Alone

ALONE

Hermione stared out the window of her dormitory as snowflakes began to fall. She looked back at the book in her hands but her concentration kept wandering. Her mind wandered to that morning. The castle had been practically empty when she headed out the main doors. Hermione had taken two steps outside, admiring how beautiful the grounds looked covered in snow, when BAM! A snowball had hit her straight in the face. She'd heard a laugh and bent to scoop up a handful of snow.

About a half hour later, Hermione and her two best friends had headed inside covered in snow and laughing. They'd all changed into dry clothes and sat around the fire in the Common Room. Hermione had decided that some hot chocolate was in order and headed off to the kitchens. When she had returned, Ron and Harry were whispering to each other and didn't stop as she set the hot drinks in front of them. Hermione had waited for them to let her in on the secret. Nothing. She'd cleared her throat once. Twice. Still nothing. She had "hmphed" and stomped up the girl's stairs, not looking back.

Lately, the rest of the trio had been slightly secretive around her. She'd noticed that whenever she walked into the room, Harry blushed and Ron snickered. Hermione sighed. She'd always been sort of alone in the world. She had no siblings and her strangeness made it hard to have friends in the Muggle world. When she had went to school before Hogwarts, many teachers made the students pair up for projects. Despite her intelligence, Hermione had never been picked and when she asked someone to be her partner, they'd say they already had one. Most of the time they'd been standing alone.

This was how her life worked, until Hogwarts at least. That first Halloween had changed her life. She knew that all her fears of being alone were over. There were people who cared for her and accepted her as she was. However, even now she had her moments of insecurity. That Ron and Harry were keeping something from her hurt. In third year, it killed her that she couldn't tell them about the Time Turner. They apparently felt no guilt at keeping whatever it was they were talking about a secret and it really hurt.

Hermione tried once more to read the book in front of her but she just couldn't. She sighed in exasperation and flung the book across the room. She jumped as the door suddenly opened. Muttering about "bloody drafty castles...", she got up and closed it. Deciding that maybe a nap would help, she turned towards her bed, gasping when she saw Harry sitting there.

'What do you want?" she asked spitefully, glaring down at her friend.

Harry looked at her with his gorgeous emerald eyes and answered, "Just to talk. What's wrong?"

Hermione sat down next to him, her voice thick with emotion as she said, "What were you guys talking about that I couldn't hear? What are you keeping from me?"

"We were talking about this," Harry said gently and kissed her.

The thousand feelings and thoughts running through Hermione's head suddenly stopped, replaced by a feeling of wonderment and comfort. When Harry finally pulled back, she wished he hadn't. Hermione was the one who kissed him this time. Harry cupped her face in his hands as she ran her fingers through his messy black hair. They were in a moment of bliss when suddenly the door flew open.

Ron stood in the doorway, his hair messy and his robes torn. He looked like he'd been chewed up by Fluffy.

"That's...not as...easy as...it looks!" he panted. Hermione just laughed as Ron started to rant about the stupidity of the founders and their stupid values.