Secrets of a Previous Life

"I-"

Just then, Seamus Finnigan stumbled through the portrait hole with his girlfriend, Parvati Patil.

"Seamus? Parvati? You do know that if you were caught you would've gotten into major trouble, do you not?" asked a concerned Hermione. She automatically wished she hadn't said that. After all, they were just on what seemed like a date on the school grounds, probably to the closet for a snog session. They had their arms tightly around each other, and there was a faint lipstick mark on Seamus' face.

"Oh Hermione, it's only the first day of school. Most people are in their dormitories bonding with friends. Everyone starts out angelic at the beginning of the year, so there weren't many teachers out tonight," replied Parvati coolly.

"We took extra care to avoid all people," her beau begun to add, "but we failed."

"Sorry. I guess I'm overprotective of you two."

"That's alright. It's year seven of worrisome Hermione Granger. We're used to it," the other girl added. It was true; all who knew Hermione eventually accepted the fact that they had to put up with her motherly personality.

Laughter erupted from Harry, Seamus and Ron, for they both agreed with Parvati. Hermione contributed a chuckle.

"I guess we should go to bed. It's getting late, and classes start tomorrow," suggested Harry. Part of the reason he said so was he wanted to escape the torture of confessing to Hermione. He wasn't quite ready, and it was embarrassing enough already that she found him hiding her picture earlier that night.

The five headed into their dormitories, starting to realize how tired they really were. Ron walked beside Harry and put an arm on his shoulder. "Harry, you are pathetic."

"I know."

~*~*~

Hermione reached her new head girl room and opened the door for the first time with the password, "saba-scaba". "Funny password that is," she thought to herself. Hermione stared around in amazement at the mind-blowing room. It was a circular room, just like Dumbledore's office. There was a balcony opposite the door. On the balcony, there was a glass coffee table, with two rattan woven chairs, resembling a French café scene.

How romantic... If one day I'd be sitting here holding an intelligent conversation with... with... I don't know who. Ron - he's too immature. He's a friend, someone fun to be around, not in a romantic matter. Harry - he's also too good a friend. Or more? Oh come on, Herm. You know Harry likes you. It's so obvious. He wants you to be his girlfriend. And you know you're going to say yes to him if he asks, not someone like, I don't know.

Hermione looked up, and out into the scenery before her. It was the same picture as what she saw on the Hogwarts Express. And it brought back memories of...

Not someone like Malfoy! Yes, Malfoy. Wait, Malfoy? How random. Of course not Malfoy! Ha, the only reason he'd ask me out is to get closer and murder me altogether! He hates me, I hate him; I wouldn't have it any other way. He's not woth my time like Harry is, or even Ron. He's not worth my thoughts either. Stupid ferret. But it's still a very nice little place. Imagine the Eiffel Tower in the background on a sunny summer afternoon.

She shook off the romantic picture in her head, and continued admiring her new room. Not only was it a place to sleep, but also her private sanctuary, a diary in the form of a room where Hermione's innermost thoughts would flow.

~*~*~

"Wake up, Harry! Get out of that bed! Harry!" Ron yelled into Harry's ear early the next morning.

"Go away, you horrible git. I need some bloody sleep. Did you know that teens all over the muggle and wizard worlds suffer from lack of sleep?" a groggy Harry said in reply. He shuffled around in his bed sheets and attempted to get back to sleep.

"Not so easy!" Then, the red-haired boy violently jerked the sheets away, resulting in Harry rolling onto the floor tangled in white fabric.

"Fine. You got me. What do you want? I'm up, I think." Harry glanced at his watch. 5:43 a.m. "Bloody hell, Ron! Would you like to know what time it is? If not, it's still acceptable for you to guess that it's definitely not breakfast time yet!"

"I know that. I'm not that thick." Ron placed one foot on the side of Harry's canopy bed, stretched his arm out, and looked off into the "distance", trying to imitate a knight talking about a grueling adventure. And if the truth be told, he would have looked like the knight if he were put in armor. "But today, my brave friend, is the day when you gallantly walk up to Lady Granger and confess your love!"

Harry, still rolled up in the bed sheets on the floor, raised an eyebrow. "Any alternatives?"

"Yep. You may ride up to Hermione on a horse or a broomstick instead of walking," said Ron as he flashed a toothy, cheesy smile that didn't seem so knight-ish at all.

"Ah I'll do it later," Harry shrugged off. As if lack of sleep wasn't bad enough, his best mate was trying to force him to ask his crush The Question! Sure, of course he'd get the girl if he showed up looking half asleep and yawning every three sentences. That would just get him so incredibly far. "Besides, I don't even know what I'm going to say." He paused for a short while. "Now, even if I did know what to say, why would I go wake her up this early to ask her out?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Harry just stared out the window, trying not to pay attention to Ron. "Your good old mate Ronald Weasley is here to help you come up with the best ever pick up line! I'll help you plan it all out! We need all the time we can get to prepare you!"

"Pick up line," repeated Harry in a flat, disbelieving tone. "PICK UP LINE?!" he said once more in a much louder voice. Harry Potter looked at his friend. Ron himself had fallen asleep on his bed!

~*~*~

"Could I borrow a piece of parchment?" he asked, looking unusually sweeter and more mature. A weak smile encroached upon his face, bringing color to his pale complexion.

"Sure. Here you go," said the girl at the opposite side of the table. She held out the white parchment without looking up.

It wasn't until many a second had passed that the boy reached for the sheet. "Thanks," he said.

Finally looking up, the girl replied, "Anytime." The girl's eyes locked with the boy's eyes for a little while, until they realized they were staring at each other. The library was dark, illuminated by a candle here and there. The two students were alone in the Hogwarts library; one trying to finish a History of Magic essay, the other a Potions essay. All was in black and white.

"Why?" said the boy.

And Hermione woke up. She was mystified by the dream. The few divination classes she had taken back in third year wouldn't be able to help her find the true meaning, especially since Professor Trelawney, the insect woman, had completely convinced her that Hermione, the star student, did not have "the gift" to excel in divination. But it was no big deal. Not yet.

It was almost time for breakfast anyway, so Hermione walked to the bathroom for a bath. Marble floors, deep red towels that were charmed to smell like strawberries, and a circular golden bathtub in the floor were what greeted the head girl's eyes. It was her reward for six years of hard work at Hogwarts. As Hermione Granger undressed, the bathtub filled itself with rose-fragranced water. Soft pink and red petals lined the surface of the water beautifully. This was paradise.

~*~*~

"Ronald Weasley! Wake up!" roared Harry Potter into the redhead's ear.

"What the bloody hell was that for?"

Harry smirked, which he didn't do too often. "That was my revenge for your waking me up at 5 something-or-rather earlier this morning. Get up; we're going to be late for breakfast. And you know you can't skip breakfast, don't you Ron?"

Ron squeaked his signature squeak in reply, "Yes. I do. Let me get changed then we can go downstairs, alright?"

"Make it quick. First day of classes. I don't particularly want to skip breakfast either," said Harry.

So Ron quickly changed into his school robes, stuffed his wand savagely into his pocket, and started heading for the Great Hall. As they neared the bottom of the staircase leading from the boys' dormitories to the Gryffindor common room, the two boys noticed Hermione strolling down the girls' staircase. Before she noticed the boys, Ron stopped suddenly and gave Harry a good enough kick to send him tripping down the last few steps.

"Good morning Harry! Sleep well?" asked cheerful Miss Granger.

"Mor-morning Herm. Not really. Ron woke me up right before six this morning. Nasty piece of work, Ron is," replied Harry as he straightened himself up after his oh so triumphant fall.

"Ah, who needs him?" laughed the pair in unison. Together, they left the portrait hole and began making their way to the Great Hall. What Hermione didn't notice was Harry glancing back towards the boys' staircase and seeing Ron mouth the words, "tell her". After they had left, Ron smiled and congratulated himself for his excellent work.

"I'll just walk with Ginny to breakfast then," he said to his insouciant self.

~*~*~

"You would not believe it! The room is just lovely! My favorite is still the little balcony, however. Oh and the bathroom! Red towels, the rose petals in the gold tub, you have to see it!" Hermione started babbling.

"Are you trying to make me jealous?" teased Harry.

"Maybe," replied a not so angelic Hermione added with a naughty smile.

Both broke out into light chuckles. If there were one thing Hermione couldn't do, or couldn't do yet, it would be to sound or act cheeky. But that's the way Ron and Harry liked her.

After walking in silence for a while, Harry Potter decided it was time. He would have to confess anyway. She probably already knew. So he turned to Hermione and said, "Hermione, we need to talk." Great. It sounds like we're already together and trying to resolve a fight.

"Yes, Harry? I'm right here to listen."

"Alright. Herm, I think you already know about this, but I fancy you. I never realized how much you mean to me until this summer. I realized I was thinking of you as more than a friend," Harry said all in one breath.

Hermione looked at him, and blinked. Her big brown eyes were most beautiful when they looked upon another pair of eyes steadily and blinked. This was one of Harry's summer discoveries.

Don't mess up. Don't mess up. Okay. I can do this. Blimey, this is torture. I can't do this when she looks at me that way. She's so beautiful. What is she thinking? What will she say? I've got to ask her. I've gotten this far. I can't do this! Easy, Potter. Here goes nothing...

"Hermione, will you be my girlfriend? I'm not trying to put any pressure on you or anything. You don't have to say yes..." Harry said calmly. Who would have known Harry Potter was such a smooth talker?

Hermione, surprised at how calm Harry seemed to be, blinked again. It was too much for the Boy Who Lived. He could fight Voldemort and his evil, but not Hermione and her charm.

"I thought you'd never ask," was Hermione's short and sweet reply. Harry gave a genuine smile that reflected how happy he was. In fact, he was over the moon! The new couple joined hands and continued their journey to the Great Hall where most of the other Hogwarts students were eating breakfast.

"Potty and Mudblood, how sweet," sneered a familiar voice from behind.