Their Angel

T H E I R A N G E L

Hermione Granger was not in a good mood.

That seemed to be the main reason why just about nobody talked to her. The other reason was probably because they were all busy with thinking up Valentine's presents, poems and, in Dennis Creevey's case, songs.

Not Hermione, though. It wasn't that she didn't have anybody to send anything to, she just didn't dare to do it. She figured she would be called a 'scarlet woman' again, but the difference to last time would be that now Harry and Ron would probably think that too. Of course, they would deny it, but secretly they wouldn't think it's normal. Hermione didn't care what most people thought of her, but when it came to her two best friends, things were different. After all, she was just a sixteen year old in love...

So now, there she was, finally in bed at two in the morning. Maybe, just maybe, she would get her first good night rest in a week. All her professors had been giving their students twice as much homework than usual, as if they were trying to bannish the Valentine spirit. Prefect duties were unexpectedly cruel, having to skim the cold, snowed grounds of Hogwarts for students who were out for... an early Valentine's present. If it wasn't for the fact that she was dead nervous around Ron, she'd have enjoyed the scenery of the snowed grounds of Hogwarts bathed in moon light.

As it was, though, sleep just didn't seem interested in her. That did not improve her mood. To make it worse, Hermione was sure that due to tomorrow's events, Valentine's Day, her classes weren't going to be pretty either. Hermione Granger didn't like un-pretty classes. Pretty classes? Sure, she loved them, but not un-pretty classes.

Five hours and little sleep later, it was Lavender's high-pitched cry of delight that Hermione's now awoken ears had the pleasure of meeting. 'A good start of the day is a guarantee for a good day'.

Does that mean that a bad start of the day is a guarantee for a bad day? Hermione seemed to believe so.

Opening her trunk to find neatly folded school clothes, she came to the conclusion that St. Valentine must really dislike her. Instead of being neatly folded and unwrinkled, her blouse, her only blouse left (Neville's cauldron explosion were the main reason for the lack of others), looked like it came from the washing machine right before it would be ironed. Thank Merlin for the Ironing Spell. The only problem was that it was in 'Horrifyingly Handy Housekeeping', the book that was currently on the bottom of her trunk.

No time to waste, as she was already late for breakfast - or so her watch told her - Hermione decided that it wouldn't matter, she would just have to keep her robe clasp closed. Sprinting down the stairs and into the Common Room (which was scaringly empty), she tried to close her bag, nearly tripping over the carpet twice.

Hermione stopped in front of the portrait hole and took one deep breath and let out a long sigh. She would have to calm down, or she would not survive double Potions and her planned afternoon in the library.

As calm as possible, Hermione walked down the corridors to the Great Hall, unwillingly impressed by all the decorations. When she opened the door to the Great Hall, she discovered that she was actually rather early - and that her watch still told her it was 7.30. The decorations were what caused a smile to spread over her face. She stood there for some time, just watching.

As Cho sat down, seven owls flew in from above and landed near the student, all willing her to untie the undoubted Valentine's cards and presents. As Susan Bones sat down on the bench, another owl came flying in, landing on her lap. To Hermione's utter disgust, about a dozen owls flew in as Draco Malfoy sat down. Not willing to see the smug grin that was surely on the Slytherin's face, Hermione walked to the Gryffindor table. Right before sitting down, she looked for Ginny.

Ginny sat down, halfway down the table, and four owls and a bat came to her, all gracefully encircling her head... except for the bat, which seemed completely lost and out of place with a bright pink envelope dangling under it. Colin Creevey turned beet red.

Hermione flopped down on the bench, suddenly realizing she was rather hungry. She took a warm slice of bread from a basket, and dropped it almost immediately as an owl swooped down in front of her. Eyes big and getting a bit nervous, she turned to look around the Hall. No one but her seemed to notice this single owl. The owl prodded her with its little head, as if begging her to take the rose that the owl held in its beak. She took it and couldn't stop a big grin from forming on her face. The owl flew away.

A small card was attached to the rose. It read:

We heard an angel's fled from heaven above

But Hermione, we beg you, please don't fear

We won't betray you, our love

We'd like to keep our own heaven down here

There was no sender mentioned. This frustrated Hermione a bit. Her first Valentine's card - with a poem, mind you - and she didn't even know from who she got it. The one thing that Hermione didn't like was not knowing things. It also got her curious, though. Who would send her a Valentine's card? And why was it written in plural?

*

For the first time ever, double Potions seemed bearable. Even Harry and Ron seemed cheered up a bit, though quiet. Ron caused a smile on her face by bringing up his theory about how maybe Snape got a Valentine's card. Harry caused a disturbing picture on her mind by bringing up his comment of how it might have been Trelawney that sent it.

She hit him on the head, but Harry only gave her 'the grin'. Part of her wished he wouldn't do that during Potions, while part of her wished he would do it more often during Potions... or any kind of class... or just the whole time...

At the end of the class, when she was on her way to the Great Hall for lunch, she thought about how Ron and Harry were being a bit odd today. They were unusually quiet during Potions, and now, they were nowhere to be seen. It's not like them to miss 'one of the most important times of the day', as they called lunch.

Half an hour later, Hermione was to be found in the far end of the library. In a week from now, McGonagall would give a test on how plant transfiguration works. That needed a lot of studying.

Hardly anyone was in the library, so it was nice and quiet. Nice and quiet until Hermione heard the familiar voice of Ronald Weasley hiss, "where is Mione when you need her?"

"Ron, she's here, I just know it," came Harry's whispered voice. In the tone of their voices, she could hear that they didn't really need her for anything, they probably just wanted to borrow some notes. She shifted uncomfortably.

The sound of footsteps nearby told her that either Harry or Ron was on the other side of the shelf. She sighed, about to get up, but then Harry's head sneaked around the shelf, followed by his body. He was now grinning. She was now a bit nervous.

"Oy, Ron," he called in a loud whisper, and Ron came walking around the other shelf.

"What?"

"Found our angel."

Fifteen minutes, lots of shy grins, an explanation and... other revelations - which included not one, but three wrinkled shirts - later, the trio found themselves being shoved out of the library by Madame Pince, due to 'indecent behavior'.