Tempesta Scura

 

She could tell it was a dream, but at the same time she knew it wasn't. Well...she knew she was asleep somewhere back at Hogwarts, nestled inside the soft warmth of her bed. She remembered yawning and closing her eyes and then she had begun to dream. But it was unlike any dream she'd ever had. Everything was real and solid. She could see everything clearly and she could feel everything. She didn't remember ever being able to feel things in dreams.

The coldness bit her skin and she pulled the cloak she was wearing more tightly around her. She was somewhere dark. It was very quiet as well. The silence was incredibly loud.

Candles glittered on the walls providing a minimal source of light. The place where she was had a very spooky aura, but she felt the need to start walking. She felt like she was looking for something, but she wasn't quite sure what. The sound of her shoes tapping against the stone made a solid metallic sound, which she appreciated against the silence. There was something cold and lonely about utter silence.

She looked around her as she walked. It looked like she was in some sort of dungeon. There were crimson stains on the floor that she didn't want to think about. The ceiling stretched above her farther than she could see and on her left lay a spiral staircase that seemed to lead to the above floor.

She began to hear something. It was a sound that she couldn't quite make out. It almost sounded like crying, but not the high pitched weeping of a female. It was masculine, soft, despairing breaths, not from someone who wanted attention, but from someone who was devoid of hope.

Curious, and slightly worried, she followed the sound. She turned a corner and saw a crumpled heap at the wall that lay far ahead of her.

She walked quickly towards the heap and the person became familiar. It was Harry. He had his head buried in his arms, which rested on the knees he had pulled up to his chest. His back was shaking from crying.

"Harry?" she asked, distressed at the sight of him in such a state. "Harry, what's wrong? Where are we?"

He looked up. His eyes were red and his face was dirty, his glasses gone. His eyes were brilliantly green, but they looked pained. "Hermione?" he asked, "Is it you?"

"Yes, yes..." She kneeled down next to him, taking his hand. She noticed that his wrists were shackled to the wall. His wrists were red from struggling. His clothes were torn and she could see his bruises across his chest. "Oh, Harry..." she said, reaching out to touch them. "What's going on?"

But Harry had started shaking. "It's not really you. It...it can't be. How would you ever get here?"

"I don't know, Harry. I think I'm dreaming. I don't know what's going on."

He didn't seem to hear her; he was still shaking. He almost looked terrified. "No...stop looking like her...stop it!"

"Harry..." she said.

"No!" he yelled cantankerously, covering his ears. Sobs broke through his words. "I'm not going to fall for it again, do you hear! Haven't you had enough? Stop it! Stop! I hate you! Do you hear? CAN YOU HEAR ME?" he was yelling to someone who wasn't there. He was looking up to the ceiling and his words were so loud that they echoed off the walls around Hermione. "Stop...please..." He collapsed into crying again.

Hermione had never seen Harry like this. He had always been brave and determined. Something had happened to him and she didn't know what. Someone was trying to break him. She didn't know how to convince him it was really her.

She reached to his air and fondled it gently. "Harry." she whispered. "It's me, I swear it's me. Look at me."

He looked up again, his jaw clenched.

She put her hands on his face. "Can't you feel me? I'm warm, I'm real. It's me, Hermione. Tell me what's going on. How did you get here?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know," he said, his voice breaking. "I don't know how I got here."

"Is this real?" she asked, more to herself than to him. She knew she was dreaming, she knew it, but she could feel Harry's warmth and he seemed so real, so solid.

"How can you ask that?" he asked. He stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned his back against the wall. "How can this not be real?"

She reached out and touched one of his bruises. It lay black and blue upon his chest and it looked very painful. He took in a breath as she touched it. "How did you get this?" she asked wonderingly.

Suddenly Harry grabbed her arms, near her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. She could feel the coldness of the metal that held his wrists against her arms. "Hermione," he said, "If it's really you...I don't know how it could be...but if it is, you need to help me... please?"

"How?" she asked desperately. "How? What can I do?"

He shook his head. "Hermione, something's happening to me. I don't know what it is. He's doing something to me."

"Who?"

"HIM. I don't know." He shook her and pulled her closer. "I need help, please. He's trying to make me do something. He is trying to pull me towards him and make me like him. I don't want to do it, Hermione, but I can't hold out much longer. I don't know what's real and what's fake." He looked at her. "I don't even know if you're real."

"Harry, I don't know what do to...tell me."

He shook his head. "I don't know." He let go of her. "Please, just do something. I don't want to betray everyone..."

Hermione settled down next to him, thoughts rushing through her head. "Don't worry," she said and stroked his arm. "It'll be okay."

They sat quietly like that for a moment, before he turned to her once more.

"Hermione?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Hermione?"

"What?"

"WAKE UP!"

*

Hermione opened her eyes with a start. She screamed when she saw Ron peering over her.

"Calm down!" Ron said, backing away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

Hermione looked around. She was in her dorm at Hogwarts, which meant that her talking to Harry, it had all been her imagination...but it had seemed so real.

"I just had the strangest dream," she said, rubbing her head. She was starting to get a migraine.

Ron nodded. "Well, I'm sorry for pulling you away from it, but weren't we going to meet today to work on the Potions assignment? Snape said we had to get it done on the weekend since we were 'messing around' on Friday."

"Oh right," Hermione said sitting up. "I'm sorry, I guess I fell asleep. I was really tired after lunch." She sighed, "Since Harry left, it seems like Snape has decided to make us his favorites to pick on."

"Yeah...I hope Harry comes back soon," Ron said. "It's so boring without him." He looked at Hermione, "Not that you aren't incredibly exciting."

"Ha ha," Hermione said. "Alright, why don't you go down to the Potions Dungeon. I'll just brush my hair a little and I'll be right there. You can start without me if you want."

Ron made a face. "You think I know where to start?" He started walking towards the door, "Well, don't take forever. I'm not exactly excited at the idea of being alone with Snape." Professor Snape had insisted on being there when they met. He didn't trust them to be alone in his classroom.

"Sure," she said and walked over to the mirror. She listened to Ron walking down the stairs of the girl dormitories and gave a drowsy sigh. She grabbed her brush and began to tame her hair from the mess it had become during her brief nap.

She couldn't keep her mind off her dream. What was it supposed to mean? Was it really just some figment of her imagination? After all, it did seem too fantastical to be real. But what if it was and Harry really did need help? "No," she told herself. "He went back to the Dursleys a week ago. He's perfectly safe."

"I think you've brushed enough, dear," the mirror said.

Hermione put the brush down. "Oh, thanks, Mona."

She walked over to her bed to grab her book bag. She knew it would be awfully heavy, but she didn't feel like going through all her books and figuring out which ones, if any, she would need for the Potions assignment.

She sat down back on her bed briefly before taking her bag, closing her eyes. It was unnerving how instead of seeing blackness, she could see Harry's face. It was full of pain and sadness and she couldn't stand thinking about Harry like that, even in fictional dreams.

With a sigh, she pushed the dream out of her mind and slung the bag over her shoulder to head down to where Ron was waiting for her in the Potions Dungeon.

*

"Now we add the griffin tongue," Hermione said, glancing in the book.

Ron made a face, but picked up the tongue, looking at it a moment before dropping it into the fizzing solution.

"Let Mr. Weasley do some work, Miss Granger," Snape muttered from his desk.

Ron rolled his eyes at him, but looked at his own book. "It says we're supposed to wait a couple minutes before mixing in the unicorn hair...until the potion turns yellow."

Hermione nodded and sat down.

There was silence for a moment; Ron and Hermione didn't dare talk about anything but the assignment while Snape was there, until Professor McGonagall came to the doorway and said, "Severus, the staff is having a quick meeting. Can you come?"

Snape looked at Hermione and Ron with distrust. "They are in the middle of a Potions experiment, Minerva, and I don't trust them alone in my room."

McGonagall shook her head, "Oh come on, Severus, you know that Hermione is probably the most trustworthy student in the school. They won't do anything, come on."

Snape reluctantly stood and left, but not before giving the two students a glare that said plainly enough "Do anything in here and die!"

Ron shuddered after Snape left, but gave a sigh of relief. "I'm glad he's gone!" he said quietly, as if worried the walls would hear him and tell Snape later what Ron had said.

Hermione nodded.

Ron looked into the cauldron. "Do you figure that's yellow?" he asked, "I suppose it looks more orange, but there's a bit of yellow right there." He pointed.

"We should wait," Hermione said.

They were both quiet for a moment before Ron asked, "Hey, have you sent the letters to Harry yet?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I haven't finished mine, but I'll send it tomorrow," she assured him. The two had decided to send their letters together. Since what Harry had said made it sound like it would be unsafe to send too many letters, they had decided if they sent half as many owls, it would half as unsafe.

"He left a whole week ago," Ron said. "He's going to wonder why we aren't writing to him."

"No, he's not," Hermione said logically. "He's the one who told us not to write."

"But he didn't mean that!" Ron said. He sighed, then looked at her again. "Say, how long is your letter? Why is it taking you so long to write it?"

Hermione just shrugged evasively. "It's not taking a long time because I'm writing a lot," she said carefully, "it's taking a long time because I've procrastinating."

"Hermione Granger procrastinating? That would never happen." Ron said. "Especially when writing a letter to Harry."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, blushing.

"Oh, just admit you like him. Please? I can't believe you two wouldn't tell me something like this. How long have you been seeing each other?"

"We haven't been seeing each other!" Hermione said, glancing back in the cauldron. "It's yellow, we should add the unicorn hair now."

Ron dropped the silver hair into the potion, but didn't take his eyes off Hermione. "I'm waiting..."

"Waiting for what?" She asked irritably.

"Oh don't get angry." Ron said, "I'd just like to know what my friends are hiding from me."

"We aren't hiding anything," Hermione said as she poured the portion carefully into the beaker and stoppered it.

"Then explain." Ron said, raising his eyebrow questioningly.

"Explain what?" Hermione asked exasperatedly, turning back to Ron. They were done with the assignment and she wanted to get out of the dungeon as soon as they could. "Clean out the cauldron then let's go." She placed the potion on Snape's desk for him to check as Ron rinsed the cauldron out and lugged it with him out the door. Hermione followed in his wake.

"Okay, explain the kiss last Friday in the common room."

"Didn't Harry tell you?" She asked, "It was a game of truth or dare."

"Did they dare you two to make out for five minutes?"

Hermione felt her face redden but said, "It was just a dare, nothing else."

Ron nodded, "Okay...but what about that night? You two slept together!"

Hermione groaned and looked at Ron. "We were sleeping in the same chair. It's not quite the same thing."

Ron shrugged, "You looked pretty cozy to me."

Hermione laughed, "You have no proof, Ronald Weasley."

"Well, what about that kiss goodbye? I wouldn't expect a kiss like that from you if you were saying goodbye to me, but he didn't seem so surprised."

"Oh, is that it?" Hermione asked with mock realization. "You want to kiss me?"

Ron just laughed, "Right, Hermione."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it, Ron. It's not like Harry likes me. Nothing is happening." Then realizing what she said, she paused.

Ron looked at her triumphantly. "So you DO like him?"

"No..." She said slowly. "You didn't let me finish. Harry doesn't like me AND I don't like him...so nothing will happen."

"I don't believe you!" Ron said, now confident he was correct in his assumptions.

Hermione glared at him, but kept walking. She thought to herself for a moment. What if on wrote a letter to Harry telling him she liked him? She knew that was just the kind of thing Ron would do. Maybe, since Ron already knew...she could just make sure he didn't say anything...Finally she asked worriedly, "Promise you won't tell him, will you?"

"Finally, you admit it!" Ron beamed. "Don't worry, I won't, but I wouldn't be surprised if he already knew what with you kissing him like that and cuddling up to him like that at night."

Hermione shook her head, embarrassed. "It was just friendly, not romantic. It's not like anything happened." She glanced at him. "Who does he like?" She asked tentatively. "Do you know?"

"Don't worry." Ron said.

"Well, do you?" She asked.

Ron shrugged, "I forgot."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but didn't push it. She wasn't sure is she wanted to know who he liked. She liked living in blissful ignorance. When they reached the common room, she told Ron she had to do homework and ran up to her room. She hoped Ron would keep his promise.

*

...Ron and I both miss you, but we hope that you are staying safe at the Dursleys. We aren't sure if you'll get this letter, but we hope you will. We are sending it with one of the school owls. I hope you write back soon. I had the strangest dream that you were in trouble. I don't believe in dreams or anything, but after your dreams in fourth year and all of that, I'd feel better knowing you were safe. Ron and I will try to write again soon. The Yule Ball is coming up and I'm not sure if I'll go. Who would I go with after all? Give me some advice! I'm sure many of the girls will be disappointed that you aren't here to take them. Anyway, have fun.

Love from,

Hermione

Hermione sighed as she finished the letters. It really was quite a long letter. But, she had a lot to say. She had carefully stayed off the topic of their kisses. She decided to wait and see if he brought them up.

She folded her letter up and put it inside of an envelope. She scribbled "Harry" on the back and grabbed Ron's letter. She took a string and tied the letters together so they would be easier for the owl to carry.

What time was it? She glanced up at the clock on the wall. She had skipped lunch to finish the letter and she wanted to make sure she got to Care of Magical Creatures on time.

She groaned as she realized she was already two minutes late and she still had to get all the way from her dorm room down to Hagrid's hut.

She raced out of her room and down the stairs as fast as she could. Since Care of Magical Creatures was more of a hands-on class, she didn't need her bag. She knew Hagrid wouldn't get too mad at her for being late, but she felt bad all the same.

After a few minutes, she finally reached Hagrid's hut. The class was seated outside listening to Hagrid talk...well, most of them were listening. She could see Malfoy was immersed in a conversation with Crabbe and Goyle.

She approached quietly and took a seat beside Ron.

"Where were you?" He whispered as she sat down next to him.

"Finishing my letter to Harry. What's happening?"

Ron shook his head. "Nothing really. Today we're meeting some dellybogglers Hagrid took from the Forest."

"An' don't ya yell aroun' 'em. They get nervous when ya yell. They migh' attack ya and they have p'rty sharp claws, these dellybogglers."

Hermione shifted he attention to where Hagrid was pointing. The dellybogglers looked pretty harmless. They looked like colorful furry birds about the size of a dog and they were making distinct "mewk" sounds. She could see, though, that on their feet glittered sharp black claws and their eyes were keen and dark.

"Well, why don' you play with 'em a little? For the next couple a weeks, ya will be takin' care of 'em."

"Great." Drawled Draco sarcastically, but he followed his classmates in approaching the dellybogglers.

Ron and Hermione found a nice pretty red one who seemed to like them and were playing around with it when they saw Draco approach a yellow one beside them.

"Wow," Draco said loudly, "This class is so much better with Potter gone. He just ran off home like a coward."

They could hear Crabbe and Goyle laughing.

Annoyed, Ron turned towards Draco. "Harry isn't a coward, Malfoy." Ron said to Draco in quiet anger, remembering what Hagrid said about yelling near the dellybogglers.

"Yeah?" Draco asked, turning towards Ron with a sneer on his face. "Then why did he run away? You don't need to defend him anymore," he said carelessly. "Potter isn't even here to appreciate his loyal sidekick's artificial bolstering."

"I'm not his sidekick." Ron said angrily, "I'm his friend."

Draco smirked. "You think famous Potter would make real friends with a no-talent no-money loser like yourself? He's only friends with you so you'll stick up for him when he can't defend himself. I must say you're fulfilling his wishes quite nicely."

With an annoyed yell, Ron jumped on top of Draco, all thoughts of the dangers of dellybogglers gone from his mind. He started punching Draco who fought back yelling for Crabbe and Goyle who just stared at the fighting. Hermione had her hand over her mouth, wondering how to stop the mess.

The fighting would have been bad enough if the dellybogglers hadn't decided to join in, but join in they did.

Soon enough, Hagrid was pulling Ron and Draco up by the scruffs of their necks, pushing the dellybogglers away. He dragged them out of the holding pen to where most of their classmates had retreated to yell and urge either Draco or Ron on in safety.

Both of them were covered in scratches. The scratches hadn't drawn any blood, but Draco had been hit in the nose and was developing a steady nosebleed. Ron could feel a black eye developing on his left eye.

"Ya both better go to the 'Ospital Wing." Hagrid said worriedly. "I told ya not t'yell aroun' the dellybogglers."

"Don't worry. It wasn't your fault." Ron said slowly. "It was my fault." He stood and began trudging up towards the castle, ignoring Draco who was struggling to get up behind him.

*

Hermione made her way through the hallway to the Hospital Wing. Ron hadn't come back to the common room yet, so she figured she should go and check on him. She opened the door carefully and peered inside. Madam Pomfrey wasn't there. Hermione figured she was off doing something in one of the back rooms.

Draco and Ron lay in separate beds on opposite sides of the room. Ron was sitting up talking to Ginny. He looked perfectly fine. Upon Hermione's entrance, Ron looked up. "Hi, Hermione," he said brightly.

She walked over towards him. "You look fine." She said.

"Yeah," he said, "Madam Pomfrey just had to give me some potion to make the cuts from the dellybogglers go away. It made us really tired so I just woke up. Malfoy isn't up yet, I guess."

"Yes I am." They heard a voice from where Draco Malfoy lay. He sat up on his elbows. For once his hair wasn't perfect, but it was still impressive. The silver strands fell around his eyes, reminding Hermione of the color of unicorn hair.

"Great." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Now, go back to sleep."

Draco didn't say anything, but he sat up.

"Anyway," Ron said, turning back to Hermione and Ginny. "I think I'm going back now. I feel alright. How did the class go after I left?"

"We didn't really do anything," Hermione said glancing back at Draco. She felt uncomfortable with him sitting there staring at them and listening to their conversation.

"How did someone as ugly as you end up with such a gorgeous sister?" Draco asked Ron randomly.

The three stared at him for a minute. Hermione noticed that Ginny was blushing slightly and playing with her wand, avoiding eye contact.

"What the hell are you talking about, Malfoy?" Ron asked, his smile gone.

Draco stood; he was looking at Ginny now. "Just because Potter doesn't notice your sister anymore, Weasley, doesn't mean no one does."

Ginny was looking at him a bit strangely; she accidentally dropped her wand.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Leave my sister alone." Ron said, staring at him, disgusted.

Ginny leaned over to pick up her wand.

"Nice view." Draco commented with a smirk.

"Malfoy..." Ron growled.

Hermione, worried about another impending fight, said exasperatedly, "Malfoy, could you just leave, please? No one wants to talk to you. Go find your cronies and hang out with them."

Draco raised his eyebrow and gave Ginny a significant look before leaving.

After he had gone, Ron sighed disgustedly, "Can you believe that? What a jerk. He thinks he's so attractive."

Hermione just shrugged. "Well, he is attractive."

"Shhh! What if he hears you? He doesn't need a bigger head...and EWW, Hermione! He's NOT good-looking." Ron said, annoyed.

"Well, I didn't say he was a nice person, but he is...attractive. Don't you think so, Ginny?"

Ginny just reddened more, "I don't know." She said.

"You don't like him...do you?" Ron asked Ginny worriedly. "Please? Anyone but him."

"Of course not!" Ginny said, "Jeez, when would I ever talk to Draco?"

"Well, he's a jerk."

Ginny sighed, "I KNOW that Ron. Don't worry about who I like."

"So you like someone?" Ron asked suspiciously.

Ginny glared at him, "I'm fifteen, Ron. I've dated people before. Stop trying to protect me."

"That wasn't people." Ron said offhandedly, "That was Harry. It didn't count."

"What do you mean it didn't count?" Ginny asked angrily. "You think Harry and I just sat around and talked the whole time? We were dating, you know. We were together for four months! We did more than you think!" Then, suddenly realizing what she said, she put her hand over her mouth and bolted out of the room.

Ron and Hermione stared after her for a moment after she had gone.

"What's going on with her?" Hermione asked.

Ron was still staring after her. He shrugged, but he looked a little worried. "We've been having a lot of fights lately. I just want her to be careful around guys and dating guys. I don't want her to end up pregnant when she's still in school." He said distractedly.

"Loosen up, Ron," Hermione said, "She doesn't even have a boyfriend. I don't think she's thinking about things like that."

Ron wasn't really paying attention. "What do you figure she meant when she said 'we did more than you think'?" He paused, "Do you know if she and...if her and Harry ever..."

"Ron, that's none of your business," Hermione said with a sigh. "Come on lets go."

The pair walked out into the hallway. Ron still had a pensive look on his face. "I mean, I was fine with Harry and Ginny dating because I didn't think he'd try anything. You don't think he did, do you? I mean, Harry isn't like that, is he? I mean...at least not with Ginny. She's my sister, that would be weird."

"Well...he is a teenage guy," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "And what did you think? That they were just friends that happened to tell people they were dating?"

"I guess I didn't think about it." Ron said.

"Well, don't worry," Hermione said. "And Malfoy says stuff like that to all the girls. He didn't mean anything by it."

Ron just nodded, but he didn't look convinced. "Do you think you could talk to Ginny? Figure out what's going on with her."

"Just stop worrying about it," Hermione said.

"Okay, okay," Ron said, "Just go talk to her and I will...I promise."

Hermione stared at him. "Fine, Ron, okay, fine. Then will you stop complaining about it?"

"Yes, I promise!" Ron said.

The pair was quiet until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Quidditch" Hermione stated the password and the pair was allowed inside.

"Okay, I'll hang out down here. You go up and talk to her. She's probably in her room or something."

Hermione didn't answer but she went over to stairs towards the girls dormitories to go and talk to Ginny.

When she reached the door with the sign that said "Fifth years" on the front, she knocked.

"Ginny?" she asked, "Are you in there?"

After a moment, Ginny came to the door and opened it. When she saw who it was, she sighed. "Ron wanted you to talk to me didn't he?"

Hermione shrugged.

Ginny groaned and went back to sit on her bed, leaning against the wall behind it. "It's just so annoying!" She said. "Why does he keep bothering me about guys and everything? I just want to be able to like someone without him jumping on my back about it."

Hermione nodded, looking at her. She hadn't realized there was any tenseness between Ginny and her brother. She didn't talk to Ginny very much. Neither had she noticed, but Draco was right, that Ginny had grown up. Her hair was fiery red and hung to her waist. It made sharp contrast against the whiteness of the wall where she was resting her head. Her skin was like porcelain and very pretty. When Ginny had been dating Harry, Hermione had been jealous of Ginny's looks. She had even liked Harry back then.

"Well, don't worry I won't tell Ron. But who DO you like?" Hermione asked curiously, sitting down next to Ginny on her bed.

Ginny just shrugged. "Guess. It hasn't changed," she said miserably.

Hermione looked at her for a moment, trying to think back to the last time she had talked to Ginny about guys. Last time she had said...

"Harry?" Hermione asked. "You still aren't over him?"

"Well...no," Ginny said. "I know we dated over a year ago, but I can't make myself get over him." She groaned. "I know he doesn't like me anymore. How many girls has he dated since then? Millions, right?"

Hermione didn't say anything, but Ginny was right. Ginny had been his first girlfriend, but she had given him the confidence that he had needed. They had broken up in February of his fifth year, he had gone through more girls than Hermione even knew. There was Cho, Lavender, Heidi, Parvati and so many more.

"Well you broke up with him," Hermione pointed out, pulling her legs onto the bed to make herself more comfortable.

"Yeah...I know," Ginny admitted. "But then after seeing him with Cho, I knew I shouldn't have broken up with him. I thought I was over him..."

"Well, maybe you are," Hermione said. "Maybe you just miss having a boyfriend."

Ginny just shrugged and let out a little sigh. "Anyway...what's going on with you and Harry?"

"Nothing," Hermione said, "I don't know how many people have been asking me that lately..."

"Well, it certainly looked like there was something going on," Ginny said, but she dropped the subject. "Do you think he'll come back soon?"

"Harry?" Hermione asked. "I don't know. He'll probably have to be out of school until You-Know-Who is gone. It's not safe for him here."

"He didn't even say goodbye to me," Ginny said sadly.

"Well, he only found out a few hours before he had to go. He probably didn't have enough time," Hermione said.

"Did he say goodbye to you?" Ginny asked.

"Well..." Hermione said, not wanting to hurt Ginny's feelings.

"It's okay," Ginny said. "Alright, I need to find some other guy to like."

Hermione smiled supportively.

"What if I dated Malfoy just to spite Ron?" Ginny asked with a laugh. "That would be great."

"He's just trying to be a good big brother," Hermione said. After a brief pause, she asked, "You like him, don't you?"

"Ron? Eww, no! That's disgusting, Hermione."

Hermione just rolled her eyes and look at her.

"Oh...Malfoy? No! I was just kidding around," Ginny said, avoiding eye contact.

"Well, I wouldn't blame you," Hermione said, "He is good looking. But he is also very, very self-centered."

Ginny shrugged. "I know. I'm not honestly thinking about dating him or anything. But," she said with a smile, "he does make good eye-candy."

Hermione laughed, "Just don't let him know that." They were quiet for a moment before Hermione said, "Well, I have some homework to do. Now I can tell Ron his sister isn't some crazed sex-maniac bent on getting pregnant and get to my work."

Ginny made the face at the mention of her brother, but said goodbye to Hermione. After Hermione had left, Ginny closed her eyes and thought to herself for a moment.

"Oh, Harry," she groaned quietly, "Why can't you just be here?"

*

"Flick your wand like so," Professor Flitwick said, demonstrating, "and say 'invisivius.' Now, keep in mind that this charm needs two people to make it work right. It will make both people invisible, but only as long as both their wands are crossed. Now everyone get a partner and try it."

"Come on, Ron, let's try it," Hermione said.

The two of them crossed their wands and flicked them together. "Invisivius!" They said together.

"Did it work?" Ron asked after a second, turning to Hermione. "Oh, I can't see you, so I guess it did." He said.

He looked around the room. It looked nearly empty except for a few pairs who hadn't quite gotten the spell down right. Professor Flitwick was clapping happily, "Well, most of you got it down! Good job!"

Ron pulled his wand away and the spell dissipated. He could once more see Hermione. "We should have been taught this sooner," he said, "Then we wouldn't have all needed to fit under Harry's cloak."

"Well, the cloak is a lot easier," Hermione pointed out. "With this spell the two people need to keep their wands crossed the whole time. It's also a more difficult spell to complete. You need more experience. We probably wouldn't have been able to do it in first year."

Ron just shrugged. "It still would have been neat."

"Hey," Parvati said, wandering over to them. "Hermione?"

"Yeah?" Hermione asked, sitting down. Professor Flitwick was working with some of the students who hadn't gotten the spell right, so they had a couple minutes of free time.

Parvati sat down with her and Ron. "Are you going to the Yule Ball?"

Hermione just shrugged. "Who would I go with? Harry isn't here and there isn't really anyone else. Are you going?"

Parvati motioned towards Dean with a smile on her face. "Dean just asked me," she said, "Oh, but you have to go! Please? Just go with a friend or something. None of my other friends are going."

"Aren't Lavender and Seamus going?" Hermione asked.

"Noo..." Parvati said, raising her eyebrow and lowering her voice. "They're staying in the dorms...if you know what I mean."

Hermione just nodded. "Well... I don't have anyone to go with, Parvati. I'll think about it okay?"

Parvati would have responded, but Professor Flitwick had started talking again. The rest of the class was relatively uneventful. Flitwick just gave them some more tips about the charm they had just learned and spoke about how it was created.

It was the last class of the day so afterwards Ron and Hermione decided to go to dinner.

"Are you going to the Yule Ball, Ron?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence. She didn't really want him to go. She wanted someone to hang out with that night while everyone else was out at the dance. Where was Viktor Krum when you needed him?

Ron made a face. "I don't know. I don't want to ask anyone."

"Why not?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes. "You're just too scared."

"Well, who would I ask?"

"Well...who do you like?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

Ron thought for a moment before answering. "No one, really. I haven't really liked anyone since Lavender and I broke up."

Hermione nodded. "Well, we can stay in the dorms together. I don't have anyone to go with either," she suggested.

"Don't want to cheat on Harry?" Ron teased.

Hermione just rolled her eyes but didn't answer.

"Well..." Ron said after a moment. "We could just stay in the dorm together..," he said slowly, "OR we could go to the dance together...I mean, since neither of us has a date. I mean, Fred and George just bought me these great new dress robes and I really want to show them off."

Hermione laughed, "Alright, Ron. That would be fun." As they entered the Dining Hall, Hermione asked, "Do you think Ginny is going to go? I think she should. It would be fun."

Ron shrugged, "All I know is that she better not be going with Malfoy."

"Hey, Ginny," Hermione said as they sat down.

Ginny smiled at her between bites. "I'm so glad that today is Friday," she said, "I'm so sick of classes." Ron grunted in agreement.

The three sat for a while not saying anything, just listening to the people talk around them. Everyone's energy was pretty high, it seemed like everyone was quite appreciative of the upcoming weekend. There were only a few more weeks until Christmas break and a lot of people couldn't wait to get home.

After a while, when Hermione was nearly done, she noticed an owl flying near the ceiling. "Hey, look." She said, pointing it out to Ron.

"That's weird," he commented, but continued eating.

The owl swooped lower and lower until it finally landed in front of Hermione, dropping a letter in front of her. "Hey, the mail comes in the morning...what's this owl doing here?" She asked as she picked up the letter.

It was two letters tied together with a string. She recognized her handwriting on the back of the top envelope saying "Harry".

"Hey, it's the letters I sent to Harry," Hermione said, "I guess they never reached him."

The owl flew away, back out again, but neither of them noticed.

"Why wouldn't he get them?" Ron asked. "I mean, we've sent letters to him at the Dursleys before."

Hermione shrugged. Glancing up, she caught sight of Dumbledore. "Why don't we ask him?" she told Ron. "I mean, maybe the owl just got lost or something. We should find out if we're even allowed to talk to Harry."

Ron shrugged, but he followed Hermione as they made their way towards the staff table. Some people were looking at them a bit strangely. Students didn't usually approach the staff during meals.

"Excuse me," Hermione said as they reached the table. "Professor Dumbledore?" He looked like he was just finishing dinner.

"Yes?" He said, with a smile on his face. His blue eyes were twinkling just as they always did.

"Well, Professor...I was just wondering...Ron and I sent a letter to Harry, at the Dursleys and I just got it back today. Why didn't he get it? Do you know?"

"Yeah," Ron added, "I mean, was it just because the owl got lost or something? Though I've never really heard of that happening before..."

Dumbledore looked at them, an unreadable expression upon his face. "Right now, I believe it is best that no one contacts Harry. For his own safety."

"Oh...you mean you put some kind of spell around it so he couldn't get letters?" Hermione asked, "So he would stay safe?"

Dumbledore smiled, "Well, something like that, yes. Well, I'm sorry but I have a meeting with someone in a few minutes and I really should prepare for it. I'm sorry about Harry, but don't worry about him." With that, he stood and placed his napkin on his plate. "Goodbye Minerva, Snape," he said to the teachers beside him and walked away.

*

"Why do you figure he doesn't want us talking to Harry?" Ron asked, leaning his back against the wall. The two of them were sitting outside the entrance into their dormitories. The Fat Lady had apparently gone off to gossip with her friends so Ron and Hermione had no way of getting in.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked in a tone reminiscent of her "know-it-all" years. "What if the owl was intercepted? You-Know-Who shouldn't know where he is. I really should have thought of that before."

Ron just shrugged, "It's know liked You-Know-Who hasn't got better things to do then intercept random letters."

Hermione shook her head but didn't respond.

They sat quietly for a moment before they began to hear footsteps coming down the hallway. They didn't sound like normal footsteps; they sounded uneven...but so familiar...

"Moody?" Hermione asked, standing up as the man came into sight. She hadn't seen him since her fourth year, most of which, she reminded herself, she hadn't been seeing the real Moody at all.

Moody nodded at them and passed by.

After he left, Ron said, "I wonder if that's who Dumbledore has the meeting with."

Hermione just shrugged and sat back down. "I wonder why he's here."

A devilish look formed on Ron's features at her words. "You want to find out?"

"What?" Hermione asked looking at him, "What are you talking about?"

"We could follow him, using the charm we learned in class today. We could find out."

"No!" Hermione said. "Of course not! Following a teacher and spying?" she asked, amazed. We don't even have a reason to. If we got caught..."

"Well, think about it Hermione. It's gotta be something about You-Know-Who. Wasn't Moody an Auror? What if it's about Harry?"

"Oh, its not! The Aurors have a lot more to worry about than Harry."

Ron just shrugged. "I don't know...what if something happened and You-Know-Who got to Harry? You never know..."

Under normal circumstances Hermione would have just rolled her eyes and ignored Ron. She knew he was just bored without Harry to be his partner in crime...but she kept thinking about the dream she'd had. It had seemed so real and Harry had said he needed help. It if had been real...if he really did need help, then maybe she should know what Moody and Dumbledore were going to talk about. If it wasn't anything about Harry then she could assure herself he was perfectly safe and she wouldn't have to trouble herself anymore about the dream.

"Fine." She said with an annoyed sigh.

Ron pulled her up triumphantly with a smile on his face. "Okay, come on," he said, "Let's hurry."

The two crossed their wands, flicked them and muttered, "Invisivius."

The pair didn't talk, but walked together as quickly as they could, making sure they kept their wands crossed. Soon enough, they caught up with Moody. He did have a wooden leg after all. He couldn't walk as fast.

They reached him just as he was entering Dumbledore's office. He muttered "Lemon Pudding" and the gargoyle swung aside.

Ron and Hermione slipped in before the gargoyle closed and followed Moody up the winding stairs. After a few moments, Moody swung the heavy oaken door aside and entered with Ron and Hermione in his wake.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk arranging papers. He smiled when Moody entered. "Ahh, Alastor. Everything is going well, I presume."

"Yes, of course," Moody said, slowly sitting down across from him. "Well, you know what I'm here for."

Ron and Hermione walked as close to Moody as they could while trying to be as quiet as humanly possible.

Professor Dumbledore had a somewhat puzzled look on his face. "Well, actually...no. I don't have any idea why you are here. Your owl just said you wanted to meet with me."

"Well, of course," Moody growled, glancing around the room, "But we discussed everything about the Potter boy before. How we wanted to take him, to train him."

"Yes, of course," Dumbledore said, "You came two weeks ago and took him. I assumed you wanted to tell me how his Auror training is going."

Hermione stifled a gasp and she could feel Ron doing the same beside her. Auror training? She had thought he was going to the Dursleys...had they been lying?

"No..." Moody said slowly, narrowing his eyes. "I haven't had a chance to come out here and get him yet. We were finishing our strategy and we had to hire certain teachers to train him, you know. If anyone came and got him, it wasn't me."

Hermione could see Dumbledore's knuckles turning white as he grasped the table. "But..." he said, Hermione had never seen him look worried before, "If you didn't come get him last week...then who did?"