The Angst of Hermione Granger

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Chapter 4: Surprises and a Quest

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When they arrived back at the Gryffindor Common Room, Ron was there.

"Hey guys," he said. Hermione just glared.

"Herm, I've got a couple things to do, so can you stay here and help Ron with his homework?" asked Harry. Hermione nodded.

Harry headed off to Professor McGonagall's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Harry went in, and McGonagall looked up. "Hello, Potter. How is Miss Granger? I heard about her... situation."

"Actually, Professor, she's the reason I wanted to see you."

"Oh. Why is that?"

"I'm on a mission to cheer her up, and I thought some flowers would be nice. But I wanted to get permission from you to cut some flowers out of the gardens."

"Is that it? Well Potter, I suppose you may have my permission, after all, Miss Granger is my favourite student, and I greatly appreciate any effort whatsoever to cheer her up. Tell me, are there any particular flowers you would like?"

"Actually, yes. Yellow roses, white lilies, and a purple flower of some sort."

"I know for a fact that the roses are blooming. Professor Sprout might have some lilies in Greenhouse One, and you can ask her about the purple flower as well." McGonagall quickly wrote something on a piece of parchment, and then handed it to Harry. "Take this to Professor Sprout. She'll help you."

"Thank you very much, Professor."

"And do come back and show me the finished arrangement, if you would."

"Of course Professor."

Harry headed to Greenhouse One and found Professor Sprout pruning some pine trees.

"Hello, Potter. What do you need?"

"Some yellow roses, white lilies, and a purple flower of some sort. They're for a bouquet for Hermione."

"For Granger, is it? Well, all right. Follow me."

She picked up a pair of clippers and led him to some pretty purple flowers next to some ferns. She clipped a couple of ferns before turning to Harry. "These are alyssum. Do you like these?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, they're pretty." Of course, he had absolutely no knowledge of flowers, except that a bouquet contained several types of flowers and he knew of some flowers that Uncle Vernon always got Aunt Petunia on special holidays.

She clipped four sprigs of the alyssum before heading over to the lilies. She cut six of these and laid both these and the alyssum in Harry's arms before heading outside to the roses.

Of these, Sprout clipped eight, and then carried them back to the greenhouse, Harry following behind.

Sprout began to make the bouquet. She placed a rose in the centre, and then placed two sprigs of alyssum on opposite sides of the rose. Then she put in lilies caddy-corner t the sprigs, and placed sprigs outside the lilies. She filled in the rest randomly. When she was done, she stuck in the ferns.

"What do you think, Potter?" she asked, turning and showing him the bouquet.

"It's lovely. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, Potter. Please give Miss Granger my sympathy."

"Sure," Harry said, taking the bouquet and leaving.

He stopped at Professor McGonagall's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in. Ah, Mr. Pot - oh, my, that's lovely, don't you think, Remus?"

Remus Lupin sat on one of the desks, grinning from ear to ear, although his eyes still held a sadness that would never go away.

"I was just telling him about the incident. Remus, do you need to tell him anything?"

"Follow your heart, Harry. Never give up what you believe in, be who you want to be, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again; all that junk."

Harry grinned. "How's Tonks?" Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin was Remus' wife of a year and a half, and they were expecting a child to be born sometime in late summer.

"Good, good. Still hurling." They chuckled. "How's Hermione?"

Harry looked down at his watch. "She's feeling angry with me right now, because I left her with Ron, who's most likely missing obvious points in his homework." He grinned. "Poor Herm. I should probably get back to her." He turned to McGonagall. "Can I get a box for these flowers?"

"Certainly, and I'll put an Everlasting Charm on them as well." She did so, before conjuring up a box. This she handed to him, along with a sheet of parchment. "Could you tack that up on the announcement board in the Common Room for me?"

"Okay," Harry replied, taking the parchment and box. He then left. When he arrived in the Common Room, he found Hermione sitting cross-legged in an armchair, blatantly ignoring Ron, who sat at the table nearest her, puzzling over his Potions homework.

He went over to the notice board and tacked up the sheet of parchment, reading it as he did so.

5^th, 6^th, and 7^th Year Dance

Harry grinned, for he knew whom he would ask. He headed to his - their room, laid the box on her bed, and opened it.

He grabbed a piece of parchment, quill, and ink, and scribbled a quick note to her. This he placed in the box.

After doing this, he picked up all the trash in the room, dug under his bed, and conjured up a few pillows in the corner to give her a little bit of a personal space. He would ask her if she wanted a curtain later.

He glanced at the clock. He still had a little time before dinner, so he went into the bathroom and cleaned up in there. Once he was finished, it was time for dinner.

He went into the Common Room to find Ron halfway through his Divination homework, and Hermione finishing up some Ancient Runes homework.

"Hey guys," Harry said brightly. "It's time for dinner."

"Can I just stay here?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Hermione, you're Head Girl. You need to be down there," replied Ron.

"Someone will have to stay up here with you," Harry added.

She sighed and mumbled, "Fine."

"Besides, I have a surprise for you after dinner."

She perked up. "What?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be surprise, would it? Now, come on." He put an arm around her shoulders and helped her up. She blushed.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he questioned. She nodded, and he moved his arm to his side.

They headed down to dinner, where they were greeted by tumultuous applause. Hermione hid behind Harry, whispering, "Okay, I showed up, can I go back now? This is embarrassing..."

"No. You need to eat."

"But... please, Harry!"

"No. You can wolf something down if you like, so we can get out of here as quickly as possible."

"Fine." They hurried over to the Gryffindor table, sat down, and quickly served themselves roast beef and potatoes. Harry did indeed wolf his down, but Hermione only picked at her food.

"C'mon, Herm, you're the one who wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. You can eat that much; I only gave you a little bit."

Hermione slowly nodded and began to eat faster. In no time, she was done, and they were on their way back up to the Common Room. Harry led her to the door of their rooms.

"Close your eyes," he said softly. She did so. He gently guided her into the room until she had a view of everything. "You can open them now."

"Oh, wow... Harry, you cleaned..."

Harry looked a little sheepish. "I thought you'd feel a bit more at home. I conjured up some pillows in that corner so that you would have a bit of personal space."

She went over and plopped down on them. "They're so soft!"

"I wanted to wait to ask you if you wanted a curtain around it."

She shrugged. "Okay." Yawning, she stood up. "Oh, my, I'm tired. Think I'll go to bed..." She went over to her dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas. "I'll change in the bathroom, all right?"

He nodded, and she headed to the door. Two minutes later, she emerged. Her pajamas were patterned with Sugar Quills, which Harry thought was rather cute. Her hair hung down below her waist. He had had no clue that it was that long, because she wore it up all the time.

She yawned again as she walked over to her bed. It was then that she noticed the box. "What's this?" she asked, sitting down on her bed and pulling the box into her lap.

"The last bit of your surprise," Harry answered, sitting down on his bed across from her.

She slowly opened the box. "Oh my goodness...oh, wow, Harry...they're beautiful..." she breathed. Harry grinned and conjured up a vase before filling it with water from his wand and setting it on her bedside table. She stuck the flowers inside.

Then she saw the note. She picked it up and slowly unfolded it.

Dear Hermione,

I thought these flowers might cheer you up. There's going to be a dance on April twenty-sixth, and I was wondering if you would go with me. If you don't, that's all right. Just thought I'd ask.

Love from,

Harry

When she finished reading, she slowly folded the note back up and set it on the bed. Then she stood up. Many confusing thoughts were going through her mind.

One screamed, 'He said 'love from,' and he's asked you to the dance. Doesn't this mean he feels the same way about you as you do about him?'

Another, more logical thought said, 'No, he's just trying to make you feel better. And 'love from' is just a way to end a letter, silly.'

A third drowned out the other two. 'Just accept the flowers and go to the dance with him. Carpe diem. Seize the moment.'

She decided to go with the third thought. Harry had stood up as well. Hermione threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I'd love to go to the dance with you."

He hugged her back, slightly uncomfortable. "Great. Now, we should get to bed."

She nodded and climbed under the covers. He headed to the bathroom, changed into his Snitch pajama pants and a white T-shirt, and climbed into bed himself after turning out the light.

***

He woke in the middle of the night to the sound of soft crying. Looking over to Hermione's bed, he saw that it was empty. He quietly slipped on his glasses and craned his neck to check if she was in the corner. She was.

The full moon outside the window gave him a little light. He silently slipped out of bed and tiptoed over to her. Her face was in her hands, and she did not notice him as he knelt down next to her. He hadn't added the curtain yet, so it was relatively easy for him to wrap his arms around her and hug her.

She gasped slightly and looked up. "Harry..."

"Shhh, 'Mione, it's all right. Relax... don't cry."

This only made her cry harder. Her pulled her onto his lap and she sobbed into his shoulder. All the while, Harry comforted her, rubbed her back, and murmured soothing words.

Finally she looked up, right into his eyes. "I'm sorry, Harry," she whispered.

"Sorry for what?"

"Waking you up."

"Aw, Herm, it's no problem. I usually wake up in the middle of the night. I get nightmares." He grinned at her.

She blinked. "Harry... you're not... are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Getting nightmares about Voldemort."

He bit his lip and quickly stood up. "Don't worry about it. Worry about yourself."

"Harry, you need to go to Professor Dumbledore if you're still having nightmares." She looked up at him with her big brown eyes, and he melted.

"I already did," he murmured quietly, "but Dumbledore waved it off as an after affect of what happened in January."

"Harry... stop brooding on the past," she reprimanded quietly.

"I can't. It's my fault those people died! If Voldemort wasn't after me, he would never have been in Hogsmeade that day and those students would never have been killed!"

"Harry...you've got to stop blaming yourself. Voldemort hates Muggleborns, you know that, and all the students who died were Muggleborn. Harry, please..."

"Hermione, no matter which way you look at it, it's still all my fault. Those people died because of me, and because Voldemort hates me. It's only a miracle that several people from the DA were there to keep more from being killed."

She bit her lip, opened her mouth, closed it, and shook her head. "I don't know what to say. We've got to get rid of those dreams, though."

Harry yawned. "I agree, but not tonight. Let's sleep on it, all right?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Hermione replied, standing up and stretching. "Good night, Harry."

"'Night 'Mione." They climbed into bed and fell asleep.

***

The next morning, they both woke very early, despite their late night 'escapade'. Harry was the first to wake. He took a quick shower before he went into the new study and started on his Transfiguration homework.

Minutes later, as he was puzzling over a review on human transfiguration, specifically Animagi, Hermione walked in, brushing her hair.

"Good morning Harry," she said, smiling at him. He grinned back.

"Good morning. How are you? Better than yesterday?"

"Much. Thanks for asking." She went over to her bag in the corner and pulled out her Transfiguration as well, before settling down to help Harry with his homework.

They had been doing homework (or trying to) for ten minutes, with Hermione explaining the complex spell used in becoming an Animagus, when Harry suddenly realized that... maybe... she had forgotten about his nightmares.

He couldn't have been more wrong.