds, but then, she realized, she would not be able to hear his sweet voice. Oh and how that voice made her melt. She decided she would kiss him and see if he woke up. She leaned over and was just about to kiss him when Hermione felt him stir underneath her. He slowly opened his eyes, but could not gaze into her invisible eyes, how she longed for this. Harry sat up and looked around the room and got out of bed. Hermione quietly but quickly rushed to the door and squeezed out through the crack she had left in the doorway. She climbed back into bed, undid the spell, and closed her eyes.

A minute later, Harry walked into the room and knelt by Hermione’s bedside. She kept her eyes open just slightly so that she could see, but he’d still think she was asleep. He rested his head on her pillow and gently stroked the ends of her hair.

“Why can’t I have you?” he whispered in her ear.

But you already do, she thought.