Underneath the Stars

Underneath the Stars

It was breakfast in the Great Hall and the owls were rushing in to deliver the post to all the students at Hogwarts. Hermione Granger sat with her fellow Gryffindors, perusing the morning's issue of The Daily Prophet when an unfamiliar owl swooped down in front of her, dropping a folded up note. Ron and Harry, who were sitting on either side of her, both grabbed for the note before Hermione calmly snatched it from their grasp. She tucked it into her lap, not giving it another glance until she was done her newspaper.

Hermione couldn't help but smirk behind the newsprint at the curiosity that was building up in her two male companions. She didn't have to open the note to know who it was from. She subtly lowered her newspaper slightly and stole a glance to the long table at the other end of the Great Hall. She briefly caught his eye but neither of them made any acknowledgement to the other.

Once the hall had begun to clear of tired and sleepy students, she quickly opened the note and skimmed through it. 'Midnight, huh?' she thought to herself and smiled, quickly tucking the missive into her stack of books.

The day seemed to drag slowly for Hermione as she anxiously awaited the arrival of that evening. The Gryffindor common room finally began to empty out as the night approached. She bid good night to Harry and Ron, the last of the students, as they retired to their dormitories. As soon as the coast was clear, Hermione grabbed the Invisibility Cloak she had received as a gift and threw it over her, immediately disappearing from any one's sight. The Fat Lady's portrait swung open and an invisible form stepped through, dashing down the stairs and out the door into the cool June air.

One summer night

We ran away for a while

Laughing, we hurried beneath the sky

To an obscure place to hide

That no one could find

Hermione ran quickly to the Quidditch pitch, the wind whipping the Cloak that encircled her body. She found that he was already standing there, leaning against one of the goal posts, waiting for her. As she approached him, she threw off her Invisibility Cloak and embraced the boy with a passionate kiss.

Draco pulled away from Hermione's kiss briefly and led her behind one of the spectator stands, away from prying eyes. They lay on the freshly dampened grass and gazed up at the night sky. "Did they see my note?" he asked her apprehensively.

Hermione looked over at him and shook her head. "No, they don't have a clue." Relief spread across Draco's face and Hermione cracked a mischievous smile. "I can't say I like lying to my friends though..." she added.

Draco turned to her and smiled grimly. "We can't let anyone know about this. Do you know how ugly things can turn if anyone were to ever find out about us?"

The Gryffindor girl sighed reluctantly. She knew full well what the repercussions would be, especially from Draco's father.

And we drifted to another state of mind

And imagined I was yours and you were mine

As we lay upon the grass

There in the dark

Underneath the stars

(Young love)

Underneath the stars

(Young love)

She lay in Draco's surprisingly loving embrace and breathed in everything around here: the grass, the nighttime breeze, his own subtle scent. She felt that she could drift off to sleep just as how they were at that moment. She wished that they didn't have to hide their feelings for each other but nobody would understand. There would be gossip and things twisted around. The more people that found out, the worse it would get. She knew through Harry's experiences that word travels fast around Hogwarts.

Despite all that, she was almost willing to give that up for her unlikely love.

Weak in the knees

Wrapped in the warm gentle breeze

So shy, a bundle of butterflies

Flush with heat of desire

On a natural high

Draco lifted his hand and tilted her face to his. His lips met the warmth of hers and for that brief moment, nothing else existed to the forbidden lovers. The night had gotten chillier and a wolf howled from a distance away. Hermione reached for her Invisibility Cloak and put it over Draco and herself in an attempt to keep warm.

The moment she did that, they both realized how silly it must look to the possibility of anyone seeing them, two people with the lower half of their bodies missing. They shared a laugh and Hermione pulled in closer to Draco.

As we drifted to another place in time

And the feeling was so heady and sublime

As I lost my heart to you

There in the dark

Underneath the stars

(Young love)

Hours must have passed while they were lying out on the Quidditch pitch for Hermione began to notice the stars slowly fading and a hint of purple was showing in the sky, signaling the approach of dawn. Her and Draco quickly got up and brushed themselves off of any grass. They straightened out their robes as to not elude suspicion to themselves.

A brief and quick goodbye kiss later, the Slytherin boy and Gryffindor girl were under their own Invisibility Cloaks and dashing back towards the school in hopes of not being caught. Thankfully it was the weekend so they could both catch up on some sleep.

Hermione approached the portrait of the Fat Lady and whispered the password. The Fat Lady was startled out of her sleep at the invisible person at the door but swung open nonetheless once she heard the correct password.

Once back in the safety of her own dormitory, she threw off the Invisibility Cloak and climbed into bed, quickly drifting off to sleep as the sun outside was just breaching the horizon.

Beautiful and bittersweetly

You were fading into me

And I was gently fading into you

But the time went sailing by

Reluctantly we said goodbye

And left our secret place far behind

And I lay in bed all night

And I was drifting

Drifting

Drifting

Drifting

Drifting

Harry and Ron sat at the breakfast table the next morning wondering where Hermione was. Ginny leaned over to the two boys. "She's still sleeping. I think she got in really late last night."

The two boys exchanged a curious look. "Why would she be out so late?? Where would she go!?" Ron wondered rather loudly.

Ginny shrugged and turned her attention back to her scrambled eggs. She had a feeling she knew where Hermione had gone last night but she definitely wasn't going to be the one to spill it to their friends. A girl's gotta have some secrets.