Lightning Brings out the Best in Me

Lightning Brings Out The Best in Me

Hermione sat on the floor in the Common Room doing her homework. She scanned the room; she appeared to be the last one up. It was stormy and pouring outside. She hoped Harry and Ron made it in okay from Quidditch practice; it was looking worse and worse by the second. She was finishing up on her Potions homework, having already completed her Astronomy and Muggle Studies homework with ease.

She really hated Snape right now, he had assigned a twenty-four inch essay on the different ways that were tested previously to make the Wolfsbane potion; and that had failed. She had already come up with the first nineteen processes and couldn't think of the last six of them. She scanned the last page that made reference to the potion, but couldn't find anything about it. She slammed her book shut and stared at her essay, as if it might start writing itself. Harry walked into the room covered with mud and carrying his Firebolt. Harry came over and sat next to her on the floor with a broad grin on his face from her actions.

"Snape getting to you, Hermione?" he said.

"Oh, there you are, Harry! I'm so glad you made it in all right! I just can't seem to find the information on the last six incorrect potions that were tried for Wolfsbane. Oh well, I'll finish it later. So how was Quidditch?"

"Oh, well it wasn't too bad...we quit because Ron was being a prat to all of the team and it was really hard to see anyways. I even used your Impervius charm! By the way, don't worry about that homework, I got stumped on those too." She smiled.

"Well, where is Ron? I haven't seen him storming up here to blame me for his problems recently," she joked.

"He's probably moping around in the showers. I left as quickly as I could. I didn't want to make it worse," he said.

"Well, at least you guys are alright. I was getting worried when I saw this huge flash of lightni...."

CRASHHHH!!! BOOM!!!!! Lightning flashed and thunder crashed outside while also illuminating the dim room. Hermione clung to Harry, not caring about the mud getting smothered all over her robes. She unconsciously clutched her left arm.

"Oh my Merlin...look at that lightning!"

Harry put an arm around her and rubbed his hand in soothing circles on her back to try to calm her down. He knew she didn't care much for storm, especially after last summer.

***FLASHBACK***

Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat at the kitchen table at Grimmauld Place, all sitting in a blank stupor. They stared off in random directions: Harry staring at a mark on the table, Hermione looking at her clasped hands, and Ron kept randomly glancing at a plate of food sitting in front of him. They heard a constant sound of rain and distant thunder outside, along with heavy winds rattling the windows.

Ron finally broke the silence by saying, "Is anyone hungry? I am starving!"

Hermione looked up from her hands and glared daggers at him. Harry continued to stare at the same spot on the table's surface, but his face grew stonier.

"Ronald, we are supposed to be brainstorming different places of where the Horcruxes might be hidden! How can you be thinking of your stomach at a time like this!" Hermione growled.

"Herms, how can I think at a time like this? I might die if I have to wait another second to eat that food!" he retorted.

She turned a shade of scarlet and lowered her voice.

"You might also die if we don't find all of the Horcruxes! Did you ever think of that Ron? Did you ever think of Harry? He needs our help and all you can think about is your stomach!"

Ron bit back whatever he was about to say and looked ashamed.

"Sorry guys. I just really need something to eat, I can't think like this. I need to go get something to eat. This food is cold, so I'll step out and get something. I'll be right back," he rambled in a quiet voice.

Hermione returned to looking at her hands and contemplating every aspect of Voldemort's history. She listened to Ron walk through the sitting room to the front door. She heard the doorknob turn slightly, and then Harry spoke in a nervous tone.

"Oh, God, Hermione, wait! RON DON'T GO!!!"

But, Ron had already turned the doorknob and opened the door.

Hermione instantly remembered that they couldn't go outside. Death Eaters were out there watching the house! How could she forget? Both her and Harry jumped up from their spots at the table together, withdrew their wands, and ran towards the door.

As they did, the whole house shook from thunder as the storm finally hit them. They heard a crack of lightning extremely too close for their liking. A tree snapped outside the house and started to fall with a long, drawn out crack. Hermione instinctively grabbed Harry's hand, as they got closer to the door.

"STUPEFY!" a Death Eater shouted.

At the same moment, the tree hit the electric line outside the house. The few amount of lights that lit the dim house instantly darkened. Hermione clung to Harry and shivered slightly from the cold air that rushed past.

"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted together.

They approached the door and ran through cautiously. Ron was lying on the wet doorstep; he had clearly been hit by the curse. Harry grabbed Ron's feet and gave Hermione a look to indicate she was to grab his arms. Spells were being fired left and right; Hermione saw some green jets of light barely graze Harry's head. They heaved Ron into the house and went to shut the door as quickly as possible. But, a Death Eater had made its way inside the dark house and shut the door.

It was pitch black and Hermione clung to Harry's arm even tighter. They were as quiet as possible, barely breathing, listening for any sound of movement. Then, they heard the Death Eater start to whisper a curse that they scarcely heard.

Harry pointed his wand in the direction of the sound and yelled, "STUPEFY!" at the top of his lungs.

His curse rebounded off of a mirror hanging near the stairs behind the Death Eater and headed straight for Hermione. She froze and couldn't move as the red jet of light came closer and closer. She felt something collide with her side and her feet left the ground. To her, it was as if everything was in slow motion, until she hit floor with Harry on top of her. A pain spread throughout her left arm as she realized that Harry had knocked her out of the way of the spell.

Hermione turned on her back the best she could without moving her arm and focused as hard as she could on lighting up the room. She thought 'Lumos' in her mind so she could perform the charm nonverbally.

The room was instantly illuminated from the light being issued from her wand, and she saw the Death Eater crouching over by the kitchen door. The Death Eater fired a spell in their direction and started making his was toward the stairs.

Harry shouted, "Stupefy!" again and this time it struck the Death Eater straight in the chest, causing it to crumple to the floor.

Harry stared at it for a moment before turning back over to look at Hermione, as he was still on top of her.

"Is your arm okay?" he asked her breathlessly.

She could only nod, due to the fact she was still slightly winded because they had almost been killed and Harry was still laying on top of her. He was still looking down at her with an odd expression on his face. As he started to realize their awkward position, a blush rose to his cheeks. He rolled off of her and stood up, then holding out a hand to her; she took it and stood up. They stared into each other's eyes, never breaking eye contact. They did this with such intensity that it seemed they were trying to read the others mind.

Harry looked away first and nervously stuttered, "Erm...I...let's check on Ron."

Hermione just nodded, because once again she was rendered speechless. They both turned and went to examine Ron's condition.

***END FLASHBACK***

"It's alright Hermione. Everyone is inside...nothing's going to happen," Harry said.

"I know Harry, I just don't really like thunder, and I can never sleep with it making noise outside."

"Well, I am sure that it will die down soon. Listen, how about I go and take a quick shower and come back down. We can do our homework together if you like? It might take your mind off the storm," Harry offered.

"That would be great Harry! I should probably take one too; I have mud all over me now, thanks to you," she giggled.

"Alright then. I will see you shortly then." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and disappeared off to his room.

Hermione sat there, stunned. Harry had never kissed her before. She sat there thinking for a moment, her eyes still staring at the foot of the stairs to the boy's dormitory. She suddenly stood up and walked briskly towards her dormitory. She went up the stairs two at a time. As she went, she thought with a smirk:

"There may be other things to distract me from the storm tonight."

THE END!!!!!!