Before the Moon Rises

BEFORE THE MOON RISES

A Disagreement Arranged by Fate

Chapter Two

"I reached inside myself

And found nothing there

To ease the pressure of

My ever worrying mind

All my powers waste away

I fear the crazed and lonely looks

The mirror's sending me these days

Please don't ask me to defend

The shameful lowlands

Of the way I'm drifting

Gloomily through time."--A-Ha

January 1998

Hermione wrapped a blanket, dyed in her house colors, tighter around her shoulders as she knelt by the large hearth in the Gryffindor common room. Once settled down comfortably on her knees, she stretched her arms out and warmed her hands near the dancing flames. The common room was fairly empty now; she could see that a sliver of moon was beginning to rise outside one of the ice covered windows. Ron and Harry had taken a very animated Quidditch conversation with Dean and Seamus to their dormitory at her request, and the silence had been welcomed by all in the common room.

Her mind was drifting off to Arithmancy problems when the stillness of the room was broken. Harry, Ron, Seamus and Dean were bounding down the stairs again arguing loudly. She turned away from the fire and looked up at them, frowning at the unwanted noise.

"You're wrong, Weasley," Seamus said in his thick Irish accent.

"Just give me a minute, Finnigan, and you'll be sorry you ever doubted me," Ron said loudly.

It was obvious to Hermione that the boys weren't actually arguing angrily. They were having more of a debate--Dean and Seamus agreeing with each other and Harry and Ron taking the opposing side.

She turned away from them and looked back at the fire, rolling her eyes at the conversation.

"Hermione!" Ron said heatedly.

"Yes?" she asked, surprised they were bringing her into a conversation concerning a subject she knew nothing about.

"Tell Dean and Seamus that in 1942 here at Hogwarts Barney Sloth did not catch the Snitch faster at his Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff match than Harry did at the last Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match," Ron said, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding in assurance at Hermione.

She frowned. "How in the world would I know that?" she asked.

"You know everything about the history of Hogwarts," Harry replied, smiling down at her.

"I know all of the important things," she said, turning back around and warming her hands near the fire. Did they ever talk about anything else? She sighed, knowing she was slightly irritable and tired--it wasn't their fault she had so much on her mind.

Ron puffed up slightly. "Quidditch is important! Go get your book so we can end this discussion," Ron said, staring down at Hermione in irritation.

"What book?" she asked blandly, wishing for the silence again.

"Oh, I don't know," Ron said sarcastically, "the book you're always quoting."

"Ron," Harry warned, trying to stop an argument from arising between Hermione and Ron.

She glared back up at Ron. "If you're talking about Hogwarts, A History, then I can't help you. I loaned my copy to Susan Bones for a report she was doing in Professor Binns' class."

"Well, get it back," Ron said in annoyance.

"Ron, I most certainly will not. If you need the book, then I suggest you go to the library and check out a copy," Hermione answered, finally losing her patience with one of her best friends.

"But you could do it so much faster," Ron whined.

"What Ron is trying to say," Harry replied quickly, "is that if you don't mind, would you please go to library and get the book for us? It would take us twice as long to find it as it would you because everyone knows how efficient you are in the library."

Dean and Seamus had remained silent through the entire exchange; neither wanted to enrage Hermione--Ron seemed to be doing it quite enough for everyone.

"Fine!" Hermione said, standing to her feet in a huff. "I'll do anything to get you all to shut up about Quidditch!"

She dropped her red and gold blanket onto the couch and stormed out of the common room.

* * * *

Hermione walked down the stairs and checked her watch. It was half past eight; she had only half an hour to get to the library before it closed for the night--plenty of time for her to find the book and get back to the common room. She would do almost anything to shut them up so she could enjoy the silence again.

Hermione stopped by the large desk near the front of the library. Madam Pince looked up at her with her shriveled face and watchful eyes.

"Could you check and see if you have any copies of Hogwarts, A History in the library?" Hermione asked politely. There was no need to traipse through the library if all of the available copies had been checked out.

Madam Pince waved her wand in an irritated manner over a large notebook in front of her. The pages flipped by too quickly to read what was written on each one, but Hermione imagined it held a list of the entire catalog of Hogwarts' collection. Finally, when the pages stopped turning, she squinted down at the page and looked up at Hermione.

"There is one copy left. No one ever wants to check it out though," the librarian said dryly.

"Why is that?" Hermione wondered.

"It's very old and practically falling apart."

"Well, I don't care about that as long as I can find the information I need," Hermione said.

"My feelings exactly. Do you need me to show you where it's located?"

"No, that won't be necessary. I think I can find it myself."

"Very well. I have more important matters to attend to. I hope you are aware that the library will be closing in twenty minutes. Don't dawdle," she said tersely before looking away from Hermione and shuffling through paperwork.

Hermione walked away from the large wooden desk and walked in the direction of where she knew she would find the book. The library was practically deserted at this late hour. She rounded a corner and came upon a table with Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan. They were in the middle of a discussion about Ancient Runes when Hermione passed by their table.

"Hermione," Ernie called out, "do you have a minute?"

Hermione stopped walking mid-stride and sighed. She was tired and on the verge of becoming cranky, but she turned and smiled wearily at Ernie.

"Sure. What do you need?" she asked, walking closer to their table.

* * * *

Hermione wished Hannah and Ernie goodnight. They thanked her for the insight into Ancient Runes and she hurried away from them. It was getting late and the sooner she got to the book, the sooner she could be back in the common room warming her chilly hands and relaxing by the hearth. She walked up an aisle in the history section and stopped in front of a tall bookshelf. It was full of tomes and she scanned her eyes across each one as she looked for the specific book she needed.

She stood on her tiptoes when she saw it and reached up as far as she could. Just as her fingers touched it, the book fell from the shelf.

"That's odd," she said quietly.

The book had landed face down and open. Some of the yellowed pages were folding and crinkling in awkward angles. She bent down and flipped the book over. Instantly she dropped it from her hands; a strange silver light began emanating from the open pages.

Hermione began to back away quickly, but it wasn't quick enough. The silver light shot out in one bright streak and encompassed everything around her. Before she knew what was happening, her whole body began tingling. Her head became dizzy and she felt as if she were spinning out of control into a sea of silver. She shielded her eyes in the bright light; it was cold and blinding. She shivered as if she were being dunked into a river of silver ice. Then everything stopped moving; the silver light disappeared. Hermione opened her eyes to find that nothing had happened. But if that was true, then why was she standing in a darkened library hearing a voice that sounded distinctly like Sirius Black's?