The Spaces Between Shadows & Night

The Spaces Between Shadow & Night

by: Silver Prophet
the combined talents of:
silverphoenix & poetic licence

Chapter 5

Lines of Vision

"Never." Draco's voice was soft, so soft it almost blended into the quiet noises of the trees outside.

"Never what, Malfoy?" asked Harry curiously.

Malfoy appeared to be reassured by hearing Harry's voice, but didn't bother to answer his question. Harry climbed down from the windowsill where he had been sitting, staring out at the lake. It was difficult to describe the utter sense of peace Harry felt when he looked out at the lake at night from the third floor window.

"Good night, Malfoy." Malfoy gave a slight incline of his head to show Harry he heard him, and Harry left quickly.

The two seemed to have come to some sort of unspoken agreement. If Malfoy saw Harry in the corridors at night he said nothing. He had never once reported Harry on the numerous times he had seen him, and they had even taken to exchanging civilised greetings. He seemed to understand what the silence meant.

Careful to avoid Filch or Mrs Norris, Harry made his way to the Gryffindor Tower. It was times like this when he wished he could take a look inside people's heads. Malfoy was, as Hermione would probably say, fascinating. Then again, Hermione would probably have used several unsavoury words to describe Malfoy. Malfoy was so complicated, yet at the same time so absolutely simple and crystal clear. He never minced his words and everything was on a need-to-know basis with him.

There was also a deeper side of him that Harry was sure he rarely showed. But all in good time, he decided, thinking of Hermione and the way she had blossomed gradually into the person she was today.

Maybe there's hope for him yet,

Harry thought. On the other hand, this is Malfoy.

~~ ~~~ ~~

It was hard to describe exactly what a dreamless sleep was actually like. It wasn't like normal sleep, yet at the same time it was. You were asleep, but you weren't dreaming. It was more like being unconscious than anything else. There was no pain, no discomfort, no getting too hot and kicking the covers off...you just slept.

Harry's visits to the Hospital Wing were becoming quite a regular occurrence now as Halloween drew nearer. There were numerous rumours flying around the school, such as that Harry was dying from an incurable disease. He and Hermione had had a good laugh about that one.

Every few nights Harry and Hermione would go down to the Hospital Wing, and while they waited for Madam Pomfrey to see to Harry (he was bottom of her list of priorities as he wasn't actually ill per se) giving them a chance to talk without having to worry that Ron getting paranoid.

He seemed to have got it into his head that Harry and Hermione didn't want to be friends with him anymore, and so had started spending time with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

Hermione finally cracked. About three days before she had finally yelled at Ron for being such an idiot (actually, she had used a different word than that), something Harry whole-heartedly agreed with.

After that Ron had been warmer toward the two of them, even sitting with them in the few classes they had together.

In Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid has acquired some Kneazles for his classes to study. They were fascinating creatures, very much like domestic cats, but magical. Harry was strongly reminded of Crookshanks, Hermione's boisterous pet cat.

Crookshanks wasn't so much tame as not-completely-wild. He had, on occasion, been known to disappear for days on end then turn up again with a few dead mice. Hermione had been less-than-pleased when she had found several of these 'presents' on her pillow.

"All right ev'ryone, t'day I want yeh to split into pairs teh study 'em." Up until then Hagrid had made them work in groups rather than pairs. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Ron sighed.

"I guess I'll work with Seamus then," he said resignedly. Seamus was the only other Gryffindor in the class. He turned, but was stopped by Hermione, who grabbed his sleeve, holding him back.

"You work with Harry," she told him earnestly. "I'll work with Seamus."

"Are you sure?" asked Harry. She nodded.

"Yes." Hermione shrugged. "I've been working with him in Transfiguration and he hasn't blown me up yet, or even singed my eyebrows and that's always a good sign." She grinned, then left Harry and Ron alone. Over Ron's shoulder, Harry watched Hermione carefully. Seamus didn't seem too upset about having to work with her.

Ron followed Harry's line of vision. He studied Hermione carefully. "She's certainly changed, hasn't she?"

"We all have," remarked Harry, turning from Hermione and looking at the Kneazle in front of him and Ron. It was slightly larger than Crookshanks, but considerably more docile-looking. Ron frowned at the cat-like animal.

"I don't trust it."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Hagrid says it's like a cat."

"Yeah, but look at it's eyes. It has shifty eyes." This caused Harry to roll his eyes. Peering at the Kneazle he saw nothing wrong with its eyes.

"You're just paranoid," he told Ron matter-of-factly. He bent down and picked it up, cradling it in his arms. The Kneazle purred loudly, sounding somewhat like a motor car. "Here, you take her," he said, holding it out to Ron.

Looking rather sceptical, Ron took the Kneazle from Harry. It hissed at him, writhing in his arms, and biting him on the finger. Ron dropped it, and it landed on its feet. It faced Ron, its shackles raised and ready to pounce.

"I told you I didn't trust it!" yelled Ron, clutching his finger tightly with his other hand to stem the blood from the wound. He swore loudly, attracting the attention of many of the other students. It appeared to be a deep bite. Ron glared angrily at the Kneazle before storming off towards the castle, presumably towards the Hospital Wing.

Harry spotted Malfoy smirking in his direction while his partner, a dark haired girl Harry knew as Hermione's Potions partner, held their black Kneazle in her arms. She didn't seem at all interested in Ron or Harry, but was instead talking quietly to the animal she held.

~~ ~~~ ~~

"I think he overreacted a bit," commented Hermione that evening when they were in the Hospital Wing, awaiting attention from Madam Pomfrey.

"You think?" Harry had already changed into his pyjamas and was now sitting with Hermione. They were both sat cross-legged on the bed, facing each other.

There was a moment of silence between them before Hermione spoke, sounding almost embarrassed. "Can I ask you something, Harry?"

Uh oh. This doesn't sound good.

"Go ahead."

Avoiding eye contact she said, "How do you know when you like someone? I mean, really like someone?"

What?

Harry was a little more then surprised by this question. He gulped. "Um...I don't know." He thought for a moment about how he felt when he was around Cho.

Cho Chang was the Seeker of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She was a year older than Harry was, and Harry had liked her since the first time he had seen her. "I suppose I get this feeling in my stomach. It's sort of like that moment just before you travel by Portkey mixed with those butterflies you get when you're nervous."

Hermione nodded. Harry studied her bowed head. She seemed very interested in her shoelace, though Harry knew that she was too embarrassed to meet his face.

"Hermione, do you like someone?" The colour of her face told Harry his answer. Please don't let it be Ron. "Is it Ron?" he asked tentatively.

"No!" She actually laughed at this.

Thank God for that. That would be too weird.

"So who is it."

"I'm not telling you. But, um, I need your advice." She bit her lip. Something about that made her suddenly look much younger.

Now she's asking me for advice on boys?

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione?"

She scowled, hitting him on the arm. "Be serious, Harry."

Harry raised an eyebrow. She's not joking. "What do you want to know?"

Hermione swallowed. "Well, there's this boy and every time I'm around him I feel...giddy, and I don't know what to do. I've been spending a lot of time with him recently. Probably more than ever before and I'm not sure what I should do next."

"Have you tried flirting?" Harry suggested. Hermione looked appalled at this suggestion.

"F-flirting?" she managed to choke out. It seemed for all the changes that Hermione had gone through over the summer, she was still quite unsure when it came to dealing with boys who weren't Harry or Ron. Or Malfoy, for that matter. She was always very composed when facing Malfoy...and if being composed failed, she simply used her fists. "Harry, I couldn't!"

"Yes, you could." Even with Harry's reassurance, Hermione still wasn't convinced. After much persuasion, Harry managed to get her to at least try.

"Why did you come to me anyway?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I dunno. I suppose it's because it's a boy problem and you're a boy." Harry grinned at this. "Please don't tell Ron about this," she begged.

As if I would...and live to tell the tale.

"I promise." She seemed relieved at this, and clambered off the bed just as Madam Pomfrey came over with the potion for Harry.

"I'll see you in the morning," she told him, kissing him quickly on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered. Harry nodded, taking the potion from Pomfrey. The nurse didn't even bother telling Harry what to do. This potion was becoming second nature to him now, and he quickly drained the goblet when Hermione had gone.

The taste was a horrible as ever, somewhere between putrid vegetables and rotting fish with just a hint of mint, but it bothered him less now than it had in the beginning.

He settled himself into the bed, waiting for the potion to start working. Just as it was starting to kick in, he noticed Matilda, the Gryffindor Reserve Keeper enter the Hospital Wing. This wasn't that unusual. On his many visits to the Hospital Wing he had noticed her in there a lot, though he wasn't sure why. She was never injured or seemed outwardly ill, but Madam Pomfrey always gave her what appeared to be a pitying look and pointed her in the direction of a secluded bed.

Before he could ponder the reason for her frequent visits, he found himself drifting into a dreamless sleep.

Harry awoke just over eight hours later. The first thing he did was reach for his glasses, which Madam Pomfrey must have removed from him during the night. He always seemed to forget to take them off when he took the potion.

Glancing around, he noticed that Matilda had already left, even though it was only a little after seven. It was not yet completely light, and so Harry had to fumble around for his clothes. Madam Pomfrey was already buzzing around mixing up some sort of foul-looking potion. She merely gave him a nod to assent that she saw him leaving.

To his surprise, Hermione was already up, and was sat in a chair beside the fireplace. There was no fire in the hearth, but the embers were still glowing slightly from the previous night. She was studying a large leather-bound book, her eyes following the words on the page. Every so often she would flip the page over.

She was so engrossed in the book that it was a while before she noticed Harry watching her. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked.

"Only a couple of minutes," Harry admitted.

"Haven't you got anything better to do than watch me?"

"Nope." Harry grinned. "Whatcha reading?"

She held up the book so that Harry could read the writing on the cover. Arithmancy, a History. "Did the author happen to write Hogwarts, a History?" Harry asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes," confirmed Hermione with a wry smile.

"Do you fancy getting an early breakfast? I'm starving."

Hermione pulled a face. "I kind of promised Ron I'd wait for him last night. Sorry."

"You do know you're going to have to wait a while. Ron won't be up for at least half an hour."

"And that shows how little you know me," Ron said, appearing at the foot of the stairs which led to the boy's dormitories. He finished doing his tie, and yawned. Seamus and Dean appeared behind Ron, looking just as bleary-eyed as the redhead did.

"Where's Neville?" asked Harry.

There was a loud thud from up the stairs, which seemed to answer Harry's question. Dean rolled his eyes. "I'll go and see what happened to him," he told them. "You lot can go on without me."

Hermione closed her book, and stood up, smiling brightly. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" She was already opening the portrait hole before anyone could say anything. With a shrug Seamus followed her, and Harry and Ron were shortly behind them.

The Great Hall was practically deserted at this time in the morning. It was only about quarter past seven, and many students were probably only just waking up. The Hufflepuff table was completely empty and there were just two Ravenclaws, a pair who seemed more interested in each other than the food in front of them.

Three people were sat at the Slytherin table. Malfoy seemed to have lost the hulks that normally followed him around (also known as Crabbe and Goyle). They seemed to have become Pansy Parkinson's personal footmen. Pansy also seemed to have lost interest in the blonde Slytherin, and was flirting with any available boys she could, though obviously not those from Gryffindor. Even the Hufflepuffs weren't safe from her clutches, Ernie MacMillan in particular, much to the disgust for Hannah Abbott, his girlfriend.

Instead, Draco was in the company of Blaise Zabini and the dark-haired girl. Harry had discovered that her name was Alena Rhyson. He hadn't been able to find out much about her, even from Violet, the portrait who wandered through all the frames in Hogwarts finding the juiciest gossip (and spreading rumours herself). Although Hermione (who worked with her in Potions and was an excellent judge of character besides), assured him that she was actually quite nice. For a Slytherin, that was.

They seemed to be involved in a very animated conversation, which only broke for a second when the four Gryffindors entered and Draco looked up with something that resembled interest on his face.

Wait a minute. Did I just think of him as

Draco? What's going on with me? He doesn't deserve to be thought of on a first-name basis.

Harry was interrupted by his thoughts by Ron and Hermione. Ron was holding out a plate to her, but she held up a hand and pushed it away.

"No thanks," she said, "I've decided to become a vegetarian." She helped herself to a piece of toast and began to butter it.

Ron raised an eyebrow at this. "You're what?"

"Becoming a vegetarian," Hermione repeated. She took a bite of her toast. When she had swallowed it, she added, "Honestly, some of the things they do to animals is horrible!"

Ron obviously wasn't convinced, though. He held out his own breakfast towards her. "Look, Hermione. Bacon, sausages, hash browns..."

"Hash browns don't have meat in them," pointed out Hermione. Ron considered this for a moment before continuing with his taunting as Hermione calmly poured a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Bacon, sausages, black pudding..." He waved his plate under her nose, trying to entice her with the smell of his breakfast.

"Hey, lay off you uncaring prick," Seamus told him, sounding annoyed with Ron. "She's serious about this. You should support her."

Ron just rolled his eyes at this, but Hermione gave him a grateful smile, blushing slightly about the fact that Seamus had stood up for her.

This didn't go unnoticed by Harry. Seamus? Is he the one Hermione was on about?

As they ate their breakfast, idly chatting about Halloween (which was only a few days away), Harry watched Hermione carefully without her noticing. Harry's suspicions seemed to be confirmed. Every so often Hermione would steal a glance at Seamus, before fixing her gaze on something else.

Another curious thing was that she wasn't the only one. Seamus seemed to have a habit of gazing at Hermione, though he never looked at her when she looked at him.

Hmmm. I might have to have a word with him later,

Harry decided.

Feeling eyes upon him, Harry glanced around. He looked over at the Slytherin table, but Draco, sorry, Malfoy, was staring into a bowl of porridge.

~~ ~~~ ~~

Since Malfoy had told him that he had spotted Harry often at night, on some of the nights which Harry didn't take the potion, he had taken to wearing his Invisibility Cloak when he went on his midnight excursions.

The feeling of having the entire school to oneself was exhilarating, especially when there was always the possibility of getting caught. He got a buzz from hiding from Filch and his cat, Mrs Norris. It was even better than flying o his Firebolt at top speed.

Normally there was very little action in the corridors, except maybe when he saw Peeves causing mayhem under the cover of darkness or various other ghosts going about their business. Tonight, however, Harry heard voices coming from the Charms corridor as he drew nearer.

Naturally, he was curious, and was surprised to find he recognised the voices. Hermione and Draco.

Dammit. Malfoy, not Draco.

Harry stood in silence a few feet away from the pair, who appeared to be doing a bit of verbal sparring.

Hermione seemed as cool and composed as she ever did. Even though she was in her uniform, she had evidently been to the Prefects Bathroom. Her hair looked damp and was tied into two braids that hung either side of her head. Malfoy was dressed in his uniform as well, his Prefect badge glinting in the moonlight that filtered through the nearby window.

This same moonlight highlighted his pale complexion, making him look almost white. Hermione also looked slightly different in the light, her skin taking on a porcelain doll look, making her appear more serious and adult than Harry had seen her for a long time.

"I see you've ventured out without the Boy Wonder. What happened? Did he dump you too?"

"Hardly. Where are the Incredible Hulks? I see you've replaced your body guards with a couple of girls."

"Leave Blaise and Alena out of this," Draco seemed to snarl.

"Out of what?" asked Hermione innocently.

"Us."

Hermione looked interested at this. "There's an 'us' is there?" she asked. Her voice had dropped to a low whisper. If Harry hadn't known any better, he would have sworn she was flirting with him. But he did know Hermione better than that. What better to use against someone than his or her own personality?

It was clear from the way he acted around Hogwarts he believed himself to be quite the ladies man. Harry had to agree with this. Girls from most houses agreed how good-looking he was. Harry could sort of see their point.

Wait. Did I just agree that he's good-looking?

Harry shuddered slightly at the thought.

Malfoy looked genuinely shocked by Hermione's sudden change in demeanour. Hermione took a step forward, and Harry watched Malfoy's eyes widen slightly at this, though he retained his calm exterior. She ran a delicate finger along Malfoy's jaw line. "What's the matter, Malfoy? Are you scared of little old me?"

It seemed to suddenly dawn on Malfoy what she was doing. He angrily pushed her arm away. She merely smiled at him.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you, Granger?"

"It's the highlight of my day," she told him dryly.

The Slytherin appeared to be briefly impressed by Hermione. There was a spark in his eyes that told Harry this.

"You certainly are a fascinating creature, Granger. I see you finally discovered your sexuality."

A second later, Malfoy found himself being forced against the wall by Hermione, whose face was set with a grim determination.

Malfoy just smirked. "What's the matter? Did I just get the little Mudblood angry?"

It was Hermione's turn to smirk. "Oh, I'm not angry. Trust me, you don't want to see me when I'm angry." She let go of her hold on Malfoy and walked away without another word. Malfoy began shouting after her, but Filch was soon on him.

"I'd have thought a Prefect would know better than shouting in the corridors at night. I know you lot are allowed out, but there's no reason for you to be causing a disturbance," scowled Filch, though in his eyes it was obvious he was delighted at being able to punish a student. "Come with me, boy."

By now Hermione was far away, and Harry had to run to keep up. She suddenly stopped, a couple of corridors from Gryffindor Towers. She stared straight at where Harry was stood.

Harry held his breath. He had his Invisibility Cloak on. She can't see me, right?

"Filch is going to be busy with Malfoy for at least fifteen minutes and Mrs Norris is using a statue in the Transfiguration corridor as a scratching post. You can take the cloak off, Harry." She put her hands on her hips, waiting for Harry to comply.

Reluctantly, Harry pulled the cloak off. "How did you know I was there?" he asked curiously.

Hermione frowned. "I suppose I just knew. You've had that cloak for a few years now, and I could tell someone else was around that I couldn't see."

"How did you know it wasn't a ghost?"

"Ghosts don't have footsteps."

"Ah." Hermione grinned at him.

"Come on, I'm exhausted," she said, trying not to yawn.

Looking at her, this was obvious. He could see now that there were dark circles around her eyes. "I think you're the one who needs the dreamless sleep potion more than me," Harry said, but she shook her head.

As the continued walking toward the portrait hole, Hermione talked. "I just have trouble getting to sleep, that's all. I don't have nightmares like you."

Once inside the Common Room, Hermione bade him a goodnight before going up the stairs to her dormitory.

She's more of a mystery than I thought.

"You really shouldn't be up at this hour," a voice told Harry. Turning around, he saw Matilda sat in a chair behind him. "Neither should I, really. Poppy says I need all the sleep I can get."

Poppy? Oh, she means Madam Pomfrey.

"Why?"

"Because she a sensible old cow who just wants the best for me."

"Why is being sensible a bad thing?"

Matilda studied Harry carefully. Finally she said, "Trust me, my little grasshopper, I'm beyond caring about being sensible and following the rules."

"Why?"

She smiled mysteriously. "So many questions. You really should stop asking so many."

Harry frowned. Why did girls have to be such a mystery? Matilda rose from her seat and grinned at him. "G'night, Harry. Hope you sleep well." She disappeared before Harry could say anything else. People seemed to have a habit of doing this.

~~ ~~~ ~~

It was nearly a week later before Harry managed to corner Seamus alone. The sandy-haired boy seemed especially surprised that Harry wanted to talk to him alone.

Harry got straight to the point. "What do you think of Hermione?"

Seamus was taken aback by this sudden question, and it showed on his face. "W-what?"

"What do you think of Hermione?" Harry repeated patiently.

"She's a very nice girl. Thoughtful, intelligent, surprising and I suppose she's quite pretty, in an understated kinda way." He blushed as he said this. "Why?"

"Do you like her?"

"Of course."

Harry was surprised at this. "I mean, really like her. Romantically."

The Irish boy frowned, and his line of vision drifted to the floor so he didn't have to meet Harry's eyes. (This was another thing Harry found people doing a lot. What was it with people not making eye contact with him?)

"Maybe. I'm not really sure. She came back this year so completely different that before. I'm still trying to figure out all the changes."

You're not the only one

, Harry sighed.

Seamus continued. "I think I like her, but then I'm not sure. I think she's more interested in you than me, mate."

"Trust me, she's not."

This sparked Seamus's interested, but then he looked slightly disheartened. "She must like Ron, then."

Harry shook his head. "Not a chance. She likes someone else."

"Oh." Seamus looked disappointed by this. A bell rang in the distance. "I'd better get to Muggle Studies," he told Harry. He wandered off; bag over his shoulder, leaving Harry slightly dazed. Seamus didn't appear to think for even a second that it was him Hermione liked.

Looks like I've got my work cut out for me

.

~~ ~~~ ~~
TBC
~~ ~~~ ~~

Natasha's Notes:

Yes, that's right; Natasha's Notes. I finally get my say! Well, if I didn't Amy would probably mention me (yet again) being mean to Shadows!Draco [Shadows!Hermione cackles Macbeth-style and wonders if she's ever going to get a chapter to curse Draco, err...Malfoy]

Amy:

I'll think about it, but only if Shadows!Draco can curse Shadows!Hermione back.

Another chapter over with, and yet more developments for Shadows!Harry to contend with: Hermione continuing to be surprising, Matilda being secretive, Ron being a prat, Seamus being naive and Draco being...well, Draco.

You'll have to keep an eye out for the next Harry chapter to discover more, and hopefully by then Amy will have stopped moaning about me knocking her precious Draco out. If she doesn't I think I might let Hermione risk her Prefecture by having a bit of fun. ;D

Amy:

Shutting up...now! But Shadows!Harry might be in for it next chapter...wait and see!

A big thank you to all our reviewers - you're all so nice and complimentary! Please R&R - we love getting your feedback.

Next Chapter:

The longest of all possible days (made even longer by my farting around - the whole chapter just keeps growing and growing and growing some more). Lots of rain and a leaky ceiling (and quite possibly, a flooded out dormitory). A lost voice and more Infirmary visits (they seem to be a regular thing). Ron gets what he deserves (in more ways than one). A midnight visit to a certain gargoyle and a certain Professor (no prizes for correctly guessing whom). A secret is revelled (but not in a way that you would expect). Hermione does it again (this should be fun!).

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