Knight in Shining Armor

Hermione Granger lied in the comfort of her cozy and warm four-poster bed, completely worn out. After several strenuous N.E.W.T. classes, relentless hours of homework and absorbing innumerable facts and ideas, and prefect duties, it was pure bliss to just lie down...her momentous thoughts slowly but surely evacuating her over-stuffed head.

Not to mention as a distracting and draining worry, distressing anxiously about Harry. His return from his weekly laborious Occlumency class was anything but relieving. It was more like hoarding more unpleasant thoughts and suspicions into her already brimming-with-uneasiness mind.

How good it felt to just lay here, sprawled like an eagle, her muscles aching from carrying around half a library on her back, and her mind consistently pondering, worrying, studying, reading, worrying, writing, arguing...Did I mention worrying? Her head pounded with apprehension, lethargy, and the stress of not being able to take a break until now...

Annoyingly high-pitched girlish giggles and several hyper squeals penetrated her over-wrought and exhausted musings.

"Can't you imagine it? It would be so wonderful," Lavender pondered, her voice soft and contented.

"A long, white, sparkling dress...and it blows through the wind all around you," Parvati said, with the same dreamy voice. Yet, it was a quite different tone from the ones that either of them adopted while discussing Divination. No, this was much different. It was wishful, whimsical, and chimerical.

"Your hair looked like it was decorated with glitter," Lavender added.

Both girls sighed with longing, but Hermione was too tired to care. "Can't you two cut this senseless and nerve-racking gibberish out for one night? I can't stand it anymore!" Hermione shouted, venting the remainder of her frustration and stress in one final burst.

Neither Parvati nor Lavender responded. Hermione was taken back by this. Usually one of them would have snapped back at her reflexively. She waited for a several seconds, deliberating whether they were delaying their reaction for a more dramatic effect, as was usual for them, or whispering angrily.

But still, nothing happened.

Puzzled, Hermione whipped open her curtains, and gazed at Parvati's bed, to the right of hers. Lavender and Parvati were just lying there, eyes open and small, fanciful grins playing on their faces.

Hermione's stomach gave a tiny flip. This was not normal. Was something wrong? Their previous conversation did not provide any hints that would have helped Hermione out. She bit her lip, and tip-toed towards the idle pair.

She stared into Lavender's eyes, slightly worried. The girl's blank hazel eyes suddenly focused on Hermione, and she said, "Who is it for you, Hermione?"

Taken aback by shock, she backed away towards her bed, almost tripping over her book bag.

"Wha-what happ--"

"Lay down, Hermione," Parvati asked dreamily.

"I--"

"We're not possessed or anything!" Lavender announced semi-reassuringly. Eyeing them suspiciously, and not completely convinced, Hermione look a seat next to Lavender.

"So. Who is it for you, Hermione?" Lavender repeated, and she seemed like she was coming back to earth a bit.

"Who is what?"

"Oh, Lavender, you are so think sometimes! We all know who it is for Hermione. Everyone within a 10-mile radius does. I mean, that is how loud they get when they flirt," Parvati said matter-of-factly, glancing at Hermione with an almost longing expression.

"I have no idea what you two space-cadets are blabbing about."

Lavender sighed. "We are talking about our knights in shining armor," she replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Hermione stared at them with some highly-amused skepticism, and forced back, with some skill, an enormous laugh.

"Your what?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes.

"Our knights in shining armor! Oh, you know. The handsome, strong and charming knight that gallops towards us, sweeps us off our feet, and carries us away on his horse to his castle, to live happily ever after," Parvati said, with that bemused expression washing over her face again.

"Are you sure that three people, or however many people you are planning to take with you will fit on this horse, along with all of your Divination junk?" she retorted wittily.

They both uncharacteristically ignored this comment, which surprised Hermione quite a lot. "Wow. You two must really be into this whole knight in shining armor thing, then, huh?"

"It's Seamus for me," Lavender announced, gazing intensely at the molecules that passed her by. She sighed peacefully.

"Hmm. Terry Boot," Parvati whispered, grinning uncontrollably.

"C'mon Hermione! Don't you even think of telling me that you have never dreamt about it, or wondered about it," Lavender chided sardonically.

"It is okay, you can admit it. We know you have." Parvati was still grinning, but more mischievously this time.

Hermione's stomach jumped anxiously. Okay, maybe she had thought about, a little. All right, all right, a lot. When she was very young, back in the 'I want to be a princess when I grow up' phase of her life that she would have rather failed all of her classes for the rest of her life then admit she had experienced, she used to picture the scene in her head, over and over and over...

A tad too late, Hermione realized that she had been daydreaming for quite a while. She recomposed her cynical manner, but Parvati was wearing an all-too-familiar 'I told you so' expression.

"I have not," she lied, horribly as usual. After all these years of deception and sneakiness she had experienced with Ron and Harry, she still never had gotten the hang of lying.

"Yes, you have," Lavender sang melodiously.

Annoyed, Hermione replied, rather childishly, "Have not."

"Have too," Parvati interjected, joining the argument rather enthusiastically.

"Have not."

"Have too," the pair sand confidently.

"Have NOT!" Hermione shouted, temper rising climactically.

"Have TOO!"

"Have not have not have not!"

"Have too have too have too!"

"Have not have not have not!"

"Have too have too have too!" interrupted someone from the doorway. "Now, what are we arguing about?" she asked teasingly. Hermione immediately recognized the voice, and smiled reluctantly.

"What is this? Prefect Hermione throwing a tantrum? You are not setting a good example for the other girls in your year! I am very surprised at you," Ginny taunted devilishly as she sauntered towards the trio, smiling like a maniac.

Nowhere near empty of emotion, Hermione snapped back at Ginny. "Oh, be quiet! You aren't the greatest example of prefect either, the way you and Harry sneak around at night!"

Ginny's eyes flared, but she, unlike another close red-haired friend of Hermione's, knew when someone was in a bad mood, and that it was best to let them be. "I think it would be a good idea to get to bed, Hermione," she firmly advised, yet slightly angry about revealing her nighttime rendezvous with Harry to the biggest gossips of Hogwarts.

Hermione stomped huffily towards her four-poster and leaped onto it without taking her robes off. She noticed Parvati, Lavender, and Ginny eye her closely through the coverings surrounding her, and yanked them closed.

Heart beating loudly, she heard Ginny mumble something and exit the dormitory. Lavender and Parvati must have gotten into their beds, and called it a night as well.

Now she was back to being angry and frustrated again. At least, she felt slightly mollified.

She settled down as she tried to fall asleep. Her mind dwelled on one thing though- her past fantasies of knights in shining armor. She remembered exactly how they went...but Hermione remembered dully, none of her knights ever had a face. She could never decide on who it would be. No one ever fit it just right.

She closed her eyes and reminisced bittersweetly. Hermione finally drifted off, and she soon fell asleep.

But the night's surprises didn't end there.

She was waiting. Waiting for what seemed like eternity. She was decked in a long, billowy dress, the most beautiful dress that Hermione could have imagined. When she would wake up, she wouldn't remember exactly how it looked.

A cool breeze ruffled through her hair. She was waiting at old medieval path, at a fork in the road. She wasn't sure which one to take. One would cause her unfathomable happiness, or unbearable heartbreak. That would be the toughest road--forcing her to push the limits of her strength, persistence, and her love--where there was only one choice for her to make. A giant life-altering risk, it would be. She would either love and be loved, or be alone, and crushed. One that would decide and touch every particle of her life. And many more lives than she even knew.

Then there was the other. If this was the road she chose to follow, she would eventually be happy. One the first road, this was not a guarantee. She would be happy down this road, and probably satisfied, and settled. But, she would always wonder, what would happen if she had chosen the first?

Which will she choose?

She ponders and ponders, while time passes. She comes to a decision.

She sighed uncertainly, but before she can take a step, a soft rumble sounded from a distance. The rumble distinguished itself into a soft gallop. She looked back at the source of the noise, and the ground on which she stood began to tremble.

It was him! It was him upon that horse, coming for her. How long she had waited, unsure about his feelings, unsure whether he loved her, as she loved him. And she couldn't say anything to him; it would crumble the world that she had grown to cherish more than anything she could imagine.

Her knight had finally reached her! The shining armor that he wore gleamed with brilliance and glory. Excited butterflies had found their way into her stomach, and she kept wishing he was going just a little faster, because just a little faster, and he would reach her just a bit sooner.

Her Knight in Shining Armor swept her off her feet--literally. He sat her in front of him, where his arms would be around her at all times, and would always keep her safe and content.

She hummed a melody from her childhood. A song of dreams, love and hope.

The pair reached the castle, a place of not necessarily happiness and an easy life, but a place where love and care would always called home.

He dismounted his horse, and carried her in his arms.

"I have always loved you, Hermione," he said. She recognized that voice. She knew it very well. But, she couldn't place it.

Her hands, trembling with joy and relief, she went to lift the helmet off his head, so she could see him properly. She couldn't wait! The moment she had been yearning for since she first learned of this momentous feeling called love. It seemed like forever. And now, she was going to look him in the eye for the first time as more then a friend...

Hermione Granger sat up bluntly. Her head spun with the speed and hastiness of which she had awoken.

After she had calmed down, and was able to think straight, she remembered her incredible dream.

Dreams had become a regular event--two, three, four times a night her mind would venture into the unknown, seeing her friends, which were her life, be killed; being ruthlessly hunted; cornered and only inches from the end of her life; the most frightening scenarios relived countless times, each more horrendous than the last.

But this was different from the recurring nightmares that haunted her; she knew the ending in those. In this dream, though, she didn't. Who was he?

Hermione rubbed her temples furiously. The story sounded so familiar to her, as familiar as any fairy tale from her childhood. She knew the whole story, but the details were floating away before she could recapture, keep, and remember them.

Hermione remembered that she had recognized the voice, but she couldn't recall what it sounded like. And she just couldn't place it. It was embarrassing actually, she thought that it was someone very close to her.

"Forget it!" Hermione mumbled tiredly, and plopped back down, and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Hermione hummed merrily and dazedly. The tune was very familiar, but, again, she couldn't place it. She had been unconsciously humming it since she woke up.

"Hermione, are you all right?" Ron asked concernedly, later that morning, while the trio reluctantly trudged to the dungeons for Potions.

"Hmm?" Hermione replied. Daydreaming had always been a rarity for her.

"Are you all right?" Ron repeated firmly.

"Course! I'm fine, why?"

He surveyed her wearily, not sure whether to believe her or not.

"Well, you have been distracted all day long. I know McGonagall noticed it," Harry said, the same concern in his voice.

"I think it was the fact that it only took you two tries to Conjure a rocking chair that got her, one attempt more than the usual, well, one," Ron smirked, in the same tone Ginny had adopted last night. Those Weasleys.

Harry chuckled, and Hermione sighed amusedly. "Ha ha ha. I just had a weird dream last night, and I have been doing a lot of thinking about it, that's all," Hermione said casually.

"Just a dream?" Harry asked.

"Just a dream," she reassured, both her friends and herself.

* * *

Later that night, Hermione dreamt of her knight again. She adored these dreams; the concept was so lovely and enjoyable!

For an entire week, along with bright lights, screams, fear and loneliness, a galloping knight in shining armor visited her during the night and swept away her nightmares. But that agonizing fact still remained: Who was he?

Her dreams became more vivid and real. Every moment was deeper and more authentic then the next. As they progressed, and she grew closer and closer to unveiling her masked hero. Hermione became extremely frustrated with the mystery of his true identity. She no longer woke up as abruptly, but just sighed and fell back asleep, barely awake in the first place.

And that song! At every spare moment where she had begun to sink into her fanciful reverie, the catchy melody had escaped her. Several embarrassing times, the words had voiced themselves. "Someday my prince will come..." Hermione had sung below her breath, causing Ron to stare at her worriedly, as if concerned for her sanity. She shook the humiliating moment from her mind. And concentrated on her work.

"The Conjuring...of...Animals...is difficult...because..." Hermione mumbled tiredly, dictating to herself as she wrote her Transfiguration essay. It wasn't due for another week, but Hermione, being as punctual and hard-working as she is, wanted to get it out of the way. As she scribbled away, the last of the common room's stragglers made it up into their dormitories.

Since Ron and Harry had a very important Quidditch match the next day (Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, so a win is mandatory), they needed their sleep as well, and had abandoned her several hours before. But she really didn't mind. Hermione had never developed a fervent passion for the sport as her closest friends, and the entirety of the school, had. The again, she wouldn't be able to face Malfoy and his demented cronies for a month if Gryffindor were to lose, so she had no problems with Ron and Harry going to be early. Ron had urged her to call it quits, reminding her that she had a whole week, and she that she didn't want to be tired for the match tomorrow, and she wouldn't want to miss a split-second of it, but she ignored this as usual, and probably preached her traditional sermon.

A yawn cleverly escaped her mouth, and Hermione guiltily debated whether to hit the sack herself. But the school-work obsessed and bossy part of her brain scolded her, so she continued her essay.

Hermione's eyes closed, and it took her several impaired seconds to realize why it was so dark. Her head was nodding towards her parchment, and soon enough, it slipped from her grip and floated to the ground. The desire to sleep had finally won.

She was waiting again. I hope he comes, she thought desperately. A moving black figure approached over the brim of the hill, galloping towards her at full speed. He took her in his arms and they flew towards the castle.

Every miniscule detail and particle of this dream was identical to the one the night before. And the night before. And the night before.

Except, it seemed that there was an extra noise in the background. A steady thump thump thump.

Even though she was very surprised at this sudden addition, she ignored it and pursued dreaming her dream, wishing for her knight to finally reveal himself.

Disappointedly, Hermione felt herself preparing to wake. The background sound had changed, and had become a soft murmuring, and she felt a gentle prod on her shoulder. But, again, she ignored it; he was about to take off his helmet!

"I have always loved you, Hermione," he confessed tenderly. After that, he started whispering her name. It was his voice, but his mouth wasn't moving.

"Hermione...Hermione...Hermione..."

The cheerful and bright castle surroundings faded away, but the whispering continued.

Hermione opened her eyes, and found herself nose-to-nose with Ron. He was the one who was whispering her name, in that soft, gentle, and tender manner.

"Ron?"

"Wow, you are finally awake! Some night you must have had," he said, sporting his charming lopsided smile.

Slightly dazed and confused, she responded immediately. "Oh, he was so wonderful! So charming, and sweet, and so adorable..." Hermione grimaced aggravatedly. She couldn't believe she had said those words aloud. Especially to Ron. She could just imagine him rolling his eyes, scowling, and exhorting some stupid remarks in that sarcastic and jealous voice of his...

Something snapped in Hermione's brain. His voice. His voice. She had just heard it, in her dream. It was him. It was Ron!

"What are you talking about, Hermione?" he asked, his tone concerned and worried.

She was speechless. Her mouth moved soundlessly and her hand covered her mouth.

"All this time, Ron, it was you!" she exclaimed in awe.

"Wh--"

But he was temporarily cut off. Entirely because it is very hard to talk when someone is kissing you. Especially when you are taken by surprise. But, he got accustomed to it soon enough. And, he didn't feel what he had to say was important enough to interrupt her. He didn't want to either.

Hermione stopped.

"I guess Parvati and Lavender were right about something, for once," Hermione admitted.

"Yeah, what was that?"

"You are my knight in shining armor."

Ron was pleasantly taken aback by this. "Well then, Harry was right as well."

"About..."

"You. You are my...princess in the tower. You know, the damsel in distress I supposedly save and become her hero," he admitted as his ears reddened, "You can count on Harry to say something like that. I yelled at him for it, knowing that you would hex into complete oblivion anyone who called you that."

She smiled, tickled pink. "Actually, I don't really mind."

"Good."

And with that, he carried her off.